Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 99: Return

Pang Jian emerged from the Mirror Tunnel on the crystal-clear surface of Black Orchid Lake in the Fourth World. He had just come from Eight Trigrams City in the Fifth World.

The first thing he saw when he arrived was a breathtakingly beautiful figure.

Luo Hongyan stood gracefully by the lake in a bright red dress. A blood-red mist surrounded her, only emphasizing her breathtaking beauty.

All Pang Jian could see was her enchanting visage. Her image etched itself into his mind.

Pang Jian stood there in awe.

It was his first time seeing such a captivatingly beautiful woman. He could not take his eyes off her. Her beauty was so mesmerizing that he even forgot to survey his surroundings for potential danger.

Luo Hongyan hovered in the air, quietly looking at him. Her beautiful eyes lit up as she whispered, "Pang Jian..."

Her quiet words snapped Pang Jian back to reality and he tentatively responded, "Luo Hongyan?"

Luo Hongyan's exquisite face brightened in joy.

She nodded gently, lips curling into a charming smile. 

"Do you remember how, back in the darkness, I told you I was much prettier than Ning Yao? At that time, my greatest regret was not showing you my true appearance, so..." she trailed off.

She daintily stretched her limbs, swaying elegantly within the faint blood mist, flaunting her slender figure and long legs to Pang Jian.

Pang Jian wordlessly watched her, eyes filled with appreciation as if admiring a work of art.

After a while, he agreed, "You weren't exaggerating."

Although Ning Yao of the Ning Clan was attractive, Luo Hongyan's beauty was truly in a league of its own. It was like comparing heaven and earth.

As he took in Luo Hongyan's true appearance, Pang Jian realized she had not been exaggerating. Comparing her to women like Shangguan Qin and Ning Yao was like comparing a goddess to mere mortals.

Still slightly dazed, Pang Jian composed himself enough to comment, "You finally decided to reveal your true form."

"I had no choice. The murky energy of the darkness nearly destroyed my soul. There's no way Ning Yao could have withstood it," she said offhandedly. The extinguishing of Ning Yao's soul did not impact Luo Hongyan whatsoever. "I wanted to spare her life so she could witness this moment as well, but she couldn't hold on."

Ning Yao's body meant nothing to Luo Hongyan without her soul. In that dire situation, Luo Hongyan had struggled to protect herself, let alone fully possess Ning Yao's body.

"Oh." Luo Hongyan's reveal did not affect Pang Jian. He had assumed Ning Yao had died long ago, so her death did not bother him.

More surprising to him was Luo Hongyan's stunning looks. 

Unfortunately, Luo Hongyan did not have a real physical body.

Whoosh!

The large ice crystal beneath his feet shot toward his chest and disappeared into the bronze door.

Pang Jian jumped to Luo Hongyan's side to avoid falling into the lake.

"The Mirror Tunnel is gone." Luo Hongyan's beautiful eyes flashed with an unusual light as she glanced at his chest, but she did not ask any questions.

The extreme cold energy freezing Black Orchid Lake suddenly returned to the bizarre mist.

The water in Black Orchid Lake unfroze, returning to liquid.

Feet firmly on the ground, Pang Jian reached into his clothing to touch the bronze pendant.

It even swallowed the Mirror Tunnel... Pang Jian suspected the bronze door had changed somehow, but with the door sealed shut once more, he had no way of determining what had occurred.

Pang Jian peered upward. The bizarre mist still covered the sky like a vast canopy. Despite that, the bizarre mist around Black Orchid Lake was unexpectedly dissipating.

He watched in astonishment as the bizarre mist around the lake disappeared and the area surrounding Black Orchid Lake came back into view. 

Luo Hongyan silently observed the strange changes alongside Pang Jian.

After a moment, Pang Jian asked, "Did you see Dong Tianze?"

"No, we're alone here." Luo Hongyan shook her head with a smile. "Li Jie is from the Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect and was obliged to protect Dong Tianze. As the Trial Master, he could control the destinations of the Mirror Tunnel. He probably sent Dong Tianze to the Third World."

"What’s the story behind the Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect?" Pang Jian asked in surprise.

"In the First World, there's a sect called the Divine Treasure Sect. They're known for crafting all kinds of unique treasures and spirit artifacts," Luo Hongyan explained. "Let me put it this way, most highest-grade spirit artifacts in the upper and lower worlds come from the Divine Treasure Sect. The leaders of the Divine Treasure Sect have always had the Li surname so you could even consider the sect belonging to the Li Family's."

"The First World?!" Pang Jian exclaimed.

"Yes, I realized that everything with Eight Trigrams City was just an opportunity for Li Jie from the Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect to undergo his trial." Luo Hongyan sighed helplessly. "But let's not talk about this any further. The Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect in the First World is too far away to think about right now."

"Oh." Pang Jian took a deep breath. As he did, he noticed the pure spiritual qi on Central Lake Island had been replaced with murky energy.

However, the tainted energy here differed from the darkness of the Fifth World.

The murky energy here comprised Profound Yin energy, the bloodthirsty energy of wild beasts, and the toxicity of venomous creatures.

These energies were comparatively easy to cleanse and remove when cultivating.

In contrast, the terrifying energies of destruction, corrosion, and annihilation from the darkness of Eight Trigrams City were harsh enough to erode Li Jie's Qilin Bell and overwhelm Yuan Shishan. Those energies were far more dangerous than the ones that made up the tainted energy on Central Lake Island.

"Ah!" he exclaimed, noticing the vibrant flowers and plants on the island had withered and died.

The changes in spiritual qi and the addition of murky energy meant Central Lake Island was no longer a spiritual land. The vibrant flora could no longer survive and had rapidly withered away. 

What should we do next... Pang Jian frowned in thought.

"Pang Jian, if you want to survive in the Fourth World, you won't want the tainted energy of the Fifth World in your body," Luo Hongyan advised seriously, furrowing her delicate eyebrows. "You need to find a way to expel all the corrupt energy from your body, or other cultivators will treat you as a freak."

Pang Jian nodded. "I understand."

He retrieved the Startling Slaughter Spear from his spatial pouch and started unleashing spear techniques using the murky energy within him.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

With the Startling Slaughter Spear, Pang Jian recreated the beams of light that had killed Yuan Lengshan.

Three terrifying beams of light rushed forth.

Pang Jian's target was the small hill on Central Lake Island. The small hill crumbled. Black and red flames charred the land and the withered plants turned to ash under the corrosive beam of light.

The murky energy within Pang Jian's body poured out, and his spiritual sea and meridians were soon depleted.

Luo Hongyan stared in shock at the destroyed hill, unable to find her words.

Pang Jian sat down, took out some pure spirit stones, and absorbed the spiritual power within them. Spiritual power slowly filled his spiritual sea.

Spiritual power could fill his spiritual sea without issue now that it had been emptied of tainted energy!

Pang Jian nodded in satisfaction. "I'll accumulate spiritual power first."

"You really are a monster," Luo Hongyan muttered, snapping out of her daze. She shot him a look of annoyance and griped. "The Divine Spirit Pagoda was still on that small hill and we still have use for it. Now that you’ve destroyed the hill, I'll have to extract the pagoda from the ruins. Oh well, it's always me doing the dirty work..."

She flew toward the ruined hill, grumbling the whole way over.

The two spatial bracelets she had taken from Lan Xi and Yuan Lengshan flew out from a nearby pile of stones to follow after her.

The spatial bracelets contained many pure spirit stones, enough to fill the array on the ground floor of the white pagoda.

Pang Jian was already accustomed to the strange dynamics of their relationship and did not go to help her. Instead, he focused on filling his spiritual sea with the spirit stones from Eight Trigrams City.

He kept his mind clear and his spiritual sea tranquil as he cultivated the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art. 

Time passed in this manner.

Suddenly, he gained a new sense of sight!

He was seeing through the eyes of the newly born Giant Abyssal Serpent!

It was like he was back in the endless darkness of Eight Trigrams City!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Scenes flashed through his mind.

The Giant Abyssal Serpent was moving swiftly through the deserted streets of Eight Trigrams City!

The stone buildings on either side of the street and the empty square ahead flickered in his mind.

Pang Jian snapped out of his cultivation state, shaken by the unexpected sight. The scenes vanished instantly.

Although brief, the connection exhausted him mentally. He felt drained of energy and felt tired enough to sleep. However, the adrenaline kept him from dozing off, and his breathing was still fast and uneven.

The Fifth World! 

Luo Hongyan was not beside him to witness him startle. After calming down, Pang Jian picked up the bronze pendant and examined it closely.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The bronze door remained closed, and he could not see the world behind it.

He recalled how the bronze door had partially opened in the darkness of the Fifth World, showing four peculiar objects floating in the bizarre mist.

Pang Jian peered up at the sky.

Although the bizarre mist still shrouded the sky, it had disappeared from around Black Orchid Lake and no longer surrounded it.

He suspected his bronze pendant was connected to the bizarre mist that terrified all cultivators.

For now, though, he had yet to figure out the details of the pendant or puzzle out the mysteries surrounding the bronze door.

After some time, he decided to re-enter his cultivation state.

Closing his eyes, he once again gained the ability to see through the eyes of the Giant Abyssal Serpent.

The familiar stone buildings of Eight Trigrams City and the wide and desolate streets reappeared in his mind.

The Giant Abyssal Serpent was heading toward the city gate where they had landed.

He did not have to wait long. Soon, Pang Jian saw the familiar characters of "North Gate" through the Giant Abyssal Serpent's sight.

That was where their group had landed upon arriving in Eight Trigrams City. Li Jie had also landed there after them!

Back then, the entire stretch of the street, from the North Gate to the City Lord’s Mansion, was brightly lit, with all the stone tiles and jade-like walls glowing.

Beyond the North Gate lay the absolute darkness, filled with dense murky energy that had contaminated him at the slightest touch.

Now, through the Giant Abyssal Serpent’s eyes, Pang Jian could see everything surrounding the dark North Gate.

The Giant Abyssal Serpent continued onward.

Soon, it reached the edge, No more stone tiles laid ahead, only an endless void.

Pang Jian felt like he was standing high in the air, on the edge of a flat stone platform.

The Giant Abyssal Serpent turned its head, allowing Pang Jian to see behind it.

The majestic and grand Eight Trigrams City could be seen in the distance.

Before Pang Jian could examine it more closely, the Giant Abyssal Serpent turned back and looked down.

Pang Jian saw an unimaginably large pillar standing in the desolate wilderness below.

Strange corpses and massive bones littered the vast wasteland.

The corpses were unlike the creatures of the Fourth World. Enormous bones, as large as Central Lake Island, were scattered haphazardly across the wasteland, which seemed to stretch endlessly!

Among the corpses and bones was the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar that Li Jie and Li Yuqing had previously mentioned.

Further away were towering mountains, appearing much smaller than the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar.

He could not see what lay beyond the mountains.

Many powerful beings from the Fifth World appeared to have traveled from all over to gather around this giant Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar.

They seemingly attempted to ascend to the upper worlds, only to all perish here.

A sense of desolation, decay, sorrow, and despair permeated the wasteland for what seemed like millennia.

The sobering sight of all the corpses deeply shocked and moved Pang Jian.