Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 325: Pang Jian the Godslayer!

The Forbidden Land of the Thunder God was in ruins.

Deep craters marred the scorched black earth like massive dried-up wells leading straight into the underworld.

Foreign race warriors and Outer God Puppets wandered these holes aimlessly.

The crumbling city lay in ruins at the bottom of these pits, and the silver-winged Thunder Race guarding it almost were almost entirely wiped out.

The invading foreign races had plundered most of the fragments of the Divine Court, which were imprinted with Dao Seals.

Even so, the Outer God Puppets still refused to give in.

"Find it! The Dao Seal of the Duke of Thunder has yet to be found in the fragments of the Divine Court!"

"The Duke of Thunder's Divine Court has to contain his insights into the Dao of Lightning! He was the first Thunder God to ever exist! His Dao Seal is the most precious!"

"His Dao Seal has to still be in the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God!"

The roar of the foreign races and the deep, distant voices of the Outer Gods echoed from the depths of these pits.

Waves of cannon fire from the warships and the surging divine might of the Outer Gods dug the pits deeper and deeper. They were determined to unearth the Duke of Thunder's Dao Seal.

A delicate young girl from the Thunder Race lay limp in the blood of her parents. Six floating thunder orbs surrounded her in a futile attempt at fending off the attacks of Mountain Ghost Race warriors.

"What wrong did we commit?" she cried, glaring hatefully at the fluttering banner. "For as long as we can remember, we've been guarding the ruins of the Divine Court against invasions.

"In the past, before we arrived here, we still had members in Rank Eight. But they all died in battle. Our Rank Seven members also perished defending the Divine Court decades ago.

"Now, even our strongest members are only Rank Six. We've become so weak...are we destined for extinction?"

She glanced around at what remained of the city.

The ruined city of her childhood no longer existed, and the shiny stones imbued with Lightning Dao Seals had long since been looted.

All that remained in the scorched, crumbling city were the bones of her uncles, parents, and brother.

"The Duke of Thunder bears the weight of many since, and like you, he was also a member of the Thunder Race from the Thunder Abyss." The cold voice of the Observer rang out from the fluttering banner. "The Thunder Race once ruled the Thunder Abyss and many other worlds thanks to him.

"This drew the ire of the heavens. Karma always comes full circle, and retribution is inevitable.

"You're a member of the Thunder Race and the Duke of Thunder has passed. Without his protection, the karma destined for your race has naturally come to claim you."

The Observer had witnessed similar events dozens—if not hundreds—of times throughout its ancient existence and had long since grown numb to them.

When old Gods died, new Gods rose to take their place. The cycle of succession inevitably brought casualties.

The races the Gods belonged to and the races who worshiped them were all drawn into the cycle; implicated by association.

"How many tens of thousands of years have passed? Can hatred not be buried by time?" The young girl sobbed in anguish.

"It cannot," the Observer replied indifferently. "Gods possess long lifespans, and many of them are immortal. Furthermore, they have excellent memories. Little girl, I'll let you die with some understanding of why this has happened.

"A being from the Thunder Abyss is searching for the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God to collect the fragments of the Divine Court of Thunder for tens of thousands of years.

"That being refuses to give up, and has even enticed many other races to brave the unforgiving bizarre mist and its restrictions, resulting in unrelenting waves of foreign races invading the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God.

"That being has long since replaced the Duke of Thunder to become the new God of the Thunder Abyss.

"You've never left the bizarre mist and have never returned to the Thunder Abyss, so you don't know of its existence, but it has a significant role in your Thunder Race’s history.

"That being's name is Lei Meng," the Observer revealed.

"Lei Meng? The Thunderveil Beast? The Thunderveil Beast that was always by our Ancestral God's side?!"

"How can it be?!"

Several other Thunder Race members still clinging to life cried out in disbelief.

Their Ancestral God, the Duke of Thunder, had always been depicted with a wild beast by his side—on statues, in the patterns engraved on pillars, and in the stories passed down.

The nimble creature was said to be a Spirit Beast known as the Thunderveil Beast. According to the stories, it had accompanied the Duke of Thunder since his youth.

It had witnessed him become the first Thunder God and had helped him forge the Divine Court of Thunder.

For it to have become the new God of the Thunder Abyss was unfathomable to the Thunder Race,

Moreover, it had even posted a massive bounty, enticing foreign races from other worlds to venture into the depths of the bizarre mist in search of the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God.

A rumbling quake shook the earth.

"We've found it!"

One of the many unremarkable pits was slowly torn apart in fissuring cracks.

An object floated up to hover within the pit under the pull of divine power.

It was a silvery-white pool.

The pool had cracked walls and was filled with writhing Lightning Dao Seals. Despite this, it seemed to have lost its ability to actively absorb lightning.

A leafless, gray-brown iron tree stood lifelessly in the pool, with its roots connected to the Dao Seals at the bottom.

The silvery-white pool showed no evidence of divine phenomena and the iron tree emitted no radiance. At first glance, both items appeared completely ordinary.

However, their appearance reignited the conflict between the foreign race invaders and the Outer God Puppets. They no longer hunted the Thunder Race or collected fragments of the Divine Court of Thunder and instead prioritized the fight over pool and tree.

Not long after, the Ice Race warriors crossed the barrier of interwoven lightning and stepped into the fiercely contested Forbidden Land of the Thunder God on their Spirit Avians.

"The Forbidden Land of the Thunder God!"

"This is the first time our Ice Race has set foot in the lands of another race!"

"The Ice Race shall renew its path of glory today!"

Meanwhile, Pang Jian immediately selected a bolt of relatively weak lightning suspended in the sky after entering and summoned his protective shield before slipping into it.

He activated the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art, absorbing the energy from the suspended lightning to fill the empty vortex within his spiritual sea.

"I have lunar energy and lightning, so I still need stellar energy, solar energy, and life energy," Pang Jian muttered.

He glanced at the bloody battlefield below and nodded at the two Rank Seven elders, Bing Yuan and Bing Ying. "Kill them all."

"Kill!"

The war cries of the Ice Race warriors sent shockwaves through the battlefield, causing the combatants to look on in horror as a new force approached in overwhelming numbers.

"That's the Mountain Ghost Race—they once invaded our Frozen Land!"

"That Geospirit Race has also stirred trouble in our Frozen Land!"

"And there's the Blackhorn Race!"

The imposing Ice Race warriors launched indiscriminate attacks from the Spirit Avians, with sharp icicles, ice spears, and frost blades constantly shooting from their weapons.

The two Rank Seven elders led their party of Rank Six Ice Race warriors in the effortless slaughter of the foreign races below, driving the hunted to cry out in despair.

"Rank Seven!" the Observer shouted in alarm.

Countless disparate whispers echoed as the Observer lost control, filling the sky with murmurs.

"How could a Rank Seven warrior emerge from the Frozen Land, where the Heavenly Dao is so broken?!"

"The Frozen Land is eternally sealed! How did the Ice Race leave?!"

"Indeed, otherwise the Frost Crystal God would have found them long ago!"

"Something incomprehensible has occurred with the Ice Race and the Frozen Land!"

A cacophony of voices echoed from the many holes in the Observer's banner as it tried to flee in panic.

Second Elder Bing Yuan wielded the Frost Scepter, using its icy divine radiance to protect his soul sea before pointing it at the Observer with a cold expression. "You won't escape either!"

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Thick ice walls enclosed the fluttering banner in a solid crystalline prison.

"Pang Jian, an Outer God has tainted me with its divine consciousness!" Zhou Qingchen cried out, clutching his head in fear.

Zhao Yuanqi looked horrified as she stared at a massive Ox-Head[1] statue. The Ox-Head's eyes emitted an evil light, causing her to feel faint.

"Don't worry." Pang Jian flew out from the lightning and released his golden divine sense.

Dozens of strands entered Zhou Qingchen's and Zhao Yuanqi's seas of consciousness, becoming the marker to summon the golden bees.

Buzz! Buzz!

The Nether Abyss Spirit Bees appeared within Zhou Qingchen's and Zhao Yuanqi's seas of consciousness, causing the Ox-Head God to let out a fearful wail.

"Nether Abyss Spirit Bees! Damn it! How are there Nether Abyss Spirit Bees?" The evil light in the eyes of the Ox-Head statue dimmed as the Outer God hastily withdrew its divine consciousness.

Despite this, the Nether Abyss Spirit Bees still absorbed a portion of its divine consciousness within Zhao Yuanqi's and Zhou Qingchen's seas of consciousness.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

More strands of divine sense flowed from Pang Jian's sea of consciousness toward the foreign races' objects of worship—from statues to wooden carvings and even altars.

"Those are Nether Abyss Spirit Bees!"

"Everyone, be careful of the Nether Abyss Spirit Bees!"

"The sinister God of the Nether Abyss has set its sights on this land! Quick, retreat!"

The panicked voices of Outer Gods echoed from the statues and wooden carvings before gradually falling silent.

Pang Jian infused his three thousand strands of divine sense with the attributes of the Nether Abyss Spirit Bees and relentlessly hunted down the arrogant Outer Gods.

What had once been his weakest aspect—his sea of consciousness—had now become his sharpest weapon!

Killing Outer Gods had become effortless for him.

Whoosh!

A giant golden blade, hundreds of zhang long, slashed through the sky alongside thunderous lightning bolts and cut down a figure engulfed in green ghostly flames.

Only faint traces of ghostly flames remained inside the iron statue after the smoke and mist dissipated, with each small cluster containing a fragment of the divine consciousness of the Mountain Ghost Race's worshiped God.

Whoosh!

A sea of golden flames condensed from Pang Jian's divine sense engulfed a black demonic flower that housed the divine consciousness of yet another low-ranking Outer God.

Although the golden flames consumed the Outer God's divine consciousness, the flower itself remained intact.

Similar scenes played out across the battlefield as the Outer God Puppets were felled.

Pang Jian of the Abyss had become an Outer God Slayer within the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God.

His divine sense, imbued with the characteristics of the Nether Abyss Spirit Bees, had transformed into lethal weapons against the Outer Gods.

1. In Chinese mythology, 牛头 (Niútóu, meaning "Ox-Head") is a guardian deity or spirit in the underworld. He is often seen alongside 马面 (Mǎmiàn, meaning "Horse-Face"). Together, they are known as the enforcers or guardians of the underworld. ☜