Trials of the Abyss

Fang Boxuan looked as though a heavy blow had struck him.

The wound on his waist and abdomen reopened and fresh red blood flowed out of it once again.

Staring at the Heavenly Roc Warship in the sky, he recalled how Fu Wangchen had not even spared him a glance earlier. Fu Wangchen did not even know he existed.

The bitterness inside Fang Boxuan swelled.

"My—the destruction of my Fang Clan!" he cried, clutching his waist and abdomen.

His face twisted with grief and anger.

"It's hard to accept, but he truly knows nothing. If you want to blame someone, then blame his master, along with the leaders of the Demon Sect and the Black Valley Sect." Zhuang Yuyan sighed softly. "The world is in chaos. You'll get your chance for revenge."

Then turning to Pang Jian, she whispered, "Little Junior Brother, what do you think of Fu Wangchen's feelings for the girl from the Li Family?"

Pang Jian shook his head.

"I don't think that terrifyingly strong girl from the Li Family cares about Fu Wangchen at all," Qi Qingsong sneered. "Fu Wangchen has just entered the Spirit Condensation realm. Judging from what we saw in the earlier fight, he's worlds apart from her. Their cultivation realm is not even on the same plane!"

"Li Yuqing's breakthroughs seem to come without any bottlenecks. When it's time to break through, she just does," Zhuang Yuyan said with a bitter smile. "I heard that when Fu Wangchen sparred with her, their cultivation realms were almost the same.

"Nobody expected her to continue advancing so seamlessly though. Because of that, the gap between her and Fu Wangchen has grown wider.

"In the past two years, Fu Wangchen, knowing the disparity was too great, hasn't gone looking for her to spar anymore."

Zhuang Yuyan's words brought dejected looks to everyone's faces.

Li Yuqing stood in a league of her own and was far beyond their reach.

"There's one person who can compare to her talent," Dong Tianze said coldly.

"Who?" Zhuang Yuyan was stunned. "As far as I know, no one in our generation can match her talent."

Dong Tianze proudly raised his head. "There is!"

"Then who?" Zhuang Yuyan pressed.

"I'm not saying!" Dong Tianze suddenly activated the Black Iron Mountain and signaled Pang Jian to join him. "I have something to tell you, Pang Jian."

"Why so secretive?" Qi Qingsong asked curiously.

"It's not convenient!"

"Alright, alright. Just don't go too far while you two talk. We don't know much about Absolute Heaven," Qi Qingsong reminded.

"I know."

With that, Dong Tianze and Pang Jian flew away from the forest on the Black Iron Mountain.

Dong Tianze brought them to a distant lake.

After looking around to ensure no one was eavesdropping, Dong Tianze finally said, "There's a Celestial Phoenix Divine Guard here, but I don't know who they are or which side they belong to, and they can hide their aura." ȓÀNÖＢƐꞨ

Dong Tianze glanced around warily. He suspected everyone of being the hidden Divine Guard and dared not mention this in the forest for fear of unwittingly alerting them.

Pang Jian frowned. "Are you sure?"

"I'm certain." Dong Tianze's eyes were cold. "While fighting the Ghost Race on that black warship, I used the power of the Celestial Phoenix Imprint on my forehead. At that moment, I sensed the presence of another Celestial Phoenix Imprint and felt an intense killing intent.

"But when I tried to track them down, both the killing intent and the Celestial Phoenix Imprint disappeared."

Dong Tianze's expression was grim.

Celestial Phoenix Divine Guards were instinctively compelled to hunt each other for their Celestial Phoenix Imprints, which greatly enhanced their strength and cultivation.

Divine Guards never cooperated and only ever killed each other. This rule was embedded into the Celestial Phoenix Imprint itself.

"They're far stronger than any Divine Guard I've ever hunted, and they can conceal their aura. I know I can't deal with them alone, so..." Dong Tianze gazed hopefully at Pang Jian.

"I understand. I'll keep an eye out." Pang Jian nodded slowly. "Stay close to me in Absolute Heaven. Don't act alone anymore."

Pang Jian had worked with Dong Tianze for a long time and truly believed he was the best candidate to watch over his sister, Pang Lin.

He had also personally invested some resources in making Dong Tianze stronger as a Divine Guard and did not want an unknown Divine Guard to kill and replace him.

"Let's head back."

"Alright."

With that, they returned to the forest and cultivated in silence.

The disciples of the Demon Sect, the Celestial Lagoon Sect, the Skyveil Cliff Sect, and the Xiao Clan spread out to recover using Vicious Beast meat, pills for nourishment, and spirit jades.

Pang Jian calmed his mind and sensed the myriad of strange energies within the restricted area.

There's spiritual qi and a rich essence of vegetation and water…

He then contemplated the mysteries of his golden divine sense, and his thoughts soon drifted to when Li Yuanchen had split into three.

Does it require a special secret technique? he wondered.

Quietly retrieving Li Yuanchen's spatial ring, he held it in his palm and frowned in thought.

After capturing Li Yuanchen on the Armor-Breaking Warship, he attempted to open the spatial ring but failed and had no choice but to keep it on him for the time being.

Approaching where Zhuang Yuyan sat serenely by an ancient tree root, he asked in a low voice, "Senior Sister..."

"Hmm?" Zhuang Yuyan's long eyelashes fluttered open. "What is it, Little Junior Brother?"

"Why can't I open this spatial ring?" Pang Jian asked.

Zhuang Yuyan immediately understood as she knew Li Yuanchen's spatial ring was in Pang Jian's hands.

Smiling, she explained, "Spatial rings are the most valuable storage spirit artifacts. Both their worth and internal storage capabilities far exceed spatial bracelets and spatial pouches.

"Because of that, some spatial rings are locked, and it's difficult to open them without the right method."

"How do I unlock it?" Pang Jian pressed, frustrated at not being able to inspect his spoils.

"You need a specialist to unlock it. Either someone in the Immortal Realm like your master or a spirit artifact refiner from the Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect," Zhuang Yuyan explained. Then, after a moment of thought, advised, "Little Junior Brother, I suggest you wait until we leave this place to open it. Don't try to pry it by force or you risk destroying the internal space and everything inside."

"Alright." Pang Jian tucked the spatial ring back into his robe with tangible disappointment.

The golden bees hovering high in the sky moved toward the three fragmented lands.

Under Pang Jian's command, they explored the bizarre mist near the three fragmented lands.

Shipwrecks floated silently in the endless bizarre mist.

The designs of these ships varied greatly, with some resembling angular swordfish, others woven from tree branches, and a few that were simply enormous seashells.

Many of these ships looked incredibly different from the flying vessels of the human race in the Abyss.

They were also mostly severely damaged and non-functional.

None held any living beings.

We weren't the only ones who got lost. Other beings from different worlds have suffered the same fate, Pang Jian realized.

The golden bees ventured further into the vast bizarre mist until they reached the limits of Pang Jian's perception.

When the transmitted scenes became faint and scattered, he called the golden bees back.

I didn't sense the boundary wall, nor did I encounter any sort of barrier, Pang Jian thought, puzzled.

According to the Sword Pavilion, the bizarre mist near the boundary wall had seeped out and engulfed Absolute Heaven, as it had done with Northern Qi.

Although Absolute Heaven was near the edge of the Second World, it was still relatively far from the boundary wall.

However, despite how far the golden bees had flown, there was no trace of the boundary wall.

The bizarre mist seemed endless.

Has Absolute Heaven already passed through the boundary wall and left the Abyss?

Did we wander so far into the bizarre mist that we're no longer even in the Abyss?

How else could three new fragmented lands suddenly appear?

Pang Jian's mind raced with questions.

His exploration of the bizarre mist gave him a deeper understanding of the cataclysmic changes the Observer mentioned that occurred once every hundred thousand years.

Several hours later, Zhou Qingchen finished refining the Soul Flames.

"I've refined it all," he said, expression dazed as he let out a long breath and tossed the Black Crow Cauldron back to Pang Jian.

Pang Jian caught the cauldron and casually handed it to Dong Tianze. "It's Lou Yunming's spirit artifact. It's perfect for your cultivation technique."

"Oh." Dong Tianze took it without hesitation.

He was eager to increase his combat power with the threat of a hidden Divine Guard lurking, so he did not stand on ceremony with Pang Jian.

"Big Brother Zhou, you..." Pang Jian trailed off.

"Junior Brother Zhou, how many strands of divine sense have you refined?" Zhao Yuanqi asked curiously.

Qi Qingsong gently reminded, "The number of divine sense alone doesn't determine a person's future. You shouldn't stress about it."

Zhou Qingchen replied with a stunned expression still on his face, "Over a hundred."

"Over a hundred?" Fang Boxuan shifted uneasily on the ground. "Having more than a hundred strands of divine sense while in the Profound Abode Realm qualifies you as a genius in the Third World."

Pang Jian's eyes lit up.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Qingchen, whose early cultivation talent had been unimpressive, had a surprisingly high number of divine sense.

"Be specific!" Zhao Yuanqi urged.

"One hundred and twenty-three strands." Zhou Qingchen licked his dry lips, still feeling as if he were in a dream. "Qi Qingsong, pinch me. Am I dreaming?"

"You rascal!" Qi Qingsong leaped up with a shout. "Even Lu Lingchan had only one hundred and twenty-four strands! You're just one strand away!"

His words echoed through the forest, drawing the others' attention.

"Who? Who has one hundred twenty-three strands of divine sense?"

"It must be Pang Jian!"

"Li Zhaotian must've taken him as a disciple because his total number of divine sense is so high."

The disciples of the Demon Sect, the Celestial Lagoon Sect, the Xiao Clan, and the Skyveil Cliff Sect automatically assumed Qi Qingsong's exclamation was about Pang Jian.

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