Trials of the Abyss-Chapter 644: The Second Soul

The cluster of Corruption felt like a manifestation of some higher law within Pang Jian's soul of consciousness.

Although it was not sentient, it still followed a predetermined set of rules and acted as though it were searching for something.

Pang Jian quickly realized that it was looking for his divine soul.

Unfortunately, his Immortal Divine Soul, which had fused with Fortune, was still in the starry skies.

In fact, it was precisely because his Fortune-infused divine soul was absent that this cluster of Corruption targeted him.

Fortune, derived from the spiritual qi, had always been in direct conflict with Corruption.

The millennia-long war between the foreign races of the Fifth World and the human race could be seen as a battle between murky energy and spiritual qi.

Corruption was meant to merge with a foreign race warrior's heart and trigger a fundamental evolution in their crystal bloodline chains to give rise to a Rank Ten powerhouse.

However, against all expectations, it had drifted into Pang Jian's sea of consciousness instead.

It seemed a powerful human cultivator with a dantian full of crystallized murky energy could also attract Corruption.

Does this mean the human race can also ascend to godhood through Corruption?

As Pang Jian considered this question, he realized that he had never heard of any True God ascending through murky energy.

Even heretical sects like the Blood Prison Sect, the White Bone Sect, and the Blackwood Sect still sought a path to godhood through Fortune.

Am I, once again, destined to be an exception?

The ethereal gray radiance in his sea of consciousness remained perfectly still, waiting patiently for Pang Jian's divine soul to return.

Its appearance within his sea of consciousness also seemed to have significantly deepened his connection to the seven continents of the Fifth World.

A newfound sense of familiarity with the seven continents took root within him.

It was as if he could command the seven continents of the Fifth World and the omnipresent murky energy at will with this Corruption inside him.

Pang Jian had no doubt that his combat prowess within the Fifth World would see a tremendous boost as long as this Corruption was with him, even if it had not merged with his divine soul.

What a shame. I've already ascended to godhood through Fortune.

As Pang Jian hovered in the bizarre mist, he mulled over what to do with this Corruption and how to purge it from his body.

He feared that carrying it would interfere with his connection to his Immortal Divine Soul, or that the Fortune in his Immortal Divine Soul would outright reject it.

A sudden cracking sound resonated from an underground cavern at the core of a nameless star and echoed through the mind of his physical body.

Pang Jian's physical body in the bizarre mist became aware that You Kui's Divine Persona had finally shattered under the relentless stabbing of crimson lightning of the Primeval Demon Fusion Art.

The emerald-like translucent crystal had fractured into crystalline shards, and the Source of Divinity dissolved entirely.

Soul imprints surged from the liquid Source of Divinity, instantly filling and enriching Pang Jian's divine sense.

Pang Jian's will swiftly overwrote You Kui's, allowing him to impress his own mark on the Source of Divinity.

You Kui died the instant the Source of Divinity changed ownership.

The crystalline shards left behind contained the core divine techniques that You Kui had comprehended throughout his lifetime.

Soul Restraint, Soul Extraction, Ghost River, and other divine techniques related to souls were etched within each shard.

Pang Jian felt as though a soul had emerged within him.

An incomplete divine soul floated among the shards of the fractured crystal in a liquid state.

Soul Transfer Art!

One of You Kui's secret techniques abruptly came to mind.

A perfect replica of Pang Jian's memories, life experiences, thoughts, and will was etched into the incomplete divine soul.

It's like one 'me' is being infused into another 'me.' The other me was originally a blank slate, containing only the traces of my soul.

However, as my experiences, memories, thoughts, and will merge into this blank divine soul, it gradually becomes whole, turning into a complete replica of myself.

The Soul Transfer Art was completed in the blink of an eye within his Immortal Divine Soul, which was still in the form of a furnace.

Not long after, a spectral figure emerged.

The swirling vortex of molten lava within the furnace stilled as the figure hovered above the molten core, with crystalline shards floating closely around it.

A second soul!

Pang Jian's physical body in the Abyss trembled violently.

A spatial rift silently tore open in the bizarre mist behind his physical body.

The power of the Gate of the Abyss surged, and the light within the spatial rift transformed into a storm of crackling lightning.

The spectral figure shot out from the lightning alongside the crystalline shards, materializing behind Pang Jian's physical body.

It then rushed into his sea of consciousness.

The patiently waiting Corruption did not hesitate to fuse with Pang Jian's second soul and the fragments of the Divine Persona.

***

A majestic Sunken Crypt stood in solemn grandeur on a gloomy star in the starry skies.

Surrounding the Sunken Crypt were rivers teeming with the drifting souls, flowing in an eternal, unbroken cycle.

The high-ranking God of the Ghost Race, Zi Mo, slowly opened her eyes from deep meditation.

"You Kui is dead," she muttered.

Her complexion was pale, her frame slender, and her features delicately frail.

Zi Mo's true body in the starry skies bore an uncanny resemblance to her incarnation in the Abyss, Ling Yimo.

The scene of You Kui's Divine Persona shattering surfaced in one of her pupils as Zi Mo channeled her divine power to trace the past.

In the underground cavern, the furnace reverted backward through time, transforming into a radiant firmament, then into Pang Jian's prismatic Immortal Divine Soul.

The Abyssal Demon Sword, the Thunder Pool, Five Thunder Annihilation, and even the teleportation array linked to the Bronze-Masked God all appeared as echoes of the past.

"Pang Jian!" Zi Mo snarled. "Gui Ling, inform all divine beings across the starry skies. Pang Jian from the Abyss has appeared above the bizarre mist!

"These are his coordinates. Have the nearby Gods pursue him at once!"

The colossal Sunken Crypt shook with her every word. Then, with a deafening rumble, it rose from the gloomy star and ascended into the endless starry skies.

The Sunken Crypt drifted across the desolate skies, traversing millions of li in a single breath.

"He Motian, Tian Wei! A human brat has escaped the Abyss and killed my subordinate, You Kui. See to it that your forces intercept and kill him!"

Zi Mo's voice echoed from the Sunken Crypt, sending ripples toward distant stars and shaking the divine beings along its path.

The Outer Gods trembled in uproar, and countless stars flared tenfold in radiance.

***

The Abyssal Demon, still in the guise of Pang Jian, grew a thousandfold, his figure wreathed in prismatic radiance. Sending his divine might and demonic energy rippling across the starry skies, he quickly drew the attention of many of the surrounding Gods.