Trials of the Abyss

Inside cave dwelling number fifty-six, Pang Jian's and Jiang Li's expressions changed as they heard the lazy voice of the person knocking.

Worry was evident on Jiang Li's face as she fretted, "My junior sister just happens to be away! He lost an arm because of you. He's probably here for revenge!"

"Don't worry, this is the First Peak of the Primordial Wilderness." Pang Jian regained his composure as he comforted in a deep voice, "Cultivators are strictly forbidden from fighting and killing each other on the First Peak. No one is allowed to break the rules."

Although he reassured Jiang Li, Pang Jian was still uncertain of Qi Qingsong's intentions as he stood up and opened the stone door.

Outside the cave, Qi Qingsong, dressed in blue, looked much the same as in Eight Trigrams City. His severed arm had regrown and a bright smile adorned his face.

Before Pang Jian could invite him in, Qi Qingsong pushed Pang Jian aside and walked in as if he owned the place.

"Oh, you're here too." He nodded in Jiang Li's direction. Sitting on a wooden chair, he took up the demeanor of a host as he grinned at Pang Jian and Jiang Li. "Have you two finished your conversation?"

Jiang Li opened her mouth to reply.

Before she could get a word out, Qi Qingsong added, "I have something to discuss with Pang Jian. If it's not urgent, you can come back another time."

Jiang Li took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and said sternly, "Qi Qingsong, my cultivation is low, and I'm no match for you, but my junior sister Zhao Yuanqi is very close to me. If you dare harm Pang Jian…"

Qi Qingsong chuckled in disbelief and shook his head. "What are you thinking? This is the First Peak of the Primordial Wilderness. I wouldn't dare disrespect Old Monster Cao's rules. I'm just here to catch up with an old friend."

"Friend..." Pang Jian instinctively glanced at Qi Qingsong's regrown arm, recalling how Qi Qingsong had proclaimed he would be his friend in Eight Trigrams City.

After leaving Eight Trigrams City, Qi Qingsong had advanced two cultivation realms and had been reinstated as an inner disciple of Sword Pavilion, making waves in the Second and Third World with his Profound Abode Realm cultivation.

Thus, when he mentioned "friend", Pang Jian felt Qi Qingsong was mocking him.

Pang Jian hesitated briefly before saying to Jiang Li, "It's fine, I'll talk to him alone."

"Well, alright then," Jiang Li said, warily eyeing Qi Qingsong. Before she shut the stone door, she added, "I'll be right outside. If anything happens, just scream."

Outside the cave, a man and a woman conversed, occasionally glancing at Pang Jian's cave dwelling as they did.

Recognizing the woman, Jiang Li exclaimed, "Oh, it's you!"

The woman was the one accompanying Pang Jian in the trade hall.

"So that was Qi Qingsong from the Sword Pavilion," Han Ting murmured.

After returning from the trade fair, Han Ting saw a blue-robed young man enter Pang Jian's cave dwelling. Seeing Gao Yuan standing on the stone path, she asked about the man's identity and was shocked to learn it was Qi Qingsong.

Still feeling the shock, Han Ting smiled and nodded at Jiang Li.

Jiang Li forced out a smile and joined them. "You two..."

"Friends of Little Brother Pang," Gao Yuan quickly explained.

Han Ting simply replied with a hum, unsure how to define her relationship with Pang Jian. Though she felt it had not reached the level of "friends", she was reluctant to deny it.

Hearing they were friends of Pang Jian, Jiang Li earnestly said, "It's truly fortunate to be able to become Pang Jian's friend!"

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Qi Qingsong frowned and said, "Give me your participation token."

Why?" Pang Jian asked, puzzled.

"We can't talk freely with that thing here," Qi Qingsong said, pointing at the table and signaling Pang Jian to place his token down.

Pang Jian complied.

A clear purple crystal appeared in Qi Qingsong's palm, with strands of purple lightning inside forming a mysterious pattern, and he placed it over Pang Jian's token as if shielding it.

Qi Qingsong visibly relaxed once the purple crystal was covering the token, lazily leaning back in the wooden chair and crossing his legs,

"As long as the token is here, Lady Hua can sense whenever someone mentions Old Monster Cao's or her names, as well as some other sensitive words," he revealed. "Old Monster Cao was boasting about how he and Lady Hua have turned the First Peak of the Primordial Wilderness into a large array.

"Lady Hua can detect if anyone's vital energy drops significantly or their soul is extinguished. She's been setting this up since the creation of the cave dwellings, and if anyone dies on the First Peak, she'll send someone to investigate or even take action herself."

Qi Qingsong explained the mysteries of the First Peak.

Pang Jian's expression changed. "The token spies on everyone?"

He thought about how he had transferred the Gold Obsidian and Solar Essence Stones to the Fifth World and received the Ice Crystal Beast's horn in the cave. The realization made him shiver.

Qi Qingsong laughed and shook his head. "It doesn't spy, it just occasionally listens. Lady Hua doesn't have the energy to eavesdrop on every single resident of the First Peak. She only pays attention when someone mentions Old Monster Cao or her name.

"She can't keep track of everybody if many people simultaneously talk about her and Old Monster Cao. Relax. It's not as magical as you think," Qi Qingsong said nonchalantly.

"Oh." Pang Jian sat on the cultivation mat and leaned against the hard rock wall. Knitting his brows, he asked, "How did you know I was here?"

"The horn of a Rank Seven Ice Crystal Beast, valued at four hundred thousand spirit stones, was today's biggest deal in the trading halls," Qi Qingsong said, shooting Pang Jian a serene smile. "You caused such a commotion. It was impossible not to attract attention.

"Furthermore, Jiang Li called out your name in the trading hall, so I asked around and found out it was you. Besides, I guessed you would be in the Primordial Wilderness."

"You knew I was in the Primordial Wilderness?" Pang Jian was taken aback.

Whoosh!

Qi Qingsong pulled out two blue and white porcelain wine jars from his spatial bracelet and casually tossed one to Pang Jian. Tearing open the seal on the other, he took a couple of sips and said, "Let's drink and chat."

"Alright." Pang Jian mimicked him, peeling off the greasy seal and savoring the rich aroma of the wine.

As he took a couple of sips, he felt the rich liquor warm his body. Qi Qingsong's wine was smoother and more mellow than Zhou Qingchen's wine, and also not as spicy.

“You brat, back then we had no enmity, and you, a mere Meridian Opening Realm cultivator, dared to attack me with your spear for that fool Zhou Qingchen.” Qi Qingsong sighed deeply and stared at Pang Jian with a strange expression. “And you did it twice!”

Seeing Qi Qingsong bringing up old grievances, Pang Jian silently drank and kept his head down.

"After failing, you sent Zhou Qingchen into the Mirror Tunnel despite being pursued by Dong Tianze and stayed behind yourself." Qi Qingsong said, eyelids drooping with drowsiness.

Pang Jian stared at him.

His alcohol tolerance doesn't seem very good. It seems he drank just to reach a tipsy state where he could say things he normally wouldn't.

"Pang Jian, when I found out you were in the Primordial Wilderness and staying on the First Peak, I was faced with a dilemma…" Qi Qingsong slurred, taking a few more gulps of wine. His face was flushed. "In Eight Trigrams City, you forced me to sever an arm and proclaim I would be your...friend. You know that wasn't sincere."

Pang Jian nodded lightly.

"So!" Qi Qingsong snorted coldly. "So, with my Profound Abode Realm cultivation, my status in the Sword Pavilion, and Old Monster Cao's intention to curry favor with me, I could get revenge for that day!

"From the moment I stepped into this cave, I could've been your enemy, first mocking you coldly, then asking Old Monster Cao to find an excuse to expel you from the First Peak. Once you were off the First Peak, I could attack you, washing away the humiliations you caused me in Eight Trigrams City.

"Remember, it was two times you humiliated me!" Qi Qingsong held up two fingers. Then thinking it wasn't enough, he added a third finger and angrily said, "No, three times! Forcing me to sever my arm was one! Attacking me twice as a Meridian Opening Realm cultivator was the other two humiliations!"

Pang Jian drank in silence and listened to him vent.

"Li Jie from the Divine Treasure Sect's Li Family is naturally of high status and thinks highly of you. But now that I've broken through two cultivation realms and become an inner disciple of Sword Pavilion again, even his status can't suppress me!"

Qi Qingsong smiled arrogantly, his wild demeanor on full display.

"Back in the day, I was one of the most talented disciples in the Sword Pavilion. I only encountered setbacks because I sought the elusive state of becoming one with the world. After becoming one with the world and advancing to the Innate Realm, I overcame my inner demons and regained everything that was rightfully mine!"

As Qi Qingson spoke, he became increasingly animated, enthusiastically guzzling the wine with loud gulps. He did not use spiritual power to counteract the alcohol, and thus, with his poor tolerance, he soon became drunk.

After boasting about himself and talking in long-winded circles, he eventually arrived at the point of his ramble.

"One option was to avenge my humiliation in Eight Trigrams City. The other was to let go of the grudge and keep my promise of becoming your friend. I thought it over for a long time and finally chose the latter.

"I know you have your secrets, but I'm not afraid of you. I truly believe I could kill you here on the First Peak of the Primordial Wilderness!

"I chose to befriend you because of how you treated that fool Zhou Qingchen! I also long for a friend who would risk their life to challenge an impossible enemy for me and would stay behind to die so I could leave alive. A friend who would not betray me the moment I turned my back.

"I, Qi Qingsong, have never had such a friend in my entire life!"

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