Chapter 658: The Powerhouses of the Thunder Abyss

Two Thunder Race warriors, a Vermilion Bird, a pure-white unicorn, and a colossal serpent adorned with azure-green scales appeared, each bearing a Rank Ten bloodline.

If the Shadow Abyss had this level of combat prowess, that Star Devourer would not even have the chance to seize control. It would have instead been captured, its limbs severed piece by piece.

Even in the Abyss, five Rank Tens were a force that could not be ignored, especially when three of them were Fey Gods.

If the Fey Race of the Abyss suddenly gained three Rank Ten Fey Gods, their dominance would soar to new heights.

Even while Pang Jian internally marveled at the sheer strength of the Thunder Abyss, he still narrowed his eyes in careful assessment of the group.

The two Thunder Race warriors, a man and a woman, appeared to be in their forties or fifties and were dressed in simple attire.

Lightning and flames circled the Vermilion Bird, indicating that its bloodline was astonishingly attuned to two Heavenly Daos.

The unicorn, on the other hand, radiated an astonishingly frigid aura, its pupils flashing with crackling lightning.

Like the Vermilion Bird, it had been born with a bloodline attuned to two Heavenly Daos, the Dao of Lightning and the Dao of Cold.

The colossal serpent, however, was only attuned to water, with blood essence that felt remarkably similar to that of the Primordial Serpent of the Abyss.

These five powerhouses surrounded Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul, treating him like an unprecedented threat.

Never in the history of the Thunder Abyss had a divine being from the starry skies descended so openly.

Like the Abyss, boundary walls and a barrier shielded the Thunder Abyss.

The fundamental structure of all abysses followed a similar design, with none allowing Outer Gods to trespass easily.

Only those worshiping the Outer Gods could communicate with them through altars when the Thunder Abyss opened.

Even then, these interactions were limited to exchanging messages.

For an Outer God's true body to descend into the Thunder Abyss was an unprecedented event.

"You!" the hot-tempered Vermilion Bird snarled, her form shifting into that of a tall and striking young woman.

Her features were as delicate as a painting, and her long auburn hair flowed like the untamed mane of a wild steed.

An unmistakable air of arrogance and pride could be seen in her domineering presence.

This haughtiness instantly vanished when she noticed the Thunder Pool and felt the vast, profound Dao of Lightning coming from it.

"The Thunder Pool you wield..." The Vermilion Bird's eyes blazed with flames and lightning, her voice trembling with excitement. "Could it—could it be the Duke of Thunder's divine artifact?"

The two Rank Ten Thunder Race warriors, the unicorn, and the colossal serpent, immediately turned their attention to the Thunder Pool, where a silver-white palace stood at its core.

"Ancestor's divine artifact!" the two Thunder Race warriors cried, charging straight toward Pang Jian.

The bizarre mist dispersed under the lightning fury of the two Rank Ten Thunder Race warriors.

They ignited their bloodlines, burning a drop of blood essence and summoning silver-white bolts of lightning in an attempt to resonate with the Thunder Pool.

They sought to use this connection to forcibly seize their ancestor's divine artifact!

Pang Jian raised his hand and threw out Five Thunder Annihilation.

Five ferocious lightning spheres, each infused with the elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, blazed forth like pillars of devastation, hurtling straight toward the female Thunder Race warrior.

The female Thunder Race powerhouse widened her eyes in shock. "The divine artifact of the Thunderveil Godbeast, Five Thunder Annihilation!"

The five lightning spheres exploded with tremendous force, shattering her lightning vortexes and forcing her to retreat under their overwhelming assault.

Standing atop the Thunder Pool, Pang Jian then took out Ghostflare.

"Soul Severance!"

The blade's edge drew forth a streak of eerie emerald light.

Pang Jian's divine sense extended into that eerie light, weaving a lethal soul-targeting strike using You Kui's soul-related techniques.

The male Thunder Race warrior felt a terrifying chill deep within his soul as the eerie emerald light streaked toward him. It was as if his soul was about to be torn into pieces.

He snorted coldly. "A soul-related technique? Ridiculous!"

Endless lightning surged from his divine soul, instantly shattering the soul-targeting secret technique unleashed through Ghostflare.

Drawing in the lingering lightning from the bizarre mist, he wove it into an enormous web and expanded it to ensnare Pang Jian.

Pang Jian chuckled at himself. You Kui's soul-related divine techniques and Ghostflare were clearly ill-suited against a Thunder Race warrior.

Holding Ghostflare in his hand, he instead used the razor-sharp divine artifact like a divine sword.

Pang Jian's Five-Element Starry Rivers surged into existence, manifesting before, behind, above, and beneath the male Thunder Race powerhouse.

Countless stars pulsed with the power of the five elements, forming five interwoven rivers that restricted the warrior's movements.

The male Thunder Race warrior was completely restrained, with his lightning, divine soul, and physical body all suppressed.

"The Thunder Abyss holds a deeper foundation than the Shadow Abyss, and the Rank Ten powerhouses here are clearly a tier stronger, but even then, they're still inferior when compared to the Abyss." Pang Jian gazed at the Vermilion Bird, unicorn, and colossal serpent with an air of absolute composure. "But the sheer number of Fey Gods was a surprise."

The three Fey Gods each had different bloodlines. Moreover, two of them carried dual-attribute bloodlines.

This was similar to the Ice Armor Eel Dragon, with its triple-attribute bloodline of cold, water, and lightning.

Though both the Thunder Abyss and Shadow Abyss shared the same foundational structure, the Thunder Abyss housed far more powerhouses. Nevertheless, it still fell short of the Abyss.

Pang Jian continued to study the group before him and soon made another discovery.

The two Thunder Race warriors and the three Fey Gods held neither Fortune nor Corruption within them. Despite this, they had still reached Rank Ten, attaining the status of divine beings.

From You Kui's memories, Pang Jian knew that advancing to Rank Ten was enough for the foreign races and the Fey Race to be recognized as low-ranking Gods in the starry skies.

A mid-ranking God, however, was marked by a qualitative transformation of the divine soul, culminating in the formation of a Divine Persona.

For the True Gods, foreign race powerhouses, and Fey Gods of the Abyss, this ascension could not be achieved without the aid of Fortune or Corruption.

The Thunder Abyss had no such things, yet its Rank Ten powerhouses were able to break through without them.

"The Abyss? You came from the Abyss?" the unicorn asked, its crystalline horn radiating a sacred light. "I've heard that the Abyss is the strongest among all the abysses. Which faction of the Abyss do you belong to?"

The Water Serpent, the Vermilion Bird, and the two Thunder Race warriors gradually calmed, their gazes settling curiously on Pang Jian.

"The human race," Pang Jian replied.

"The human race?"

"A human!"

The five Rank Ten powerhouses of the Thunder Abyss were stunned.

Sensing unusual disturbances in the bizarre mist, they had come to investigate, assuming it to be an invading Outer God.

After all, a longstanding legend circulated within the Thunder Abyss.

It was said that there was an infinitesimally small chance that an Outer God could descend in their true body during a once-in-a-hundred-millennia grand event.

In those tales, the arrival of this outsider foretold the destruction of the Thunder Abyss.

They had already confirmed that this once-in-a-hundred-millennia grand event was on the eve of unfolding at this moment.

Thus, in recent years, they had been on high alert, wary of the arrival of an Outer God, fearing that such an entity would appear and destroy the foundation of the Thunder Abyss.

This was the reason for their immediate hostility when they discovered Pang Jian.

However, this hostility quickly dissipated when they learned that Pang Jian came from an abyss as well. This was not just any abyss either, but the strongest of them all, the Abyss itself. The fact that Pang Jian belonged to the legendary human race was simply the cherry on top.

"You know of the Abyss and the human race?" Pang Jian asked in surprise.

The male Thunder Race warrior ignored Pang Jian's question. "Where did you obtain our ancestor's divine artifact?"

"From a restricted area called Absolute Heaven in the Abyss," Pang Jian answered truthfully. "The region was concealed within the bizarre mist. It was on a fragmented land called the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God, which housed remnants of the Thunder Race."

"The Thunder Race? Are there still survivors?" The female Thunder Race warrior asked anxiously.

Pang Jian shook his head. "No. They're gone."

Seeing as the powerhouses had lowered their guard, he decided to tell them about the warriors from the Thunder Race, Ice Race, and Flame Race who had once guarded the different fragmented lands in Absolute Heaven.

"Our ancestor likely cast the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God into the bizarre mist from some distant region of the starry skies," the male Thunder Race warrior said. "Only within the bizarre mist could his divine artifact and the ruins of his divine court be preserved."

The male Thunder Race warrior then frowned.

"What puzzles me is this: If our ancestor cast the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God into the bizarre mist, why didn't it return to the Thunder Abyss? Why did it instead appear within the Abyss?

"The Thunder Pool, the remnants of the Divine Court of Thunder, and the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God were meant to be preserved for the descendants of our race!"

No matter how he thought about it, he could not make sense of it.

"At least, this guest did not come to destroy the Thunder Abyss or to wipe out its inhabitants," the Vermilion Bird said.

"To be honest, I came here to escape disaster," Pang Jian admitted.

The Vermilion Bird stared at him, startled. "Escape disaster?"

"Many Outer Gods have stationed themselves in the starry skies above the bizarre mist, plotting the extinction of the human race," Pang Jian explained calmly. "Even now, many of them still linger both within and beyond the bizarre mist.

"I did something that enraged those Outer Gods, and as a result, they wish to hunt me down.

"I felt that returning to the Abyss would be too dangerous, so I chose to hide in the bizarre mist for a while. The Thunder Pool happened to guide me here to the Thunder Abyss.

"That's all there is to it."

The five Rank Ten powerhouses of the Thunder Abyss fell into silence, eyes filled with both shock and intrigue.

"Are you one of the ancient True Gods of the Abyss?" the unicorn quietly asked.

Pang Jian shook his head. "I only recently became a True God."

The unicorn's expression grew solemn with respect. "If you don't mind, you are welcome to explore the Thunder Abyss. I would be honored to show you its wonders."