Chapter 806: Fu Ya and the Dao Source

Fu Ya was one of the four Sovereigns and was known as the God of Wisdom!

As the leader of the Spirit Race, she ruled over a vast stretch of starry regions where the Spirit Race resided. Legions of low, mid, and high-ranking Gods were under her command.

Not many knew that, before she ascended to godhood, her name was Fu Ya.

Long Di seemed to know her very well; he clearly had a history with her.

"She—she..." Bai Zi's body trembled as she suddenly gasped in alarm. "I've met several divine beings from the Spirit Race before, and they were all strangely friendly to me when they learned I was the World God of the Nether Abyss."

As she recalled those past encounters, a chill washed over her. "It must've been because of the God of Wisdom!"

Among the various races, Fu Ya was highly esteemed for guiding the others and awakening their wisdom. She was known for her kindness and compassion. Many races trusted her deeply.

Of all the Sovereigns, she possessed the most beloved reputation.

The Spirit Race revered her as their supreme being. Those enthusiastic Outer Gods of the Spirit Race, who had once invited Bai Zi to visit the starry region where the Spirit Race resided, saying that their God of Wisdom held her in high regard.

At the time, Bai Zi had felt flattered and honored by the attention. Hearing Long Di's words caused her memories to take on a whole new light. Her face turned pale as she murmured, "Why is it her?"

Pang Jian said nothing. He stared at Long Di without blinking, his heart a tempest of emotions.

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Fu Ya was the Sovereign behind Mou Qi. In the starry skies above the bizarre mist, more powerful Outer Gods of the Spirit Race had recently begun to arrive after that high-ranking God. That pattern of deployment could not be justified by some trivial personal affairs.

Pang Jian had already been displeased with Mou Qi and the Spirit Race due to the incident involving Han Yi. Upon finding out that his mother's death was tied to the God of Wisdom, he no longer saw them as mere rivals. They were now his enemies.

"Fu Ya's Dao of Wisdom is capable of integrating all the insights into the mysteries of the soul drawn from the Soulstream. Your master was the World God of the previous generation and had the closest bond with the Soulstream," Long Di explained concisely.

"Fu Ya could never enter the Nether Abyss. If she wanted to lay her hand on the wonders within the Soulstream, she could only do so through your master.

"Before her true intentions were exposed, she had gained your master's trust. The two often discussed the mysteries of the soul. They were genuine friends, for a time.

"But then..." Long Di's gaze shifted from Bai Zi to Pang Jian. "Your father changed the dynamic. He was the one who saw through Fu Ya first. While warning Ling Jia to be cautious, he quietly began searching for proof.

"But Ling Jia didn't believe him. She considered Fu Ya a true friend and refused to believe that Fu Ya had bad intentions."

Long Di suddenly looked up toward the star-strewn sky, where moonlight also shimmered.

The pain on his face was no longer hidden as he spoke, "I don't know what Pang Qi found out there, but whatever it was, it caught Fu Ya's attention. She went after him and hunted him down herself.

"To save Pang Qi, Ling Jia attempted to reach Fu Ya from within the Nether Abyss. When that failed, she initiated a battle of souls across worlds.

"Even with the Soulstream's aid, she was no match. Your mother was defeated, and her soul was destroyed.

"Because that battle was never made public, and because she died within the Nether Abyss, the world assumed I killed her out of jealousy."

"Heh." Long Di's eyes reddened, his lips twisting into a bitter smile. "In the Nether Abyss, I was never her equal, not even once. How could I possibly kill her? Would the barrier and the Soulstream even allow me to?

"Among all those of the Nether Abyss, she was the one most worthy and most capable of becoming a Sovereign. If not for Pang Qi holding her back, if he hadn't arrogantly tried to expose the God of Wisdom's schemes, she could've stayed here, cultivated quietly, and one day ascended to the rank of Sovereign in her own time!

"And there's another thing! For someone like her, bearing a child is an enormous sacrifice! To give birth meant parting with a portion of her divine power, splitting off a fragment of her Undying Soul Flame! Why couldn't Pang Qi have stayed in the Abyss? If they had never crossed paths at the World Gods' gathering, she would never have ended up like that!

"All I ever wanted was to support and watch over her from the shadows. I wanted to witness her ascend to become a Sovereign, lead our Nether Race out of the bizarre mist, and unfurl our banner across the starry skies."

"Pang Qi, who ruined that, and in doing so, ruined the Nether Abyss. You wanted to know why I wanted to meet you? It's all because I wanted to see with my own eyes what kind of person she gave everything up for, what kind of child she risked everything to bring into this world!"

Long Di's expression was twisted. He looked as if he could devour someone alive.

When he finished speaking, Bai Zi stood frozen, stunned.

Pang Jian felt thunderstruck. His age did not quite line up with the timeline Long Di had laid out. "When exactly did all this happen?"

"Roughly five thousand years ago," Long Di replied.

Pang Jian turned sharply to look at Bai Zi.

She immediately understood what Pang Jian wanted and quickly said, "That's about right, just over four thousand nine hundred years ago. I was still young at the time, not even a God yet. Your mother had brought me into the sacred grounds meant for forging a World God, and she personally guided me on how to become one.

"I knew she had died in the Nether Abyss. Back then, they said it was an accident during cultivation. Later, I heard rumors that Lord Long Di had killed her. The timeline really isn't off by much."

Pang Jian, struggling to contain the storm rising in his chest, forced himself to speak calmly. "I-I'm not even a hundred years old. I have a younger sister, even younger than I am. As far back as either of us can remember, we've always lived in the Solitary Mountain Range of the Abyss. My father taught me to hunt when I was little, and then one day, he entered the bizarre mist and never returned."

"Ling Jia is dead, yet Pang Qi survived!" Long Di sneered coldly. "So he spent five thousand years hiding like a coward."

"I told you!" Pang Jian roared, his voice thunderous. "I'm not even a hundred years old!"

Long Di and Bai Zi were able to remain calm, but Pang Jian's emotions threatened to flare out of control.

"Pang Jian," Bai Zi spoke gently, trying to keep him from spiraling further, "There are many ways to freeze time. It's entirely possible that when you and your sister were very young, your father used some kind of artifact to protect you both, something that locked away the passage of time. Not to mention five thousand or ten thousand years, the passage of time can be prevented for much longer. It's not nearly as difficult as it may sound."

Bai Zi's story had some startling implications. Before Pang Qi left the Abyss to expose the true face of the God of Wisdom, he placed his two children inside an artifact where time stood still. Only after five thousand years had passed did Pang Qi return to the Abyss and release them. This hidden history explained why Pang Jian and his sister only had memories of living within the Solitary Mountain Range and why, to them, they'd lived no more than a few short decades.

Grappling with having his world turned upside down, Pang Jian asked dazedly, "Is that really possible?"

Long Di let out a cold snort. "One of the four Sovereigns, the God of Space, can effortlessly imprison even a divine being for tens of thousands of years, making them believe time itself has stopped.

"Pang Qi, as the World God of the Abyss, wouldn't have dared challenge the God of Wisdom without possessing a powerful artifact. Five thousand years is nothing. I've seen more than a few artifacts in my lifetime that can achieve exactly that." Long Di spoke with absolute certainty, completely confident that this was the truth.

"It must be as he says," Bai Zi added softly.

Pang Jian's mind was filled with a fog of questions. He was still unable to tell whether what they were saying was facts or mere speculation.

Just then, Bai Zi, now showing renewed respect for Long Di, asked sincerely. "My Lord, when Fu Ya extended an olive branch to me, was that also for the sake of the Soulstream? Can her Dao of Wisdom truly be elevated through our Soulstream?"

"Let me put it this way," Long Di snapped, still seething at Bai Zi, "If Fu Ya were ever able to enter the Soulstream and temper her Divine Persona within it, she'd gain the qualifications to become a God King! You truly have no idea what the Soulstream truly is."

"Then what is the Soulstream?" Bai Zi pressed.

"It is a Dao Source, a miraculous creation born of Heaven itself, embodying the origin of a Heavenly Dao." Long Di took a deep breath and unveiled one of the deepest secrets of the Nether Abyss. "The Soulstream is the Dao Source of the Dao of Soul. Even without entering the Nether Abyss, Fu Ya could still reap immense benefit just by glimpsing fragments of the insights contained within the Soulstream through Ling Jia and through you.

"Do you understand what it means for a Sovereign to find a Dao Source that aligns with their own Dao? It's an opportunity without any equals!

"Dao Sources are unique. The one that exists here in the Nether Abyss, the Soulstream, is the only Dao Source in existence tied to the Dao of Soul.

"Any God who studies soul-related techniques, anyone who deepens their power through wisdom, will regard the Soulstream as the ultimate destination of their Dao.

"Fu Ya is a Sovereign. She's no exception."