Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 271: Call Me Master

Pang Jian was lost in thought as he gazed blankly at the lotuses in the pond of the mansion in Divine Fortress City in the Fourth World.

Twelve pairs of wings, beyond a True God...

Something stirred deep within him. The world beyond the Abyss was far more wondrous and dangerous than he had imagined.

The Sun God in the golden palace above the sun and the dead Celestial Race man with twelve pairs of wings on the moon were probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Beings like the Observer and the Outer God possessing the wooden carving were surely also observing the Abyss using means beyond Pang Jian's comprehension.

The Sun God, the Observer, and the wooden Outer God—he had not been able to see any of their true bodies.

But the Celestial Race man with twelve pairs of wings looked exactly like the Celestial Race of the Abyss.

Where was this Celestial Race man with twelve pairs of wings born? The Abyss? Or some other world?

What kind of divine being from another world is that majestic figure on the golden throne?

If the world beyond the Abyss is so vibrant and filled with many Outer Gods, why have those who ascended to True God and left the Abyss never returned?

An endless stream of questions flashed through Pang Jian's mind.

The concerns of the little tree and the issue of the mysterious beings of the outer world weighed heavily on Pang Jian.

He had a feeling that the calamity sweeping through the Abyss had only just begun.

The contamination of the murky energy and the attempts of the Fifth World’s foreign races to escape were not the real troubles of the Abyss.

"I hope there's still time. I hope I'll have the strength to protect myself when the true horror arrives," Pang Jian muttered.

In the following days, he continued to stay in the residence the little tree had prepared for him, keeping a close eye on his sea of consciousness.

The thin strands of golden divine sense did not naturally recover.

His cultivation remained stagnant despite his mastery over his divine sense. The weakened state of his golden divine sense prevented him from advancing to the late stage of the Profound Abode Realm.

He tried various methods like nourishing them with life energy or cleansing them with blood essence, but nothing worked.

The weakened strands of golden divine sense remained as thin as a wisp.

Perhaps golden divine sense can only be rejuvenated by killing Outer Gods. Pang Jian sighed helplessly.

Although he had initially planned to wait for his golden divine sense to recover before lying in the copper chest again to peek at the sun, moon, and stars, he had no choice but to abandon that idea.

Two more days later, Pang Jian told the little tree, "I'm heading back to the upper world."

Pang Ling watched reluctantly as Pang Jian dissipated the murky energy within his body before activating the teleportation function of his bronze pendant.

In an instant, Pang Jian appeared in the Resolute Expanse.

Half a day later, with the help of spirit jades and the black turtle, Pang Jian's depleted spiritual sea was once again brimming with spiritual power.

Activating Gravity Manipulation, Pang Jian ascended to the floating sea of massive boulders in the clouds above the Resolute Expanse.

Here will do.

Pang Jian then instructed the black turtle to guide the Resolute Expanse back below the clouds.

The sea of massive boulders...

Boulders of varying sizes surround him.

Some boulders covered several mu, while others were nearly a thousand mu large. Sharp bones jutted out from the cracks of the boulders.

The remains of the Celestial Phoenix had shattered here, causing the restricted area to explode and turning it into a sea of massive boulders.

If the Outer God known as the Observer appears, I'll lead it to the Resolute Expanse, Pang Jian thought.

Maintaining a connection with the black turtle, he released his aura and life force, hoping the yellow banner would detect him and reveal itself.

Unfortunately, it did not go as he wished.

The Observer did not appear ever after half a day.

Pang Jian also did not see anyone else around.

The sea of massive boulders no longer hid any Divine Guards after Dong Tianze's visit, and the cultivators of the Third World seemed to have forgotten about the place.

Pang Jian stood in the deserted sea of massive boulders, stared at the sky, and took out the sword token.

Channeling his consciousness inside, he saw thousands of rotund men in blue, still using their fingers as swords, demonstrating variations of sword technique according to the Dao of Chaos.

He once again immersed himself in the Chaos Sword Technique.

Sometime later, while Pang Jian was standing on the boulder, wielding his Startling Slaughter Spear like a sword, and contemplating sword techniques, he heard his unreliable master's voice.

"Pang Jian!"

The rotund men in blue abruptly stopped their swordplay.

Li Zhaotian injected his consciousness into the sword token’s small world and the rotund men in blue shouted in sync, "Kid, why did you put the sword token away? I've been looking for you for a long time! Where did you run off to?"

"The sea of massive boulders where the Celestial Phoenix’s remains shattered," Pang Jian answered honestly.

"Stay there and don't move. The girl from the Red Mountain Sect will come to pick you up with her new Scarlet Dawn Boat. A strange restricted area has appeared in the Second World. Qi Qingsong is leading the Sword Pavilion's team. He specifically asked to bring you along."

"Okay," Pang Jian replied simply, having already learned what was happening from Dong Tianze. Then, holding the sword token, he gazed at the afterimages of Li Zhaotian and asked, "Can Outer Gods descend in their true bodies into the Abyss?"

Li Zhaotian grinned and laughed. "Call me Master. No 'Master,' no answer."

"...Master," Pang Jian reluctantly added.

"Good. What an obedient disciple." Li Zhaotian nodded in satisfaction. Then, with a serious tone, he continued, "I'll answer your question. To my knowledge, Outer Gods cannot descend in their true bodies even when the Abyss is open.

"At most, they can only descend into the bodies of their worshippers."

Pang Jian quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

The issue of the Outer Gods had been weighing heavily on him, and he felt much more at ease after hearing that such terrifying entities could not descend with their true bodies.

"Outer Gods are not something you should be worrying about," Li Zhaotian said nonchalantly. "As long as you cultivate well and achieve godhood through the Dao of Chaos, you'll find that Outer Gods are not so frightening.

"In my eyes, those divine beings are simply the powerful beings who've broken free from other worlds.

"Many True Gods have left our Abyss. Although they've never returned, they've likely also become Outer Gods in some other world.

"For example, if I were to achieve godhood and leave the Abyss, I'd probably be considered one of the divine beings in the outside world.

"Alright, keep cultivating the Chaos Sword Technique. After you come out of Absolute Heaven, I'll take you to the Sword Pavilion to pick a good sword.

"The Heaven-Splitting Sword of the girl from the Li Family came from our Sword Pavilion. I hope you're lucky enough to find a divine artifact to call your own."

With those encouraging words, Li Zhaotian withdrew his consciousness.

The rotund men in blue resumed demonstrating sword techniques within the sword token.

Divine artifact, the Heaven-Splitting Sword...

Pang Jian took a deep breath.

In the days that followed, Pang Jian stayed on the floating boulder, awaiting the arrival of the Scarlet Dawn Boat. As he waited, he continued to comprehend the Chaos Sword Technique within the sword token with the help of Soul Nourishing Pills.

He also examined the Star Crushing Umbrella, which had been tainted by the corrupt divine power of an Outer God, and found it was still functional.

As time stretched on, Pang Jian secretly hoped the Observer would come after him.

It never did.

One day, a Scarlet Dawn Boat appeared above the sea of massive boulders.

Pang Jian was surprised when he saw the people on board.

Zhou Qingchen, Fang Boxuan, and even Dong Tianze were on Zhao Yuanqi's Scarlet Dawn Boat.

"Pang Jian!" Zhou Qingchen waved excitedly.

Fang Boxuan from the Blood Moon Sect forced an awkward attempt at a friendly smile.

The Black Iron Mountain suddenly flew out of the Scarlet Dawn Boat and headed straight for Pang Jian.

"Pang Jian!" Dong Tianze said sternly, "I need to talk to him alone!"

Zhao Yuanqi called back coolly, "Don't take too long. I don't want to wait for you two to chat."

With that, the Scarlet Dawn Boat came to a stop.

In no time, the Black Iron Mountain landed on the boulder where Pang Jian stood.

Whoosh!

Black demonic flames surged, transforming into a ring of fire that obscured the boulder, preventing those on the Scarlet Dawn Boat from overhearing their conversation.

"Despicable! I shared this enormous secret with you, planning to explore it together, but you took back the Black Iron Mountain, pretended to go to Spirit Offering, and then sneaked over here alone!" Dong Tianze coldly accused. "Pang Jian, I didn't expect you to be this kind of person. I really misjudged you!"

He had been fuming since he learned Pang Jian was in the sea of massive boulders and assumed Pang Jian wanted to secretly explore the wonders of that hidden fragmented land alone.

"It's not what you think..." Pang Jian felt immensely wronged, but he did not want to reveal that the Resolute Expanse was actually his, so he truly could not explain.

Dong Tianze's face remained cold as he asked, "Did you find it? Any discoveries?"

"No, I'm not looking for that." Pang Jian shook his head. "An Outer God that escaped from Spirit Offering appeared here. I came for that Outer God."

"Spare me that nonsense!" Dong Tianze sneered. "Pang Jian, I've seen your true colors today. You did it but don't dare to admit it!"

Pang Jian did not bother to argue further and simply resigned himself to allowing Dong Tianze to think whatever he wanted.

"Are you done talking?" Zhao Yuanqi shouted impatiently from the Scarlet Dawn Boat. "Qi Qingsong from the Sword Pavilion is already waiting for us on the Sacred Soul Continent. Don't waste everyone's time!"

"We're done talking," Pang Jian said decisively, having nothing more to say to Dong Tianze.

Forming a sword with his finger, he summoned dazzling lightning to coil around his fingertips and slashed through the demonic flames filled with beast souls.

Glancing at Zhou Qingchen, he asked, "Big Brother Zhou, are you all going to Absolute Heaven as well?"

"Yes, the Pavilion Master has permitted it." Zhou Qingchen said with a smile. "The Pavilion Master mentioned that anyone with Profound Abode Realm cultivation can enter Absolute Heaven. He permitted Sister Zhao and I to join after our Sect Master asked.

"As for those two"—he glanced at Fang Boxuan and Dong Tianze—"the Sword Pavilion said they had to compensate the Blood Moon Sect and the Sinister Soul Temple because you killed elders from those two sects, so they allowed them to come along as well."

"Oh." Pang Jian nodded, then activated the Gravity Manipulation ability of the black turtle scute.

A blackish-yellow glow surrounded him and he flew up to board the Scarlet Dawn Boat.

"Pang Jian, we meet again," Fang Boxuan greeted warmly. Grinning, he said, "I thought you and Dong Tianze would have a little spar down there. Haha, the Blood Moon Sect and the Sinister Soul Temple don't get along. If you two had a life-or-death battle, I'd firmly stand by your side!"

He acted like a close friend of Pang Jian and displayed more enthusiasm than even Zhou Qingchen.

Zhou Qingchen frowned. "Does Pang Jian still need you by his side when Sister Zhao and I are here?"

"It's precisely because you have the numbers that I want to side with you. If Dong Tianze had more people on his side or had stronger cultivation, I wouldn't even care about the feud between the Blood Moon Sect and the Sinister Soul Temple," Fang Boxuan shamelessly replied.