Chapter 794: What Gui Mu Saw

Upon a shattered continent, the leader of the Nether Gods sat cross-legged atop the Soul Convergence Altar, wreathed in clusters of Fortune. His gaunt figure heaved as he tried to regulate his breathing and realign the muscles and bones that had been fractured by the ancient ape's roar.

The roar from the forty-nine high-ranking Fey Gods had not targeted Pang Jian alone. Long Di, too, had been grievously wounded. Deep within his sea of consciousness, the crystalline figure shaped in his likeness had fine cracks threading across its once-lustrous surface.

Several clusters of Fortune that had been drawn into him through the Soul Convergence Altar were now coursing through the crystalline figure, slowly beginning to repair its fracture. Just like Pang Jian and Pang Lin, Long Di also possessed an Immortal Divine Soul!

His Immortal Divine Soul was no less extraordinary, capable of shifting in size at will, summoning spiritual qi, and traversing freely through the various abysses. In his clash with the ancient ape, his Immortal Divine Soul had been wounded.

He heard Pang Jian call out his name once more, voice ringing through the blood-red tide. Pang Jian's gaze pierced layer upon layer of mist, locking onto Long Di atop the Soul Convergence Altar.

"I'm here." Long Di let out a quiet sigh and cast a helpless glance skyward. Deep within his eyes, a swirl of inscrutable emotions stirred.

He had never imagined that Pang Jian, who had only just emerged from the Soulstream, would be able to exchange blows with Yuan Yi. And to think that, not long ago, a single restrained roar from the ancient ape, far from his full strength, had been enough to shatter Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul into radiant motes.

How long had it been since then?

While he had been locked in a brutal struggle against the ancient ape, Pang Jian had been busy within the Soulstream. Pang Jian had somehow harnessed the Fortune of the Nether Abyss and its pure spiritual qi to reforge an entirely new Immortal Divine Soul and soar all the way to the Transcendent God Realm!

The favor shown by the Soulstream, the recognition of the spiritual qi of the Nether Abyss, and the resonance of the Heavenly Daos that Pang Jian experienced all weighed heavily on Long Di.

Never before had anyone made him feel so threatened. Not even Bai Zi nor her master had ever placed such pressure upon him.

I should've killed him the moment he stepped into the Nether Abyss,

Long Di thought darkly.

"That ancient ape is your responsibility," Pang Jian said coldly, "Do you think you can hide forever and leave everything to me?"

Yuan Yi, who was using the World God Pendant to alter the fundamental laws of the Nether Abyss, let out an eerie laugh. "The power of the Nether Abyss is only truly fearsome when it is united in a single host. The more you split it among yourselves, the more easily I'll destroy you."

Yuan Yi wasn't the least bit anxious. Through the wonders of the World God Pendant, the peculiarities of the Fey Abyss that he had branded within were already spreading throughout the Nether Abyss.

Invisible fundamental laws, undetectable even to the soul, were quietly seeping into the fabric of the Nether Abyss, distorting its original laws and erasing those that weakened the Fey.

Yuan Yi's strength would continue to rise as the Nether Abyss grew more and more similar to the Fey Abyss of the past. To him, neither Long Di, Pang Jian, nor Bai Zi posed a significant threat anymore.

Once the laws of the Nether Abyss became like the laws of the Fey Abyss or even partially resembled them, he would be able to handle the three of them effortlessly.

From that blood-soaked world, the ancient Fey God Yuan Yi conjured with his blood essence howls alongside him in deafening unison.

"Kill!"

Suddenly, from the translucent boundary wall of the Nether Abyss, legions of Fey Race warriors stormed in.

Summoned by Yuan Yi, these Fey Race warriors had rushed here from other abysses. The moment they crossed into the Nether Abyss, they plunged straight into the fray.

Just as Fa Ji and the Demon Gods had withdrawn, taking with them their strongest warriors, a fresh wave of Fey Gods and battle-hardened Fey Race warriors surged in to take their place.

Yuan Yi's spirits soared. "Hahaha! The elites of my Fey Race have arrived!"

As Yuan Yi watched legions of Fey Race warriors pour into the Nether Abyss, it was as if he were witnessing the rise of a new golden age for the Fey Race. He believed the Nether Abyss would one day surpass the Fey Abyss itself and become the sacred sanctum all Fey Gods longed to return to.

"Celestial Fey Warhammer!"

With a roar of anticipation, the towering ancient ape opened his mouth wide, and a gleaming silver warhammer shot out from under his tongue.

The lotus-shaped warhammer radiated a deep crimson glow that drew everyone's attention as if it were the very center of the universe. Looking upon it was like staring directly into their own beating heart and peering into their soul.

Every being of flesh and blood felt their heart failing under the warhammer's sway, their heartbeats growing erratic and unsteady. A heavy, suffocating pressure gripped each heart, stifling thoughts and breathing alike.

It was as if the warhammer pressed down directly upon their chests, sapping their strength and rendering them unable to rouse their bloodline techniques. The flow of blood and the harmony between flesh and body weakened with each half-hearted breath.

A swarm of Ancient Fey characters as small as bugs scattered from the lotus-shaped warhammer. As they spiraled outward, they morphed into thousands of strange and otherworldly hearts, each one distinct in shape and color. Circling the warhammer like stars in orbit, those hearts formed a terrifying seal that continuously stifled blood essence and drained vitality.

"Ugh!" Bai Zi let out a muffled groan as she and the massive bee beneath her suddenly plunged from the sky.

All around, Nether Gods locked in battle with the invading forces and powerful warriors of the Nether Race, were being suppressed by the might of the Celestial Fey Warhammer, falling one after another into the sea.

From the vast sea below came the constant sound of bodies crashing into the water, splash after splash, punctuated with the anguished wails of the members of the Nether Race.

Slaughter and death spread like a plague across the Nether Abyss. The fragmented lands above and the scattered continents below were stained with blood. Faced with insurmountable forces, the natives of the Nether Abyss were being massacred without mercy by the invading forces, teetering on the brink of annihilation.

"Long Di!" A furious cry came from Bai Zi. "You're the leader of the Nether Gods. You should be the one laying down your life! Find a way to destroy the Celestial Fey Warhammer!"

Her voice trembled with both rage and dread. The emergence of the Celestial Fey Warhammer had driven her to her breaking point.

The brutal artifact could decide the fate of the Nether Race and the Nether Abyss, its very presence spelled instant, inescapable death for their warriors.

Long Di finally emerged, commanding the Soul Convergence Altar. Clutched in his hand was a long spear of dusky gray-blue, its shaft etched with looping patterns, each representing a cycle of reincarnation.

"Nether Abyss Reincarnation Spear!"

With spear in hand, Long Di charged toward the ferocious ancient ape. He pointed the spear at the Celestial Fey Warhammer and shouted, "Yuan Yi! Our power is not limited to the Nether Race! Every living being in the abysses, their life and death, their very cycle of Reincarnation, is tied to our Soulstream!"

One illusory Sunken Crypt after another burst into existence as Long Di thrust his spear. These were the same Sunken Crypts Pang Jian had once seen wielded by Gui Mu, each one tied to a different abyss, all intricately linked to the Soulstream of the Nether Abyss. Now, over a dozen phantom Sunken Crypts had been summoned with a single spear.

Narrowing his eyes, Pang Jian took a closer look at the illusory Sunken Crypts and noticed that the Nether Abyss had poured its fundamental laws into them, granting them supreme might.

"Life to death, death to life. The Cycle of Reincarnation turns, karma binds, all is one." Long Di chanted, his solemn voice resonating across the Nether Abyss. Countless spirits and spectral beings within the Sunken Crypts responded to the call of the Nether Abyss Reincarnation Spear.

In the First World of the Abyss, within the Ghost Sacrifice Sect, Gui Mu was interrupted from her secluded cultivation when the Sunken Crypt she had spent thousands of years refining lit up without warning.

Some force from another world had stirred the Sunken Crypt through means she could not comprehend.

The spirits and spectral beings she had painstakingly refined were now drawn by superior insights into the Heavenly Dao, forced to offer up what little strength they had.

Driven by resentment toward Li Wang, this leader of the Ghost Sacrifice Sect had put in minimal effort even as Lie Yang, Sha Jia, and Ah Man soared skyward. For the first time, she began to see just how shallow her understanding of the Dao of the Karmic Cycle truly was.

Somehow, someone from another world had managed to seize control of her Sunken Crypt. What did that imply? It meant that her life was under their control!

"The Nether Abyss! The leader of the Nether Gods, Long Di!"

Through the spirits and spectral beings that continued to offer up their strength, she glimpsed more and more Sunken Crypts. She saw the Soul Convergence Altar and a black-haired, black-eyed man brandishing a long spear. She heard the voices of that distant world's inhabitants, calling out his name.

Then, unexpectedly, she saw someone else.

In the void behind a colossal ape, whose aura churned like an endless deep sea, stood a tall, imposing man bathed in multicolored radiance. The man wore a pitch-black cloak, and beneath his feet stretched a vast ocean of lightning.

His expression was cold, his gaze unshakable. Despite the distance, his gaze was locked onto the ancient ape.

Though the man held a measure of caution toward the ancient ape, there was no deep fear in his eyes. On the contrary, he seemed eager to test his strength.

Gui Mu let out a startled cry, "Pang Jian!"

Never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined seeing him like this. The man she hated and feared not only had run rampant across the Abyss, forcing even figures like Yan Lie and Sha Jia to flee, but he now stood in the Nether Abyss, sharing the same sky as a powerhouse like Long Di.

"Pang Jian! You've taken a portion of what should have belonged to me! When it comes to this ancient ape, you must fight alongside me!" Long Di hollered.

Gui Mu trembled once more.

She had always believed that her subservience to Pang Jian was simply a matter of differing cultivation realms, so she hid herself in seclusion to cultivate with all her might. After hearing Long Di's words, her confidence deflated.

Long Di could appropriate her authority and stir the Sunken Crypt she had refined without warning from the Nether Abyss. If she ever came face to face with him, she feared she wouldn't even have the chance to speak a word before being casually wiped from existence.

Even so, Long Di, who had the support of the Nether Abyss, was forced to negotiate for Pang Jian's cooperation, to compel him to join the battle.

Has Pang Jian already become someone on equal footing with him?

Gui Mu had stubbornly refused to admit defeat and longed for another chance to challenge Pang Jian, but she finally broke down at that moment.

She suddenly realized that no matter how long she lived, she might never surpass Pang Jian. She may never reclaim her pride.

***

Amid a violent sea of thunder and lightning, Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul slowly swelled and grew stronger.

The spiritual qi of the Nether Abyss poured endlessly into his scintillating Immortal Divine Soul.

"Transcendent God Realm," Pang Jian muttered to himself.