Trials of the Abyss

He Ziren finally spoke up, staring coldly at Pang Jian after Zhou Qingchen’s departure.

Pang Jian sat alone in a secluded corner like a lone wolf, maintaining a meditating posture to regulate his breathing.

Head hanging low, he paid no attention to what was happening with the Ning Clan and the Zhou Clan inside the stone pile. He also turned a deaf ear to He Ziren’s questioning. He Ziren had harbored dissatisfaction toward Pang Jian from the beginning. When he saw Pang Jian remain silent, he could not hold himself back from snapping coldly, "I’m talking to you,"

After being ignored by Zhou Qingchen for so long, the young master of the He Clan had a stomach full of anger and nowhere to vent it. He could not believe that even a lowly hunter would dare to ignore him.

He Ziren frowned when he noticed the sinister cold energy dissipating from the stone pile had gathered densely around Pang Jian. Alarmed and flabbergasted, He Ziren quickly sized Pang Jian up before cautiously approaching him.

Absorbed in his cultivation, Pang Jian ignored He Ziren, assuming He Ziren would do the same. However, he did not anticipate that the young master of the He Clan would be unwilling to drop the matter.

Reluctantly stopping his absorption of the Profound Yin energy, he raised his head slightly and finally replied, "I don’t know."

"What are you doing? The spiritual qi trapped in the stone pile contains poisonous Profound Yin energy. It’s not something an ordinary person can endure. If I’m not mistaken, you were absorbing the Profound Yin energy earlier, weren’t you? You’re...still unharmed?" He Ziren took a deep breath to regain his composure. Then, in an accusing tone, he asked, "Brat, what evil cultivation method are you using?"

Only cultivators with suitable cultivation methods or loathed evil cultivators dared to guide Profound Yin energy into their bodies to refine. This lowly hunter unexpectedly knew how to refine Profound Yin energy, causing He Ziren to grow suspicious.

He Ziren carefully examined Pang Jian. A cold light flickered in his eyes, and several torture methods flashed through his mind as he muttered to himself, "Perhaps I’ll be able to reap some unexpected benefits from this hunter."

"You’re wrong," Pang Jian said apathetically.

"Am I?" He Ziren stepped forward, grabbing Pang Jian by his shirt and lifting him off his feet.

The young master of the He Clan met Pang Jian’s eyes with a glare. He shot Pang Jian a cold smile and threatened, "I could easily kill a lowly hunter like you if I felt like it."

He Ziren grinned and raised Pang Jian up further.

"As for you," he mocked, "with your family background and status, you’ll never find a foothold in the Fourth World if you dare to even touch me."

He Ziren had already entered the Meridian Opening Realm. The meridians in his body were unobstructed, allowing his spiritual power to circulate unimpeded. This resulted in him having extraordinary strength.

With his formidable strength, He Ziren hauled the taller, more robust Pang Jian into the air.

Pang Jian’s feet dangled off the ground. In a panic, he unsheathed his long saber from his waist and prepared for an all-out attack.

Whoosh!

He Ziren just shook his head and laughed coldly. His body glowed with a faint, majestic light, enveloped in spiritual power.

"Your long saber won’t even be able to graze my skin." He Ziren shook Pang Jian, causing him to sway like a kite. He continued to taunt him in a mocking tone, "If you don’t believe me, you can give it a try."

Cling!

Pang Jian brandished his long saber and slashed at He Ziren’s arm. However, it was like striking a bronze wall. His attempt failed to inflict the slightest harm.

He Ziren laughed loudly. "I told you it wouldn’t work."

Realizing that he was neither able to harm He Ziren nor escape, Pang Jian cast his cold gaze toward the stone pile.

The Ning Clan and Zhou Clan needed someone familiar with the Solitary Mountain Range and could not afford to part ways with him until their search mission was done. If necessary, Pang Jian was prepared to make some noise and commotion to draw their attention.

"Answer me or I will kill you." He Ziren abruptly stopped shaking Pang Jian, allowing his body to still. He then pressed his other hand against Pang Jian’s navel region and said softly, "As long as I can prove that you’re cultivating with an evil cultivation method, I’ll be justified in killing you. I won’t have a problem explaining it to Ning Yao."

Pang Jian knew the situation was unavoidable and had no choice but to let out a scream in an attempt to draw the attention of the Zhou Clan and Ning Clan.

A sudden, ear-piercing whistling from the depths of the stone pile drowned out his screams.

The strange whistling was more miserable and horrifying than before. It sounded less like the wind and more like the furious roar of a demon!

Everyone who heard the strange, ear-piercing whistling found themselves bleeding from their ears and noses, as though suffering from some kind of violent, evil spiritual bombardment.

This not only affected the Ning Clan and Zhou Clan members inside the stone pile, but also the rhinoceros and horses outside the stone pile as well. All of them were left looking dazed, as though recovering from a heavy blow.

Pang Jian’s chest heated up. The bronze pendant beneath his clothes shone with a faint light, shielding his mind and consciousness from the strange whistling.

He instantly returned to his senses.

Pang Jian noted that the ear-piercing whistling had not only caused He Ziren’s arm to droop feebly but also made the faint, majestic light previously enveloping He Ziren’s body disappear.

Everyone affected by the whistling sound wore expressions of confusion, eyes blank as though they no longer had any sense of self.

As the ear-piercing whistling persisted, Pang Jian realized that the Ning Clan and the Zhou Clan had once again encountered a perilous crisis in the stone pile.

The first thing that Pang Jian did when his feet were firmly back on the ground was grasp his long saber with both hands.

The sharp whistling appeared to contain a demonic power capable of dragging people into the evil abyss. Wielding his long saber, Pang Jian fixed his glacial stare on He Ziren’s dazed face.

After only a moment’s hesitation, Pang Jian ruthlessly stabbed He Ziren’s heart with the tip of his saber.

Splurt!

Without the protection of the faint, divine light, the tip of Pang Jian’s saber successfully pierced through He Ziren’s flesh, sinking deeper and deeper into his chest.

The intense stabbing pain caused He Ziren to awaken, allowing him to resist the demonic power of the whistling.

Still bleeding from his ears and nostrils, the young master of the He Clan woke up to find Pang Jian using all the strength in his two hands to drive the saber into his chest.

The young master of the He Clan, born in the Fourth World and used to being revered by mortals, could not believe his eyes. Face bloody and ghastly, and eyes ablaze with fury, He Ziren glared at Pang Jian.

Pang Jian was still desperately trying to stab He Ziren with all his might.

Pang Jian’s tone and expression were calm and his eyes held no hint of fear or unease as he coldly met He Ziren’s glare. "I’ll give it a try then."

The saber slid deeper. Pang Jian’s grip remained steady and unwavering as if he had done this countless times before.

"You—" He Ziren tried to speak through the sharp pain tearing through his heart, but all that came out was a mouthful of thick blood.

Thud!

He Ziren’s back hit the ground, Pang Jian’s long saber still lodged in his chest.

Pang Jian had killed He Ziren.

Taking a deep breath, Pang Jian fiercely pulled out his bloodstained long saber from He Ziren’s chest. He nimbly avoided the wild spray of blood and glanced over at the stone pile.

The long saber in his hand smelled of blood.

As he pondered what horrible crisis might have befallen the clan members of the Ning Clan and Zhou Clan, he suddenly saw ghostly shadows floating out from the corpses of the Blood Moon Sect cultivators.

The ghostly shadows were blurry but had a similar aura to the Beast Devils from before. They were shaped like humans, and because they were of a much higher level than the Beast Devils, Pang Jian could see them with his naked eyes.

Formed from the souls of the dead cultivators, these ghostly shadows flew out of the corpses and swooped toward the Ning Clan and the Zhou Clan. Some of them even took the opportunity to slip into the bodies of the living, inhabiting them.

The inhabited lost their minds and attacked those around them.

"Evil spirits? Departed souls?" Pang Jian stood frozen in shock, utterly taken aback by the abnormal sight.

Boom!

A lofty crimson mountain emerged from behind Zhou Qingchen’s imposing figure, gradually ascending to hover above his head. The crimson mountain exuded a majestic, solemn aura that could intimidate the evils of the world.

The emergence of the crimson mountain allowed the dazed and bewildered Zhou Qingchen to recover his spiritual consciousness. He suddenly raised his arms and shouted, "Red Clouds Roam The Sky!"

Dazzling red clouds rushed out from the magnificent divine mountain and enveloped those around Zhou Qingchen in droves.

Han Duping was awakened by the red clouds. Stomping his feet, he cursed, "They’re not from the Blood Moon Sect. They’re from the Sinister Soul Temple! They’re just wearing the Blood Moon Sect’s clothes! Damn it, cultivators from the Sinister Soul Temple died in this rock pile, and their souls were turned into high-level Spirit Devils!

Ning Yuanshan, Ning Yao, and the others also awakened one after another. They all cursed the cultivators from the Sinister Soul Temple and their actions, which had led Han Duping to misjudge the situation and let them enter the stone pile.

"Cultivators from the Sinister Soul Temple? Why would they be wearing the clothes of the Blood Moon Sect?"

Ning Yuanshan took out the Flame Dragon Stone Pillar from earlier with a shout. Once again, he ignited a sea of fire and used it to cover those inhabited by the Spirit Devils.

Under the intense heat of the yang energy, the Spirit Devils were forced to leave the bodies and hide in the nearby shadows.

Zhou Qingchen, Han Duping, Ning Yuanshan, Ning Yao, and the rest brought out their weapons to hunt them down and kill them. Several Meridian Opening Realm cultivators combined their efforts to either exterminate or expel the high-level Spirit Devils.

A soft, delicate laugh suddenly came from the white paper fan. "So all this still wasn’t enough to kill you."

Everyone turned to see a blood-red bamboo flying out from the fan.

The roots of the blood bamboo were like bones and sinews. They weaved together in mid-air, transforming into an ethereal blood shadow.

The blood shadow did not reveal her true appearance. She just laughed softly as she floated through the air and flew toward the depths of the Solitary Mountain Range.

As she floated away, the woman with the charming figure muttered softly, "Little ones, I’ll be going in first. We’ll meet again. Heh, after centuries of being trapped in that broken fan, I’m finally free. I’ll never be sealed by the old codgers from the Sinister Soul Temple again,"

As she drifted away, the Spirit Devils that had managed to escape the Zhou Clan and Ning Clan followed after her. One by one, they too disappeared.

The stunned crowd tried to chase her, but they could not match her speed. They could only watch as she and the Spirit Devils left.

Rumble! Rumble!

Not long after, the Zhou Clan’s rhinoceros collapsed and died one after another.

Many of the cultivators accompanying Zhou Qingchen had also died in the calamity. On the Ning Clan’s side, only Ning Yao, Ning Yuanshan, and Zhang Heng survived.

The Zhou Clan and Ning Clan suffered heavy losses in a short period. The remaining clan members were disheartened and frustrated.

After Ning Yuanshan came to his senses, he left the stone pile only to discover the young master of the He Clan in a pool of blood. "Why is He Ziren also dead?"

Blood continued to flow from the gaping hole in He Ziren’s chest. He had fallen to the ground, eyes fixed on the sky, and face contorted in fury and unwillingness.

Pang Jian stood calmly to one side with a blood-stained long saber in hand.

With a grave expression on his face, Ning Yuanshan asked in a cold voice, "You did this?"

"I was also inhabited by a Spirit Devil," Pang Jian replied helplessly.

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