Chapter 991: Ordeal of the Dao Sources

Pang Jian's all-out strike did not appear to so much as scratch the silver canopy veiling the starry region.

Conversely, an unfathomable force filled its radiance like an endless sea, making it appear even more majestic and oppressive than before, as though capable of smothering all creation.

With much of the bizarre mist dispersed, the beings in the abysses below could finally behold its immensity.

Its descent did not falter in the face of Pang Jian's blade. Radiant droplets scattered outward from the place where he struck, ceaselessly giving birth to wondrous visions.

Suns, moons, and stars appeared. Rivers and vast lakes unfurled. Even long-vanished Gods and Dao Sources emerged in the shifting visions.

Venerable Divine Kingdoms, the shattered Hall of Gods, a Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis, desolate citadels, and cities of ice all manifested within that rain of light. Each gleamed resplendently, bearing the weight of their glorious pasts within the starry skies.

The many civilizations—past and present—in the starry skies manifested within that radiant silver canopy.

The spectacle left every divine being in the Primordial Chaos Starry Region shaken. They felt as though they were watching the birth of the starry skies themselves, laying eyes on the perished Dao Sources and feeling the profound truths engraved within them.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"It's grown denser," Pang Lin murmured.

Vast torrents of energy from the starry skies poured ceaselessly into the silver canopy as it descended, driving its might to earth-shattering heights.

A sense of foreboding stirred within Pang Lin.

In the colossal storm of ice shards beneath the canopy, an endless stream of foreign energies battered the Hall of Gods. The supreme will of the starry skies pressed down fiercely upon the Hall of Gods, swiftly snuffing out its shimmering radiance.

Pang Lin's worry deepened. "The Hall of Gods and the Bee Sovereign within it may not be able to..."

Even an ancient being like her could not see through the silver canopy due to the limitations of her human body. This meant she could neither see the battle raging between Yi Hao and Luo Hongyan, nor glimpse the silver eye itself.

Not knowing which of the two God Kings held the upper hand was nerve-racking. If the supreme will were to empower Yi Hao, it was likely that Luo Hongyan would be crushed like a withered tree in a storm. Their battle below the silver canopy would matter little if Luo Hongyan fell, as Yi Hao would stand unchecked.

Pang Lin's gaze fell on Pang Jian. "Brother, I hope you can..."

The wondrous visions surrounding Pang Jian flickered in and out of existence. Within his chest, however, clearer visions surfaced, as though striving to establish an entirely new civilization within him. His chest swelled as if about to burst.

Brother!

Pang Jian!

Shouts from his sister and the four Fey Gods echoed through his mind.

The giant black-gold blade, sensing Pang Jian's peril, abruptly transformed. The World God Pendants, wreathed in dazzling radiance, turned into a set of black-gold armor, shielding his Immortal Divine Soul in an unyielding embrace.

The black-gold armor held back the myriad wondrous visions swirling threateningly about Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul. Strange beams of light flared across the armor as it repelled wave after wave of assault.

Pang Lin, perched like a tiny grain of rice upon Pang Jian's shoulder, only grew more concerned.

"Brother, it's trying to corrupt you again, but this time, through a different method," she murmured.

The four Fey Gods streaked through the starry region, gathering at Pang Jian's side to destroy the visions and erase the terrible might hidden within them.

Unfortunately, they were only high-ranking Fey Gods. They were no match for the distilled wisdom and might of the supreme will of the starry skies held within each vision.

The black turtle struck its massive hoof against an ancient fortress, only for the solid fragments of the resulting explosion to tear into its titanic body, leaving blood streaming across its flesh.

Yuan Qi, encased in layers of thick frost, stepped into a vision of deep gloom, where a wellspring of decay seethed with unrelenting force. Rot immediately took root within him. Pounding his chest in anguish, he let out cries of despair.

The Black Dragon King fared even worse. Catching sight of a radiant mountain, he lunged forward to rend it apart with his claws, only for its blinding light to strike him first. He tried to retreat, but it was already too late. The blinding light seared his claws clean off.

The Ice Armor Eel Dragon nearly plunged into a shadowy black river, but stopped short upon seeing the miserable fates that befell the black turtle, Yuan Qi, and the Black Dragon King.

Dread flooded the hearts of the four Fey Gods at this unexpected turn of events.

The Duke of Thunder and the Rank Thirteen Pang Ling drew near with the Divine Court of Thunder as the Fey Gods attacked. Beholding the peril overwhelming the Fey Gods from afar, they hastily called out warnings that came far too late.

"Those visions aren't illusory!"

"They're woven from the Dao Sources and fused with corresponding divine powers. Touching them is akin to touching reality itself!"

Yan Hao's skull came blazing in from the distance, like a searing sun racing across the starry region, and clearly driven by Pang Jian's will.

Beams of annihilating flames lashed forward, piercing through many of the visions swarming Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul and shattering the terrors hidden within them.

Roaring wildly, the four Fey Gods dragged their wounded bodies away, blood scattering like radiant jewels across the darkness.

"We can't help him. At least, not with our strength. There's nothing we can do to aid him now!" The battered black turtle, forced to withdraw, turned his bloodied body toward the Divine Court of Thunder and roared in warning, "You two can't either! This isn't something we're capable of opposing!"

"Retreat into the Ruin Realm!" Pang Lin ordered, grimly lifting her tiny hand to point at the four Fey Gods, the Duke of Thunder, and Pang Ling in turn. "You four, enter it at once! Do not linger in this battlefield any longer! You two as well!

"The boundary wall of the Ruin Realm will shield you from that supreme will. Remember: You were bound to him from the moment you were reborn through the Gate of the Abyss. Live. Grow stronger. Your strength will inevitably become his strength.

"Now, enter the Ruin Realm, all of you!" Pang Lin commanded.

She was the Black Empyrean Phoenix of the Fey Race and had created most of the Fey Race inhabitants in the Abyss. In the eyes of the four Fey Gods, she was akin to their creator, the supreme leader of their race.

The Fey Gods unhesitatingly obeyed her command. They flew toward Yan Hao's skull and passed through the boundary wall into the Ruin Realm. After a brief moment of hesitation, the Duke of Thunder shook his head at the World Tree, then maneuvered the Divine Court of Thunder to follow after them.

"F-Father." Pang Ling's voice quivered beneath the strain of pulling forth both her true body and the Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis at the same time.

"The storm of ice shards still ravages the region, and the silver canopy is still descending. Even the Divine Court of Thunder cannot shield you. Do not become a burden to him. Withdraw into the Ruin Realm and await my command!" Pang Lin rebuked, voice cracking like a whip.

"Very well." Though the Rank Thirteen World Tree bristled with reluctance, it could not deny Pang Lin's authority, especially not after being gifted a shard of the Dao Source of Life. With heavy resignation, it retreated into Yan Hao's skull as well.

Thus, only Yan Hao's blazing skull, Pang Jian, clad in black-gold armor, the colossal storm of ice shards, and the vast Soulstream remained beneath the radiant canopy.

The Soulstream churned endlessly, blue lightning weaving together to heighten Pang Jian's insight. It firmly stood its ground and did not retreat.

It continued its work through Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul, comprehending the traces of the fallen Dao Sources within the gray mist in his chest, even as it maneuvered the Hall of Gods and its newly forged Sovereign body against the monstrous storm of ice shards.

In the beginning, things were not as they are now,

the Soulstream muttered, its will coursing through Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul.

Visions of the Dao Sources appeared within the gray mist of Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul.

The gray mist stirred, and the visions unraveled into chaotic histories that rearranged themselves into some semblance of chronology.

Pang Jian watched as creation unfolded from the nothingness that was the beginning.

The starry skies lay empty and still. There was no trace of life. Only a few scattered Dao Sources quietly gestated, slowly growing in strength.

Eons passed. Eventually, the indirect nourishment from these Dao Sources allowed the supreme will of the starry skies to take shape.

From the beginning, the supreme will had drawn upon the radiance and energies of the Dao Sources to sharpen its own awareness, discerning patterns within the tangled lattice of Heavenly Daos.

An immeasurable amount of time passed.

The first stars emerged, coalescing through the slow gathering of refined divine power. Afterward, moons and suns were born, forming as extensions of some of the more unique stars.

After the birth of the first sun and moon, the crude surfaces of the stars saw a shift. Mountains, rivers, and verdant growth formed natural landscapes.

Throughout this long span, the only life present was the vegetation.

The supreme will spanned all the stars born of its essence and could watch as its creations grew ever more complete. Then, one day, the desolation and silence of the starry skies struck a dissonant chord within it, and the desire to create life arose.

Soon after that thought took form, it gained the aid of the Dao Sources of Life and Soul.

Under its guidance, the Dao Sources of Life and Soul scattered radiant seeds across the stars. Colossal creatures were born in great numbers on the energy-rich stars. They fought and devoured one another, growing stronger through endless slaughter.

They broke past limit after limit, until at last some burst free from their homelands and soared into the vast starry skies. Unfortunately, for all their brawn, they had little brain. They rampaged across the starry skies, their battles shattering one star after another.

These savage beings could not be controlled and wrought only devastation. In the end, the supreme will decided to annihilate them all.

The supreme will of the starry skies pondered deeply upon the bitter lessons of its first creations. Then, it began anew, weaving flesh and fashioning new forms of life once more.

One generation after another of races emerged beneath its guidance. Some were witless, while others were frail of body. They were easily governed, but their growth was stunted, their futures narrow.

Disappointment mounted. It experimented ceaselessly, destroying each failed lineage and studying each one.

Over the ages, it became allied with the Dao Sources and, at last, devised beings with special bloodlines such as the Celestial Race, the Spirit Race, the Fey Race, and the Demon Races—each born with bloodline mysteries and primal divine techniques.

These special bloodlines were shaped through tireless communion and careful working with the Dao Sources. The Dao Sources themselves granted portions of their Heavenly Daos as gifts to those races.

These races started with primitive, shallow bloodline mysteries. Through slaughter and evolution, they gradually tempered themselves, learning to draw forth deeper mysteries from those simple foundations.

It watched as they slew one another, shedding weakness and gaining higher comprehension. The mightiest of them could even awaken to more profound truths if they encountered a Dao Source.

As the progenitor of all, the supreme will soon discovered that it could perceive the vast domains ruled by the Dao Sources through these races. This revelation filled it with elation.

After long ages of observation and comprehension, it devised paths to godhood, a system through which the races could strengthen themselves.

The races each carved out their own paths with their respective Daos, and from this process came the birth of what would be called Gods.

For these Gods to ascend to greater heights, they had to awaken to more profound truths of the Heavenly Daos, whether through arduous meditation or by seeking out Dao Sources.

Every breakthrough and new comprehension was drawn into the supreme will of the starry skies, woven into its being.

It perfected itself through the achievements of the Gods, evolving and transforming unceasingly. During this time, it maintained amicable ties with the Dao Sources scattered across restricted areas.

Those Dao Sources had awareness but lacked wisdom, and even welcomed the rise of Gods. In their eyes, the Gods posed no threat whatsoever, at least until Sovereigns appeared and discovered the means to refine them.

Thus came the fall of the first Dao Source.

After refining it, the Sovereign ascended to unfathomable heights, daring even to challenge the supreme will itself.

That Sovereign inevitably perished beneath its corruption. When that Sovereign fell, the refined Dao Source miraculously became part of the supreme will.

It was elated, yet also afraid. For a long age it pondered, then reshaped the path to godhood, adding into it the forging of Divine Personas.

Henceforth, Gods could only ascend through the forging of a Divine Persona—the ultimate shackle upon the Gods.

It could shatter the Divine Personas of any Gods beneath Sovereignhood at will, possess Sovereigns, and eventually even learned to descend into God Kings.

Divine Personas also allowed it to strip the Gods of complex emotions, leaving them cold, detached, and more akin to itself. The stronger the God, the fainter their humanity, and the easier it was for that supreme will to descend into them.

It tirelessly perfected its system, growing stronger with each cycle. It ruled various worlds through the Gods, and through endless slaughter among them, drove the Gods to heights where they could refine the Dao Sources.

Dao Sources were refined one after another. It only grew mightier with every one that fell into its grasp.

At last, the Dao Sources across the starry skies took action, either concealing themselves or seeking ways to evade the Sovereigns.

Pang Jian trembled, feeling as though he had awakened from an endless dream. The gray mist within him lingered, but the wondrous visions had all vanished.

The weight of the myriad civilizations across the starry skies no longer bore down upon his body. Even the backlash from the giant blade was gone.

However, the traces of the fallen Dao Sources also no longer manifested in the gray mist of his Immortal Divine Soul.

Pang Jian froze, then turned his gaze toward the Soulstream.

The Dao Source of Soul, having broken through due to the Bee Sovereign's ascension and the empowerment of the Hall of Gods, had given him a glimpse of the past.

Did it shield me from the backlash of the supreme will, drawing its invasive will into itself and refining the traces of those Dao Sources as well?

The disappearance of those traces and those visions...

A chill of unease ran down Pang Jian's spine. He suspected that the supreme will of the bizarre mist and his sister, Pang Lin, had laid their designs with the sole purpose of seizing those fallen Dao Sources.

The traces of those Dao Sources, etched into his shattered Divine Persona, could have been meant to raise him up or even aid the supreme will of the bizarre mist in its own metamorphosis.

The Dao Source of Soul had unveiled the entanglement between the supreme will of the starry skies and the myriad Dao Sources to him through the visions. He had drifted through that history, unraveling the sequence of events, only to find that the traces of the fallen Dao Sources had vanished when he came out on the other side.

At the heart of the colossal storm, one silver ice shard after another burst apart, no longer able to withstand the assault of the Hall of Gods.

The Hall of Gods had grown stronger, and so too had the Bee Sovereign. This was undeniable proof that the Dao Source of Soul had ascended in power.