Trials of the Abyss

Burp... Su Meng let out a burp as she held the glass bottle. Green fruit juice dotted the corners of her mouth.

Everybody turned to look at her.

Luo Hongyan’s expression turned icy. Knitting her brows, she asked, "Aren’t you afraid it’s poisoned?"

"It’s just too delicious! I couldn’t resist the smell, I just had to drink it!" Su Meng’s eyes widened as she savored the lingering green fruit juice at the bottle’s rim. She sighed regretfully. "I wish there was more."

She gazed longingly at the departing figure of Li Jie. She wanted another bottle but was too embarrassed to ask.

"What a lucky little girl," Li Jie muttered to himself. Then, without turning his head, he said, "You all should enter the City Lord’s Manor as soon as possible. Don’t linger outside any longer."

Zhou Qingchen was about to ask him a few questions when his expression abruptly changed.

He squinted and silently activated the cultivation method of the Red Mountain Sect to feel the subtle changes within his body. Moments later, specks of grayish-black impurities oozed from the pores of his exposed skin.

Refreshing energy forcefully expelled the impurities accumulated within his flesh and organs in an instant!

Back in the Solitary Mountain Range, he was forced to hasten his breakthrough to the Marrow Cleansing Realm due to the threat of Hong Tai and had used an incomplete set of marrow cleansing spirit materials to accomplish it.

Han Duping had gathering a set of marrow cleansing spirit materials, but it had still been incomplete.

Zhou Qingchen was aware that breaking through the Marrow Cleansing Realm with those marrow cleansing spirit materials would never fully cleanse his body, and that he would need to go through the bone forging, marrow cleansing process once more when he went to the Red Mountain Sect.

However, the power of the green fruit juice had just forced out those lingering impurities!

Zhou Qingchen stared at Li Jie’s departing figure in shock.

Unfortunately, the eccentric young man had long since disappeared without a trace.

Returning to his senses, Zhou Qingchen hurriedly asked, "Su Meng, do you feel anything strange?"

Su Meng shook her head. "Just a slight cool sensation in my stomach, nothing else."

Despite being out of sight, Li Jie’s voice echoed from the front entrance of the City Lord’s Mansion, "The effects of the medicine will last for a while. When she advances to the Marrow Cleansing Realm, it will nourish her body."

Zhou Qingchen did not hesitate to urge Jiang Li, "Senior Sister Jiang, drink the green fruit juice!"

Seeing Zhou Qingchen’s expression, Jiang Li knew the green fruit juice was not poisoned. Although puzzled, she obediently drank it as instructed.

As she sipped the green fruit juice, a delighted smile formed and she could not help but remark, "No wonder he’s always drinking this."

"Senior Sister Jiang, the green fruit juice can help you complete the preliminary stage of marrow cleansing. When you advance to the Marrow Cleansing Realm, it’ll cleanse the impurities in your body, allowing you to refine your bones and organs!"

Gazing at the direction where Li Jie had disappeared, Zhou Qingchen’s eyes glinted with excitement as he said in a low voice, "He must come from an extraordinary background!"

Han Duping stomped his foot in frustration. "What? The green fruit juice helps with marrow cleansing?"

Having cultivated to the late stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, he only lacked one set of marrow cleansing spirit materials before he could advance to the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

He did not expect that the green fruit juice Lie Jie had so casually gifted could help him complete the most vital stage of the bone forging, marrow cleansing process.

Realizing that Pang Jian had yet to drink his fruit juice, Han Duping started to turn to him as he cried out, "Pang Jian! You’re still far from the Marrow Cleansing Realm, so maybe, uh..."

"What?" Pang Jian asked, setting down an empty glass bottle.

He had gulped down the green fruit juice in one go.

It left a cool sensation in his stomach and abdomen, which was completely different from the burning of alcoholic beverages.

Pang Jian had yet to break through to the Marrow Cleansing Realm, so he could not experience the full wonders of the green fruit juice that Zhou Qingchen had.

"It’s nothing." Han Duping sighed regretfully. If he had known of Li Jie’s generosity, he would have ingratiated himself to Li Jie when he had the chance.

Now that Pang Jian had gulped down the last bottle of green fruit juice, Han Duping’s hope of advancing to the Marrow Cleansing Realm was extinguished.

Pang Jian’s expression suddenly changed. "Hurry, we have to enter the City Lord’s Mansion!" he shouted.

Tossing the empty glass bottle aside, he tightly clenched the Dragonwood Spear and darted forward.

Luo Hongyan also realized what was happening. The motionless darkness that had halted at the intersection was now spilling into the plaza.

"The darkness is encroaching once again!" she cried out.

Everybody’s faces paled as they finally understood why Li Jie urged them to enter the City Lord’s Mansion. They rushed to catch up to Pang Jian.

As Pang Jian led the way, he also informed the group of his observations, "The light emitted from the city walls and stone tiles has faded, allowing the darkness to continue its advance. It seems like something is deliberately drawing the light into the walls and the ground, allowing darkness to drive everyone toward the City Lord’s Mansion."

Hearing this, the mood of the group turned solemn. They felt as if an unseen, malevolent force was orchestrating everything from the shadows.

They soon disappeared from the section of the plaza behind the City Lord’s Mansion.

At that moment, the intersection with the previously surging darkness saw a resurgence of tumultuous activity.

The strange entity within seemed to advance alongside the encroaching darkness toward the City Lord’s Mansion.

***

Pang Jian returned to the front entrance of the City Lord’s Mansion, only to find the wide-open front entrance was deserted.

Only a pile of slowly disappearing bones lay on the ground.

Dozens of corpses lay on the shiny stone tile, but not a drop of blood could be found.

The last time Pang Jian was here, there had been pools of blood everywhere.

In the short time he was gone, the pristine white jade-like stone tile floor had absorbed all that blood.

Pang Jian was about to inform the others of this eerie situation but changed his mind when he turned his head and saw rapidly approaching darkness.

"Quick, get inside!"

He no longer hesitated as he took the lead to rush into the City Lord’s Mansion. Passing through a dark stone passage, he arrived at a spacious courtyard.

The others followed closely in his wake.

Cultivators gathered around the pool in the middle of the courtyard.

The water in the square-shaped pool was crystal-clear, and the pool floor could be seen. A dazzling light descended from the sky, converging at the bottom of the pool.

Each corner of the square pool had a raised platform, and each platform had someone sitting facing the pool in silent meditation.

The four raised platforms appeared to be designed so that those atop them could observe the treasures floating within the pool.

When Han Duping entered the courtyard, he caught sight of a familiar figure and almost let out a scream. The figure sat upright on one of the raised platforms with his back turned to them.

His weapon, Ghost’s Cry, rested beside him.

"Dong Tianze!"

Su Meng gritted her teeth. Her petite figure trembled uncontrollably as she glared at the figure she longed to kill.

She both hated and feared Dong Tianze.

Luo Hongyan smirked. Eyeing Pang Jian in interest, she whispered, "Fate loves to play games."

Pang Jian knitted his brows and remained silent.

He had considered the possibility of encountering Dong Tianze in Eight Trigrams City, but he had not expected Dong Tianze to have been inside the City Lord’s Mansion all along.

This meant Dong Tianze had already carved out a bloody path in Eight Trigrams City and earned the qualification to enter the City Lord’s Mansion.

Luo Hongyan hesitated briefly before pointing at the pool. "I’m going to take a closer look. Aren’t you curious about the treasures as well?"

"I’m not in a hurry," Pang Jian replied indifferently.

Behind them, Han Duping stood on tiptoe as he scanned his surroundings for Li Jie. He was prepared to set aside his pride to shamelessly request a bottle of green fruit juice from him.

Unfortunately, no matter how much he searched, he could not find Li Jie.

Zhou Qingchen was the last of their group to enter and he soon noticed that everyone’s attention was fixed on the pool. However, the crowd of cultivators ahead of him obscured his view.

Regardless, this was of no importance to Zhou Qingchen as he knew Qi Qingsong was most likely one of the people on the raised platforms.

"Which one is Qi Qingsong?" he quietly asked Jiang Li,

Jiang Li shook her head in distress. She held Zhou Qingchen’s arm and whispered, "Junior Brother Zhou, please don’t! Don’t risk yourself for me!"

Shaking his head, Zhou Qingchen forcefully brushed her off his arm. Standing at the edge of the courtyard, he roared, "Who is Qi Qingsong?!"

The cultivators had been focused on the pool and Zhou Qingchen’s roar had startled them, causing them to curse and glare at him.

Zhou Qingchen remained unfazed.

As Dong Tianze turned his head, he caught sight of Pang Jian and shouted angrily, "Pang Jian!"

His face and his eyes filled with madness, scaring many people behind him into hastily backing away.

A narrow pathway opened between him and Pang Jian.

Leng Yuan was taken aback. She had never seen Dong Tianze lose control like this before.

Up to this point, she had only witnessed him emotionlessly killing others.

This uncontrolled and emotional Dong Tianze was unfamiliar to her.

Glancing at the spear-wielding young man standing at the entrance, she only became more confused.

The young man was tall and lean and wore a cold expression. However, his cultivation did not seem particularly high.

Puzzled, she asked, "Junior Brother Dong, is there anything special about him?"

Dong Tianze let out a cold snort and completely ignored her. His hostile glare remained fixated on Pang Jian.

Pang Jian tightened his grip on his spear and stoically raised his head to look at Dong Tianze without saying a word.

Even as Pang Jian did this, his eyes searched the crowd for the man named Qi Qingsong.

When Zhou Qingchen found out that Jiang Li had lost an arm, he pleaded with Pang Jian to help him kill Qi Qingsong.

Back then, Pang Jian had responded with a simple "okay".

That was his solemn promise to Zhou Qingchen!

Now that he was finally here, Pang Jian kept his promise in mind and set aside his grievances with Dong Tianze to focus solely on searching for Qi Qingsong.

"Are you ignoring me?" Dong Tianze’s eyes turned cold as he prepared to stand up.

"I’m Qi Qingsong," said a man in blue across from Dong Tianze. He had been leisurely gazing at the pool when he heard someone shout his name, leaving him puzzled and surprised. Looking at Dong Tianze, he said, "The one surnamed Dong, would you mind stepping aside so that I can see who’s calling my name?"

Pang Jian and the others stood behind Dong Tianze, and Qi Qingsong could not see them from where he sat on the raised platform.

Dong Tianze had originally intended to settle the score with Pang Jian. However, he hesitated as he glanced at Qi Qingsong and the two individuals on the raised platforms to his left and right. Despite hearing Zhou Qingchen’s roar, the two did not even lift their heads.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Dong Tianze unexpectedly stepped aside, allowing Qi Qingsong to have a clear view of the person shouting his name.

Qi Qingsong stood up, staring curiously at Zhou Qingchen and his group. Perplexed, he asked, "Big guy, why are you calling out to me? I don’t believe we’ve met before."

Zhou Qingchen growled and pointed at Jiang Li. "What about her? Do you remember hacking off her forearm?"

Qi Qingsong was taken aback. He took an earnest look at Jiang Li, then lazily rubbed his forehead. "I think I vaguely recall that, but I’ve killed so many people it’s hard for me to remember."

Having killed so many like Jiang Li along the way, he genuinely had a hard time remembering the few who managed to survive.

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