Trials of the Abyss
Chapter 746: Changes in the Abyss

Chapter 746: Changes in the Abyss

After their defeat in the war against the human race and the Fey Race, the foreign races were banished to a world without light.

In time, they adapted to the darkness. Their bloodlines changed, and their eyes evolved to see clearly within the endless gloom of the Fifth World.

Even so, they still yearned for the light, for the prosperity of the worlds above. They dreamed of the day when they could look up and behold a brilliant starry sky.

The ancient texts passed down among their races and the murals carved onto their many altars all spoke of the beauty that lay beyond. They told of a starry sky where twinkling stars glimmered, the moon shone bright, and the sun blazed with eternal warmth.

Thus, breaking into the First World, the layer closest to the barrier and the magnificent starry skies, became the ultimate ambition of the foreign races in the Fifth World.

They had strived for tens of thousands of years to achieve this goal.

The arrival of Sovereign Luo, the appearance of the Fire God Yan Lie, the guidance of He Motian, and the repeated descent of Zi Mo's divine consciousness strengthened their belief that this dream would be realized this time.

The foreign races left behind in the Fifth World looked forward to receiving the news of their victory. They believed that flying vessels would soon descend to bring them into the upper worlds.

However, no flying vessels came, nor did any of their warriors return.

Instead, True Gods appeared in the Fifth World with increasing frequency, even attempting to break into their shielded continents.

These weaker members of the foreign races lived in constant fear, dreading the day the protective barriers of the continents were breached. Their strength and bloodline ranks were no match for the True Gods of the human race.

Their hearts were gripped with a bone-deep fear every time they caught sight of the True Gods outside the continents.

They had lost all contact with the Rank Ten powerhouses from the Fifth World. They also did not know the situation in the upper worlds.

Though they occasionally caught glimpses of Luo Hongyan atop the towering Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar on the Fifth Continent, she never spoke to them or explained what was happening.

Time passed in blurs of anxious waiting and suffocating dread.

Until one day, the sky of the Fifth World was torn apart.

The foreign races across the seven continents of the Fifth World looked up at the sky. They watched as the greenish-black canopy that shrouded their world shrank into a small point.

Light returned to the Fifth World with the collapse of the veil. A dim light filtered down from the world above.

A world of fragmented lands could now be seen from the Fifth World below.

Many wept tears of joy, believing this to be a sign that the war had ended in their victory.

The foreign races on the seven continents were a tidal wave of joy, and cheers echoed throughout the Fifth World.

***

Li Wang, Li Zhaotian, Jiang Fan, Gui Mu, Su Wanrou, and Yin Ji gazed up at the sky from the nameless fragmented land.

They watched in astonishment as the greenish-black veil woven from demonic energy disappeared, and faint light filtered through.

The barrier that once blocked their return to the upper worlds had vanished.

"It's Pang Jian!" Su Wanrou of the Pure Land Sect exclaimed, voice trembling as she stared at the point where the vast veil had gathered. "He's torn down the sky of the Fifth World!"

This sight above left her stunned. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined that the sky separating the Fourth and Fifth Worlds could be altered, let alone taken down.

Non-cultivators revered her as a divine being. She had also once been in awe of the might of the Outer Gods such as He Motian and Zi Mo.

Despite having seen such power in her lifetime, she had never thought it possible to dismantle the barrier separating the two worlds.

It would have been one thing if Pang Jian had merely opened a passage for them to pass through. It was another for him to take down the entire sky!

Pang Jian had stripped away the sea of demonic energy that bound them to the endless darkness of the Fifth World! This was on a different scale from simply breaking through to escape!

Yin Ji clutched Li Zhaotian's arm, her slender fingers instinctively tightening until her nails nearly pierced the Pavilion Master's flesh. "How did he do it?"

"I don't know. I truly don't." Li Zhaotian, seemingly numb to the pain, squinted his beady eyes at the sky. His mouth gaped open, stretched halfway between a smile and a look of astonishment. "Regardless, we now have another choice. We can simply return to the upper worlds and attempt to advance as Zhu Ji did instead of venturing into the Seventh World."

Two streaks of light shot toward the sky. One was Jiang Fan, and the other was Gui Mu.

They did not bother seeking Li Wang's permission. His willingness to sacrifice them cost him their loyalty.

Li Wang murmured, dazed, "I can no longer see the way forward."

The Abyss no longer felt familiar. It seemed as though all his past efforts and arrangements had turned into nothing but a joke.

Luo Hongyan had tricked them into entering the Sixth World, a place none of them had ever set foot in. The only reason they had escaped was because of Pang Jian.

They had also learned about the remains of a dead Black Empyrean Phoenix in the Seventh World.

Zhu Ji had broken through to the next realm.

The domineering Thunder Dragon was captured alive and imprisoned on the Resolute Expanse, used as nourishment for a Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree.

A Rank Twelve Aberrant Spirit sought to unsettle the seven Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars through a spatial rift.

Pang Jian had even torn away the veil that once shrouded the Fifth World.

One incomprehensible event after another unfolded before his eyes, and all he could do was watch from the sidelines, powerless to change the tide.

Gui Mu and Jiang Fan no longer sided with him. Li Zhaotian no longer acknowledged his authority, and Zhu Ji no longer looked to him for direction.

Li Wang felt like everything he had worked for had lost its meaning.

A deep sense of melancholy welled up in Li Wang. He glanced at Li Zhaotian, then looked up at Pang Jian in the sky, and sighed. "I suppose I've grown old. Am I standing in the way of the younger generation?"

"Elder Li, you are the guiding light that has led us forward. Please never think that way," Li Zhaotian said solemnly, slightly stunned at Li Wang's words.

Much of Li Zhaotian's previous dissatisfaction with Li Wang had been swept away when he resolved to sacrifice himself as one of the three clusters of Fortune.

While Li Wang had done many things that clashed with Li Zhaotian's beliefs, he had never acted selfishly. Everything he did, all the hardships he endured, was for the sake of the human race.

He did not hesitate to break his word to the Fey Gods and even worked to suppress the bloodlines of the Fey Race, ultimately driving the Celestial Phoenix into madness and leading to its downfall.

However, his actions, dishonorable and underhanded as they were, had undeniably allowed the human race to remain secure as the ruling race of the Abyss for generations.

He willingly bore the weight of countless sins for the sake of the prosperity of the human race. This was why even Zhu Ji had been willing to acknowledge him.

"If more young talents like you and Pang Jian emerge in the future, I'll gladly step aside for them." Li Wang said with a smile. "I have to lead by example."

Stepping aside meant either breaking through the barrier or dying within the Abyss. For Li Wang, with his comparatively weaker cultivation, escaping into the starry skies was no different from walking toward death.

A deep ache stirred in Li Zhaotian's chest. "Elder Li, there'll be another way forward. There has to be! The flame of humanity will not be extinguished. It doesn't matter if Sovereigns or Outer Gods set foot within the Abyss, as long as we're alive, we can always find a way to turn the tide!

"He's right," Zhu Ji agreed before glancing upward with a frown. "Li Zhaotian, the barrier has shifted. An Outer God has descended using secret techniques. I'm heading up. I will kill any Outer God daring to appear at a time like this!"

Zhu Ji then shot toward the First World, overtaking Gui Mu and Jiang Fan in the blink of an eye.

As he passed Pang Jian, he came to an abrupt stop, curiosity drawing his gaze. The demonic sky shrouding the Fifth World had shrunk into a dark veil in Pang Jian's hands.

Seven terrifying forces gathered around Pang Jian, as though ancient gods from the dawn of the Abyss had each entrusted him with their divine power.

Even Zhu Ji, the first True God to become a mid-ranking God after Pang Jian, felt a heavy pressure as he observed Pang Jian through the lens of his newly attained cultivation realm. The weight on his heart was not from emotion, but from those terrifying forces.

"Outer Gods are descending through secret techniques. I'll deal with them before heading to the Seventh World to see what's going on," Zhu Ji said calmly.

There was no reason for him to explain himself, but as he stood before Pang Jian, he felt compelled to inform him of his plans.

Pang Jian gave a slight nod. "I'll stay and watch over the worlds below."

With that, Zhu Ji continued his ascent into the upper worlds. He did not ask about the seven terrifying forces around Pang Jian, the veil in his hands, or what it was he intended to watch over in the world below. Correct content is on

All Zhu Ji needed to know was that Pang Jian, like himself, cared about the survival of the human race. That was enough. NovelFire

Gui Mu and Jiang Fan reached Pang Jian not long after Zhu Ji's departure. The two of them stood silently, gazing at Pang Jian and at the steadily shrinking veil.

After a brief pause, Gui Mu left, but Jiang Fan stayed.

"What's that veil of demonic energy?" Jiang Fan asked.

"It's a cloak."