Trials of the Abyss

Zhuang Yuyan stood gracefully with her long, waterfall-like hair fluttering behind her as she pointed a pale finger at the Outer God.

"Blaze Shift."

The world of blazing fire behind her flew toward the hunched, cloaked Outer God, spewing massive pillars of magma and flames.

The Vermilion Bird screeched and the Fiery Qilin roared as hundreds of rivers of fire swirled around the soul projection of the Outer God.

Wooo! Wooo!

Strange beings wailed from within the cloak wrapped around the Outer God's soul projection. It was like worshippers of this Outer God were shielding it from Zhuang Yuyan's fiery assault.

"An Outer God is not that scary after all," Zhuang Yuyan sneered.

Among those present, only she and Fu Wangchen had successfully advanced to the Spirit Condensation Realm while in the bizarre mist.

Thus, she instinctively considered it her and Fu Wangchen's duty to eliminate the Outer God's soul projection as it was the most powerful opponent present.

"Little Junior Brother, Junior Brother Qi, go to the warship and kill the other Ghost Race warriors!" Zhuang Yuyan instructed.

"Got it!" Qi Qingsong shouted back, tossing the Blue Dream Sword from the Black Iron Mountain.

A deep blue sea appeared in the void of Absolute Heaven, and those gazing upon it found their eyes glazing.

It felt like their souls were being drawn into the enchanting, dreamlike sea.

Any foreign race warriors setting their eyes on the dreamlike sea were affected, especially the Ghost Race warriors skilled in soul techniques.

A single look was enough to bring their worst memories to mind.

The tragic deaths of their wives and children; the destruction of their homes and families; their parents on the brink of death from severe illness; the decline of their bloodlines; and so on.

The Ghost Race warriors from the outer world let out muffled groans as they lost control of their sanity.

Cultivators from the Forsaken Expanse Sect sinstantly took the opportunity to surround and kill them.

Bang!

Pang Jian leaped down from the Black Iron Mountain, spearing a Rank Five Ghost Race warrior as he landed on a field with bones littered everywhere.

The Ghost Race…

He grabbed the Ghost Race warrior's and pressed his palm against its skull.

A Soul Flame soon floated out.

After some thought, he took out the Black Crow Cauldron intended for Luo Hongyan and collected the Soul Flame.

It's useless to me, but Big Brother Zhou can use it to refine his divine sense and reach his limit.

Pang Jian then charged at another Ghost Race warrior.

"The Ghost Race!" Dong Tianze and Fang Boxuan cried as they joined the fight.

In the wilderness, Chen Lushi was engaged in fierce combat against several foreign race warriors, with her dazzling ribbons acting like octopus tentacles as she fought. ṟᴀ𐌽ÔʙÈS

The foreign race warriors had antennae sprouting from their heads and large natural carapaces on their backs, with thick, tough skin that rendered them immune to her illusionary soul techniques.

Several Celestial Lagoon Sect disciples beside her had already died under the siege of those strange foreign race warriors.

Members of the Forsaken Expanse Sect continued to attack the Ghost Race's main warship as Fu Wangchen and Zhuang Yuyan intercepted the soul projection of the Outer God.

"The Sword Pavilion!" Chen Lushi cried when she saw the Sword Pavilion disciples emerge from the bizarre mist. Waving her jade-like arms, she yelled, "Over here, come help!"

"Chen Lushi of the Demon Heart Sect." Zhao Yuanqi glared at Chen Lushi from her gourd in mid-air. "She stirred up the astral winds and caused me to waste nearly a thousand spirit jades."

The giant red gourd, bathed in radiant sunset light, flew toward a female Celestial Lagoon Sect disciple.

Zhao Yuanqi uncorked the gourd, aiming it at several foreign race warriors with human heads and scorpion bodies known as the Earth Scorpion Race.

Nine streaks of radiant light shot out and riddled their bodies with holes.

Her attack allowed Lu Xiangyi of the Celestial Lagoon Sect to escape unharmed.

Lu Xiangyi hurriedly expressed her gratitude.

"You're welcome. We're all from the Abyss. We should help each other," Zhao Yuanqi replied, moving her gourd closer to pick up Lu Xiangyi before rescuing other nearby disciples from the Celestial Lagoon Sect.

A quarter of an hour later, Pang Jian had slain a total of six Ghost Race warriors with his Startling Slaughter Spear, with the six corresponding Soul Flames being collected inside the Black Crow Cauldron.

"That should be enough," Pang Jian muttered before shifting his attention to the wreckage of the Mountain Stream Spirit Boat.

Wu Yuan stood calmly on the wreckage, controlling twelve massive boulders to crush the approaching foreign race warriors.

The unevenly sized boulders were covered in the vibrant blood of the foreign race warriors and looked like colorful meteors as they streaked through the air.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The massive boulders crushed the foreign race warriors into a pulp one after another.

Dread filled the eyes of the foreign race warriors as they stared at Wu Yuan.

Wu Yuan, on the other hand, wore a stoically focused expression as he killed the Rank Five foreign race warriors with the effortlessness of slaughtering chickens.

At that moment, Pang Jian sensed something peculiar through a golden bee hovering high above in the bizarre mist, and he channeled strands of golden divine sense into his eyes.

Pang Jian's eyes turned gold.

Dozens of living dead from the Demon Sect and the Celestial Lagoon Sect were scattered across the wreckage of the Mountain Stream Spirit Boat, with green smoke threading into their seven orifices.

The green smoke originated from high above Absolute Heaven, from the pitch-black cloak wrapped around the soul projection of the Outer God.

It's similar to the Observer's green ants. It's devouring the consciousness of the living dead and will soon gain control of their bodies, Pang Jian realized.

He quietly approached Wu Yuan.

"I don't need support!" Wu Yuan frowned, displeased to see Pang Jian approaching with his spear. "I can handle all the foreign race warriors here. Go somewhere else."

Pang Jian stopped and then said, "Either you kill those living dead yourself, or I will."

Although the living dead from the Celestial Lagoon Sect and the Demon Sect had left the bizarre mist, they still did not wake up.

Moreover, they tightly gripped spirit jades to absorb spiritual power and maintained their vibrant protective shields.

Protective shields were not needed outside of the bizarre mist.

"What's wrong with them?" Wu Yuan asked warily.

"An Outer God's sinister power has infected their souls. I saw something entering them," Pang Jian explained. "If they aren't killed in time, they'll become harder to deal with than those foreign race warriors you killed."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm certain."

"Fine."

Having cultivated the Demon Stone Art of the Demon Heart Sect, Wu Yuan had no emotional attachments and had a heart as cold as ice.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Wu Yuan callously brought his twelve massive boulders down on the living dead and reduced their bodies to a pulp.

Pang Jian was stunned. He had not expected Wu Yuan to be so decisive in killing the living dead.

Whoosh!

Pang Jian released the golden divine sense from his eyes and attempted to gather any remaining divine consciousness from the dead.

However, the faint divine consciousness faded from the corpses and seeped into the ground before he could even try.

Pang Jian looked up to see the soul projection of the Outer God peering down at him with eerie green eyes that resembled lanterns.

Before the Outer God could act, the third eye on Fu Wangchen's forehead opened and emitted a dazzling divine radiance that distorted its perception.

When Pang Jian glanced at Fu Wangchen's third eye, he saw it was formed from divine sense!

In the sea of consciousness of the peerless genius from the Forsaken Expanse Sect was a divine soul that mirrored his physical form.

The eyes of Fu Wangchen's divine soul had been refined from divine sense!

Pang Jian was not sure how much of Fu Wangchen's divine soul was refined from true divine sense, but he knew for certain its eyes were.

The divine eye on his forehead alone already possesses such power and wonder. If one were to have enough true divine sense to refine every part of the divine soul...

Pang Jian had found his goal.

He resolved to gather as much divine consciousness from the Outer Gods as possible and refine more golden divine sense before forming his divine soul.

More than anything, he wanted his divine soul to be enveloped in golden radiance when it was refined!

"Wu Yuan! What are you doing?!" Jiang Chao of the Celestial Lagoon Sect roared from five hundred zhang away.

Although most of the living dead killed were members of the Demon Sect, some were also from the Celestial Lagoon Sect.

Jiang Chao had hoped those disciples would awaken after entering Absolute Heaven.

However, Wu Yuan had killed them all in the blink of an eye.

Wu Yuan pointed at Pang Jian. "He said an Outer God corrupted those living dead."

"And you just took his words as it? Wu Yuan, are you out of your mind? You killed dozens of people just because of what he said!

"They could've been part of our combat force against the foreign races when they woke up!

"Wu Yuan, don't you know how to use your brain when making decisions?"

Jiang Chao then shifted his attention to Pang Jian. "You're Pang Jian, right? What makes you think an Outer God corrupted them?"

Whoosh!

Pang Jian flew to a stream further away, grabbed the collar of a Celestial Lagoon Sect living dead that had fallen there, and threw him toward Jiang Chao.

"Keep this one with you and see if he wakes up."

Plop!

The plump male disciple from the Celestial Lagoon Sect fell into a river near Jiang Chao.

Jiang Chao was a member of the Celestial Lagoon Sect and cultivated water-attribute techniques. Controlling the water, he kept the man afloat and stopped him from being swept away.

"I want to see what happens when he wakes up! If he wakes up and isn't corrupted by the Outer God, then all those Wu Yuan killed will be on you. If that happens, Pang Jian, you'll have to pay for your nonsense!" Jiang Chao shouted angrily.

At that moment, the plump male disciple left the water and withdrew his protective shield.

"Senior Brother Jiang, I'm fine. I'm awake," he said, tossing aside the spirit jade in his hand and retrieving a purple clay teapot from his spatial bracelet. He shot a confused look at Jiang Chao. "Senior Brother, where are the other senior brothers and sisters?"

Jiang Chao's face darkened. Turning to Pang Jian's retreating figure, he yelled, "Pang Jian! You deserve to die a thousand deaths! We lost dozens of companions because of you!"

Several other living dead also woke up.

"Senior Brother Jiang, where are we?"

"Are we out of the bizarre mist?"

"Are we finally saved?"

They asked as they took in their surroundings with confusion and wonder.

"I..." Wu Yuan's expression turned somber as he gazed at the piles of mangled corpses beside him.

Even his heart of stone wavered with self-doubt.

He could not help but question if he had made the right decision.

"What a good for nothing! He's more of a hindrance than help. A personal disciple of the Pavilion Master is not much after all!" Chen Lushi spat.

She had just escaped a group of carapaced foreign warriors, and her purple dress was torn in several places to reveal glimpses of her fair skin around her waist and hips.

After shooting a cold glare at Pang Jian, she glanced up at Fu Wangchen.

Fu Wangchen only appeared more impressive with his third eye and Dharma Idol.

Chen Lushi still believed Fu Wangchen was the master of the golden bees that guided them out of the bizarre mist.

Li Zhaotian's personal disciple was nothing in comparison to Fu Wangchen. Pang Jian acted solely on his gut feelings, and his gut was not even reliable.

Chen Lushi silently shook her head. Comparing the two was almost an insult to Fu Wangchen.

Jiang Chao activated a secret technique and launched thousands of crystalline water arrows at a dozen approaching foreign race warriors.

"Pang Jian! You owe us an explanation!" he shouted, glaring at Pang Jian. "Your mistake caused the deaths of dozens!"

Pang Jian turned to stare at Jiang Chao and the plump male disciple from the Celestial Lagoon Sect standing beside him.

That male disciple was coincidentally also looking at him with a confused expression.

A glimmer of coldness flickered in both Pang Jian's and the male disciple's eyes when their gazes met.

Pang Jian frowned and said nothing more before heading into a forest of towering trees.

"That guy..." Lu Xiangyi muttered, shooting daggers at Pang Jian's retreating figure from atop Zhao Yuanqi's gourd. "Damn him! His reckless command caused the deaths of so many of our companions!"

Some of those Wu Yuan crushed were her close friends, and Lu Xianyi had hoped they would wake up after entering Absolute Heaven.

But now, they had all been reduced to a pile of mangled flesh.

"Pang Jian can't be wrong. Jiang Chao is the wrong one!" Zhou Qingchen snapped irritably. Though he initially found the delicate Celestial Lagoon Sect female disciple charming, that feeling quickly dissipated at her harsh words. "Senior Sister, I don't want to hear her rambling anymore. Let's just throw her down."

The gourd dipped toward Wu Yuan and Zhao Yuanqi kicked Lu Xiangyi down.

"You!" Lu Xiangyi rubbed her rounded hips and gritted her teeth as she watched the two fly away.

Despite this, she did not complain

They had, after all, saved her life.

Could Pang Jian have been right after all? she wondered, staring incredulously at the awakened disciples from the Celestial Lagoon Sect and the Demon Sect.

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