Trials of the Abyss-Chapter 717: Pang Lins Soul

"Not human?" Several of the True Gods exchanged wary glances at her words.

Gui Mu's expression darkened. Fixing her gaze on Pang Jian's face, she said grimly, "That woman looked no different from us humans. She didn't carry any unique bloodline and was unlike the foreign races of the Fifth World.

"The only reason I could tell was because I'm sensitive to matters of the soul, and hers was undeniably different from us humans. I'm certain she belonged to a different race altogether, one not found in the Abyss.

"Is that what you were hoping to hear?" Gui Mu asked bluntly.

A storm surged within Pang Jian's heart. He drew a deep breath and asked, "Do you know how she died?"

"I only saw her once. How would I know how she died?" Gui Mu snorted, scorn curling her lips. She appeared as though she was about to say more, but after some hesitation, ultimately chose to remain silent.

Pang Qi had left behind a brief yet profoundly dazzling mark in the history of the Ghost Sacrifice Sect. Gui Mu was a True God of the Ghost Sacrifice Sect and a descendant of Pang Fei's lineage. Moreover, Pang Qi had also visited her as the World God. There was simply no way she could be unaware of who he was.

When Pang Jian rose to prominence and Li Wang confirmed he was this era's World God, she had naturally deduced Pang Jian's connection to Pang Qi from his surname and appearance.

However, she had long since severed most emotional ties. After ascending to godhood, she had watched coldly as generation after generation of her family perished before her.

She had seen too much life and death. Having devoted herself to leaving the Abyss, she had callously cut away any emotion that did not serve her goal. So, even though she knew there was a familial connection between her and Pang Jian, she never acknowledged it and simply did not care.

Pang Jian's mention of a woman had stirred up some buried memories within her. It caused her to suspect that Pang Jian was not fully human. While she originally planned to bring this up, the memory of Pang Jian's combat prowess prompted her to wisely hold her tongue.

"A foreign race woman..." The gathered True Gods exchanged looks of shock. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

Afterward, Pang Jian asked a few more questions, but was ultimately unable to learn anything further from either Li Wang or Gui Mu. He could only let it go, frustrated.

"If the ancient Thunder Dragon from the Dragon Lair Sect is still alive, you could consider asking him," Li Wang advised. "He, like the long-gone black turtle, is an ancient Fey God. The ancient Fey Gods interacted with the previous World God far more than we ever did.

"The True Gods with deeper ties to your father have either perished or escaped to the starry skies. As far as I can recall, the only one left who knew him better is Long Xiao."

***

A golden bee buzzed through the skies of the Resolute Expanse, heading toward the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God.

Before long, the three-thousand-zhang-tall Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree came into view through the bee's compound eyes. Its trunk was coiled with brilliant arcs of lightning, and Dao Fruits shimmered on its branches.

A once-mighty azure dragon was suspended above the canopy, visibly weakened and shrunken. The swordlike branches impaling it drained its blood essence and vitality, devouring the lightning the Thunder Dragon had cultivated over millennia and transforming it into Dao Fruits.

A young girl sat serenely at the foot of the tree. She leaned back against the roots of the Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree as she immersed herself in the Dao of Lightning.

Outside the valley, the honest-looking Rock Bear knelt respectfully before the black turtle in human form.

"Long Xiao indeed favored the dragons of the Dragon Lair Sect, but he still devoted years of tireless effort to our race," the Rock Bear said. "I'm not asking for him to be allowed to return to his former glory. I only wish for him to live. Only you have the weight to plead on his behalf. Pang Jian will show him mercy if you do. Please, give him a chance."

The Rock Bear had ascended as a Fey God with the help of the black turtle and Pang Jian. Naturally, he was grateful for their actions. Despite this, he still knelt before the black turtle, earnestly pleading on behalf of the ancient Thunder Dragon.

"I tried to dissuade him many times, but he wouldn't listen. He insisted on walking this path." The black turtle sighed as he glanced up at the weakened Long Xiao. "But I'll try."

At that moment, a golden bee flitted toward the valley where the Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree had taken root.

"I'll take you with me and see what we can do," the black turtle decided, leading the Rock Bear into the valley.

***

"Brother!" Pang Lin opened her eyes and reached up toward the Nine Heavens Thunder Divine Tree with a graceful sweep of her hand. A freshly ripened Dao Fruit fell neatly into her palm.

Streaks of lightning imbued with Dao Seals and traces of the Dao of Lightning surged into the natural lightning vortex within her dantian.

"I don't know why, but every time I fuse a Dao Fruit into my lightning vortex, I seem to grasp the insights it contains into the Dao of Lightning almost instantly," she said to the golden bee, eyes sparkling with delight.

"That's what people call talent," the golden bee replied with a cheerful hum.

"Brother, what brings you here all of a sudden?" Pang Lin asked, curiosity blooming on her face. "I heard you've been having people search the world for precious resources to help the True Gods in the Fifth World recover. You're probably swamped."

"I'm just about done with that."

Pang Jian's original intention had been to question Long Xiao, but when he saw Pang Lin, he could not help the flicker of doubt and fear that stirred in his heart.

"What exactly did you gain from the bone of the Celestial Phoenix?" he suddenly asked.

"A lot!" Pang Lin answered without hesitation. "That bone tempered my body, meridians, organs, flesh, even my divine soul.

"Many bloodline secret techniques tied to the Fey Race were also fused into my divine soul. They're quite complex, and I've yet to fully comprehend them even after all this time.

"There were also many profound insights related to darkness, light, destruction, decay, poison, and more. It was so overwhelming that I almost couldn't withstand it when the legacy first entered my mind.

"So, I decided not to bother with anything that felt unrelated to me," she explained.

"What's the nature of your divine soul?" Pang Jian asked.

"Most of the time, my divine soul takes the form of a vast sea," Pang Lin said with knitted brows. "But I can change it to mirror my physical body as well."

As she spoke, an ethereal figure of a young girl quietly emerged from between her brows. Her divine soul shimmered a dark, translucent blue before transforming into a vast sea of the same blue hue.

Crystalline specks drifted within the sea, each holding a piece of the legacy she had inherited from the Celestial Phoenix.

Many of the Fifth World's sources of murky energy could be seen within those glimmering specks—light, darkness, destruction, decay, poison, and corruption. They were etched into her divine soul as indelible marks.

As Pang Lin had not sought to decipher them all, she simply allowed them to reside quietly within the depths of her divine soul, choosing only to explore those that resonated with her.

"And where's the bone?" Pang Jian asked, alarmed.

"I refined it long ago," Pang Lin replied. "It's a part of my body now."

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