Chapter 978: The Ascent of the Dao Source of Soul

"No! This isn't something he should be able to do! How can he draw the seven emotions and six desires of all living beings in the bizarre mist and wield them alongside their Faith?!" Yi Hao could feel the pressure of Pang Jian's accomplishment weighing down on him.

In the bizarre mist, Pang Lin's lips curved with a serene smile as she gazed at the four Fey Gods. "Brother, you never cease to surprise me. I knew it. Not only can that supreme will of the starry skies not touch you, but you can even help others resist it."

Pang Lin was the only one who appeared completely at ease. Even Luo Hongyan had tensed when the Duke of Thunder, Bai Zi, and Xing Huan had been pushed into Sovereignhood. Only Pang Lin remained unruffled, never once showing panic.

Just what are you?

Luo Hongyan wondered.

The thunderous beating of countless wings suddenly echoed through the starry region and the bizarre mist. Yi Hao, Luo Hongyan, and Pang Lin instinctively turned their attention toward the disturbance.

The Bee Sovereign was perched atop the mountain-like beehive, expression shifting as he watched the transformation of the four Fey Gods. His shadowed eyes betrayed the storm of emotions churning in his heart.

The World Tree would be incomplete without me, yet only I was excluded.

Sorrow flickered through the Bee Sovereign's eyes. Though also reborn from the Gate of the Abyss, his connection with Pang Jian had long been severed, and he could no longer glimpse the changes within Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul.

Has he already figured out what I am?

The Bee Sovereign's expression darkened.

Has he become a vessel of the supreme will of the bizarre mist, or does he still retain his own will? If it's the former, then I and the Dao Source of Metal will be nothing but prey in his eyes!

The supreme wills covet us above all else. Slaughtering and refining Dao Sources is what fuels their ceaseless ascent! Are we Dao Sources destined to be erased?

the Bee Sovereign wondered gloomily.

Suddenly, the Soulstream at the bottom of the Nether Abyss rose!

"The Soulstream!" The Nether Race and the other once-subjugated races in the Nether Abyss trembled in awe.

A vast blue sea slowly rose out of the abyssal depths, tearing itself free from the waters below. The ghostly glow of its waters seemed to hover somewhere between illusion and reality.

Its profound depths shimmered with dreamy splendor. Those beholding were seized by a strange illusion that they were staring at the final destination of their souls, destined to return to the water's embrace.

They instinctively knew that they were connected to it. Their souls seemed to have been born from its depths.

Though the inhabitants of the Nether Abyss had long been aware of the Soulstream's existence, few had ever drawn near to it, and fewer still had sensed its will.

Now, it had revealed itself to all!

While it was not made of flesh and blood, it undoubtedly bore intelligence and emotion of the highest order.

Unlike the two supreme wills above, this existence churned with unfathomably complex emotion. It was no cold mechanism of fate but a sentient being in another form—a living being in its own right!

Beams of blue radiance streaked through the deep sea, converging on a figure at the heart of the sea. The figure had its arms spread wide as though embracing both heaven and earth.

It grew ever larger as it drew in the blue radiance. Its twin compound eyes expanded, reflecting spectral seas in their depths, as though the Soulstream itself had been etched into them.

"A Nether Abyss Spirit Bee!"

"Golden, colossal, and miraculous. That's the Bee Sovereign!"

"The legendary creature said to be born of the Soulstream itself! As long as the Soulstream endures, the Nether Abyss Spirit Bees shall never go extinct!"

"That Bee Sovereign is the vessel for the Soulstream's will—wait! No, he's the incarnation of the Soulstream itself!"

The inhabitants of the Nether Abyss were all in shock.

Millions of bees whirled around the Bee Sovereign, their wings beating in unison.

The smaller bees transformed into Nether Gods and Demon Gods, as well as Gods of the Ghost Race or the Sea Race. Each divine being formed from the bees appeared to be a fragment of the Bee Sovereign, yet each also had a mind of its own.

The Bee Sovereign was the embodiment of the Dao Source of Soul—the Dao Source with the highest intellect. His mastery of the Dao of Soul was unparalleled beneath the heavens, and he naturally could divide and give rise to independent souls, just like the Primordial Demon.

Over the ages, the Dao Source of Soul had gathered the profound insights from various Gods, drawing them into the Soulstream until they became part of itself. This continuous accumulation across immeasurable time allowed it to fashion its own form of life, birthing a species unique to the Nether Abyss—the Spirit Bees.

Each Spirit Bee was an incarnation of its will, with the Bee Sovereign being its truest manifestation.

The Soulstream was anomalous among the Dao Sources. The other Dao Sources, lacking sufficient intellect and unable to create life, could not even begin to compare.

At this moment, the Soulstream was already infinitely close to the level of the two supreme wills. It would never allow Sovereigns and God Kings to refine it, reducing it to mere nourishment for their eternal ascent.

The Soulstream's true body tore free from the depths of the Nether Abyss and resolutely shot up toward the bizarre mist, prepared to take part in the clash of the two supreme wills.

Its blue radiance grew ever more dazzling. The bees, transformed into a host of divine beings, drifted across its vast surface, exuding the aura of myriad Heavenly Daos and sending tremors through the souls of all the inhabitants of the Nether Abyss.

Suns, moons, and stars condensed within the Soulstream; the five elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth sprang into being; and light and darkness intertwined. The blue sea sought to emulate the starry skies, striving to create complete worlds of its own.

It sought to transform itself into a cosmos with perfect Heavenly Daos! The bees were simultaneously the Gods and also the Soulstream itself. The Dao Source of Soul intended to first forge the Gods, then, through them, give birth to all living beings.

The Dao Source of Soul had its own grand ambitions!

***

Above the rising bizarre mist, Yi Hao's eyes gleamed with greed.

The Dao Source of Soul!

As a God King with the favor of the supreme will of the starry skies, Yi Hao easily saw through the haze of the bizarre mist and straight into the depths of the Nether Abyss.

He watched as the Soulstream, the most enigmatic Dao Source of all, stirred restlessly, eager to enter the struggle between the supreme wills.

Spirit Bees, the Bee Sovereign, the beehive—what?!

Yi Hao's expression shifted sharply.

The colossal beehive in the bizarre mist abruptly burst into beams of blue radiance that seeped down into the towering altar made from the remnants of the Hall of Gods beneath it.

Then, the seven Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars surrounding the altar crumbled. Shards of luminous jade-like stones exploded out before descending upon the altar, seamlessly filling in the missing fragments of the Hall of Gods.

A grinding sound filled the air as the altar shuddered. Its pieces rearranged and interlocked in a dazzling blaze of light, which dimmed to reveal a restored Hall of Gods!

Unlike Fu Ya's restoration, this time, the Hall of Gods was fully repaired using every fragment of the Rock Devourer—including the missing pieces in the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars.

Divine radiance bathed the Hall of Gods. Each divine seat within it shone brilliantly.

Countless bees swarmed into the majestic palace and took their places upon the divine seats. At its summit stood the Bee Sovereign—still resembling Pang Jian—like a supreme God King enthroned upon his sacred divine platform as it descended toward the Nether Abyss.

The Bee Sovereign moved to merge with his other self in the ascending Soulstream.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The Dao Source of Soul required the descent of the wondrous Hall of Gods. The majestic structure was the crystallization of the Outer Gods' wisdom, engraved with the profound truths they had comprehended throughout the ages.

Its descent into the Dao Source of Soul would mark a momentous breakthrough for it, a profound transformation that could reshape its very essence. A metamorphosis like that was something neither Yi Hao nor the supreme will of the starry skies could ever permit.

"Exterminate them!" Yi Hao barked.

The eyes of the Duke of Thunder, Bai Zi, and Xing Huan all flared with murderous light.

They had only just ascended to Sovereignhood and had yet to stabilize their cultivation realm, but that did not stop them from attacking.

The Duke of Thunder was the first to strike.

The Divine Court of Thunder descended like a colossal star forged of lightning, hurtling straight toward the Bee Sovereign and the newly reconstructed Hall of Gods.

An azure Thunder Dragon roared, spewing spheres of lightning in a torrential storm. This mighty Sovereign of Lightning was the perfect counter to the Bee Sovereign and the Soulstream's Dao of Soul.

The crushing oppression of that boundless lightning left the Bee Sovereign atop the Hall of Gods feeling suffocated.

Within Bai Zi, who could be considered a creation of the Soulstream, something strange was happening.

The sound of rushing water echoed from the radiant silver orb deep within her eyes. Her sea of consciousness, reflecting a clouded and unstable Soulstream, was flooded with twisted energies. Bai Zi channeled that corruption toward the Soulstream through their connection.

"You may have thought that I elevated the Duke of Thunder and Bai Zi to Sovereignhood to cut off Black Empyrean Phoenix's path to ascension, but it was also to restrain you, the Bee Sovereign." Yi Hao's voice thundered through the bizarre mist from above.

At the same time, Xing Huan, also a Sovereign, vanished and reappeared on a bright star. Crossing his hands over his chest, he unleashed a divine technique.

A resplendent starry expanse unfolded before him. Sovereign Xing Huan's divine power bound the stars scattered across that desolate starry expanse together. Their orbits aligned as they sank down, one after another.

"Brother..." Pang Lin called softly.

Pang Jian's physical body stirred upon the God King's skull. Raising his hand, he seized the colossal World God Pendant and transformed it into a dazzling stream of light.