Trials of the Abyss

Several li away, a thin bloody mist enveloped a towering ancient tree with withering branches and yellow leaves. The bloody mist slowly turned into a graceful figure.

A mysterious woman in ethereal form turned the bloody mist into a thin veil and used it to cover her delicate figure.

She stepped onto the withered branch with elegant jade-like feet, her hazy face shielded in bloody mist as she studied the great commotion ahead.

Zhou Qingchen rushed forward in a frenzy, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake as he broke through the encirclement with a ferocious momentum.

Riding a python behind him was Hong Tai, in close pursuit. Hong Tai occasionally threw blood-colored spears forward and unleashed a series of exquisite techniques.

A dark red mountain materialized from Zhou Qingchen’s dense spiritual power floated above his head.

Most of Hong Tai’s attacks and the python’s venom landed on the towering dark red mountain, allowing Zhou Qingchen to resist several deadly attacks.

However, the illusory red mountain gradually weakened under the repeated bombardment from Hong Tai and his python.

It seemed that the illusory dark red mountain sheltering Zhou Qingchen would soon collapse and disappear. At that moment, Hong Tai would unleash a truly deadly attack.

Zhou Qingchen’s speed could not match the speed of Hong Tai’s python. Thus, Hong Tai was relaxed in his pursuit and showed no sign of urgency.

While the mystery woman observed Zhou Qingchen and Hong Tai’s battle, many Spirit Devils converged toward her. The sturdy, imposing figure of Luo Meng floated behind her like a guardian deity. Beside him were several other Spirit Devils, refined from the souls of Meridian Opening Realm cultivators.

"It should be in that deep valley." The mysterious woman could hear the sounds of intense battle coming from the direction Zhou Qingchen had escaped from.

She suddenly sensed something.

Turning in the opposite direction, she saw a tall figure, with an unusual shriveled body, walking alone through the dense mountain forest. The person’s flesh seemed to have been gnawed away from the inside, leaving behind nothing more than a skeleton wrapped in a layer of skin.

The clothes around his heart were torn, revealing a vivid lifelike tattoo of a phoenix fluttering its wings on his chest.

His face was twisted with pain as he headed toward Blackwater Pond. It seemed he was mindlessly following the instructions of the Celestial Phoenix tattoo on his chest, panting heavily like a savage beast on the verge of losing its sanity.

The woman lightly shook her head. "A poor soul whose heart has been devoured by the essence of the Celestial Phoenix."

The Celestial Phoenix’s essence had invaded his heart, devouring all his flesh and internal organs, and leaving only his heart intact. He was now in a near-death state.

When the tattoo of the Celestial Phoenix flew away from his chest, his body and soul would be destroyed.

"There’s another bone containing the essence of the Celestial Phoenix in the valley He was drawn here by that bone."

The woman devised a plan.

She was preparing to accumulate spirit materials to reforge her physical body. However, if she were to use the Celestial Phoenix’s essence as the catalyst, the body she reforged would have even greater potential than her original body.

With this in mind, her eyes slowly lit up as she plotted to obtain the essence of the Celestial Phoenix from within the valley.

***

Deep within the valley, several finger-length spirit swords, as thin as cicada wings, flew out from behind Jin Yang and shot toward Pang Jian.

Hum!

Pang Jian raced toward Blackwater Pond. Glancing backward, he saw the small spirit swords on his tail.

When the flying swords got too close, he was forced to stop and raise his Dragonwood Spear to block.

Despite the clinking of metal clashing, some of the flying spirit swords still managed to pierce his arm, wounding him further.

The flying swords retreated slightly and did not initiate a new round of attacks.

Pang Jian gritted his teeth and moved forward.

Blackwater Pond.

Even now, Pang Jian remained unaware of what sinister dangers could be lurking within the pond. The fact that his father had designated Blackwater Pond a forbidden zone was enough for him to harbor a steadfast belief that there was something ominous about the place.

Not to mention the bone of the Celestial Phoenix embedded in it.

With each new wound, he found himself anticipating the trembling of the earth, hoping it would split open once more and unleash some unknown evil to indiscriminately slaughter those present, providing him an opportunity to escape amidst the chaos.

It would be difficult for him to escape from the valley now that Jin Yang was targeting him. Pang Jian could only hope to rely on other peculiarities or strange phenomena to help him.

He could only place his hope on Blackwater Pond and the mysterious bone of the Celestial Phoenix.

Pang Jian finally reached the edge of Blackwater Pond, clumsily fending off the flying swords with his bloodied arms as he murmured, "If there are any mysteries within, please reveal yourself soon."

Jin Yang strolled leisurely behind him, deftly manipulating his seven Cicada Wing Sword to leave a series of bloody wounds on Pang Jian’s body.

"Both his arms and the vital parts of his chest seem to have undergone special tempering," he observed. "He obviously hasn’t reached the Marrow Cleansing Realm. So, how did he achieve that?"

Jin Yang was in no hurry to finish off Pang Jian and was more interested in studying Pang Jian as he tried to figure out the secrets of his body.

Whoosh!

The seven Cicada Wing Swords stopped in mid-air. Each sword pointed at one of Pang Jian’s vital areas like his waist, forehead, and throat.

Pang Jian was now trapped between Jin Yang and Blackwater Pond.

Jin Yang smiled. "Behind you is Blackwater Pond. Where will you retreat to now?"

"I choose Blackwater Pond!" Pang Jian leaped into Blackwater Pond and swam toward the protruding bone of the Celestial Phoenix at its center.

The water in the pond was deep and cold. Its depths were shrouded in darkness. Pang Jian, a skilled swimmer, swam forward with all his might.

The Dragonwood Spear in Pang Jian’s hand was too heavy in the water and slowed him down, so he decisively threw the spear toward the center of the pond.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The seven Cicada Wing Swords flew above the pond.

Pang Jian did not hesitate to dive underwater as he continued to swim toward the withered bone.

The pitch-black pond water completely obscured his presence and Jin Yang could not pinpoint Pang Jian’s whereabouts.

"You can’t breathe underwater with your cultivation realm. You’ll have to emerge eventually." Jin Yang remained calm. The seven Cicada Wing Swords hovered above the pond, patiently awaiting Pang Jian’s emergence. He was keen to discover the mystery of Pang Jian’s body.

Pang Jian could not see anything in the bone-chilling water. Although his eyes were open, the water appeared as black as ink, just as it did from the outside.

However, swimming in Blackwater Pond was no different from any other pond. Relying on his memories for directions, he continued to swim desperately toward the withered bone.

The withered bone was a glimmer of hope.

He held his breath and did his best to stay well below the surface, fully aware that the Cicada Wing Swords were waiting for him to resurface to attack.

After some time, he came into contact with the withered bone underwater.

Unbeknownst to him, his blood silently seeped into the bone of the Celestial Phoenix the moment he touched it.

The withered bone sucked in his blood from the surrounding waters.

Pang Jian was struggling to hold his breath when he abruptly realized he could now see in the dark water.

He could see the bone of the Celestial Phoenix and the seven Cicada Wing Swords flying above the surface.

The color of the water had not changed. It was still pitch-black.

What changed was the fallen bone of the Celestial Phoenix submerged in the pond. An illuminating radiance emanated from the withered bone, dispersing some of the inky darkness.

Rumble!

The ground started to tremble. Blackwater Pond was the epicenter.

Boulders fell from the cliff behind the pond and large trees toppled one after the other.

A divine force from the depths of the earth tore apart the rugged terrain of the deep valley.

Deep fissures appeared and spread across the land, fragmenting it.

Having experienced it once before, Han Duping, Shangguan Qin, and Ning Yao desperately tried to run for their lives when they felt the tremors.

"Another earthquake!" Shangguan Qin had witnessed the previous tragedy firsthand and trembled with tears in her eyes. "Leave this place! Quickly!"

She feared the terrifying vines more than she feared the Shadow Specter Sect.

"Deadly vines emerge when an earthquake occurs near a withered bone! I’ll die, and you lot won’t be able to escape either!" Shangguan Qin screamed desperately at the members of the Shadow Specter Sect.

Ning Yao had also ceased her struggle. She shouted the same words as Shangguan Qin, hoping to persuade the members of the Shadow Specter Sect to let her leave.

"After the earthquake, terrors will emerge from the ground?" The members of the Shadow Specter Sect asked skeptically. They saw the fear on Shangguan Qin’s and Ning Yao’s faces, as well as the anxiety on Han Duping’s, but were uncertain about the truth of their words.

At the same time, the Celestial Phoenix tattoo on the chest of the emaciated man outside the valley frantically flapped its wings. Realizing time was running out, the man dashed toward the deep valley as fast as possible.

The gold-masked squad leader of the Shadow Specter Sect could not help but let out a startled cry. There was an intruder with nothing but skin and bones, resembling neither man nor ghost.

"Ouyang Duanhai! You’re Ouyang Duanhai!" he exclaimed. "How did you end up like this?"

Shangguan Qin froze. "Ouyang Duanhai?"

She abruptly turned to look at the intruder, staring fixedly at his face.

"Duanhai? No. You’re not him! You can’t be!" Shangguan Qin screamed like a madwoman. She could not believe that her once handsome lover had turned into the ghastly figure before her.

She had taken the initiative to enter the Solitary Mountain Range because she and Ouyang Duanhai had agreed to meet there. The two of them had killed her ex-husband.

Ouyang Duanhai was the one she truly cared for. He was her lifelong love.

As the ghastly figure approached, he heard her cry "Duanhai", and a glimmer of consciousness seemed to return in his eyes.

"Little-Little Qin?" He gathered his remaining willpower to look at her, desperately trying to confirm her identity. Recognition flashed in his dull eyes and he shouted, "Leave this place! Little Qin, quickly leave this bloody battlefield! I-I will help you...survive!"

Ouyang Duanhai abandoned all thoughts of surviving and rushed resolutely toward the cultivators of the Shadow Specter Sect.

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