Trials of the Abyss

Pang Jian emerged from the stone pile just as the Zhou Clan servants finished their meal and prepared to depart.

Zhou Qingchen was seated atop He Ziren’s horse. He smiled and waved Pang Jian over when he saw him leaving the stone pile. "Pang Jian, you take charge of this horse."

Beside him was the now dead Liu Qi’s crimson warhorse that Pang Jian had ridden on the way to the Solitary Mountain Range.

Zhou Qingchen pointed at a long spear hanging on the horse’s flank. Smiling brightly, he said, "Take the Dragonwood Spear. From now on, we’ll be fighting alongside each other. Your long saber isn’t exactly the weapon of choice for us cultivators. Miss Ning mentioned that you’ve embarked on the path of cultivation, so I’m giving you the Dragonwood Spear to try out. If you find something better in the future, you can always switch."

The old man and young girl from the Ning Clan saw Zhou Qingchen’s sudden change in attitude toward Pang Jian and were unsure of his intentions.

First, Zhou Qingchen voluntarily brought food to Pang Jian. Then, he gave a deceased subordinate’s Dragonwood Spear to Pang Jian. His strange behavior caused both of them to grow suspicious.

Both Han Duping and Zhou Clan servants were equally baffled by Zhou Qingchen’s actions.

Pang Jian, on the other hand, maintained his composure. He softly thanked Zhou Qingchen, mounting the crimson warhorse and attempting to lift the Dragonwood Spear.

The shaft of the long spear felt rough in his hand and had a natural wood grain that closely resembled the texture of a dragon’s scales. The spearhead was made from a shiny silver metal that radiated an ice-cold luster and was razor-sharp.

When Pang Jian lifted the long spear, he discovered it was extremely heavy. It was several times heavier than the long saber he was using before!

Pang Jian waved the spear around to get used to its weight. Holding the spear with both hands, he used it to point toward the mountain range. "The Solitary Mountain Range is vast. Do you have a specific location in mind?"

Zhou Qingchen pondered for a while before replying, "Let’s head north, to the area closest to the bizarre mist."

Hearing this, Ning Yao and Ning Yuanshan looked at Zhou Qingchen in surprise.

In their earlier discussions, they had only talked about looking for the scattered remains of the Celestial Phoenix and the artifacts from the Blood Moon Sect, the Star River Alliance, and the Sinister Soul Temple.

They had no intention of going to the northernmost area and risking their lives to investigate the abnormalities of the bizarre mist.

Seeing the apprehension on their faces, Zhou Qingchen laughed. "Don’t worry, we won’t enter the area covered by the bizarre mist. I just sense that the remains of the Celestial Phoenix and the three searching parties are located in the northern area, close to the bizarre mist."

"In that case...alright," Ning Yuanshan reluctantly agreed.

"This canyon is the southernmost part of the Solitary Mountain Range. We can head directly north, but there are two routes that we can choose from. One is shorter but follows a steep mountain path. The other is longer but follows the winding river. How would you like to go?" Pang Jian asked.

"Since you know this place best, you can decide," Zhou Qingchen said with an indifferent look on his face.

"Since we’re on horseback, let’s follow the river," Pang Jian suggested.

Zhou Qingchen laughed. "Alright then."

Ning Yao’s brows knitted slightly. A sense of dissatisfaction brewed within her. She was the one who paid to hire Pang Jian as a guide, but looking at Zhou Qingchen’s actions, it seemed more like Pang Jian had become his person.

Although disgruntled, she did not outwardly express her dissatisfaction and remained silent.

For the rest of the journey, Pang Jian took charge of both the itinerary and route, leading everyone along the path of the muddy river.

Whenever they stopped to rest or eat, Pang Jian would find a secluded place and use the cracked gray rock to cultivate the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art.

As long as he covered the cracks on the rocks with his palms, a rich Profound Yin energy would flow into his navel region, helping him melt away the impurities in it.

The cracked rock allowed Pang Jian’s cultivation to improve by leaps and bounds, cleansing many of the cotton-like impurities in his navel region.

As the cotton-like entities continued to be purified, he could feel his navel region becoming more open and spacious. The spiritual qi he subsequently channeled into his navel region also encountered fewer and fewer obstacles.

He was convinced that with the help of the cracked rock, it would not be long before he could clear all the impurities from his navel region.

***

One day, as Zhou Qingchen rode his warhorse, he stared into the dense forest in the distance and exclaimed excitedly, "It’s a bone of the Celestial Phoenix! Can you guys see it?"

At his shout, everyone turned their gaze to the distance. They spotted a withered bone that resembled a giant pillar in the sky protruding from the forest several li away. Even from afar, it left a deep impression on the crowd.

"Let’s go!" Everyone vigorously swung their reins and urged their warhorses to speed up.

Stunned by the sight of the large withered bone, Pang Jian was left trailing behind. He had not realized the enormity of the Celestial Phoenix’s bones until he saw them from a closer distance.

He could not help but wonder, How huge was the Celestial Phoenix?

Noticing he was losing sight of the others, Pang Jian hastily urged his horse to catch up.

Soon after, Pang Jian arrived at the bone of the Celestial Phoenix.

The withered bone was several hundred meters in height and was stabbed into the ground like a sword, with deep, spiderweb-like fissures surrounding it. It appeared that the impact of the withered bone spearing into the ground had caused a shockwave that fractured the ground around it.

Even from dozens of meters away, a vast, ancient divine aura could be felt emanating from the dull withered bone. This caused all who looked at it to have a strong urge to prostrate themselves in worship.

The withered bone of the Celestial Phoenix loomed like a huge towering mountain, looking as though it could suppress all the evils in the Solitary Mountain Range.

Pang Jian was deeply shocked.

If a single withered bone was more than hundreds of meters long and as thick as the root of a giant tree, how shocking would the Celestial Phoenix have been when it was still alive?

It surely would have been a creature of legends.

There was no wonder the withered bone killed the divine bird so easily.

While Pang Jian was lost in his wild and fanciful thoughts, Ning Yuanshan suddenly pointed toward an area behind the withered bone and shouted, "The Formless Sailboat of the Blood Moon Sect!"

Looking over, Pang Jian saw an enormous sailboat with a pitch-black silk banner containing a blood-colored crescent moon behind the withered bone.

"Let’s go take a look," Following Ning Yuanshan’s command, Pang Jian and the rest rode their horses around the withered bone to inspect the sailboat.

The sailboat was dozens of meters long. It had pulverized countless trees and was anchored in an area surrounded by fragments of dried-up tree branches.

Around the sailboat were numerous bloody, shriveled bones. Some of these bones were wrapped in tattered clothes with crescent moon motifs.

Ning Yuanshan took a glance and covered his nose. "These are the real Blood Moon Sect cultivators. After their death, wild beasts likely feasted on their corpses. Look over there. Some of the artifacts were even spat out by the wild beasts."

The bones here were not the same as the corpses of the Sinister Soul Temple cultivators. These had been consumed by wild beasts and emitted a bloody, rotten smell that assailed everyone’s nostrils, causing them to feel sick.

"Were they killed by wild beasts; the Sinister Soul Temple and Star River Alliance cultivators; or perhaps, some other dangerous threat in the Solitary Mountain Range?" Ning Yao wondered aloud.

Pang Jian interjected, "The wild beasts in the Solitary Mountain Range shouldn’t be able to kill cultivators."

Having frequented the Solitary Mountain Range for many years, Pang Jian was familiar with the wild beasts and their capabilities. Even the strongest wild beasts in the Solitary Mountain Range were no match for people like Zhou Qingchen and Ning Yuanshan. The deaths of the Blood Moon Sect cultivators likely had nothing to do with them.

Zhou Qingchen’s expression was solemn. He shook his head and said with a grave tone, "No, you don’t understand the power of the bizarre mist. I’m convinced that the bizarre mist has permeated the northern part of Solitary Mountain Range from the boundary wall.

"Wild beasts that mistakenly enter the bizarre mist and survive will surely transform into Vicious Beasts or Spirit Beasts with significantly increased strength. Once transformed, they’re not the wild beasts you’re familiar with anymore."

Hearing this, Pang Jian was startled. He realized his understanding of the bizarre mist was shallow.

Although he was active in the Solitary Mountain Range, he had never encountered the bizarre mist as his father had prohibited him from hunting in the northern part of the mountain range.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A sudden gust of wind caused the black flag on the Formless Sailboat to flutter in the wind.

In the middle of the flag was a huge red crescent moon. As the flag fluttered, it emitted a strange bloody light that dyed the surrounding area crimson.

The skeletons appeared exceedingly eerie under the bloody red light.

"Be careful," Zhou Qingchen warned, eyeing the crescent moon on the black flag. After pondering for a moment, he added, "I’ll check if the bone of the Celestial Phoenix contains the divine inheritance. As for you all...wait here. Don’t touch the artifacts left behind on the corpses and don’t go near the Formless Sailboat."

"Okay." After the bitter experience inside the stone pile, everyone was extremely cautious and did not dare to act recklessly.

Zhou Qingchen swiftly dismounted his horse. Leaping over the huge cracks in the ground, he soon reached the fallen withered bone.

With his back to the crowd, he pulled something out from his chest pocket and carefully analyzed the withered bone.

"This isn’t the one," Zhou Qingchen concluded.

Back facing the crowd, he returned the item to his chest pocket before turning around and said, "This is just an ordinary bone of the Celestial Phoenix. There’s nothing unusual about it and the deaths of the Blood Moon Sect cultivators have nothing to do with it. They must’ve been killed by something else. Alright, now everyone can spread out to investigate but be careful."

In Zhou Qingchen’s mind, the most terrifying thing here was the bone of the Celestial Phoenix. Seeing that it was not what he suspected, he relaxed a little.

Still, he warned, "Don’t go into the Formless Sailboat. Let’s examine the corpses and the artifacts first to see if there are any oddities."

The group quickly spread out.

Pang Jian knew that he was not qualified to obtain the artifacts of those cultivators, so he opted to wait for Zhou Qingchen to give them to him on his own accord. Thus, he did not follow everyone to scavenge the surroundings but silently waited.

Not long after, Zhou Qingchen suddenly frowned and said, "Someone’s coming."

Everybody tensed, preparing themselves for a potential threat.

Regardless of whether they were cultivators from the Blood Moon Sect or the Sinister Soul Temple, they were still from the upper world. Most of their cultivation realms were likely higher than theirs.

If these formidable figures were dying in large numbers in the Solitary Mountain Range, what chance did they, with lower cultivation realms, have?

They had no choice but to be doubly cautious.

After a while, a group of people gradually revealed themselves, emerging from the forest behind the Formless Sailboat with a low rustling sound,

Both parties looked at each other and breathed simultaneous sighs of relief.

"It’s the Zhou and Ning Clans!"

"What a surprise, it’s the Shangguan Clan!"

With soft cries of relief, the party of nine finally dared to show themselves, appearing to have been just as cautious as the Zhou Clan and the Ning Clan.

The person leading the party was a dignified noblewoman dressed in a gorgeous, brightly colored dress and adorned with exquisite jewelry.

She resembled a ripe peach, with her beautiful appearance and seductive, curvaceous figure.

The woman covered her huge, white chest and said melodramatically, "You scared the hell out of me. I thought we were about to die at the hands of survivors from the upper world."

The voluptuous beauty swayed gracefully as she approached, throwing a wink at Zhou Qingchen from afar. "Qingchen, it’s been a long time since we last met. Seeing you here puts my mind at ease."

Zhou Qingchen smiled and said, "Auntie Qin."

The chubby Han Duping squinted his small eyes and stared lustfully at her chest. He did not even look at her face as he said, "Little Sister Qin, your brother Han is here too. Others say that you bring bad luck to your husband. But I am not afraid. In any case, since two of your husbands have died on you, why don’t we just make do with each other?

"As long as you wish for it, Little Sister Qin, I’ll part ways with the Zhou brat and switch alliances to your Shangguan Clan."

Zhou Qingchen knew Han Duping’s personality very well. With a helpless face, he laughed. "We’ve been friends for a long time. If that’s what you wish, Old Han, I’ll prepare a generous gift in addition to enduring the pain of seeing you off."

"Pah! You fat winter melon, stop daydreaming!" Shangguan Qin’s gorgeous face was shrouded in disgust and coldness. Without giving any face to Han Duping, she sneered, "An old toad wants to eat swan meat."

"Ha, you already caused the deaths of two men. Considering your age, you’re not exactly a young swan anymore." Han Duping chuckled.

Angered by Han Duping, Shangguan Qin’s breathing hastened. However, it only accentuated the heaving rise and fall of her chest even more.

Screech!

The last of the Shangguan Clan to appear was a towering man wearing thick armor, dragging a huge iron cage behind him with one hand.

Up to this point, Pang Jian had been blending in with the Zhou Clan and the Ning Clan, paying no attention to the newcomers. The man’s entrance, however, caused him to take notice of the gray ape in the iron cage.

The gray ape’s strange ice-blue pupils flashed savagely. It still emitted a murderous aura despite having been taken prisoner.

At the same time that Pang Jian caught sight of it, the wounded gray ape also turned its stare at him.

Standing beside Pang Jian, Ning Yao noticed that the gray ape with strange, ice-blue eyes was looking at him. Surprised, she could not help but ask, "Do you know each other?"

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