Trials of the Abyss

Whoosh!

Pang Jian charged straight in on the Abyssal Demon Sword and vanished into the dense bizarre mist.

"Back in Absolute Heaven, it was Pang Jian who led us to safety," Zhou Qingchen said before Hu Yuanfei could start ranting again. "I don't trust that girl from the Ghost Sacrifice Sect nor Hong Qiming. I only trust Pang Jian."

He then followed Pang Jian into the bizarre mist.

Unlike Zhou Qingchen, Wu Yuan offered no explanation as he silently followed after them.

Whoosh!

The Flying Fish Boat flashed forward.

Hu Yuanfei froze, unable to stop them. Everything was completely out of her control.

"Little Fish! You're adding to the chaos, too?!" Hu Yuanfei shouted angrily as she helplessly followed them into the bizarre mist and an uncertain future.

Lu Yanshu from the Pure Land Sect scratched his head and looked to Fan Chen from the Supreme Monad Divine Kingdom for guidance. "Should we go in as well?"

"Might as well take a look," Fan Chen shrugged. "It's curious though. Why would they trust Pang Jian to navigate the bizarre mist more than Ling Yimo from the Ghost Sacrifice Sect?"

"Pang Jian had likely proved himself in the bizarre mist before," Lu Yanshu replied.

"In that case, let's take the risk and see for ourselves."

Fan Chen and Lu Yanshu decisively entered the bizarre mist as well.

In the end, after some deliberation, Shen Yanxi from the Forsaken Expanse Sect and the couple from the Ancient Law Sect also joined them.

***

An hour later, Hong Qiming stood where Pang Jian had carved the ancient demon characters, oil lamp still in hand.

Whoosh!

Zhou Yi from the Nine Tribes Sect appeared right after him, holding the head of Cai Shaoheng from the Black Valley Sect.

They exchanged a knowing smile.

"It didn't take much effort to lure them in," Hong Qiming said with a sly grin. Glancing at the swirling bizarre mist, he said, "I teleported away the instant I entered the bizarre mist. That brat Wu Yuan probably thinks I've already reached the center of this continent."

Zhou Yi nodded. "They each carry unique treasures and divine artifacts. Things will be much easier for us with them leading the charge."

The scheming genius from the Nine Tribes Sect glanced up at the dark sky.

"I've set up a Spirit-Beguilement Array nearby," Zhou Yi added. "The foreign races in the Fourth World won't notice anything for a while.

"But this fragmented land is slowly emerging from the bizarre mist and will eventually be completely revealed. Hopefully, we'll have uncovered all its secrets by then."

Hong Qiming smiled coldly. "A new era is approaching. In the face of such unprecedented catastrophes, figures like us will have to ascend to the True God Ream and quell the turmoil.

"If the old True Gods lack the courage to venture beyond the Abyss, they don't deserve those divine seats!"

The pair conspired to uncover the mysteries of the continent, aiming to pave the way for their future ascension to godhood.

Zhou Yi had initiated the scheme, while Hong Qiming had rallied promising young talents.

Not reporting the matter to higher-ups was a natural step to avoid benefiting others.

If those in the Immortal Realm or True God Realm were to arrive, the secrets of the continent would no longer be theirs to exploit.

"Does anyone else know you invited Pang Jian?" Zhou Yi asked.

"Only a rogue cultivator named Han Duping." Hong Qiming's eyes flashed with a cold light as he replied confidently, "Don't worry, he and his rogue cultivator companions won't make it to the Cosmic Skies Continent."

"Good." Zhou Yi nodded approvingly before turning to read the ancient demon characters Pang Jian had carved.

The true path for all beings in this world lies beneath the Fifth World, in the darkness beneath the darkness.

"Beneath the darkness?" Zhou Yi frowned. "Strange. How could the path of all beings lie beneath the darkness of the Fifth World?"

"You understand ancient demon characters?" Hong Qiming asked in surprise.

"Of course," Zhou Yi replied with a smile. "The Nine Tribes Sect's research on outer worlds is only slightly behind that of the Supreme Monad Divine Kingdom.

"The Demon Race in the outer worlds once wrought havoc across the Abyss. They left behind many characters that resemble these ancient demon characters. You recognize them too, don't you?"

Hong Qiming snorted. "My Demon Sect's earliest cultivation methods were recorded in characters similar to these ancient demon characters. It's only natural that I recognize them."

As they conversed, several more figures arrived.

Among them were Cao Jingbai from the Boundless Sky Divine Kingdom and Su Li from the Sword Pavilion, who were ranked eighth and thirteenth on the Soul Wandering Realm leaderboard, respectively.

A few of the top ten on the Spirit Condensation Realm leaderboard were also there.

The new arrivals each carried rare treasures and powerful artifacts.

Zhou Yi discreetly erased the ancient demon characters, then smiled broadly as he welcomed them with open arms, "We were just waiting for you."

Hong Qiming's expression turned cold as he maintained his pretense of animosity. "If they're not ranked in the top ten, they're unfit to venture deeper with us."

He shot Su Li a pointed look.

"That's only because Su Li was late in joining the battles in the Third World," Zhou Yi interjected, trying to smooth things over. "Within the bizarre mist lies the Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis, rumored to be linked to the origins of the inhabitants of the Abyss!"

Su Li and Cao Jingbai's eyes lit up.

"I specifically invited all of you to join the exploration of this continent," Zhou Yi declared before confidently leading the way.

The second wave of lured targets had no idea what awaited them as they eagerly ventured forward.

***

The vast bizarre mist stretched endlessly before the group as they followed Pang Jian toward its depths.

Their visibility and perception were severely limited in the bizarre mist.

"There's still time to turn back!" Hu Yuanfei yelled angrily at Pang Jian.

Pang Jian continued forward silently, trying to establish a connection with the black turtle and the World Eater Vine, only to realize he had lost connection with not only them but also the Bee Sovereign and the Giant Abyssal Serpent.

Growing wary, Pang Jian released his divine sense to scan his surroundings.

His divine sense picked up on one massive skeleton after another. Just from their shape and size, he could tell they were the remains of colossal Vicious and Spirit Beasts.

The emerging continent seemed to be strewn with the remains of Vicious and Spirit Beasts. The farther his divine sense went, the more skeletons appeared.

"It's pretty much the same as the bizarre mist around Absolute Heaven."

Zhou Qingchen also stretched out his divine sense and found it had a range of a hundred zhang.

"My divine sense is severely limited; I can't perceive anything beyond ten zhang," Lu Yanshu from the Pure Land Sect said in frustration. "It's like I've gone blind."

"Ten zhang?" Pang Jian looked at him, surprised.

Lu Yanshu nodded.

After a brief hesitation, Pang Jian inquired about the perception range of the others' divine sense within the bizarre mist.

Others in the Spirit Condensation Realm, like Lu Yanshu and the couple from the Ancient Law Sect, could only sense within a range of around ten zhang.

Although also in the Spirit Condensation Realm, Zhou Qingchen and Wu Yuan had a range closer to a hundred zhang.

Meanwhile, those in the Soul Wandering Realm, like Fan Chen, Liu Youyu, and Hu Yuanfei, could perceive just over a hundred zhang.

Pang Jian, on the other hand, could detect movement up to thousands of zhang away.

The divine consciousness in our divine sense extends the range of our perception in the bizarre mist, he deduced.

Like him, Zhou Qingchen and Wu Yuan had been to Absolute Heaven and had infused their divine sense with divine consciousness when refining their divine souls, elevating them to a level beyond the norm.

This gave them a broader range of perception in the bizarre mist than others in the same cultivation realm, like Lu Yanshu and the couple from the Ancient Law Sect.

"When I first entered the bizarre mist, I had not refined my divine soul yet, and I couldn't perceive anything," Zhou Qingchen commented. "On the return trip from Absolute Heaven, I had refined my divine soul and could finally sense my surroundings while in the bizarre mist."

Wu Yuan nodded in agreement.

Several hours later, after passing many piles of bones, they came upon a towering stone statue.

The lifelike statue was that of a giant Gray Ape.

It sat cross-legged on the ground like a human, gray eyes staring forward while its body emanated an aura of profound sorrow.

Surrounding it were thousands of bones, mostly of ape-like creatures.

Behind it stood a banner bearing a yin-yang symbol. One side of the symbol contained a thick murky energy, while the other had pure spiritual qi of heaven and earth.

Further back loomed a crude, ruined city built from giant stones, reminiscent of the one-eyed giants' Ice Rock City.

The stone statue of the giant ape appeared to be guarding the city behind it, sitting before the gates as if awaiting an approaching enemy.

Based on the scattered bones and the ruined city, however, it seemed its guardianship had ultimately failed.

Lu Yanshu from the Pure Land Sect gasped. "Could this be an Outer God?"

"No." Fan Chen from the Supreme Monad Divine Kingdom said as he walked past Pang Jian.

Standing below the giant Gray Ape statue, he peered up at the bizarre-mist-shrouded sky and extended his divine sense across the ruined city.

"Along the way, we only saw the bones of Vicious and Spirit Beasts. This place appears to be a homeland of Gray Apes," Fan Chen observed. "I think I understand what's happening here."

"What is it?" Lu Yanshu asked, curious.

"As I mentioned before, it seems the foreign races were, at some point, thrown into the Abyss," Fan Chen replied with knitted brows. "Vicious and Spirit Beasts have existed in the Abyss far longer than the foreign races or us humans.

"This continent is likely incredibly ancient, dating back to when the Vicious and Spirit Beasts were still the masters of the Abyss.

"Back then, they weren't known as Vicious or Spirit Beasts; they had a single unified name."

Fan Chen paused briefly.

"They were once called the Fey Race," he finally revealed.

The revelation stunned Pang Jian. "The Fey Race?"

"Yes. The Spirit Beasts of the Sacred Soul Continent today, including the Dragon Race, were all once part of the Fey Race," Fan Chen explained. "Dragons, Celestial Phoenixes, black turtles, Primordial Serpents, and even the fearsome Vicious Beasts of the Fifth World were all classified as part of the Fey Race.

"When races like the Celestial Race, the Demon Scale Race, the Ghost Race, the Flame Race, and the Radiant Race appeared in the Abyss, they suppressed the Fey Race with the help of their worshiped Outer Gods.

"Thus ended the era of the Fey Race in the Abyss, with the once-glorious Fey Race becoming what we now know as Vicious and Spirit Beasts.

"When the human race sought to overthrow the foreign race rulers of the Abyss, beings like the Celestial Phoenixes, the giant dragons, and the Primordial Serpents joined in for a reason.

"They sought vengeance for the Fey Race."

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