Chapter 777: The Might of a Sovereign

Inside the ruined temple, Hei Lian stared at the sword-wielding man with eyes filled with confusion. "Bi Lin...you and him..."

"Alike, aren't we?" Bi Lin replied with a radiant smile.

"You look like you were carved from the same mold!"

Hei Lian had known Bi Lin for many years, but it had never crossed his mind that there could be another being who so closely resembled his companion, not just in appearance, but also in bearing, presence, and even the aura he radiated. Their features, their unruly confidence, and even their cultivation methods felt nearly identical.

When Hei Lian stared at the intruding figure, he felt as if he were looking at another version of Bi Lin. It was hard to believe.

"Bi Lin, who is he exactly?" he asked, a black crescent sigil appearing between his brows.

A matching black crescent manifested above the temple, radiating an eerie light as an ancient voice of demonic judgment echoed down.

Hei Lian employed a secret technique that probed one's soul, and was soon shocked to discover an undeniable connection between the intruder and Bi Lin's soul!

How can that be?! How can there be two Demon Gods so alike in both appearance and cultivation realm?

What's more, Bi Lin clearly knows the other man! Why has Bi Lin never mentioned the existence of such a person?

"He's another me." Bi Lin smiled, gently patting Hei Lian's shoulder and gesturing for him to settle down. "Focus on your battle, Hei Lian. I've waited a long time for his arrival. He chose the worst possible time. I almost feel sorry for him."

Hei Lian watched as Bi Lin drifted out of the ruined temple to stand beneath the pouring rain, unfolding a massive black, bone-forged umbrella.

Standing proud and aloof beneath the umbrella, his black eyes brimming with fighting spirit, he grinned. "The one with Demonheaven's cloak is clashing with Yan Lie, Sovereign Luo's most trusted enforcer.

"I just happened to be beside Hei Lian and witnessed everything through him. So I doubt he'll be able to help you this time."

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The Abyssal Demon smiled. "So that's why you're so confident."

"Even with his help, I didn't fear you. The one you awakened, Yuan Hui, will cause me far more trouble than you. Before you showed up, I regarded Yuan Hui as my greatest opponent.

"Fortunately, she let love entangle her life and gave up everything for it. That made her easier to deal with. You, though..."

There was a trace of reproach in Bi Lin's tone. To him, the Abyssal Demon was merely another version of himself.

Like him, the Abyssal Demon knew his true origins and sought to rebel against his fate, seeking to refine the other fragments before ultimately challenging the Primordial Demon.

Still, Bi Lin could not truly hate this other self.

"I'm more than capable of refining you, even without Pang Jian's help," the Abyssal Demon said coldly. Six illusory Demonic Realms unfolded behind him, pressing down upon both Bi Lin and the world itself. "I'll go for Yuan Hui once I'm done with you."

"That works out perfectly," Bi Lin replied with a smile.

The two most complete and self-aware fragments of the Primordial Demon clashed in a fierce battle.

***

Atop the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar on the Fifth Continent, seven radiant starry rivers gleamed brilliantly behind Pang Jian.

Starlight shimmered in the depths of these seven starry rivers, embodying the essences of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, cold, and lightning, each subtly resonating with one of the seven continents of the Fifth World.

Suddenly, the barriers shrouding the seven continents vanished, and the continents themselves trembled in response.

An earth-shaking power erupted from Pang Jian, stirring the seven Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars, and with them, the foundation of the seven continents!

"Suppress!" Pang Jian shouted, voice crashing down upon Yan Lie's towering body.

The arcs of lightning around Yan Lie's body, the manifestations of his Dao of Fire, the runes etched into his massive armor, and even the Fire Spirits came under the crushing weight of an ancient force.

An unfathomably boundless force erupted from the hearts of the seven continents and descended upon Yan Lie. Behind Pang Jian, the seven starry rivers corresponding to the seven continents blazed to life, the stars within flaring all at once.

Yan Lie, towering over ten thousand zhang and cloaked in layers of profound techniques, found himself struggling to move under the heavy suppression. At the same time, the vast demonic wills of eighteen Demon Gods invaded his mind and soul, destabilizing him.

Though immense divine power still coursed through him, Yan Lie could no longer fully unleash it. Thoughts of comfort, indulgence, and the desire to retreat into ease swiftly drowned out any idea of resistance.

Clusters of black, green, and violet demonic souls poisoned his mind, making it harder and harder for him to focus.

"My Lord..." Yan Lie called out for help.

In that instant, he saw the barrier unleashed by the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar tightly binding Luo Hongyan.

Pang Jian charged past Yan Lie atop the Thunder Pool, wielding a colossal, radiant white pillar that he brought crashing down on Luo Hongyan's head.

"My Lord!" Yan Lie cried, but the combined wills of the eighteen Demon Gods silenced him.

A wave of unease rippled through Yan Lie. He knew just how much strength Luo Hongyan had sacrificed to elevate Sha Jia, Lie Yang, and Ah Man to mid-ranking godhood. Decapitating that terrifying Black Dragon King had also greatly drained her.

Moreover, the one commanding them in the Abyss was not even her true body but a vessel. Yan Lie could not help but wonder if she could stand against the increasingly incomprehensible Pang Jian while in this weakened state.

Yan Lie blamed himself. If he had recovered his peak strength, Luo Hongyan would not have had to endure an attack from someone like Pang Jian.

***

Surprise flickered in Luo Hongyan's otherwise emotionless eyes. She had never imagined that Pang Jian would ever dare to strike at her with a weapon.

"You dare raise your hand against me?" she muttered. "Cold."

Pang Jian's starry rivers responded like a silken veil caught in her grasp. The cold energy at the heart of the starry rivers changed hands as her lofty aura poured into it, rewriting the Dao of Cold within and bending it to her will.

In the blink of an eye, the starry rivers were transformed into a single, crystal-edged frost blade, its icy light flowing like starlight. The blade stretched for ten thousand li, one end reaching toward the sky of the Fifth World and the other anchored to her divine soul.

The explosive barrage of Five Thunder Annihilation rained down in full force. Bolts of five-colored lightning crashed against the massive frost blade.

The blade withstood the onslaught like a glacial fortress wall. It held firm, blocking the full force of Five Thunder Annihilation and its accompanying lightning.

Luo Hongyan narrowed her eyes, a glint of cold light flashing within them. "Freeze."

Her voice carried the Dao of Cold far beyond Pang Jian's comprehension.

A mist-like frost spread from the blade, flooding outward to engulf Pang Jian, the Thunder Pool beneath him, and the arcs of lightning scattered through the air. Pang Jian felt as though he was sealed within a divine domain of his own making, one that had been transformed into a world of ice and turned against him.

It was a world shrouded in dense white mist, where raging blizzards ran wild. Bone-piercing winds howled like terrifying beasts, battering his sea of consciousness and slashing at his body. His arms, blood, and bones grew numb, while his divine sense, thoughts, and will slowly drifted toward incognizance.

A chill rose from the depths of Pang Jian's soul.

So, this is a Sovereign!

This was, in the truest sense, his first real clash with Luo Hongyan. Only after this exchange did he finally grasp the monstrous power that Sovereigns from the starry skies held.

The Dao of Cold was merely one of Luo Hongyan's six foundational Daos. It was not even the core Dao that had elevated her to a Sovereign. However, with just this one Dao, she had effortlessly stripped away the starry rivers from his divine domain, forging them into a blade of glacial brilliance.

Although the starry rivers had originally belonged to Pang Jian, Luo Hongyan had thoroughly taken control over the Dao of Cold, cold energy, and divine constructs woven into them. Furthermore, she had refined them beyond what he could achieve.

"You're supposed to behold me the way a frog in a well gazes at the stars, forever straining in vain to glimpse the vastness of the skies. Daring to even think of opposing me is already an act of blasphemy."

Luo Hongyan advanced leisurely through the swirling mist, the frost blade in hand. Stars glittered within the glacial blade, each radiating a cold that pierced to the bone.

The blade, stretching ten thousand li in length, was a weapon as natural for her to wield as breathing.

Then, she struck.

There was no mercy in her eyes, no emotion on her face, no trace of sentiment for their shared past.

Pang Jian raised his Five Thunder Annihilation to block, but the frost blade shattered it with casual ease. It exploded into a shower of gleaming silver shards and scattered lightning. In the blink of an eye, Five Thunder Annihilation had been reduced to scrap.

"Cold surge," Luo Hongyan murmured.

The chill that had already seeped into Pang Jian's flesh, bones, soul, and Divine Persona intensified tenfold, freezing him into a statue of ice from the inside out.

Luo Hongyan's lips curled in disdain. "My comprehension of the Dao of Cold is leagues beyond yours, yet you dared to flaunt your pitiful insight before me as if performing a cheap trick before a master."

Though she hovered at the same height as Pang Jian, it felt as if she was on an entirely different plane of existence—aloof, untouchable, and divine. When she looked at Pang Jian, her eyes held the weight of a supreme being looking down upon an ant.