Chapter 505: Divine Soul Wandering the Starry Skies

Li Chu departed quietly.

The second-in-command of the Forsaken Expanse Sect, a True God long harboring prejudice against the Sword Pavilion, had dismissed his intent to investigate the Resolute Expanse, all because of Pang Jian's brief yet pointed words.

"He just...left?" Wang Ce stood dumbfounded, casting a perplexed glance at Pang Jian.

Guang He shared the same stupefaction.

Liu Junhong hesitated briefly, then asked in concern, "Pang Jian, are you certain the matter of the foreign races won't stir up any trouble?"

He did not know what a World God was, nor was he aware that Pang Jian was the World God of this era. Naturally, he could not but be uncertain about Pang Jian's firm tone and invocation of four other True Gods to pressure Li Chu.

"It won't be an issue for now," Pang Jian replied as he calmly descended.

Even Li Chu could not seize the Resolute Expanse without just cause.

The mention of foreign races was merely a pretext for Li Chu to press for entry into the fragmented land.

The four True Gods knew he was the next World God and were unlikely to make things difficult for Pang Jian over such trivialities, especially not during this sensitive time.

The neutrality of the Dragon Lair Sect and the Fey Race weighed heavily on the True Gods, and as the next World God, he was in a position to sway them to the human's side.

In other words, the True Gods needed him now more than ever.

***

In his wooden hut in the Cloud Wilderness, Pang Jian immersed himself in his cultivation.

His divine soul sank into the Heart of Winter as he sought to grasp the profound truth of the Dao of Cold.

Suddenly, he recalled the fleeting glimpse of that frigid star he had seen on the Ice Race's altar.

It's in the starry skies above my dantian.

His divine soul flickered, appearing at the icy star within his dantian. It was the same one the Frost Crystal God had infused with divine power.

The fist-sized stars within his dantian had been radiant since he absorbed stellar energy from the Stellar-Lunar Vein in Star Moon Valley.

However, a hazy glow now swirled within this translucent star after the Frost Crystal God infused it with her divine power.

That hazy glow appeared to be the star's core.

The frigid star pulsed as though it had gained a heart.

Whoosh!

Pang Jian's golden divine soul shrank before descending onto the small, icy star in his dantian. The instant he landed, he could sense a distant corresponding star in the starry skies resonating with the one in his dantian.

It was the star that the Frost Crystal God lived on.

I can sense the one beyond the Abyss through the one in my dantian! There's some kind of connection between them!

As soon as this realization struck Pang Jian, a spatial fluctuation surged through the four characters, "Gate of the Abyss," on the back of the bronze pendant. The fluctuation concentrated around the word "Gate" as it pulsed with an unmistakable spatial resonance.

The "Gate" character became a tangible pathway across space.

It can do this too?

Astonished, Pang Jian sent a wisp of his golden divine sense into the "Gate" character.

***

A narrow, radiant spatial rift appeared near a desolate star in the starry skies.

Whoosh!

A wisp of golden light shot out from the spatial rift and came to a halt above the icy star.

The strand of divine sense darted about, sensing its surroundings. It soon confirmed that the Frost Crystal God was absent, and no followers or attendants were present.

Whoosh!

Pang Jian's divine soul slipped through the spatial rift, leaving the Abyss to enter the boundless expanse of the starry skies.

Unlike before, Pang Jian was no longer skulking about with just his divine sense. His divine soul had entirely left his body to escape the confines of the Abyss!

His divine soul roamed freely on the Frost Crystal God's isolated star.

This icy star was far removed from its neighbors and held no spiritual qi. There was only a bone-chilling cold, though even that felt impure.

His divine soul drifted alone above the star, immersing itself in the wonders of the starry skies.

It did not take long for him to notice that the starry skies teemed with intricate and ever-shifting energy.

A multitude of energies swirled around the Frost Crystal God's star. There was fiery energy, water energy, earth energy, solar energy, and lunar energy. Among them lurked sinister forces capable of corroding flesh and strange energies that could taint one's soul.

Pang Jian was taken aback.

His golden divine soul drifted upward, distancing itself from the spatial rift to better perceive the surrounding energies.

Golden sparks crackled as the foreign energies in the starry skies encroached upon his divine soul.

The foreign energies of the vast starry skies brimmed with impurities and diverse energies, holding far more variations than even the murky energy from the Fifth World of the Abyss.

Though the foreign energies of the starry skies were omnipresent, they felt thin and dispersed.

Powerful Rank Eight Great Feys and foreign race warriors at the same level could likely move freely in the starry skies, exposing their physical bodies without harm.

Meanwhile, humans were less attuned to impure energies and would need to summon a protective shield.

Murky energy appeared to be a concentrated form of the foreign energies of the starry skies. Once gathered, the murky energy grew denser, accelerating the bloodline growth of the beings in the Fifth World.

But the Abyss is sealed, with boundary walls surrounding it. How does the murky energy even form? Do the boundary walls and bizarre mist siphon off the energies from the starry skies? Condensing them before releasing them into the Fifth World?

How does spiritual qi come to exist?

Pang Jian's mind flooded with questions as he experienced the novelty of wandering the starry skies with his divine soul for the first time.

When he focused, he found that he could still sense the general direction of his physical body.

He then made a startling discovery!

The location of his physical body was not stationary—it was slowly shifting.

I'm certain my body is seated within my wooden hut in the Cloud Wilderness.

Why, then, is its position changing?

Standing atop the Frost Crystal God's icy star, he stared at the distant sun and moon.

The diminished size of the sun and moon clearly indicated that he was far enough away to see if either of them shifted, but as he watched, he soon realized that neither the sun nor the moon showed any signs of movement.

How does the Abyss experience have the cycles of day and night?

My body is supposed to be stationary, but I can sense it moving.

There's only one explanation for this—the Abyss is constantly in motion!

The Abyss likely drifted along a set trajectory within the bizarre mist!

Its well-like shape meant that the Abyss experienced daylight when it drifted beneath the sun and night when it passed under the moon.

This was why it was also possible for neither the sun nor the moon to be visible from within the Abyss. It simply meant that the Abyss had shifted to another location beyond the view of the two celestial bodies.

Amazement bubbled up within him at the discovery. He was eager to let his divine soul soar away from the frigid star and the starry skies.

Despite this, he could not help but hesitate. He did not know if venturing too far would trigger unforeseen changes in the spatial rift.

He also feared that the Frost Crystal God would erase the spatial rift when she returned, forever severing his divine soul from his physical body.

Thus, he remained firmly next to the spatial rift, quietly observing the shifting in the starry skies from close by.

One day, Pang Jian caught sight of a dark blue star in the distance. A burst of jet-black radiance erupted from its surface, and faint shadows flickered around it like swarms of mosquitoes.

The mosquito-like shadows likely had grotesque and terrifying true forms.

After all, even towering mountains could not be seen so clearly from such a great distance across the starry skies.

Could that be a stronghold of the Demon Gods?

As this thought crossed his mind, he noticed a smaller gray-yellow star among the others. An unseen force seemed to pull it downward.

The grayish-yellow star transformed into a striking meteor as it plunged toward the bizarre mist.

It was like some world-shattering existence in the bizarre mist had plucked the star from the starry skies.

What kind of divine power would you need to seize a celestial body?

Pang Jian wondered.

The mosquito-like shadows on the dark blue star noticed this disturbance, and many plunged directly into the bizarre mist.

They seemed determined to find the being within the bizarre mist that had claimed the gray-yellow star.

After observing the starry skies for quite some time through his divine soul, Pang Jian felt an overwhelming wave of exhaustion wash over him.

Shaken to his core but filled with wonder and awe, he wearily followed the spatial rift back.

Whoosh!

The spatial rift in the icy star sealed itself after Pang Jian's divine soul passed through.

After his divine soul returned to his sea of consciousness, Pang Jian quickly swallowed a Great Blood Enhancing Pill and a Soul Enriching Pill. Only then did he realize he had unknowingly expended a significant portion of his soul essence.

His divine soul had shrunk considerably and was several times smaller than before.

Wandering the starry skies with only my divine soul isn't sustainable. Perhaps my divine soul just isn't strong enough yet.

The one who plucked the star... could they be some entity hidden within another world shrouded in bizarre mist?

After all, the Abyss can't be the only world drifting through the bizarre mist.

Or perhaps it's someone lost in the bizarre mist for countless years, unable to escape?

Beings capable of plucking stars can surely gaze upon the vast starry skies. How could they possibly remain trapped?

Could some form of restriction be sealing it just like the Abyss?

The breathtaking expanse of the starry skies and the endless mysteries hidden within the bizarre mist stirred a longing in Pang Jian's heart.

This adventure had greatly expanded his horizons. Evidently, the True Gods of the human race—at least those still trapped within the Abyss—were far from the strongest beings in the starry skies.

The ancient True Gods had long since escaped from the Abyss and had even survived the relentless pursuit of Outer Gods after destroying the Hall of Gods.

How powerful were they back then?

And if they're still alive, how powerful are they now?

"It seems that becoming a True God is just the starting point for escaping the Abyss," he muttered.

***

One day, a graceful figure draped in a flowing blue gown suddenly appeared above the Resolute Expanse. Her jade-like skin glowed softly as she said in a melodious voice, "An envoy of the Pure Land Sect has come to pay a visit."