Trials of the Abyss

Zhou Yi's final words were tinged with bitterness and humiliation.

Given the intricacies of his Spatial Mirror Technique, he would never have allowed himself to be drawn into such a trap if he had known that Pang Jian still had strength left.

The moment Pang Jian's spiritual sea abruptly roared back to life, Zhou Yi knew that he, like Xuan Ying, had some mysterious artifact that allowed him to quickly replenish his strength.

He clearly could've avoided falling into that miserable state, so why didn't he activate his protective shield?

No, he pretended to be on the brink of death just to lure me in and kill me!

In the split second before his death, Zhou Yi realized the truth of Pang Jian's ruthless deception, and in his fury, cursed, "You cunning bastard!"

Those three words were all he had time for.

Whoosh!

A greenish light enveloped Pang Jian's wounded body as he tightly gripped his Abyssal Demon Sword and drifted downward.

The foreign race warriors on the Fey Spirit Continent and the newly arrived flying vessels watched Pang Jian's descending body in shock and awe.

Despite his obvious injured state, none dared to approach him directly like Zhou Yi had.

After all, even as strong as he was, Zhou Yi had still been caught off guard and killed in the end.

Pang Jian looked in even worse shape now, but nobody could predict if he would unleash another terrifying sword technique in a desperate bid to survive.

His successful plot to kill Zhou Yi left the foreign race warriors wary and none of them dared to act rashly.

"Xuan Ying!" Ling Yimo called out in a low voice.

"I know!"

Ghostly light streaked down from the sky toward the Fey Spirit Continent.

Xuan Ying muttered, "How dare he toy with me? He held back his strength to kill Zhou Yi—he clearly doesn't even regard me as a threat!"

The Demon Scale Race woman was livid.

Pang Jian had killed Zhou Yi even while seemingly seriously injured. This meant he had not been fighting her with his full strength.

Evidently, Pang Jian saw Zhou Yi as the greater threat!

She, Xuan Ying, was the pride of the new generation of the Demon Scale Race, a talent expected to ascend to godhood someday. She simply could not understand how she could be ranked below Zhou Yi.

The humiliation fueled Xuan Ying's resolve to hunt Pang Jian down on the Fey Spirit Continent.

Killing him would allow her to vent some of her anger!

"Xuan Ying!"

The surrounding foreign race warriors exclaimed when they saw her dive after Pang Jian.

Those considering setting their sights on Pang Jian no longer dared to interfere.

Even the Rank Eight foreign race warriors hesitated to contend with Xuan Ying for her prey.

The foreign race warriors looking to intercept and kill Pang Jian stopped in their tracks.

"Little Junior Brother!" Hu Yuanfei yelled anxiously.

Liu Youyu bit her blood-stained lip. "He-he should be…fine."

The Celestial Profound Mirror hovering above them was nearly drained of its divine power.

The mirror was aimed at Pang Jian, but his reflection was rapidly shrinking and becoming fainter.

"I can't go down to save him—the Celestial Profound Mirror is almost drained of power. All I know is that his condition isn't as bad as it looks.

"Sister, all I can do is take you with me and leave," Liu Youyu said in a trembling voice.

"He's fallen onto the Fey Spirit Continent. The number of foreign race warriors and Vicious Beasts gathering there is growing!" Hu Yuanfei cried out in anguish. "Even with his strength, he'll eventually die if he doesn't escape!"

"I know, but I-I really can't do anything.” The young girl from the Primeval Pillar Divine Kingdom wept with guilt. "I can't help him. All I can do is save you."

Pang Jian's reflection finally disappeared from the Celestial Profound Mirror.

The artifact dropped like a door plaque, and Liu Youyu firmly pulled Hu Yuanfei to stand on it so it could carry them away.

Liu Youyu had noticed several formidable foreign race warriors approaching and knew they had to leave promptly if they wanted to escape.

Deep within the thick leaden clouds, Dong Wenjian hovered with a talisman affixed to his forehead.

"Zhou Yi is dead!" he shouted excitedly at Lin Manhe, eyes blazing like torches. "Pang Jian suddenly surged with power and killed Zhou Yi!”

Lin Manhe had a finger pressed to her brow and was using an ancient technique of the Ancient Law Sect to observe the happenings below as well.

"Pang Jian feigned severe injuries in his battle with the Demon Scale Race woman to lure Zhou Yi into attacking!" she exclaimed. "He knew Zhou Yi was the greatest threat to our escape!"

Dong Wenjian nodded.

"Exactly! He's taken care of our biggest concern!

"In that case…" Dong Wenjian hesitated briefly before pulling out another talisman and sticking it to his chest. "I'll use this talisman to try and rescue Zhou Qingchen and the others!"

Talismans, unlike artifacts, were generally one-time-use.

Divine-grade talismans were rare throughout the Abyss, and only the True God of the Ancient Law Sect could create them.

This particular talisman, named the "Thread of Life," was Dong Wenjian's life-saving treasure.

It was not something he would use unless absolutely necessary.

Pang Jian had sacrificed himself to kill Zhou Yi so the rest of them could escape safely. Seeing this, Dong Wenjian could not help but resolve to protect Zhou Qingchen and the others on his behalf.

The talisman emitted intense spatial fluctuations.

Dong Wenjian locked onto Zhou Qingchen with his divine sense. Then, slipping through the void, he appeared at Zhou Qingchen's side.

"Come with me!" Dong Wenjian pulled out a talisman as large as a carpet and pulled Zhou Qingchen onto it.

He then activated the Thread of Life once again.

The Thread of Life talisman functioned like a mobile teleportation array, allowing Dong Wenjian to pick up Wu Yuan and Dong Tianze in rapid succession.

"The power in the talisman is limited; I can only teleport with you three."

Dong Wenjian then made several quick spatial jumps.

At the same time, Fan Chen of the Supreme Monad Divine Kingdom was also looking to make a hasty escape.

Boom!

Fan Chen's "Supreme" character exploded into fragments of golden bones and scattered across the leaden clouds.

Each fragment bore Fan Chen's image and aura, leaving the Rank Eight Demon Armor Beast unable to discern which one was the true Fan Chen.

Fan Chen took advantage of its confusion to escape.

"I have to thank Pang Jian. I'd never have dared to use this escape technique if Zhou Yi were still alive!

"This Demon Armor Beast can't tell the difference, but Zhou Yi would've easily found the real me and pursued me with his Spatial Mirror Technique.

"But…" Fan Chen sighed deeply. "I hope fate spares you and that you survive this ordeal."

Meanwhile, Ling Yimo of the Ghost Sacrifice Sect quietly appeared at the fading Cosmic Fission where Zhou Yi died. She then used her secret arts to manifest the illusory Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis once more.

"Soul Reassembly."

Her melodic voice formed two interwoven rivers of souls within the grand city.

Ghostly spirits flew from the ends of the two rivers toward the intersecting point, dissipating into nothingness as they reached it.

Ling Yimo's power as a high-ranking God allowed her to use the Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis to envelop the area where Zhou Yi had perished.

Strands of Zhou Yi's lingering divine soul drifted toward where the two rivers of souls intertwined.

Zhou Yi's divine soul appeared not long after.

"I can do nothing for your physical body, but I can restore your divine soul as long as it hasn't completely dissipated," Ling Yimo said calmly.

Zhou Yi's consciousness was still muddled after coming back.

"Am I dead?" he muttered in confusion. "Am I turning into a ghost, or am I still alive? My memories…"

Ghostly lights wove through his divine soul, gradually reorganizing his scattered memories.

"Pang Jian!" Zhou Yi's divine soul abruptly cried out as his memories returned.

"Xuan Ying has already gone to pursue him. You've lost your physical body. It's not worth the risk for you to enter the Fey Spirit Continent," Ling Yimo advised.

The high-ranking God of the Ghost Race greatly valued Zhou Yi's potential.

She continued solemnly, "This Pang Jian is cunning and ruthless. He's more troublesome than any prodigy the Sword Pavilion has ever produced before.

"Not to mention, he's unlike previous cultivators with the Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea. He accumulated a vast amount of divine consciousness even before reaching the Spirit Condensation Realm and his divine soul is anything but ordinary!

"Past cultivators with the Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea couldn't ascend to the True God Realm because of the variety of energies they wielded.

"But he could be different." Ling Yimo's expression was somber.

Zhou Yi was stunned. "You're saying that he could break through the limitations of the Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea?"

"It's possible."

***

Pang Jian fell into the depths of a large fissure on the Fey Spirit Continent.

Xuan Ying shot down after him.

Time passed and neither Pang Jian nor the Demon Scale Race woman reappeared.

Several hours later, the impatient Ling Yimo descended with Zhou Yi's divine soul to investigate

Ling Yimo's green eyes glinted as she said to the grim-faced Zhou Yi, "Xuan Ying is still searching, but there's no sign of movement. There's no trace of Pang Jian's soul fluctuations either.

"He likely has an artifact similar to your Spatial Mirror Technique.

"He deliberately fell to the Fey Spirit Continent to lure Xuan Ying after him so she couldn't pursue those fleeing above."

Pang Jian's repeated displays of strength filled Ling Yimo with frustration.

"Zhou Yi, he'll be the greatest opponent you and Xuan Ying have ever faced."

Zhou Yi said nothing in response, heart feeling weary and defeated.

As the second on the Soul Wandering Realm leaderboard and a prodigy of the Nine Tribes Sect, the only person he had ever considered his rival was Li Yuqing.

He had never considered Pang Jian a threat before this and never expected Li Zhaotian's new disciple to affect his carefully laid plans.

Looking back, both Hong Qiming's death and Zhou Yi's loss of his physical body had all been Pang Jian's doing!

Half a day later, Xuan Ying left the fissure to stand beside the high-ranking God of the Ghost Race, her narrow eyes filled with frustration.

Xuan Ying shook her head. "I don't know where he is."

"Remember the name Pang Jian. Your struggles with him have only just begun," said Ling Yimo.