Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 78: Stay or Leave

The cultivators gathered around the pool in the City Lord's Mansion and gradually left Eight Trigrams City through the Mirror Tunnel.

With the three individuals from the Demon Sect, the Sword Pavilion, and the Black Valley Sect present, they knew their chances of obtaining the treasures within the pool were slim. Therefore, they were unwilling to risk their lives.

Soon, the crowd had thinned out.

The girl in white ignored Li Jie and continued to stare at Pang Jian and Zhou Qingchen, the pair who had dared to go against Qi Qingsong earlier.

Jiang Li and Han Duping continued to urge Zhou Qingchen not to act recklessly, while Luo Hongyan sneered disdainfully. Su Meng could not get a word in, so she chose to remain silent.

Pang Jian asked solemnly, "If you were to face the person from the Sword Pavilion alone, what are the odds of you being able to kill him?"

The girl in white did not hesitate. "Fifty percent!"

Pang Jian and Zhou Qingchen looked at her with newfound respect, while Luo Hongyan skeptically sneered, "Is that true?"

The girl candidly replied, "If I was on my own, it's hard to say which of us would survive a battle to the death. But with your assistance, I'm confident we'll have an eighty to ninety percent success rate. I've noticed that both of you also wish for his demise, which is why I've come to seek your assistance."

Pang Jian hesitated. Just as he was about to agree, Zhou Qingchen took the initiative and said, "Let's do it!"

As Zhou Qingchen had spoken up, Pang Jian did not say anything and simply nodded.

Seeing the number of cultivators had dwindled, Zhou Qingchen turned his head and called out. "Old Han!"

"What's the matter now?" Han Duping sighed grimly and shook his head. He prepared himself to follow Zhou Qingchen, regardless of whether he chose to advance or retreat.

Regardless of his dissatisfaction, if Zhou Qingchen were truly engaged in a life-or-death battle, Han Dupin would accompany him, no matter how unwise.

"Old Han, I have a favor to ask of you. Please take Jiang Li and Su Meng with you and leave first," Zhou Qingchen said earnestly.

Jiang Li shook her head with tears streaming down her face. "I'm not leaving!"

"I'm not leaving either!" Su Meng protested.

Han Duping shared a deep bond with Zhou Qingchen and was about to open his mouth to object as well.

Zhou Qingchen stared straight into his eyes and said gravely. "Old Han, I rarely ask you for anything this seriously!"

Han Duping's small eyes flickered with a hint of resignation as he sighed. "Alright."

Han Duping had witnessed too many farewells and separations. He had seen countless young girls like Su Meng and Jiang Li lying lifeless on the streets.

He did not care if Jiang Li and Su Meng died. But he did care about Zhou Qingchen.

"Both of you come with me. If you stay, you'll only become a burden to Young Zhou." Han Duping snorted and grabbed Jiang Li and Su Meng by the arms. Before they could protest, he sighed bitterly. "Even if I stayed, I'd only be a burden to Young Zhou."

Jiang Li and Su Meng fell silent at his bitter, self-deprecating words.

"If we don't want to endanger them, we should avoid becoming a burden on them," Han Duping said as he pulled the two toward the Mirror Tunnel.

Li Jie was leisurely sipping his green fruit juice, and as they passed him, he lazily called out to Han Duping. "Fatty..."

Han Duping looked at him with a bewildered expression.

Li Jie removed the reed straw and tossed the bottle of green fruit juice to Han Duping, "Here, there's still half left. If you don't mind that I've drunk from it, you can have it."

"I don't mind! I don't mind at all!"

Han Duping licked his lips and forced out a flattering smile. He released Su Meng's hand and, upon receiving the bottle of green fruit juice, guzzled it down in front of Li Jie.

Bowing repeatedly at Li Jie, he profusely expressed his gratitude before finally leading Jiang Li and Su Meng away.

Pang Jian and Zhou Qingchen watched as Han Duping led the two women into the Mirror Tunnel and disappeared.

"There are some redeeming qualities in him," Li Jie murmured. He then took out a new bottle of green fruit juice, inserted the reed straw, and continued sipping. "But he's still only worthy of drinking my leftovers."

His spatial ring seemed to contain an endless supply of green fruit juice and gave the impression that it would never run out.

After Han Duping and the other two had disappeared into the Mirror Tunnel, Luo Hongyan remarked, "I'm also in the Meridian Opening Realm. Why wasn't I told to leave as well?"

"Is anyone stopping you from leaving?" Zhou Qingchen asked puzzledly. "Senior Sister Jiang and Su Meng didn't want to leave, so I had to force them. You've always been free to go. If you want to leave now, you still can."

Luo Hongyan said coldly, "I wasn't talking to you!"

"Oh, you were talking to Pang Jian," Zhou Qingchen realized. He shrugged and chuckled. "Well, you didn't mention his name, so how was I supposed to know who you were talking to?"

Pang Jian frowned. "You're free to leave."

"I hate it when you say things like that." Luo Hongyan snorted in frustration. She secretly rolled her eyes before she said softly, "I'm fine regardless of whether you want me to leave or stay. What annoys me is your indifference. It's like you don't care about my presence at all."

Pang Jian remained silent.

"I didn't include you in my plan to kill the one from the Sword Pavilion." The sharp gaze of the girl in white swept over Luo Hongyan. "You should leave. You're no different from those three. If you stay you would just be a burden. Actually, you can't even be considered a burden if they don't care whether you live or die."

These words infuriated Luo Hongyan to the point of wanting to vomit blood.

"The number of people is dwindling. If we continue to whisper like this, we risk being overheard," the girl in white cautioned.

With a glint of murderous intent hidden in her eyes, she scanned the sparse crowd and said, "I'll make the first move. You two just need to follow my lead. Don't do anything reckless before I make my move."

Pang Jian and Zhou Qingchen nodded in acknowledgment.

After a while, all those who wanted to leave had left through the Mirror Tunnel, leaving the courtyard within the City Lord's Mansion much more open and spacious than before.

Pang Jian also moved to the edge of the pool.

He could finally examine the extraordinary treasures submerged in the pool.

There was a weathered ancient bronze chest embellished with gold and copper threads that glowed faintly at the bottom of the pool.

A splendid robe with intricate embroidery depicting stars, suns, and moons floated gracefully in the water, exuding an elegant and ethereal aura.

A long spear quietly rested at the bottom of the pool, its tip melded seamlessly with the shaft, radiating an unparalleled sharpness.

Finally, a white jade bottle containing a drop of pale blue blood swayed gently underwater as the white jade bottle bobbed in the water. The drop of blue blood resembled a radiant blue gemstone.

Upon closer inspection, Pang Jian also noticed a radiant snow lotus blooming within the pale blue blood and exuding an otherworldly aura

The chest, the robe, the long spear, and the white jade bottle were the only four items in the pool!

The other treasures that had appeared within the pillar of light earlier were nowhere to be seen. It seemed they had merely been illusions designed to draw everyone's attention, rather than tangible objects.

Once the stream of people leaving through the Mirror Tunnel stopped, a taciturn man, dressed in white with an emblem of a black valley on his chest, said in a hoarse voice. "I want the Crystal Snow Lotus in the white jade bottle."

This man was Lin Beiye from the Black Valley Sect. He had been staring at the pool the whole time and ignoring the commotion around him.

"The Crystal Snow Lotus..." Hearing his words, Luo Hongyan's expression turned cold.

"I want the ancient chest and the robe," said Lan Xi from the Demon Sect. She glanced at Qi Qingsong from the Sword Pavilion and Dong Tianze from the Sinister Soul Temple. "The two of you should decide who the long spear belongs to."

Dong Tianze's face darkened.

His original plan had been for each person to choose one item so the four treasures would be evenly distributed among them.

This way, they would not have to fight over the distribution.

Even someone as fierce as Dong Tianze had mentally prepared himself to claim whatever was left behind as Lan Xi, Qi Qingsong, and Lin Beiye were all stronger than him.

However, Lan Xi unexpectedly staked her claim on two treasures, leaving only the long spear for him and Qi Qingsong.

"Lin Beiye, do you have any objections?" Lan Xi asked the man from the Black Valley Sect.

"No," Lin Beiye replied in his hoarse voice.

Lan Xi then looked at Qi Qingsong. "What about you?'

Qi Qingsong sighed lazily and said, "I don't have any objections. I'm just unsure if Dong Tianze from the lower world will have any issues with it."

The implication in his words was clear. He was not giving Dong Tianze a choice. He had already decided to have the long spear for himself.

Dong Tianze rose to his feet and grinned mockingly. "What? Just because I came from the lower world, I'm not considered a person in your eyes?"

"More or less," Lan Xi said disinterestedly.

"Junior Brother Dong, quick, sit down!" Behind him, Leng Yuan desperately pulled on Dong Tianze's arm to urge him to sit down.

Leaning in, she whispered a few words in his ear to urge him not to act impulsively. She told him that the existing distribution also had its uncertainties. Therefore, he should not be hasty, lest he risk becoming the collective target of Lan Xi, Lin Beiye, and Qi Qingsong.

Leng Yuan also advised him to let the other three clash first. Only then would he have a chance to obtain what he desired.

Dong Tianze cast a cold gaze at Qi Qingsong and Lan Xi before unexpectedly reigning in his anger and sitting back down.

"Heh, you acted all high and mighty at Black Orchid Lake. I thought you were so amazing."Luo Hongyan chuckled disdainfully. "In Eight Trigrams City, you're just a timid turtle, meekly accepting humiliation from others."

Dong Tianze turned his head and glared fiercely at her.

Luo Hongyan remained undaunted. Her lips curled in contempt as she mockingly questioned, "Did I say something wrong?"

"Your biggest mistake was choosing to stay here instead of leaving when you had the chance," Dong Tianze responded darkly.

Luo Hongyan was about to retort when the young woman in white interjected sharply, "That's enough!"

Her primary target was Qi Qingsong from the Sword Pavilion.

She did not want to clash with Dong Tianze before dealing with Qi Qingsong and risk revealing her secret techniques.

If that happened, she would no longer be able to restrain him with those same techniques.

"The pillar of light is about to retract completely," Pang Jian reminded everyone with a small voice.

Luo Hongyan had intended to argue with the girl in white but upon hearing Pang Jian's words, directed her attention toward the pillar of light above the pool. She saw as it slowly retracted into the pool.

They would soon be able to retrieve the treasures from the bottom of the pool.

"Be careful," Zhou Qingchen warned Pang Jian in a low voice.

Pang Jian nodded.