Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 563: Boundless Hatred

The grayish-yellow star exploded, and meteors rained down like a storm.

Unlike before, not a single meteor fell onto the six continents below, for within each lay traces of sword light that guided their trajectory.

This sword light ensured the meteors fell through the gaps between the continents and into the depths of the Shadow Abyss, sparing the inhabitants from harm.

"Pang Jian..." the Frost Crystal God softly called out from atop the Frigid Nether Mountain.

Her frozen heart felt a long-lost warmth from that single sword strike. Tiny shards of ice cracked and scattered with the quivering of her long lashes.

Even she did not know when she had started to cry.

The little girl within the nine intersecting crystalline rivers of light was a manifestation of her younger self through a divine art, not her true flesh-and-blood body.

Her younger self's sobs were not reflective of her true body or her vessel. Despite this, tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

As quickly as they appeared, they also froze over, clinging to her lashes like frost.

A soft sigh escaped her lips when her Frigid Divine Domain dissolved. The movement caused her ice crystal tears to crack and scatter, thawing her frozen heart along with it.

She pressed her lips together as she gazed up at Pang Jian's radiant divine figure.

"You drew your sword," she softly murmured.

Whoosh!

Ying Yue arrived in a streak of moonlight.

Descending onto the peak of the Frigid Nether Mountain, she stood shoulder to shoulder with Han Yi, both staring at Pang Jian's prismatic Immortal Divine Soul.

Neither were in their true bodies, possessing two foreign races with human-sized stature. They appeared like insignificant ants compared to Pang Jian's towering divine form.

Pang Jian's majestic figure was as grand and unyielding as a mountain, exuding an aura of dominance like an ancient god holding up the heavens.

Behind him were his conjured starry skies, while beneath his feet lay the Heart of Winter. His black-gold divine sword radiated an unparalleled sharpness as if disdaining all creation.

The two Outer Gods gazed at Pang Jian, entranced.

"I have to admit, your judgment was correct. This newly ascended Sword God of the human race is truly outstanding among the low-ranked Gods we've known," Ying Yue acknowledged. "The Star Devourer is highly likely to perish in the Shadow Abyss. We need to prepare ourselves. The predicament you face can only be resolved through a significant gain."

"I understand," Han Yi replied with a gentle nod.

Boom! Crack!

The grayish-yellow star continued to fracture and collapse.

Meteors that the Star Devourer previously used to destroy cities and ancient temples on the continents now fell harmlessly into the depths of the Shadow Abyss under Pang Jian's guidance.

"Exalted one from the outer world!"

"Thank you for your salvation!"

"Heaven has finally shown mercy. Our Shadow Abyss is going to be saved!"

The inhabitants on the continents praised Pang Jian fervently when not a single meteorite or comet struck them.

Many fell to their knees, bowing toward the prismatic divine figure in the sky.

They prayed Pang Jian would strike down the Star Devourer with his sword, eradicating the malevolent scourge that had plagued the Shadow Abyss for years.

The Star Devourer was gradually forced to reveal itself, one falling chunk of star at a time.

The reputation of Star Devourers in the starry skies is anything but good, the Abyssal Demon said from within the Abyssal Demon Sword. They feed on stars, driving the extinction of races and severing their paths to godhood. It's only natural for Outer Gods to hunt such entities.

The Abyssal Demon explained the nature of the Star Devourer in detail while also urging Pang Jian to cast aside any shred of mercy for it.

Pang Jian listened in silence, expression cold as he watched the Star Devourer emerge from the crumbling star.

As the Abyssal Demon described and the foreign races' scroll depicted, the Abserrant Spirit was a colossal, web-like entity that seemed to span endlessly.

Each "thread" of the web stretched for tens of thousands of zhang. These threads were its limbs. Intricate patterns covered their surfaces, and immense energy surged within.

Crackle!

The remnants of Pang Jian's sword light darted between the Star Devourer's limbs like schools of black-gold fish, inflicting deep gashes and long fissures on them.

These wounds allowed Pang Jian's sword intent to perceive the myriad energies contained within the limbs.

Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—the five fundamental elements that made up the foundation of all worlds—could all be found within the Star Devourer's limbs.

However, the limbs infused with metal energy were incredibly resistant and remained uninjured.

Focusing his divine sense, Pang Jian discerned that a blend of metals like rusty iron, refined gold, mystic silver, and ancient copper were all intricately interwoven within the limbs.

This gave the limbs characteristics akin to the Abyssal Demon Sword itself, radiating a metallic brilliance and unyieldingly sharp in nature. If severed, these limbs could be reforged into indestructible weapons of unparalleled sharpness.

The myriad of metals within the Star Devourer's limbs could strengthen Pang Jian's Immortal Divine Soul and fortify the golden mountain on the fragmented land in his dantian. They could also further enhance the Abyssal Demon Sword.

Pang Jian was astounded at the realization that this was merely a small portion of the Star Devourer.

Each of its limbs was equally valuable.

Some limbs radiated bone-chilling frost, surging with cold energy and natural veins. These could be forged into cold-attribute divine artifacts.

Others shimmered with starlight, infused with the energy the Star Devourer extracted from the core of the grayish-yellow star, and could be used to craft extraordinary star-attribute artifacts.

It was no exaggeration to say that every part of the Star Devourer was a treasure.

The Star Devourer truly is a living treasure trove, Pang Jian marveled.

He could not help but feel that this journey was incredibly worthwhile.

At that moment, the Star Devourer let out a piercing shriek filled with boundless rage and malevolence.

"Pang Jian!" it screeched, web-like body writhing, and its many limbs swaying violently.

Carefully observing the Aberrant Spirit, Pang Jian soon noticed that its web-like body encased a massive crystalline sphere of light. Brilliant tendrils extended from the crystalline sphere, only for the Star Devourer's limbs to coil around them and drain their energy.

The tendrils from the crystalline sphere shriveled, becoming thin and brittle before disintegrating into nothingness. In contrast, the Star Devourer's limbs grew plumper and more vibrant as they brimmed with foreign energy.

Celestial veins!

Those brilliant tendrils were known as celestial veins in the outer worlds and were akin to the spirit and mineral veins of the Abyss.

The crystalline sphere was the core of a living star, much like the Heart of Winter.

If a star were a living being, the core would be its heart, the celestial veins its meridians, and the star's crust its skin.

The Star Devourer coiled around the grayish-yellow star, devouring it from outside in. It first consumed the star's "flesh and blood," before extracting the celestial veins, saving the core for last.

In doing so, the Star Devourer could consume the entire star and absorb all its nutrients.

The Star Devourer's limbs refined the celestial veins, absorbing the pure energy and Heavenly Daos imprinted within them.

Consuming stars allowed the Aberrant Spirit to advance and grow in strength. Once it reached a certain level, it would appear in the starry skies, targeting remote stars to infiltrate and quietly devour from within.

Once finished, it would move on to the next star unnoticed.

This was the Star Devourer's method of perpetual advancement.

The Star Devourer would completely drain the stars of their energy, accumulated over billions of years. The stars' celestial veins and cores would also be fully absorbed.

Without its "heart" and "meridians," a star was nothing more than an empty shell, forever unable to draw energy from the vast starry skies.

These stars were called dead stars.

If intelligent species lived on a star that the Star Devourer was feeding on, they would eventually be wiped out. A dead star would never again be able to nurture life.

The Star Devourer fed on the stars of the starry skies, growing stronger with each one it consumed. Meanwhile, the stars themselves were extinguished one at a time. Thus, the Star Devourer earned its infamous title as the Destroyer.

High-ranked Star Devourers had vastly enhanced star-devouring capabilities. If one infiltrated a galaxy without the guard of a powerful God, it would leave a trail of dead stars in its wake, with trillions of lives perishing within a short span of time.

In devouring stars, it also annihilated worlds.

Its presence was a nightmare for living beings everywhere, regardless of whether it appeared in abysses, worlds, or the galaxies in the starry skies.

However, every part of its body was also a treasure, and the Outer Gods highly coveted it.

I'll lose no sleep over killing this creature, Pang Jian thought, dismissing all lingering thoughts about the Star Devourer's history with the inhabitants of the Shadow Abyss.

He charged toward the Star Devourer with the Abyssal Demon Sword in hand.

Six demonic realms rumbled with an unending chorus of howls and wails.

The cries of innocent children, the venomous curses of powerless women, and the anguished laments of elderly parents burying their young echoed from the six realms.

Only extreme despair and pain could give rise to profound malice.

The inhabitants of the Shadow Abyss had endured relentless torment under the Star Devourer's oppression for centuries.

A boundless hatred naturally took root within their hearts.

It was a hatred larger than the mountains and deeper than the seas.

Even if the Shadow Abyss were destroyed and all its inhabitants perished, this boundless hatred would still coalesce into a vengeful force that lingered for millennia.

This was precisely the power that the Abyssal Demon craved most!

The Abyssal Demon could strengthen itself with demonic energy, as it was its equivalent to spiritual power for orthodox cultivators. However, infinite hatred and venomous malice were the true forces enabling it to ascend to a higher rank.

Demon Gods fed on the darkness within the hearts of others.

The overwhelming loathing the inhabitants of the Shadow Abyss had for the Star Devourer nearly made the Abyssal Demon burst into triumphant laughter.

As the Abyssal Demon ascended to a higher rank, the six demonic realms also grew immeasurably more powerful.