Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 489: Sword Honing with the Demon Fetus

In the shadowy world within the Abyssal Demon Sword, the handsome prince of the Nether Demon Race fled from the Demon Fetus in terror.

He hid in a corner of the small world, cautiously observing the Demon Fetus, dreading the possibility of it speaking again.

The experience was enough for him to know he was completely powerless to resist.

He silently reflected on his experiences in the Demon Lair, mulling over the unexpected events that had unfolded there.

Pang Jian! Abyssal Demon called out. When I was in the Demon Lair, I noticed something was wrong with the Demon Fetus. It was weak and helpless.

I could only bring it out and into this sword under my control because of my connection with it.

But I underestimated it! If it fully awakens and truly wishes to merge with me, I won't be able to resist at all!

Fortunately, it's no longer in the Demon Lair! Otherwise, it would've already absorbed the demonic energy from the Demon Lair and would've fully recovered by now!" the Abyssal Demon explained in a trembling voice.

I'll try to erase it! Pang Jian replied as his golden divine soul soared through the shadowy world in the Abyssal Demon Sword.

The enigmatic phenomena of his Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea took form within the golden radiance emanating from Pang Jian's divine soul.

The golden mountain, fiery pool, ice pool, lightning vortex, stars, moons, and radiant sun in his dantian manifested within the golden radiance!

The Daos that Pang Jian had comprehended had long been imprinted onto his divine soul and freely permeated the world through its golden radiance.

His Daos manifested through the divine radiance also carried a power capable of corroding divine consciousness.

His divine soul was truly unlike anything the world had ever seen.

Pang Jian was like an invading deity from another world within the Abyssal Demon Sword, and his presence seemed to corrupt the very fabric of the space.

The Abyssal Demon huddled in a corner with a faint sigh.

The Demon Fetus, the Progenitor of all Demons, was at its weakest point after suffering a catastrophic failure in a major scheme. To make matters worse, it had been removed from the Demon Lair and deprived of the demonic energy needed for recovery.

At the moment, there was a real possibility of eradicating the Demon Fetus with Pang Jian's unique divine soul.

The only issue was that the Abyssal Demon was merely a secondary soul separated from the Demon Fetus.

According to the memories etched into his soul, secondary souls like the Abyssal Demon would vanish if the Demon Fetus ceased to exist.

If Pang Jian killed the Demon Fetus, the Abyssal Demon would die too.

However, if the Demon Fetus were left alive and allowed to regain its strength, it would inevitably devour the Abyssal Demon and, after fully recovering, eliminate Pang Jian as well.

The Abyssal Demon felt like a pitiful wretch, overwhelmed with despair at his lack of control over his fate.

It considered pleading for mercy but doubted it would yield a favorable outcome, so it just quietly withdrew into itself instead.

The six demonic realms under the Abyssal Demon's control had since fallen under the command of the briefly awakened Demon Fetus. Surging forward, they intercepted the golden radiance.

The clash of Daos reverberated throughout the world within the Abyssal Demon Sword!

Stars fell, blazing suns collapsed, and icy landscapes crumbled as lightning cracked.

Similarly, endless greenish-black demonic flames, enigmatic demonic patterns, and winding crystal bloodline chains disintegrated into wisps of smoke.

The demonic realms shifted and flickered within this ever-changing world.

"The Primeval Demon Fusion Art is the demonic technique you created from your Dao of Demons. Your power far exceeds what you've displayed. It's too bad you can't fully unleash it in your weakened state!" Pang Jian sneered.

His golden divine soul hovered in the void, hands pressing downward as two radiant realms materialized.

One mirrored the fragmented land within his dantian, complete with the fiery pool, ice pool, lightning vortex, and golden mountain. The other transformed into a luminous river of light, shimmering with the brilliance of suns, moons, and stars.

A surge of exhilaration washed over Pang Jian at the realization that all the Daos he had comprehended could be materialized in a battle between souls!

His golden divine soul could manifest anything by shaping his soul essence into illusions or even materializing it into reality itself!

Rumble!

The realm resembling the fragmented land in Pang Jian's dantian crashed down on the two swirling demonic realms, destroying the towering demonic palaces within.

The Demon Gods and Great Demon Gods standing within those palaces were reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.

Demon generals and demonesses, lost in their revelry, were likewise crushed to dust by the overwhelming force of the descending realm.

Rumble!

The river of light filled with celestial bodies descended upon two other demonic realms, washing away the blood and transforming them into sacred lands.

The pure radiance of the stars and moons cleansed the corrupted earth and evaporated all traces of evil within.

Malice born from the hearts of men and demonic seeds of sin nurtured within living beings were entirely dissolved within the sanctified brilliance of this purifying light.

I didn't know battles between souls could be like this. Pang Jian thought, fighting spirit soaring.

Although he had never deliberately studied any soul techniques, the channeling of his Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea through his divine soul was in itself a soul technique unique to him.

As he battled, Pang Jian gained an even deeper understanding of the Primeval Demon Fusion Art.

He took full advantage of the Demon Fetus's weakened state, knowing it was still suffering from the failure of its grand scheme.

The fact that the Demon Fetus was not within the Demon Lair but rather in the small world of the Abyssal Demon Sword meant it could not absorb sufficient demonic energy.

Pang Jian's golden divine soul clashed relentlessly against the weakened Demon Fetus, wielding the many techniques he had accumulated over the years.

In this way, the Demon Fetus became the whetstone upon which he honed his swordsmanship, guiding his mastery of the Primeval Demon Fusion Art.

The battle between them raged on with neither side gaining the upper hand.

The dense demonic energy shrouding the Demon Abyss Continent continued to rush frantically into Pang Jian's body and toward his chest.

All the demonic energy surging in was refined and condensed into a single greenish-black orb, nestled within the mist behind the slightly ajar Gate of the Abyss.

The orb, no larger than a thumb, was the crystallized essence of the demonic energy.

As it absorbed the demonic energy pouring in, it steadily grew in size.

The solid, crystalline orb was the purest form that demonic energy could take. It resembled the greenish-black demonic stone from the starry skies and exuded an aura of unparalleled strength and mystery.

Dong Shangqing's eyes gleamed. "Almost there!"

The demonic energy within the Heaven-Encompassing Demonic Array was rapidly thinning, especially in the region where Pang Jian was.

Much of the demonic energy sustaining the array was wavering and flickering intermittently.

"The Demon Abyss Continent will soon be unsealed. Before long, we'll be able to slip inside without destroying the array!" Dong Shangqing exclaimed. Then, taking note of Li Wang's twisted expression, he asked, "Are you having trouble controlling the Demon Subjugating Shrine from outside the barrier?"

Li Wang responded bitterly, "It's not going smoothly."

"Don't worry. At worst, you'll just lose a sliver of your divine soul," Dong Shangqing said indifferently. "That's hardly enough to shake the foundation of your Dao.

"As long as we can get inside, we can resolve the crisis on the Demon Abyss Continent. It's not like your Demon Subjugating Shrine can slip away on a sealed continent."

"Li Wang, you always told us to sacrifice the few for the greater good." Li Zhaotian smirked coldly. "It's your turn to make that sacrifice to save the inhabitants of the Demon Abyss Continent."

"I never hesitate when it's my turn to make a sacrifice," Li Wang said solemnly.

Li Zhaotian snorted. "Good."

***

On the Demon Abyss Continent, Li Jie huddled in his Qilin Bell and nervously watched the traitorous Demon Sect disciples flitting about in the sky above.

Suppressing his presence, he moved cautiously through the dense forest.

He continued to distance himself from the Demon Abyss while also staying far from the disciples of the Demon Sect.

Xiang Shengwei, Chen Xuanfeng, Qu Long, and Wu Yuan, once the most brilliant and powerful cultivators of the Demon Sect, had become either vessels or devoted followers of the Demon Gods.

The most dominant faction on this continent now slaughtered other human cultivators in an endless massacre.

The spread of demonic energy amplified the malice in people's hearts, causing weaker cultivators and mortals to lose control.

Many strong-willed cultivators with higher cultivation realms endured the waves of corrupting malice and survived through sheer resilience.

These survivors initially sought to help Li Wang after seeing the Demon Subjugating Shrine and the starry skies in the sky, only for the elites of the Demon Sect to strike them down.

This time, the casualties were almost entirely high-level cultivators in the Soul Wandering Realm and Nirvana Realm, with a few Immortal Realm cultivators among the fallen as well.

The damages inflicted upon this continent will take a thousand years to heal. The Black Valley Sect and the noble families on this continent will likely fall into ruin.

Li Jie passed over a valley where cultivators from the lower worlds had gathered.

In the valley, disciples of the Star River Alliance and the Blood Moon Sect knelt in pools of blood, weeping and apologizing to the comrades they had slain with their own hands.

Unfortunately, the dead could not return, and their tears were meaningless.

Li Jie sighed softly as he left.

Such sights were commonplace throughout the continent, and he had long since grown numb to them.

He could only hope for the barrier shrouding the Demon Abyss Continent to dissipate and a ray of sunlight to break through.

Whoosh!

A single beam of sunlight broke through the sealed sky as if responding to his wish.

Peering up, he noticed that a section of the barrier was no longer cloaked in greenish-black demonic light.

A figure hovered motionlessly there.

With each breath, they drew in the surrounding demonic energy, causing it to surge into him like a black hole sucking up a demonic sea.

Li Jie used an artifact to investigate and discovered that the figure was Pang Jian.

At that moment, he heard his father calling for him.

"Where the hell are you?"

Li Jie hastily grasped the jade pendant on his waist with trembling hands and wailed, "Old man, I'm still alive!"

"Pang Jian has fallen onto the demonic path, but he's unraveled the Heaven-Encompassing Demonic Array!" Li Yuanli barked. "Stay hidden and don't move until I come to get you!"