Trials of the Abyss-Chapter 988: The Bee Sovereign Comes into Being
A thunderous tremor erupted from the Hall of Gods floating within the Soulstream. The massive stone doors and tightly sealed windows of the majestic palace flew open with a crash.
Clear radiance flowed out from the mysterious Dao Source of Soul, streaming through the opened doors and windows into the depths of the Hall of Gods.
Inside, divine beings born from bees sat within the many recesses, each resembling different Outer Gods. They devoured the incoming radiance and drew in the boundless soul essence.
The profound truths of the myriad Outer Gods took tangible form in the vast central chamber—dazzling golden mountains, a sea of thunder and lightning, gleaming glaciers, ever-changing lakes, a cloudy river with the aura of time, a withered tree steeped in death.
The divine beings born from the bees allowed their divine consciousness to wander amidst these manifestations, and as they did, their bodies transformed. Slowly, they came to feel as though they were truly the Gods presiding over the endless starry regions, their names exalted in worship.
Some among the bees even resonated with temples beyond. Through those temples and the effigies enshrined within, they perceived their worshipers. Faith from their worshipers was gathered from the myriad starry regions like honey.
The reconstructed Hall of Gods blazed with divine splendor!
Our Bee Sovereign is the Soulstream! He's also our creator!
This thought was a revelation to the awakening divine beings. Their intellects blossomed in a sudden, rapid ascent.
The union of the Bee Sovereign with the Soulstream had brought about their fundamental metamorphosis, and the Hall of Gods allowed them to establish resonance with the outside world.
They were no longer mere bees, but true divine beings!
***
"At last, I am whole."
The Bee Sovereign's golden compound eyes shifted as his ascension into Sovereignhood stabilized.
His translucent wings folded into his body, and his compound eyes softened into the dark blue eyes of a mortal being. He had shed his insect nature to become something else altogether.
This visage bore a nine-tenths resemblance to Pang Jian himself.
The Soulstream's designs upon the Hall of Gods had been long in the making. In the Nether Abyss, he had given rise to the Nether Abyss Spirit Bees, choosing the most exceptional bee as the vessel for the transference of his soul.
After years of planning, he had finally succeeded. Though he had forged a Divine Persona to bring about his fundamental metamorphosis, the supreme will of the starry skies could not touch him once he ascended as a Sovereign.
"Pang Jian, time and again, you shielded me from calamity and helped me to reach this step. I will not fail you," the Bee Sovereign said, lifting his head to shoot Pang Jian a radiant smile.
He then unleashed his full might.
The vast Soulstream, with the towering Hall of Gods upon its surface, charged toward the colossal storm of ice shards. The Soulstream and the Hall of Gods crossed the enormous gulf of the starry region and arrived beside the stirring storm in the blink of an eye.
"Might of the Myriad Gods!" the Bee Sovereign cried from the summit of the Hall of Gods.
The myriad divine beings on the divine seats in the Hall of Gods united their strength, lifting the majestic palace from the Soulstream and guiding it toward the monstrous storm.
Beams of ghostly radiance, invisible to the naked eye and perceptible only to souls of higher order, poured out from the storm of ice shards, swirling about the Hall of Gods and the Bee Sovereign. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞
The supreme will of the starry skies sought to repeat its old trick of corrupting the Bee Sovereign's mind once more, forcing him to move in accordance with its will.
"Your tricks no longer work on me. I'm not like the other Dao Sources. I'm also not like either of you," the Bee Sovereign said with a cold smile.
The Hall of Gods unfurled an endless barrage of sharp radiance, rending the aura of the supreme will of the starry skies and forbidding even a single beam from slipping inside.
"Both you and the supreme will of bizarre mist never possessed a body of your own. But I do. You chose to descend into the beings you created. I, on the other hand, have manifested in the vessel I forged for myself!
"With my vessel perfected, you will no longer be able to hold any sway over me!"
The Bee Sovereign's madness burst forth in full. His Sovereign body exuded an unfathomably ancient aura, as though it had existed since time immemorial.
Its primal form was the Dao Source of Soul. Naturally, its vessel towered above every Sovereign known to exist. Even Luo Hongyan and Yi Hao could not compare when they were Sovereigns. Not even Pang Jian's physical body could rival this vessel.
The reason it dared to forge a Divine Persona was because it was confident that it could sever all connection to the supreme will of the starry skies and hold complete autonomy once it became a Sovereign.
As the wondrous Dao Source of Soul—the most wondrous of all the Dao Sources—it could resist the corruption of the supreme will of the starry skies.
"Your storm of Dao Sources can devour celestial bodies and slaughter divine beings, but can it tear apart this Hall of Gods? This is the crystallization of the wisdom of Outer Gods across eons. It's your own handiwork, your own weapon of war. Now, I'm going to use it to test your storm."
The Bee Sovereign sank silently into the Hall of Gods. The stone doors of the palace slammed shut, and its windows sealed tight. That impenetrable Hall of Gods, bathed in the divine radiance, shot straight toward the storm of ice shards.
In the Ruin Realm, the Great Demon Gods and Ying Yue had since been freed from their frozen state. They had awakened to find the outer world transformed, their faces filled with horror as Han Yi updated them on the full situation.
"The Bee Sovereign? The Dao Source of Soul?"
"Him? It?"
"He's helping Pang Jian resist that will!"
Shocked exclamations rang out from the Great Demon Gods and Ying Yue.
Both the Duke of Thunder and Pang Ling hovered outside the World Tree's canopy, likewise shaken by the Bee Sovereign's action.
In their eyes, that storm of Dao Sources was a nightmare of unfathomable evil that only a God King could oppose. They had not expected the newly ascended Bee Sovereign to plunge the Hall of Gods into the heart of the storm and confront the will of the starry skies head-on!
"Brother, he's gone to deal with that storm. You need to find a way to stop that." Pang Lin lifted her gaze toward the silver canopy pressing down from above. "Both are formidable in their own right. To confront both of them together is far beyond his grasp."
World-shattering shockwaves detonated at the heart of the storm. The towering Hall of Gods quaked, tossed around like a vessel caught in a hurricane as a terrifying force slowly ground away at its radiant outpouring of divine power.
Despite looking as though it would break apart at any moment, it held strong.
