Chapter 935: The Extinguishing of the Sun

Yan Hao's repeated deaths cast a heavy shadow of dread and unease over both Pang Jian and Mu Duo.

The God King repeatedly failed to escape a realm formed from his own skull, doomed to live out his unchanging fate of dying to the boundary wall over and over. If even the legendary Yan Hao could not break free from this cycle, they stood no chance at all.

"Perhaps living simply, without chasing the far shores of the Heavenly Daos, is the wisest choice of all." Mu Duo sighed.

"If you resign yourself to fate, then you're no different from ordinary mortals and non-cultivators," Pang Jian replied lowly. "That means being able to accept aging, sickness, and death. You won't be spared from disasters, wars, and upheavals just because you're weak."

Pang Jian hovered among the stars of the Ruin Realm, continuing to absorb the many remnants of Yan Hao.

"That's not the life I want. I refuse to become a pawn sacrificed in another's struggles."

One by one, ancient characters inscribed with the Dao of Fire and the Dao of Sun flowed into him, becoming nourishment for his ascension. He could feel his cultivation realm steadily rising, on the verge of becoming a Sovereign.

Yan Hao's resurrections seemed to exist for the sole purpose of paving the way for Pang Jian.

Will Yan Hao appear again?

Pang Jian wondered, anticipation in his eyes as he sought out the next life seed, eager for another incarnation to emerge.

"Those ancient characters and insights into the Heavenly Daos seem to not only be mending your shortcomings but also patching certain flaws in the Ruin Realm itself," Mu Duo noted grimly. "There's a power greater than you, greater than even Yan Hao, secretly orchestrating all of this. It has to be the supreme will of the bizarre mist!"

Yan Hao told me not to trust it, to escape it...

Pang Jian thought to himself.

Those words from Yan Hao echoed in his mind, stirring memories of the elder he had encountered in the Fallen God Ruins.

That elder, Ling Yun, and Yan Hao all wielded unimaginable divine power, yet none could escape the inevitability of death. Only the wills of the bizarre mist and the starry skies had the might to shackle such beings. All living creatures, even God Kings, were but pawns in their struggle.

Breaking free of their grasp...

Without becoming a Sovereign or a God King, one doesn't have the qualifications to challenge the supreme wills.

Pang Jian's thoughts drifted far and wide, already contemplating how he would one day resist those supreme wills before he even became a Sovereign.

"Pang Jian, Yan Hao wasn't reborn again," Mu Duo said cautiously, a trace of fear in his eyes. "Perhaps...we need to consider what he said, and prepare for what lies ahead."

Mu Duo, once devoted to the pursuit of Sovereignhood, found his resolve shaken. He could not help but question whether becoming a Sovereign held any meaning at all.

A God King like Yan Hao had perished repeatedly before his eyes, within a realm forged from his own skull. In his eyes, there was no point in chasing a path that offered no promise of salvation.

***

"The sun has gone out," Fu Ya murmured, standing upon the Hall of Gods in the starry skies above the Abyss.

The River of Wisdom circled her, and she wielded a scepter, a pagoda, and a pearl as she channeled the might of the Hall of Gods.

Light could be seen around the Hall of Gods, where her divine power had pushed back the encroaching tide of darkness.

Her divine domain unfolded into a realm of harmony and wonder. Within it, countless races chanted her name and offered up their Faith.

Glimmers of strange brilliance streamed toward her from across her divine domain, causing her body to swell larger and larger until it surpassed even the Hall of Gods itself, like an ancient deity who predated the existence of heaven and earth.

She had kept a close watch on the sun ever since she noticed its solar energies turning into the ancient script of the Flame and Radiant Races. Having recognized their origins, she quickly understood they were connected to Yan Hao.

It was not until the sun was drained dry that a flicker of unease stirred in her heart.

"Luo Hongyan, a new Sovereign could be about to emerge in the bizarre mist below," Fu Ya said, gaze settling on the immense sphere of light.

Luo Hongyan's five bodies had since merged into a much larger form, leaving only the one in the crimson dress appearing starkly out of place.

The six Luo Hongyans had become two. The one in white wore a cold expression, while the one in red frowned in contemplation.

The two wordlessly stood in the center of that radiant sphere of light, one tall, one small, saying nothing to each other. Neither replied to Fu Ya either, both locked in a silent battle of wills, clashing on some unseen battlefield.

Darkness continued to assault the surrounding light, but with Fu Ya's intervention, much of its corrupting aura was dispelled. As a result, the sphere of light enclosing the two Luo Hongyans remained intact.

"There were suns destroyed in battles long ago as well," the white-robed Luo Hongyan finally said, her voice detached and calm. "There's nothing to fear. Even if a new Sovereign does emerge from the bizarre mist, it changes nothing. As long as he carries a Divine Persona in his sea of consciousness, he will be bound by the one behind us. He cannot escape it, and neither can you."

The white-robed Luo Hongyan turned her pointed gaze upon the graceful Black Empyrean Phoenix.

"Didn't you choose to be reborn as a human, taking an alternate path to the peak, because you also fear its control? You could never truly break free from it as the Black Empyrean Phoenix. The time has yet to come to decide victory or defeat."

As the white-robed Luo Hongyan spoke, the Luo Hongyan in the crimson dress started to fade, form turning illusory and ethereal.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Fu Ya's eyes lit up. "You're severing it!"

***

Across the different worlds of the Abyss, Fey Gods howled madly as they attempted to break into high-ranking godhood.

Every Fey God resurrected through the Gate of the Abyss was overcome with excitement.

"The Fey Gods seem to be ascending because of that Black Empyrean Phoenix."

Bai Zi, Fa Ji, Xing Huan, and the Duke of Thunder hovered just below the barrier, keeping watch over Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul, while also monitoring the situation in the Abyss.

With their cultivation, it was easy to sense any anomalies across the vast Abyss. Thus, they were aware when several Fey Gods started drawing upon the power surging from the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars and attempting to ascend.

The truly astonishing part of this development, however, was just how fast those Fey Gods were progressing.

Suddenly, the Duke of Thunder exclaimed, "The sun—It's been extinguished!"

Though the battle between the Sovereigns and the Black Empyrean Phoenix had turned the sky above pitch black, their battlefield actually only occupied a portion of the starry skies.

The stars, moon, and sun remained untouched by the encroaching darkness and were still visible from within the Abyss.

Despite it being daytime, the starry region above the Abyss had grown unnaturally dim. The sun was there, but it emitted no radiance. The absence of its blazing light affected not only the Abyss but all the abysses, rendering the sun nearly invisible to those within.

The Duke of Thunder was merely the first to notice the sun's dimming.

"It seems something or someone has absorbed the sun's radiance," the Primordial Demon said. As his gloomy gaze settled on Pang Jian within the barrier, he realized, "It's him. The other Pang Jian!"

At those words, all those in the Abyss turned their attention to Pang Jian.

The Pang Jian within the barrier was merely his Immortal Divine Soul, not his physical body. Even so, they could see ancient characters shining with a radiance akin to the sun itself within his eyes.

Illusory blazing suns suddenly manifested behind Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul, one after another.

"The blazing suns of the Ruin Realm!"

"God King Yan Hao's legacy!"

"Nine Suns Strike the Heavens!"

Having been in the Ruin Realm, Fa Ji, the Duke of Thunder, Xing Huan, and Bai Zi immediately recognized the signs of Pang Jian's transformation.

Something earth-shattering had occurred to the other Pang Jian. Even his Immortal Divine Soul was ascending!