Chapter 549: Heavenly Dao Suppression

Li Chu's words echoed faintly within Pang Jian's body, his cautious voice emanating from the child figures in the pocket dimensions.

As one of the True Gods, he naturally had the right to descend upon the Stargazing Platform and participate in the council. Though his visits were infrequent, he knew that Li Wang's myriad divine techniques allowed him to observe most of the Abyss, watching events as they unfolded in real time if he chose to.

The Stargazing Platform could monitor many things, from the everyday conversations of non-cultivators to large-scale battles between cultivators in the Abyss and the starry skies.

Li Chu knew that Li Wang was likely watching the battle between him and Pang Jian through the Stargazing Platform at this very moment.

After all, Pang Jian was the first person in the Abyss to merge with a divine seat while still in the Nirvana Realm and ascend as an Immortal Realm God. It was expected that Li Wang would pay him special attention.

This was the reason his words of resentment toward Li Wang and the outpouring of frustration over the fairness of fate could only be conveyed within Pang Jian's body. At his core, Li Chu still held a deep respect and fear for the ruler of the nine tribes.

The forest of maple trees was merely his first attempt at testing Pang Jian's strength, but the brief contact and intense clash of powers convinced him that Pang Jian was not to be underestimated.

Pang Jian's freezing mist and Li Chu's deliberate concealment meant those observing the battle would not have discerned much yet. However, Li Chu knew without a doubt that Pang Jian was formidable. The newly ascended Pang Jian brimmed with untapped potential and would be capable of even greater strength in the future.

In awe of the new Sword God's might, Li Chu decided to change his approach, instead seeking to elicit Pang Jian's dissatisfaction with Li Wang, hoping to turn Pang Jian against the ancient True God.

The death of my disciple, Fu Wangchen, isn't that important in the grand scheme of things,

Li Chu continued.

But I've always held both you and Li Zhaotian in high regard.

Li Chu's true body stood under a maple tree, holding a serpent-headed wooden staff with a smile. He planned to reach a secret verbal agreement with Pang Jian and recruit him to an anti-Li Wang faction for his later plans.

What does your grudge and conflict with him have to do with me?

Pang Jian asked coldly.

What Li Wang did to you is of no concern to me. What I care about is what you, Li Chu, did to us in the Sword Pavilion, to me.

The child projections of Li Chu in the miniature pocket dimensions were irrelevant to Pang Jian.

When his master initially broke through to the Immortal Realm, this seasoned cultivator in the peak Immortal Realm had sought to dull his edge. Li Chu was also the first to arrive when the Blessed Lands of the Resolute Expanse were exposed.

There was no reason for Pang Jian to have any interest in Li Chu's past.

Whoosh!

Beams of golden light, sharp as needles, surged from Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul in his sea of consciousness to the rest of his body.

The radiance, carrying his insights into the Dao of Metal, formed rivers of golden sword light, blending with his internal cold energy, stellar energy, lunar energy, and lightning.

The five elements—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—shot toward the specks with traces of Li Chu's will.

Metal, symbolizing sharp weapons and tools for cutting, naturally suppressed Wood.

Inside those specks of immense vitality were seas of fiery red maple trees. The child projections within them continued to ramble on, attempting to convince Pang Jian to form a secret alliance.

Divine swords suddenly descended on the miniature worlds in each speck.

The child projections of Li Chu saw dazzling golden divine swords descending from the sky to strike the maple forest.

These golden divine swords, each tens of thousands of zhang long, sped toward their targets. The skies became filled with stars, moons, flashes of lightning, and a brewing hailstorm.

The combined power of the golden divine swords, starlight, moonlight, lightning, and ice shattered the miniature worlds one after another.

Every maple tree in these forests was felled. Lightning swirled among the debris, destroying Li Chu's will.

There was no loud sound or dramatic commotion. A faint glow in a few areas of Pang Jian's body was the only tell that something was occurring within.

Li Chu's divine technique, the Soul Tree Seed, which he had planted within Pang Jian, was completely eradicated.

With the internal threat removed, Pang Jian gripped the Abyssal Demon Sword and prepared to attack.

Whoosh!

The dazzling river of golden sword light in Pang Jian's body materialized in the real world.

Its waters shimmered with starlight and moonlight, with lightning winding like serpents between floating icebergs.

Smaller golden rays split off from the main river of golden sword light and cut through Li Chu's illusory maple forest.

Pang Jian relentlessly swung his sword through the flying branches and scattered debris.

Furious, Li Chu summoned his strange and monstrous Dharma Idol. His Dharma Idol stood at nearly ten thousand zhang tall and was covered with flowers, grass, and trees.

Many branches and trunks had grown through the Dharma Idol, with roots deeply embedded in the towering mountain of flesh.

The Verdure Paradise and the vegetation on the Resolute Expanse stirred with the appearance of this bizarre Dharma Idol. Tiny streaks of cyan and green light shot upward into the sky like raindrops in reverse.

Pang Jian appeared insignificant next to Li Chu's Dharma Idol. Striking at Li Chu with his sword in his physical body would be like scratching an itch.

An ant simply could not hurt a body tens of thousands of zhang tall, regardless of how strong it was or what weapon it wielded.

"You're not the only one with a Dharma Idol."

Pang Jian summoned his unique Immortal Divine Soul.

It towered majestically, glowing with seven-colored light as though crafted from radiant rainbow jade.

He then activated the Heavenly Dao he had comprehended, and the resplendent starry skies appeared behind the head of his Immortal Divine Soul.

The stars shone brightly, the moon was serene, and the sun blazed with fiery intensity!

Unleashing another secret art, a vast expanse of land materialized beneath his towering form.

On this land were mountains, valleys, lightning storms, rivers of molten lava, and dense forests teeming with life. Dark green and purple demonic clouds encircled the land to form a mysterious celestial canopy like a shroud over the sky.

The starry skies and vast land were both illusory, mere manifestations of Pang Jian's Heavenly Dao.

Even so, the sheer grandeur of these conjurations was awe-inspiring. It made his Immortal Divine Soul appear as though it stood within an alternate world with complete Daos.

Li Chu's Dharma Idol, which symbolized the mastery of a single Heavenly Dao, the Dao of Verdure, appeared uninspiring in comparison.

The truth was that the vast majority of the True Gods in the Abyss displayed only a singular phenomenon through their Dharma Idol. They had merged with a divine seat and achieved godhood by elevating a single Heavenly Dao to its utmost extreme.

Li Chu was no exception, and neither were the other True Gods.

However, the reveal of Pang Jian's multi-faceted Immortal Divine Soul gave the True Gods of the Abyss a glimpse of a different path.

A focused but incomplete path, when taken to its extreme, could achieve godhood. Alternatively, a balanced path of harmonious integration could also do the same.

Whoosh!

The strange phenomena converged into Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul. The Abyssal Demon Sword became massive, while the Heart of Winter descended like an icy star beneath his feet.

Pang Jian stood atop the Heart of Winter and swung his peerless demonic sword toward Li Chu.

Countless energies flowed seamlessly from his Immortal Divine Soul and his true body, which had descended into the Heart of Winter.

The Abyssal Demon Sword erupted with a golden radiance as it was infused with the profound insights Pang Jian had comprehended from the Heavenly Daos.

Its blinding light was almost impossible to look at directly as the sword shot toward Li Chu.

Long Zhan's horn and claws had made the Abyssal Demon Sword nearly indestructible.

The sword was forged from an array of rare ores and was a divine artifact embodying the element of Metal.

Metal suppressed wood.

As Pang Jian swung the Abyssal Demon Sword, it naturally suppressed Li Chu's Heavenly Dao, and its edge pierced through the abdomen of Li Chu's Dharma Idol.

A massive cavity appeared in the abdomen of Li Chu's Dharma Idol. There was no blood, nor any exposed flesh or muscle. Inside the cavity were intertwined tree roots and tightly packed wood fibers.

Although Li Chu's Dharma Idol had one of the fastest self-healing divine bodies in existence, the suppression of his Heavenly Dao prevented the cavity from healing. The lingering golden radiance and sharp sword intent stemmed his regenerative ability even after the sword had withdrawn.

Li Chu's Dharma Idol froze, staring in disbelief at the massive hole in his abdomen.

"Thank you, Senior, for helping me solidify my cultivation realm. Well fought," Pang Jian bowed as he sheathed his sword.

Condensing his Immortal Divine Soul into a beam of radiant light, he returned it to the sea of consciousness in his physical body through the crown of his head.

Pang Jian then turned and flew straight toward the Resolute Expanse without a backward glance.

Li Chu hovered dazedly in the air, the glowing hole in his abdomen still refusing to heal.

Silence enveloped the Stargazing Platform in the First World.

The True Gods were speechless.