Trials of the Abyss-Chapter 535: Gaining Insight into Oneself

Pang Jian marveled at the wonders of his Immortal Divine Soul within the boundless bizarre mist.

Unlike his physical body, standing in the bizarre mist with his Immortal Divine Soul rendered him immune to the corrosive properties that would have normally plagued him.

He recalled how everyone had been forced to summon protective shields just to withstand the corrosive properties of the bizarre mist while traveling to Absolute Heaven aboard the Sword Boat.

The Thunder God in the distance appeared as a skeletal mountain range stretching thousands of zhang.

The bizarre mist had long since eroded the flesh and organs of this divine creature, leaving only its skeletal frame. Years of wandering and entrapment had depleted its power to the brink of collapse.

In contrast, Pang Jian found the bizarre mist to be nothing more than an expanse of ordinary gray fog when exploring it with his Immortal Divine Soul. It was boundless, stretching infinitely in every direction, but nonetheless devoid of any inherent threat.

The bizarre mist neither tainted his Immortal Divine Soul with foreign energies nor corroded his soul essence.

In other words, he could maintain this state within the bizarre mist for an exceptionally long time, provided he avoided combat and conserved his strength.

This was a critical advantage.

Even if he lost connection with his physical body or became stranded in the bizarre mist, he could continue to survive independently for an extended period of time.

If he managed to enter a world akin to the Abyss, he could even replenish himself using its energy.

The Thunder God's perception within the bizarre mist also appeared to pale in comparison to his.

Pang Jian could clearly see the lion-and-tiger-hybrid, watching as it furiously crashed against the boundary wall of a distant world. That being, on the other hand, remained entirely unaware that Pang Jian was silently observing its every move.

I have no idea how much power it still retains, nor whether my Immortal Divine Soul can endure its attacks, Pang Jian mused as he carefully studied his Immortal Divine Soul.

His Immortal Divine Soul took on the same appearance as his physical body.

He turned his focus inward to the immense power residing within him.

His Immortal Divine Soul contained a skeleton, with each bone engraved with the profound truths of the Heavenly Dao he had comprehended.

One such crystalline white bone radiated a chilling cold, its surroundings rippling with icy currents.

Faint arcs of light and lightning flickered within the bone, alongside intricate, glimmering patterns of Ice Dao Seals.

These faint arcs and Dao Seals embodied the Ice Soul Demon Divine Scripture, cold-attribute arts, frost-aligned sword techniques, and other profound cold-related mysteries.

Another bone glowed a brilliant jade-green with crackling lightning around it. This bone was etched with Lightning Dao Seals.

The Thunder Scripture, the Heavenly Profound Divine Thunder Technique, the Destructive Lightning Art, the Heavenly Thunder Chant, and many lightning-attribute aspects of the sword techniques Li Zhaotian had imparted to him manifested in the form of Lightning Dao Seals alongside the insights into the Dao of Lightning gained through the Thunder Pool.

One jet-black bone was etched with mysterious demonic runes and contained techniques related to the Dao of Demon like the Primeval Demon Fusion Art, the Heavenly Demon Art, the True Interpretation of the Dao of Demon, and the Demon God Transformation Art.

Pang Jian was astonished to discover that the myriad of profound techniques and arts he had comprehended over the years were engraved within the very bones of his Immortal Divine Soul.

Even more surprising was the fact that the sun, moons, and stars were scattered like acupuncture points within the chest of his Immortal Divine Soul, with each containing vast solar, stellar, and lunar energies.

As he studied these celestial bodies, a realization struck him. If his Immortal Divine Soul were not confined to the bizarre mist but instead in the starry skies above, these celestial bodies could likely extract the energy directly from the real sun, moon, and stars!

Beyond that, a chaotic blend of energies permeated every part of his Immortal Divine Soul, an endless current of energies coursing through him.

The lightning, cold energy, earthflame energy, earth energy, metal energy, and wood energy that were meticulously refined within the fragmented land in his dantian were now intricately integrated within his Immortal Divine Soul.

It felt akin to the multifaceted and ever-changing celestial energies of the starry skies.

The blending of energies also bore some resemblance to the murky energy of the Fifth World.

His bones served as vessels for the Heavenly Dao, intertwined with a myriad of energies; the celestial bodies functioned as acupuncture points and vital organs; and his brain brimmed with pure soul essence. These elements worked together to form an extraordinary Immortal Divine Soul that appeared to harbor infinite mysteries.

The deeper Pang Jian explored its intricacies, the more unfathomable and profound it seemed, like a treasure trove brimming with untold wonders.

He soon came to the understanding that his Immortal Divine Soul was fundamentally different from the divine souls of the other True Gods.

After all, his Immortal Divine Soul allowed him to step out of the Abyss. It was a divine soul that could transcend the shackles of the physical body and exist independently in the vast starry skies.

Moreover, it still held untapped potential for further breakthroughs and advancement.

It's too bad that I don't have my sword with me. I wonder if my Immortal Divine Soul could unleash my many sword techniques or perhaps even the Chaos Sword Technique.

After a moment of contemplation, he attempted to channel energy through the bones of his hands as though they were a sword.

He decided to try his simplest technique, the Lunar Edge.

The moons within his body glowed faintly as he activated the Dao Seals and arcs of mystical lightning associated with the Lunar Edge.

Lunar energy flowed like a radiant stream, surging to his palms, arms, back, chest, and abdomen.

Lunar Edges could be formed from any part of his Immortal Divine Soul!

In the blink of an eye, dozens of Lunar Edges surrounded his Immortal Divine Soul.

Each Lunar Edge was imbued with the profound mysteries of the moon and exuded a subtle chill, with their edges as sharp as steel.

Moreover, every single Lunar Edge was intimately connected to his Immortal Divine Soul.

He could empower each Lunar Edge from a distance with lunar energy, intensifying its radiance and exponentially amplifying its lethality.

This is incredible!

After testing his newfound abilities, Pang Jian chose not to rush into a meeting with the lion-and-tiger-hybrid Thunder God, nor did he hasten to explore the world resembling the Abyss.

Instead, he experimented.

Pang Jian performed a variety of mystical arts and secret techniques that his physical body could unleash through his Immortal Divine Soul, trying everything from the Silver Crescent and the Edge of Startling Slaughter, to the Primordial Sun Technique and the Starflow Technique.

Finally, he also attempted his self-made Cosmic Fission.

Every technique seemed to have gained a soul of its own, imbued with Heavenly Daos and profound wonder.

Even the simplest Lunar Edge could transcend the ordinary.

When his arsenal of diverse techniques was performed in tandem through the Immortal Divine Soul, they exuded a natural, harmonious rhythm that blended seamlessly together.

It was as if antelope horns rested delicately upon branches[1] or heavenly steeds galloped freely across the sky[2], graceful and unrestrained.

Pang Jian gradually started merging more of them together to unleash the true potential of his Dao of Chaos.

Chaos, as it turned out, was never truly disorderly and held an inherent yet contradictory structure.

His array of mystical arts, secret techniques, and the Dao of Sword he had comprehended could now be organized into an orderly form.

When energies with similar attributes were fused through the Dao of Chaos, their potency experienced a dramatic, synergistic amplification.

The profound truths of the Dao of Sword that his master, Li Zhaotian, imparted to him became strikingly clear after the formation of his Immortal Divine Soul. He integrated and refined his understanding of them while also innovating upon their foundations.

Pang Jian stabilized his cultivation realm using his Immortal Divine Soul in the bizarre mist and started exploring a new path tailored to himself.

The passage of time meant nothing to him as he immersed himself in cultivation.

***

Time passed, and the lion-and-tiger-hybrid ultimately failed to tear through the boundary wall of another world.

Disheartened, it once again drifted aimlessly through the bizarre mist, continuing its desperate search for an escape.

Its strength was nearly depleted and it was fully aware that its end was drawing near.

What troubled it most was the fact that it could vaguely sense that beings as powerful as itself, or perhaps even stronger than it had been at its peak, were focusing their attention on the bizarre mist it inhabited.

Its divine power was now less than one-tenth of what it once was at its zenith.

If it were to encounter one of those transcendent beings, it would face inevitable death.

However, it could neither return home nor shatter the boundary walls of other worlds, and as it drifted, it became increasingly despondent.

The hybrid wandered aimlessly, unwilling to accept its fate, yet unable to change it.

It was at that moment that it stumbled upon Pang Jian by sheer chance.

The sight of a golden colossus in the desolate depths of the bizarre mist caused the lion-tiger-hybrid to halt in its tracks.

Blinding lightning erupted into a vast sea of lightning. Hidden within it was a Dao of Lightning so awe-inspiring that even the creature, a Thunder God itself, was moved.

A force of extreme frost coalesced into a crystalline icy orb, shining like a star beneath the figure's feet.

It was drawn back into the figure's body just as quickly as it appeared.

Stars, the sun, and the moons then orbited around the figure. It was as though the starry skies had materialized out of thin air, resplendent in its splendor.

They too were reabsorbed into the figure's body.

The figure's act of drawing their techniques back in revealed an unwillingness to waste even the slightest bit of energy.

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The hybrid secretly watched the overwhelming display for a long time, mind reeling with disbelief.

This extraordinary newborn divine being was conducting their first divine evolution within the bizarre mist, refining and recalibrating the Heavenly Daos they had comprehended.

However, the divine path this god pursued was astonishingly chaotic and diverse.

How did such a disordered approach lead to ascension as a divine being?

Where did its followers originate? What kind of homeland birthed it? What sort of world could nurture such an unconventional god?

The Thunder God Pan Di was filled with questions.

When Pang Jian eventually stopped, Pan Di finally said with a hint of unease, "May I know who Your Excellency is?"

Pang Jian had actually encountered this lion-and-tiger-hybrid Thunder God more than once.

It had appeared in a spatial rift in Cloud Lightning, and the Gate of the Abyss had provided it with precise coordinates.

The Gate of the Abyss would have even granted it entry into the Abyss if Pang Jian had not forcibly interrupted it.

Later on, in the depths of the bizarre mist beyond Absolute Heaven, a golden bee watched as the creature furiously assaulted the boundary wall of the Abyss like a tiny fly battering a towering glacier.

In the end, it failed and disappointedly continued its aimless wandering through the bizarre mist.

Now, Pang Jian was finally meeting it with his Immortal Divine Soul within the bizarre mist outside the Abyss.

It was clear that the being felt a mix of anticipation and wariness.

Although Pang Jian still harbored doubts about his own strength and combat prowess, the Thunder God's cautiousness emboldened him.

"We've crossed paths many times before," Pang Jian said boldly.

Pan Di was startled. Two clusters of ghostly lightning crackled within its eyeless sockets and golden lightning blanketed its massive bone wings.

"Crossed paths?" Pan Di repeated cautiously.

"The first time was when a spatial rift appeared, creating a clear coordinate for you to attempt to enter my world.

"The second was when you furiously tore at a boundary wall. I believe you were there because you sensed an artifact imbued with the Dao of Lightning, one that stirred your excitement and attracted you to that place. Back then, I was on the other side of that wall.

"Let me get to the point. I came from the Abyss. Where are you from?" Pang Jian asked frankly.

The Thunder God Pan Di was deeply shaken as memories of the past flooded its mind.

"The Abyss! The human race! You're a god of the human race!" Pan Di exclaimed, retracting the crackling lightning back into his golden skeletal frame.

The sea of lightning in his hollow eye sockets also grew calm.

"I never expected a god of the human race to emerge from the Abyss and remain alive." Pan Di's astonished gaze was fixed on Pang Jian, scrutinizing him intently. "So, the boundary wall I once touched was actually that of the Abyss."

1. An antelope's horns rest delicately upon branches or an antelope hangs its horns (羚羊挂角) is a Chinese idiom originated from ancient Chinese literary and artistic traditions. It describes something that is natural, effortless, and leaves no trace, like an antelope hanging its horns on a tree without touching the ground. It is often used to praise poetry, calligraphy, or martial arts that appear spontaneous yet profoundly skillful. This idiom conveys a sense of seamless beauty and mastery, where actions or creations flow in perfect harmony without visible effort. ☜

2. A heavenly steed galloping across the sky (天马行空) is a Chinese idiom that describes something unrestrained, imaginative, and free-flowing, like a heavenly horse galloping across the sky without limitations. It is often used to praise bold creativity, limitless thinking, or a fluid artistic style in writing, poetry, or even martial arts. This idiom conveys a sense of boundless inspiration and unrestricted movement, emphasizing freedom and originality. ☜