Chapter 926: Her True Body Makes an Appearance

The Black Empyrean Phoenix unfurled its wings in the Seventh World of the Abyss.

Like a roaring tide, the surrounding darkness flooded into the Black Empyrean Phoenix.

A soft light slowly returned to the dark Seventh World.

The phoenix let out a piercing cry, stirring the murky energy saturating the Sixth World of the Abyss.

The murky energy in the Sixth World was pulled down into the Seventh World, pouring directly into the massive body of the Black Empyrean Phoenix.

In mere moments, both the Sixth and Seventh Worlds of the Abyss had become void of energies. The Black Empyrean Phoenix had devoured all the murky energy and darkness.

Stretching its colossal body in quiet satisfaction, it cast a meaningful glance at the bronze expanse below. Then, with a thunderous flap of its wings, it soared upward.

It had passed through the Seventh World, crossed the Sixth, and reached the Fifth World of the Abyss in the blink of an eye.

"It's a Black Empyrean Phoenix!"

"How can such a colossal Black Empyrean Phoenix rise from the absolute darkness below?"

The members of the foreign races, having been cast back into the Fifth World after their failed attempt to ascend, peered up at the elegant Black Empyrean Phoenix soaring across the sky from the scattered continents.

Few knew that this Black Empyrean Phoenix had actually rested deep within eternal darkness for many long years, and its arrival left the inhabitants of the Fifth World thoroughly awestruck.

It was colossal, massive beyond comprehension, and breathtakingly graceful. Its body resembled a floating continent, and the aura radiating from it pulsed with the essence of destruction, ruin, corrosion, slaughter, and other terrifying forces.

Layers upon layers of black light coiled around its body, with tendrils of black lightning writhing within. It was a Dao of Darkness only a Sovereign could command.

The sight of it left the inhabitants of the Fifth World breathless. Some dropped to their knees in sheer terror, muttering incoherent prayers without even knowing why.

"The Abyss has never given rise to such a powerful creature before!"

"Who—who is that?"

Even those as powerful as Yu Xin and Xuan Ying reeled at the boundless divine might radiating from the Black Empyrean Phoenix.

The powerhouses of the foreign races, having communed with the Outer Gods, were well-informed about the Sovereign of the Fey Race.

That Black Empyrean Phoenix of the Fey Race had once wielded the Hall of Gods alongside the four Sovereigns and even ranked above them!

"She...was in the Abyss?"

The foreign race powerhouses felt their hearts seize with panic.

They had never imagined that the infamous Black Empyrean Phoenix, feared across the starry skies for her lack of mercy, had actually been hidden in the endless darkness below them all along.

The Fey Race in the Third and Fourth Worlds of the Abyss noticed the massive commotion below and looked down.

As they stared at the majestic Black Empyrean Phoenix, they felt something awaken deep within their souls, from the memories etched into their hearts and bloodlines.

The members of the Fey Race instinctively dropped to their knees in reverence.

"My Lord!"

"Divine Saint!"

"The progenitor of the Fey Race in the Abyss!"

They immediately understood the Black Empyrean Phoenix's origin and knew that she was their progenitor. The Fey Race only existed in the Abyss because of her, the reason they had once ruled this world as its true masters.

She had watched over them from the beginning.

The Fey Race all knelt in worship, voices trembling with devotion as they cried out, "Divine Saint!"

The foreign races and the Fey Race watched as the Black Empyrean Phoenix unfurled her wings and soared upward once more, gracefully crossing the Fourth World, then the Third, before finally hovering high above the Second World.

Even the black turtle, Yuan Qi, the Black Dragon King, and the other Fey Gods soon caught sight of the colossal, sky-darkening Black Empyrean Phoenix.

"Divine Saint!"

"The Divine Saint is still alive!"

"No, she never truly perished! She's always lived on!"

Those gathered trembled in awe.

Unlike the foreign race powerhouses, Fey Gods such as the black turtle and Yuan Qi had once received her teachings firsthand and knew her soul had always been active.

Still, they had believed her flesh-and-blood body to have long since decayed, stripped of vitality and life. Though her soul was eternal, they had thought her body to be lifeless. They had accepted this as fact.

However, her appearance overturned that belief. She announced her return in a way none could ignore. Her soul blazed with power, and even her body, dormant in the Seventh World for years, surged with boundless vitality.

The four Sovereigns had once feared this same Black Empyrean Phoenix. They had feared her to the point of joining forces to kill her.

In the First World, the Primordial Demon, Great Demon God Fa Ji, the Duke of Thunder, and the others were all stunned speechless when they saw her below.

A chilling dread crept through the Primordial Demon's heart. He and Luo Hongyan had once schemed to seize the Black Empyrean Phoenix's remains, seeking to refine her darkness and devour the lingering divine power within her body.

Luo Hongyan had desired to complete her Dao of Darkness through the Black Empyrean Phoenix, while he had hoped to use her remains as a stepping stone into Sovereignhood.

They had treated her body as a mere corpse.

How utterly absurd! To think we actually believed she was dead!

Bitterness welled in the Primordial Demon's eyes.

If the Black Empyrean Phoenix could devour all the darkness and murky energy of the Sixth and Seventh Worlds as instantaneously as she had, then she could have easily erased him and Luo Hongyan's vessel with a single thought.

Why did she pretend to be dead?

wondered the Primordial Demon.

Why did she only passively guard her body from harm when we moved against her?

Perhaps she never once considered us a threat at all.

She never revealed herself because her goal was never my death, nor the destruction of one of Sovereign Luo's vessels.

She was simply waiting for this moment!

the Primordial Demon realized.

"She's still alive..." the Duke of Thunder muttered in a daze. He could not help but feel that everything he had witnessed since his recent resurrection far surpassed the brilliance of his long and storied life.

The Ruin Realm, the ancient God of Life, Fu Ya, Sovereign Luo, Pang Jian, and now the Black Empyrean Phoenix. One dazzling figure after another had emerged.

He felt strangely lucky to have been reborn in this era and take part in this grand event.

The human cultivators on the continents of the First and Second Worlds were also shaken. A primal fear welled up from within as they eyed the figure in the sky.

"It's the Black Empyrean Phoenix!"

"The monstrous being of the Fey Race!"

Fey Gods like the black turtle, Yuan Qi, and the Black Dragon King had already placed immense pressure on the human race, almost overturning the balance of power in the Abyss.

If not for Pang Jian, the upper worlds of the Abyss would have already fallen back under the domination of the Fey Gods and their kin.

Earlier, Pang Jian had entered the barrier to stop the Hall of Gods. His bold actions greatly boosted the morale of the human race, assuring them that they were still the rightful rulers of the Abyss.

The emergence of the Black Empyrean Phoenix crushed their hope. The aura and divine majesty it radiated left no room for doubt. It was declaring to all that it was the true master of the Abyss, the final answer to this world's problem!

"What does it intend to do?"

Panic rippled through the hearts of the human cultivators. All eyes were locked onto its every move, an ominous sense of impending catastrophe looming over them.

It flapped its wings again.

This time, the Black Empyrean Phoenix soared directly to the First World, ascending straight toward the barrier.

All the denizens of the Abyss high enough to glimpse the barrier felt a wave of dread, fearing that this being was aiming for Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul.

Did it appear because the Outer Gods failed to breach the barrier with the Hall of Gods?

The Outer Gods attacked the Abyss from outside to no avail. Is it seeking to collapse it from within instead?

Will the Abyss be destroyed?

The golden brilliance radiating from the barrier abruptly dimmed and withdrew, revealing the luminous barrier and the starry skies beyond once more.

Pang Jian hovered within, calmly watching the Black Empyrean Phoenix approach. Even he could not discern its intent.

Pang Lin was its reincarnation and still regarded him as an elder brother. She had even rushed to the Bewildering Dustlands to aid the True Gods against Ling Yun and Tian Yu.

But that was Pang Lin.

Pang Jian was not sure if the same could be said about the being before him.

Will the Black Empyrean's soul and divine consciousness consume Pang Lin now that it's awakened, leaving only this one supreme will behind?

As Pang Jian thought this, the Black Empyrean Phoenix drifted silently into the barrier.

Their eyes met.

All Pang Jian could see in the Black Empyrean Phoenix's black eyes was boundless indifference.

It was the indifference of a being at the peak of existence, the absolute apathy of the mighty. This being saw all lifeforms below them as nothing more than dust.

He had seen this same look in the eyes of Fu Ya and Luo Hongyan.

Pang Jian's heart tensed.

The coldness in the Black Empyrean Phoenix's eyes caused him to instinctively believe it had reverted to the Sovereign of the starry skies after awakening, ready to reclaim all that once belonged to it, including his sister, Pang Lin.

Then, deep within those indifferent eyes, a familiar warmth flickered into being.

It was the same tender gaze that Pang Lin used to give him.

"Little—Little Lin?" Pang Jian called out, uncertain and testing.

The cry of a phoenix rang out.

"Brother!"

All of Pang Jian's tension melted away. The corners of his lips twitched, then bloomed into a smile before becoming a soft chuckle.

This was Pang Lin, his little sister!

The barrier sealing the Abyss seemed not to exist at all for the Black Empyrean Phoenix. She effortlessly passed through it and ascended into the starry skies.