Chapter 844: Twelve Abysses

The True Gods in the Abyss arrived at the Sword Honing Peak one after another upon hearing news that Mu Qingya was there.

The Heavenwood Sword, a name that once echoed throughout the Abyss tens of thousands of years ago, had returned.

Mu Qingya was several thousand years older than Sword Gods like Lin Xuanqi and had once charged alone into the Fifth World with nothing more than his sword, striking into the hearts of the strongest among the foreign races.

His return stirred the hearts of the older generation like Li Wang, Pei Yishan, and Su Wanrou.

The resurgence of the Fey Race and the emergence of one Fey God after another had long plagued them. In their eyes, Mu Qingya's arrival signaled the return of the old generation's strength, a source of hope and guidance.

This optimism was quick to dissipate once Mu Qingya revealed the dire state of the True Gods outside the Abyss.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"Only nine?" Su Wanrou's brows knitted tightly. "Senior Mu, are there really only nine True Gods remaining of all those who broke through the barrier and left the Abyss over all these years?"

"I wish I could tell you guys that the situation wasn't so dire, but..." Mu Qingya sat down, placed the small wooden sword in his lap, and glanced toward the many sword souls peering out from the windows of the Sword Pavilion. "Our situation out in the starry skies, truly, is not good."

The remaining True Gods had no choice but to scatter across different regions in the starry skies to avoid being wiped out in one sweep. Lin Baixiang only summoned them for a brief reunion once every century or longer.

Their numbers had only dwindled with each gathering.

Mu Qingya knew the younger generation in the Abyss still placed their hopes in them, seeking comfort, inspiration, and a thread of meaning to hold on to. Unfortunately, he had none of that to give.

When he looked at their faces, filled with longing and expectation, a part of him could not help but wish he had never returned to the Abyss.

"We lacked the strength," Mu Qingya said with a bitter smile. "We let your faith in us go to waste.

"Before the Hall of Gods was destroyed, there was a time when we shone brightly. Many among us even managed to reach the Transcendent God Realm. There were dozens of us back then, and our combat prowess was formidable. We made a name for ourselves across the myriad worlds.

"But the glory didn't last."

The forefather of the Sword Pavilion, known in the starry skies as the Bronze-Masked God, shook his head with a sigh.

"I was of the younger generation back then. I never knew why the leaders insisted on destroying the Hall of Gods. The leaders of that charge were all hunted down and killed, and the reason died with them.

"Perhaps only Pang Qi, the former World God of the Abyss, knew the truth, but he's been missing for a long time. I'm afraid there's nothing I can tell you."

As he finished speaking, Mu Qingya glanced at the golden bee by his side.

"Can you reach the nine who are still alive?" the golden bee asked, its voice unmistakably that of Pang Jian.

Not long after Mu Qingya had entered the Abyss, Pang Jian had embedded a strand of his divine sense into a golden bee and used it to accompany the Sword God back to the Sword Pavilion's ancestral land in the First World.

Having spoken at length on the journey, Pang Jian had naturally learned much about the struggles of the human race in the starry skies.

The reason the human race struggled to survive and remained on the run was that they lacked strength. No human had ever reached the Exalted God Realm.

Only the emergence of an Exalted God among the human race would qualify them to stand against the Sovereigns and turn the tide.

Without a great power backing them, there was nothing to deter the Sovereigns from continuing their suppression of the human race. Thus, the True Gods wandering the starry skies were left hiding like rats, afraid to even show themselves out of fear of being hunted.

"If not for the crisis in the Abyss, I would've gone to the gathering myself," Mu Qingya murmured, pondering his options. "I'm unsure whether I can reach them from inside the Abyss, but I naturally have my ways of making contact in the starry skies."

"Senior Mu, please try to reach out to them," the golden bee said in Pang Jian's voice. "I may have a way to provide whatever they're lacking."

"That would take an enormous amount of resources, including divine elixirs and rare treasures. How...?" Mu Qingya asked, clearly taken aback.

"There are many abysses within the bizarre mist, each with its own mysteries and treasures. As of now, I command the World Gods. They will act according to my will," Pang Jian said calmly.

The expressions of the gathered True Gods subtly shifted at Pang Jian's words.

Pang Jian has already unified the World Gods of the abysses? If so, that's a monumental development!

Control over the abysses within the bizarre mist would allow him to not only move freely through them but also gather any resources he desired.

"You've unified all the abysses within the bizarre mist?" Mu Qingya asked, stunned.

Even at their peak, the Nether Race had not managed to conquer all the abysses within the bizarre mist—both the Abyss and the Thunder Abyss had remained beyond their reach.

The Nether Gods could not enter the Abyss and dared not enter the Thunder Abyss.

For years, the Nether Race had viewed the abysses within the bizarre mist as battlegrounds and worked tirelessly to conquer them. Despite that, they never managed what Pang Jian claimed to have achieved.

"More or less," Pang Jian replied through the golden bee.

The True Gods knew Pang Jian was not one to boast idly and were left stunned by the implication.

Li Wang, previously discontent over Pang Jian's inaction during the incident with the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Array, questioned sharply, "Pang Jian, with the laws of the abysses breaking down, can we move the human race to one of the abysses?"

Pang Jian mulled it over. "That shouldn't be a problem."

"Then if the murky energy rises upward again, we can negotiate with the Fey Race and choose another abyss to live in!" Li Wang's eyes lit up. "We can establish our presence in the Shadow Abyss, the Thunder Abyss, the Demon Abyss, or the Ghost Abyss!"

Mu Qingya blinked. "You really know how to dream big, don't you?"

***

Pang Jian's physical body in the Seventh World of the Abyss had grown broad and imposing from the infusion of life energy and the essence of metal. He could shrink his body by a factor of millions or harden his skin like divine armor.

At this moment, he was attuning himself to the peculiarities of his Divine Persona and sensing the shift in his cultivation realm after stepping into high-ranking godhood.

Portals silently appeared before him, one after another.

Behind each portal was a World God, some within their respective abysses, and others somewhere in the bizarre mist or the starry skies.

The Nether Abyss, the Demon Abyss, the Ghost Abyss, the Shadow Abyss, the Thunder Abyss, the Fire Abyss, the Celestial Abyss...

Pang Jian silently counted.

Although he sensed twelve World God Pendants, he could not detect the presence of twelve World Gods.

Of those, Bai Zi of the Nether Abyss, Fa Ji of the Demon Abyss, and Yu Hang of the Celestial Abyss were still alive.

The World God of the Ghost Abyss, as well as the World God of the Fire Abyss, Huo Ji, had perished. No new World Gods had emerged in the Shadow Abyss or the Thunder Abyss since the fall of their predecessors. The Fey Abyss had also been destroyed.

Only eight of the twelve Abysses still remained, and of those eight surviving abysses, only four World Gods were still alive—Pang Jian, Bai Zi, Fa Ji, and Yu Hang.

The four destroyed abysses were the Fey Abyss, the Wood Abyss, the Star Abyss, and the Spirit Abyss. No one knew the cause of the destruction of the four ancient abysses.

Strange, the World God Pendants of those four abysses had all found new wielders. One of them was in the hands of Yuan Yi of the Fey Race, and Pang Jian could sense him atop Thunder God Mountain in the Thunder Abyss alongside Pang Lin.

The World God Pendant corresponding to the Wood Abyss had surfaced in a lifeless region of the starry skies. There, an ancient withered tree stretched its branches through seven dead worlds, its trunk and the worlds entangled in mutual silence and death. Nestled at the base of that tree lay a member of the Wood Race, their aura dormant as they slumbered in unbroken stillness.

In a starry region with advanced civilization, a refined member of the Star Race stood clad in pristine white robes and with a World God Pendant hanging from his neck. He explained the mysteries of the stars to a crowd of Star Race members yearning to follow the path of the Star God.

Finally, in a part of the bizarre mist filled with dazzling light, a World God Pendant glimmered faintly inside the sleeve of the God of Wisdom, Fu Ya.

Though Fu Ya had sealed the pendant away and concealed its aura, under the pressure of Sovereign Luo, it was forcibly revealed and brought into Pang Jian's perception.

The Ghost Abyss, Shadow Abyss, Thunder Abyss, and Fire Abyss still existed, but their World Gods had already perished.

Meanwhile, the Fey Abyss, Wood Abyss, Star Abyss, and Spirit Abyss had been destroyed, yet their World God Pendants had all found new wielders.

Fu Ya!

When he laid eyes on the true body of the God of Wisdom, Pang Jian immediately understood why he had been able to escape his encounter with her.

Luo Hongyan had kept Fu Ya's true body preoccupied, allowing him to narrowly avoid disaster.