Chapter 736: Lord Demonheaven

"I probably just miss Lord Sovereign too much," Fa Ji said with a self-deprecating smile.

Glancing up at the sky of the Nether Abyss, his gaze seemed to pierce through the starry skies and land on some distant world.

"If Lord Sovereign were still alive, would Long Di or the Nether Gods dare act so wantonly in the bizarre mist?" he murmured to himself. "Our lord was a Sovereign born in the Demon Abyss. When he was alive, the Nether Abyss was nothing compared to him. What does Long Di amount to in comparison?"

Fa Ji made no effort to hide his reverence for the Sovereign of the Demon Races.

As a great general previously under that Sovereign's command, Fa Ji had followed him across countless campaigns and had witnessed the Sovereign's brilliance with his own eyes.

There were many abysses within the bizarre mist. The Demon Races did not dwell solely in the Demon Abyss. They also lived in abysses such as the Ghost Abyss, the Fire Abyss, the Celestial Abyss, and the Nether Abyss.

In these abysses, any Rank Ten powerhouse of the Demon Races was recognized as a low-ranking Demon God.

Throughout history, many such Demon Gods had broken free from the confines of the abysses, shattering the barriers and soaring into the starry skies beyond.

These Demon Gods formed their own faction in the starry skies, often clashing with the Demon Gods from the worlds beyond in disputes over the Dao of Demon and the rightful legacy.

Without a Sovereign to unify them, the question of which side held the true Dao of Demon was one that could never be definitively answered.

Fa Ji led the Demon Gods from the abysses, while He Motian led the Demon Gods from the starry skies. Each refused to yield to the other.

However, once a Sovereign was born, the struggle for supremacy over the Dao of Demon inevitably came to an end.

That Sovereign, born in the Demon Abyss, once roamed freely through both the bizarre mist and the starry skies. After advancing through the ranks of godhood, he ultimately ascended to become a Sovereign.

He was the pride of the Demon Races and the Demon Gods!

After he became a Sovereign, he unified the Demon Races from both the abysses and the starry skies.

His subordinate, Fa Ji, was naturally unwavering in his loyalty to him. Even the Demon Gods from the starry skies offered their allegiance.

The era when he was still alive was the golden age of the Demon Races, an age the Demon Races and Demon Gods still reminisced about.

That Sovereign had once been Fa Ji's greatest pride, the pillar of his faith.

"Unfortunately, he's no longer with us." After watching the stars in silence for a while, Fa Ji dispiritedly waved his hand.

The Observers within the banners withdrew from their encirclement of Pang Jian and flew back to Fa Ji.

"There's a trace of his aura on you. It's strange. I need to see where it comes from." Fa Ji said, taking out a string of violet demonic pearls. Clutching them in his three-fingered hand, he chanted in a low, guttural tongue of the Demon Races.

The holes within each banner behind him were filled with demonic energy. Dark shadows and devilish light rippled across their surfaces, transforming them into strange worlds. It was as though Fa Ji had just conjured the myriad of abysses where the Demon Races dwelled.

Soon, a demonic array that compelled the truth from its target took shape, drawing power from the abysses unfolding across the banners as it descended upon Pang Jian.

Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul still maintained a connection to his physical body, and he was actively channeling strength from it. His physical body's ability to preserve his will within the turbulent sea of demonic energy in the Fifth World of the Abyss enabled his Immortal Divine Soul to similarly break free from the Observers' encirclement and their beguiling demonic chants.

While he could resist the Observers, he instinctively sensed something was wrong when facing Fa Ji.

After all, Fa Ji was a high-ranking God like He Motian and Zi Mo.

Low-ranking and mid-ranking Gods were relatively common in the starry skies and bizarre mist, but high-ranking Gods numbered only in the dozens.

Each high-ranking God was a renowned figure of great stature, with lived experiences spanning tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand years. Their lives alone could well exceed the entire recorded history of the human race.

The immeasurable strength of high-ranking Gods brought Pang Jian a deep sense of alarm, and he urgently sought to sever his connection with his physical body.

"It's still connected," Fa Ji said softly.

His voice was like a viscous liquid, binding the connection between Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul and his physical body even more tightly. Just as he had once severed Pang Jian's connection with the World God of the Nether Abyss, he just as easily stopped the connection between Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul and his physical body from being broken.

"Step forth!" Fa Ji barked in a low, commanding tone.

The string of violet demonic pearls in Fa Ji's hand glowed, each bead emitting a faint light imbued with his perception. His gaze and that light both swept across Pang Jian's prismatic Immortal Divine Soul.

Using this method and the demonic artifact in his hand, Fa Ji actually managed to lay eyes on Pang Jian's physical body. He had traced Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul to the source!

With that fleeting glimpse, Fa Ji saw Pang Jian's dantian.

He saw a vast sea of greenish-black sea of demonic energy above seven fragmented lands of murky energy, separating them from the fragmented land of crystalline spiritual power above. The stars, sun, and moons cast down their radiant light from the sky of Pang Jian's dantian.

"Demonheaven..." Fa Ji's voice trembled, laced with both joy and sorrow. Tears shimmered in his eyes, and his lips trembled as he repeated, "Demonheaven—My Lord! My Lord!"

Fa Ji's reaction stunned the gathered Outer Gods, including World Gods like Hai Wei.

"Demonheaven... Demonheaven..." the elderly God of the Ghost Race murmured. An expression of dread spread across her wrinkled face. "Could it be? Could it really be?!"

She stared wide-eyed at Fa Ji.

"Lord Fa Ji, did you truly sense Lord Demonheaven's presence?!"

"I saw him," Fa Ji replied before breaking into a violent coughing fit. The violet demonic pearls in his hand shattered one by one, crumbling into crystal dust.

Clusters of demonic souls, forcibly refined and crammed into the pearls, let out ghostly wails and wolf-like howls as their power was exhausted.

The mid-grade divine artifact was ruined, but Fa Ji remained oblivious.

"I saw him! I really saw him!" he shouted repeatedly.

Hai Wei and the other Outer Gods stared at Fa Ji with puzzled eyes. Then, following his gaze, they turned to look at Pang Jian.

"Lord Fa Ji, your eye is bleeding!" Hai Wei called out in alarm.

"I know, I know," Fa Ji said dismissively, casually wiping at his eye with his free hand. Blood continued to spill uncontrollably through the gaps between his fingers, but he did not care. He simply cried mournfully, "Lord Demonheaven!"

"Lord Demonheaven!" Those four words echoed into the abysses on the surface of banners, startling the mighty figures walking the Dao of Demon.

One after another, ancient and withered voices echoed from the banners.

"Fa Ji! Where is Lord Demonheaven?!"

"Fa Ji! Don't joke with us! He fell to that Black Empyrean Phoenix in the Ancient Fey World years ago. Why bring him up now?"

"Fa Ji, what have you discovered?"

It was as if Fa Ji's cry had stirred the demonic beings dwelling within the bizarre mist from their slumber.

"Lord Demonheaven is in the Abyss! I don't know if it's his remains or the Dao he left behind, but it's in the Abyss!" Fa Ji wailed. Then, erupting in furious rage, he roared, "He Motian! I finally understand why you've been clinging to the Abyss and insisting on nurturing demons there. You knew all along!

"You claimed to be waging war to exterminate the human race, but what you were really after was Lord Demonheaven's legacy! You deserve to die a thousand times over, He Motian!"

***

The descending Yuan Yi came to a halt in response to Fa Ji's discovery.

His two outstretched wings shimmered with a radiant, icy light, as if they were divine blades sharp enough to cleave through any tangible matter with ease.

"The Sovereign, Demonheaven, is actually..." Yuan Yi was astonished.

He had a sudden feeling that the secrets buried within the Abyss far surpassed those of the Nether Abyss. A new resolve solidified in his mind.

Regardless of Pang Jian's decision, Yuan Yi made up his mind to enter the Abyss as soon as the battles in the Nether Abyss ended!

***

"If you keep on looking, you could die here in the Nether Abyss," Pang Jian said coldly.

Using Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul to glimpse his physical body, his dantian, and the surrounding environment was clearly draining Fa Ji at an alarming rate.

Blood streamed from his eyes, and the black scales covering his body ruptured with sharp, cracking bursts. If he kept this up, this leader of the Demon Races within the bizarre mist would eventually meet his end here in the Nether Abyss.

"Lord Demonheaven, Lord Demonheaven..." Fa Ji muttered repeatedly, finally withdrawing his demonic energy at Pang Jian's warning, ceasing the burning of his soul and blood essence.

After a long silence, he finally seemed to regain some clarity.

"Why?" he asked. "Why is Lord Demonheaven's divine power manifested in the Abyss as a sky, separating two worlds?"

Pang Jian shook his head. "I don't know."

"What a shame I couldn't enter the Abyss before! Even though I'm a World God, the Abyss is the one abyss I could never step into, even with a World God Pendant!" Fa Ji cried out in frustration, stomping his foot in the air. "I knew He Motian had his sights set on the Abyss. Why didn't I try to uncover its secrets long ago? I—"

Pang Jian was taken aback. "You couldn't enter the Abyss despite being a World God?"

"That's right. There's something strange with the Abyss. No World God aside from the previous World God of the Nether Abyss has been able to set foot there, not even with a World God Pendant," Fa Ji admitted with a cold laugh. "If we'd been able to enter earlier, we would've at least scoured the place for treasures! But now that the grand event is upon us, a path will likely open soon."