Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Six: Spirit-Soul and Fiends — the Final Duel

Volume Five: Body-Perish Dao-Transformation — Myriad Realms First Born

Pangu's body was nearly gone, but his soul — his Spirit-Soul, the core of his consciousness that had existed since the first moment of awareness in Chaos — remained. It hovered above the dissolving body, a sphere of golden-white light no larger than a fist, containing all that was left of the creator's identity.

The Chaos remnants surged toward it. They recognized this light — it was the same light that had wounded them at the dawn of creation, the same will that had driven them into the darkness. Now, at last, it was vulnerable. Now, at last, they could strike back.

But Pangu's Spirit-Soul was not defenseless. It blazed with a radiance that was not physical light, but pure spiritual force — the condensed essence of eighteen thousand years of willpower. The Chaos remnants crashed against it like waves against a cliff, and each wave shattered on impact.

The battle was invisible to any physical eye, but every living thing felt it. The plants drooped; the waters stilled; the air grew heavy with unspoken tension. Xiwei's light flickered with anxiety; Yuanji's stillness tightened with dread. The entire world held its breath as its creator's soul fought one last time against the darkness that had always been his enemy.

Spirit-Soul and fiends, the final duel. This was not a battle of strength — Pangu had almost no strength left. It was a battle of essence: order against chaos, creation against destruction, love against hate. And in such battles, quantity of power mattered less than quality of will.