Chapter 911: The Line Was Held!

Blinding golden lights flared brightly within the barrier!

The Dao Sources of Metal and Soul swiftly purged all the foreign energies, lightning, and Daos of the Outer Gods.

As the denizens of the Abyss watched the barrier, they saw Pang Jian wreathed in cascades of torrential energy.

Six blazing suns hung suspended behind Pang Jian, in a formation following the curve of his nape. The divine brilliance that radiated from them made him appear like the supreme ruler of this world. His already vast aura rose steadily, seemingly limitless.

Pang Jian seemed like the embodiment of the Heavenly Daos, the incarnate of the will of the Abyss itself. Even the Fey Gods, the World Gods, and the Duke of Thunder all felt an ineffable truth stir within them: So long as Pang Jian endured, the Abyss would never fall!

"He entered the barrier and withstood the assault of the Hall of Gods!"

"He's the guardian of the Abyss!"

"As a World God, he bears the duty of protecting his world! I just never imagined that he could hold the line against Fu Ya and the Hall of Gods!"

An uproar swept through the Abyss.

Despair had gripped everyone's hearts when they first learned that the fearsome structure crashing down from above was the Hall of Gods.

After all, the Fey Abyss, the Wood Abyss, the Star Abyss, and the Spirit Abyss had all been destroyed beneath the might of the Hall of Gods.

With a Sovereign at the helm, the Hall of Gods could soar freely through the bizarre mist and destroy ancient abysses. No one expected the Abyss to survive.

If the Abyss were destroyed, all its denizens would perish with it.

The mere thought of this flourishing world being obliterated before it reached its prime—wiping out their families, friends, and kin with it—was devastating.

In that time of helplessness, Pang Jian had stepped into the barrier and, by means none could comprehend, resisted the overwhelming assault of the Hall of Gods one blow at a time.

It would not be an exaggeration to call him the savior of the Abyss!

"The breach...it's healed!" the Bee Sovereign cheered in the gray bizarre mist.

The fear and sense of powerlessness had gripped the Bee Sovereign as fractures spread across the boundary wall. Shock had replaced that unease when the Dao Source of Metal had desperately surged up to mend the spreading cracks.

Any wave of foreign divine power descending from the barrier and attempting to breach the boundary walls was swiftly dealt with, and any damaged areas would once again harden like forged iron.

The Bee Sovereign's compound eyes flashed with the image of Pang Jian. "Master!"

He had caught the traces of Pang Jian's presence among the forces resisting the Outer Gods. This was unmistakable confirmation that Pang Jian had helped to avert this calamity of a collapsed boundary wall.

"The invasion has started. This is only the beginning. Everyone, prepare for battle!" called Great Demon God Fa Ji, a veteran of the Nether Abyss campaigns. "The Hall of Gods can't breach the barrier, but those high-ranking Gods can still enter."

"He's right." The towering azure Thunder Dragon shifted into an elderly man of the Thunder Race, standing at the heart of the Thunder Pool with his hands clasped behind his back. A fierce grin split his face as he boldly declared, "So long as the four Sovereigns cannot enter, we need not fear war! That's because I am in the Abyss!"

His every word radiated absolute confidence.

Above the Resolute Expanse, Qi Qingsong, Zhou Qingchen, and the elders from the Pure Land Sect and Nine Tribes Sect tensed at his words.

"The Hall of Gods was halted, but the Outer Gods can still descend into the Abyss with their true bodies?"

"Powerhouses like Li Wang, Zhu Ji, Li Yuqing, and Su Wanrou are nowhere to be found. What can the Abyss possibly rely on to fend off so many Outer Gods?"

"And this old man from the Thunder Race—who is he? Where does he get that confidence to believe the Abyss could endure a war of this scale?"

Cultivators across the First World were similarly uneasy.

"Duke of Thunder," Bai Zi asked softly, "How many high-ranking Gods can you hold off if they were to start descending into the Abyss?"

"It's not like we're facing high-ranking Gods from the Ancient Fey World. What's everyone panicking for?" The Duke of Thunder chuckled arrogantly. "Back when I roamed the starry skies, even high-ranking Gods had to come at me in groups to stand a chance.

"As for the others below high-ranking godhood? Hmph!" He let out a disdainful snort.

This first Thunder God in existence had once kept the Nether Race, Ghost Race, and Demon Races sleepless with fear. In this dire time, he revealed his wild, unrestrained nature, even looking down on his enemies.

Raising his head, he shouted mockingly at the Hall of Gods above the barrier, "Hey! All of you up there! Do you dare come down here and fight me?"

Great Demon God Fa Ji and the Primordial Demon quietly stepped back, giving him space.

Storms of lightning vortexes erupted around the Divine Court of Thunder. The crackling lightning within them was more ferocious than anything the denizens of the Abyss had ever felt before.

"The Duke of Thunder! That's the Duke of Thunder?!"

"The first Thunder God to ever exist! He was born within the bizarre mist and was just one step away from becoming a Sovereign!"

"Heavens! Didn't he die? How is he in the Abyss, fighting the Outer Gods on our behalf?"

The Duke of Thunder was well-known even in the Abyss, from fragmented tales exchanged through altars with the outside world. His reputation far outshone that of many older True Gods born within the Abyss.

"As long as no Sovereigns descend, we have nothing to fear from the Outer Gods," Fa Ji said, eyes flashing with murderous intent. Rubbing his hands together eagerly, he added in an eager tone, "I'm actually looking forward to the arrival of those high-ranking Gods."

***

Above the barrier, the descending Hall of Gods rose once more into the starry skies.

The Hall of Gods no longer loomed directly over the barrier, instead drifting far above until it resembled a second cold moon in the night sky.

"The Hall of Gods can't break through the barrier without its missing fragments in those pillars." Fu Ya sighed as she emerged from the grand structure. "The Dao Source of Metal has also evolved. It's grown far more troublesome than I anticipated. This long period of accumulation has clearly allowed it to mature."

Luo Hongyan hummed in agreement, her flawless figure appearing beside Fu Ya out of thin air.

The Sovereign of Light had not attacked at all during the last offensive, not even to assist Fu Ya in killing Pang Jian.

Not only did she disdain the idea of joining forces with Fu Ya, but she could also sense the incomplete state of the Hall of Gods and knew it was not within its power to shatter the barrier of the Abyss quite yet.

"It's not just the Dao Source of Metal. Even the Soulstream in the Nether Abyss has seen immense growth," Luo Hongyan said, gaze settling on Pang Jian, still hovering within the barrier. "That man carries the aura of both Dao Sources. The two great Dao Sources hidden in the bizarre mist have gained much through him. Coupled with their own accumulation over the ages, it seems they've entered a new phase of evolution."

"Indeed." Fu Ya was not discouraged in the slightest. Her faint smile remained, her expression at ease. "No matter. That first wave was only a probe. I just wanted to test the true capabilities of those two Dao Sources."

At the moment, fewer than one-third of the divine seats in the Hall of Gods were occupied by the projections of Outer Gods. This was still far from the true strength of the Hall of Gods.

The projections of Outer Gods in the Hall of Gods could only unleash less than a tenth of their full might. Only when all the bound Outer Gods filled the vacant divine seats with their true bodies would the power of the Hall of Gods be fully realized. This, of course, would also require the Hall of Gods to be fully restored with the missing parts from the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars.

At this time, the bizarre mist had yet to produce another Sovereign, let alone a fabled Exalted God.

Even the best cook could not make a meal without ingredients.

It did not matter how meticulously the will of the bizarre mist orchestrated its plans. Without a supreme powerhouse to shoulder the burden and unite the scattered strength of the bizarre mist's denizens, it could never hold back the invasion of the Hall of Gods.

"Give it some time. Once the battle in the Bewildering Dustlands concludes, my high-ranking Gods will come here," Fu Ya said serenely. "The Duke of Thunder was impressive in his era, but times have changed. He's overestimating himself."

Luo Hongyan nodded. "He's been dormant far too long. He simply doesn't understand the reality of this new era."

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Both these Sovereigns already had ideal candidates who they believed could rival the Duke of Thunder at his peak. They were certain the Duke of Thunder's arrogance would be swiftly crushed once he was faced with them.

***

Narrow spatial rifts tore open across the Bewildering Dustlands, as if the fabric of space were a shattered mirror.

"They're here," Lin Baixiang said, standing calmly on a branch of a World Tree. "Those Outer Gods seem to have forgotten that we of the Abyss are no weaker than ancient Fey Gods at the same level."

Sword God Xu Ling took a deep breath. "We have only been adrift for so many years because we were too few in number and were constantly wounded. With my wounds healed, I want to see for myself how many Outer Gods of my level I can slay."

The older True Gods of the human race were all filled with an unshakable fighting spirit after returning to their peak. Some had even shattered their former bottlenecks and ascended to a new realm altogether.

One by one, Outer Gods emerged from the spatial rifts upon divine platforms, all clad in armor and wielding divine artifacts.

"Huh? Not a single one fled?" Zi Wu's startled gaze swept across the True Gods.

Their numbers were the same as when he had left. Neither the older ones nor the younger generation had attempted to flee.

When he departed, the older generation of True Gods had been filled with dread, but now, they seemed strangely composed.

An uneasy feeling welled up within Zi Wu of the Void Race.

"Something's not right," he warned. "Be careful, all of you! You know what the True Gods are capable of. Don't get dragged down into a mutual death!"

He instinctively assumed that these True Gods from the Abyss, knowing they could not escape, had resolved to take their enemies down with them.