Chapter 709: The Ethereal Beauty Appears Once More

The Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar on the Fifth Continent radiated a soft cyan glow in the darkness, standing tall in the cold, desolate wilderness, shielding the vast continent below.

Zhu Ji and the others failed to break through the pillar's barrier and remained unable to set foot on the continent.

Suddenly, a tall figure with black hair and eyes appeared atop the pillar, hovering directly above Eight Trigrams City so Li Zhaotian and the others could easily catch sight of him. He glanced over, offered them a small smile, and gave a gentle nod in greeting.

"It's Pang Jian!" Li Wang and the others shouted from beyond the barrier, their voices brimming with unrestrained joy.

Li Zhaotian's lips stretched into a crooked grin of triumph. Shooting a smug look at Li Wang and the others, he raised his brows and boasted, "What did I say? We all know he's the World God! Entering this sealed Fifth World is nothing to a World God! You believe me now, don't you? I said Pang Jian would appear, and I was right!"

"I'm starting to believe he could really break through the barrier around the continents as well!" Li Wang exclaimed, spirits lifting.

The aged Jiang Fan was the most impatient of all. His voice was low and urgent as he barked, "It has to be soon. I don't think I can hold out much longer!"

As the weakest in the group, he naturally had the least resistance to the encroaching aura of death. He feared he would soon follow in the footsteps of Li Yuanli and Wanderer Tian Du.

"Is this the power of a World God?" Su Wanrou murmured, astonished. While she had always held high hopes for Pang Jian, the sight of him above Eight Trigrams City left her shocked. She simply could not fathom how he appeared there.

"That Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar, and Eight Trigrams City above it, marked the start of his rise," Li Zhaotian said, squinting his small eyes. "We can't break the barrier, but as the World God, he naturally has a way. All we need to do is wait.

"Old Zhu, there's no need to keep exhausting yourself. From here on out, leave it to my disciple, Pang Jian," Li Zhaotian advised with a bright smile.

"Alright." Zhu Ji finally stopped, turning his curious gaze toward the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar.

***

After teleporting from the First World to above the City Lord's Mansion, Pang Jian gazed down at the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest resting in the pool below. He then extended his perception to the seven continents and their corresponding Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars.

The Black Dragon King had previously informed him that Li Yuanli and Wanderer Tian Du's clusters of Fortune had flown into this pillar, but he could not sense any trace of it.

After some thought, his expression shifted. Drifting down to the pool, he reached for the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest and opened it to reveal the endless darkness within.

As Pang Jian stared into that pitch-black darkness, he felt as if he had been transported back to the silent void of the Seventh World.

The chest appeared to have undergone changes in Luo Hongyan's hands. It no longer merely simulated the Seventh World, but was truly connected to it!

A faint glimmer of light laced with the aura of death and cold flickered within the darkness like a firefly, pulsing with a strange divine power.

Pang Jian shut the lid of the chest and tossed it back into the pool. He had figured out the truth behind the missing clusters of Fortune.

Luo Hongyan had seized the two clusters of Fortune via the chest, allowing them to be sent to her body, where they were forged into two new Divine Personas.

Following the Divine Persona of Death, she had formed the Divine Persona of Light and the Divine Persona of Cold.

This was why Pang Jian had seen Luo Hongyan's light, infused with death and cold, battling against the Black Empyrean Phoenix's darkness in the Seventh World.

Her first Divine Persona within the Abyss had been forged through a human woman in the Imperial Dominion. This Divine Persona of Death was formed through Fortune, not Corruption, the essence of the Black Empyrean Phoenix.

Her subsequent Divine Personas of Light and Cold were also forged through Fortune, capitalizing on the deaths of Li Yuanli and Wanderer Tian Du.

The Fifth World was now filled with her aura of death, which she was using to relentlessly erode the vitality of Li Wang, Jiang Fan, and the others. Her aim seemed to be the death of the True Gods so she could harvest more Fortune.

Though she had risen as a Sovereign through the Dao of Light in the starry skies, she also commanded darkness, comprehended life and death, and fused the opposing forces of flame and frost. Evidently, her goal was to forge six corresponding Divine Personas within the Abyss, and she still lacked three clusters of Fortune.

But why Fortune? Is forming six Divine Personas using Fortune the key to countering the Black Empyrean Phoenix's resurrection?

Why doesn't she seize the essence of the Black Empyrean Phoenix? If she wants to eradicate the Sovereign of the Fey Race, isn't the surest way to devour its essence and prevent it from completing its nirvanic rebirth?

Pang Jian could not figure it out.

There was also the fact that he could once again resonate with the seven Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars and teleport directly to Eight Trigrams City. This meant Luo Hongyan's control over the pillars had weakened.

The power and safeguards the Celestial Phoenix had once hidden within the pillars were now fully in the hands of the Black Empyrean Phoenix.

The Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars stood upon the seven continents, stabilizing them and preventing them from fracturing.

These pillars restricted the ascent of the foreign races and suppressed the awakening of ancient Fey Race bloodlines, but their most important role was maintaining the structural integrity of the seven continents.

Why do the continents have to remain whole? Why can't even a single one be allowed to shatter? Could it be....

Hovering high above Eight Trigrams City, Pang Jian used the fragmented lands in his dantian to resonate with the seven continents, sensing the profound mysteries of the Fifth World.

He tightly gripped the bronze pendant and silently reached out to the seven Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars.

Two vast wills permeated them.

These wills pervaded the dense murky energy, the aura of death corroding Li Wang and the others, and even deep within the radiant barriers around the continents!

The entirety of the Fifth World was nothing more than part of a battlefield for the two hidden wills.

The two unfathomably powerful Sovereigns were locked in a battle that played out not only at the remains of the Black Empyrean Phoenix in the Seventh World but also across the entire Fifth World. It was likely that the Sixth World was not exempt either!

Lie Yang, Sha Jia, Jing Sha, and Ah Man had all advanced to Rank Ten through the essence of the Black Empyrean Phoenix. Despite this, they obeyed Luo Hongyan.

The essence of the Black Empyrean Phoenix could stir their hearts and subtly influence their will, but Luo Hongyan's appearance in the Abyss had diminished its influence. Her status as a Sovereign commanded awe, her shared origin as a fellow foreign race fostered kinship, and her promise to lead them toward the First World inspired genuine loyalty.

This, too, was a form of warfare—a battle of allegiance!

Pang Jian was deeply shaken.

If not for the seven fragmented lands in his dantian resonating with the seven continents and the bronze pendant's mysterious link to the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars, he would never have detected the hidden wills of those two Sovereigns permeating the lower worlds.

The black turtle, the Bee Sovereign, and Pang Ling are my eyes, allowing me to perceive the world around them.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

I bear the essence of the Black Empyrean Phoenix within me. Does that mean I'm unwittingly acting as the Black Empyrean Phoenix's eyes in the same way?

Lie Yang, Sha Jia, Jing Sha, the Black Dragon King, and Ah Man also carry the essence of the Black Empyrean Phoenix. Can they escape the Black Empyrean Phoenix's influence?

Murky energy and Corruption all originate from the Black Empyrean Phoenix. Can its perception extend through the spread of the murky energy? If so, that would mean every corner of any world tainted with murky energy is under its ever-watchful gaze. If that's the case, are the continents shrouded in the aura of death also infused with Luo Hongyan's will?

Pang Jian's scalp tingled at the terrifying thought.

Despite this, he felt like he had barely scratched the surface of a Sovereign's true power. Tremors rippled through his heart. It seemed his knowledge was still far too shallow.

Being a Sovereign meant that their will alone could effortlessly dominate an entire world. The will of a Sovereign could influence the lands, stars, energies, living beings, and even the soul!

Battles at this level transcended physical clashes. Conflicts were waged through the divine soul and were far more profound than any entanglement of the Heavenly Daos.

The battle between the two Sovereigns in the Fifth World extended from the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars to the chaotic blend of murky energy and the aura of death. It was likely unfolding even within the subconscious of living beings.

Even so, Pang Jian had been completely unaware until now. Even Zhu Ji, Li Wang, and Gui Mu, as mighty and wise as they were, remained oblivious to this invisible battle raging in the Fifth World.

They were merely collateral in a far greater conflict. Their bodies and souls were merely one of many minor battlegrounds for the two Sovereigns.

The Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest in the pool within the City Lord's Mansion abruptly opened on its own, though not a single drop of water flowed into it.

A glow gathered from the darkness within the chest.

The rippling light gradually took the form of a breathtaking figure. She wore an intricately-patterned white robe and a flawless face etched with cold indifference.

It was a projection of Luo Hongyan—the true her, not the physical body she had forged in the Abyss.

She raised her head to gaze calmly at Pang Jian.

"I still need three more clusters of Fortune," she said, voice calm and unwavering. "The rate at which the aura of death is corrupting them is too slow for me. They're not dying fast enough, and I need their Fortune as soon as possible.

"I'll let you decide which three True Gods will fall, so that I can claim their Fortune.

"In return, the human race will be allowed to continue living within the Abyss. They will still have a place in the First and Second Worlds. The Gods beyond will cease hunting the True Gods of your human race. The human race will once again be granted the right to exist in the starry skies.

"All you need to do is ensure that three True Gods die quickly."