Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 564: The Barrier

Six Demons Anchor the Heavens! The Abyssal Demon roared from within the Abyssal Demon Sword.

Six mysterious vortexes swirled before his striking figure, serving as conduits for channeling his demonic energy.

Vast demonic energy surged out through the vortexes and surrounded the six demonic realms in a greenish-black glow.

The six demonic realms expanded to cover the sky.

Otherworldly demonic patterns emanated from the demonic realms, weaving together to form a complex array resembling the Heaven-Encompassing Demonic Array.

This array, the Six Demons Anchor the Heavens, was rooted in the Dao of Demon and was entirely under the Abyssal Demon's control when unleashed through the six demonic realms.

Once the array took shape, it restricted the Star Devourer, encasing its flexible limbs in place with the star's core. Even the celestial veins the Star Devourer had been devouring fell still.

The Star Devourer had become nothing more than a lamb awaiting slaughter.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Sword light burst from the tip of the Abyssal Demon Sword like brilliant arcs of lightning, splitting into dozens of streams that each carried Pang Jian's insights into the Dao of Sword, severing the Star Devourer's limbs.

All its limbs, excepting those infused with metal energy, were successively sliced apart.

Pang Jian repeatedly swung the Abyssal Demon Sword, unleashing the energies within his body in dazzling bursts of sword light, intent on dismembering the Star Devourer in its entirety.

The radiant starry skies hovering behind him, complete with the stars, two moons, and a blazing sun, condensed into cascading sword light and fell upon the Star Devourer.

Pang Jian took advantage of the Star Devourer's restraint under the Abyssal Demon's Six Demons Anchor the Heavens to unleash his power without reservation.

The skies filled with piercing sword light.

As the Star Devourer was just faltering under the assault, the six continents of the Shadow Abyss suddenly shook violently.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Earthquakes shook the continents.

Pang Jian's sword light unexpectedly shot out from the six continents, destroying mountains, rivers, cities, and kingdoms. Panicked cries echoed across the Shadow Abyss.

The sword light showed no signs of stopping. The inhabitants of the Shadow Abyss faced total annihilation if it continued!

Stunned, Pang Jian had no choice but to stop, hurriedly halting his relentless assault on the Aberrant Spirit.

"Pang Jian! Did you really think I left those six continents untouched for no reason?" the Star Devourer mocked, reattaching its severed limbs. "It was all for this very moment!"

The movement of its limbs signaled it had broken free from the Abyssal Demon's Six Demons Anchor the Heavens.

Instead, the six continents and the inhabitants on them were completely motionless.

Pang Jian's attacks and the Abyssal Demon's sealing techniques had all been redirected to the six continents.

Over the years, the Star Devourer had entrenched itself deeply in the Shadow Abyss.

Its rise to power started with a single fragmented land, and then three continents.

After awakening the divine ability of a Star Devourer, granting it the power to draw in celestial bodies, it shifted its insatiable hunger toward the stars beyond.

The six remaining continents were spared, not out of mercy, but to instill false hope in the inhabitants of the Shadow Abyss, allowing them to grow stronger only to have their souls devoured later.

They also served as shields to absorb any damage inflicted upon the Star Devourer.

The Star Devourer had an innate ability that allowed it to use continents and stars to absorb attacks in its place. Any divine power or sealing techniques targeting its body could be transferred to continents or celestial bodies it had already refined, ensuring its survival.

"You'll have to destroy those six continents and slaughter all the inhabitants of this world if you want to kill me. I suggest you consider your next step carefully, Pang Jian," the Star Devourer taunted, monstrous voice echoing from its severed limbs.

Whoosh!

The star's core, wrapped within the Aberrant Spirit's web-like body, erupted with dazzling radiance, propelling the Star Devourer rapidly toward the sky.

"It's trying to escape the Shadow Abyss!" Han Yi and Ying Yue exclaimed, hastily pursuing it atop the Frost Crystal God's Frigid Nether Mountain.

Pang Jian also leaped into action and ascended on his sword.

"I won't forget this, Pang Jian, human of the Abyss," the Star Devourer spat venomously, words reverberating throughout the Shadow Abyss. "After I consume this star's core and ascend further, I'll come to the Abyss to find you.

"I'll turn the Abyss into a world as desolate as this Shadow Abyss and feast on the souls of your strongest humans!

"Pang Jian, we'll meet again soon."

Its chilling declaration reached the ears of every inhabitant of the Shadow Abyss along with the two Outer Gods.

Boom!

The Star Devourer made contact with the barrier of the Shadow Abyss.

Invisible waves of light rippled outward from the point of contact like iridescent auroras, spreading across the entire sky of the Shadow Abyss.

The Star Devourer's web-like body, and the star core it encased, passed effortlessly through the now-visible barrier, freeing itself from both the Shadow Abyss and the surrounding bizarre mist.

Smoothly entering the starry skies, it lingered briefly in the dark, frigid expanse before plunging sharply downward again.

Its detached limbs hardly had time to reunite with its main body before it sank into the bizarre mist outside the Shadow Abyss.

Boom!

Han Yi and Ying Yue, both atop the Frigid Nether Mountain, collided with the iridescent barrier shortly after the Star Devourer passed through.

An overwhelming force pressed down on them.

The suppression inherent to abysses made them feel like their souls were being suffocated.

Midiranking gods like them commanded authority across vast starry skies and rarely encountered such crushing pressure on their souls.

The oppressive suppression from the barrier rendered them utterly powerless, and both the Frigid Nether Mountain and their puppet vessels were forced to drop back downward.

A mere brush against the barrier was enough for the terrifying pressure to cling to them like a shadow.

Only after falling a distance from the barrier could they finally feel relief.

"So this is the barrier of an abyss." Ying Yue sighed in lament at the Star Devourer's escape. "No wonder those capable of breaking through it and stepping into the starry skies are considered extraordinary."

Pang Jian's prismatic Immortal Divine Soul shot toward the barrier of the Shadow Abyss, following closely behind the Star Devourer, believing he could easily step through.

Boom!

The barrier sent him plummeting back down.

Neither his Immortal Divine Soul nor the Gate of the Abyss proved effective against the barrier!

Pang Jian was utterly shocked. Despite being dazed and shaken from the impact, he charged upward again, refusing to give up.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three successive collisions later, the radiant barrier of the Shadow Abyss still remained completely unaffected. Even the Abyssal Demon Sword's razor-sharp edge failed to pierce it. The barrier simply repelled and nullified every attempt.

It was then that Pang Jian finally realized the truth.

The barrier of an abyss and the boundary wall encircling it are fundamentally different.

He had naively assumed that his Immortal Divine Soul's ability to pass through the boundary walls of an abyss meant it could also breach the barrier.

Even if his Immortal Divine Soul failed, he believed the Gate of the Abyss would allow him to break through.

It seemed he had been mistaken.

The boundary wall and the barrier were not the same.

While his Immortal Divine Soul and the Gate of the Abyss allowed him to pass through the boundary walls encircling abysses, they were powerless against the barriers sealing them.

The barrier's purpose was to challenge the most powerful beings of an abyss and force them to break through with sheer strength.

Only those capable of shattering the barrier and soaring into the vast starry skies could be recognized as true divine beings.

Inhabitants of abysses could only be recognized as Gods in the starry skies after breaking through the barrier!

The so-called True Gods still confined within the Abyss were merely considered Gods to the human race.

"There are still some limbs left!" Han Yi cried, noticing some of the Star Devourer's lingering limbs flying upward.

She immediately joined forces with Ying Yue to intercept them, determined to secure some gains.

Meanwhile, Pang Jian still had yet to give up.

"If the barrier cannot be breached, I'll just leave through the boundary wall," he muttered, decisively setting out.

Circling the skies of the Shadow Abyss, he searched for a section close to the top that the radiant light of the barrier did not cover, and upon finding a suitable spot, unhesitatingly passed through to the boundless bizarre mist on the other side.

Although he could still sense the Shadow Abyss nearby and roughly gauge his distance from it, he could not sense the Star Devourer with his divine sense at all.

Only a short interval had passed between the Star Devourer's escape and Pang Jian's pursuit through the boundary wall.

However, it had seemingly vanished without a trace in the brief span of time.

Pang Jian, unwilling to accept this, circled the Shadow Abyss, frantically expanding his divine sense as far as it could go, desperately trying to locate the threat that loomed over him.

He wandered the vicinity of the Shadow Abyss for what felt like an eternity but could not track down the Star Devourer.

Instead, he detected the presence of the Thunder God, Pan Di.

It was then he realized that more time had passed than he initially thought. The Star Devourer had likely already fled far from the Shadow Abyss.

Attempting to find the Star Devourer in the bizarre mist was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack.

Forget it. He sighed as he returned to the Shadow Abyss through the boundary wall.

Ying Yue and Han Yi remained atop the Frigid Nether Mountain in the sky, with several of the Star Devourer's limbs suspended motionlessly around them.

The two Outer Gods seemed to be waiting for something.

When Pang Jian reappeared in the Shadow Abyss, the Frost Crystal God immediately gestured toward him.

"You severed all these limbs," Han Yi said sincerely. "You contributed the most in this battle, so it's only fair that you choose first."