Trials of the Abyss

The sky was dark and gloomy in the vast Misty Swamp.

Pang Jian hesitated when he passed by the small mountain where Luo Hongyan was refining her physical body, but ultimately decided not to go in and greet her.

He continued toward the Shadow Specter Sect’s stronghold.

Recalling the incredible events he experienced in the Fifth World, he pondered over the wonders of the bronze pendant.

He now knew of three miraculous uses of the bronze pendant.

Firstly, he could resist certain spirit and soul-related attacks when he wore it.

The bronze pendant had fended off Luo Hongyan’s soul-snaring demonic melody in the stone pile and the soul array within the Divine Spirit Pagoda.

However, during the battle with Yuan Lengshan in Eight Trigrams City, the secret technique of the Demon Heart Sect still trapped him in an illusion.

This made him realize the bronze pendant was not absolute in this regard.

Secondly, through some unknown means, the bronze pendant could cause strange entities like the Giant Abyssal Serpent, the beehive, the vine plant, and the black turtle to be reborn.

On the way to the fragmented lands of Divine Fortune, Luo Hongyan told him the Celestial Phoenix possessed the power of Nirvana and rebirth. She also mentioned that the last time the Celestial Phoenix fell, its ability to be reborn was suppressed.

Pang Jian suspected that the Celestial Phoenix’s essence absorbed by the bronze pendant still retained the power of Nirvana and rebirth. The power of the Celestial Phoenix’s essence and the bronze pendant revived those four strange entities.

The bone of the Celestial Phoenix devoured the vine plant, and the bronze pendant absorbed the resulting essence of the Celestial Phoenix. This was also true for the Giant Abyssal Serpent.

Although Ouyang Duanhai had obtained the essence of the Celestial Phoenix from the beehive, his bronze pendant had still ultimately absorbed the blood-colored Celestial Phoenix that emerged from Ouyang Duanhai.

Dong Tianze obtained the essence of the Celestial Phoenix formed from the black turtle, but the bronze pendant absorbed the black turtle’s blood essence at the bottom of the deep hole.

The black turtle’s blood essence, combined with the divine power of the existing essence of the Celestial Phoenix’ in the bronze pendant, gave birth to a brand-new black turtle.

Thirdly, after absorbing the Mirror Tunnel at Black Orchid Lake, he could now use the bronze pendant to transport himself to the strange creatures born from it.

Pang Jian found the fact he could travel to the Fifth World using the bronze pendant incredibly magical.

Strangely enough, I was not mentally and spiritually exhausted when I arrived in the Fifth World.

When he returned from the Fifth World, he only felt immense physical pain but no mental exhaustion, which he found rather odd.

With this in mind, he tried once more to sense the Giant Abyssal Serpent on his way to the Shadow Specter Sect’s stronghold.

As he closed his eyes and cleared his mind, two scenes emerged.

The first was of the many Vicious Beasts from the Fifth World chasing the Giant Abyssal Serpent.

The newly born Giant Abyssal Serpent was now forced to hide and struggle to survive.

Pang Jian could not bear to watch out of guilt and quickly cut off the connection.

However, he still felt mentally exhausted.

Calming himself, he connected with the sapling and observed its surroundings through its sight.

After cutting off the connection, he felt no discomfort and was mentally alright.

Pang Jian finally understood.

It’s the distance.

The Giant Abyssal Serpent was in the Fifth World while he was in the Fourth World. This meant establishing a connection and peering through the Giant Abyssal Serpent’s eyes greatly drained his mental strength.

The sapling was in Misty Swamp, close enough to cause minimal mental fatigue.

Once he realized this, he started frequently establishing a connection with the sapling and stopped using the Giant Abyssal Serpent to observe the Fifth World.

One day, while he was connected with the sapling, he saw a Formless Sailboat from the Blood Moon Sect appear in the sky.

Several cultivators from the Blood Moon Sect flew out from the massive sailboat, skillfully targeting and capturing high-ranking Vicious Beasts nearby.

A Rank Three Ice Armored Beast, a Black and White King Python, and a large lizard were all captured and brought onto the sailboat.

The Formless Sailboat then continued on its way.

What are the Blood Moon Sect doing in the fragmented lands of Divine Fortune? Pang Jian wondered.

After another half day of traveling, he finally arrived at the stronghold where many rogue cultivators had gathered and sought out the tan Ling Qing.

"The new hall master, Hall Master Meng is here. I’ll take you to see her!" Ling Qing said, leading him to the cleanest and most spacious wooden house in the stronghold without further ado. After getting permission at the door, he brought Pang Jian inside and introduced, "Hall Master Meng, this is Hong Tai’s nephew, Hong Jian."

Meng Qiulan nodded coldly and waved. "Alright, you go outside and keep watch."

Ling Qing bowed and left the wooden house. Meng Qiulan did not rush to speak even after they were left alone and instead squinted her eyes to size up Pang Jian.

Pang Jian studied the old woman with a cane in return. He found nothing special about her, but the two beautiful sisters behind her caught his attention.

The two women had different body shapes. One was voluptuous while the other was slender.

However, their appearances were extremely similar. Even if they were not twins, they were likely siblings close in age.

Surprisingly, Meng Qiulan was not angry when she saw Pang Jian staring at the two sisters behind her. Rather, she seemed used to it.

She casually said, "Hong Jian, I’m an old acquaintance of your uncle, Hong Tai. He’s never mentioned you to me before, but Fan Liang said Hong Tai intended to let you join the Shadow Specter Sect."

Pang Jian had already prepared a story with Luo Hongyan and replied earnestly, "I was born on the Dark Abyss Continent and only came to the Fourth World with my uncle a few years ago. Back then, I was still young and needed to focus on cultivating, so my uncle didn’t introduce me."

"The Dark Abyss Continent?"

"A person born in the upper world?"

The sisters, Bai Wei and Bai Zhi, felt a deep reverence.

Meng Qiulan was also a bit surprised. "I see."

She knew that Hong Tai was a native of the upper world, but the Blood Moon Sect had driven him out and he was forced to join the Shadow Specter Sect in the lower world.

Meng Qiulan did not continue her questioning, so Pang Jian did not say more to avoid revealing any flaws in his story.

After Luo Hongyan refined Hong Tai into a Spirit Devil, she learned about his background while searching for information about the Shadow Specter Sect.

Hong Tai did have a nephew born on the Dark Abyss Continent in the Third World, but that nephew had poor cultivation talent and did not qualify to join the major sects in the Third World.

Hong Tai was expelled from the Blood Moon Sect because he had harmed a fellow disciple while exploring a restricted area.

Hong Tai’s expulsion from the Blood Moon Sect and his nephew’s limited talent meant Hong Tai had no choice but to bring him into the Shadow Specter Sect.

Meng Qiulan then asked questions about Hong Tai, such as why he was expelled and how he tamed the Black and White King Python.

These were secrets to outsiders, and even many insiders of the Shadow Specter Sect did not know what Hong Tai had done in the Blood Moon Sect.

Pang Jian answered them one by one.

"Well, you’re undoubtedly somebody close to Hong Tai, or you wouldn’t know these things. Your background isn’t an issue." Meng Qiulan nodded and prepared to ask Pang Jian about his cultivation realm and personal strengths.

"Ahem!" Ling Qing coughed softly from where he was on guard outside.

Meng Qiulan stopped talking and waited for Ling Qing to speak.

"Hall Master, a Formless Sailboat from the Blood Moon Sect is approaching. I can see it with my naked eyes," Ling Qing whispered.

Meng Qiulan’s expression changed. Bai Wei paled, and the slender Bai Zhi looked surprised.

"Master, are they coming for us?" Bai Wei quivered fearfully, causing her ample upper body to tremble slightly. "We’ve just arrived in Divine Fortune. Could someone already know about us?"

"The Blood Moon Sect wouldn’t go to such lengths for us!" Meng Qiulan’s words were firm and resolute as she scolded her, "Use your head! We, the Shadow Specter Sect, are only active in the Fourth World. We don’t even dare to confront the seven major clans head-on. The Blood Moon Sect wouldn’t mobilize a Formless Sailboat just for us, would they?"

The slender little sister, Bai Zhi, appeared calm as she persuaded Bai Wei, "Sister, in the eyes of the Blood Moon Sect, we’re just a group of insignificant mice. There’s no need to panic."

"Ling Qing, you’re in charge here. If the Formless Sailboat stops and people from the Blood Moon Sect come down, they’ll likely come to you for questioning. You better watch out," Meng Qiulan reminded him solemnly.

"Your subordinate understands!" Ling Qing replied from outside.

"The flag on that ship bears the Blood Moon Sect’s Eye of Imprint, which can detect those with strong blood essence," Meng Qiulan said, calmly retrieving a yellow pill from her spatial pouch and swallowing it. "I’m at the Marrow Cleansing Realm. It’s better to take a pill to suppress my blood essence so the Eye of Imprint doesn’t sense me."

The Eye of Imprint can detect those with strong blood essence... Pang Jian pondered the meaning behind Meng Qiulan’s words.

Recalling how the Eye of Imprint had taken a special interest in him in the past, he coughed lightly and said, "Hall Master Meng, please give me one of those pills as well, so I can suppress my blood essence."

"You don’t need it." Meng Qiulan frowned, shaking her head. "While it’s a testament to your talent and upper world origins that you reached the Meridian Opening Realm at such a young age, the Eye of Imprint can only detect those in the Marrow Cleansing Realm. Those at the Meridian Opening Realm haven’t tempered their flesh and bones, so they’re not within its sensing range."

Pang Jian said in a low voice, "I’ve broken through recently."

Bai Wei and Bai Zhi looked at him in disbelief.

Meng Qiulan took a deep breath to calm herself.

"When did this happen?" she asked, pretending to be composed

"After returning from Misty Swamp Village, I reported to Ling Qing then went into Misty Swamp to temper my marrow. My uncle left me some materials for marrow cleansing, and I was lucky," Pang Jian explained.

"Hong Tai indeed has a good nephew." Meng Qiulan sighed, handing a yellow pill to Pang Jian before turning her head to glare fiercely at Bai Wei and Bai Zhi. "You two useless wastes!"

The sisters glanced bitterly at Pang Jian before lowering their heads in silence.

"If in half a year, you still can’t open up your Twelve Principal Meridians and fail to advance to the second stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, I’ll send two of you away!" Meng Qiulan threatened grimly.

"No, Master!"

"We’ll do our best to break through!"

The two girls pleaded desperately. Neither seemed particularly confident in their ability to do so.

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