Trials of the Abyss

Li Jie used an unknown method to talk to Pang Jian, causing his voice to echo within Pang Jian’s mind.

He advised Pang Jian to return to the tunnel, use the darkness of the Fifth World to avoid Yuan Shishan, and escape the fallout.

Pang Jian was stunned. He met Li Jie’s eyes, nodded slightly, and pulled Luo Hongyan back.

Luo Hongyan glanced at him in confusion.

"Follow me,” Pang Jian whispered.

"Oh.” Luo Hongyan did not ask any questions and wordlessly followed him.

Warmth bloomed in Pang Jian’s chest.

After they had sensed something amiss about the pool, Li Jie and Luo Hongyan had urged him to leave.

However, he had returned to the darkness to look for Li Yuqing, causing a delay.

Even after returning, his curiosity drove him to linger despite Luo Hongyan’s urging.

The City Lord of Eight Trigrams City, Yuan Shishan, emerged from the ancient copper chest and temporarily sealed the Mirror Tunnel, leading to him and Luo Hongyan being trapped in this predicament.

From beginning to end, Luo Hongyan neither blamed nor resented him for putting them in this situation.

Pang Jian led her to the dark tunnel.

Luo Hongyan silently allowed Pang Jian to pull her along and followed him to the tunnel’s entrance.

When he stopped, Luo Hongyan sighed, freed herself from his grasp, and smiled. “Pang Jian, I have to stay here. I cannot withstand the corrupt energy of the darkness.”

Pang Jian stared blankly at her.

Luo Hongyan shook her head, her beautiful eyes filled with resignation. “I have no other choice. You and I are different. Not everyone can adapt to the darkness of the Fifth World like you. If I enter the darkness, my soul will soon be tainted and dissipate.”

Pang Jian recalled Li Yuqing’s words.

She mentioned that Luo Hongyan had tried to follow him into the darkness but was forced to retreat due to the murky energy.

Pang Jian said with thoughtful deliberation, “The main target of Yuan Shishan is not us. Here, I can display my full strength.”

Luo Hongyan smiled. “That’s why I came with you.”

Swish!

The water from the pool flew into the air and floated above Yuan Shishan’s head.

Smiling faintly, he and the ancient copper chest landed on the raised platform.

He stepped out of the copper chest and looked up. The pool water covered the sky above the courtyard like a celestial canopy.

"Back then, I accepted their tribute of spirit food because I was quite adept at the Dao of Souls," Yuan Shishan said, seemingly reminiscing.

A myriad of souls appeared in the celestial canopy above Yuan Shishan. Their figures gradually came into focus.

Lan Xi from the Demon Sect, Lin Beiye from the Black Valley Sect, Jian Yaoyang from the Star River Alliance...

One after another, both familiar and unfamiliar souls appeared in the celestial canopy.

The celestial canopy emitted a sinister and eerie aura that filled every corner of the mansion.

Pang Jian felt like he had returned to the top floor of the Divine Spirit Pagoda and was standing before the skull-shaped array.

Luo Hongyan’s expression changed.

"Those are real souls!" She gently pushed Pang Jian toward the darkness as she whispered, “The City Lord, Yuan Shishan, controls the souls of the deceased. I might be able to hold out.”

Pang Jian did not move. He looked up at the sky with knitted brows.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Two streams of pool water wrapped around the souls of Lan Xi and Lin Beiye then flew toward Li Jie from both sides like branches of a dark river.

Yuan Shishan smiled. “Let’s see if there’s anything special about the Trial Master this time.”

"Very well.” Li Jie flicked his hands. Rings flew from his fingers.

The rings were inlaid with different gems and jades, shining with divine light as they hovered above Li Jie’s head.

Some rings emanated with a power capable of cleansing the filth of heaven and earth. Others radiated a pure brilliance that could solidify into mountains and rivers. Some even stirred up a sea of raging flames.

Li Jie’s rings unleashed a variety of divine powers. They not only blasted the streams of water around Lan Xi’s and Lin Beiye’s souls into fine droplets but also struck at the watery expanse resembling a celestial canopy above their heads.

Boom!

Rumble!

The celestial canopy exploded, and the pool water rained like a waterfall, mostly landing in the pool or the surrounding stone tiles.

"So, you’re from the Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect." Yuan Shishan snorted. “Three thousand years have passed, and the Li Family remains prosperous, with each generation more outstanding than the last. If I’m not mistaken, you must’ve chosen the path of spirit artifact crafting in the Li Family.”

The Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect...Spirit artifact crafting...

Pang Jian turned toward the darkness.

The girl also had the surname Li and mentioned that her family had two paths from which they could choose.

One path focused on cultivation and the other on crafting different exotic treasures and spirit artifacts.

Based on that, he could guess the girl’s background.

"The Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect!” Luo Hongyan exclaimed in astonishment.

Pang Jian was surprised. “You’ve heard of this family?”

Luo Hongyan nodded. “The Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect is known to everyone in the upper world.”

"You’re right. I didn’t like fighting even from a young age, so I chose the path of spirit artifact crafting,” Li Jie admitted frankly. He then ranted in frustration, “But I didn’t expect that spirit artifact crafting also required a corresponding cultivation realm! If not, I wouldn’t have come to this fifth Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar and wasted my time on an old ghost like you who died three thousand years ago.”

Yuan Shishan’s face darkened. “Who said I’m dead?!”

"You used the blood and bones of your descendants, as well as the soul seeds in them, to reincarnate through a borrowed body, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re still just a fragmented soul. A fragmented soul is a fragmented soul. As long as your soul is incomplete, you’ll remain nothing more than a ghostly spirit.”

Li Jie sneered mockingly, “Yuan Shishan, do you think those old masters capable of making Eight Trigrams City disappear overnight are fools? You retained some of your sentience and a fragment of your soul because Eight Trigrams City needs an array core!

"The chest preserving your fragmented soul is the array core of Eight Trigrams City. They allowed you a sliver of sentience and left you a shred of hope because the array core requires a soul!

"Did you really think that you, Yuan Shishan, a City Lord of a remote city in the Second World, could escape their meticulous scheming?”

Li Jie did not bother to sugarcoat his words as he revealed the harsh truth.

Yuan Shishan had been brimming with vigor and self-assurance, believing his meticulous planning had allowed him to preserve his soul seed and finally witness his plan come to fruition.

Li Jie’s words stunned him.

His dignified image and gentle smile twisted into something grotesque and terrifying.

"Only because they needed it—because Eight Trigrams City needed it—that’s why I retained a sliver of sentience...” Yuan Shishan rubbed his head in confusion. His expression grew increasingly warped.

"I don’t believe you! I, Yuan Shishan, am clearly alive! I can still appear in this world! My Eight Trigrams City will surely break free from the Fifth Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar and return to the Second World!”

Splash! Splash! Splash!

The pool water spilled over and flowed along the stone tiles. It enveloped the souls of those who died during the tribulation and spread outward.

The pool water acted as the souls’ bodies. The souls turned into semi-transparent entities within it.

Some of these entities moved toward Pang Jian and Luo Hongyan.

However, most entities and the pool water inched up the raised platform where Li Jie stood.

"This is my Eight Trigrams City!” Yuan Shishan roared. The scattered belongings and spirit artifacts of the dead cultivators rose in response.

Swords, treasure vases, feather fans, and shields.

The spirit artifacts radiated brilliant lights, absorbing the dense spiritual qi within the mansion, and surrounding Li Jie.

Boom!

The raised platform Li Jie was on exploded.

The pool water and the strange entities climbed up the raised platform and joined the spirit artifacts to surround the Tribulation Master from the Divine Treasure Sect’s Li Family.

"Qilin Bell!” With a flick of his hand, a large greenish-gray bell floated above Li Jie’s head, giving off a greenish glow.

A vivid Qilin appeared on the bell’s surface and roared at the attacking entities.

The bodies of the entities were made of pool water and burst like bubbles with each roar from the Qilin. The greenish glow from the bell enveloped Li Jie, protecting him from the bombardment of spirit artifacts.

"Get out of here, you two.”

Li Jie waved at Pang Jian, urging him to retreat into the dark tunnel.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Under the control of Yuan Shishan, several spirit swords and bone hammers suddenly shot toward Pang Jian and Luo Hongyan.

Pang Jian did not hesitate. He wielded his Startling Slaughter Spear and employed the Silver Crescent technique.

With a swing of his spear, a black halo filled with the murky energy of the Fifth World formed.

The spirit swords and bone hammers were blocked by the black halo.

However, these spiritual artifacts contained power far beyond that of someone like Yuan Lengshan and the black halo exploded with a resounding boom.

The terrifying power knocked Pang Jian into the darkness.

"Pang Jian!" Luo Hongyan cried. She wanted to rush into the tunnel to check on him but could not because of the tainted energy in the darkness.

Thus, she could only anxiously stare into the darkness.

"I’m fine!” Pang Jian yelled back, but his voice could not penetrate the barrier of the darkness, so Luo Hongyan could not hear him.

Meanwhile, Luo Hongyan asked anxiously, “Pang Jian, how are you?”

Blood trickled from Pang Jian’s mouth. He stood up and casually wiped the blood from his lips as he prepared to return to fend off Yuan Shishan’s next attack.

Though Yuan Shishan was only a fragment of a soul, his power was far beyond that of Dong Tianze, Lan Xi, and the rest.

"Ugh!” Just as he was about to leave the darkness, he sensed something unusual within his body.

The tainted energy in his spiritual sea was being drawn toward his chest.

Within this murky energy were two highly distinctive energies: corrosion and destruction.

These were two of the three energies that had formed his Earth Demon Technique earlier.

The two dense, sinister energies rushed through his meridians toward his chest.

They were heading toward the ancient bronze pendant!

The bronze door on the pendant had previously seemed permanently closed. But now, it was in an unprecedented state of being half-open!

Pang Jian held it up to his eyes to get a closer look.

Astonishingly, a thick gray fog swirled behind the bronze door. It looked like the fearsome bizarre mist!

Four peculiar objects floated in the depths of the thick bizarre mist; a black serpent, a beehive, a sapling-like vine, and a palm-sized black turtle.

The black serpent was much larger than the other three objects and was greedily absorbing the corrosive and destructive energies of the Fifth World.

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