Trials of the Abyss

Nights in the Fourth World were always shrouded in darkness.

As the sun, moon, or stars could not be seen throughout the year, and there was no other natural light source, once night fell in this world, the wild beasts would refrain from hunting.

The tired crowd decided to rest up for the night and moved away from the bone of the Celestial Phoenix.

The skeletons of the Ouyang Clan’s members were scattered around the bone of the Celestial Phoenix, and their eerie remains unsettled everyone in the darkness of the night.

However, Pang Jian remained indifferent.

He had no lamp or fire to illuminate his surroundings as he sat cross-legged in a meditative position beside the bone of the Celestial Phoenix, which had pierced into the beehive.

Luo Hongyan was tactful, chuckling softly as she gracefully turned to depart.

A tacit understanding had developed between the two over recent days.

From where he was seated by the bone of the Celestial Phoenix, Pang Jian observed as the members of the Su Clan and the He Clan lit fires and meditated at the other end of Insect Valley.

Everyone’s vision was limited at night, but Pang Jian waited until he sensed Su Yuntian and He Rong no longer looking at him, before removing the bamboo basket from his back.

After taking a deep breath, he focused on clearing his mind of distractions and swiftly entered a state of meditation.

During this meditation session, he unexpectedly experienced a strange sensation of greatly heightened perception. He intuitively felt that his navel region was divided into two layers, much like the world he currently inhabited.

Pang Jian did not rush to absorb the spiritual qi from the spirit stone he held in his hand. Instead, he focused on assimilating the diverse energies present in Insect Valley. Slowly, he sensed the spiritual qi enter his body and settle into the upper layer of his navel region.

The spiritual qi in the upper layer resembled clusters of clouds and mist.

As he activated the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art, he could sense a massive whirlpool emerging between the upper and lower layers.

This whirlpool resembled a funnel, linking the upper and lower layers of his navel region. As it spun gently, it drew in the mist-like spiritual qi from the upper layer. With each rotation, the whirlpool would refine the spiritual qi, pushing it toward the bottom of the funnel.

This refined energy would gradually be condensed into...spiritual power.

Strands of spiritual power slowly gathered in the lower layer of his navel region to form a small pond.

Pang Jian’s mind spun. He now grasped the complete layout of his navel region. He also realized that the mysterious micro world within the human body naturally seemed to consist of two parts.

The dantian served as the gathering point for spiritual qi while the spiritual sea acted as a reservoir for the spiritual power refined from the spiritual qi.

The dantian and the spiritual sea were connected by a funnel-shaped whirlpool. The dantian cleansed and purified the spiritual qi and other energies absorbed from the outside world, condensing them into spiritual power, which then flows into the spiritual sea below.

With this realization, Pang Jian continued to absorb the diverse spiritual qi of the Fourth World in Insect Valley, carefully sensing the wonders of his spiritual sea.

After a while, he suddenly felt countless mosquitoes, bugs, and bees buzzing from all directions as if they intended to swarm and devour him.

Before he could be startled awake by the perceived threat, Pang Jian quickly realized those supposed mosquitoes, bugs, and bees were all hiding within the spiritual qi.

Countless tiny creatures had their essence absorbed by the bone of the Celestial Phoenix in Insect Valley, causing their soul to be mixed with the spiritual qi, which Pang Jian had absorbed into his body using the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art.

For the whirlpool to refine and purify the spiritual qi from Insect Valley, he would first have to grind away the mosquitoes, insects, and bees.

This was the process of removing impurities. Despite the time-consuming process, the spiritual power obtained from it was not a lot.

He hesitated for a second before retrieving the two spirit stones, including one he had plundered from Jin Yang, Xu Rui, and the masked man.

The two spirit stones resembled white jade. One had scattered impurities while the other was exceptionally pure.

When Pang Jian tried to absorb the spiritual qi from the spirit stone with scattered impurities, he instantly noticed that what he absorbed was actually spiritual power with trace amounts of impurities. It did not quite resemble the mist-like spiritual qi; rather, it mirrored the spiritual power within his spiritual sea. ƒ

However, because the spiritual power contained some impurities, Pang Jian needed to utilize the whirlpool connecting his dantian and spiritual sea to purify and eliminate these impurities.

Still, the spiritual power he derived from the small spirit stone far exceeded what he obtained from purifying the spiritual qi in Insect Valley.

Its efficacy was at least ten times greater.

While both had impurities, there was a fundamental difference between spiritual qi and spiritual power. A single strand of spiritual power required ten times the amount of spiritual qi to refine.

Meanwhile, the spirit stone already contained spiritual power, requiring no repetitive refinement from him, only needing the impurities to be removed.

Pang Jian slowly opened his eyes to stare at the speckled spirit stone in his hand.

He finally understood why Jin Yang and the other high-level members of the Shadow Specter Sect only had their weapons and these Fourth World spirit stones on them.

With these spirit stones, they could rapidly replenish their strength far more efficiently than absorbing the spiritual qi in the Solitary Mountain Range.

What about the pure spirit stone? How is it different? With these thoughts in mind, he shifted his attention to the unblemished, pure spirit stone.

This spirit stone came from the sack he took from Ning Yao, and originated from the Formless Sailboat of the Blood Moon Sect.

Pang Jian tried to absorb the spiritual power from the pure spirit stone.

His eyes lit up.

The spirit stone from the Third World did not contain a single speck of impurity. As he absorbed it into his dantian, it swiftly funneled through the whirlpool and flowed directly into his spiritual sea!

There was no need to refine or purify the spiritual power for it to seamlessly integrate into his spiritual sea!

The efficiency and speed of absorbing this spiritual power far surpassed that of cultivating with impure spirit stones!

"No wonder Ning Yao treasured it so dearly after obtaining it from the Formless Sailboat," With his improved perception, Pang Jian could now intuitively sense the condition of his dantian and spiritual sea during cultivation. Compared to his previous experience in Blackwater Pond, his understanding of his dantian and spiritual sea had deepened significantly.

He finally understood the true value of spirit stones for cultivators.

"With these pure spirit stones, I’ll be able to fill my spiritual sea with spiritual power," He now understood that the primary focus in the Qi Practicing Realm was to refine spiritual power until the spiritual sea was full.

He had pure spirit stones and no intention to conserve them, so Pang Jian began his cultivation.

***

In the darkness, a distance away from Pang Jian, Luo Hongyan habitually assumed a cross-legged posture on a tree branch, observing him from a higher vantage point.

With her cultivation level and the refinement of her soul, she could faintly discern that when Pang Jian cultivated, numerous lingering souls of the mosquitoes, flies, and bugs were absorbed into his lower spiritual sea.

Suddenly, her expression turned to one of astonishment.

Spirit Devils such as Luo Meng were unexpectedly drawn toward Pang Jian as he cultivated the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art, uncontrollably attempting to fly into his dantian.

Startled, she hastily intervened, using her willpower to command the Spirit Devils to withdraw from Insect Valley.

"What a domineering cultivation method. A cultivation manual of this caliber shouldn’t have originated from the Fourth World," she mused, increasingly curious about the young man’s past.

***

By the time dawn approached, Pang Jian had unknowingly absorbed two pure spirit stones.

He was abruptly awakened.

Intuitively gripping his Dragonwood Spear, he stared coldly at the approaching He Rong.

When he saw Pang Jian had awoken, He Rong stopped and calmly asked, "I want to know who killed He Ziren."

"Why the need for such secrecy? If you have any doubts, you can ask Ning Yao or wait until daylight to question me," Pang Jian replied, tone tinged with annoyance.

"Due to her past engagement to Ziren, she harbors resentment toward the He Clan. Her attitude toward us was cold and she was unwilling to cooperate with me," He Rong helplessly explained.

Pang Jian paused, then said, "Among the assailants from the Shadow Specter Sect, one person stood out—he wore a distinctive gold mask and seemed to be someone of note. When he perished at the bottom of Blackwater Pond later on, his mask shattered into fragments, and I caught a glimpse of his face. It was marred with crisscrossing scars. He’s the one who killed He Ziren."

The face revealed beneath the shattered mask had left the deepest impression on Pang Jian, so he used the man as a shield.

Upon hearing this, He Rong’s expression subtly changed. He nodded, uttered a word of thanks, then turned and walked away.

From the distant tree branches, Luo Hongyan had been observing He Rong and shifted from her seated position to stand. It was only after He Rong returned to Su Yuntian’s side that the ice gleam resembling a sharp blade disappeared from her eyes.

In the sky above Pang Jian, Hong Tai, now refined into a Spirit Devil, hovered quietly.

As Hong Tai had been in the Marrow Cleansing Realm, as long as his Spirit Devil remained hidden in the darkness of the night, he would not be discovered by anyone, including He Rong and Su Yuntian.

However, He Rong only inquired about the cause of He Ziren’s death before abruptly leaving with a visibly changed expression. Therefore, she did not instruct the Spirit Devil to take action.

"It’s Dong Qianfeng! Dong Qianfeng from the Dong Clan had joined the Shadow Specter Sect!" He Rong’s eyes gleamed with shock, speaking in a low voice to Su Yuntian. "Dong Qianfeng killed Ziren!

"He was once subjected to a cruel punishment by the Radiant Sun Sect where his face was slashed with dozens of cuts, leaving indelible scars. Afterward, he was even expelled from the sect.

"He wore a mask to conceal his identity and conspired with Hong Tai from the Shadow Specter Sect to kill members of the seven major clans in the Solitary Mountain Range!"

Su Yuntian could not contain his shock and exclaimed, "It’s actually him!"

"Luckily, he was killed in Blackwater Pond," He Rong added.

"Even though Dong Qianfeng has passed away..." Su Yuntian rubbed his chin, expression solemn as he continued, "If Dong Qianfeng has indeed joined the Shadow Specter Sect, could his adopted son, Dong Tianze, also have joined?"

He Rong was taken aback. "That can’t be, can it?"

"Father, what are you discussing in the middle of the night?" Su Meng could not help but ask, having woken up in a daze, and noticed the two of them whispering with troubled expressions.

"It’s nothing." Su Yuntian wanted to offer a comforting smile but could not muster one up. "It’s getting bright outside. You should get up too. We need to prepare to hit the road again."

"Oh," Su Meng answered while rubbing her eyes.

Luo Hongyan watched the two from atop the tree branches, lips pressed together with a hint of coldness.

Having extracted numerous secrets of the Shadow Specter Sect from Hong Tai, she naturally knew who Su Yuntian and He Rong were referring to when they mentioned Dong Tianze.

She also knew that he was currently in the Solitary Mountain Range.

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