Trials of the Abyss

The black turtle's vast power continuously drew in the bizarre mist, pulling it back toward the boundary wall.

The Rank Ten Earth Spirit had the power to shake the heavens and the earth. Even in death, it had left behind a fragment of its strength to continue to push the Fey Spirit Continent outward.

The black turtle's goal would soon be fulfilled. It would not be long before the Fey Spirit Continent completely broke free from the bizarre mist and became a landmass in the Fourth World.

The Fey Spirit Continent would become a sanctuary for the Spirit and Vicious Beasts that made up the Fey Race.

It had sacrificed its life to secure a safe haven for the Fey Race. It longed for more Rank Ten beings like itself, the Primordial Serpent, and the Celestial Phoenix to emerge.

The black turtle had tirelessly pursued a path of prosperity for the Fey Race and sought opportunities for the future generations of the Fey Race.

The black turtle's grand vision, goals, and the memories of its tumultuous journey surged endlessly outward to the farthest reaches of its sea of thoughts.

Although its complex emotions were imperceptible to Liu Youyu and the others on the fringes of its sea of thoughts, they lingered almost tangibly in the space before the black turtle's forehead.

Pang Jian stood silently on the black turtle's forehead. He felt like he was traversing through countless eras, experiencing the arduous journey of the ancient black turtle as it fought for the survival of the Fey Race.

The black turtle's sorrow and anguish, its helplessness when betrayed, and its unwavering determination after pulling itself together—Pang Jian felt it all.

As Pang Jian immersed himself in these emotions and deeply reflected on them, it stirred something profound within his heart.

After soaking in the complex feelings for some time, he flew past the broad back of the black turtle toward the boundary wall.

He longed to do something for the black turtle, to see if he could bring this great ancestor of the Fey Race out from the boundary wall and the bizarre mist.

Unfortunately, Pang Jian could do nothing in the end. The black turtle was dead, and its lingering power was already fulfilling the goal it had pursued in life.

The continent drifted steadily away from the boundary wall and the bizarre mist shrouding it was receding.

Everything was already unfolding according to the black turtle's plans. If Pang Jian acted recklessly and unwittingly disrupted its plans, he would conversely leave the black turtle's spirit forever restless.

A sorrowful voice suddenly rang out from the Gate of the Abyss. "You promised me."

Pang Jian was startled.

The characters on the back of the bronze pendant had vanished, leaving behind a smooth, mirror-like surface.

On that surface was the image of an emaciated elderly man wrapped in a blackish-yellow turtle scute.

He calmly gazed at Pang Jian with his deep green eyes as though peering across an endless expanse of time.

The elderly man's face was deeply wrinkled and his aura frail. He seemed to be on the verge of death.

Discontent filled his ocean-deep eyes.

He appeared disappointed—in the human race, the world, and even in himself.

"Generation after generation of World Gods persuaded and made promises to me. I rallied the Fey Race to join the battle because of them. But in the end, they failed to fulfill those promises.

"The World Gods owe the Fey Race. We gambled everything and fought with all we had, but never received our promised dues."

With that, the image of the elderly man slowly faded away.

The message sealed onto the back of the bronze pendant had seemingly been waiting for Pang Jian to come across the ancient black turtle to reveal itself.

It seemed previous generations of World Gods deliberately left this message behind to remind the new generation of their responsibility—of the debt they owed!

A World God convinced the Fey Race to fight, but after the war, the True Gods of the human race failed to keep their promise, leaving past World Gods unable to fulfill their debt to the black turtle.

But each generation of the World Gods has remembered. This scene of the black turtle's bitter lament was sealed within the pendant, ready to be shown to each new World God, Pang Jian thought to himself.

The bronze pendant felt impossibly heavy.

Its burden had been unknowingly passed to him when his father hung it around his neck.

"I'll do everything in my power to fulfill the promises of the past World Gods and grant the Fey Race their due!" Pang Jian vowed aloud, tightly squeezing the bronze pendant in his fist.

Whoosh!

A beam of blood-colored light shot from the forehead of the fallen black turtle and swirled around Pang Jian.

The blood-colored light brimmed with vitality as it refined and tempered his body.

A vast sea of blood essence engulfed him.

Pang Jian's mind raced.

The black turtle scute on my chest was destroyed, but traces of its aura still linger on me. The bronze pendant also serves as a mark of my identity.

A realization dawned upon him.

This was the final gift from the Rank Ten black turtle.

Entering a state of body refinement, he started to cultivate the Grand Providence Sacred Body.

Whoosh!

Brilliant golden light shone from Pang Jian's body, making him appear like a golden deity accepting the reverence of living beings.

A sense of majesty, solemnity, and inviolable sanctity radiated from Pang Jian's body and divine soul.

His skin and flesh gleamed a dazzling golden hue, and even without the protection of a protective shield, the corrupting influence of the bizarre mist could not harm him.

The relentless tempering of his body also stimulated Pang Jian's golden divine soul.

Whoosh!

His divine soul drifted out to hover in the bizarre mist. Following the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art, it transformed into a massive golden cauldron and endured the bizarre mist's corrupting influence as a form of tempering.

In the late stages of the Soul Wandering Realm, one's divine soul could withstand fiery magma and linger briefly in the bizarre mist.

Unexpectedly, Pang Jian's divine soul felt far more comfortable in the bizarre mist than in the fierce astral winds.

There was no excruciating pain here.

My divine soul is adapting to the bizarre mist like a fish in water.

A profound understanding dawned on Pang Jian.

***

On the edge of the Fey Spirit Continent, a Divine Spirit Pagoda soared into view.

Lu Yanshu and the others prepared to fight.

Meanwhile, Zhou Qingchen, Wu Yuan, and Dong Tianze gasped in surprise.

"Dong Tianze!"

"Zhou Qingchen, Wu Yuan!"

They cried out in shock.

Lu Yanshu eased his guard. "Dong Tianze of the Sinister Soul Temple in the Third World, a returnee from Absolute Heaven. Did Zhou Yi trick you into coming here as well?"

Dong Tianze was among the few from the lower worlds consistently climbing the Spirit Condensation Realm leaderboard.

Thus, Lu Yanshu assumed Dong Tianze was another victim of Zhou Yi and Hong Qiming's schemes.

"Zhou Yi? No. By the way, why are you two here?" A strange smile appeared on Dong Tianze's face.

It had been a while since he had encountered the living, and they were familiar faces at that.

His smile unsettled both Zhou Qingchen and Wu Yuan.

Unbeknownst to them, Dong Tianze had not encountered a single living soul since falling from the Third World.

Moreover, he had been lost as he aimlessly drifted through the continent.

He had wandered for half a month and thought he would die in the bizarre mist. Encountering Zhou Qingchen and Wu Yuan filled him with joy.

"We came here through an expedition that Zhou Yi from the Nine Tribes Sect organized. Hong Qiming of the Demon Sect worked with him to extend the invitations. They tricked quite a few people into coming," Zhou Qingchen explained. "What about you?"

"I fell with the meteors…"

Both sides quickly exchanged information.

"The sea of massive boulders in the Third World fell onto this continent? Above us is this the place where the Celestial Phoenix's remains once broke apart?"

"The Celestial Phoenix was the mightiest among all Rank Ten Spirit Beasts! I can't believe its remains were above the Fey Spirit Continent shrouded in bizarre mist!"

"Could there be some connection between it, this continent, and the black turtle?"

The group engaged in a heated discussion, imaginations running wild.

"By the way, Pang Jian is here too," Zhou Qinchen informed.

Dong Tianze appeared uncharacteristically at ease. "This continent has been kind to me. I've broken through to the Soul Wandering Realm."

Zhou Qingchen and Wu Yuan exchanged glances and simultaneously snorted.

After a while, Fan Chen, the Flying Fish Boat, and the Rocfish Sword emerged from the depths of the bizarre mist.

Before anyone could inquire about Pang Jian's whereabouts or Dong Tianze's appearance, the Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis once at the center of the Fey Spirit Continent unexpectedly appeared.

"The Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis!"

Everyone instantly became vigilant.

The young girl from the Ghost Sacrifice Sect floated within the imposing, illusory city, eyes sweeping over those gathered with a hint of confusion, seemingly wondering where Pang Jian had gone.

She let out a faint sigh.

Her divine soul wore a white dress, with blue and purple sigils embroidered on its hem. The sigils fluttered around her to form mysterious, intricate arrays.

The Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis gradually took on an air of tangibility.

Howl!

Roar!

The souls of dragons, colossal beasts, and avians appeared in the Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis, soaring through the skies within the city's bounds.

Vicious and Spirit Beast souls—or what Fan Chen called the Fey Race—manifested one after another.

High-ranked beast souls appeared in human form, talking and laughing among themselves as if recounting the glory of the Fey Race.

Rumble!

The Fey Spirit Continent quaked. Cracks fissured outward and strange lights surged from the ground.

As the strange light poured into the illusory Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis, the city became increasingly solid, and the Fey Race souls within regained a semblance of their former might.

"Soul Severance!" Ling Yimo softly commanded.

Whoosh!

The divine soul of Shen Yanxi from the Forsaken Expanse Sect was the first to fly out, drawn toward the floating Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis.

"Save me!" Shen Yanxi screamed, struggling desperately as her physical body pulled her divine soul back with all her strength.

Her divine soul continued to head straight for Ling Yimo within the Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis.

Ling Yimo's small mouth widened, and to everyone's horror, she devoured Shen Yanxi's divine soul whole, savoring it with a satisfied expression.

"Lu Yanshu." Ling Yimo murmured.

Lu Yanshu from the Pure Land Sect instinctively hid his divine soul in an icy jade orb within his sea of consciousness.

It only took a simple order from Ling Yimo to shatter it.

Bereft of the icy jade orb's protection, Lu Yanshu's divine soul shot toward Ling Yimo's mouth.

"Nothing in the world can compare to this," Ling Yimo said, her smile growing ever more radiant.