Trials of the Abyss

The Demon Bull Race warrior raised his head and roared.

Otherworldly scenes emerged in the rippling ghostly white light—collapsed ancient cities, fallen warriors of the Demon Bull Race, dried-up rivers, and crumbling mountains.

As the stone ax soared skyward alongside the Demon Bull Race warrior like an azure dragon, it unleashed a mighty force capable of splitting the sky open.

Scenes from the Demon Bull Race's history manifested through the stone ax.

"Our race will rise to prominence!"

Crack! Whoosh!

The Demon Bull Race warrior's bones crackled as his body grew taller, blood essence swelling like a tidal wave.

Pang Jian gripped the Primal Sphere and watched as the stone ax tailed the white pagoda.

He could feel the Demon Bull Race warrior's overwhelming blood essence surging like a boundless tide.

Whoosh!

A giant Demon Bull Race from ancient times emerged from the depths of the ghostly white light.

It had once fought in wars to hunt down Rank Ten Fey Races.

Rage blazed In its enormous eyes, revealing a ferocious desire to tear apart the True Gods and the Fey Race.

Its fierce aura swirled around the Demon Bull Race's ancestral stone ax, turning it into a deadly weapon of slaughter.

Boom!

The stone ax destroyed the Rocfish formed from Hu Yuanfei's sword light, dissolving it into a rain of light and forcing the spirit sword back to its original form.

Boom! Boom!

The Demon Bull Race's unyielding will could be felt as the stone ax crashed down onto Hu Yuanfei's and Liu Youyu's artifacts.

The Rocfish Sword wailed mournfully when the powerful blow warped its blade.

Whoosh!

The Celestial Profound Mirror above Liu Youyu emitted a radiant white light that helped Hu Yuanfei resist the stone ax's impact.

"Come to my side!" she shouted to Hu Yuanfei.

At that moment, Hu Yuanfei noticed a grayish-green iron ball enlarging a hundredfold.

"Pang Jian! He's a true Rank Eight, and his weapon is not normal!" Hu Yuanfei cried, raising her warped sword in alarm.

She realized Pang Jian had been waiting for this opportunity and intended to strike while the Demon Bull Race warrior gathered his strength for another blow.

"I know he's a true Rank Eight."

The Primal Sphere grew to nearly five hundred times its original size and descended like a falling star.

Pang Jian's vast array of energies poured into it like a raging torrent—from the profound weight of earth energy, the shimmering brilliance of the stellar energy, the explosive force of earthflame energy and lightning, to the radiant splendor of solar and lunar energy.

The Dao of Chaos that Pang Jian had comprehended and the many energies in his dantian and spiritual sea were imprinted onto the Primal Sphere.

It was as if he was endowing a celestial body with the purest principles of the Dao.

The Primal Sphere resembled a divine weapon descending from the heavens as it shot toward the Demon Bull Race warrior atop the stone platform.

The strongest warrior of the Demon Bull Race grinned savagely. "Haha! You've got guts, daring to clash with your Grandpa Bull!"

His bulging muscles brimmed with strength and his every movement audibly stirred the air.

The Demon Bull Race warrior was like an ancient Demon God, radiating an overwhelming aura of raw power.

He absorbed the surrounding murky energy through his skin and pores, and when he opened his mouth, it was like he could devour entire galaxies.

The roars of thousands of Demon Bull Race warriors seemed to echo from the stone platform beneath his feet.

"War drums echo, massive boulders soar to the sky!"

The Demon Bull Race warrior channeled the might of the ancient Demon Bull Race army, which had once dominated the Abyss and conquered many races across the starry skies for millions of years.

The stone platform suddenly flipped.

In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a fragment of a vast plain in mid-air, with the Demon Bull Race warrior and his stone ax beneath it.

The stone platform faced the oncoming Primal Sphere with its underside, ready to absorb the impact.

Boom!

A deafening explosion shook the sky as the Primal Sphere carved a massive crater into the stone platform like a fallen meteor.

The stone platform then plunged from the sky.

"This human brat has some skill!" the Demon Bull Race warrior exclaimed in shock.

He stirred his bloodline power once more. The Demon Bull Race's war horns echoed from within his muscles as the stone platform flipped again.

Boom!

The stone platform, spanning a thousand mu, turned over just in time to pin the Primal Sphere to the Fey Spirit Continent.

Gripping his stone ax, he left the stone platform behind and ordered a nearby Ice Sculpture Beast, "Take me to the sky!"

The Rank Seven Ice Sculpture Beast complied, struggling to ascend with the Demon Bull Race warrior's massive body on its back.

Pang Jian desperately tried to retrieve the Primal Sphere, but it remained pinned beneath the stone platform, unable to break free.

When he saw warriors of the Flame Race, the Ghost Race, and the Earth Scorpion Race approach the Divine Spirit Pagoda on the massive boulders, he summoned his Startling Slaughter Spear and took flight.

Pang Jian circled the ascending white page, darting among the massive boulders where foreign race warriors stood.

"Fiery Lightning!"

A streak of lightning, imbued with solar and earthflame energy, tore through a Rank Seven Earth Scorpion Race warrior's armor.

Although a Rank Seven was equivalent to a Soul Wandering cultivator, the lightning easily pierced and slayed the foe.

"Icy Lightning!"

With a flick of the Startling Slaughter Spear, a storm of icy lightning swallowed several shriveled-looking Ghost Race warriors.

The Rank Six Ghost Race warriors had fragile bodies and shattered upon freezing.

A Rank Seven Ghost Race warrior endured the assault but swiftly perished once Pang Jian infused a chaotic mix of energy into the icy lightning storm.

Fan Chen wielded the "Supreme" and "Monad" characters to hold off a Rank Eight Flame Race warrior at the base of the white pagoda while Liu Youyu fought against a Rank Eight Ghost Race warrior with her Celestial Profound Mirror.

Meanwhile, Pang Jian moved swiftly, avoiding higher-ranked enemies and targeting those in Rank Six and Seven.

Before long, dozens of enemies had fallen to his Startling Slaughter Spear.

Black clouds swirled endlessly in the gloomy sky of the Fourth World.

Ling Yimo of the Ghost Sacrifice Sect, the self-proclaimed high-ranked God of the Ghost Race, hovered within the churning black clouds.

"Fan Chen, Liu Youyu, Hu Yuanfei, and…Pang Jian," she muttered.

Her divine soul had since fully solidified and no longer exuded a sense of fragility or ethereality.

Her glowing green eyes now matched those of the Ghost Race.

Behind her floated the hunchbacked shadow of the Outer God, You Kui, another God the Ghost Race worshiped.

He hovered respectfully behind Ling Yimo in a deliberate display of their strict hierarchy.

"Exalted One, shall I summon a Rank Nine warrior?" You Kui cautiously asked.

"Isn't it humiliating enough that several Rank Eight warriors failed to kill them? How could you even suggest a Rank Nine?" Ling Yimo snapped, watching the battlefield below with growing irritation.

The combined efforts of the Rank Eight warriors from the Flame Race, the Ghost Race, the Demon Bull Race, and the Mountain Ghost Race had still failed to bring down the Divine Spirit Pagoda.

It left Ling Yimo feeling humiliated and defeated.

You Kui hung his head, too afraid to offer any defense.

The Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars had suppressed these foreign race warriors in the Fifth World for far too long. Their weapons were inferior to Liu Youyu's, Fan Chen's, and the others'.

It was no surprise that they struggled.

Despite his thoughts on the matter, he dared not voice any of them.

His rank was far beneath Ling Yimo in the hierarchy of Ghost Race Gods, and he held far less power and status.

So, he could only swallow all his grievances.

Zhou Yi… Ling Yimo called out, voice resonating directly in Zhou Yi's mind.

I'm here.

Zhou Yi gripped his Heaven Bridge Ruler and hovered beneath the black clouds in the torrential rain.

He dared not remain at the same height as Ling Yimo or You Kui.

The sight of Outer God You Kui showing such deference to Ling Yimo had fully convinced him of Ling Yimo's status.

Realizing Ling Yimo had the power to back her promises, Zhou Yi resolved to stake his life for the Nine Tribes Race.

You're also in the Soul Wandering Realm, so it won't be disgraceful for you to join the fight, Ling Yimo said indifferently.

Understood.

Zhou Yi respectfully bowed and vanished.

Moments later, his voice echoed on the battlefield.

"Spatial Lockdown, Celestial Barrier!"

The ascending Divine Spirit Pagoda struck an invisible barrier, halting its ascent.

"Zhou Yi!" Fan Chen and the others cried.

The group locked onto him with their divine senses and artifacts, remaining intensely on guard.

"Lin Manhe of the Ancient Law Sect, you'll be the first to die," Zhou Yi declared with a chilling smile.

Lin Manhe, in the Spirit Condensation Realm, released five talismans from the robes draped around her delicate frame. Each one emanated the radiant glow of the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.

The five talismans circled her, enveloping her in the five-colored radiance as she focused her strength on repelling Zhou Yi's incoming attack.

"Xiao He!" Dong Wenjian cried, charging toward her with reckless abandon

He no longer worked in tandem with Fan Chen to strike down the pursuing enemies, instead activating a Swift Lightning talisman to appear beside Lin Manhe in a flash.

"Silly boy, did you really think I was serious?" Zhou Yi laughed mockingly.

He used the Spatial Mirror Technique to appear before Pang Jian, raising the jade ruler for a downward strike.

"Spatial Strike!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The air around Pang Jian compressed, as if multiple realms were closing in, and the massive boulders around him imploded.

Remains of the slain Ghost Race, the Earth Scorpion Race, and the Demon Scale Race warriors around him disintegrated into dust.

As the area surrounding Pang Jian continued to compress, his body gradually distorted under the pressure.

Pang Jian felt an unbearable agony under the crushing force. His body and divine soul felt like they were on the brink of collapsing.

Whoosh!

He summoned a thick protective shield, more mysterious and brilliant than Lin Manhe's five-colored light.

Zhou Yi stared in surprise.

"Spiritual power, lightning, cold energy, stellar energy, lunar energy, and earth energy…" Zhou Yi inhaled sharply, expression turning serious. "So, you possess the legendary Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea, capable of absorbing different energies.

"No wonder Li Zhaotian chose you!"