Trials of the Abyss-Chapter 484: The Primordial Demon

In the nine-story Sword Pavilion, the spiritual qi of heaven and earth had ceased its flow and the radiant cloud symbolizing the divine seat had long since dispersed.

Li Zhaotian stirred awake on the first floor of the Sword Pavilion.

Two elderly men in blue robes, one fat and the other thin, and a woman known as Lady Feng all sighed in relief when his eyes opened.

"What happened?"

"What's going on?"

"Why did you willingly relinquish the divine seat?"

The three divine swords asked in unison, voices filled with confusion.

They had witnessed Li Zhaotian's attempt to ascend to the True God Realm, watching as the clouds symbolizing a divine seat prepared to descend and fuse with him.

However, at the last minute, Li Zhaotian had abruptly chosen to give it all up.

He had spent years preparing just to abandon his attempt when success was within reach. The three divine swords simply could not comprehend it.

The Sword Pavilion desperately needed a Sword God, and the human race in the Abyss likewise needed his strength as a True God.

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The rise of a new Sword God was of incredible significance at this critical juncture of the human race's plight.

No matter how they thought about it, they could not understand why Li Zhaotian had acted this way.

Li Zhaotian woke groggily, cultivation having dropped and mind still in a haze.

"Has anything unusual happened on the Demon Abyss Continent?" he asked.

"I heard the demonic stone from the starry skies has caused some trouble. A bizarre barrier now seals the entire continent," the fat elder replied.

"Just as I thought," Li Zhaotian mumbled.

He took out his sword token and was greeted with a flood of inquiries and messages, including one from Pang Jian.

"Master, are you alright?"

A bitter smile tugged at Li Zhaotian's lips as he replied, "I'm alive, so I suppose I'm alright."

He noticed similar messages of concern from Chen Weihuang, Hu Yuanfei, Liu Junhong, Guang He, and even an unexpected one from Jiang Ran.

"At least they know to unite against a common enemy." Li Zhaotian chuckled.

Contacting the core members of the Sword Pavilion, he learned more about the upheaval in the Demon Abyss Continent.

After gathering some information, he finally answered the divine swords' earlier questions, "You're right, I could've ascended to the True God Realm. You all saw it. I was so close to success."

The three divine swords nodded.

"I sensed a malevolent will appear on the Demon Abyss Continent. It seemed to have set its sights on me long ago, though it only revealed itself as I was about to ascend to the True God Realm.

"My instincts told me it would merge with my divine soul and use me to achieve some sinister purpose the instant I became a True God.

"I likely wouldn't be able to stop it from possessing me in the immediate aftermath of my ascension, even with the three of you and this Sword Pavilion," Li Zhaotian explained.

The revelation shocked the three divine swords. They could never have imagined that Li Zhaotian would give up his divine seat because a malevolent will had been planning to take over his divine soul.

"The upheaval in the Demon Abyss Continent occurred just as I was about to ascend. There's no way that's a coincidence," Li Zhaotian said with a frown. "It was waiting for me to ascend. I was its goal all along.

"It would have devoured me the moment I successfully ascended to the True God Realm."

A shiver ran down Li Zhaotian's spine.

"Since there's an upheaval on the Demon Abyss Continent, the True Gods will naturally intervene. Who's there now?" he asked.

"Li Wang, Liu Fu, Li Yuanli, and Dong Shangqing," Lady Feng replied.

"It's good that Li Wang is there." Li Zhaotian nodded, using a secret technique to contact Li Wang.

"What? Pang Jian is in the Demon Abyss Continent? And he's the new World God?"

Li Zhaotian sat bolt upright from his weak slouch, voice filled with anger.

"You sent him back into the Demon Abyss Continent even though you couldn't enter! What cultivation realm is he even in?

"Even if he's the new World God, he's still only in the Nirvana Realm. The evil brewing within the Demon Abyss Continent was terrifying enough for me to abandon my ascension to the True God Realm!"

With that, the heavily injured Li Zhaotian grabbed a handful of medicinal pills, swallowed them, and flew out on his sword.

***

Meanwhile, Li Wang was using his divine soul to control the Demon Subjugating Shrine from outside the Demon Abyss Continent.

The Demon Subjugating Shrine swept through the Demon Sect.

Ying Yue seized the opportunity to absorb the two moons Li Wang had conjured, refining their pure lunar energy to cleanse her vessel's body and divine soul so she could kill Pang Jian.

Next to the demonic stone, Pang Jian gripped the Abyssal Demon Sword as he observed the small world within the sword.

The Abyssal Demon stood above the fiery realm. His new form was nearly indistinguishable from that of a human, with long azure-purple hair and a striking appearance.

He's the Primordial Demon, he said, gazing at the green-purple fetus below. And I...

A deeply conflicted expression appeared on his face.

I am merely one of the nine soul fragments split from him. Fragments like me were implanted into newborn bodies of nine Demon Races in the outer world.

All nine of us successfully ascended to become Demon Gods.

We knew nothing of each other, and even after becoming Demon Gods, we remained unaware that we were merely fragments of his soul.

He's the main soul, while we nine are secondary souls. Our sole purpose is to perfect him.

Each of us is destined to merge back into him, strengthening his chances of success when he tries to ascend to the rank of a Sovereign.

The handsome Abyssal Demon wore a bitter smile, eyes filled with despair and confusion as he questioned the purpose of his existence.

His original goal had been to recover his lost memories and seek vengeance against the Great Demon Gods, believing they had obstructed his path to becoming a Great Demon God.

Now, he was forced to confront the startling revelation that the true obstacle preventing his rise to Great Demon God was the Primordial Demon himself.

He was merely a secondary soul of the Primordial Demon, destined to be reabsorbed.

The other Great Demon Gods knew he was merely a fragment of the Primordial Demon and were aware that there were nine total fragments like him.

He had simply stood out more than the others.

The Great Demon Gods like He Motian had all been waiting for the Primordial Demon to form the Demon Fetus and manifest in the Abyss, the chosen world of their design.

As the Demon Fetus manifested and grew, secondary souls like him would gradually be absorbed.

He could not escape this predetermined fate. The other eight fragments would also be absorbed into the Demon Fetus one by one.

The Demon Fetus required balance, nine Demon Gods of equal strength, not an overly dominant Great Demon God.

This was why he could never be allowed to ascend to the rank of Great Demon God.

He was a secondary soul split from the Primordial Demon. His fate was to be reabsorbed into the Primordial Demon when it grew stronger.

It did not matter that his independent consciousness and strength surpassed the other secondary souls. There was simply nothing he could do beyond fighting against the Primordial Demon.

The Primordial Demon had to merge all nine of its fragmented souls into one to qualify as the fifth Sovereign.

The birth of a Sovereign from the Demon Races was the shared hope and aspiration of all Demon Gods and Great Demon Gods.

Demon Gods and Great Demon Gods had worked tirelessly toward this goal for millennia, scheming and striving for its realization.

The Abyssal Demon did not know if he could find it in himself to defy such a monumental undertaking.

He simply did not know what to do.

Deep down, he knew he could not resist the inevitability of this fate, but he could not help the reluctance in his heart.

Pang Jian saw the torment in the Abyssal Demon's expression, and after some hesitation, asked, If you're him, and he's you, then couldn't you become the main soul yourself?