Trials of the Abyss-Chapter 977: Refining Defensive Veils

The boundless bizarre mist surged ever upward, enveloping everybody except Yi Hao and Luo Hongyan.

Inside the shroud of the bizarre mist, the Fey Gods were struggling to resist the invasive grasp of the supreme will of the starry skies.

The Duke of Thunder, Xing Huan, and Bai Zi had newly ascended as Sovereigns, reduced to nothing more than instruments of war for the supreme will of the starry skies.

Silvery radiance swelled like tidal waves in their seas of consciousness, infiltrating their Divine Personas. Their bodies twisted and warped beneath the flood of divine radiance. Arcane lightning sparked around them as their auras climbed ever higher.

The Duke of Thunder transformed into an azure Thunder Dragon, becoming the embodiment of lightning itself. Crackles of lightning coursed through his veins, and lightning vortexes refined themselves upon his heart. His eyes gleamed with a sinister bloodlust as they locked onto Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul.

He gathered his strength, waiting for the tempering of his body to complete before he tore Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul apart, casting him into the bizarre mist as so many Sovereigns had before.

At the same time, the madness in Bai Zi's hollow gaze gave way to bewilderment, then to apathy. Her pupils turned a cold silver, stripped of all that once resembled human emotion.

Only Xing Huan retained his sense of self. Drawing upon the blazing starlight, he secretly used his newly awakened Sovereign-level divine techniques to bind himself to the stars, channeling the stellar energy of the Primordial Chaos Starry Region into himself.

"Pang Jian, don't blame me," Xing Huan said with a shake of his head. "At the end of the day, I'm still a member of the Star Race, and he is the pride of my people. The glory he's brought to the Star Race surpasses that of all others!"

The prismatic radiance shrouding Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul flared brilliantly in the bizarre mist. He appeared oblivious to the hostility emanating from the Duke of Thunder, Xing Huan, Bai Zi, and even the out-of-sight Yi Hao.

With his eyes half-narrowed and handsome face set in cold severity, he intertwined his will with the many kindred beings that resonated with him. While he could not feel the will of the bizarre mist, he could sense the one beyond and knew exactly what it was doing.

Waves of silver radiance, laden with profound truths of the Heavenly Daos, poured into the Black Dragon King, the black turtle, Yuan Qi, and the Ice Armor Eel Dragon, influencing their Divine Personas and hearts.

"Diminish. Annihilate. Erase the seven emotions and six desires." A voice boomed with the weight of immeasurable divine power.

It was a frigid decree that lured every divine being to endlessly pursue greater power, even willingly discarding humanity and desire in the process. Their obsession with ultimate strength would only grow with their power. The higher their cultivation realm, the closer they drifted to the supreme will.

This was the path to godhood it had carved for those from the starry skies, meant to strip them of all emotion and turn them into emotionless beings like itself.

It's the overwhelming corruption of the supreme will of the starry skies.

Pang Jian forged layer upon layer of defenses with his will, weaving a boundary wall that encompassed all his Heavenly Daos and divine techniques to resist the corrupting silver radiance. He would not allow the four Fey Gods to lose themselves.

An egg-shaped veil of multicolored light bloomed in each of the Fey Gods' seas of consciousness, sealing their Divine Personas within its radiant shell. Their Divine Personas blazed with the profound truths of the Heavenly Daos, Dao Seals surfacing in stark relief.

The terrifying corruption of the supreme will of the starry skies gnawed at their writhing Divine Personas.

At that moment, Pang Jian's divine power and aura flooded the prismatic veils. The aura of the Dao Source of Metal, along with the Daos of Fire, Cold, Earth, Wood, and Water, crackled across the veil as lightning. Suns, moons, and stars also formed.

The essence of Pang Jian's Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea emerged within the veils through myriad forms of creation. The veils became impossibly thick and unyielding, refusing to crack under the persistent pressure from the silver radiance.

These multicolored veils rivaled the boundary wall and barrier of the Abyss, warding off the will of the starry skies and protecting the wills of the Fey Gods.

"Pang Jian!" exclaimed the massive black turtle, regaining his awareness of the outside world.

As his frenzy and bloodlust slowly ebbed away, he noticed a multicolored veil steeped in Pang Jian's aura, holding back wave after wave of silver radiance. Mottled sparks and streams of light flickered within the veil, only to be snuffed out in the struggle.

In his sea of consciousness, he discerned the faint silhouettes of Fu Ya, Tian Yu, and many other unfamiliar divine beings within the silver radiance flooding his sea of consciousness. This veritable army merged into the silver tide and unleashed an endless barrage of assaults on the veil sheltering his Divine Persona.

The black turtle felt insignificant as he took everything in. He was but a pebble in a flood, swept away with the current.

Those two waves of radiance—one multicolored and the other silver—lay far beyond his realm of understanding. They were each woven from countless divine techniques and infused with profound truths beyond his comprehension.

How has he already reached such heights? He's actually resisting the corruption of that supreme will! The black turtle finally understood the immeasurable gulf that lay between himself and Pang Jian.

The other Fey Gods also came to the same revelations.

Pang Jian is sheltering us and preserving our self-awareness! the Black Dragon King realized. And the one he's confronting isn't Yi Hao!

Yuan Qi was shaken to his core. Without Pang Jian's protection, we would've ended up like the Duke of Thunder, Bai Zi, and Xing Huan, reduced to mere puppets of that will!

Damn it, we can do nothing! Frustration welled up within the Ice Armor Eel Dragon.

The Fey Gods also saw the miraculous transformations of the Duke of Thunder, Bai Zi, and Xing Huan. After leaving the Abyss, they had instantly shattered their shackles and ascended as Sovereigns!

If the Fey Gods also yielded to the supreme will of the starry skies, perhaps they too could rise to such heights.

But they refused!

Giving in and becoming Sovereigns came at a high cost. They would be bound, losing their sense of self, reduced to nothing more than blades and pawns for that will.

Yi Hao had forced them out of the Abyss through Li Yuqing for the sole purpose of using them against Pang Jian.

High above the rising bizarre mist, Luo Hongyan had caught Yi Hao. His hands were tied, and she obstructed his every move. Needing additional help to kill the enigmatic Pang Jian, Yi Hao forced them out of the Abyss and into higher realms, hoping to make use of their strength.

The Duke of Thunder, Bai Zi, and Xing Huan had already ascended to Sovereignhood. If the Fey Gods were to also join their rank, Pang Jian would be left at a disadvantage, with little chance of overturning the situation.

Our past struggles and the bonds we forged in battle are the weapons with which we can resist that invading will! the Black Dragon King called out mentally. Recalling Luo Hongyan's struggle against that will, he added gravely, That will has no emotions. We have to hold fast to everything we've shared with Pang Jian. Only then can we resist it.

The souls of the four Fey Gods were connected through Pang Jian, allowing them to exchange thoughts. The Black Dragon King's reminder was like a grounding shock to the other Fey Gods, and scenes of all they had endured with Pang Jian emerged in their Divine Personas and their powerful hearts.

They recalled everything from their encounters in the Solitary Mountain Range and the various trials with the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars, to the awakening of their memories and the reforging of their bodies. Pang Jian had even descended into the lower worlds of the Abyss in search of treasures that could elevate them and help them strengthen their bloodlines.

One memory after another appeared with perfect clarity.

Those memories surfaced on the multicolored veils surrounding their Divine Personas. Each scene was a luminous echo of their bond with Pang Jian, moments woven into the tapestry of their shared path. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

For Yuan Qi, it was the memory of his time imprisoned in an iron cage. Pang Jian had bargained on his behalf, relinquishing hard-won spoils in exchange for his freedom. As Yuan Qi fled the scene, he repeatedly turned back to gaze at Pang Jian, his heart brimming with gratitude.

The Black Dragon King recalled Eight Trigrams City, where Pang Jian had searched ceaselessly for him after he, still the Giant Abyssal Serpent back then, had disappeared into the darkness. Despite that, Pang Jian had helped him time and again after finding him once more in the Fifth World.

The black turtle saw companionship. They had lived together on the ever-growing Resolute Expanse, sharing their thoughts without reservation. Pang Jian had searched for the blood essence of the Fey Race on his behalf. Even long before that, on Central Lake Island, Pang Jian had done everything he could for his broken body and wounded soul.

Similar memories also arose within the Ice Armor Eel Dragon, all vivid and unforgettable.

The four Fey Gods engraved those past experiences into their Divine Personas and hearts. Eventually, they realized that they themselves had become part of those multicolored veils, transformed into Pang Jian's mightiest support against the supreme will of the starry skies.

Emotion against the emotionless!

Unlike that will, we're beings of emotion.

Emotion is the ultimate power!

These insights rang through the shared minds of the four Fey Gods.

Their Divine Personas became like everlasting rocks, immovable through the river of time and unshaken from the barrage of the silver radiance. Pang Jian's multicolored veils, already linked to their wills, became their strongest shield.

"You want to use them to kill me?" Pang Jian glared at the silver eye with a cutting coldness. "They're all bound to me through deep emotions! You won't be able to shake a single one of them! As the progenitor of all beings in the starry skies, you may have stood exalted for eons, but you will never seize dominion over all!"

The aura from Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul surged as he raised the colossal World God Pendant. The massive bronze pendant became linked with the abysses, drawing upon the seven emotions and six desires of their inhabitants.

The hearts of the myriad races across the eight abysses swirled with fear, unease, dread, hatred, hostility, and resentment. These emotions mingled with Faith before converging upon Pang Jian.

Pang Jian breathed it in.

The tangled emotions were drawn into the multicolored veils.

The torrent of emotions fused with the veils, extinguishing the corruptive might hidden within the invading silver radiance.