Chapter 534: Roaming the Starry Skies with an Immortal Divine Soul

Li Zhaotian had grown even rounder, and the fat bloating his face made his small eyes seem even smaller than before.

Despite this, his imposing aura remained as dominant as ever.

The injuries he sustained during his failed ascension to the True God Realm had completely healed after recuperating on the first floor of the Sword Pavilion with the help of the divine swords and potent healing elixirs.

However, he had yet to recover to the peak of the Immortal Realm and was far from reaching the level needed to challenge a divine seat once more.

When news of the upheaval in the Imperial Dominion and Pang Jian's premature attempt at godhood had reached him, Li Zhaotian immediately set out.

He had learned the full details of the situation on the way.

"Pavilion Master." Elders Cai Xin, Shi Bingyun, and Lu Xiaolin were unfamiliar with Li Zhaotian on a personal level and so promptly bowed in greeting upon his arrival.

Shi Bingyun presented him with the Celestial Gate Sword, "This was Brother Jiang's sword."

"Bring it to the Sword Pavilion. Let it wait for someone who resonates with it," Li Zhaotian replied curtly before vanishing from the Sword Boat and reappearing in Imperial Dominion City.

Wanderer Tian Du raised a brow. "Fatty Li, what brings you here?"

He was still suppressing the Abyssal Demon Sword with his white lantern. Meanwhile, Li Yuanli and Liu Fu were seated atop a nearby building, quietly monitoring Pang Jian.

All three turned their gazes to Li Zhaotian's bulky figure.

"My Senior Brother Jiang Ran is dead, and my disciple, Pang Jian, is prematurely seizing a divine seat to shoulder the burden of the Sword Pavilion in my stead despite only being in the Nirvana Realm.

"I am Jiang Ran's junior brother and Pang Jian's master. How could I not be here?" Li Zhaotian's voice carried an unmistakable edge of anger.

Fixing his gaze on the unassuming Liu Fu, he bellowed, "Li Wang, Gui Mu, and the others orchestrated this situation in the Imperial Dominion. You knew about this, so why didn't you stop my senior brother?"

"And you!" he snapped, turning his ire to Li Yuanli. "Xu Yu informed you the moment she received news from Pang Jian that two heretical cultivators were attempting to ascend to godhood! Why didn't you warn Jiang Ran? Why did you instead let him charge headlong into the fray?"

Finally, his glare fell on Wanderer Tian Du, face twisted with rage.

"You were in Imperial Dominion City when Jiang Ran fell. How could you have stood by and watched? Would he have perished at the hands of He Motian if you had acted?"

The three True Gods remained collectively silent.

Li Zhaotian, burdened with guilt from Pang Jian's rushed ascension and Jiang Ran's death, turned his gaze toward his disciple, still shrouded in the crystalline radiance of the divine seat.

"This burden was mine to bear," he muttered. "I'm supposed to be the one to lead the Sword Pavilion forward. Why did Jiang Ran and Pang Jian have to shoulder it in my stead?"

Li Zhaotian did not know that Pang Jian's flawless divine soul was uniquely qualified to seize a divine seat while still in the Nirvana Realm.

He believed that Pang Jian had been forced to prematurely ascend in a desperate bid for survival, for both his dire situation in the Imperial Dominion and also for the Sword Pavilion as a whole.

When Li Zhaotian thought of the immense peril and the slim odds of surviving a premature ascension, his fury surged once more.

"Even Jiang Fan from the Boundless Sky Divine Kingdom consented to Jiang Ran's death," Liu Fu explained numbly. "There was no choice. Individuals like Mu Wentao were among our ranks, whose loyalties lay elsewhere.

"Any warning to Jiang Ran could have alerted him, which would've undermined all our preparations and rendered them meaningless."

Wanderer Tian Du added, "I was indeed in Imperial Dominion City when Jiang Ran died. Pang Jian was ensnared in an alternate dimension that Jiang Cen had conjured.

"But I make no excuses. Even if I hadn't been occupied with Pang Jian, it would've still been nearly impossible to aid Jiang Ran.

"Acting prematurely would've alerted Zi Mo of the Ghost Race, and we would not have been able to kill Wu Bi or Chi Feng.

"As for Pang Jian..."

Wanderer Tian Du paused, carefully selecting his words.

"Though there's no precedent for what he is attempting, it is not unattainable. Over the past few days, Li Yuanli, Liu Fu, and I have been meticulously observing Pang Jian.

"We were astonished to find that he's in excellent condition.

"The divine path he is forging is solid. Though we cannot fully comprehend his reasoning, we're confident that his decision wasn't made in haste or desperation, but with a deeper intent.

"Fatty Li, Jiang Ran's death is on us, and we take full responsibility for that.

"But rest assured, we will ensure Pang Jian is undisturbed and completes his ascension without interference."

Li Yuanli and Liu Fu chimed in, offering their own placating words to soothe the fuming Li Zhaotian.

Finally, Liu Fu added, "You will understand the wisdom behind our actions when you ascend to the True God Realm."

"Become like you?" Li Zhaotian scoffed bitterly. "Emotionally detached? Reducing everything to calculations of gain and loss, right and wrong? You've grown increasingly unrecognizable since your ascension.

"Your so-called 'protection' of Pang Jian isn't about providing me or the Sword Pavilion any form of reparation. It's merely because his success aligns with your broader agenda."

Li Zhaotian took a deep breath.

"The truth is, I've had confidence in my ability to ascend to the True God Realm for a long time. The only thing holding me back was fear—fear of what I'd become after ascending. Fear that I'd turn into someone like you, self-serving and consumed with overarching strategies and outcomes.

"All of you changed after becoming True Gods. You've become more and more like the Outer Gods in the outer worlds.

"You're full of cold logic, apathy, and emotional numbness. Your passions and desires have faded, marginalized to the point of irrelevance. Sometimes, I can't help but wonder if you're even still the people I once knew."

A heavy silence blanketed the city.

Wanderer Tian Du, Li Yuanli, and Liu Fu fell quiet, their silence laden with the weight of Li Zhaotian's piercing words.

Li Zhaotian had laid bare an undeniable truth that none of them wished to confront.

They, too, had noticed the changes within themselves. Most of their emotions had steadily faded away, leaving only the bonds tied to their closest kin.

This erosion of feelings only grew more pronounced as they grew stronger, and as the divine seats they merged with solidified their authority.

It was possible that Li Yuanli would one day no longer care about even Li Yuqing's or Li Jie's lives.

Liu Fu could grow indifferent to Liu Youyu's fate.

Wanderer Tian Du could even disregard the survival of the human race in the Abyss altogether.

The stronger they became, the more they drifted toward the nature of the gods.

None of them knew how to prevent this change from happening, nor did any of them actively seek a solution.

Their continued efforts for the human race stemmed only from the fact that they were humans themselves.

The sects they represented, the disciples and elders within them, and the citizens of their territories were merely another form of followers, not unlike how the Ghost Race worshiped Zi Mo and You Kui, or the Demon Races revered He Motian.

"I don't want Pang Jian to become like you after he ascends." Li Zhaotian sighed, voice heavy with weariness. "For the sake of victory, Li Wang and Gui Mu were even willing to sacrifice seven thousand rogue cultivators in the Imperial Dominion.

"Who knows? Perhaps you could find it in you to sacrifice all of the human race in the Abyss to kill that Sovereign in the future.

"You may even end up sacrificing each other.

"Gods like you are becoming more common in the Abyss. You only ever calculate victories and losses, no longer distinguishing right from wrong and abandoning the principles of morality if you feel it necessary.

"The emergence of such True Gods doesn't necessarily bode well for the Abyss."

***

Autumn faded into winter, and several months slipped by in the blink of an eye.

The Abyss entered a rare period of tranquility. The murky energy had yet to surge upward, and the Fifth World's foreign races seemed unusually subdued.

In Imperial Dominion City, the crystalline radiance representing a divine seat descended into Pang Jian's sea of consciousness, merging seamlessly with his divine soul.

Torrents of spiritual qi had ceased flooding his dantian. The dense streams of life energy, blood, and soul essence also halted their continuous flow into him.

Pang Jian's expression remained calm and detached, his consciousness fully immersed in his divine soul.

Several days passed in this meditative state, with Li Zhaotian waiting patiently and Liu Fu and the others watching with growing anticipation.

One day, a radiant golden light burst forth from Pang Jian's sea of consciousness and surged directly into his chest.

Pang Jian's divine soul abruptly disappeared from his body.

They did not know whether Pang Jian had successfully formed his Immortal Divine Soul as it seemed to have merged into the Gate of the Abyss on Pang Jian's chest, vanishing entirely from the perception of the True Gods.

His breath remained steady, his blood essence surged with abundance, and the myriad energies within his dantian remained vibrant and active.

Only his divine soul had departed.

Li Zhaotian and the others were at a complete loss, unable to fathom what had transpired. Such a phenomenon was entirely unprecedented.

All they could do was vigilantly wait for Pang Jian's divine soul to return of its own accord.

***

A golden figure crossed a barrier to manifest within the vast depths of the enigmatic bizarre mist.

This was Pang Jian's newly formed Immortal Divine Soul. The pull from the Gate of the Abyss had drawn his Immortal Divine Soul there, allowing it to appear in an instant.

The Gate of the Abyss proved true to its name, directly linking to the bizarre mist and enabling him to navigate its mysterious expanse. However, this feat required immense strength from his divine soul and was only achievable after obtaining an Immortal Divine Soul.

After all this time, Pang Jian had finally stepped beyond the Abyss.

His Immortal Divine Soul drifted through the endless bizarre mist while still maintaining a connection to his physical body. He could return to his body via the Gate of the Abyss through this link whenever he chose.

Still, he could not help but be curious as to why the Gate of the Abyss had brought him here. So, when he found his Immortal Divine Soul well-adapted to the bizarre mist, he felt in no rush to leave.

He extended his perception within the bizarre mist, his Immortal Divine Soul stirring waves of soul essence as his will extended millions of li into the distance.

Through this immense reach, he glimpsed another world.

This world bore a striking resemblance to the Abyss, shrouded in bizarre mist and sealed with a barrier.

As his perception reached this world, he spotted a familiar being. A powerful creature resembling the skeleton of a lion and a tiger clawed relentlessly at the barrier surrounding the world, desperately trying to break through.

This being had wandered aimlessly in the bizarre mist for so long that its flesh had long since eroded and the corrosive properties of the bizarre mist had tainted its bones.

Its strength was waning, and it yearned for a sanctuary where it could survive.

"Well, isn't this a coincidence? Perhaps... it's fate linking us together," Pang Jian muttered as he studied the enigmatic form of his newly formed Immortal Divine Soul.

It seemed a portion of all the energies once housed on the fragmented land in his dantian had been merged into his Immortal Divine Soul.

This Immortal Divine Soul was not a body of flesh and blood but an extraordinary composition resembling a fusion of crystal and jade.

With a thought, it could grow to towering heights of thousands of zhang, rivaling the grandeur of the Fire God Yan Lie.

It could also shrink to the size of a mosquito, becoming a billion times smaller in an instant.

Its form was fluid, capable of shifting between solid, liquid, and even light. He could transform into a radiant beam of divine light, a flowing river, a majestic mountain, or even a celestial star.

Moreover, the Immortal Divine Soul possessed an unparalleled ability to draw and refine energies from the starry skies.

This ability formed the core of its independence, allowing the Immortal Divine Soul to exist autonomously without relying on a physical body. Absorbing the unique energies of the starry skies ensured its self-sufficiency, unending growth, and limitless advancement.