Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 103: The Great Catastrophe!

The strange phenomena in the sky of the Fifth World filled Pang Jian with immense fear.

Much like when he had gaped up at the upper worlds with Sun Bin's residual power in his family's courtyard, he now gazed at the peculiar sight in the Fifth World's sky.

Most of the "raindrops" disintegrated into ash as soon as they came into view.

It seemed normal people never even made it to the ground and were reduced to ash the moment they appeared in the Fifth World.

Those people were likely mortals without any cultivation.

Mortals were instantly turned to dust as they passed through some barrier that bordered the Fourth and the Fifth Worlds.

The strong bodies of cultivators could withstand the terrifying force of that barrier, only to explode on impact with the ground.

What in the world is happening in the Fourth World?

Soon, he noticed wisps of murky energy floating up from the Fifth World and into the Fourth World.

It was like an evil force from the Fifth World had broken through a barrier to invade the Fourth World.

This affected the inhabitants of the Fourth World, forcing them to flee their homes and leap from the fragmented lands. Some disintegrated to dust mid-fall, while others smashed into the ground.

A catastrophe beyond imagination unfolded before Pang Jian's eyes, filling him with a deep sense of unease.

Something significant had happened somewhere in the Fourth World.

The powerful beings of the Fifth World would surely notice the dramatic changes in the sky.

At this moment, Pang Jian did not care about observing his surroundings. He sat beside the Giant Abyssal Serpent and attempted to connect with the little sapling.

He prayed that the Vicious Beasts of Misty Swamp had not eaten it, or that passing rogue cultivators had not trampled it.

Despite his restless state, Pang Jian eventually cleared his mind of distractions. He held the bronze pendant in his hand as he tried to establish a connection with the sapling.

A blurry vision soon emerged in his mind and he successfully sensed the sapling.

He could return to the Fourth World and Misty Swamp with the same method!

Howl!

Just as he was about to act, an earth-shattering roar erupted from a nearby mountain range. It seemed capable of triggering an avalanche or a tsunami.

The defiant roar tore through the silence, shaking Pang Jian out of his cultivation state.

Opening his eyes, he saw the Giant Abyssal Serpent cowering in fear.

Pang Jian glanced in the direction of the roar.

A mountain range unexpectedly shot up in the distance!

It was a one-eyed giant, as massive as a mountain, with its body covered in thick rock.

The mountain turned out to be a giant that had been sleeping for millennia and had just woken up!

The one-eyed giant was a thousand zhang tall and radiated an overwhelming aura.

From what Pang Jian could recall, no mountain in the Solitary Mountain Range or Misty Swamp could match the height of this one-eyed giant from the Fifth World!

The giant's enormous eye stared at the dark sky of the Fifth World.

Whoosh!

A beam of thick crimson light burst forth from the giant's singular eye, like a river of light flowing upstream, piercing toward the unfathomably high pitch-black sky.

A wave of complex emotions, filled with sorrow, rage, and despair, emanated from the colossal body of the one-eyed giant, saturating the land within a thousand-zhang radius.

Every living being within that area seemed to sense the emotions implanted within the crimson beam.

Pang Jian could even see the faint outlines of grand mountains and rivers, and a majestic kingdom built from massive stones within the soaring crimson beam. It seemed as though that was once the homeland of the one-eyed giant and was a manifestation of its deepest desires.

Whoosh!

The Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar glowed with an azure light.

Pang Jian could not help but stare at it.

The azure brilliance of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar illuminated the surrounding ten-thousand-zhang!

The mountains, rivers, Vicious Beasts, and corpses within that radius were now visible.

Pang Jian felt like he had returned to Eight Trigrams City.

He could now see the countless glimmers of light on the jade-like azure pillar.

From a distance, the glimmering lights looked like mysterious ancient texts; the sun, moon, and stars; talismanic symbols shaped like weapons; and divine beasts like qilins, celestial phoenixes, heavenly dragons, and black turtles.

These divine charms and celestial symbols all manifested within the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar, exuding an aura of endless mystery that shook Pang Jian's soul and intimidated all the beings in the realm!

The immense power of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar had forcibly suppressed the crimson beam of light from the giant's eye!

Boom!

The kingdom of giant stones, with its mountains and rivers, within the crimson beam shattered!

The one-eyed giant let out a wretched howl. Blood flowed from its single eye as it roared madly at the sky.

Whoosh!

A silvery-white skeletal dragon suddenly appeared.

It roared, flying toward the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar and wrapping its long skeletal body around it.

The ancient texts; sun, moon, and stars; talismanic symbols; and divine beast lights on the azure pillar erupted with unparalleled divine power.

Howl!

The silvery white skeletal dragon howled as its massive skeletal body shattered, its bone fragments scattered everywhere.

It continued to howl as it took to the air, collecting its scattered silvery white bones one by one to reform its skeletal body.

Soon, the silvery white skeletal dragon was whole once more. This time, it dared not attack the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar.

Looking upward, Pang Jian saw a mysterious woman with six pairs of white wings appear high in the sky, next to the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar.

The mysterious otherworldly woman flew toward the top of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar in an attempt to reach Eight Trigrams City.

The brilliant lights of the pillar rushed upward, seemingly trying to stop the mysterious woman.

Roar!

Howl!

The roars of the beings from the Fifth World overwhelmed Pang Jian.

Many strange and Vicious Beasts appeared near the deep valley where he stood.

These gigantic Vicious Beasts found the fallen corpses of cultivators and devoured them.

Before he could study them further, Pang Jian was wracked with pain as thorny brambles coiled around him.

The sharp thorns of the green brambles pierced his flesh and sucked on his blood.

Turning his head, he saw more man-eating brambles flying toward him.

The green brambles did not only target him but also the Giant Abyssal Serpent next to him.

Rip!

Pang Jian took out his Startling Slaughter Spear, forcefully twisting it as he used his remaining untainted spiritual power to cut through the entwining brambles.

The Startling Slaughter Spear emitted a light almost identical to the divine radiance of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar.

The Vicious Beasts of the Fifth World devouring the corpses of cultivators nearby turned their heads to look at him.

Their eyes shone with bloodthirsty ferocity as they charged toward him.

Pang Jian's face paled. Each Vicious Beast was stronger than a cultivator at the Marrow Cleansing Realm, and there were so many of them!

If these Vicious Beasts surrounded him, there would be no chance of escape.

Ignoring his wounds and the deafening howls and roars around him, Pang Jian entered a state of cultivation, reaching out to sense the small sapling.

He managed to establish a connection.

Go!

The bronze pendant turned icy cold and was again covered in ice crystals. It shot a strange light at the forehead of the equally panicked Giant Abyssal Serpent, and in the blink of an eye, he and the bronze pendant disappeared into the peculiar light.

Howl!

As soon as Pang Jian vanished, the Giant Abyssal Serpent became the new target of the Vicious Beasts and had no choice but to flee for its life.

***

Pang Jian, still holding his Startling Slaughter Spear, collapsed on the grass of Misty Swamp in the Fourth World. He was bleeding all over and gasping for breath.

Not far in front of him was the small sapling.

The sapling had grown in the short while he was gone, blending seamlessly with the surrounding weeds.

Pang Jian breathed a sigh of relief at the sight. He had successfully escaped death in the Fifth World.

That was terrifying...

He did not even bother to get up, lying motionlessly on the ground as he stared blankly at the gray sky.

The thousand-zhang tall one-eyed giant; the silvery white skeletal dragon; the woman with six pairs of white wings; the bloodthirsty Vicious Beasts that had charged at him; and the azure Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar with its mystical lights that suppressed the beings of the Fifth World.

The nightmarish experience flashed in his mind. Even now, the thought of it filled him with dread.

The wounds on his body, from when the brambles pierced his flesh, reminded him that it was not a nightmare.

The city really is at the top of the pillar.

After witnessing the overwhelming power of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar, he realized that the trial they had experienced in Eight Trigrams City was nothing.

The true power of the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar was beyond his imagination. It shouldered the responsibility of suppressing the beings of the Fifth World.

But why was the murky energy of the Fifth World floating up into the Fourth World?

Pang Jian was puzzled.

He felt there was something wrong with the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar. How else would one explain the bizarre sight of the inhabitants of the Fourth World falling into the Fifth World?

After sorting out his thoughts, Pang Jian finally sat up.

He retrieved some healing ointment from his spatial pouch and applied it to his wounds. Using the Startling Slaughter Spear, he released his remaining spiritual power and the murky energy that had infiltrated his spiritual sea. Then, taking out a spirit jade, he reluctantly absorbed its spiritual power.

Once his drained spiritual sea was filled to about twenty percent, he switched from the spirit jade to spirit stones.

"There must be a great catastrophe happening somewhere in the Fourth World. I should go to the Shadow Specter Sect and ask about the situation."