Chapter 466: The Legend of the Demon Abyss

Within the valley, the hazy glow of the moonlight illuminated Ying Yue's pale face.

Frustration and restlessness painted her features. Although she had never met the owner of the golden divine sense in person, she was convinced that the young man was the wretched bastard from underground!

She did not believe that the young man would appear out of nowhere and persuade that young disciple of the Demon Sect to let her go with no ulterior motive.

The human race deemed those with connections to the Outer Gods as traitors and beyond forgiveness.

No one stranger would ever plead on her behalf.

That brief hesitation from the young man, coupled with the flicker of reminiscence in his eyes, reinforced her belief—the sallow-faced young man from the Sword Pavilion was indeed the despicable bastard hiding underground!

"His appearance, it–it's so plain!"

Pang Jian's deliberately altered, unremarkable appearance firmly embedded itself in Ying Yue's divine soul, lingering as an indelible presence.

The Moon God felt an uncharacteristic pang of sorrow.

The resonation of her divine soul with a young man from the Abyss was already enough to engulf her in overwhelming shame.

For the young man to not even fit her aesthetic standards was salt in her wound.

The mere thought of the golden divine sense clinging to her moonlit divine sense even after it returned to her sea of consciousness filled Ying Yue with an uncontrollable rage. She was overwhelmed with the urge to charge out of Star Moon Valley and confront that sallow-faced youth in a fight to the death.

"Calm down. Just focus on tempering this vessel's body and divine soul first," Ying Yue comforted herself as a faint glow of moonlight quietly condensed at her fingertip.

A trace of her divine sense emerged in the speck of moonlight and established a connection with the mark she had secretly left on Wu Yuan.

The imprint she left on Wu Yuan's garment carried neither her divine consciousness nor divine power.

It acted solely as a marker for Wu Yuan's approximate location, nothing more.

"I will find you," Ying Yue vowed coldly.

Sending her surroundings, she discovered that all the Demon Sect disciples outside Star Moon Valley had vanished.

The Moon God knitted her brows.

"So, that young man did convince the Demon Sect brat"

After a moment of consideration, she decided to leave Star Moon Valley and find a more secluded area to draw upon the lunar radiance anew.

***

Beside a winding stream a hundred li outside of Star Moon Valley, Wu Yuan glanced at Pang Jian—now in his true appearance—and asked curiously, "How did you end up getting involved with the remnants of the Star Moon Sect?"

"I suppose you could say there's some history between us," Pang Jian replied vaguely.

Wu Yuan, taciturn by nature, did not press for details. Instead, he said, "Recently, many heretical cultivators have felt the call of Outer Gods and have been building altars to communicate with them.

"They crave power, seeking to acquire divine techniques or a way to transcend their mortal forms and become Gods themselves. How laughable.

"Similar incidents have occurred on the Demon Abyss Continent, the Heaven Awakening Continents, and some nearby fragmented lands.

"I've been tasked with eliminating these heretical cultivators and have already dealt with several groups.

"The remnants of the Star Moon Sect are hardly a threat. Their worshiped Outer God has mediocre strength and won't be able to stir up much trouble," Wu Yuan explained patiently, uncharacteristically talkative when conversing with Pang Jian.

He clearly did not take Ying Yue seriously and regarded her with evident disdain.

It was hardly unexpected for him to dismiss a heretical cultivator of her level given his position within the Demon Sect.

Pang Jian said calmly, "Thank you."

"It was nothing."

Wu Yuan did not mention the Star Moon Sect again and the two shifted the conversation to their experiences since parting ways on the Fey Spirit Continent in the Fourth World.

Back then, Wu Yuan and Dong Tianze had successively unleashed the Celestial Phoenix Imprint and the Purple Demon Eye to share Pang Jian's burden when trying to ascend to the Third World under the encirclement of the foreign races and Vicious Beasts,

This left them severely injured and unable to fight further, forcing them to retreat into the Divine Spirit Pagoda to heal.

Pang Jian, on the other hand, battled against Xuan Ying, feigning a grave injury and a near-death fall to lure Zhou Yi out so he could kill him.

Once he landed on the Fey Spirit Continent, Pang Jian used his bronze pendant to travel to Misty Swamp.

Wu Yuan took advantage of the opportunity to escape to the Dark Abyss Continent before returning to the Demon Sect to report Hong Qiming's treachery.

Afterward, Wu Yuan did not join Pang Jian's subsequent journey to the Sacred Soul Continent because he had entered secluded cultivation in the Demon Sect.

The two had forged a friendship while in Absolute Heaven and later faced life-and-death trials together on the Fey Spirit Continent.

Thus, Pang Jian felt that his bond with Wu Yuan was only slightly weaker than the ones he shared with Zhou Qingchen, Dong Tianze, and Qi Qingsong, even in spite of the longstanding animosity between the Sword Pavilion and the Demon Sect.

Although Wu Yuan was typically reserved and taciturn, he had never let Pang Jian down in critical moments when his help was needed.

This was evident in his resolute decision to side with Pang Jian in Absolute Heaven. He had even acted decisively against his senior brother, Hong Qiming, when they were on the Fey Spirit Continent.

When Pang Jian faced a life-threatening crisis during their escape to the Third World, Wu Yuan did not hesitate to unleash the Purple Demon Eye, risking everything to provide aid.

As a result, he and Dong Tianze came perilously close to death, in both body and soul.

Their reminiscing eventually drew to a close.

"By the way, congratulations on reaching the Nirvana Realm," Wu Yuan said. Gripping the Purple Demon Eye, he glanced at the black-gold sword on Pang Jian's back and asked, "Has the Abyssal Demon in your sword acted strange recently?"

"Yes, those Great Demon Gods in the starry skies have targeted it."

Pang Jian held the Abyssal Demon Sword in a reverse grip and probed it with his divine sense. The swirling demonic lights, fires, and clouds within—manifestations of the Abyssal Demon's will—were still muddled and chaotic.

The scattered demonic wills of the Abyssal Demon could not form coherent thoughts. Even the occasional thoughts that surfaced were cryptic and difficult to interpret. It had been like this for a long time.

While he believed the injured Abyssal Demon had the means to recover, he was uncertain how long it would take.

Pang Jian then openly admitted that the Abyssal Demon had once urged him to eliminate Wu Yuan as quickly as possible to prevent him from falling under the influence of the Great Demon He Motian from the Purple Demon Eye.

"If you hadn't let me absorb the divine consciousness of Outer Gods in Absolute Heaven to refine my divine soul, I probably would've already succumbed to He Motian's corruption and become his puppet.

"The Abyssal Demon's concerns weren't entirely unfounded. I've been struggling to resist He Motian's mental corruption, but fortunately, I managed to hold on so far," Wu Yuan candidly confessed, not wanting to hide anything from Pang Jian.

The two belonged to opposing factions and were regarded as future successors of their respective sects. They each also wielded an artifact capable of corrupting their souls. To complicate matters further, the demonic souls within their artifacts appeared inherently antagonistic toward one another.

Despite everything, their camaraderie had not been affected in the slightest.

They exchanged insights on resisting the influence of the demonic souls, shared their understandings of their cultivation realms, and discussed their perspectives on the current state of the Abyss.

They only realized they had unknowingly talked through the night when the sun started to rise.

"Pang Jian, let me take you to the Demon Abyss. Perhaps your divine sword can recover there. After all, it originally belonged to a branch of the Demon Sect," Wu Yuan proposed.

"The Demon Abyss?" Pang Jian was taken aback.

"Yes, it's the birthplace of the Demon Sect. Legend has it that many years ago, a meteor from the starry skies pierced through the Abyss's barrier and crashed into the northeastern corner of this continent, creating a massive crater in the ground.

"That crater is known as the Demon Abyss. It's filled with eerie phenomena, with the demonic stone that created it lying at its deepest point.

"The Demon Abyss was originally part of the Demon Scale Race's territory and they have regarded it as their sacred land.

"Thirty thousand years ago, before the rise of the human race, some humans were forced to serve members of the Demon Scale Race near the Demon Abyss.

"Those individuals had the rare fortune of coming into contact with the demonic stone and gained profound insights into powerful demonic techniques and secret arts.

"The founders of the Demon Sect, the earliest predecessors, were those fortunate enough to have come into contact with the demonic stone.

"Today, my sect's supreme demonic techniques, as well as the most powerful demonic artifacts and armors, are largely connected to the Demon Abyss and that demonic stone.

"From what I've heard, that same demonic stone has drawn many Demon Gods to the Abyss," Wu Yuan revealed.

Pang Jian's curiosity was piqued. "Alright, I'll go to the Demon Abyss with you."

***

At a corner of the Demon Abyss Continent, a Cloud Sail carrying young scions from the noble families of the lower worlds glided in from a distant fragmented land.

"We've finally arrived at the Demon Abyss Continent."

"This is a continent that the Demon Sect governs! Below it are those filthy foreign races aiming to breach the Second World. The Demon Abyss Continent is among the hardest places to conquer."

"We paid so many spirit jades just to step foot on this continent. Let's hope it's all worth it."

"It'll be worth it!"

These young scions were originally from the Cosmic Skies and Dark Abyss Continents of the Third World and were affiliated with factions like the Radiant Sun Sect, the Star River Alliance, and the Red Mountain Sect.

They had been relocated to surrounding fragmented lands after the foreign races had invaded and conquered the Third World.

Knowing that the foreign races from the Fifth World typically targeted fragmented lands first, they had paid a hefty price to travel to the Demon Abyss Continent on a Cloud Sail.

After all, the Demon Abyss Continent, Heaven Awakening Continent, and Sacred Soul Continent were far tougher targets and would inevitably be left for last.

A young woman with a veiled face stood in a corner of the Cloud Sail, carrying a blade tightly wrapped in gray cloth on her back. Her demeanor gave off a murderous aura that warned others to keep their distance.

The young scions' legs trembled just approaching her, and none were foolish enough to provoke her.

Before the Cloud Sail even docked, she sprang into the air and shot toward the continent like an arrow.

The instant she landed, she vanished into the forest in a flash.

The Demon Abyss Continent in the Second World...

A territory that once belonged to my race.

Xuan Ying had used a secret technique to conceal the silver scales on her body.

Every trait and aura that could reveal her identity had been covered up, from her vital energy to even the demonic aura of her serrated blade.

Xuan Ying sprinted toward the Demon Abyss with the blade that had fractured countless kingdoms and mountains on her back.

Outwardly, she just seemed like a physically formidable rogue cultivator traveling alone.