Trials of the Abyss

Whoosh!

Lightning bolts flared up deep within the eyes of the Ghost Race leader only for a burst of dark green fire to replace it.

He had summoned his Soul Flame and fused it into his eyes.

When the Ghost Race leader glanced at Liang Ying's spiritual artifact with his Heavenly Ghost Evil Pupil he noticed it appeared to be having issues.

His spirits lifted.

He removed the snake skeleton around his waist and thick, inky smoke began to seep out.

The murky energy from the Fifth World slowly engulfed the Ghost Race leader and spread out to cover his surroundings.

Hiss!

As the murky energy spread, a massive green snake, over a dozen zhang long, emerged from its depths.

The Ghost Race leader was barely a meter tall and could squat on the elevated head of the snake. When he pointed at Liang Ying, the massive snake obediently lunged at her through the foul-smelling smoke with its mouth wide open.

After a moment's hesitation, the Ghost Race leader also removed the snake skin he was wearing and threw it to the ground.

This was an evil artifact meant to preserve his life.

The discarded snake skin floated like a carpet in the smoke, releasing a denser murky energy than the skeleton.

The artifact not only protected the Ghost Race leader but also served as a reservoir for murky energy.

Using the released murky energy to recover slightly, the Ghost Race leader readied himself for a fight to the death.

His icy gaze locked onto Liang Ying.

"Upper world, the Star River Alliance, elder, die!" the Ghost Race leader exclaimed stiltedly as he unleashed threads of green lightning from his eyes.

Liang Ying's expression changed drastically. If the Star Crushing Umbrella were functioning properly, she could have used it to fend off the murky energy and kill the Ghost Race leader when he got close.

Unfortunately, the Star Crushing Umbrella had malfunctioned at a critical moment.

Even the Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect can't be trusted! Liang Ying cursed inwardly, reluctantly summoning an intermediate-grade spirit artifact, the Meteorite Pearl.

The fist-sized Meteorite Pearl appeared to contain a brilliant galaxy. Tossing it into the air, the Meteorite Pearl floated above her head and released a dazzling radiance.

Unlike the Star Crushing Umbrella, its light could only shield the area around her and could not closely follow her movements. Its power, coverage, and flexibility were far inferior to the Star Crushing Umbrella and its limitations forced Liang Ying to remain stationary.

"A Rank Six Ghost Race warrior is still physically weak. You dare approach me?" Liang Ying activated the power of the Meteorite Pearl and unleashed clusters of starlight to strike the approaching green snake. "A mere beast soul remnant dares to act up in front of me?"

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Bright clusters of starlight crashed down, and the massive green snake summoned by the Ghost Race leader was instantly disintegrated.

However, the Ghost Race leader quickly revived it.

The green snake was repeatedly destroyed and reformed, bringing the Ghost Race leader and the dense murky energy closer to Liang Ying in the process.

Meanwhile, Pang Jian hid in the valley between the Fourth Peak and the Fifth Peak a short distance away.

He first buried a Nine Heavenly Profound Thunder before taking out a tube of Annihilation Needles he had purchased from the trading hall. He then placed the Annihilation Needles in a cracked rock and covered it with a strip of blood-stained cloth.

While he did this, he also kept an eye on the battle between Liang Ying and the Ghost Race leader.

Unlike before, he did not use the Refined Ghost Miasma as he knew it was not very effective against a Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator.

After everything was in place, he once again monitored the battlefield through the god-like perspective of harmonizing with the land.

The murky energy had surrounded Liang Ying but she still managed to land a heavy blow on the Ghost Race leader using the starlights from the Meteorite Pearl.

The injured Ghost Race leader unleashed several sinister soul techniques, but they failed to make Liang Ying lose control of her soul as she was in the Spirit Condensation Realm.

A cluster of starlight crashed down and destroyed the green snake once more, but this time, the Ghost Race leader did not have the strength to revive it.

Pang Jian's eyebrows twitched and he headed toward them.

"How dare you filthy rats from the gutters come to our human world and wreak havoc?" Liang Ying shouted, raising her hand to unleash a secret technique of the Star River Alliance.

Blinding beams of starlight shot out from the Meteorite Pearl above Liang Ying's head and pierced the retreating Ghost Race leader's body, leaving behind bloody, gaping holes.

Bang!

The frail body of the Rank Six Ghost Race leader fell outside the area covered by the murky energy.

A blue-clad figure appeared and cracked the Ghost Race leader's skull with a burst of explosive energy.

The leader's dark green Soul Flame entered Pang Jian's palm and drifted into his sea of consciousness. It then vanished into several acupoints within his sea of consciousness.

A cold, ghastly breeze caused Pang Jian's eyes to light up. As he carefully examined his sea of consciousness, he saw strands of new divine sense emerging from different acupoints!

Ninety-five, ninety-seven, ninety-nine!

Once the divine sense in Pang Jian's sea of consciousness reached ninety-nine strands, the Ghost Race's Soul Flame hidden within his acupoints surged like a tumultuous storm.

Boom!

The dark green Soul Flame exploded, splitting into more flames that were then broken down and refined in different acupoints. These acupoints glowed a greenish hue. It seemed the life energy he had used to nourish his brain was now unleashing its latent power.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Greenish streams rushed out from his acupoints within his sea of consciousness, each containing new strands of divine sense!

One hundred, one hundred and one, one hundred and five, one hundred and eight! Pang Jian counted excitedly.

From the one-hundredth strand onward, his divine sense no longer drifted out from the acupoints one by one but rather erupted like streams. This was entirely different from how his divine sense had manifested before!

One hundred strands appeared to be some kind of shackle, and once this limit was broken, an entirely new phenomenon occurred!

Xie Xiwen's divine sense was limited to ninety-three strands in the Profound Abode Realm, and this number would remain unchanged until she broke through to the Spirit Condensation Realm.

According to her, only peerless geniuses in the Second World and the First World could manifest more than one hundred strands of divine sense in the Profound Abode Realm.

I already have one hundred and eight strands! And this isn't even my limit!

Pang Jian was thrilled.

The Soul Flame of a Rank Five Ghost Race warrior was only the size of a fingernail, but the Soul Flame of the Rank Six Ghost Race leader was as large as a fist!

Its hidden power and mysteries far exceeded those of its Rank Five kin!

An insatiable feeling lingered even after Pang Jian had completely absorbed the Ghost Race leader's Soul Flame.

"Pang Jian?" The murky energy had gradually dissipated after the death of the Ghost Race leader and Liang Ying could now see Pang Jian. "Why are you here?"

"I was worried you would not be able to handle it, Elder Liang, so I came to assist you," Pang Jian replied solemnly.

Liang Ying gave Pang Jian a strange look and smiled faintly. "It's me. I was the one chasing the Rank Six Ghost Race leader and he was already injured before he fled. How much trouble could he give me?

"You thought a Rank Six Ghost Race warrior would be carrying a treasure from the Fifth World and was trying to take advantage of the situation, weren't you?"

"You saw through me, Elder Liang," Pang Jian said, crouching down to obliterate the lingering beast soul. Then, picking up the inconspicuous snake skeleton, he raised it toward Liang Ying and said, "This is my trophy."

As soon as he finished speaking, he headed toward the valley between the Fourth Peak and the Fifth Peak.

Through harmonizing with the land, he saw Xie Xiwen from the Star River Alliance and Fang Boxuan from the Blood Moon Sect locked in a fierce battle against the Vicious Beasts in the valley between the Fourth Peak and the Fifth Peak.

After observing for a moment, Pang Jian deduced that they would ultimately emerge victorious, though it would come at a cost.

Elder Liang, please don't disappoint me. Pang Jian smirked as he dashed toward the Fifth Peak.

This brat! Liang Ying thought.

Checking the snake skin on the ground with her divine sense, she only detected a faint trace of residual murky energy and did not bother picking it up. She also found nothing of value after searching the Ghost Race leader's corpse.

Disappointed, Liang Ying considered her next course of action, and a murderous intent soon flashed in her eyes as she looked intently toward the Fifth Peak.

"Pang Jian!" she called, waving her sleeve to summon two clusters of starlight.

The clusters of starlight allowed her to fly through the air and retrieve her Star Crushing Umbrella without touching the ground.

Pang Jian turned and looked at her in astonishment.

"Elder Liang, you…" he trailed off, pausing briefly. "The Ghost Race leader is dead, but Xie Xiwen and the others are still fighting the remaining Ghost Race members and Vicious Beasts. You should be helping them. What could be more important than their safety that you came after me?"

"I wanted to discuss some of my doubts with you." Liang Ying smiled, eyes darting around as she quietly used her divine sense to scan for nearby rogue cultivators. "I suspect that rogue cultivator, Huang Qi, is colluding with the invading forces from the Fifth World. Tell me more about him."

As Liang Ying spoke, she glided through the air toward Pang Jian.

Oddly enough, her wandering gaze never focused on Pang Jian but rather constantly scanned her surroundings.

Boom!

A Nine Heavenly Profound Thunder buried beneath a patch of grass suddenly exploded, engulfing her in blue lightning and explosive thunder.

Whoosh!

Although she had summoned her protective shield in time, the explosive force of the Nine Heavenly Profound Thunder still struck her, causing her to let out a muffled groan as blood seeped from the corner of her eye.

The lightning had severely damaged her Star River Alliance robe and had rendered many of its intricate arrays ineffective.

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