Trials of the Abyss

Beneath the inky-black sky, the Black Orchid Lake gleamed with brilliant splendor.

Eight Trigrams City stood out in this splendor as the most dazzling source of light.

On the edge of the island, Su Meng anxiously scanned behind Pang Jian as he emerged alone from the darkness, but she did not see the familiar figure she was expecting.

"Where’s Sister Ning?" she asked.

Su Meng had never experienced such intensely dark nights before and could not tell if hidden dangers lurked in the darkness. This caused her to worry for her "Sister Ning".

"It’s dark at the top of the hill and she fell on the way here," Pang Jian responded callously. His gaze fell on the mysterious head of the black turtle, a fusion between dark cyan light and eerie power.

Zhou Qingchen was taken aback. "You didn’t help her up?"

"She’s perfectly fine. Why should I help her?" Pang Jian asked, puzzled.

"Uh..." Zhou Qingchen was at a loss for words.

"Young Zhou, you should learn a thing or two from Little Brother Pang here. You can’t be too kind to a woman and always cater to her feelings!" Han Duping exclaimed. "If you had half of Pang Jian’s skill, Senior Sister Jiang Li from the Red Mountain Sect wouldn’t have—"

"Shut up!" Zhou Qingchen snapped, face flushed red.

Meanwhile, Pang Jian observed the black turtle’s head on the frozen lake’s surface, formed with threads of dark cyan light and a mysterious power. Surprised, he asked, "This is the entrance to the Mirror Tunnel?"

"Yes, that’s what Ning Yao said." Han Duping nodded. "Based on my limited knowledge of arrays, it does seem to be the entrance to the Mirror Tunnel."

Pang Jian wondered aloud, "Once we’ve entered, how do we find our way back?"

"We’ll only know once we’re inside." Han Duping chuckled wryly.

"Alright." Pang Jian did not press for details and instead turned to the trio beside him. "Are you all going to enter?"

"Of course!" Zhou Qingchen declared.

"If he insists on going, what can I do? I can only accompany him." Han Duping drooped his head, resigned.

"Alright." Pang Jian tightened his grip on the Dragonwood Spear. He prepared to leap onto the lake’s surface where the black turtle’s head lay and lead the group.

"You’re not going to wait for Sister Ning?" Su Meng shouted angrily.

Pang Jian had been waiting a long time for this and did not bother to respond. He leaped into the air and descended toward the black turtle’s head.

As he descended the black turtle’s head transformed.

The black turtle’s head tilted upward. Mysterious ripples swirled around its neck, expanding outward in concentric circles.

At a glance, it looked like layers of necklaces surrounded the black turtle’s head.

Swoosh!

Pang Jian landed on the raised head of the black turtle and vanished at the center of the rippling.

"We should hurry up and follow him, lest we fall behind and get separated once we’re inside!" Zhou Qingchen said, acting swiftly. Having confirmed it was an accessible passage, he leaped into it without hesitation.

Han Duping promptly followed suit.

In the blink of an eye, only Su Meng stood before the glowing, rippling black turtle’s head.

Everything was silent on the pitch-black island. Su Meng’s heart trembled as she timidly called into the darkness, "Sister Ning, they’ve all gone down. Are you still here?"

"I’m here." The tired voice of Luo Hongyan, tinged with resentment, came from the darkness. Su Meng breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

Before long, Luo Hongyan appeared and leisurely approached Su Meng.

Luo Hongyan knitted her delicate brows. Her eyes gleamed with astonishment as she gazed toward the northern expanse of Black Orchid Lake.

There was where the dense bizarre mist had first appeared.

"Sister Ning, what are you looking at?" Su Meng whispered.

She found it strange that Luo Hongyan did not look at the Mirror Tunnel on the black turtle’s head but instead gazed toward the other end of the lake.

"I’m not looking at anything. I just feel like...something is watching us in the bizarre mist," Luo Hongyan said with an inexplicable sense of unease.

The sensation sent shivers down her spine.

She was previously apprehensive about entering Eight Trigrams City, but now she no longer hesitated. She grabbed Su Meng’s hand and the pair leaped toward the black turtle’s head.

They too vanished in an instant.

Once no one was left on the island, a figure slowly emerged from the dense bizarre mist, standing where Luo Hongyan had been staring earlier.

This figure was a massive gray ape. It exuded a chilling and tyrannical aura, accentuated by its piercing blue eyes.

If Pang Jian and Zhou Qingchen were still here, they would recognize this gray ape as the one Shangguan Qin had captured. The gray ape was ultimately released at Pang Jian’s earnest plea.

However, its size had increased drastically compared to when it bid farewell to Pang Jian.

Resembling a gray hill, it emerged from the depths of the bizarre mist and strolled along the icy lake’s surface.

Crack! Crack!

The gray ape approached the black turtle’s head. Its broad feet cracked the thick ice with each stride, causing large fissures to spread as it struggled to withstand the immense weight of the gray ape’s steps.

However, as the gray ape walked past the fractures, the intense cold permeating the air would once again mend the shattered layers of ice, restoring them to their original state.

The gray ape seemed to have waited within the dark bizarre mist for a long time and only revealed itself once Pang Jian and the others disappeared into the Mirror Tunnel.

Its once dense, gray fur had turned silver-gray, shimmering with an unusual gleam that resembled steel needles.

The gray ape walked to the front of the black turtle’s head before coming to a halt.

With its icy blue eyes, the gray ape gazed coldly at the entrance and the bustling Eight Trigrams City below.

After a moment, it crouched down and sat on the frozen lake.

***

Elsewhere.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Five figures fell to the ground, their heads dizzy upon impact.

Zhou Qingchen rubbed his burning butt, fuming, "Why did we fall from the sky?"

Before he could get his answer, Zhou Qingchen froze in disbelief.

Before him was a massive city gate, constructed entirely from cyan stone bricks and towering at a dozen zhang high. It was a grand and imposing sight.

"Eight Trigrams City! We’re in Eight Trigrams City!" Zhou Qingchen cried out in surprise. He then spotted Pang Jian, similarly standing before the massive city gate.

Following Pang Jian’s gaze, he saw two eye-catching characters engraved above the city gate.

North Gate.

Luo Hongyan, arriving shortly after, approached with visible irritation. "Pang Jian, couldn’t you have waited for me?"

Pang Jian acted as though he did not hear her.

He stared at the two characters above the city gate and quietly activated the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art.

"The spiritual qi here is dense and pure, far surpassing that of Central Lake Island," he commented.

"Historically, Eight Trigrams City was situated in the Second World. It naturally boasts a denser spiritual qi compared to the barren lands of the Fourth World," Han Duping said matter-of-factly.

"But behind us..." Pang Jian turned around, facing away from the northern gate of Eight Trigrams City to gaze into the absolute darkness behind them.

One by one, the others followed his lead. A look of astonishment reflected on their faces as they turned.

An infinite expanse of darkness stretched out before them, enveloping the space surrounding Eight Trigrams City.

The radiant glow emanating from the brightly lit Eight Trigrams City seemed to be desperately trying to penetrate the darkness beyond. However, the dazzling lights only lit up a range of about three zhang.

Beyond that was endless darkness, without a glimmer of light in sight.

With a solemn expression, Pang Jian said, "The aura in the depths of the darkness is completely different from that of Eight Trigrams City!"

Before the others arrived, he had already tried probing ahead. However, as soon as he entered the darkness, he hastily withdrew.

The air in the darkness was filled with strange odors. The acrid and putrid stench permeated his system and quietly corroded his flesh and blood, leaving him antsy.

When he activated the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art, he discovered that the Spirit Cauldron in his mind was no longer dark green, but had transformed into a pure black hue.

It was so black that the Spirit Cauldron seemed to emit an eerie glow!

The energy he absorbed in the darkness was murky and filled with impurities. The spiritual qi was scarce to the point of almost being imperceptible.

That brief moment of cultivating was enough for numerous impurities to appear in his dantian and spiritual sea.

The circulation of his spiritual power instantly turned sluggish, and the whirlpool connecting his dantian and spiritual sea gradually stalled. Sensing that something was seriously amiss, he hastily retreated from the darkness.

Colorless, green, dark green, black, he pondered about the color of the Spirit Cauldron, eyebrows knitted. He eventually arrived at a conclusion.

His Spirit Cauldron remained colorless if he absorbed the spiritual qi of heaven and earth during cultivation. This was true even with the extremely sparse spiritual qi of the Fourth World and its minor impurities.

When he cultivated using pure, unblemished spirit stones and spirit jades to directly absorb the spiritual power into his spiritual sea, his Spirit Cauldron turned green.

His Spirit Cauldron turned dark green when he cultivated with impure spirit stones from the Fourth World, special stones like the Profound Yin stones, or the corrosive energy within Blackwater Pond.

The more impurities it contained, the darker his Spirit Cauldron would become. Conversely, if the absorbed energy contained significantly more spiritual qi than impurities, the dark green hue of his Spirit Cauldron would lighten.

Earlier, when he experimented with the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art in the darkness, his Spirit Cauldron unexpectedly turned a rare jet-black hue.

This was something he had never encountered before.

Pang Jian described his experience to the others, "In the depths of darkness, there’s a very dense energy that’s accompanied by a strong putrid stench. There seems to be some spiritual qi mixed in, but it’s barely noticeable and is hardly worth mentioning when compared to the murky energy."

Zhou Qingchen and Su Meng looked puzzled, while Han Duping and Luo Hongyan’s expressions subtly changed after hearing Pang Jian’s description.

"Pang Jian, don’t ever venture into the darkness again. Everyone, listen to me. Do not leave Eight Trigrams City, and do not attempt to explore the darkness!” Luo Hongyan exclaimed. She gestured for everyone to step back, urging them to retreat into Eight Trigrams City as soon as possible.

"Listen to her!" Han Duping also shouted.

Pang Jian looked at the two, puzzled. "What’s the story behind the darkness outside Eight Trigrams City?"

Han Duping licked his lips and said with a strained tone, "I’m just speculating, but it’s possible that outside Eight Trigrams City...is the Fifth World."

"The Fifth World?!" Zhou Qingchen and Su Meng shouted in unison.

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