Trials of the Abyss

"Die!"

The Ghost Race warrior threw a bone chain strung with beast bones at Pang Jian.

Each beast bone on the swaying chain held a howling beast soul. The souls of lower-ranked Demon Armor Beasts, Ice Crystal Beasts, and Blood Lizards were faintly visible within the beast bones, twisting together to create an evil force capable of tearing souls apart.

At the Ghost Race warrior's shout, the beast souls within the bone chain infiltrated Pang Jian's sea of consciousness and tried to drive him insane.

The dazed Pang Jian saw the beast souls of Rank Four and Rank Five Vicious Beasts roaring in his sea of consciousness as they attempted to tear apart each strand of his divine sense.

This is a type of sinister soul technique… Pang Jian stabilized his mind and schooled his expression.

In the blink of an eye, he freed himself from the Ghost Race's sinister soul technique and restored his mental state.

Pang Jian could easily counter the sinister soul technique without relying on his mysterious bronze pendant as he was still harmonized with the land.

The fanged Ghost Ape charged toward Pang Jian with the Ghost Race warrior on its back.

The Ghost Race's preferred method of combat seemed to involve using a sinister soul technique to confuse their opponent first, then allowing the Ghost Ape to close in for the kill.

Boom!

The Ghost Ape leaped high into the air and pounced, reaching for Pang Jian's with its sharp, bloodstained claws.

Seven human cultivators in the Primordial Wilderness had already died at its hands and its cruel eyes gleamed with excitement at the prospect of an eighth kill.

The Ghost Ape and the Ghost Race warrior worked skillfully together. After the Ghost Race warriors cast their sinister soul technique, human cultivators would fall into confusion, allowing the Ghost Ape to attack, and it assumed Pang Jian would be no different.

It was not until a silver spear shot toward the Ghost Ape in a dazzling streak that it realized something was wrong.

The prey below had not lost his mind!

But it was too late.

Splurt!

The Startling Slaughter Spear pierced through the Rank Four Ghost Ape, then the Rank Five Ghost Race warrior on its back, killing them both.

The Rank Four Ghost Ape is equivalent to a cultivator in the Innate Realm, and the Rank Five Ghost Race warrior is comparable to those in the Profound Abode Realm.

Pang Jian pulled out the Startling Slaughter Spear and coldly muttered, "The Ghost Race are physically weak but excel in sinister soul techniques. It's not hard to kill them if you can maintain a clear mind and resist their soul techniques."

Pang Jian picked up the bone chain and crushed it with his hand. He then infused it with his blazing solar and earthflame energy to exterminate the residual beast souls within.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

The beast souls were exterminated one after another.

Rank Five Ghost Race warriors and Ghost Apes were not difficult for Pang Jian to deal with. Scanning the area, he saw more Ghost Ape riders charging toward the Star Crushing Umbrella under the Rank Six Ghost Race leader's command.

Liang Ying and the others huddled beneath the giant umbrella. The mysterious Star Crushing Umbrella emitted a dazzling radiance. The stars on its canopy shone brightly and beams of rainbow light hung down from its edges.

The members of the Star River Alliance and Fang Boxuan from the Blood Moon had taken out their spirit artifacts to battle the Ghost Race warriors.

The presence of the Star Crushing Umbrella meant the Ghost Race warriors could not gain the upper hand.

"Hm?" A slight movement in the body of the Rank Five Ghost Race warrior Pang Jian had just killed caught his attention.

Having sensed it through harmonizing with the land, Pang Jian focused his mind further to see a fingernail-sized flame flickering in the dead warrior's head.

The tiny flame was deep green and exuded a ghastly aura. It seemed to have been within the Ghost Race warrior's head all along but only became detectable to Pang Jian after the warrior's death.

What's this tiny flame? Pang Jian wondered.

That flame is the Soul Flame of the Ghost Race, explained the black turtle, having sensed Pang Jian's question through their connection. It only appears after the death of a Rank Five Ghost Race member. Members of the Ghost Race can collect the Soul Flame after it leaves the body and use it to revive the deceased warrior.

The black turtle knew about the Ghost Race's Soul Flame from ancient memory imprints in its mind and advised Pang Jian to handle it with care.

I should extinguish it.

Pang Jian pressed the palm of his left hand against the Ghost Race warrior's head to extinguish the flame with his spiritual power when the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art suddenly activated.

Whoosh!

The tiny green flame floated out and landed in Pang Jian's palm before disappearing into his sea of consciousness!

The Soul Flame drifted into his sea of consciousness and vanished into one of the acupoints within it.

Pang Jian hurriedly examined the absorbed Soul Flame, uncertain of the consequences it would bring. He feared the intrusion of the Ghost Race's Soul Flame would disturb his sea of consciousness and disrupt the formation of his divine sense.

After carefully inspecting his sea of consciousness, Pang Jian's eyes quietly lit up. Three new strands of divine sense had emerged from the acupoint where the Soul Flame had entered.

It had refined the Soul Flame and formed three new strands of divine sense in the blink of an eye!

It can do that? Pang Jian felt a surge of excitement.

He now understood why powerful cultivators from the Second World and the First World occasionally ventured into the Fifth World.

Cultivators were right in calling high-ranked members of the foreign races walking treasures!

A Profound Abode Realm cultivator could directly absorb the Soul Flame from the dead Rank Five Ghost Race warrior to increase their divine sense.

How extraordinary!

Pang Jian had previously planned to watch from a distance, but had quickly changed his mind and was now actively rushing toward the Star Crushing Umbrella where many Ghost Race warriors were gathered. After all, he had discovered a shortcut to swiftly increase his divine sense!

Xie Xiwen stood on a star disk, hovering beneath the Star Crushing Umbrella as she battled against a Rank Five Ghost Race warrior.

She groaned lightly as her soul took a heavy hit, trying to steady her sea of consciousness when she saw Pang Jian approaching with his spear.

"Pang Jian, don't come over!" she shouted in warning

She's the only one in the Star River Alliance who treats me sincerely. The rest? Hmph! Pang Jian snorted coldly in his heart.

As he reached the edge of the Star Crushing Umbrella, Pang Jian spotted another Ghost Race warrior, also riding a Ghost Ape, charging toward him.

Whoosh!

The Ghost Ape leaped over ten meters into the air, using a sinister tactic similar to the first Ghost Race warrior.

However, Pang Jian now knew their tricks. Maintaining the clarity in his sea of consciousness, he patiently waited for the Ghost Ape to reach the peak of its jump.

Black turtle, Earth Spirit, bestow the power of the land upon me! Pang Jian called out mentally. Gravity Shift!

A surging magnetic force suddenly targeted the Ghost Ape from the core of the Primordial Wilderness!

Boom!

The Rank Five Ghost Ape and the Ghost Race warrior on its back both slammed heavily to the ground.

The thick-skinned Ghost Ape howled in pain. Meanwhile, the more fragile Rank Five Ghost Race warrior had his bones broken from the fall. Before the Ghost Race warrior could even get up, a silver spear pierced his heart and lungs, killing him instantly.

Another Soul Flame.

Pang Jian once again pressed his palm against the head of the Ghost Race warrior and absorbed another deep green flame. Soon after, three new strands of divine sense appeared in his sea of consciousness.

This process is faster than nurturing my brain with life energy.

"Pang—" Xie Xiwen cut herself off in shock.

She had not expected Pang Jian to be so powerful!

Only a few days had passed since they bade farewell at Emerald Lake and it was evident that Pang Jian had only recently advanced to the Profound Abode Realm.

Pang Jian's feat of consecutively killing two Ghost Apes and two Rank Five Ghost Race warriors nearly made Xie Xiwen drop her jaw in shock.

Her eyes sparkled as she gazed curiously at Pang Jian.

"I told you, he's full of sinister tricks. He's not the kind of person you think he is." Fang Boxuan scoffed from under the Star Crushing Umbrella.

Fang Boxuan had suffered at Pang Jian's hands before and could not help but shudder at the memory of the Nine Heavenly Profound Thunder and the Refined Ghost Miasma.

Thus, he knew very well the kind of fiend this young man from the lower world truly was.

"Instead of worrying about him, you should be more concerned about yourself," Fang Boxuan added.

Sizzle!

A shooting star fell on a nearby Ghost Race warrior and Fang Boxuan promptly delivered a killing blow with his bloodstained dark-golden spirit sword.

Whoosh!

Pang Jian appeared, placed his hand on the Ghost Race member's head, and crushed its skull with a resounding crack.

"That was unnecessary!" Fang Boxuan exclaimed in displeasure. "Pang Jian, do you not trust me? I already pierced its heart. Why did you need to strike again?"

"No, that's not it." Pang Jian shook his head. Then, unwilling to reveal the existence of the Ghost Race's Soul Flame, he said, "I just like crushing their heads."

Fang Boxuan felt a chill in his heart and a look of apprehension flashed in his eyes. In his mind, Pang Jian was a bloodthirsty madman, in the same category as Dong Tianze of the Sinister Soul Temple. Believing Pang Jian to be mentally unstable, he promptly decided to avoid provoking him as much as possible in the future.

Jiu Yuan, you'd better hope he doesn't step into the Spirit Condensation Realm or the entire Blood Moon Sect could be implicated with you!

"The Sword Pavilion indeed has a good eye!" a young female disciple said admiringly.

"It's not the Sword Pavilion, it's Qi Qingsong's discerning eye!" said another.

The young female disciples of the Star River Alliance could not help but watch in awe as Pang Jian ambushed and killed Ghost Race warriors around the Star Crushing Umbrella.

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