Flashes of color could be seen within the pure golden barrier of the Abyss. The barrage of Daos from the Outer Gods filled the golden domain with shifting light and shadow, silhouettes of looming deities, and interwoven glows of unleashed divine techniques. Divine power and soul-essence condensed into mountains, forests, and fragmented lands, all etched with the runes of various Daos. The power of the Hall of Gods and the Outer Gods seeped into the barrier with every clash. This was an intense battle of Dao and divine power. With the reinforcement of the Dao Sources of Metal and Soul, the barrier was able to hold up against this assault. Any gap or weak spot would immediately be met with a barrage. If a breach were to open, the entire barrier would fail, and the Abyss itself would collapse. Brittle cracking sounds could be heard from the edges of the barrier as it strained under the attacks from above. Each time that happened, Pang Jian's divine power and the soul essence from the Soulstream would arrive just in time to extinguish the Outer Gods' divine techniques. This was a kind of transdimensional war. No physical object could break through the Dao Source of Metal's defensive barrier and penetrate to the inner layer of golden light. Only intangible divine power, divine consciousness, and the truths of various Dao could infiltrate this space. The Dao Source of Metal was one of the most extraordinary Dao Sources in existence and could block any physical assault. Nothing with solid form could shatter the barrier and break through. Its support meant the barrier and boundary walls of the Abyss remained as solid as a fortress. Fu Ya understood this well. That was why the Hall of Gods' descent was not simply a matter of the hall crashing down, but in truth the coordinated assault of all the Outer Gods within it. The Outer Gods channeled lifetimes of divine techniques and insights into their Heavenly Daos into the attack. Streams of radiant light poured down onto the barrier like rain, stirring up wave after wave of divine power. When the inhabitants of the Abyss looked up at the barrier, they could only vaguely see flickers of brilliant light scattering within its golden layer. Pang Jian stood unmoving in the golden radiance, his expression firm and resolute. His will had long become one with the barrier. It was as if the barrier were an extension of his body. Naturally, he would not allow an outside force to breach it. If the barrier fell, the Abyss would be destroyed. That outcome was painfully clear. The Sovereigns, the Hall of Gods, and the Outer Gods. Pang Jian narrowed his eyes. Starlight flickered in the chest of his Immortal Divine Soul, and six blazing suns flashed in his eyes, radiating a supreme might only a God King could possess. Pang Jian's eyes locked coldly onto a section of the barrier. "Fu Ya!" "Soul Manifestation." Fu Ya's calm voice drifted out in response. A figure refined from her divine consciousness appeared like a phantom, moving gracefully through streaks of crackling lightning infused with various Daos. With a mere gesture, she conjured streams of divine power intertwined with soul essence. The light of wisdom from countless beings in the starry skies floated within those streams, their thoughts and ideas gleaming like gemstones. This was her divine domain, the River of Wisdom. Suddenly, twelve such rivers flowed side by side, with one end anchored to Fu Ya and the other stretching toward Pang Jian. The God of Wisdom wore a gentle smile, her gaze as gentle as water. "Pang Jian, your mother died because of me. I also imprisoned your father in another realm. He's neither alive nor dead. And you? You will soon follow in their footsteps." She calmly flicked her sleeve, and the twelve rivers transformed into Blades of Wisdom, which she swung toward Pang Jian from different directions. Her Blades of Wisdom could strike at the soul and compel any living being to submit. The twelve Blades of Wisdom sliced apart everything they came across, from the divine techniques and arts of the Outer Gods to the profound truths etched into the barrier. In the blink of an eye, all other divine techniques and energies in the surrounding area had been obliterated, leaving only the twelve domineering Blades of Wisdom running rampant. An intense wave of dizziness abruptly hit Pang Jian, who was still using his divine sense to patch the weak points in the barrier. When the twelve Blades of Wisdom struck Pang Jian, they twisted his state of mind, tarnished his memories, and tangled his divine techniques and Heavenly Dao into chaos. For a second, he felt like the old man in the Fallen God Ruins, losing his true self. He nearly forgot who he was, the Heavenly Daos he had grasped, and even where he was. Fortunately, this happened within the Abyss, where he had the support of its will. Though left reeling, Pang Jian managed to hold firm to himself as he shouted, "Lightning!" ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚑𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥 Below the barrier, the restored Divine Court of Thunder expanded outward, filled with vast palaces. The Duke of Thunder, in the form of an azure Thunder Dragon, roamed through the lightning-filled palaces, answering to Pang Jian's call. "I'm here! Rise!" commanded the Duke of Thunder. Charging skyward toward the barrier, he left trails of waterfall-like lightning bolts in his wake. This magnificent show of support to reinforce the barrier was nothing short of awe-inspiring. The blinding lightning bolts shook all those in the Abyss, drawing every eye in astonishment. "Was Long Xiao reborn?" "Why has that ancient Thunder Dragon reappeared?" "Strange. He seems to be answering Pang Jian's command!" "No, that's not Long Xiao! His body was never this indestructible, nor did he radiate such might!" "Then...who is that?" Fey Kings and Immortal Realm cultivators alike watched in stunned disbelief as the Duke of Thunder soared into the skies in the form of a Thunder Dragon. Long Xiao's name had once resounded like thunder within the Abyss, practically synonymous with invincibility. It was only after his fall that Pang Jian rose to surpass him, becoming the most formidable existence in the Abyss. The serpentine Thunder Dragon, tens of thousands of zhang long and wreathed in cyan lightning, crashed headlong into the golden barrier, left reeling as it failed to break through. The barrier no longer allowed any living being to pass through, save for Pang Jian himself. Not even the Duke of Thunder was an exception to this. However, these same restrictions did not bind the thunderous waterfall-like lightning that followed in the Duke of Thunder's wake. They surged directly into the golden barrier and enveloped Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul. The twelve Blades of Wisdom made to strike again when this barrage of torrential lightning sparked beside Pang Jian. Each one crackled with the boundless profundities of lightning, forged from the Dao of Lightning of countless Thunder Gods. The Divine Court of Thunder carried the Duke of Thunder's ambition to reach Sovereignhood. The court contained the most refined truths of lightning from various Thunder Gods alongside a culmination of the Duke of Thunder's own insights. All these comprehensions into the Dao of Lightning—every law or principle housed within the Divine Court of Thunder—merged into these monumental bolts of lightning, becoming the shield with which Pang Jian resisted Fu Ya. The suppressive force of the twelve Blades of Wisdom, meant to shackle Pang Jian's soul, was broken in an instant. The Dao of Lightning held the power to disrupt most soul-related Daos and techniques. That was why the Thunder Race continued to be the natural bane of the Nether Race, the Demon Gods, and the Ghost Race. It was also why the Duke of Thunder once reigned unchallenged across the starry skies, forcing those he viewed as evil to retreat before him. It was also why the Black Empyrean Phoenix, reborn as Pang Lin, chose a divergent path that fused lightning and soul, a unique cultivation path that fused two Daos. Even Fu Ya, wielding her Blades of Wisdom, could not gain the upper hand against the Dao of Lightning that rushed forth from the Divine Court of Thunder. At least, not while within this golden layer of the barrier forged through the combined might of the Dao Sources of Metal and Soul. "Go!" Pang Jian commanded the lightning. Hundreds of thunderous lightning bolts transformed into pythons, serpentine dragons, Qilins, and other ancient beasts with innate thunder affinities. "Creation of life, transformation, and rebirth. Reveal yourselves!" These ancient beasts became increasingly vivid and lifelike as life energy surged into them, as though resurrected with flesh and soul. The pythons thrashed within lightning vortexes, the dragons soared upward like spears, the Qilins stood solemnly atop mountains of lightning, and the avians soared like stars in a thunder-lit starry expanse. Pang Jian's divine power brought these ancient beings to life one after another. The pythons shattered a Blade of Wisdom, and though they were extinguished in the process, they left behind their essence of pure life energy and lightning, becoming part of the barrier's reservoir of power at Pang Jian's command. The dragons, Qilins, and avians also clashed with the Blades of Wisdom, each perishing in mutual destruction. Even so, there was a crucial difference. Fu Ya's Blades of Wisdom, forged from her divine power and will, were truly annihilated upon dispersing within the barrier. In contrast, the ancient beasts born of the Divine Court of Thunder left behind their residual power after their destruction. This was the true source of Pang Jian's confidence in facing a Sovereign head-on. He was born of the Abyss. Not to mention, his Immortal Divine Soul bore its Fortune and was, in essence, one with it. Moreover, he had earned the acknowledgment of the supreme will of the bizarre mist. In other words, he had not simply merged with the barrier; he was attuned to the entirety of the Abyss. Everything within the Abyss was his to summon and wield. This included not only spiritual qi, but also the murky energy far below. These forces had opened themselves to him, giving him unrestricted access to expend them at will. After all, this was the moment that would decide if the Abyss would survive. It was not only the will of the Abyss that had recognized him. Pang Jian also had the full trust of the Black Empyrean Phoenix in the Seventh World as well. Pang Jian, wreathed in blinding lightning, streaked past the shattered Blades of Wisdom and charged straight toward the smiling God of Wisdom. "Slash!" Pang Jian's hands came together as if gripping a colossal sword that could cleave the heavens. The metal energy within his body coalesced into a divine sword of solid gold. The sword gleamed with veins of forged metal, its edge radiating the sharpest aura in all existence. That golden sword flared into a radiant beam of sword light. It came crashing down before Fu Ya could retreat, slicing apart the projection body she had forged from her soul essence and divine power. The projection of the God of Wisdom within the barrier scattered into nothingness. The booming tremors within the barrier and across the boundary walls of the Abyss finally stopped.