Chapter 664: Using Qi Xu to Experiment

Each bee was an extension of Pang Jian.

Whenever necessary, he could even channel a wisp of his consciousness into one, allowing it to act as his proxy.

The golden bee fluttered before Li Zhaotian and said in human tongue, "Master, Li Yuqing has found me."

After forging his Immortal Divine Soul in the Imperial Dominion, Pang Jian had opened up to Li Zhaotian about many of his deepest secrets.

Among these was his connection with the black turtle, the Black Dragon King, Pang Ling, and the Bee Sovereign, as well as the golden bees under his command.

Thus, Li Zhaotian was not surprised when he heard Pang Jian's voice from the golden bee, his round face breaking into a broad smile. "You're alright, then?"

"I'm doing well." Pang Jian did not mention how he had used Corruption to forge a Divine Persona due to the other True Gods present. Instead, he simply said, "I understand the situation. Let me give it a try."

The bee, covered in what appeared to be golden exoskeletal armor, shot toward where Li Wang and the others were trapped.

It slipped seamlessly into the sealed space.

All the gathered True Gods turned their gazes toward the golden bee, watching as it vanished.

A faint glimmer appeared within the otherworldly domain, only to be extinguished just as quickly.

It was snuffed out like an insignificant spark.

The bee perished instantly.

After all, it was simply not as powerful as Zhu Ji's, Gui Mu's, and Li Wang's towering Dharma Idols.

Zhu Ji and the others had only survived in the Sixth World because they were among the most powerful True Gods of the human race.

The bee, on the other hand, was far too frail. It was merely a marker, an extension of Pang Jian's eyes through which he could investigate the Sixth World.

Pang Jian intended to use it to test whether anything he released could still maintain a connection with him while in the Sixth World.

Now, he knew that they could.

The connection between Pang Jian and the bee remained intact even after it entered the Sixth World, allowing him to perceive the dense murky energy saturating that world.

Had the bee been stronger and capable of withstanding the environment longer, he could have uncovered far greater mysteries.

If it could survive indefinitely, he could have even flown it to Gui Mu, Li Wang, and Zhu Ji, establishing direct communication with the three True Gods.

"It's useless. Something so feeble will perish the moment it enters," Jiang Fan remarked.

Despite the flicker of intrigue in his eyes at Pang Jian's methods, he remained unconvinced.

"Even the foreign races and the ancient Fey Gods could not unravel the mysteries of the depths below," Jiang Fan said with a hint of resignation. "No one who ventures there has ever returned. There's no point wasting our efforts on a lost cause."

"There is. Some things can return to the world above," Pang Jian said through another golden bee, darting through the air as it approached. "The Primordial Demon, which I cast into the deeper Seventh World using the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest, emerged again.

"He's still lurking within the Abyss, biding his time for an opportunity to strike.

"The Sovereign also descended. I don't know if she ventured into the Sixth World or the Seventh World, but I'm certain that she'll eventually return as well.

"These supposedly immutable laws of the Abyss can be broken and bent. For instance, the Abyss is already allowing Rank Nine foreign race warriors to infiltrate through the bizarre mist. In time, it could even permit Rank Ten powerhouses to enter as well."

Pang Jian continued to outline his latest discoveries, informing the True Gods of the challenges they would soon face.

"Wait a moment. Let me try something else."

The golden bee then settled beside Li Zhaotian so Pang Jian could share his latest insights and newfound understanding with his master.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

***

Back in the bizarre mist of the Fifth World, Pang Jian opened the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest to see Qi Xu of the Flame Race still curled up inside.

Qi Xu had not vanished. It seemed the peculiar chest was functioning as expected.

The reason the Primordial Demon had escaped was likely because he was far more powerful than Qi Xu, allowing him to break past the chest's restraints and slip away unnoticed.

"I've been inside before," said the Black Dragon King, eyes flickering with recollection. "A long time ago, I tried to use that chest to comprehend the darkness of the Seventh World.

"But that's not the true Seventh World.

"It's merely a replication, an imitation designed to simulate its environment.

"I've sensed the Seventh World firsthand. While the two share many similarities, there is a fundamental difference between them."

As the Black Dragon King stared at the chest, he could not help but recall another World God.

"The darkness I felt within the chest was artificial. My bloodline, soul, and insights into the Dao of Darkness barely reacted to it.

"However, when I perceived the true Seventh World through another means, my bloodline, soul, and insights into the Dao of Darkness all resonated in unison.

"I can tell the difference between the real and fake."

The Black Dragon King's words instantly shattered Pang Jian's previous assumptions.

The Primordial Demon had not been banished to the Seventh World, nor had it escaped from there.

Its escape was related to the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest itself!

Primordial Demon had never truly entered the Seventh World, instead using the chest to immerse himself in an environment nearly identical to the Seventh World.

It was likely he had never left the chest at all!

"I see." Pang Jian nodded lightly. "Stay here. Don't leave the bizarre mist. I'll be back shortly!"

The lid of the chest snapped shut with a crisp click.

Pang Jian teleported directly from the depths of the bizarre mist to the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar on the Fifth Continent, appearing in the City Lord's Mansion of Eight Trigrams City.

His gaze briefly flickered toward the pool where the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest once rested before soaring away from the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar.

The seven fragmented lands of crystalline murky energy above the darkness in his dantian surged with renewed power.

Pang Jian had expended an immense amount of murky energy to forge his Divine Persona. After leaving the bizarre mist, he instinctively replenished that lost murky energy.

Before long, he arrived at the edge of the Fifth Continent, where the darkness stretched endlessly below.

The chest creaked open once more. A chilling pale-green glow flickered in Pang Jian's eyes as he stared at Qi Xu with unsettling intensity.

A wave of unease surged through Qi Xu's heart, but she forced calm into her voice as she said, "Pang Jian, I've already fallen into your hands. Do whatever you want to me. You can kill me, torture me—it's up to you. But what exactly do you intend to do to me?"

Her injuries were far too severe to recover from in a short time. Li Yuqing's attack and the Black Dragon King's suppression in the absolute darkness had already devastated her body, divine soul, and bloodline.

Qi Xu was on the brink of mental collapse.

With her strength at less than a tenth of her peak, she knew all too well that she stood no chance against Pang Jian.

Worse still, now that Pang Jian had successfully ascended using Corruption, she could no longer see through him or probe his intentions as before.

"I want to use you to run an experiment."

A narrow slit opened at Pang Jian's brow, and a series of runes, etched with his will, darted directly into Qi Xu's sea of consciousness.

Within her sea of consciousness, those floating runes surrounded her ethereal soul, like an eerie green lake around an island.

Qi Xu lacked a Divine Persona, so her soul had never attained tangible form. Only her heart had undergone a transformation when she ascended to Rank Ten.

In other words, she barely even qualified as a low-ranking God.

The reason for this was simple: she lacked the true authority of a divine being.

She had no temples raised in her name, no altars consecrated in her honor, no domain to call her own, and, most crucially, no devoted followers to venerate her as a God. She was missing far too many of the fundamental pillars that defined a divine being.

While Pang Jian also lacked these things, he still had a Divine Persona, which automatically elevated him to the rank of a mid-ranking God.

You Kui's profound understanding of the soul and his insights into the Dao of Soul were the cornerstone of Pang Jian's Divine Persona. His elevated status and mastery over soul-related techniques made seizing control of Qi Xu's soul effortless.

"I will use your body to explore the Sixth World. It's possible you'll never return, forever doomed to roam its depths. But through you, I will gain a direct understanding of what lies below.

"Now, go." Pang Jian waved his hand in clear dismissal.

"I won't go!" Qi Xu screamed. "I refuse to enter the Sixth World! Even if you kill me—"

Her body flew uncontrollably out of the box.

Terror filled her face as she shrieked, "Pang Jian, what did you do to me? My body, I—"

The river of runes encircling her ethereal soul shimmered like distant stars.

Her thoughts and will twisted under the influence of these runes, compelling her body to move against her desires.

The mighty powerhouse of the Flame Race abruptly realized she was no different from a puppet vessel. Her mind was distorted, and her body turned into a means to an end.

By the time the horror set in, she was already sinking into the darkness, unable to utter another word.

***

In the outer reaches of the Eastern Land, the golden bee beside Li Zhaotian suddenly drew everyone's attention.

"In a moment, I will cast a foreign race powerhouse into the Sixth World," the golden bee said. "Let's watch and see if their situation mirrors that of Li Wang and the others.

"The force corrupting Li Wang and the others is a higher concentration of dense murky energy in the Sixth World. Its nature directly clashes with their divine power.

"The bees I sent before were similarly refined using spiritual power.

"However, the foreign race powerhouses carry Corruption within them. They won't succumb to the same fate," the golden bee theorized.

The gathered True Gods stared in stunned silence, expressions filled with disbelief as they glanced between the bee and the hazy, ethereal domain before them.

Pang Jian...threw a foreign race powerhouse into the Sixth World?

What exactly is Pang Jian doing at the depths of the Abyss? How did he acquire such terrifying power?

His formidable Immortal Divine Soul isn't even in the Abyss! How can his physical body alone act with such absolute dominance?

The True Gods had endless questions.

Even Jiang Fan, the person with the least interest in rescuing Gui Mu and the others, found himself bewildered at this turn of events.

A streak of crimson lightning suddenly appeared within the hazy, ethereal domain.

"It's Qi Xu of the Flame Race!"

"She—she really appeared in the Sixth World!"