Trials of the Abyss

Dong Tianze was shocked.

The unusually dense spiritual qi and the lush forests of the fragmented land hidden beneath the cloud were truly dumbfounding.

A fragmented land like this should've been discovered long ago.

How could it have remained undiscovered?

The leaders of the five major sects in the Third World personally investigated this area after the Celestial Phoenix's remains shattered.

How did they miss this fragmented land?

Dong Tianze was utterly baffled.

"Let's see where you can run now, Dong Tianze!" The scar-faced man roared as he dived down on his ancient zither. "Arrogant fool! Do you think you're invincible because the Sinister Soul Temple bestowed powerful spirit artifacts on you?

"We're both Celestial Phoenix Divine Guards, servants of our master. You're not any more noble than I am!

The scar-faced man followed the Black Iron Mountain down and soon discovered the unfamiliar fragmented land below as well.

"What is this?!" he cried, just as stunned as Dong Tianze at the hidden fragmented land.

Suddenly, the gravity above the fragmented land increased by dozens of times!

The scar-faced man and his zither plummeted toward the Resolute Expanse like meteors.

The zither was smashed to pieces the moment it hit the ground, and the man's bones fractured with a resounding crack upon impact.

Splurt!

Gravely injured, the scar-faced man spat out blood as he sat among the splintered remains of his zither.

His body was like a block of iron, and the ground like a powerful magnet, firmly holding him in place. He could not move an inch.

It was as though the fragmented land beneath the clouds was filled with malice toward him and was actively targeting him.

When Dong Tianze saw the scar-faced man rushing toward the fragmented land, he had braced himself for a tough battle.

Unexpectedly, the scar-faced man was pulled to the ground, destroying his zither and severely injuring the man himself.

"This...my descent wasn't nearly as fast, so I wasn't injured like he was."

Dong Tianze then attempted to move the Black Iron Mountain.

To his surprise, the Black Iron Mountain floated effortlessly into the sky, and the pool inside, lined with spirit jades, filled with dense spiritual qi.

The Black Iron Mountain seemed incredibly light on this fragmented land, and its speed was faster than before.

Dong Tianze's eyes lit up with excitement.

"This place is practically a paradise for me!"

He cautiously maneuvered the Black Iron Mountain, edging it closer to the scar-faced Divine Guard while secretly observing the man's expression.

Soon, he noticed the despair and frustration in the man's eyes.

Dong Tianze's confidence soared.

Accelerating the Black Iron Mountain, he simply and brutally brought its immense weight crashing down on the man.

The man could only struggle helplessly as the Black Iron Mountain loomed over him.

Despite being in the late stage of the Profound Abode Realm, he was like a grasshopper pinned to the ground by a nail—no matter how he twisted his body, he could not move an inch.

Boom!

The man was crushed to a pulp.

A glowing Celestial Phoenix Imprint floated out from the pile of bones and was absorbed into Dong Tianze's forehead.

Whoosh!

The Celestial Phoenix Imprint on Dong Tianze's brow brightened, and threads of mystical energy flowed into every part of his body.

"A breakthrough! I'm going to break through again!"

Dong Tianze's crazed laughter echoed from atop the Black Iron Mountain.

The power contained within the Celestial Phoenix Imprint of a Profound Abode Realm Divine Guard was enough to propel him to the middle stage of the Profound Abode Realm.

His muscles, bones, and divine sense would all receive a significant boost as a result.

Pang Jian, watching from the other side of the Third World, sneered with disdain. "Pathetic. We're both in the Profound Abode Realm, yet you still needed me to secretly aid you with the Resolute Expanse just to kill a Divine Guard in the late stage of the Profound Abode Realm."

He then sent a mental message to the black turtle, instructing it to drive Dong Tianze out of the Resolute Expanse once his breakthrough stabilized.

The black turtle responded in acknowledgment.

Just as Pang Jian was about to sever the connection, the black turtle stopped him and asked him to use the bronze pendant to create a ripple of light capable of transferring items.

Is it planning to send something over? Pang Jian wondered.

Pang Jian raised an eyebrow, shook his head, and replied, Let him keep the Black Iron Mountain for now. I'm in no hurry to take it back.

It's not the Black Iron Mountain, said the black turtle.

Pang Jian was taken aback.

After scanning his surroundings and confirming the stone forest was empty, Pang Jian slipped behind a thick stone pillar and took out the Gate of the Abyss.

A dazzling light wave flashed into existence.

Whoosh!

A blackish-yellow turtle scute[1] the size of a palm emerged from the ripple of light and adhered itself to Pang Jian's chest.

Like Zhou Qingchen's Heartguard Mirror, the scute shielded Pang Jian's heart, preventing sharp weapons from piercing it.

Pang Jian chuckled in disbelief.

First, it was the little tree with its five magical leaves covering my heart. Now, it's the black turtle's tough scute. Both of them are so worried I'll die if my heart gets pierced.

The heart and head were vital areas that could be fatal to a cultivator if struck.

The little tree in Misty Swamp and the black turtle in the Resolute Expanse were both concerned his heart would be destroyed, so they each took special care to protect it.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The black turtle scute suddenly absorbed the blood circulating through Pang Jian's organs and the blood essence in his Providence Mystic Reservoir Acupoint.

It then fused with the tissue around his heart.

Pang Jian felt like the scute had become a part of his body. It was almost as if it could breathe.

The black turtle then sent a message, stating that its growth and evolution depended not only on the flesh and blood of high-ranked Vicious Beasts but also on the unique environment of the fragmented land it inhabits.

The more complete and unique the fragmented land, the stronger the black turtle became.

Recently, it had undergone a critical breakthrough thanks to the mineral vein, small spirit vein, and the over hundred thousand spirit jades Pang Jian had sacrificed to nourish the spirit vein.

After it broke through, the black turtle managed to refine a scute to protect Pang Jian's heart.

According to the black turtle, the scute drew power from Pang Jian's blood essence.

It was not only as tough as refined iron and could defend against lethal strikes to his heart, but also granted him two fundamental abilities of an Earth Spirit—Earth Dive and Mountain Phase.

Pang Jian's face lit up with excitement.

Following the black turtle's instructions, he gathered his blood essence into the black turtle scute and activated the natural patterns etched into it.

Earth Dive!

Pang Jian sank into the ground of the stone forest.

A profound sensation washed over him as he found himself ten zhang underground.

His eyes were filled with astonishment.

With Earth Dive, it was like he had plunged into the depths of a lake, moving as effortlessly as he would underwater.

The ground was no longer solid but fluid like water or air.

He could move freely underground with Earth Dive.

Let's go deeper!

Delighted, Pang Jian sank further.

Once he reached thirty zhang below ground, he found he could not go any deeper.

Thirty zhang was his limit.

However, his movement forward and backward was still unhindered.

Deep underground, he could see tiny insects, dead tree roots, decaying leaves, and the broken bones of Vicious Beasts and Spirit Beasts.

I've gained another escape method.

Pang Jian roamed through the depths of the earth, wandering back and forth in fascination.

Unfortunately, it was not long before most of his blood essence was exhausted.

This ability consumes far too much blood essence. I'll have to use it sparingly and not treat it as a regular technique, Pang Jian noted as he resurfaced.

Glancing at the stone pillars around him, he activated the scute's Mountain Phase ability.

Whoosh!

He passed through a stone pillar as if moving through the air, encountering no resistance whatsoever.

As expected of an Earth Spirit, even its initial innate abilities are extraordinary.

Pang Jian's eyes brightened.

Mountain Phase allowed him to ignore rock walls and traverse through great mountains.

It could be used to search for hidden treasure, hunt down elusive enemies, or simply allow him to guard his own life and make a quick escape.

The small turtle scute covering his heart unexpectedly gave him such useful abilities.

Those 100,000 spirit jades were well spent!

Will the black turtle grant me more incredible abilities as it grows? Pang Jian wondered before deciding to ask the black turtle directly.

It confirmed his suspicions.

According to the black turtle, once it reached a certain profound realm, it could refine even more mystical scutes and eventually craft a complete set of armor for Pang Jian.

That armor would fuse with his body, allowing Pang Jian to wield the Earth Spirit's abilities and essentially become an Earth Spirit in human form.

An Earth Spirit in human form...

The image sparked a deep sense of longing in Pang Jian.

While Pang Jian was lost in his vision of the future, the slightly exhausted black turtle severed its connection to him.

Pang Jian then swallowed a blood-replenishing pill and a bucket of Rank Six Vicious Beast's blood. After a brief rest, he continued with his journey.

Whenever his blood essence was replenished, he would use the black turtle's abilities to dive underground or phase through stone pillars.

He simply could not get enough of experiencing the wonders of the scute.

Bang!

Pang Jian suddenly slammed into something hard while using Mountain Phase, forcing him to stop in his tracks.

Rubbing his head and slightly dazed from the impact, Pang Jian stared in bewilderment at a grayish-white stone pillar over ten zhang tall, firmly rooted in the ground.

There was no obvious outward difference between this pillar and the others in the stone forest.

However, Mountain Phase was ineffective on this particular pillar.

"There must be something unusual inside," Pang Jian muttered with a frown.

1. A scute is a thickened horny or bony plate on a turtle's shell or on the back of a crocodile. ☜

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