Trials of the Abyss

Everybody stopped mid-combat, freezing in place and staring in horror at Lan Xi’s lifeless body.

Lan Xi of the Demon Sect met her demise in front of the dark tunnel, impaled from behind with a shining silver spear!

The spearhead pierced through her heart, with the spear shaft keeping her body suspended in the air.

Her eyes were filled with profound terror and her final expression was one of bewilderment.

It seemed she had not quite grasped her situation even in her final moments.

The end of the spear remained concealed in the depths of the darkness.

One by one, those in the City Lord’s Mansion shifted their attention toward the dark tunnel, expressions grave.

Nobody dared to act.

No one knew who wielded the spear, or if the wielder was even human.

Something eerie had also happened when the spear skewered Lan Xi.

The ancient figures that had emerged from the river of time and populated the City Lord’s Mansion all vanished into thin air.

It was as if they had never appeared at all, like their conversations about spirit food had never taken place and they had never lined up to pay tribute to the City Lord.

Whoosh!

Dong Tianze was the first to react, hastily retreating.

The flower basket that had been chasing Dong Tianze fell to the ground with a thud. After Lan Xi died, it no longer had any spiritual power, and its flowering branches cracked into splinters.

The "Demon" and "Heart" characters encircling Lin Beiye dropped to the ground like withered flowers and disappeared without a trace.

The City Lord’s Mansion fell into silence.

Eyes filled with contemplative curiosity glanced between Lan Xi’s lifeless body, the gleaming tip of the spear, and the dark tunnel.

Luo Hongyan raised her eyebrows and let out a soft chuckle.

She had not expected this surprising turn of events.

When Lan Xi soared through the air to attack Dong Tianze, she had been dangerously close to the dark tunnel. Thus, Luo Hongyan took advantage of the situation to strategically unleash a dazzling starlight in her direction.

She wanted to pressure Lan Xi to move closer to the tunnel, hoping she would fall into the darkness.

Luo Hongyan had experienced the murky energy firsthand, and how contact with the darkness of the Fifth World tainted her soul

The spear Li Jie referred to as the Startling Slaughter Spear had fallen close to the tunnel, only to mysteriously disappear soon after.

She also knew that there was something hidden within the darkness.

Still, she had not anticipated the Startling Slaughter Spear to strike down Lan Xi before she could fall into the darkness.

Yuan Lengshan was also aware of the anomalies in the darkness and had noticed the disappearance of the Startling Slaughter Spear. Her eyes flashed eerily as she gazed at her senior sister’s body hanging in the air.

She knew there was something suspicious happening in the darkness.

She had spent some time infusing the Startling Slaughter Spear with her spiritual power, imbuing it with "Demon" and "Heart" characters.

These "Demon" and "Heart" characters were primed to detonate on contact, rendering the hand of anyone brave enough to touch the spear useless.

However, after falling to the ground, the Startling Slaughter Spear mysteriously vanished while the rest of them were occupied with battle.

The dark "Demon" characters and crimson "Heart" characters were connected to Yuan Lengshan and she could sense that they had also been erased.

This caused her to become wary.

Yuan Lengshan considered the figure hidden in the darkness a significant threat!

"Who are you?" Yuan Lengshan asked coldly, breaking her silence.

She showed no hint of emotional distress despite the death of her Senior Sister Lan Xi.

Her cold eyes only lingered briefly on Lan Xi’s body before shifting to the darkness where the spear shaft emerged.

There was no response.

Li Jie knitted his eyebrows, setting aside the reed straw in his mouth as he straightened up in his recliner.

Whoosh!

Lan Xi’s suspended body moved!

The sudden movement startled those in the City Lord’s Mansion. Their nerves were all stretched taut.

Dong Tianze, Qi Qingsong, and Lin Beiye tightened their grips on their spirit artifacts and released their spiritual power to prepare for battle.

Meanwhile, Li Jie, Luo Hongyan, and Yuan Lengshan were unperturbed as they maintained their original stances.

They soon realized that it was not Lan Xi’s lifeless body that was moving, but the gleaming spear that had pierced through her.

The person hidden in the depths of darkness slowly stepped out.

"Pang Jian!"

"Pang Jian!"

Luo Hongyan and Dong Tianze exclaimed in unison.

Li Jie shook his head and let out a bitter laugh. "I told you not to reveal yourself..."

Yuan Lengshan, Lin Beiye, and Qi Qingsong had not even spared a glance at Pang Jian and Zhou Qingchen when Dong Tianze and Leng Yuan had chased them.

All three were taken aback.

They could hardly believe that Pang Jian had not only endured the contamination of the murky energy but also used the Startling Slaughter Spear to kill Lan Xi!

Pang Jian stood in front of the tunnel with Lan Xi’s body still impaled on the Startling Slaughter Spear, stonily observing the stunned expressions on their faces.

Those hailing from the Second World thought highly of themselves, but after Lan Xi’s death, they finally acknowledged his existence.

The profound shock on their faces starkly contrasted with their previous nonchalance.

Boom!

Dark, snake-like beams burst forth from the Startling Slaughter Spear and ripped Lan Xi’s body apart.

The gruesome scene caused everyone’s hearts to sink.

His actions showed his true reason for emerging from the darkness; Pang Jian wanted to vent his rage.

The exploded remnants of Lan Xi’s flesh and blood seemed to take on a life of their own and hurtled straight toward Dong Tianze!

Dong Tianze swung his Ghost’s Cry, drawing forth dazzling arcs of light.

A brand new sea of golden dagger light manifested before Pang Jian.

"Pang Jian, you struck Lan Xi when she was unprepared. It was just a cheap shot. Heh, you don’t honestly think—" Before Dong Tianze could finish his sentence, black spheres emerged from the spearhead of the Startling Slaughter Spear.

Boom! Rumble!

A violent force, imbued with the aura of destruction and devastation, erupted like bolts of dark lightning, shattering the vast sea of golden dagger light!

The fragments of shattered dagger light and black spheres mingled with Lan Xi’s exploded remains and fell onto Dong Tianze’s body.

"Marrow Cleansing Realm! You actually broke through in the darkness!" Dong Tianze exclaimed as he was forced to retreat.

His face was filled with disbelief.

In Dong Tianze’s eyes, Pang Jian resembled a demon from the Fifth World emerging from the darkness.

Qi Qingsong let out a startled cry. "Marrow Cleansing Realm?"

He was certain that Pang Jian had only been at the first stage of the Meridian Opening Realm before rushing into the darkness. His Twelve Principal Meridians had not even been opened!

Pang Jian had attacked him twice using the Dragonwood Spear and other spirit artifacts, so he was well aware of Pang Jian’s spiritual power and cultivation realm.

"Pang Jian..." Luo Hongyan murmured. She was the only one happy to see him.

With the aid of the bronze pendant, she knew that Pang Jian would not succumb to the tainted energy of the Fifth World so easily.

What she had not anticipated was that Pang Jian would progress from the early stages of the Meridian Opening Realm to the Marrow Cleansing Realm in such a short time!

Unable to contain her joy, Luo Hongyan stood on the raised platform, chuckling lightly as she peered smugly at Yuan Lengshan, Lin Beiye, and Qi Qingsong. "I’ve said it before. The person I’m interested in isn’t so easily killed!"

She was genuinely happy for Pang Jian.

Seeing Dong Tianze retreat, Pang Jian stopped in his tracks.

At the sound of Luo Hongyan’s triumphant laughter, Pang Jian glanced at her and asked curiously, "What’s your name?"

Luo Hongyan’s smile stiffened. Pang Jian’s curious question made her uneasy.

However, Pang Jian’s gaze was different from before. It now carried an unfamiliar gentleness.

Ever since she inhabited Ning Yao’s body, regardless of how she tried to approach Pang Jian, he always distanced himself from her.

Her attempts at flirtation also yielded no positive results.

She could never have dreamed that Pang Jian would undergo an unexpected change in attitude!

"Luo-Luo Hongyan. My name is Luo Hongyan," she stuttered with a nervous smile.

Li Jie, Yuan Lengshan, Qi Qingsong, and Dong Tianze stared at her in bafflement.

After revealing that she was not the real Ning Yao, this woman ruthlessly killed Leng Yuan. She had never been worried nor even taken the disputes in the City Lord’s Mansion seriously.

But just a single question from Pang Jian could make her anxious...

Li Jie and the others all wore strange expressions. They were uncertain of her relationship with Pang Jian.

"Luo Hongyan. Alright, I got it." Pang Jian nodded. His expression shifted into a more serious one as he said, "In the darkness, I realized that the one I despised was Miss Ning. But you haven’t done anything to hurt me, Luo Hongyan, so I don’t despise you."

When Pang Jian said those words, Luo Hongyan’s alluring ethereal form quivered in Ning Yao’s desolate sea of consciousness.

Her very soul was moved.

"Thank you, thank you for not despising me." Luo Hongyan took a deep breath. At this moment, Pang Jian seemed irresistibly charming.

Luo Hongyan had originally intended to use Ning Yao’s body to steal Pang Jian’s bronze pendant. Despite that, as they spent more time together, her mindset had subtly shifted.

On Central Lake Island, when Dong Tianze had almost killed Su Meng, Pang Jian took out a bamboo flute and deliberately provoked him, which allowed Su Meng to escape unscathed.

Pang Jian recklessly attempted to kill Qi Qingsong because of a promise he had made to Zhou Qingchen. And not just once, but twice!

In that desperate situation, he pushed Zhou Qingchen into the Mirror Tunnel and chose to venture into the darkness alone.

As these memories flashed through Luo Hongyan’s mind, the young man before her seemed to grow taller and more imposing in her heart.

More than once, she had wondered how different things would have been if her companions back then had not been her scheming fellow disciples, but instead people like Pang Jian and Zhou Qingchen.

If she had never been betrayed, never abandoned by those around her, would her fate have been different?

"But there are some people who are truly despicable," Pang Jian said, pointing the Startling Slaughter Spear toward Yuan Lengshan.

In the entire City Lord’s Mansion and Eight Trigrams City, the person Pang Jian hated the most was neither Dong Tianze nor Qi Qingsong, but Yuan Lengshan!

Before they entered the City Lord’s Mansion, they had shown kindness toward Yuan Lengshan. Jiang Li and Zhou Qingchen had worried about her being alone and even invited her to join them.

However, Yuan Lengshan ended up using them!

When he and Zhou Qingchen were desperately fleeing for their lives, Yuan Lengshan not only did not consider offering a hand, she could not even be bothered to spare them a glance.

Qi Qingsong also only targeted him after obtaining Yuan Lengshan’s permission.

This was why, when Pang Jian saw Lan Xi being forced closer to the tunnel by Luo Hongyan’s attack, he could not help but lash out.

He ignored Li Jie’s advice and emerged from the darkness to kill Yuan Lengshan and vent his rage!

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