Chapter 785: The Collapse of the Plan

In the Fifth World of the Abyss, a mysterious black-sailed ferry drifted slowly through Luo Hongyan's radiant sea of consciousness, gathering the scattered fragments of her Divine Personas.

Each time a fragment of her shattered Divine Personas landed on the ferry's hull, the mysteries of the soul Pang Jian had comprehended from the Soulstream allowed him to replicate the insights imprinted within.

Insights into the Daos of Light, Death, Cold, and Life flowed into Pang Jian in the form of lightning, glowing runes, and radiant streams.

The lingering remnants of Luo Hongyan's will continued to stir in her sea of consciousness, but Pang Jian steadily wore them down with his divine sense. The ability of the Nether Abyss Spirit Bees to dissolve the divine consciousness of the Outer Gods proved effective even against a severely wounded Sovereign.

Suddenly, a foreign will from the distant starry skies flooded into Luo Hongyan, carrying with it a hint of deathly stillness.

The aura of death across the seven continents of the Fifth World gathered, transforming into an oppressive force that poured into Luo Hongyan.

The shattered fragments of Luo Hongyan's Divine Persona of Death stirred within her sea of consciousness. A suffocating aura, one that pushed living beings toward death, rippled outward.

Fragments of Luo Hongyan's Divine Persona of Death flared with destructive force, lashing out against her body. Her radiant sea of consciousness dimmed as the aura of death filled it.

The stench of death quickly spread to her body itself, tainting her once-perfect vessel and corroding the vitality within her blood, meridians, and bones.

A deathly stillness spread out from her body and her sea of consciousness. The black-sailed ferry sailing through her sea of consciousness shuddered, sensing the horrors concealed within the rising tide of death.

Pang Jian's expression shifted drastically.

"Return!"

He swiftly recalled Ghostflare and the black-sailed ferry from Luo Hongyan's sea of consciousness as her body triggered its self-destruction mechanism.

As Ghostflare and the ferry withdrew, the fragments of Luo Hongyan's Divine Personas of Light and Death he had gathered clashed violently with one another.

Her foreign will strengthened the fragments of the Divine Persona of Death, allowing them to overwhelm and grind away at those from the Divine Persona of Light, making it nearly impossible for Pang Jian to perceive the profound insights they held.

The violent collision also triggered the collapse of Luo Hongyan's physical body and sea of consciousness, reducing them to a crimson mist.

This crimson mist thinned into strands and vanished entirely from the Fifth World, with the pervasive aura of death rapidly dissipating alongside it.

Her true body in the starry skies destroyed this vessel when she saw the situation was beyond saving,

Pang Jian realized.

"My Lord!" Yan Lie cried, still experiencing the suppression of the Demon Realms and Demon Gods.

He had received a command from beyond the starry skies to take Sha Jia, Lie Yang, and Ah Man and withdraw from the Abyss.

This order came from the true Sovereign Luo in the starry skies.

This caused Yan Lie to realize that something had happened to Luo Hongyan in the Abyss!

"Pang Jian!"

Lightning-like strands of his Dao of Fire cyclically shattered and reformed on his towering body. His crimson eyes blazed with flame, as if molten magma swirled within them. Flames accumulated over tens of thousands of years ignited deep within his heart, fueling the reformation of his divine domain.

"A mere insect dares to defy my master?"

Nine blazing fireballs burst from Yan Lie's chest. Each burned like a miniature sun, radiating a force capable of incinerating the seven continents, or even the entire Fifth World.

All forms of energy within a radius of ten thousand li around him ignited. His terrifying flames engulfed the murky energy filling the Fifth World.

The destruction of Luo Hongyan's vessel drove Yan Lie to unleash all his strength, ready to burn down Pang Jian and everyone else he deemed unworthy in a final act of loyalty to his master.

Pang Jian, having retrieved Ghostflare and the black-sailed ferry, drew upon all the power he could command to attack.

Relying on the pitch-black demonic cloak and his connection to the seven continents of the Fifth World, he commanded, "Suppress!"

One Demon God after another was forced to endure the destructive flames raging within Yan Lie's sea of consciousness, using their will to distort and suppress him.

Seven forces also surged up from the seven continents, converging upon Yan Lie.　These seven forces, meant to suppress the Black Empyrean Phoenix, bore down on Yan Lie, shattering sections of his natural armor under their crushing pressure and delivering a devastating blow.

At that moment, a divine consciousness descended into Yan Lie's mind, leaving a single command:

Withdraw.

Yan Lie snapped out of his rage. His eyes, brimming with what looked like tears of blood, were filled with bitterness and frustration.

Casting a long, piercing glare at Pang Jian, he ignited the arcs of lightning dancing across his chest, unleashing a burst of power that forcibly shattered the restrictive forces of the seven continents. The instant it broke, Yan Lie soared upward like a blazing meteor streaking in defiance of the heavens.

He left the Fifth World, passed through the Fourth and Third Worlds, and arrived in the sky above the Second World in the blink of an eye.

"By order of our Lord, we are to leave the Abyss," Yan Lie shouted, his terrifying gaze darting between Lie Yang, Sha Jia, and Ah Man.

His position above the Second World meant he could perceive every divine being and descend upon any battlefield if necessary.

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Lie Yang had barely been holding out against the relentless assault of the giant ape when he saw Yan Lie emerge from the Fifth World and mistakenly assumed the battle below had concluded.

"Lord Yan Lie!" he cried. "This mutated giant ape's bloodline is strange. Its vitality is far too strong and overwhelming. Even I'm feeling the pressure."

Just then, Yan Lie's fierce gaze caught sight of a black "veil" surging up from the Fifth World. The cold-faced figure within was almost indistinguishable from the darkness itself.

"Pang Jian!" Yan Lie growled through clenched teeth, his breathing heavy as he fought to contain his rage. "The plan in the Abyss has failed. The three of you are to leave with me. Our Lord awaits us in the starry skies!"

Sha Jia, Lie Yang, and Ah Man all froze.

They had believed the situation below to be firmly under control. After all, the plan had seemed flawless.

Pang Jian had been pitted against a Sovereign and a high-ranking God. It was reasonable to think that he would be easily crushed.

So, how did it go wrong?

Doubt clouded the hearts of the three mid-ranking foreign race powerhouses, prompting them to instinctively glance down toward the lower worlds. There they saw it—the black "veil" shooting from below, with Pang Jian in its depths.

A jolt ran through them when their eyes met his. Their minds reeled, and dizziness overwhelmed them.