Chapter 526: Wanderer Tian Du

The presence of the radiant clouds showed that the True God Realm could indeed be reached through the path of heresy.

This confirmation greatly boosted the morale of the heretical cultivators across the Imperial Dominion!

The absence of a heretical True God and the propaganda of the major factions had previously led the cultivators of the Abyss into believing that the path of heresy was a dead end.

It was said that only those walking the orthodox path could ascend to the True God Realm and break through the barrier sealing the Abyss.

Talented cultivators throughout history had relentlessly pursued the Daos that the most powerful factions monopolized because of this widespread belief.

They followed the ancient paths that previous True Gods had paved, hoping to attain ultimate freedom and transcendence.

Those pursuing the Dao through forbidden techniques and secretly communicating with Outer Gods found themselves unable to ascend beyond the Immortal Realm.

Not a single heretical cultivator had ever ascended to the True God Realm in the history of the human race.

Subtle manipulation and the erasure of the truth had led cultivators to believe that the orthodox path was the only way to ascend. Even those toiling bitterly along the heretical path came to accept that the Immortal Realm was their limit.

After all, no heretical God had ever been born.

No matter how the Outer Gods reassured or promised them, the absence of precedent made it difficult for their followers to truly believe them.

It was not until two clusters of radiant clouds, symbolizing divine seats, appeared over the Imperial Dominion that this changed.

This moment would become a turning point in human history!

White Bone Saint Lu Qinghe let out a raspy cackle. "The birth of a heretical God will overturn the balance of the Abyss."

He silently activated the secret art, White Bone Flesh Restoration, and his crystalline skeletal body grew organs, veins, and flesh.

In just a few breaths, Lu Qinghe returned to his former appearance.

Mu Weifeng, the Sect Master of the Blackwood Sect, cast a respectful glance at the lifeless Jiang Ran.

"Not a single True God has entered the Imperial Dominion yet," he observed, performing a technique to shift the black forest back to the eastern region of the fragmented land.

The forest, laden with the aura of death, settled around the dried-up well to guard the woman ascending to the True God Realm within.

"Her meticulous plan feels somewhat incomplete without the arrival of any True Gods," Mu Weifeng muttered, gazing out beyond the fragmented land. Clicking his tongue in frustration, he sighed. "It would've been better if at least three or four True Gods descended."

"Nothing is ever truly perfect," Lu Qinghe said airily. Pointing at the radiant clouds representing the two divine seats, he smiled. "All we need is one heretical True God to mark a new era. If both succeed, the advantage will be firmly in our hands.

"If the True Gods dare come, there's a chance the hidden Mirror Tunnels will pull them into the Fifth World. If they don't, a heretical God will be born.

"Either way, we walk away with a solid victory. The only difference is whether it's a major or minor one."

Hearing this, Mu Weifeng and Xie Tong let go of their lingering regret and flew off toward their disciples.

Meanwhile, high above the fragmented land, "Jiang Ran's" eyes had turned entirely black like two inky stars.

He hovered in the sky, silent and unmoving.

Even after the Celestial Gate collapsed, he still gripped the Celestial Gate Sword, standing tall in the sky as if silently awaiting something.

Once Mu Weifeng and Xie Tong departed, Lu Qinghe cupped his hands in salute toward Jiang Ran before sinking back to the ground, wrapped in the fragmented remains of the White Bone Gate.

Lu Qinghe's task had been fulfilled to perfection. No rogue cultivator from the Imperial Dominion had escaped, and Jiang Ran had perished.

According to their agreement, he would be first in line for ascension when the next divine seat became vacant.

He longed for the day when the title of White Bone Saint turned into White Bone God.

***

Pang Jian!

Pang Jian!

Pang Jian!

A voice called, growing from a faint whisper to a deafening shout.

The demonic voice echoed from six fully materialized demonic realms, piercing through the fabric of time and space as it scoured the divine soul bound to that name.

Inside the Abyssal Demon Sword, the strikingly handsome prince of the Nether Demon Race held a deep black demonic orb with both hands.

His slender fingers occasionally brushed across the orb to activate the profound Dao of Demon etched upon its surface.

Soul Seeking Demonic Voice,

the Abyssal Demon quietly muttered.

The demonic sword connected to the meridians in Pang Jian's palm to bridge his dantian and extended into his sea of consciousness.

The name "Pang Jian" became infused with boundless demonic energy.

Beneath the fragmented land in Pang Jian's dantian, the greenish-black sea of demonic energy surged like a flood in response to the Abyssal Demon's calls.

A swift river of greenish-black light shot toward the forehead of the nearest corpse and vanished.

All the perished rogue cultivators in Imperial Dominion City have had their seas of consciousness artificially linked and fused together,

the Abyssal Demon realized.

Someone wove the minds of the dead into a strange domain, intending to ascend to the True God Realm within it.

The Abyssal Demon prepared to follow the pathway into the fabricated domain when his demonic soul suddenly felt the weight of a piercing gaze.

A pair of pitch-black eyes stared down from the sky above the Imperial Dominion like two dark stars.

They belonged to the Great Elder of the Sword Pavilion, Jiang Ran.

At that moment, the Abyssal Demon realized that the demonic realms he had painstakingly refined and the vast reserves of demonic energy he had gathered would slip from his control if he left the sword.

The Abyssal Demon Sword would fall into another's hands without his demonic soul to anchor it.

After a brief hesitation, the Abyssal Demon ultimately decided to hold back.

***

In the strange realm, a greenish-black light appeared beneath Pang Jian's divine soul, spreading until it became an ocean.

As the sea of demonic energy unfurled, Pang Jian's divine soul felt as if it had finally found solid ground. He then recalled a demonic technique he had previously comprehended, Heavenly Demon Armor.

The dense demonic energy swiftly transformed into a heavy suit of greenish-black armor.

This mystical Heavenly Demon Armor slowly wrapped around Pang Jian's golden divine soul, as if granting his divine soul a demonic body.

His face, limbs, and golden eyes were all concealed beneath the demonic armor.

Intricate patterns adorned the armor, imbued with the profound truths of the Dao of Demon, much like the swirling designs in the Heaven-Encompassing Demonic Array.

Pang Jian's confidence surged.

It's the Abyssal Demon. He still did what he could to help me. For once, he hasn't kicked me while I'm down or sought to harm me.

Clad in the Heavenly Demon Armor, Pang Jian felt emboldened to face Jiang Cen head-on.

Following the eerie flames, his divine soul drifted toward Jiang Cen.

***

In a corner of the strange realm was a deep and fathomless pool.

Above the pool sat Jiang Cen, the Second Elder of the Ghost Sacrifice Sect.

Flickers of eerie flames, each wrapped around a soul, drifted down into the pool, dissolving upon contact with the mysterious waters.

It was unclear what sinister art Jiang Cen cultivated, but he exuded an undeniably sacred and solemn aura.

The water in the pool rose steadily with every soul-wreathed flame that entered, gradually reaching his crossed legs, creeping up to his waist, and continuing toward his chest.

A brilliant ray of light descended above Jiang Cen's head.

The light crystallized upon his crown, forming a long shard that refracted the sinister Dao he had comprehended.

A familiar voice echoed through the strange realm.

"I warned you, but you refused to listen."

A gray-robed old man, clad in tattered garments and straw sandals that exposed his grimy toes, strode forward from the distance.

His dim eyes exuded an ancient aura.

The first corpse Pang Jian had encountered bore this same beggar-like appearance. It seemed that it had actually been his true body!

This old man had employed some extraordinary secret technique to make his body appear as lifeless as a corpse to blend in with the dead around him. In doing so, he successfully evaded Jiang Cen's notice while also deceiving Pang Jian and the other cultivators.

"Didn't listen, did you? Now you're stuck here." The old man snorted with a sharp glare at Pang Jian.

He stomped his straw sandal, causing radiant light to ripple outward from beneath his feet, sweeping across the strange realm and stretching toward its boundaries.

The strange realm trembled, and fine cracks appeared across the eerie space.

Pang Jian's connection to his physical body was abruptly restored.

There was suddenly an abundance of pathways for Pang Jian to escape through.

He could escape this strange realm through any of the cracks and return to his physical body.

However, his newly-formed Heavenly Demon Armor and the old man's arrival caused his urgency to wane.

Whoosh!

Another figure stepped silently into the strange realm without warning.

The cracks fracturing the void sealed shut the instant he appeared.

He was clad in silver armor, his face hidden beneath a mask of the same material.

The sight of him sent a jolt through Pang Jian's divine soul.

This person had blocked Fan Ao from pursuing the Rank Nine Five-Clawed Gold Dragon in the bizarre mist.

The golden bee that caught sight of him had perished instantly.

He was a True God of the human race!

A chill crept over Pang Jian's divine soul, and he suddenly regretted not leaving when he had the chance.

"You could have left, but you stubbornly chose to stay." The beggar-like old man sighed heavily. Approaching Pang Jian's divine soul, the old man addressed the silver-armored man, "Jiang Cen is the elder of the Ghost Sacrifice Sect. For years, he has acted under your command.

"Jiang Cen slaughtered countless in Imperial Dominion City to ascend to the True God Realm. There is no way you weren't aware of this.

"Don't bother with trying to conceal your identity. The only True God who would appear here is you, Mu Wentao."

The beggar-like old man's appearance quietly transformed into a hunched elder wrapped in a tattered cotton jacket, face lined with deep wrinkles.

His sparse hair barely covered his scalp, and his scant brows left his pale, hollow eyes looking dim and lifeless.

A white lantern hung from his hand. His hunched posture and bowed head allowed the lantern's pale glow to illuminate his features, casting a ghastly shadow over his face.

Pale ghostly flames drifted from the white lantern.

The flame burned through the strange realm, creating a hole in the fabric of the space, reconnecting Pang Jian with his physical body.

"What are you waiting for? Get moving!" the hunched elder barked sharply.

Pang Jian was still frozen in shock at Mu Wentao's sudden appearance, but the elder's command quickly snapped him out of it.

Whoosh!

The Abyssal Demon acted before Pang Jian could leave, pulling Pang Jian's physical body and the Abyssal Demon Sword through the rift and into the strange realm.

When his physical body arrived, Pang Jian's divine soul slipped seamlessly into his sea of consciousness.

The connection between his physical body and divine soul was fully restored. The Heavenly Demon Armor which covered his divine soul also manifested within his sea of consciousness.

The sea of demonic energy that had once rested below the fragmented land in his dantian now existed in his sea of consciousness in the form of the armor.

Pang Jian!

The Abyssal Demon exclaimed in shock,

Two True Gods! Two?

Pang Jian's confidence swelled with the return of his divine soul to his body and the Abyssal Demon Sword in hand.

Turning to the hunched old man, he said, "Senior?"

The old man sighed exasperatedly. "You sticking around won't help anyone. I'll just end up wasting energy to protect you. Get out of here and stop meddling."

At that moment, the silver-armored True God of the Ghost Sacrifice Sect asked, "Tian Du, why are you here in this fragmented land?"

Pang Jian's eyes widened at the name.

Wanderer Tian Du, like Yin Ji, was one of the two rogue True Gods of the human race.

"Brother Mu, did you know that the Imperial Dominion is my home? I was born in Imperial Dominion City. I return to spend some time here every few years." Wanderer Tian Du said as he leisurely approached the pool where Jiang Cen sat.

Clusters of cold, eerie flames, each containing the souls of the dead, continued to flow into the pool.

Jiang Cen's body was almost completely submerged, with only his head remaining above the surface.

A divine seat hovered radiantly above his head, connecting to his sea of consciousness.

Jiang Cen's divine soul, deep within his sea of consciousness, drew in the crystalline radiance of the divine seat as he strived with all his might to forge his path to godhood.

"Was it truly just a coincidence?" Mu Wentao asked doubtfully.

Wanderer Tian Du nodded lightly. "A coincidence indeed."

"I don't believe you."

Wanderer Tian Du grinned. "Good. You shouldn't."

Mu Wentao's expression twisted beneath the silver mask.

Jiang Cen's strange realm, woven from the seas of consciousness of the perished souls in Imperial Dominion City, warped to mirror Mu Wentao's contorted expression.

The strange realm folded like crumpled paper, collapsing and shrinking into a single point as it converged upon Jiang Cen.

An overwhelming force distorted Pang Jian's body. His bones creaked and cracked under the immense pressure.

Pang Jian could do nothing but endure.

His internal organs contracted. He painstakingly adjusted the bones of his Providence Realm body, causing his flesh to shrivel and his muscles to thin until his veins became as delicate as strands of silk.

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

In the blink of an eye, Pang Jian's tall figure was reduced to that of a dwarf then compressed further still.

Before long, he was reduced to the size of a newborn infant.

His tiny body trembled uncontrollably and his face was grotesque.

However, Mu Wentao's divine attack still did not cease.

The crushing force persisted, and Pang Jian's already diminished body continued to shrink along with it. Despite reaching the limits of his ability to compress, the relentless force still compressed his bones and flesh.

It felt as though he would implode at any second, body crushed into a ball of flesh and bone.

A True God could distort reality and collapse the heavens and earth.

Even more terrifying was the knowledge that this attack had not even been directed at Pang Jian. Despite that, the residual force alone was enough to push him to the edge of death.

Boom!

The strange realm collapsed.

The teleportation array in Imperial Dominion City, once connected to the outside world, had long since collapsed into dust, and from that dust, Pang Jian appeared.

When Pang Jian felt the faint ripples of spatial fluctuations around him, he realized he had been within the ruins of that teleportation array all along.

The teleportation array's initial collapse had not been its destruction, but rather a transformation into the foundation for the strange realm.

Its collapse was merely a metamorphosis.

Jiang Cen had used the teleportation array as a core to link the seas of consciousness of the fallen cultivators and a hidden pocket dimension within Imperial Dominion City.

The formation of the pocket dimension was not limited to using the souls of those perished in Imperial Dominion City either, but rather from the deaths of rogue cultivators all across the Imperial Dominion.

"If this wasn't just a coincidence...does that mean you knew all along?" Mu Wentao asked as he emerged from the swirling dust. His eyes beneath the mask were heavy with concern. "Were you the only one to sense it? Or have others caught wind as well?"

Wanderer Tian Du lowered his head, gazing at the white lantern in his hand. "You're smart. Why don't you take a guess?"

Mu Wentao fell silent as he secretly reached out to the Outer God You Kui.

Momo...has Momo entered the Sunken Crypt?

he asked hesitantly.

His familiar way of calling the high-ranking God of the Ghost Race betrayed his attachment to Ling Yimo.

In his heart, she was not just a disciple he had carefully nurtured, but also the one he had secretly fallen deeply in love with.

Lady Zi Mo entered the Sunken Crypt some time ago,

You Kui cheerfully replied.

Go in and bring her out! Now! Hurry

! Mu Wentao's voice trembled with the anguish of a pleading cry.