Chapter 824: Wresting Back Control

The battle between the top True Gods of the human race and three mighty Fey Gods in the middle of the Abyss had stirred up a tide of chaotic energies.

Dragonic roars and the howls of an ape shook the fragmented lands of the Fourth World, causing them to crack and fracture.

Brilliant rivers of sword light wove through the sky, each one manifesting the profound truths of the Dao of Sword. At times, they formed illusory cages, at others, a vast world forged from sword intent.

All the Great Fey and Fey Kings inhabiting this region of the Abyss could only watch the battles unfold from afar, too afraid to intervene.

"The humans are clashing with the Fey!"

Within the seven continents that formed the Fifth World, beings like Yu Xin and Xuan Ying gazed upward to witness the colossal figures warring across the sky.

The sky was dominated with majestic phenomenon as sword lights, starry rivers, seas of demonic energy, and dazzling attacks woven from spiritual qi manifested after another. Divine artifacts, weapons that inspired fear across the lower worlds, appeared in dazzling succession. Before any spectacle faded, another shortly took its place.

No one expected that a battle would erupt between the human race and the Fey Race so soon after Yan Lie, Sha Jia, and their followers left the Abyss.

Ever since their ancestors were driven into the Fifth World, the two races had stood as the firmest of allies. That alliance had been destroyed when Luo Hongyan offered Long Xiao her solemn promises.

Recently, Fey Gods had started emerging one after another with the awakening of the Sovereign of the Fey Race. Just as the Fey Race seemed on the verge of reclaiming their dominion over the Abyss from thirty thousand years ago, the seven Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars suddenly began to stir.

The rising murky energy meant that a war between the human and the Fey Race was inevitable.

Yu Xin of the Celestial Race gazed up at the distant starry river, then at the light emanating from the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars. "Perhaps, there's still a chance for us."

She murmured softly, "I can't shake the feeling that our Lord is still quietly watching over us from the starry skies."

"You mean Elder Sha Jia?" asked a Celestial Race elder with a Rank Nine bloodline.

Yu Xin shook her head. Her beautiful, jade-like face was calm as she softly replied, "No. I mean the one all Celestials acknowledge as the supreme being. Sovereign Luo."

The Celestial Race powerhouses gathered there, along with warriors from other races, were all quietly stirred by the name.

***

Pang Jian's physical body remained trapped within the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest; he was unable to communicate with his Immortal Divine Soul, the black turtle, the Black Dragon King, or Pang Lin.

Nevertheless, everything related to the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars was crystal clear to him. The artifacts floating atop each pillar, serving as the array cores of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Array, had become extensions of his senses. Through them, he could clearly see the colossal forms of the black turtle, the Black Dragon King, and Yuan Qi. He also took note of Li Wang and Li Zhaotian, as well as Wu Yuan and Li Yuqing.

"The Black Empyrean Phoenix must have ordered the three Fey Gods to disrupt the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Array."

Pang Jian's physical body shone like a massive beacon of light under Sovereign Luo's temporary control, but he had not retaliated because the activation of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Array also benefited the human race.

He had allowed Sovereign Luo to exert her divine powers, using the opportunity to secretly study the mysteries of the array and observed how the murky energy receded. Slowly but surely, the murky energy that the Black Empyrean Phoenix had intended to unleash upon the upper worlds was quietly dissolved, erased without a trace.

If the black turtle, the Black Dragon King, and Yuan Qi had not clashed with Li Zhaotian, Wu Yuan, and Dong Tianze, Pang Jian would have been content to stand by, letting Sovereign Luo act through him as he unraveled the secrets of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Array.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Both sides have deep ties to me, yet now they're clashing because of me. Regardless of which side prevails, there are bound to be losses. That is not an outcome I desire."

A growing restlessness stirred within Pang Jian. He knew full well that once the black turtle, the Black Dragon King, and Yuan Qi had broken through their bloodline shackles and reached the height of mid-ranking godhoods, their ancient memories would awaken. Those Fey Gods would no longer be the companions he once knew. And yet, in his heart, he still regarded them as comrades.

The other side consisted of his master, Li Zhaotian, as well as Dong Tianze, Wu Yuan, and Li Yuqing. There were no doubts about where their loyalties lay.

Through one of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars, Pang Jian saw Dong Tianze summon a blood-red Dharma Idol, only for it to explode in a starry river filled with glittering starlight.

Countless massive meteorites rained down like a torrential storm, engulfing Dong Tianze's Dharma Idol. Beneath each meteorite was a miniature black turtle that supported the meteorite upon its shell.

The wave of miniature black turtles brought down the Dao of Earth crashing down as it descended.

The blood-colored domain surrounding Dong Tianze's Dharma Idol was gradually buried beneath the meteorites.

Dong Tianze was the first to suffer a heavy blow!

***

"It shouldn't be like this."

Within the miniature world inside the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest, Pang Jian had not intended on breaking out already. He had planned to simply wait and observe, but he could not sit idly by when he saw Dong Tianze wounded.

"This is my body!"

From within his golden Divine Persona, countless sigils, arcs of lightning, Dao Seals, and his insights into the Dao of Soul surged forth, forcibly drawn together by the sheer force of his will. Soul essence roiling like the boundless sea, he resisted the light within him and unleashed a pull that targeted divine consciousness.

Specks of light were torn from the radiance illuminating the starry sky as the light that coated his dantian, organs, bones, flesh, and meridians was abruptly drawn into his golden Divine Persona. Within the shimmering light were scattered fragments of Sovereign Luo's divine consciousness.

Although Sovereign Luo was a Sovereign, her divine consciousness, carried by the light and scattered in Pang Jian's body, was still drawn in by the unique nature of his Divine Persona.

Your Divine Persona carries the aura of the Nether Abyss's Soulstream. At its very center lies something extraordinary.

So you've always had the power to resist, Pang Jian

You allowed me to take over your body, just so you could use me to unravel the secrets of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Array. You even went so far as to—

Suddenly, Sovereign Luo's true body in the starry skies erupted with even more blinding radiance!

The brilliance was so overwhelming that all the observing powerhouses and Outer Gods scattered throughout the starry skies were forced to avert their eyes.

You're trying to use my divine consciousness to erase the imprint I left in the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Array, and in the seven artifacts anchoring it.

Pang Jian, you've changed. You've learned to scheme against me.

Sovereign Luo's divine consciousness rippled within each glimmer of light. Hidden within the light, her divine consciousness would be instantly extinguished the moment it was drawn into Pang Jian's golden Divine Persona, leaving behind only a residual presence that was stripped of sentience.

Afterwards, those flickers of light, now devoid of her divine consciousness, were guided by Pang Jian and began to disperse outward.

The flicker of light, resembling lightning spheres, moved from the small world within the chest to the other six artifacts, causing the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars to flare up.

The imprints she had previously etched and used to control the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars and the array cores shattered with the flickering light.

Harnessing her light, Pang Jian erased every imprint Sovereign Luo had embedded in the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest, the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars, the towns atop them, and the artifacts. In the blink of an eye, every last trace of her presence was wiped clean.

Taking advantage of her presence, Pang Jian had erased everything she left behind.