Trials of the Abyss

Late into the night the next day, a nameless fragmented land emerged from the thick clouds bordering the Third and Fourth Worlds.

Whoosh!

The Black Iron Mountain gracefully descended upon the fragmented land under the bright light from the moon and stars.

After changing out of his tattered Sword Pavilion robe and into a new black robe, Pang Jian glanced around at the fragmented land and exclaimed, "From today onward, this fragmented land will be called the Resolute Expanse!

"My name consists of the character Jian[1], meaning as firm or resolute as a rock. Therefore, I name this fragmented land, the Resolute Expanse."

Settling down on the desolate fragmented land, Pang Jian squinted and smiled. Staring at the lush forest, he added, "That area will be called the Cloud Wilderness, as it was in the bygone era."

Taking a deep breath, he noticed that the concentration of spiritual qi on the Resolute Expanse had surpassed that of Ice Rock Island.

Deep beneath the Cloud Wilderness lay a slender spirit vein that glowed faintly.

This spirit vein increased the Resolute Expanse's efficiency in absorbing the surrounding spiritual qi.

As he stood in the Cloud Wilderness, Pang Jian harmonized with the land, observing the tiny creatures in the mountains and feeling the concentration of the spiritual qi.

After a while, he frowned. "As the spiritual qi in this fragmented land increases, it'll eventually attract attention from others. I must find a safe place soon."

As the murky energy contaminated the Fourth World, the five major sects would continue to take over more and more fragmented lands in the Third World.

The major sects would surely assign their disciples to select suitable fragmented lands in the Third World for the seven major clans from the Fourth World to migrate to.

The Resolute Expanse had merged with the Cloud Wilderness, seized a mineral vein, and extracted the spirit vein from the Primordial Wilderness, rapidly increasing its spiritual qi.

As long as this fragmented land existed in the Third World, it would eventually be noticed, even if it remained hidden beneath the clouds.

"I cannot let my fragmented land fall into the hands of others." Pang Jian snorted.

He then established a connection with the black turtle.

After extracting the spirit vein, the black turtle appeared somewhat sluggish and was seemingly ready to fall into a deep sleep again in the depths of the fragmented land.

When Pang Jian expressed his concerns, the black turtle informed him it would sink the fragmented land into the thick clouds of the Third World.

It would then move the fragmented land to the boundary wall of the Third World.

According to the black turtle, the bizarre mist near the boundary wall meant most cultivators dared not venture there.

If a powerful being were to target the Resolute Expanse, the black turtle could easily move it deep into the bizarre mist.

Just like the Northern Qi.

The Northern Qi, the Solitary Mountain Range, and the bizarre mist...

Pang Jian's eyes glinted with a strange light.

The Giant Abyssal Serpent, the World Eater Vine, and the black turtle had all come from the dense bizarre mist inside the bronze pendant.

This was likely why the black turtle did not fear the bizarre mist and was actually naturally close to it.

It instinctively wanted to retreat into the bizarre mist when it sensed danger.

Pang Jian focused his mind and attempted to probe the door-shaped bronze pendant with his divine sense.

However, his divine sense could not pierce through it.

Although the number of divine senses within his sea of consciousness had reached their limit, Pang Jian still could not control them.

The inability to move his divine sense at will indicated that he was still in the early stage of the Profound Abode Realm and had not yet advanced to the middle stage.

I'll likely only be able to glimpse the bronze pendant's mysteries when my divine sense can enter it.

A beehive still floated in the world within the bronze pendant, having not yet developed enough to leave the pendant.

Unfortunately, Pang Jian did not know what energy the beehive needed to grow.

In that case, you should go ahead and move the Resolute Expanse to the edge of this world. I'll head to the Dark Abyss Continent, Pang Jian told the black turtle.

When he bid farewell to Luo Hongyan and Qi Qingsong, he made it clear he would reach the Dark Abyss Continent alive. Not to mention, he wanted to see what a complete continent in the Third World looked like.

So far, he had only been to fragmented lands and had yet to see a complete continent. Pang Jian wanted to experience the majestic scenery of a continent.

After cutting off the connection with Pang Jian, the black turtle lazily retreated to the depths of the fragmented land to rest.

Meanwhile, Pang Jian scattered the items from the looted spatial bracelets on the grass.

Crystal-like spirit jades piled up like a mountain, emitting a faint radiance.

The four Spirit Condensation Realm cultivators, Jiu Yuan, Liang Ying, Lou Yunming, and Cao Mang, had the most spirit jades in their spatial bracelets.

Pang Jian estimated that the total number of spirit jades in the spatial bracelets of these four great cultivators exceeded fifty thousand.

Fifty thousand spirit jades were equivalent to five million spirit stones. It was an astronomical number of spirit stones that Pang Jian had never dared to imagine before.

If I add in the over ten thousand spirit jades I already have...

It was an exciting thought.

Spirit jades were the universal currency for purchasing cultivation resources in the worlds above.

I have over sixty thousand spirit jades now. If I ever went to the Sword Pavilion, I should be able to freely choose whatever I want at the Divine Treasure Sect's branch in the Second World, right?

Pills, high-tier cultivation manuals, spirit artifacts—everything would be available, wouldn't it?

Just as the excitement took root, the glowing spirit jades started to disappear!

The black turtle residing deep within the fragmented land was pulling the spirit jades toward the slender spirit vein.

Pang Jian harmonized with the land to observe the abnormality deep within the ground.

A downpour of radiant light was showing the slender spirit vein from the Primordial Wilderness!

The radiant light was actually Pang Jian's fifty thousand spirit jades!

The black turtle used its innate ability as an Earth Spirit to transform the pure spiritual power in each spirit jade into drops of radiant light, which it then poured onto the slender spirit vein.

Despite receiving nourishment from fifty thousand drops of radiant light, the long, slender spirit vein only grew slightly thicker.

However, the black turtle was still dissatisfied with the amount.

It then conveyed some information about the spirit vein to Pang Jian.

Most of the existing spirit veins in the Third World were in the Cosmic Skies and Dark Abyss Continents, firmly under the control of the five major sects.

Each major sect was located in an area with hidden spirit veins.

Powerful rogue cultivators like Cao Mang took control of the few small spirit veins in fragmented lands like the Primordial Wilderness.

A spirit vein could gather the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and enrich its surroundings.

It would eventually reach its maximum capacity after accumulating spiritual qi for hundreds or thousands of years. Once that happened, the surplus energy would be infused into the stones around it.

These infused stones would then become spirit stones.

If a spirit vein existed for thousands of years, it would transform.

It would not only grow longer and thicker but also gain the ability to transform nearby spirit stones into spirit jades.

A spirit vein that grew undisturbed for tens of thousands of years would eventually produce spirit crystals.

According to the black turtle, the concentration of spiritual qi in the Third World was insufficient for the spirit veins in Cosmic Skies and Dark Abyss Continents to form anything beyond spirit stones.

That was why spirit stones were the universal currency in the Third World.

The spirit veins belonging to the Sword Pavilion, the Demon Sect, the Black Valley Sect, the Celestial Lagoon Sect, and the Dragon Lair Sect in the Second World could produce spirit jades. Thus, spirit jades were the universal currency in the Second World.

The spirit veins beneath the million-year-old sects in the First World could produce spirit crystals.

Sadly, the spirit vein in the Resolute Expanse could only help the land gather spiritual qi more quickly.

Its small size and the Spirit Slaughtering Astral Array's excessive drainage meant that was all it could manage for the time being.

Without external help, the spirit vein could only slowly absorb the surrounding spiritual qi from the fragmented land to recover over hundreds of years.

Neither the spirit vein itself nor Cao Mang could rapidly enhance its abilities.

As an Earth Spirit, the black turtle could help the spirit vein recover more quickly, but it needed spirit jades.

It could transform the abundant spiritual power within the spirit jades into brilliant drops of radiant light and channel each drop into the spirit vein.

Only then could the spirit vein rapidly regain its strength and grow larger.

Once the spirit vein grew larger, the Resolute Expanse would undergo a significant breakthrough, giving rise to even more profound wonders with the black turtle's innate abilities.

I still have some spirit jade.

Pang Jian reluctantly took out the ten thousand spirit jades he had originally intended to use to bid for Luo Hongyan from his spatial bracelet and laid them out with a wry smile.

The black turtle did not hesitate to turn these ten thousand spirit jades into ten thousand drops of radiant light.

These drops once again poured into the spirit vein at the heart of the fragmented land, but as before, the spirit vein only grew slightly thicker.

The black turtle had spent sixty thousand spirit jades in the blink of an eye. Despite this, the spirit vein in the heart of the Resolute Expanse had yet to regain its strength.

Raising the black turtle and creating a blessed land turned out to be incredibly difficult and resource-intensive.

Still, Pang Jian could not help but feel that the high initial investment of spirit jades was worthwhile. In the future, the spiritual qi in the Resolute Expanse would be as dense as white mist and produce rare spirit materials.

Pang Jian could likely establish his own sect on the Resolute Expanse.

Additionally, Pang Jian held supreme authority in the Resolute Expanse and controlled all the spiritual qi within it.

He could suppress any cultivator, Vicious Beast, or Spirit Beast that set foot on the Resolute Expanse if necessary, thus allowing him to challenge cultivators with higher cultivation realms than him.

Furthermore, this boost in combat power for him would only become greater as the spiritual qi grew denser and the wonders the fragmented land held grew more abundant.

As long as the black turtle resided in the Resolute Expanse, Pang Jian could restore his depleted spiritual qi no matter where he was.

The Resolute Expanse was equivalent to his backup—or even a second—spiritual sea!

The denser the spiritual qi of the fragmented land, the faster he would recover his spiritual power during future battles.

With this in mind, regardless of how much he had to invest in the Resolute Expanse, he would undoubtedly reap the benefits in the future.

1. Pang Jian's name consists of the Chinese characters 庞 and 坚. The character 坚 means solid, firm, or resolute. ☜

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