Trials of the Abyss

A small cave in the Sinister Soul Temple echoed with Dong Tianze's enraged roars.

"Pang Jian, you have some nerve, meeting with me!

"At Black Orchid Lake, you stabbed me multiple times and severely injured me, forcing me to flee!

"In Eight Trigrams City, you emerged from the darkness to wound me once more and forced me to retreat prematurely!

"At the Three Immortal Islands, you tarnished my name and made me the target of universal scorn!

Dong Tianze stood on the Ghost Altar with a fierce expression, like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Unlike before, he neither disguised his voice nor concealed his identity as he vented his fury.

Similarly, Pang Jian no longer disguised himself with a sallow appearance.

Luo Hongyan watched keenly from the cave entrance, glancing between the explosive Dong Tianze and the indifferent Pang Jian. If Dong Tianze was an erupting volcano, Pang Jian was a glacier. No matter how volatile Dong Tianze's outburst was, Pang Jian remained motionless and unresponsive.

"This guy's lack of a reaction could drive someone crazy." Luo Hongyan chuckled softly.

Once Dong Tianze's manic roars finally subsided, Pang Jian coldly asked, "Are you done, Sect Leader?"

"Not yet!" The word "Sect Leader" reignited Dong Tianze's fury.

"I'm the Sect Leader of the Shadow Specter Sect, not someone you can summon at will! Pang Jian, you have some nerve, using me repeatedly in the lower world!

"In our previous two trades, you knew who I was yet you still asked me to collect spirit materials for you! The Nine Heavenly Profound Thunder and the Refined Ghost Miasma—you used these materials to expose me!

"Pang Jian, you—"

Dong Tianze continued to rage.

Despite his ears ringing from the shouting, Pang Jian remained calm, letting Dong Tianze's angry roars echo through the cave until he finally exhausted himself.

An overwhelming frustration simmered in Dong Tianze at Pang Jian's indifferent reaction.

"Sect Leader, are you done this time?" Pang Jian asked again.

Dong Tianze almost choked on his next words as he forcibly suppressed his wrath.

"I'm done," he finally said, gasping for breath.

"Good." Pang Jian nodded. Ignoring their past grievances, he went straight to the point, "Sect Leader, have you prepared the items?"

Dong Tianze glared murderously at him then sat down and coldly said, "Yes, they're ready. What do you plan to trade?"

"I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Gritting his teeth, Dong Tianze used his spiritual power to pull hundreds of saplings and seeds of rare spirit plants and flowers onto the depressions on the altar.

Pang Jian's eyes lit up. "Thank you for your trouble, Sect Leader."

The little tree in Misty Swamp had simply requested the saplings and seeds of different types of plants and flowers. It did not specify that they had to be rare spirit plants.

When Pang Jian sent the note, he had asked for the same thing and did not mention anything about rare spirit plants.

Dong Tianze had misunderstood him. The saplings and seeds glowed faintly and were clearly rare spirit plants that cultivators meticulously nurtured in their herb gardens.

As Pang Jian thought about it, he realized that common saplings and seeds held no value in the eyes of Dong Tianze and the Sinister Soul Temple. Naturally, Dong Tianze would not assume that Pang Jian sought ordinary plants.

"Stop talking nonsense. What did you prepare?" Dong Tianze forcefully suppressed his anger.

"Here!" Several spatial pouches appeared beside Pang Jian. He pulled out an array of spirit artifacts, leather armor, blood-stained spirit stones, and low to mid-grade ores of the metal, wood, water, fire, and earth elements. There were also some unknown jars and bowls among the spread.

The veins on Dong Tianze's forehead bulged as he sprang up with a furious roar!

His senior brother, Wang Yisen, died in the battle on Ice Rock Island, and Dong Tianze was branded the Sect Leader of the Shadow Specter Sect. Now, he was the target of universal scorn and was forced into seclusion by the Sinister Soul Temple.

This was all because the man before him had repeatedly called him "Sect Leader" on Ice Rock Island!

After his identity was exposed, he tried to slaughter everyone on Ice Rock Island and killed many rogue cultivators with the Divine Spirit Pagoda and his Ghost's Cry.

When Luo Hongyan appeared, he had retreated hastily, leaving behind many valuable items.

Now, Pang Jian was trading those very same items with him!

"These-these—!" Dong Tianze gasped. He was about to explode with rage. "These should be my spoils of war! I killed those people. These items rightfully belong to me! Pang Jian, you despicable scum, how dare you try to trade with me with these items?"

Luo Hongyan could not help but smile.

Pang Jian had plenty of spirit stones and spirit jades to buy those saplings and seeds from Dong Tianze, yet he chose to trade using the loot from the rogue cultivators. She felt like the disgraced Sect Leader of the Shadow Specter Sect would die from sheer rage at this rate.

"Sect Leader, you can only blame yourself for leaving early and not collecting these items," Pang Jian said calmly. "Of course, you've put in a lot of effort, so I never planned on making an even trade. I intended to give you more than a fair deal."

Dong Tianze felt like continuing to interact with Pang Jian would inevitably lead to an early death, Forcing himself to calm down despite his unsteady breaths, he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Sect Leader, how many spirit stones did you spend on those seedlings and seeds?" Pang Jian asked

Dong Tianze coldly replied, "Around six thousand!"

Pang Jian silently clicked his tongue upon hearing the amount.

Pretending to be in pain, he pulled out more low and mid-grade spirit artifacts from his spatial bracelet, alongside several hundred spirit stones, and presented them.

Sighing, he said, "The value of these should be around seven thousand spirit stones."

Although he had discussed things with Luo Hongyan beforehand, he still could not accurately determine the value of the items and discreetly glanced at Luo Hongyan for confirmation.

Luo Hongyan smiled and gently nodded.

Pang Jian continued, "These are worth seven thousand spirit stones. You only used six thousand spirit stones, so it should be enough to compensate—"

"Ten thousand! Unless the total value reaches ten thousand spirit stones, it won't be enough to pay for my losses! Those rogue cultivators died because of me, so I should take a share!" Dong Tianze loudly interrupted.

A sense of satisfaction washed over Dong Tianze at Pang Jian's pained expression. The value of the spirit stones did not matter to him. What mattered was causing Pang Jian to suffer.

"If it's ten thousand..." Pang Jian wore a troubled expression, appearing reluctant.

Dong Tianze's mood greatly improved at this, and his anger and frustration eased considerably.

He arrogantly declared, "This is what you owe me. If you want to trade through the Ghost Altar again in the future, you must first compensate me for my losses. And next time, when you request a trade, show some humility. Beg me, and I might respond to you."

The thought of making Pang Jian grovel for a response through the Ghost Altar made the disgraced Sect Leader of the Shadow Specter Sect feel much better.

Regardless of how formidable Pang Jian was at Black Orchid Lake or Eight Trigrams City, he still needs my help. If he's asking for my help, it means he's still under my command!

This sense of superiority over Pang Jian was something Dong Tianze relished.

"Ten thousand it is!" Pang Jian gritted his teeth and took out more miscellaneous spirit artifacts and spirit stones. "This is all I have!"

"I'll let you off easy this time!" Dong Tianze snorted coldly. "Remember to behave yourself in the future. Stop playing tricks behind my back and doing those underhanded things!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The items were exchanged.

Dong Tianze also disappeared from the Ghost Altar.

After stepping out of the Ghost Altar, he moved the items from the Ghost Altar and called toward the cave entrance, "Senior Brother Liu!"

"I'm here." Liu Yan stepped inside the cave and stared at the mountain of items before him. "Junior Brother Dong, what is this?"

"I killed a bunch of rogue cultivators on Ice Rock Island and looted these from them," Dong Tianze said, pointing at the pile. Although he was the junior brother, he arrogantly commanded Liu Yan, "Senior Brother Liu, go and exchange these for spirit stones for me."

"Alright." Knowing that Dong Tianze was highly regarded by Han Zhiyuan and had a powerful background, Liu Yan obediently collected all the items.

"I haven't been out of the cave for a while. I'm going for a walk and will be back shortly," Dong Tianze then left the busy Liu Yan and stepped out of the cave in a good mood.

He could not help the pleasing sense of triumph filled him as he basked in the warmth of the sun.

"It isn't so bad having subordinates," he murmured contentedly.

He felt he had firmly surpassed Pang Jian in both power and status.

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