Trials of the Abyss

After the white crane left, Pang Jian glanced at the deep, charred pits around him. A deep frustration filled him, and he almost wanted to curse aloud.

He could not understand why the white crane was so fixated on him.

I need to recover my strength quickly. Who knows when it might come back?

Pang Jian then moved to a different area and dug a new pit.

Once again, he lay at the bottom of the copper chest, gazing at the starry and moonlit sky, and taking in the gentle, pure radiance.

The tiny stars and miniature moon in his dantian absorbed the radiant light like a sponge.

He also consumed the blood of Vicious Beasts, then swallowed a Mind Soothing Pill and a Blood Enhancing Pill.

In the meantime, he also steadily drew in pure spiritual power from the spirit jades he held in each hand.

The five vibrant green leaves in his chest released dense life energy that healed his wounds.

As it seemed the white crane would not let go of their grudge so easily, Pang Jian decided to consider it a formidable lifetime adversary.

While restoring his strength, he noticed the small lightning vortex in his partially filled spiritual sea had grown significantly.

Threads of white lightning danced erratically within the vortex, creating a feeling of boundless energy.

The number of lightning bolts in the vortex was also much higher than before the second battle!

I absorbed some of the smaller lightning bolts while enduring the barrage of lightning during the second clash with the white crane, Pang Jian realized.

Stepping out from the copper chest several hours later, he sat on top of its closed lid and sensed the presence of the black turtle and the little tree.

The five leaves on his heart slowly regained their green hue.

The dense spiritual qi in Pang Jian's dantian was refined into spiritual power using the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art before gently cascading down into his spiritual sea.

The black turtle and the little tree...

Pang Jian silently vowed that he would do everything in his power to fulfill the needs of the black turtle and the World Eater Vine in the future, no matter what it was.

The black turtle's spirit required an astronomical amount of spirit jades, and he was determined to find a way to acquire them for the ongoing evolution of the Resolute Expanse.

The black turtle and the World Eater Vine were crucial to him.

Had they not assisted him during the white crane's attack, his spiritual sea would have been depleted, and his injuries would have taken much longer to heal.

The white crane would have killed him if the black turtle and the World Eater Vine had not helped him during the battle.

In the end, the white crane had been forced to flee after exhausting itself.

You two will be my greatest allies in the future!

Four hours later, the spiritual power in Pang Jian's spiritual sea had grown denser and the five leaves were filled with life energy.

Pang Jian lay back down in the copper chest.

The sky inside the copper chest was bright. A large sun hung above him, giving off immense light and heat.

Pang Jian settled in to absorb the radiant solar energy.

Several more hours later, all the spiritual qi in his dantian had been refined and his solar energy had been replenished.

He was satisfied with his progress, so he pushed open the chest lid and stepped out.

I've recovered about sixty to seventy percent of my full strength.

Pang Jian flew out of the hole to stand on the basin, ready to face the white crane's third attack.

Despite waiting for quite some time, the white crane did not appear. So, he instead used the time to experiment with the lightning vortex in his spiritual sea

Crackle!

A strand of lightning from the lightning vortex in his spiritual sea appeared on the tip of his left index finger.

With a single thought, the serpentine lightning stretched and contracted, emitting a fierce aura.

I'm now in possession of an entirely new energy in addition to my stellar, lunar, solar, cold, and earthflame energies.

A smile tugged at the corners of Pang Jian's lips.

Fully aware of the peculiarities of his Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea, Pang Jian started to try various combinations of the lightning with the other energies he already possessed.

He first infused earthflame energy and universally harmonizing spiritual power into the white lightning at his fingertip.

The white lightning instantly turned crimson, crackling fiercely like an untamed red serpent.

Earthflame energy works!

Pang Jian's eyes brightened. He then added a touch of solar energy as it had a similar nature to earthflame energy.

The crimson lightning flared with a blinding intensity.

"Go!" he cried, flicking his finger.

The crimson lightning, filled with spiritual power, earthflame energy, and solar energy, struck the nearby ground, blasting a fiery crater into the earth.

At a glance, the crater looked as if a fiery meteor had struck it. Flames flickered around its edges and the bottom was charred black.

Its might is quite impressive.

Pleased, Pang Jian created a new strand of lightning, which he imbued with only spiritual power.

The slender lightning grew thicker and longer.

He then tried infusing it with stellar energy and lunar energy.

Boom!

The lightning exploded the moment the stellar and lunar energies entered it, mangling Pang Jian's fingertip.

Pang Jian cried out in pain.

After using life energy to heal his mangled finger, he summoned a strand of lightning on his right index finger.

This time, he only added spiritual power and cold energy from the ice pool.

As the cold energy flowed into the lightning, it transformed into a sharp and menacing ice spike.

Ice and lightning can be merged!

With a single thought, the sharp ice spike flew toward an ancient tree.

Boom!

The lightning within it erupted the instant the ice spike pierced the tree trunk, blowing the ancient tree into splinters.

"Wow!" he exclaimed excitedly before taking out his Startling Slaughter Spear.

Using his newfound understanding, he infused the spear with lightning and unleashed the Explosive Dance technique.

The gleaming spear tip shot out both blazing fireballs imbued with lightning and ice-cold lightning balls, scorching Pang Jian's surroundings into deep black pits.

Lightning with cold energy, and lightning with earthflame and solar energies. Each of these combinations produces different powerful effects.

His eyes gleamed with joy as he experimented.

For him, the formation of the lightning vortex was akin to acquiring a new toy.

He tried varying combinations and attacks using the energies in his Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea, bringing many of his imaginative ideas to life.

Some ideas were fruitless due to the incompatibility of the energies, while others resulted in astonishing power.

Pang Jian soon lost track of the time. Before he knew it, he had expended a significant amount of energy, only stopping when he noticed the sun in his dantian had shrunk considerably.

I hope the white crane doesn't come now. Pang Jian frowned.

As he was about to store his silver spear and retreat into the pit to recover his strength, he saw someone in the distant sky flying toward him under the bombardment of numerous spirit artifacts.

Blinding lightning surrounded them, and Pang Jian could not discern their appearance.

A quarter of an hour later, the man arrived in front of Pang Jian.

Bang!

The man landed with a loud sound, and his true appearance was finally revealed as the lightning around him dissipated.

Before Pang Jian stood a square-faced man with a rugged appearance and tattered yellow silk robes.

It was the rogue cultivator Lei Kun!

"Those little scoundrels from the upper worlds are shameless!" Lei Kun panted heavily.

He took out a pill and swallowed it with a loud crunch before glancing over to size up Pang Jian.

"The Lightning Chaser of the Sword Pavilion, Luo Yuan!" He knitted his thick, bushy brows and coldly remarked, "Hey, brat from the Sword Pavilion, you're not in league with those from the Black Valley Sect, the Celestial Lagoon Sect, or the Demon Sect, are you?"

Pang Jian was taken aback. "Senior Lei, you've heard of me?"

"You recognize me?!" Lei Kun looked even more surprised than Pang Jian. He stared suspiciously at Pang Jian and muttered under his breath, "When did my name become so famous in the upper worlds?"

"My senior brother is Qi Qingsong. He saw you at the trade fair in the Primordial Wilderness and described your appearance to me," Pang Jian explained.

Fortunately, Lei Kun did not recognize him as he was still in the guise of a sallow-faced young man.

"Ah, I see!" A look of realization crossed Lei Kun's face.

Lei Kun had bought the hide of a Rank Seven Blood Lizard from Pang Jian on the last day of the free trading period. At that time, Qi Qingsong had been standing right behind Pang Jian.

Thus, he had a strong impression of Qi Qingsong.

Still, he had never even interacted with this newcomer of the Sword Pavilion, so he had not expected him to know his name.

"Sword Pavilion disciples are indeed polite and well-mannered, unlike those little pests from the Demon Sect and the Black Valley Sect," Lei Kun commented.

He instantly developed a favorable impression of the Sword Pavilion.

Grinning, he said, "Your name, Luo Yuan, has been quite prominent in Cloud Lightning lately. Not long after I arrived, I heard many rogue cultivators and disciples from large sects talking about you. They even nicknamed you the Lightning Chaser."

"The Lightning Chaser," Pang Jian repeated in astonishment.

"Since you're also a lightning-attribute cultivator, we should exchange insights," Lei Kun suggested, having taken a liking to Pang Jian. Unlike the others, Pang Jian did not rely on numbers and spirit artifacts to hunt him down. "By the way, have you seen that white crane around these Lightning Retribution Grounds?"

Pang Jian's face twitched. A hint of pain and resentment flickered in his eyes. "I've seen it."

"It also attacked you?" Lei Kun chuckled. "You're quite something to have survived until now.

"The white crane can fully unleash its mystical powers in the Lightning Retribution Grounds. It can draw in distant lightning and unleash them in a targeted area! Not long ago, before I went to the Primordial Wilderness, I encountered it while cultivating here. It blasted me so badly that I had to flee, forcing me to leave Cloud Lightning earlier than planned.

"Yet you..."

Lei Kun was amazed.

The Lightning Retribution Grounds.

Pang Jian's heart stirred. It seemed Lei Kun was well-versed in anything related to lightning and had a deep understanding of Cloud Lightning.

After some pondering, Pang Jian curiously asked, "Why did those chasing you stop? Why didn't they come here?"

Pang Jian had taken out the Star Crushing Umbrella while fighting against the white crane and was worried his identity had been exposed.

"They saw the white crane unleashing two violent lightning storms here in the Lightning Retribution Grounds, so they didn't dare to come here," Lei Kun explained. He then paused and looked suspiciously at Pang Jian. "Were those two lightning storms targeting you?"

Pang Jian's face darkened.

"So it was you? Luo Yuan, you actually survived!" Lei Kun exclaimed in surprise.

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