Trials of the Abyss
Chapter 735: Great Demon God Fa Ji

Chapter 735: Great Demon God Fa Ji

The tall woman with black hair and eyes wore a dark green gown that hugged her narrow waist, with flowing sleeves that billowed gently in the air.

Her face was small, and her features were exquisitely delicate. Slender eyebrows framed her bright, expressive eyes, making her seem like a spirit born of the hidden valley, radiating a quiet vitality.

Standing atop the massive golden beehive, she tilted her head back and met Pang Jian's gaze. Despite the vast distance between them, their eyes locked as if there were no distance at all.

Fragmented lands and continents lay between them, with whistling flying vessels, Outer Gods, and foreign race warriors constantly moving about.

Despite this, none of it could block their eyes from meeting. It was uncanny.

Your human race and our Nether Race should be the closest allies. Though her crystal-glossed lips did not move, her voice echoed clearly in Pang Jian's mind. You, Pang Jian, of all people, should be our ally more than most. In fact, you could be considered one of us because your mother was my mentor.

She gently pulled down the collar of her gown, revealing a sliver of smooth skin, the faint cleavage of her chest, and a World God Pendant, shaped just like Pang Jian's.

The envoy of the Nether Abyss previously mentioned that this era's World God of the Nether Abyss strongly advocated for an alliance with the human race. However, the leader of the Nether Abyss, Long Di, held a different view.

Standing on the seafloor and meeting Pang Jian's gaze across the vast distance, she confidently revealed her World God Pendant. The connection was only made possible through some profound techniques. There was no denying her evident power.

I will never cooperate with someone who tries to force my hand, Pang Jian replied. The Thunder Pool has already been promised elsewhere. I won't hand it over to anyone.

Good, she said, nodding lightly. After some thought, she added sincerely, This storm has nothing to do with you. It's not right for you to be dragged into it. Leave the Nether Abyss while you still can.

I heard you and Long Di don't see eye to eye? Pang Jian asked, curious.

It's not that we're at odds, we simply have different perspectives on certain matters, she said, lips curling into a self-deprecating smile. Even if there truly was conflict between us, we would still stand together when faced with this threat. Surely you and the other True Gods of the human race would also unite against an outside force.

Pang Jian nodded in agreement. As he was about to ask more questions, a colossal demonic figure suddenly plummeted from the sky above the Nether Abyss and appeared before him.

Their connection was severed with the demonic figure's arrival. A demonic blade, wreathed in malicious thoughts, manifested within Pang Jian's mind and slashed down with a sharp sound. That one strike snapped the thread linking him to the World God of the Nether Abyss.

Snapped back to awareness, Pang Jian glanced at the demonic figure. An overwhelming tide of demonic energy surged around him.

"A Great Demon God!" Pang Jian exclaimed.

All Great Demon Gods were high-ranking Gods, supreme rulers of their respective domains.

"Pang Jian, don't you think you're being too bold? To think you'd even openly communicate with a Nether God right in front of us," the figure said coldly.

The emaciated Great Demon God was clad in a pitch-black demonic armor, his expression displeased. A perforated demonic blade floated above his hundred-zhang-tall form, and his purple eyes burned with flames of the same hue.

Squinting at Pang Jian, he added, "I've never seen eye to eye with He Motian, and I've never recognized his status among the Demon Gods. I also won't acknowledge that demon he raised in the Abyss until he becomes a real Sovereign.

"He Motian holds a higher position than I do outside the bizarre mist, but within it, I, Fa Ji, am the rightful leader of the Demon Races!

"I am also the World God of the Demon Abyss. The Demon Gods serving as Observers answer to me, Fa Ji, not He Motian."

The Great Demon God unveiled a series of large, tattered banners behind him. Terrifying demonic eyes stared coldly out of the many holes in the banners.

Stray thoughts and demonic souls surged forth from those eyes, used to observe living beings, including their innermost thoughts.

"Pang Jian, we meet again." An Observer from one of the massive banners chuckled lowly. "I never expected you to escape the Abyss so quickly."

Pang Jian's heart skipped a beat. It was the Observer from Spirit Offering and Absolute Heaven. This Observer had persuaded the Thunderveil Godbeast to act in the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God, nearly getting Pang Jian and the others killed.

"I had hoped to retrieve the Thunder Pool for Elder Yuan back in the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God." The Observer Number Nine sighed regretfully. Then his tone became energized. "Still, you've been most cooperative, coming here to the Nether Abyss on your own, standing right before Elder Yuan."

The other Observers also chimed in.

"Pang Jian, why not hand over the Thunder Pool to Elder Yuan and let him deal with Long Di?"

"Long Di is the leader of the Nether Abyss. He's not like the other local powerhouses. He also harbors hostility toward the Abyss."

"If he dies, the power structure of the Nether Abyss changes, and that benefits everyone."

"Pang Jian, we don't hold deep grudges against the Abyss. We're all divine beings born of the races residing in the bizarre mist. Maybe it's time we unite and turn our sights on the Outer Gods from the starry skies instead."

"That's right. We deserve to rule the world!"

The Observers all spoke at once.

Each word and lilt of their voices carried a subtle corrupting power, designed to warp the mind, twist the will, and lure Pang Jian into submission.

Without Pang Jian noticing, dozens of divine beings had already circled him, quietly converging on his position.

Hai Wei was one among them. Standing silently among the other Gods, she watched as Pang Jian's expression shifted and his eyes flickered with uncertainty.

The Observers serving Fa Ji were working in unison to unleash a technique known as the Mind-Sundering Demonic Art. Their intention was clear: to shatter Pang Jian's mental defenses.

If they succeeded and Pang Jian's mind faltered, the Thunder Pool, Five Thunder Annihilation, Ghostflare, the secrets of the Abyss, and even Pang Jian's own secrets would be handed over without resistance.

"Elder Yuan needs the Thunder Pool," Fa Ji said, glancing in her direction.

As a fellow World God, one well aware of Fa Ji's power and rank, Hai Wei offered a soft smile. "Of course. Our goals are always aligned. Naturally, I hope Elder Yuan obtains the Thunder Pool and that Long Di, that wretched tyrant, is brought to justice."

Fa Ji returned her smile. "Good."

***

Pang Jian's divine sense and thoughts buzzed endlessly in his sea of consciousness, as if mosquitoes and flies were swarming there. His sense of self and clarity of mind were like a still pool of water being stirred into murkiness.

Thoughts that did not belong to him took root. A voice deep inside urged him to reach out to his physical body, tear open a spatial rift, and send over the Thunder Pool, alongside any other divine artifacts or treasures he had.

At the same time, in the sky of the Fifth World, Pang Jian's physical body remained suspended in the dense sea of demonic energy. The Thunder Pool, Five Thunder Annihilation, Ghostflare, and everything else irrelevant had already been put away.

Floating in that sea of demonic energy, he silently endured wave after wave of malicious thoughts and evil intent. The demonic energy relentlessly scoured his Divine Persona in his sea of consciousness and the sea of demonic energy within his dantian. If he lacked conviction, he would fall into the demonic path.

The Sovereign of the Demon Races had once perished at the hands of the Black Empyrean Phoenix and left behind this strange sea of demonic energy within the Abyss. That same Sovereign was now using the profound truths of the Dao of Demon he had once mastered to foster the birth of a new demon.

If this sea of demonic energy merged with Pang Jian, and Pang Jian truly embraced the Dao of Demon, he would instantly transform into a demon.

The Duke of Thunder's Thunder Pool spun rapidly above the seven fragmented lands in his dantian.

Inside Pang Jian's Divine Persona, demonic wills took shape like wisps of smoke, each corresponding to profound principles of the Dao of Demon.

The moment Pang Jian's mind wavered, those smoky wisps would etch themselves into him, permanently overwriting the Heavenly Daos he had comprehended. If that happened, the Dao of Demon would consume Pang Jian, forcing him to forsake all others.

I was born with a Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea. My Heavenly Dao is the Dao of Chaos, not the Dao of Demon!

I ascended to godhood through a series of chaotic but untainted energies. The Dao of Chaos is the Dao I will always uphold. I seek an ever-shifting and boundless understanding of the world, just like the ever-changing Abyss.

What I pursue is not singularity, but diversity!

Pang Jian refused to let his thoughts waver or be swept away.

After an undetermined amount of time, the corrupting thoughts within the sea of demonic energy seemed to vanish like clouds revealing the moon.

In truth, they had not disappeared. They were still there. The difference was that they could no longer shake Pang Jian's heart.

The soul essence within his Divine Persona remained clear and untouched. The demonic thoughts and foreign wills had failed to taint him.

This terrifying sea of demonic energy, capable of drawing out the darkest thoughts of living beings, unexpectedly became calm.

Meanwhile, in the Nether Abyss, the Observers were still attempting to shatter Pang Jian's mental defenses.

"Silence!" Pang Jian shouted coldly.

The chaotic cacophony of voices vanished at his roar. The Observers lurking within the banners fell silent.

Fa Ji, the leader of the Demon Races in the Nether Abyss and the other abysses, stared at Pang Jian.

"How did you do that? Fa Ji frowned. "For a second, I felt as if that deceased Sovereign had returned to our side."

The Sovereign he spoke of was, of course, the Sovereign of the Demon Races.