Trials of the Abyss

"Yes," Pang Jian admitted in a low voice.

The gray ape in the iron cage was the leader of a group of apes in the Solitary Mountain Range. Prior to becoming the Ape King, it had suffered serious injuries following a fierce battle with a white bear and was rescued by the young Pang Jian and his father.

Pang Jian’s father had been willing to lend a hand because he noticed the gray ape’s high intelligence.

After that incident, the gray ape with the ice-blue eyes became Pang Jian’s only friend in the Solitary Mountain Range.

In the years that followed, Pang Jian never once hunted the apes under the leadership of the gray ape, and in turn, the gray ape would intervene when Pang Jian encountered dangers and lend him a helping hand.

Two years ago, while Pang Jian had been hunting a mountain leopard, veteran hunters of Linshan Town maliciously attacked him. They took advantage of his youth and his father’s prolonged absence to rob him of the mountain leopard he had captured.

Though he had fought back desperately, he had almost been overwhelmed. However, in that moment of need, he received help from the gray ape and its ape followers.

Those three hunters had bad reputations in Linshan Town. After that conflict, they vanished permanently in the Solitary Mountain Range.

Pang Jian had been lurking at the back of the crowd, but he stepped forward when he saw the Shangguan Clan had imprisoned the gray ape.

Zhou Qingchen was shocked when he saw Pang Jian step forward with a solemn expression. "You know this gray ape?"

"He’s a friend of mine," Pang Jian answered seriously.

"A friend..." Zhou Qingchen appeared lost in thought.

As Shangguan Qin approached the crowd, her charming face twisted into a strange expression.

"Earlier, this gray ape and its followers attacked us. Strangely enough, the apes under its command seemed unaffected by the bizarre mist. Still, we swiftly defeated them. As for this gray ape with the ice-blue eyes..." Shangguan Qin pursed her lips, glancing at Pang Jian before looking at Zhou Qingchen with a smile. "It seems to have gained intelligence."

Zhou Qingchen was startled. "It’s gained intelligence?"

Shangguan Qin nodded gently, eyes sparkling as she smiled and explained, "After we captured the gray ape, we confirmed that it possesses an extraordinarily high intelligence. As you all know, normal apes are already quite intelligent. However, this gray ape’s intelligence far surpasses that."

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"It’s transformed into a Spirit Beast." Zhou Qingchen realized.

There were many precedents of wild beasts experiencing such transformations in places with dense spiritual qi or covered by bizarre mist.

Wild beasts that cannot cleanse the impurities in the spiritual qi could only be classified as Vicious Beasts due to their violent nature and inability to communicate with humans.

Vicious Beasts were hard to tame and discipline, and thus had no value to cultivators alive.

Spirit Beasts were different. Once a Spirit Beast was tamed, it could become a companion the cultivator could command.

Shangguan Qin likely captured the gray ape alive, intending to tame it once they left the Solitary Mountain Range and have it serve the Shangguan Clan.

"Friend..." Zhou Qingchen rubbed his chin, eyeing Pang Jian and the gray ape, weighing their value as he considered whether or not to buy the gray ape.

Having fallen to the hands of the Shangguan Clan and possessing high intelligence, the price for the gray ape would naturally be high. Buying it would likely cost him a large fortune.

Pang Jian’s ruthless determination when he killed He Ziren and his familiarity with the Solitary Mountain Range both held a certain value. Moreover, Zhou Qingchen sincerely hoped to recruit Pang Jian to his side.

However, Pang Jian’s cultivation talent was lacking. Unless he encountered some extraordinary fortune in the future, his achievements would be limited.

After some consideration, the word "friend" ultimately softened Zhou Qingchen’s heart and he asked, "Aunt Qin, are you willing to part ways with this gray ape? As you heard just now, my little brother here is an acquaintance of the gray ape."

Ning Yao, Ning Yuanshan, and the others were perplexed. They could not understand why Zhou Qingchen was treating Pang Jian so differently.

When they first met, Zhou Qingchen did not pay any attention to Pang Jian. However, after the bloody incident in the stone pile, Zhou Qingchen took the initiative to deliver food for Pang Jian and even gave him the Dragonwood Spear.

And now, he was trying to buy the gray ape from the Shangguan Clan for Pang Jian.

Ning Yao and the others could not make heads or tails of the situation.

After Pang Jian mentioned the word "friend," the gray ape in the iron cage went still, gazing steadily at Pang Jian with its ice-blue eyes as if it understood human speech.

"Who is he?" Shangguan Qin asked in confusion.

"He’s a local hunter familiar with the Solitary Mountain Range. We’re relying on him for our exploration," Zhou Qingchen replied.

Shangguan Qin looked surprised and puzzled. "He’s just a hunter?"

She paused, glancing at the corpses near the Formless Sailboat, as well as the crescent moon image on the clothes and the fluttering black flag on the sailboat. She suddenly asked, "Qingchen, how long have you been here? How did they die?"

Han Duping was the one to reply, "We arrived not long ago. The corpses were already here before we came. All their belongings were still here when we arrived. In my opinion, they were ambushed and killed by wild beasts. After they died, the wild beasts ate them."

Shangguan Qin rubbed her forehead, appearing troubled as she gazed at the huge Formless Sailboat.

"You all probably know about the relationship between the Shangguan Clan and the Blood Moon Sect. So, how about this? I hope you can sell all the artifacts from the Blood Moon Sect to the Shangguan Clan once we leave the Solitary Mountain Range. The Formless Sailboat and everything in it will be ours to present to the Blood Moon Sect. Do you agree?" Shangguan Qin asked, looking at Zhou Qingchen.

She pointedly chose to ignore the opinions of Ning Yuanshan, Ning Yao, Han Duping, and the rest.

"How’s this fair?" Han Duping could not help but speak up.

The Formless Sailboat was massive. Without the secret technique from the Blood Moon Sect, it was difficult for mortals in the Lower World to control and fly the sailboat. The Zhou Clan would have a hard time seizing the sailboat, and even if they managed to do so, the Blood Moon Sect would not simply let them have it.

However, the treasures inside the sailboat were a different story. The Zhou Clan arrived first and they naturally wanted to get a share. They could not simply let the Shangguan Clan take all the spoils.

The gray ape had merely gained some intelligence, and its potential was yet to be determined, so its value was still limited. Shangguan Qin’s asking price was simply too much.

"Alright," Much to everyone’s surprise, Zhou Qingchen agreed without hesitation. He then pointed to the iron cage and said to Pang Jian, "It’s all yours now."

"Thank you," The normally reserved and taciturn Pang Jian earnestly expressed his gratitude toward Zhou Qingchen. In a low voice, he said, "I will carefully consider what you said in the stone pile."

Zhou Qingchen’s willingness to give up such a huge benefit for the gray ape deeply moved Pang Jian. After expressing his gratitude, Pang Jian dismounted and approached the iron cage under the curious gaze of the crowd.

With Shangguan Qin’s nod of approval, the tall, muscular man handed the iron chain linked to the cage over to Pang Jian.

Pang Jian shook his head. He did not reach for the iron chain. Instead, he just stared at the gray ape.

The gray ape with the ice-blue eyes stared back at Pang Jian. Its somber gaze held a hint of grief. It looked as though it was still mourning the loss of its kin.

After a moment of eye contact between Pang Jian and the gray ape, Pang Jian unlocked the cage and lifted the cover.

Many in the crowd looked surprised. "Err..."

"Hide yourself and stay away from here. Don’t show yourself again anytime soon," Pang Jian whispered to the gray ape.

The gray ape seemed to understand him. As soon as Pang Jian finished speaking, it nodded in a human-like manner and swiftly rushed out, racing toward the dense forest.

The gray ape occasionally glanced back at the Shangguan Clan cultivators, its ice-blue eyes filled with fury.

Under the fierce gaze of the gray ape, Shangguan Qin felt an inexplicable chill in her heart. "That gray ape is dangerous. Its spiritual advancement is too fast. I’m starting to regret this."

She could not shake the feeling that the gray ape would bring her trouble in the future.

"Alright, you can start searching the Formless Sailboat," Zhou Qingchen said, keeping to his promise.

He told the Zhou Clan members to leave the sailboat, then beckoned Pang Jian over.

Pang Jian waited for the gray ape to be completely out of sight before returning to Zhou Qingchen’s side.

"I’m surprised that you’re friends with an Ape King." Zhou Qingchen laughed heartily as Pang Jian approached. "You’re quite interesting, Pang Jian."

The Ning Clan had employed Pang Jian, therefore, in Zhou Qingchen’s mind, Pang Jian could also be considered under his command.

Ning Yao also noticed this.

Despite being hired by Ning Yao, Zhou Qingchen’s attitude seemed to foreshadow that Pang Jian would align himself with Zhou Qingchen.

"You, you, and you!" Shangguan Qin waved her snow-white jade arm, picking out a few individuals loyal to the Shangguan Clan before ordering, "Go to the Formless Sailboat and thoroughly inspect what’s inside."

Those chosen by Shangguan Qin nodded and instantly sprang into action, heading straight for the sailboat anchored among the dried tree branches.

Shangguan Qin left the others to approach Zhou Qingchen and Ning Yao.

At that moment, she seemed to have finally notice Ning Yao. Her gaze fell on the slight bulge on Ning Yao’s chest. "Hey, Ning girl, you’ve grown up."

Ning Yao’s expression changed. Just as she was going to respond, Shangguan Qin’s expression turned icy.

"Ning Yuanshan, you’re not dead yet?" Shangguan Qin asked coldly.

Ning Yuanshan put on a fake smile. He let out a hollow laugh and chose not to engage with Shangguan Qin.

Everyone present could see the tension between the Shangguan Clan and the Ning Clan. It seemed like there were some past grievances between them.

Shangguan Qin did not press the issue further when she realized Ning Yuanshan was not rising to her provocation. Instead, she opted to chat casually with the young master of the Zhou Clan. "Qingchen, did you encounter any difficulties on the way?"

As they chatted, the members of the Shangguan Clan, the Zhou Clan, and the Ning Clan kept an eye on the Formless Sailboat. They watched as the chosen few climbed a wooden ladder onto the sailboat deck and disappeared into the cabin.

From their conversation, Pang Jian learned that the members of the Shangguan Clan had entered the Solitary Mountain Range from the east and had been ambushed numerous times by wild beasts along the way.

Like them, the Shangguan Clan had also rushed over upon seeing the towering giant withered bones from a distance.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As they were discussing the mysteries of the withered bones, terrible sounds of exploding flesh rang out from the cabin of the Formless Sailboat.

Shangguan Qin’s expression changed. The others were equally shocked.

Soon after, thick blood rushed out of the cabin like blood arrows, carrying an eerie, bloody aura as it was absorbed into the bloody crescent moon on the fluttering black flag.

As the blood-red crescent moon swallowed the streams of blood, it gradually transformed into a full moon that radiated a bright crimson light.

The full moon resembled a demonic blood eye. It was embedded into the black flag and seemed to gaze in the direction where everyone stood.

This strange transformation sent shivers down everyone’s spine. Those looking at it felt a stinging sensation in their eyes, and their temples felt like two steel nails were being hammered into them.

Surprisingly, Shangguan Qin was the first to regain her composure after the initial shock. She raised her hand and shouted at the black flag, "The Eye of Imprint!"

She was extremely restless. Her eyes were filled with expectation and longing as if awaiting a favor from an evil deity.

The terrifying blood eye on the black flag slowly turned as it searched for a suitable target to fixate on.

Suddenly, Pang Jian felt heat radiating from his chest. His eyes were instantly dyed a thick bloody color. As he locked eyes with the demonic blood eye, vivid scenes flashed in his mind.

It was like memories were being forcefully implanted into his mind.

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