Chapter 706: Subduing the Ancient Thunder Dragon

Having lived under Pang Jian's care since childhood, Pang Lin had what could only be described as blind faith in her older brother. In her eyes, her brother was capable of anything.

This certainty in her brother's abilities had only grown after hearing about his exploits across the Abyss and learning that he was Li Zhaotian's personal disciple.

No one in this world could stand in his way. Not even that tyrannical Thunder Dragon!

Wang Beihong, an Immortal Realm elder of the Pure Land Sect, stared hopelessly as the lightning shattered the expanse of crimson and annihilated the demonic clouds dotting the sky. In secret, he repeatedly warned the Pure Land Sect disciples deep underground to brace themselves and sustain the Glazed Purification Divine Array at all costs to prevent the array from collapsing.

"How is he going to get here? We don't even know where he is!" Wang Beihong despaired. Swallowing a pill to enhance his soul essence, he turned to Guang He and said, "I'll head into the core of the array and try to reinforce it from within!

"After the array inevitably collapses, I hope you can use the Sword Pavilion and put some pressure on that ancient dragon."

With that, the Immortal Realm elder of the Pure Land Sect melted into the earth like flowing water.

"Pang girl, when will he arrive?" Liu Junhong asked urgently.

"Soon!" Pang Lin answered, biting her lip gently.

***

In the sky, Long Xiao had once again taken on the form of an elderly man in a green robe.

"Since you two are eager to die, don't blame me for being ruthless," Long Xiao sneered.

Standing barefoot atop a branch of the Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree, he plucked another Dao Fruit infused with the insights of the Duke of Thunder's Dao of Lightning and swallowed it in a single gulp.

Deep within his sea of consciousness, his divine soul gradually shaped into a real, tangible form.

Long Xiao was truly overjoyed when he sensed the transformation of his divine soul. His talent and insights into the Dao of Lightning meant he had long since met all the conditions required to ascend to a mid-ranking God. All he had needed to do was break through the barrier and free himself of the shackles of the fundamental laws of the Abyss.

Ascending as a mid-ranking God would come effortlessly after that.

However, the recent shift in the fundamental laws of the Abyss allowed Long Xiao to ascend without breaking through the barrier!

"Go!" The nine lightning vortexes, each a thousand zhang tall, surged out from beside the towering Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree, sweeping toward Dong Tianze, Wu Yuan, Dong Shangqing, and Li Jie.

Long Xiao's greatest weakness had always been his divine soul. As a Fey God, his divine soul somewhat lacked control over lightning compared to other races.

After swallowing the Dao Fruit and initiating the transformation of his divine soul into a Divine Persona, he gained the ability to command lightning with delicate precision through his divine soul alone.

The nine lightning vortexes shot forward without needing the crystal bloodline chains in his heart or his blood essence to drive them forward.

A mere ripple of his divine soul was all it took for his divine power to unfold in all its splendor.

Behind Wu Yuan, a flickering space cracked open, and a cascade of lightning spheres came pouring out.

The barrage of lightning spheres instantly blasted apart the massive demonic stone that Wu Yuan had summoned, causing the rising star of the Dao of Demon to suffer yet another grievous wound.

A muffled explosion echoed from the other end of the battlefield.

Blinding lightning bolts burst forth from different illusory worlds like savage serpents and monstrous pythons in pursuit of the fleeing Dong Tianze.

In Long Xiao's hands, the Mirage Dragon Pearl could manifest illusory worlds, each capable of bearing the divine might of his lightning.

Illusory worlds would quietly emerge with nothing more than a thought from Long Xiao. The lightning unleashed from these worlds struck with devastating force.

Dong Shangqing and Li Jie were also caught in similar situations!

A broad lightning bolt streaked toward Dong Shangqing and Li Jie, and blinding arcs of lightning wove together around them.

Dong Shangqing let out a bitter smile, sending forth seventy-two talismans in a futile attempt to defend against Long Xiao's overwhelming assault.

The seventy-two talismans, each corresponding to a star in the starry skies, shone brightly as they surrounded Dong Shangqing and Li Jie, but the broad lightning bolt obliterated more than half of them in the blink of an eye.

"Li Jie, get out of here! I've already called Pei Yishan. He's on his way!" Dong Shangqing cried, flinging the Qilin Bell out of the perilous sea of lightning with a flick of his sleeve. Then, raising his voice, he shouted at Long Xiao, "Elder Long, do you truly have to take things so far?"

"What if I do?" Long Xiao laughed wildly. "I held back before because I lacked the confidence to face Zhu Ji. Your human race also had many more True Gods than we Fey Race have Fey Gods.

"But now I have the chance to become the first mid-ranking God in the Abyss. What do I have left to fear?"

"Once I ascend as a mid-ranking God, there will be no one in the Abyss I need to fear, save for that Sovereign in the lower worlds. Nobody can stop me once I ascend. Not you, Dong Shangqing, and not Pei Yishan.

"Anyone who dares to stand in my way will die here in the Abyss!"

The ancient Thunder Dragon had no intention of letting anyone walk away alive. He was determined to wipe out Dong Tianze, Wu Yuan, Dong Shangqing, and Pei Yishan in one fell swoop. He intended to use this battle to exterminate every last human race True God that still roamed the upper worlds.

After the battle, there was a high chance he could refine a Divine Persona from the Dao Fruit. Even if Zhu Ji, Li Zhaotian, or Gui Mu survived and escaped the Fifth World, he would no longer fear them. What's more, the Sovereign who had reached a silent understanding with him might not even allow those human race True Gods to leave unscathed.

"The winds of change have begun to blow. Once I become a mid-ranking God within the Abyss, the Fey Race will rise to glory once more!"

Long Xiao stood with his hands behind his back atop a branch of the Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree, his domineering aura on full display. Grinning savagely, he said, "I'll start by executing these two human heretics in the name of justice."

Ahead of Dong Tianze, five illusory worlds appeared in quick succession, each one forming a wall of tightly woven lightning.

With twisting bolts of lightning chasing him from behind and walls blocking the path ahead, Dong Tianze was trapped in a desperate situation.

You shouldn't have been so hasty. You haven't fully tempered your Blood God body, and your divine soul isn't stable yet. We should've laid low a while longer. Sigh... That ancient dragon really is powerful.

If things go south, use a blood escape technique and get out of here. Even if it costs you, we can still escape his clutches and take our revenge another day.

The sword soul within the Bloodthirsty Sword kept whispering in his mind, urging Dong Tianze to make the wise choice before it was too late.

A streak of ghostly light suddenly pierced through the Glazed Purification Divine Array, appearing in a flash before the wall of lightning blocking Dong Tianze's path. A massive, white crystalline pillar came crashing down with a thunderous roar, slamming into the wall of lightning.

A blinding burst of light exploded from the impact, forcing Dong Tianze to shut his eyes as the wall shattered with a deafening boom.

Just before he closed them, he caught sight of Pang Jian emerging and couldn't help but curl his lips into a cold smile.

He knew that with Pang Jian now on the battlefield, the battle ahead would be far easier. No matter how powerful Long Xiao was, he would no longer have full control over the situation.

Multicolored bolts of lightning exploded across the void where Wu Yuan stood. Yet, instead of destroying his body, the massive bolts of lightning snuffed out the hostile lightning that had sought to kill him, allowing Wu Yuan to remain completely unharmed.

Even the broad arc of lightning streaking toward Dong Shangqing vanished strangely and silently, erased by some unknown force.

Then, before the Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree suspended high in the void, a tall figure clad in black with jet-black hair appeared. His face looked as if it had been meticulously sculpted, every line sharp and angular, and exuding an unyielding defiance. His eyes were deep as the sea, brimming with unfathomable mystery.

With his arrival, the rampant lightning scattered across the battlefield instantly became docile, as meek as lambs. The deadly crises facing Dong Tianze, Wu Yuan, and Dong Shangqing were all quietly dissolved by his presence.

Before anyone could even make sense of the situation, the three had already taken out powerful healing elixirs and started swallowing them, clearly convinced that the storm had passed and that Long Xiao would no longer be stirring up any waves.

"Pang Jian!" Li Jie, hiding inside the Qilin Bell, let out a startled cry from within.

"Pang Jian!" From below, within the Glazed Purification Divine Array, the members of the Pure Land Sect, the elders of the Sword Pavilion, several sword souls, and even the elders of the Divine Treasure Sect, watching from a distance, all cried out in unison.

He had appeared for just a flash near the golden bee, then vanished just as quickly.

Even Pang Lin had not seen him clearly before he slipped out of the Glazed Purification Divine Array and appeared before the domineering Thunder Dragon.

"We meet again," Pang Jian said as he came to a quiet halt. With long black hair flowing wildly in the wind, Pang Jian grinned at Long Xiao before him. Behind him, a slender spatial rift tore open, glowing with radiant light.

Deep within the spatial rift stretched a vast sea of bizarre mist. Within the bizarre mist, a skeletal creature with wings, its form somewhere between lion and tiger, was flying side by side with another Pang Jian, one surrounded by swirling multicolored light.

The skeletal being turned its head curiously, hollow eye sockets flickering with eerie blue flames.

The other Pang Jian simply smiled and, with a carefree motion, tossed the Thunder Pool into the spatial rift.

That miniature Thunder Pool passed through the spatial rift and reappeared within the Abyss, resting gently in Pang Jian's palm.

He then turned to Long Xiao and smiled once more. That smile sent a chill down Long Xiao's spine, shattering all the confidence the ancient Thunder Dragon had left.

"I'll leave the Abyss right now! From this day forth, I will never set foot in the Abyss again! Pang Jian, there's no real enmity between us! I've committed no unforgivable sin! Please spare me just this one time!"

Long Xiao's elderly face had turned deathly pale, his courage, arrogance, and domineering pride vanishing without a trace.

Overwhelmed with terror, he bolted straight toward the barrier of the Abyss, abandoning even the Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree in his panic. His only thought was to escape as fast as possible.

Pang Jian shook his head. "Your mistake can only be paid for with your life."

The Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree's thick branches turned supple like coiling vines before reaching out to wrap around Long Xiao.

Long Xiao hastily reverted to his dragon form to flee, but it was already too late. The branches latched onto his body and pulled him downward.

The Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree had changed hands when Pang Jian appeared with the Thunder Pool in hand. It no longer belonged to Long Xiao.

The ancient Thunder Dragon had reigned supreme over the Dao of Lightning in the Abyss for millennia. Despite this, he could not even last a single breath before Pang Jian.

It only took moments for Pang Jian to capture him alive.