Trials of the Abyss

A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the dark street.

Only the girl in the dark tunnel leading to the City Lord’s Mansion heard Pang Jian’s scream.

Currently, Pang Jian was curled up and lying on the cold, hard ground, engulfed by the dense, murky energy.

The tainted energy of the Fifth World flowed relentlessly into his body.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Strange popping sounds emanated from Pang Jian’s chest.

Twelve violent streams rampaged through his Twelve Principal Meridians and obliterated everything within.

It felt completely different from the opening of his Eight Extraordinary Meridians.

He had used his spiritual power to open each meridian in the Divine Spirit Pagoda. Although it had caused him to wince in pain, it was still tolerable and never reached the point of driving him to the brink of despair.

The murky energy filling his black spiritual sea was imbued with an indescribable aura of destruction.

Its ferocity was beyond imagination!

The twelve streams of murky energy were like twelve bloodthirsty black dragons, roaring and writhing within his meridians.

Pang Jian’s slender meridians could not withstand such terrifying energy, and multiple meridians ruptured.

Terror rooted itself in Pang Jian’s heart.

He had a feeling that the murky energy would soon forcibly rupture all twelve meridians connecting to his internal organs!

Although he could not see his own body in the darkness, he could sense the meridians in his chest expanding.

Pang Jian did not faint despite the excruciating pain and could only alleviate some of his suffering by howling and screaming.

As he teetered on the brink of death, twelve meridians on the verge of complete rupture, the bronze pendant around his neck turned scorching hot!

A rich vitality poured out from the side of the pendant resting against his skin!

The black turtle’s blood essence!

Pang Jian felt the rich vitality sought out his damaged meridians and healed them!

Thanks to the black turtle’s blood essence, his meridians managed to withstand the violent onslaught of the murky energy.

The excruciating pain was still present but Pang Jian no longer felt the despair of imminent death.

He continued to scream in agony, but the rich vitality continued to flow from the bronze pendant into his body and restore his damaged meridians.

As Pang Jian’s twelve slender meridians were repeatedly damaged and restored, they gradually broadened and became more resilient.

This development invigorated Pang Jian, and even his hoarse roars grew in clarity and power.

At that moment, the tainted energy in his spiritual sea found the Eight Extraordinary Meridians connecting to his limbs, and they too were invaded by the murky energy of the Fifth World.

Pang Jian’s spiritual power had already opened his Eight Extraordinary Meridians. Thus, even though the murky energy surged through them, the pain was not as debilitating.

As his Eight Extraordinary Meridians swelled and ruptured under the onslaught of the murky energy, the rich vitality restored them.

His Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Principal Meridians were all enduring the onslaught of the tainted energy from the Fifth World!

His vast spiritual sea had turned black and seemed to contain endless murky energy.

No matter how much he expended or lost, new tainted energy constantly replenished his spiritual sea!

The murky energy from other streets was attracted toward Pang Jian and converged around his body.

Time passed in this manner.

Pang Jian was on the verge of mental collapse. He felt neither the pain nor the healing effects of the black turtle’s blood essence on his damaged meridians.

The tainted energy in his black spiritual sea flowed unimpeded through his entire network of meridians, permeating his chest, limbs, and other smaller channels.

After enduring the inhumanly excruciating pain, every meridian within Pang Jian’s body had adapted to the murky energy from the darkness.

His spiritual sea was filled with tainted energy and not even a drop of spiritual power remained within him. Despite this, Pang Jian found himself once again sensing...strength.

It was a new, unfamiliar strength. One filled with the aura of annihilation, destruction, and chaos!

After a long time in the darkness, Pang Jian’s eyes suddenly shone brightly.

He could see his surroundings!

He saw the familiar street he was on, his hands and feet, and could even see the sweat coating his skin.

Beyond the street, he saw the plaza where the bloodbath had taken place, and the City Lord’s Mansion standing tall in the center.

Pang Jian rubbed his eyes, thinking it was a hallucination caused by his blurry consciousness.

He squinted his eyes and once again took a good look at his surroundings.

Eventually, he was convinced that he had fully adapted to the darkness of the Fifth World and could truly see in the absolute darkness!

He noticed the wounds on his body had also healed at some point.

The wounds the sea of golden dagger light had inflicted on his chest, back and arms had all scabbed over, and with a gentle pull, they fell away.

Pang Jian sat leaning against the cold wall at the corner of the street and stared blankly into the air.

The Meridian Opening Realm consists of two stages. The first stage consists of opening the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, while the second stage opens the Twelve Principal Meridians, he thought to himself.

According to the manual of the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art, the opening of the Twelve Principal Meridians in one’s chest and internal organs signified that the second stage of the Meridian Opening Realm had been reached.

In the first stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, spiritual power could flow along the limbs and erupt outward.

In the second stage, spiritual power could flow along the Twelve Principal Meridians and protect one’s internal organs.

While the internal organs of those in the second stage could not withstand sharp weapons, spiritual power could still protect them from being injured by physical blows.

More importantly, one could only start the bone forging, marrow cleansing process after the Twelve Principal Meridians were opened.

The bone forging, marrow cleansing process purged one’s body of impurities and washed away all contaminants.

One’s bones, meridians, internal organs, and blood would then undergo successive refinement and purification with the rich vitality of one’s blood and the aid of spirit materials.

If the Twelve Principal Meridians were obstructed, vital energy would not be able to flow through one limbs and bones, rendering the bone forging, marrow cleansing process impossible.

Pang Jian sat on the ground for a while and pondered.

The essences of the Celestial Phoenix had tempered his bones.

Now, the murky energy from the Fifth World had opened his meridians.

The alternating destruction and restoration of his meridians by the tainted energy and the black turtle’s blood essence had also strengthened his meridians.

First destruction, then restoration. This was also a form of tempering!

Pang Jian could feel that his meridians had become significantly broader and more resilient than before.

The bone forging, marrow cleansing process involves first cleansing the body of impurities, then tempering the bones, followed by the meridians, and finally the internal organs and blood... Pang Jian pondered. Part of him was skeptical he had reached the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

If I’ve truly broken through to the Marrow Cleansing Realm, it was not only the rich vitality of the black turtle’s blood essence from the bronze pendant that allowed me to break through but also the murky energy from the Fifth World.

Pang Jian remained lost in his thoughts for a while.

While he had never had direct contact with the Fifth World, the murky energy in his black spiritual sea was unmistakably that of the Fifth World!

Unlike the fair, calm spiritual power, this energy was imbued with the aura of annihilation, destruction, and chaos. Nonetheless, it was an energy he could wield.

If the Fifth World had powerful experts, they would have had to cultivate using this murky energy.

What have I become?

Pang Jian sat in the darkness for a long time, mind dazed and confused. He felt as though he had turned into a monster from the Fifth World.

The tainted energy flowed unimpeded through his Eight Extraordinary Meridians and Twelve Principal Meridians, as well as his dantian and spiritual sea.

An outrageous thought flashed in his mind.

Perhaps his spiritual sea was suitable for such energy!

Sun Bin had judged his cultivation talent as poor. Ning Yao had also said his future achievements were limited. Both their assessments were because his spiritual sea was filled with cotton-like substances.

Perhaps Pang Jian’s true talent did not lie in the upper world, but in the perpetual darkness of the Fifth World!

After letting his thoughts run wild, Pang Jian stood up from his seated position and tried to move his limbs.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The meridians in his arms and legs were imbued with the violent murky energy of the Fifth World, filling his body with strength.

Whenever the murky energy in his black spiritual sea depleted, it would instantly and continuously be replenished as he stood in the darkness.

He no longer cared whether others would see him as an anomaly, a demon, or a monster. Standing in the dark street, he experimented with the newfound power coursing through his body!

Once he could effortlessly mobilize the power within him, Pang Jian decided to return to the City Lord’s Mansion.

***

In the tunnel leading into the City Lord’s Mansion, the girl in the darkness leisurely sipped on her fruit wine as she watched Yuan Lengshan tell her stories from up on the raised platform.

She abruptly turned her head around.

The presumably long-dead Pang Jian emerged from the other end of the tunnel.

The girl instinctively covered her mouth, fearing that she would scream.

However, she soon remembered that her voice would not escape the darkness and asked with a shocked expression, "How are you not dead yet?"

Pang Jian was stunned.

At this point, he could see the blurry figure of a girl lounging on a chair with her legs crossed in an unladylike manner. She held a glass bottle resembling Li Jie’s in one hand and a braised chicken foot in the other.

Oil marinate still stained the corners of her mouth.

Spread across the wide table was a feast of foods and drinks, including braised meats, chicken feet, and more.

Pang Jian had wondered what had made the resonant crashing sound when he had collided with the table before.

This girl hidden in the darkness certainly knew how to indulge.

Pang Jian watched the enigmatic girl in bafflement.

"I—" He hesitated, not knowing how to explain himself.

"Ah! You can see me?" The girl screamed. She hastily righted her posture to upright like a proper young lady. The girl pointed toward the light of the mansion and solemnly explained, "They’ve been rambling for ages, and still haven’t started fighting. I was bored out of my mind and felt a bit hungry, so I prepared a little something to eat."

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