Trials of the Abyss

Whoosh!

Yuan Lengshan landed on the raised platform where Luo Hongyan had stood before. Numerous dark "Demon" characters and crimson "Heart" characters swirled around her.

Looking down at Pang Jian, she said coldly, "It’s just as well that you two are together."

As her words left her mouth, the dark "Demon" characters transformed into a demonic eye seemingly capable of devouring one’s soul.

Pang Jian instantly felt like demons surrounded him and he was trapped in some eerie demonic realm.

He was momentarily dazed.

"Heart Inferno." Yuan Lengshan stood tall on the raised platform, hands weaving intricate seals with practiced precision. The crimson "Heart" characters danced around her like a swarm of butterflies.

Yuan Lengshan’s technique had ensnared Pang Jian.

From Pang Jian’s perspective, bloodthirsty fiends and demons seemed to loom in every direction and were swiftly closing in on him.

His heart swelled with searing heat as a fierce energy invaded him, threatening to reduce him to ashes.

Yuan Lengshan scoffed disdainfully. "I retrieved that spear from the pool myself. I know its intricacies inside out."

With her hands crossed over her chest, she maintained the seals on her hands and unleashed a secret technique of the Demon Heart Sect.

"You seem to lack other offensive techniques aside from your spear techniques. I wonder where you find the courage to challenge me." She shook her head, looking down on Pang Jian as though he were a fool.

Even now, she still could not understand where Pang Jian had found the audacity to attack Qi Qingsong.

She merely incited the two to target Qi Qingsong as a diversion as she did not want to prematurely reveal her strength and arouse suspicion in others.

Pang Jian’s and Zhou Qingchen’s fervor had been both laughable and utterly meaningless in her eyes.

"Pang Jian!" Luo Hongyan called from behind.

Her voice carried a sharp note, akin to a blade, that helped Pang Jian to break free from the clutches of the Demon Heart Sect’s secret technique.

Pang Jian returned to his senses.

Lifting his head, he saw many dark "Demon" characters and crimson "Heart" characters circling above him.

The "Demon" characters could distort one’s mind while the "Heart" characters emanated a terrifying fiery force that incessantly swept toward his chest.

Pang Jian abruptly threw away the Startling Slaughter Spear.

The silver shaft of the spear glowed red-hot like a branding iron, searing Pang Jian’s hand.

Pang Jian was shocked.

He soon realized that his success in killing Lan Xi had been heavily dependent on luck.

Although his heart was usually as steadfast as a rock, Yuan Lengshan’s dark "Demon" characters and crimson "Heart" characters had affected him. Even his bronze pendant could not help him.

With little effort, the fiery energy of the "Heart" characters permeated the Startling Slaughter Spear, causing its shaft to burn red-hot and forcing Pang Jian to toss it in surprise.

"You have no spear nor any offensive techniques now. I wonder how you plan to withstand my power," Yuan Lengshan sneered, moving her crossed hands downward.

In response to her gesture, the dark "Demon" characters and crimson "Heart" characters descended on Pang Jian and Luo Hongyan like torrential rain.

Offensive techniques... Pang Jian recalled the Earth Blaze Technique he had practiced earlier.

After entering the darkness, his spiritual sea had been filled with murky energy. Even the small fiery pool he had once created with earthflame energy now brimmed with it.

With no earthflame energy at his disposal, Pang Jian was unsure if he could even unleash the Earth Blaze Technique.

But he was determined to try.

Pang Jian tried to circulate his tainted energy to unleash the Earth Blaze Technique.

His serene spiritual sea quaked and churned!

The dense murky energy flowed unhindered through his meridians with an unbelievable speed.

The second stage of the Earth Blaze Technique spontaneously activated.

The murky energy started from the acupuncture point at the back of his neck, traveling through his acupuncture points, from the soles of his feet to the palms of his hands.

This was an entirely new way of exerting power!

He could almost hear the dense murky energy rushing violently through his body like rivers of molten lava.

Behind him, Luo Hongyan glanced at the now glowing Startling Slaughter Spear and whispered, "It’s okay, let me handle this. The little vixen manipulated the spear. She had countermeasures prepared."

The hem of Luo Hongyan’s skirt shimmered with starlight, which condensed into clusters of clouds.

"I’ve got this!" Pang Jian growled.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Pang Jian raised his left hand toward the incoming attack. Three colossal beams of light materialized from his palm one after the other.

One beam was dark green, filled with a sinister energy capable of eating away at all living beings.

Another beam was black and red, resembling molten lava.

The final beam was glossy black and carried an aura of destruction.

These three beams of light flew toward Yuan Lengshan.

The dark "Demon" characters and crimson "Heart" characters looming over Pang Jian’s head suddenly ceased to have any effect.

The first deep green beam, filled with corrosive energy, melted all the "Demon" characters and contaminated all the spiritual power within them!

Watching from afar, Qi Qingsong and the others were shocked at the sight. They did not know what was happening.

Yuan Lengshan’s expression changed as she hastily retreated into the folds of her resplendent robe, covering her head and limbs.

Whoosh!

The corrosive beam of dark green light hit the robe and erased the sun, moon, and all the stars!

The black and red beam of magma-like energy reduced the robe into ashes!

Before Yuan Lengshan could even scream, the third, destructive beam struck her.

Boom!

Yuan Lengshan exploded into a mist of blood.

Her blood rained morbidly into the pool. She was undeniably dead.

This talented young girl from the Demon Heart Sect had schemed tirelessly, sowing discord and forcing Lin Beiye and Qi Qingsong to watch from the sidelines. She had planned to take on Pang Jian and Luo Hongyan alone, only for Pang Jian to kill her brutally and mercilessly.

"Uh..." Luo Hongyan had been preparing to fight to the death and now stared blankly at Pang Jian with a cluster of nebula condensed in front of her chest.

Lin Beiye and Qi Qingsong inhaled sharply. Their faces ashen as they remained speechless.

Dong Tianze silently approached the two of them.

Li Jie continued to suck on the reed straw in his mouth, unaware that the green fruit juice in the glass bottle had been gone for quite some time.

After a long pause, Luo Hongyan asked in confusion. "Pang Jian, is this an offensive technique you learned from the anomaly in the darkness?"

Like Yuan Lengshan, she now believed that Pang Jian had allied with the anomaly from the Fifth World. After his body had been cleansed and empowered with secret techniques, he was likely taught terrifying dark arts that rivaled those of the Demon Sect and the Sword Pavilion!

How else could one explain the three terrifying beams of sinister energy?

Luo Hongyan’s question stunned Pang Jian

"No. No one taught me any offensive techniques." He hesitated, then softly said, "That’s the Earth Blaze Technique."

"The Earth Blaze Technique...?" Luo Hongyan’s expression morphed into one of disbelief.

Luo Hongyan had personally selected the Earth Blaze Technique for Pang Jian to study. How could she not know its true power?

When she watched Pang Jian tirelessly practice the Earth Blaze Technique, she felt a pang of guilt for not finding a more suitable technique for him.

She would not have felt such guilt if she had known the Earth Blaze Technique was so terrifyingly powerful,

"Wait for me here, I have something to attend to," Pang Jian said. He then ventured back into the darkness once again with no further explanation.

The others all looked on in bewilderment.

Pang Jian killed Lan Xi, then used an eerie dark art to obliterate Yuan Lengshan, thus eliminating the two troublesome disciples from the Demon Heart Sect. Now, he had unexpectedly returned to the darkness.

Nobody knew what was going on in his mind.

***

As soon as Pang Jian reentered the tunnel engulfed in darkness, he started heaving deep breaths.

Haah! Haah! Haah!

The murky energy of the Fifth World once again poured madly into his parched spiritual sea.

Li Yuqing watched as the murky energy converged around Pang Jian and streamed into his spiritual sea. A glance at Pang Jian’s exhausted expression told her everything she needed to know.

"Did your last strike exhaust all your spiritual power?" She chuckled in both amusement and exasperation. "I can sense that your spiritual sea is broader than most people’s. Did you really exhaust yourself with that one move?"

"It was my first time using it. I’m not used to it so I may have used too much spiritual power," Pang Jian replied honestly

The immensely powerful Earth Blaze Technique had exhausted all the murky energy within his spiritual sea and meridians to form the three beams of light.

Yuan Lengshan had been caught off guard and was killed on the spot.

The robe renowned for its formidable defensive capabilities had been completely destroyed.

Pang Jian’s strength had also been depleted all at once.

"The first time..." Li Yuqing thought for a moment, then asked, "Where did you learn that offensive dark art from the Fifth World?"

"Offensive dark art from the Fifth World?" Pang Jian frowned. "It’s not some dark art from the Fifth World. It’s a technique called the Earth Blaze Technique."

He retrieved the manual from his spatial pouch and handed it to Li Yuqing. "This is the technique manual."

Li Yuqing was utilizing a special spiritual artifact that granted her vision in the dark and shielded her from the influence of murky energy. Accepting the manual, she meticulously perused the contents of the manual in the darkness.

Once done, she handed the Earth Blaze Technique manual back to Pang Jian with a peculiar expression. "I don’t know what to tell you. The technique you’re practicing, this Earth Blaze Technique, could also be called the Earth Demon Technique. Its method of harnessing force and circulating spiritual power perfectly resonates with the energy within your body.

"It likely originated from the Fifth World, but the cultivator who discovered it likely didn’t have access to the Fifth World’s corrupt energy, so they adapted it to harness earthflame energy instead."

She was overwhelmed with emotion.

From what she could gather, the Earth Blaze Technique was essentially an offensive dark art from the Fifth World with a different name.

Pang Jian had inadvertently practiced the offensive dark art from the Fifth World.

When he unleashed the Earth Blaze Technique, his body was filled with corrupt, murky energy, and his inexperience caused him to release it all at once. His exceptionally vast spiritual sea could contain a large amount of tainted energy, enabling him to kill Yuan Lengshan with a single strike.

"The most concentrated energies around this Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar are those of destruction, corrosion, and magma. Remarkably, the Earth Demon Technique you unleashed separated and showcased these three most prominent energies that make up the murky energy of the Fifth World." Li Yuqing wore an expression of intrigue.

Pang Jian’s face twisted into confusion.

She continued, "There are many different types of energy mixed within the tainted energy of the Fifth World, and the types of energies near the other Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars may differ from this one. However, I believe the Earth Demon Technique is adaptable to any region within the Fifth World."

Pang Jian was at a loss for words.

"Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea, Earth Demon Techniques..." Li Yuqing trailed off. Hesitating slightly, she said with a peculiar expression on her face, "The woman you killed mentioned you might be in league with the anomalies from the Fifth World. I think there might be some truth to her words. You should consider staying in the Fifth World. You seem quite suited to it."

"No." Pang Jian shook his head. "I’m done."

"Done?"

"My strength has returned."

"Um, alright then." Li Yuqing paused. However, she could not shake the feeling that Pang Jian would be considered a top-tier genius in the Fifth World, and decided to advise him, "Pang Jian, please reconsider. If you stay in the Fifth World, you have the potential to become a formidable overlord."

Pang Jian shook his head again. "I believe I have the potential to do that in the upper world as well."

With that, he stepped out of the darkness.

"Up there too?" the girl murmured, gazing thoughtfully at his departing figure.

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