Trials of the Abyss

Han Duping’s expression darkened, sensing the impending danger hidden within Eight Trigrams City. He knew that only peril and uncertainty would come with entering the city.

"Young Zhou, are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?" he asked.

Zhou Qingchen shook his head. Turning to Su Meng, he kindly advised, "Why don’t you let Ning Yao escort you away at dawn?" This is your first time venturing out, and you haven’t experienced many bloody battles. I fear Eight Trigrams City may be too much for you to handle."

When night descended, a myriad of glowing tiny dots appeared within Eight Trigrams City. The appearance of these dots inevitably came with many brutal clashes.

Each glowing dot represented a living being, a cultivator, like them.

Moreover, most of them hailed from the Third World and the Second World, with far superior cultivation methods and spirit artifacts.

Competing against geniuses from the upper two worlds greatly increased the possibility of them meeting their demise in Eight Trigrams City.

"I will persuade Sister Ning to leave," Su Meng replied with her head bowed.

Zhou Qingchen nodded and said, "Okay, that’s reassuring."

Luo Hongyan sought out the trio after wandering the island’s perimeter for the better part of the night.

"I couldn’t find the entrance." She sighed.

Han Duping was secretly relieved. "Didn’t you say you would be able to find it?"

Luo Hongyan wore a look of helplessness on her face.

"I’ve only heard of Mirror Tunnels and have never been through one myself. I thought my knowledge of arrays would help me find it, but it didn’t," she said, forcing a smile as she chuckled softly. "Perhaps not finding the entrance is a blessing for everyone."

Luo Hongyan had also witnessed the tiny dots of lights and their skirmishes while she was searching for the Mirror Tunnel. Naturally, she also understood what the extinguishing of the lights represented.

Su Meng’s hesitance to speak out and Han Duping’s relief that Luo Hongyan could not find the entrance was not lost on her. She knew that both of them were now having second thoughts.

"Let’s wait until dawn to decide. If we can’t find the way in, we’ll just have to let this opportunity pass," Luo Hongyan said with a hint of resignation. She waved for Su Meng to follow her before turning to Zhou Qingchen. "Don’t try entering through Black Orchid Lake without a proper entrance. You might end up as an ice sculpture and I don’t know how long you’ll be sealed for."

Zhou Qingchen replied with an indifferent, "Oh."

As the night passed, the group continued to observe Eight Trigrams City from different parts of the island.

They watched as the tiny dots of light emerged and headed toward the center of the city, only to vanish one after the other.

The sight left them heavy-hearted and dejected, and the idea of leaving the island grew more and more appealing.

***

The daylight of the Fourth World did not arrive with the new day.

The bizarre mist had completely obscured the sky above Black Orchid Lake!

It shrouded them like a canopy, and not even a hint of the sky could be seen through the dense mist.

Everyone looked around in shock. The bizarre mist had engulfed everything apart from Black Orchid Lake!

"Last night!" Han Duping shouted, his face pale.

The bizarre mist, which they had assumed to be still and motionless, had stealthily advanced during the pitch-black darkness of the previous night. Inexplicably though, it had spared Black Orchid Lake.

At this point, the bizarre mist had surrounded them, trapping them on the island. Even if they activated the Divine Spirit Pagoda now, it would only fly them into the bizarre mist.

Where could they possibly flee to now?

This had happened just as they had entertained the thought of leaving. They found themselves dumbfounded and at a loss, unsure of their next move.

A hint of bitterness flickered in Luo Hongyan’s eyes. The movements of the mysterious bizarre mist were beyond her expectations.

She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Until Black Orchid Lake returns to its original state, there’s nothing we can do. This might not be a bad thing. Others entering the Solitary Mountain Range won’t be able to reach Black Orchid Lake either, so we won’t be disturbed."

"True. Anyone from the outside trying to explore Black Orchid Lake will find it engulfed by the bizarre mist and won’t venture further," Han Duping said.

"After some time passes, the people from our clan will probably think that both of us died in the Solitary Mountain Range." Zhou Qingchen grinned and shook his head. "Things just got interesting."

"Let’s wait for Pang Jian. Perhaps he can find a way to enter Eight Trigrams City," Luo Hongyan suggested.

Han Duping and Su Meng were taken aback. "Pang Jian?"

A thoughtful look appeared in Zhou Qingchen’s eyes.

***

The dim day passed in silence.

With the bizarre mist obscuring the already dim daylight of the Fourth World, the day felt more like night.

Only once the absolute darkness had set, and they could no longer even see the fingers on their hands, did they realize that night had truly descended.

The bright light from Black Orchid Lake and Eight Trigrams City appeared dazzling and radiant in the dark. Thus, it was only on the edges of the island that they could see each other’s faces without relying on torches or other sources of light.

New dots of light appeared along the borders of Eight Trigrams City.

New batches of cultivators had entered after night had fallen.

"It seems that we have to enter at night," Han Duping said with a newfound understanding.

***

That same night, Pang Jian finally came out of the white pagoda.

He had stayed two nights and one day in it, utilizing the array on its ground floor to meticulously open up his other four meridians. He even depleted the spirit stones within his bamboo basket.

His spiritual sea was now filled to a quarter of its capacity.

Before stepping out of the white pagoda, he memorized the contents of the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art. Then, with a flick of a flint, he burned it, reducing it to ashes.

The cultivation method recorded in the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art only encompassed the first six realms, ending at the Spirit Condensation Realm.

With the spirit stones depleted, his bamboo basket now only held the bamboo flute. Thus, he opted to leave it behind and only took the Dragonwood Spear.

Stepping out of the white pagoda, Pang Jian realized that the night was darker than any he had ever seen before.

Why is the sky so dark?

It was so dark that he could not even make out the objects directly in front of the white pagoda.

Gazing further into the distance, he saw a bright glow coming from the surface of Black Orchid Lake.

The absolute darkness of the island at night only made the glowing of the lake more prominent.

"Pang Jian!" Luo Hongyan’s shout echoed from the top of the hill. She did not accompany Zhou Qingchen and the others at the island’s edge, instead opting to wait at the hill.

Although the island was engulfed in darkness, the faint glow of the white pagoda illuminated its surrounding area slightly. Therefore, she spotted Pang Jian the instant he emerged.

At that moment, numerous threads of dark cyan light materialized.

The island was on the shell of the black turtle, and these threads of light appeared in the space where the black turtle’s head once was. Its head was magically brought to life as threads of dark cyan light interwove, sketching its outline into existence.

It was a fusion of light and mysterious otherworldly power!

"The entrance to Eight Trigrams City!" Luo Hongyan shouted, staring at the newly formed black turtle’s head.

Realization struck her. It appeared right after Pang Jian stepped out of the white pagoda. Shifting her gaze back to Pang Jian, she saw a fleeting glow emanating from his chest.

Luo Hongyan’s heart quickened.

Pang Jian felt his bronze pendant warm when he heard Luo Hongyan’s voice.

"Ning Yao?" he called out, unable to see her figure. He had heard her soft call from nearby but could not pinpoint her exact location.

The glow of the white pagoda faintly illuminated Pang Jian’s figure. However, Luo Hongyan stood at the top of the dark hill and could not be seen.

"It’s me," Luo Hongyan responded, gathering her composure. She steadied her voice and said, "Come over here and find me."

"Alright." Pang Jian headed toward her voice.

Luo Hongyan once again shouted from the top of the hill, "Zhou Qingchen, Han Duping, head toward the dark cyan light! Pang Jian and I will regroup with you there!"

The trio had originally intended to climb up the small hill but stopped upon hearing Luo Hongyan’s shout.

Once they spotted the dark cyan light, Zhou Qingchen and the others hurried over.

In the absolute darkness, Pang Jian listened to Luo Hongyan’s instructions to Zhou Qingchen while navigating in her direction.

When he no longer heard Luo Hongyan’s voice, he cautiously asked, "Where are you?"

Luo Hongyan did not respond.

"Where are you?" Pang Jian raised his voice. Concerned that something might have happened to her, he hurried in her approximate direction.

Suddenly, Pang Jian felt a delicate and cool body fall into his arms.

A familiar figure tightly embraced him in the pitch-black darkness before he could reach. "It’s me!"

Pang Jian caught on and retorted, "I called out to you. Why didn’t you respond?"

"I wanted you to come and find me."

Luo Hongyan’s arms coiled around Pang Jian’s neck like a snake. Her breath smelled like lilies as she said, "You keep rejecting me. I want to see if your heart is truly made of stone!"

She boldly leaned in to kiss Pang Jian.

Neither she nor Pang Jian could see each other in the darkness. Her kiss brushed against Pang Jian’s nose, then landed on his cheek when he turned his head.

In frustration, she pecked at Pang Jian’s face like a bird.

"Scram!" Pang Jian pushed her away in irritation, and without waiting for her to get up, he left.

"You jerk! You have no sense of romance at all!" Luo Hongyan landed on her butt and vented her frustration with a string of curses. A strong sense of defeat filled her heart.

One time, two times, three times.

After being repeatedly rejected by Pang Jian, she could not help but doubt herself. She wondered if she had lost her charm.

She had once been the center of attention. Her beauty was unparalleled, and her name was synonymous with allure. Countless outstanding men were willing to dive into scalding water and jump into raging fires just for her.

How could she have fallen so far?

In Ning Yao’s sea of consciousness, the real Ning Yao’s emotions sank from despair and resentment to utter numbness. Her body felt like it was drifting further and further away from her.

She could not imagine what other despicable acts the evil woman would carry out if she continued to control her body.

"It’s all because you’re ugly, isn’t it? There’s no way he would push me away if I could approach him with my true appearance and body." Luo Hongyan reasoned to herself. She placed the blame on Ning Yao as she sneered, "You’re just an ugly girl with a childlike body, but you fooled yourself into thinking you were beautiful. Even offered up on a silver platter, nobody wants you!"

Nearly driven insane by Luo Hongyan’s taunts, Ning Yao screamed, "I beg you, stop tormenting me! Just killed me already!"

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