Trials of the Abyss

As Pang Jian stared at the large umbrella, he could not help but recall Liang Ying's hypocritical face as she pursued him after leaving Emerald Lake.

Huang Qi chuckled. "It seems everyone knows the foreign races are at the end of their rope. They plan to switch from defense to offense the moment the foreign races are defeated and hunt down the stragglers to accumulate wealth.

"The bodies of Rank Five and Rank Six Vicious Beasts and foreign races are treasures. The scales of the Rank Six Demon Scale Race warriors, the eyes of the one-eyed giants, the heart of the Wood Race warriors, and the skin of the Ghost Race warriors—tsk tsk, their bodies are full of excellent spirit materials.

"The Blood Moon Sect is quite skilled at handling the corpses of the foreign races." Huang Qi's eyes shone with greed. It was clear he also planned to take a share of the spoils at the First Peak after the invading forces from the Fifth World were defeated.

Pang Jian remained silent.

Suddenly, he sensed the presence of the black turtle.

Boom!

The Primordial Wilderness trembled.

Quickly establishing a connection to the black turtle, Pang Jian saw that the black turtle's nameless fragmented land was now hanging upside down to merge with the Primordial Wilderness from below.

At that moment, a profound sensation struck Pang Jian as he abruptly gained a god-like perspective of the land.

He could see all the mountains surrounding the First Peak, from the warriors from the Celestial Race and the Demon Scale Race; the Wood Race and Ghost Race warriors hidden among the dense leaves, tree hollows, and caves; to Cao Mang, Lady Hua, Jiu Yuan, Yang Rui, and the other cultivators gathered on the summit of the First Peak!

None could escape his gaze!

No matter how well the elders of noble families and the rogue cultivators hid in the valleys, forests, and lakes, Pang Jian could still see them. If he concentrated, he could even hear their conversations, sense the blood essence in their bodies, and judge the strength of their spiritual power within their spiritual seas.

Pang Jian felt like a god in the Primordial Wilderness, looking down at the living beings within his domain.

He also saw a winding, crystalline vein, coiling like a snake deep within the heart of the First Peak.

The underground spirit vein!

This was the key to the Spirit Slaughtering Astral Array.

He then saw the massive black turtle preparing to absorb the spirit vein.

Wait! Pang Jian called out.

The black turtle had come specifically for the spirit vein and sent a confused inquiry to Pang Jian.

The spirit vein will be yours but just wait for a more opportune moment, Pang Jian reassured.

Pang Jian then eavesdropped on the conversations of both the invading forces from the Fifth World and the human cultivators.

Cao Mang did not seem to be worried at all. The cultivators on the First Peak planned to launch a counterattack against the foreign race warriors after one more wave. The elders from noble families of the Third World, rogue cultivators, and Liang Ying's group planned to work with them.

Fang Boxuan was also part of the group, and Pang Jian saw him coordinating their attack with Jiu Yuan through a blood talisman.

On the other hand, the foreign race warriors had decided to wait a bit longer before attacking the First Peak again as they believed the reserve of the underground spirit vein was nearly exhausted.

Unwilling to give up, they planned to use their remaining forces to launch one last assault on the First Peak, aiming to kill key figures like Cao Mang.

The foreign race warriors had gathered information from the human cultivators they had hunted and had learned that Cao Mang, Lady Hua, and a few other powerful cultivators possessed items their race members in the lower world urgently needed.

If they could kill these targets and obtain their spatial bracelets, the warriors in the lower world would have a chance to break the seal of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars, allowing them to send stronger race members to the upper worlds.

The warriors of the Celestial Race could fly and the Demon Scale Race had the black wyverns, so they planned to make a desperate attempt to kill Cao Mang and the others before swiftly retreating from the Primordial Wilderness.

A great battle was imminent. The key to this battle is the Spirit Slaughtering Astral Array and, by extension, the underground spirit vein!

Now that Pang Jian fully understood the bigger picture, he started to experiment with the wonders of harmonizing with the land.

He tried to observe Huang Qi through the black turtle and saw a mysterious area below Huang Qi's heart where a vast sea of deep red mist churned.

The Providence Mystic Reservoir Acupoint!

Pang Jian was astonished. Huang Qi had cultivated the Grand Providence Sacred Body to a high level of mastery. As he probed further, he found that the immense blood essences surging within Huang Qi's body were comparable to that of a Rank Six Vicious Beast!

Moreover, the spiritual power in Huang Qi's seemingly limited spiritual sea was extremely refined. Each strand of Huang Qi's spiritual power appeared several times stronger than his own.

A passage from the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art flashed in Pang Jian's mind.

Upon reaching the Spirit Condensation Realm, one's spiritual sea will expand again, and one's spiritual power will become even more refined.

Huang Qi was not an ordinary Profound Abode Realm cultivator, but rather a highly accomplished Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator!

Not to mention, he also had a Providence Mystic Reservoir Acupoint to store blood essence, making him one of the top fighters in the Primordial Wilderness!

No wonder he dared to openly confront Cao Mang and Lady Hua back at the trading hall.

Pang Jian then shifted his god-like vision to Liang Ying of the Star River Alliance.

Liang Ying's spiritual power was extremely refined, but she did not have a special acupoint for storing blood essence. She was in the Spirit Condensation Realm and had seven dazzling stars above her dantian. The stars in her dantian were fewer but much larger than those in his own dantian.

Pang Jian curiously turned his attention to Xie Xiwen. There were dozens of bright yet mysterious stars in her relatively small dantian. Although she had far more stars than Liang Ying, they were also slightly smaller.

Next was Fang Boxuan from the Blood Moon Sect. He had an acupoint above his navel that also stored extraordinary blood essences, and every meridian and blood vessel in his body was so refined they emitted a dazzling red light. Evidently, Fang Boxuan also practiced body refining techniques and had an incredibly strong body.

"Strange," Huang Qi muttered uneasily. "Can that old dog, Cao Mang, and that woman spy on me through the array? I felt as if a gaze was scanning my body just now. How strange."

Pang Jian was taken aback.

Huang Qi, a rogue cultivator, could vaguely sense my probing. He's truly formidable.

"There's a person on the side of the Fourth Peak." Xie Xiwen from the Star River Alliance grasped the star disk hanging at her slender waist. Her bright eyes gleamed as she spotted Pang Jian and Huang Qi on the star disk.

Whoosh!

Her eyes shone as bright as diamonds as she gathered her stellar energy and channeled it into the star disk.

Although she did not recognize Huang Qi with his changed appearance, she was familiar with the other person.

"Pang Jian!" she exclaimed. Turning her head to glance at the puzzled Liang Ying, she asked, "Elder Liang, didn't you say the one-eyed giant locked onto him and that he should've died long ago?"

Liang Ying frowned. She found the situation strange as well. "Before I went back to find you, he flew under the crotch of a Rank Six one-eyed giant. Since it targeted him, I thought he was dead for sure."

"Did he escape the one-eyed giant's pursuit?" Xie Xiwen said with a hint of admiration.

Fang Boxuan shuddered, staring toward the Fourth Peak and spotting the familiar blurry figure.

"Pang Jian..." he muttered, eyes flickering with a strange light.

He had not mentioned his previous encounters with Pang Jian to the Star River Alliance nor the altercation between Pang Jian and his senior brothers and sisters.

While passing through that valley earlier, he had deliberately avoided the area where the corpses of Bai Guanjie and the others lay. He did not want to glance at it or even recall those memories.

It was like a piece of his dark past was buried there. Unexpectedly, Xie Xiwen discovered Pang Jian before they even reached the Fourth Peak, causing his mood to sink.

"You've encountered him too?" Xie Xiwen asked in surprise.

Fang Boxuan nodded calmly. "After leaving the First Peak, I had a brief encounter with him."

Meanwhile, Pang Jian, noticing he had been discovered, took a moment to ponder his next actions.

"I'll go down and talk to the people from the Star River Alliance," he finally said.

"Suit yourself, I don't like people from the major sects anyway. I'd rather go ahead and find those rogue cultivators," Huang Qi replied.

The two then parted ways.

Pang Jian wore the blue robe of the Sword Pavilion then slid down from the mountainside of the Fourth Peak, waiting patiently for the arrival of the Star River Alliance.

There was no one around at Emerald Lake. If I had worn these robes...

Pang Jian shook his head. He had not yet advanced to the Profound Abode Realm back then and Liang Ying had been on his tail, leaving him no time to change his clothes.

Besides, he had a feeling his robes would not have altered Liang Ying's intent to kill. Liang Ying's cultivation realm had been two realms higher than his at the time and could have killed him instantly.

Moreover, a Spirit Condensation Realm elder of the Star River Alliance had no reason to fear an outer disciple of the Sword Pavilion in the Innate Realm.

"What?! The Sword Pavilion?" Xie Xiwen exclaimed in surprise.

"The Sword Pavilion!" The surviving disciples of the Star River Alliance were also surprised to see Pang Jian wearing the robe of the Sword Pavilion.

"Greetings, Elder Liang." Pang Jian cupped his hands in greeting and stared directly into Liang Ying's eyes. "I left in a hurry earlier and could not accept your kind invitation to join forces. May I ask what Senior wanted to ask me back then?"

Pang Jian's expression was calm as if nothing had happened between them.

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