Trials of the Abyss

Disregarding the pain in his body, Pang Jian regulated his emotions and focused on sensing the condition of his dantian and spiritual sea.

After executing two consecutive attacks on Qi Qingsong and struggling arduously to break through Dong Tianze’s attack in the courtyard of the City Lord’s Mansion, Pang Jian’s spiritual power had dwindled to only around ten to twenty percent.

His priority was to replenish his depleted spiritual power as soon as possible.

Enduring the pain of his injuries, Pang Jian retrieved several spirit stones from his spatial pouch, intending to absorb the pure spiritual power they contained.

As soon as the pure spirit stone left Pang Jian’s spatial pouch, something bizarre happened!

The tainted energy of the Fifth World surged madly toward the spirit stones in Pang Jian’s hand, tainting the pure spiritual power within.

Pang Jian had intended to absorb the spirit power within the spirit stones but instead absorbed a thick, corrosive energy with a putrid aura.

Black raindrops were falling on his vast spiritual sea with a hiss, swiftly tainting his spiritual power.

Scared and uneasy, Pang Jian tried to stop the absorption of the spiritual power from the spirit stones, only to find himself unable to.

Pang Jian was so distressed that he could not achieve the tranquil state necessary for cultivating. Despite this, the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art was activated on its own.

A shining black Spirit Cauldron resembling a small black sun fervently started to devour the murky energy of the darkness.

The funnel-shaped whirlpool between his dantian and spiritual sea had long ceased its movements and sank into a state of absolute stillness.

The unending stream of polluted energy transformed into black raindrops, black flames, and even dark rocks, and plummeted directly from his dantian into his spiritual sea.

Soon, not a shred of spiritual power remained within him.

The muddy energy of the Fifth World tainted his vast spiritual sea and infused his body with unknown, chaotic energies!

Puzzlingly, despite the absence of spiritual power within him, Pang Jian felt no discomfort whatsoever.

He conversely felt that the air seemed less putrid and unpleasant than before.

Strange, Pang Jian thought to himself, leaning against the sturdy stone wall in the darkness of the street corner, deep in contemplation.

He still could not see anything around him.

However, he could sense the murky energy continuing to surge uncontrollably toward him!

Soon, his spiritual sea turned into a pitch-black expanse, filled with vast amounts of tainted energy that saturated his dantian with its foul odor.

Unbeknownst to Pang Jian, a storm was subtly brewing around him in the enveloping darkness!

The surrounding murky energy was all being drawn into Pang Jian’s spiritual sea from every direction!

***

At the tunnel leading into the City Lord’s Mansion, where the boundary between the light and darkness was razor-thin, the girl hidden in the darkness indulged in a lavish feast.

As she observed the scheming and plotting of those gathered around the pool in the courtyard, she tossed a grape into her mouth and sipped some fruit juice.

"Are they not going to fight?" she grumbled impatiently.

She abruptly turned with alarm to stare puzzledly at the entrance of the tunnel.

"Why is the tainted energy of the Fifth World suddenly converging in one area? Did some powerful being from the Fifth World seize the opportunity to infiltrate Eight Trigrams City?" she muttered to herself. She shook her head in disbelief. "That’s impossible."

Eight Trigrams City sat at the top of a Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillar in the Fifth World.

For thousands of years, countless evil spirits and demon apparitions from the Fifth World had attempted to either destroy or ascend the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars.

However, the power hidden within the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars struck down all who dared to make contact with it. Not even the most malevolent deities escaped unharmed.

Over time, the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars were regarded as a restricted area by the residents of the Fifth World.

The mightiest beings of the Fifth World strictly forbade anyone from approaching the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars, lest they face its devastating wrath.

Seven Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars were scattered throughout the Fifth World, instilling fear in the hearts of the Fifth World’s inhabitants.

The pillars had the words "Heaven Ascension" in their names and supposedly offered the inhabitants of the Fifth World a path to the upper worlds. However, in truth, they completely severed one’s chance to ascend.

The seven immensely large Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars had never shown any anomalies, and the inhabitants of the Fifth World could not ascend them.

"Did the young man just now trigger this massive surge of muddy energy?" The girl was astonished. However, she shook her head once more and said, "Impossible. If that were the case, the murky energy would just consume him more quickly and he’d perish."

After a moment, the girl decided to redirect her attention back to the pool within the City Lord’s Mansion.

***

Meanwhile, in the darkness, Pang Jian could not do anything but watch as the tainted energy of the Fifth World poured into his spiritual sea.

Every time he breathed in the sour, putrid air, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen as if many tiny needles were stabbing his internal organs.

He understood that the murky energy was corroding his flesh.

The tainted, murky energy carried an aura of destruction and annihilation, as though it wanted to obliterate everything between heaven and earth, strangling the life out of all the beings in the world.

After silently observing for a while, Pang Jian was puzzled.

It seems my dantian and spiritual sea remain untainted and intact.

His vast spiritual sea was filled with dense murky energy, turning into a black sea that exuded a sense of danger and mystery. The black hue deepened as if slowly accumulating power.

The murky energy of the Fifth World continued to pour in unabated.

Using the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art, Pang Jian had previously amassed spiritual power from many spirit jades and spirit stones; along with the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to purify and open up his spiritual sea. That same spiritual sea was now filled to the brim with murky energy from the Fifth World.

His once tranquil black spiritual sea roiled with tumultuous waves!

Towering black waves swelled powerfully, shaking Pang Jian’s soul!

A rampaging sinister energy, imbued with the aura of destruction and annihilation, surged upward with the black waves, as though aiming for Pang Jian’s dantian!

It was like the inhabitants of the Fifth World, repeatedly assaulting the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars in an attempt to shatter the ancient seal, break free from the endless oppression, and ascend into the upper worlds.

Each assault carried eons of resentment and unyielding will, growing more desperate and agitated with each successive strike!

Earth-shattering black waves slammed fiercely against the sky, only to be repelled and forced to crash back down heavily with each futile attempt.

At the bottom of his black spiritual sea, Pang Jian sensed abnormal changes occurring in twelve areas.

These twelve areas connected to his internal organs, and had always been separated by a natural barrier.

Every time the black waves crashed back down to his spiritual sea, the natural barrier was affected, becoming increasingly fragile.

Fear filled Pang Jian.

He recalled his advancement into the Meridian Opening Realm.

Pang Jian had broken through to the Meridian Opening Realm in the Divine Spirit Pagoda on Black Orchid Lake, piercing through eight meridians and enabling the flow of spiritual power from his spiritual sea to his limbs.

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But that was spiritual power!

At this moment there was no spiritual power in his spiritual sea!

His spiritual sea had been filled with the murky energy that reeked with an aura of destruction!

Those twelve areas were the Twelve Principal Meridians connecting to his internal organs!

Once the twelve channels were pierced through, the tainted energy of the Fifth World would be able to infiltrate the twelve meridians and spread throughout his internal organs!

What would happen to him then?

A mere breath of the tainted air was enough to erode his flesh.

If the murky energy flowed through his Twelve Principal Meridians and poured into his chest...

The very thought sent shivers down Pang Jian’s spine.

Unfortunately, despite how much he dreaded it, his worst fears were inevitably realized.

As the black waves swelled and crashed, the barrier protecting one of the twelve areas shattered.

Finding no path upward, the polluted energy of the Fifth World instead decided to go downward!

The rampaging murky energy poured through the channel connecting to his internal organs!

The agony that erupted within Pang Jian from opening this single channel was far more excruciating than opening the meridians in his limbs. He let out a tormented scream in the darkness.

As the muddy energy descended into his meridian, more waves were formed, crashing down heavily and shattering through more channels connecting to his meridians.

The second meridian, the third, the fourth, eighth, twelfth!

All twelve meridians connecting to the channels beneath his spiritual sea were forcibly pierced through!

Murky energy ceaselessly poured into Pang Jian’s body!

Pang Jian let out a scream of such tormented agony it sounded inhuman.

Not far away, the girl hidden in the darkness indulged in a feast, eagerly anticipating the outbreak of battle within the City Lord’s Mansion.

She watched as Yuan Lengshan recounted the tragic history of the Yuan Family from Eight Trigrams City, vehemently condemning the mastermind behind its destruction.

Those listening to her displayed remarkable patience, attentively listening to Yuan Lengshan’s story and refraining from interrupting her as she spoke.

The girl in the darkness suddenly heard screams coming from the streets outside the City Lord’s Mansion.

Hearing the tortured screams, the girl sighed and gently shook her head. "In the end, he couldn’t escape."

She recalled how Pang Jian risked his life twice for Zhou Qingchen before sending Zhou Qingchen into the Mirror Tunnel and rushing into the darkness himself.

The scene had left a deep impression on her.

"He’s a good person. But he chose to send his friend away and enter the darkness of the Fifth World to endure the baptism of the murky energy. It’s too bad he couldn’t find a way to deal with its corroding effects. Most people meet the same end after the tainted energy infects their body."

Her opinion of Pang Jian was relatively positive. Now that she knew that he was dying a slow death, she no longer held their previous collision against him.

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