Trials of the Abyss

After Long Yan disappeared, Li Jie finally dared to poke his head out from beneath the Qilin Bell.

"Li Jie, how are you holding up?" Pang Jian asked, glancing solemnly at Li Jie before turning his gaze in the direction Long Yan had fled. "Can you join me in pursuing the wounded Flame Dragon?"

Long Yan had left a trail of fresh blood for them to follow.

The overwhelming strength of the Rank Eight Flame Dragon had deeply shaken Pang Jian.

During the battle, he had also realized that Long Yan's bloodline was at a critical threshold, on the verge of advancing.

If Long Yan survived this battle, there was a high chance he would complete his bloodline breakthrough within the Demon Abyss.

A Rank Eight Flame Dragon was already monstrously strong. If Long Yan ascended to Rank Nine and reached Long Zhan's level, Pang Jian would no longer be able to deal with him.

Even Pang Jian could not kill a Rank Nine Flame Dragon in the Nirvana Realm, regardless of whether he wielded a divine sword.

In other words, this was Pang Jian's only opportunity to eliminate Long Yan, while he was still injured and Rank Eight.

"You want to hunt him down?!" Li Jie was horrified. He had not expected Pang Jian to be reckless enough to chase after Long Yan.

"He could break through to Rank Nine while in the Demon Abyss," Pang Jian explained, his killing intent surging. "If we don't kill him, neither of us will have a chance of survival!

"A breakthrough?"

Li Jie was not foolish. After processing his shock, he quickly flew out from beneath the Qilin Bell.

Whoosh!

The Qilin Bell transformed into a sleek boat.

"Get on! Quickly!"

Once Pang Jian boarded, the boat sped toward the direction Long Yan had fled in a blinding streak.

On the way, Li Jie lifted a drop of Long Yan's spilled blood from the ground and placed it into a fist-sized crystal orb.

The intricate runes within the orb lit up.

"Blood Tracking!" Li Jie muttered in a low voice.

The boat beneath them accelerated as the orb pinpointed Long Yan's location.

Li Jie was the most gifted artifact refiner of his generation within the Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect and excelled in everything except combat.

Both the sleek boat transformed from the Qilin Bell and his blood-tracking technique were unparalleled tools for pursuit.

"Pang Jian, let me just ask you one last time—do you have the absolute confidence to kill that Flame Dragon?" Li Jie asked earnestly. "If not, we could always retreat from the Demon Abyss.

"You can return to your Sword Pavilion, and I'll head back to my Divine Treasure Sect.

"My journey to temper my heart can always end early. After all, my life is far more important."

Pang Jian replied with just one word, "Yes."

"Very well!" Li Jie took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. "I've had enough of the dragons in the Dragon Lair Sect anyway!

"They've been meddling with our Divine Treasure Sect's trade deals with the Great Feys and Fey Kings of the Sacred Soul Continent!

"We need a new Fey God to rise up and challenge the authority of that ancient Thunder Dragon!

"Pang Jian, I'll give you the sword scabbard later. In the meantime, I'll fully support you in killing that Flame Dragon!"

Li Jie first donned a suit of purple-gold armor that covered him from head to toe. He then brought out a massive black iron shield and arranged poison-laden banners to hover densely around himself.

"Pang Jian, I can't fight Long Yan head-on like you. You'll have to take the lead. Here, swallow this pill. It'll make you immune to nine types of poison.

"Long Yan's area will soon be flooded with poisons. It doesn't matter if he's a Rank Eight Flame Dragon, or if his bloodline has advanced to Rank Nine. These poisons will still give him a tough time!

"Heh! Back in Eight Trigrams City, you and your group went to every extreme against the Star River Alliance.

"Pang Jian, I learned all of this from you."

Li Jie seemed genuinely thrilled. Gesturing animatedly, he carefully detailed his use of poisons, the traps he had designed to hunt massive beasts, and the arrays he would lay out for the coordinated attack.

As Pang Jian listened, he could not help but feel a twinge of pity for the Rank Eight Flame Dragon.

"Wait, his direction just changed! He's heading toward the demonic stone!" Li Jie exclaimed.

The boat beneath them abruptly changed directions, speeding toward the demonic stone at the center of the Demon Abyss.

This change in direction greatly increased the pressure they faced. The greenish-black waves emanating from the demonic stone grew heavier and more oppressive as they approached, weighing down their minds and bodies.

Rip!

The healed wounds on Pang Jian's back from Long Yan's earlier attacks burst open again.

Pang Jian's killing intent toward Long Yan surged violently, and his pupils turned a terrifying deep red, like blood-red suns above a pale sea.

Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!

The thought of killing Long Yan completely consumed his mind. His heart drummed wildly and his breathing became erratic.

Li Jie's expression shifted at Pang Jian's alarming changes.

"Pang Jian? Pang Jian!" He shook Pang Jian's shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"I..." Pang Jian opened his mouth, and miraculously, started to calm down.

The surge of killing intent within him slowly ebbed, as if pulled away by a magnet, allowing him to steadily regain clarity.

He glanced at the Abyssal Demon Sword in his hand.

The dispersed demonic clouds, light, flames, and the fragmented six mysterious realms within the world in the sword were all reforming.

His malicious thoughts were also drawn into the blade, transforming into energy that empowered the Abyssal Demon Sword.

The revival of the Abyssal Demon and the awakening of its consciousnesses had shielded Pang Jian from the corruption of the demonic stone.

"Good, good, as long as you're fine. You gave me quite a scare." Li Jie patted his chest, causing his purple-gold armor to clatter noisily. "We're almost there!"

A quarter of an hour later, another crumbling city came into view.

Dust swirled in the air above the rubble as if just starting to settle.

"He's hiding beneath the rubble! Heh, does he really think he can fool me?" Li Jie sneered.

The boat stopped, and before Pang Jian could leap down on his sword, the dozens of poison-laden banners surrounding Li Jie flew out.

The banners expanded as they caught the wind, scattering thick clouds of toxic powder and poisonous mist. The dense toxins, capable of corroding flesh and tainting souls, mixed with the rising dust and smoke across the ruined city.

"Despicable!" Long Yan roared furiously.

He had fled to these ruins, intending to use a secret technique and the heart of a Rank Nine Fey King to recover his strength, hoping for a bloodline breakthrough.

He had not expected Pang Jian to track him down, let alone unleash deadly mist that was effective even against him.

Roar!

Long Yan, now shrunken to a mere hundred zhang, writhed within the rubble as his body was forced into the open.

The red crystalline scales on his body were cracked. The wounded flesh underneath started to fester as the poisonous mist came into contact with it.

As Long Yan breathed in the poisonous mist, his mind grew dizzy, and fear gripped his heart.

As a Rank Eight dragon, Long Yan was immune to most poisons, but this toxic mist proved surprisingly effective against him.

When Long Yan came out into the open, Li Jie quickly retreated from the ruined city on his boat.

"Pang Jian, kill him now. He's done for," Li Jie shouted, pointing at the hundred-zhang-long Flame Dragon faintly visible within the poisonous mist. "Don't let him charge out and kill me!

"He's vulnerable right now, and you've already fought him to the point of fleeing before.

"Killing him should be a breeze!

"Go finish him off!" Li Jie urged, continuing to steer the boat further away.

"Alright."

Pang Jian summoned his protective shield and flew down into the ruined city on his sword.

However, his expression soon changed as the poisonous mist seeped through his protective shield, causing his scalp to tingle.

These poisonous fumes could bypass his protective shield!

"Li Zhaotian's disciple turned out to be so devious and ruthless!

"Pang Jian, the reputation of the Sword Pavilion will surely suffer with a disciple like you!

"I've never heard of a Sword Pavilion disciple resorting to such vile tactics against their opponents!" Long Yan growled, hazily watching as a sword light streaked toward him in the dense poisonous mist.

The toxins from Li Jie seeped into his nostrils and penetrated the cracks in his fractured scales.

His tenacious vitality worked tirelessly to expel and cleanse the toxins. His heart roared to life as it tried to obliterate the harmful toxins.

If not for Pang Jian's presence, he could have handled the toxins with time.

Dragons were absurdly powerful, and even the lethal poisons Li Jie had prepared could not kill him outright.

"Li Jie, the person you came to kill, released these poisons, not me," Pang Jian patiently explained. "Of course, that's only because I don't have those poisons. If I did, I wouldn't have hesitated to use them on you as well."

With that, Pang Jian swung his sword at Long Yan.

***

Outside the ruined city, Li Jie was leisurely watching the scene unfold when his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

A strong sense of danger gripped him.

Whoosh!

The purple-gold armor he wore flared to life and layers of protective flames enveloped his entire body.

A dazzling silver blade light streaked toward him, slicing through the layers of protective flames, leaving cracks across his purple-gold armor.

The sleek boat quickly transformed back into the Qilin Bell, shielding Li Jie just as a second blade light descended.

Dong!

The blade light struck the bell.

A young woman wielding a serrated blade retreated decisively into the distance when her attacks failed.

Li Jie cowered within the Qilin Bell, drenched in sweat and not daring to make a sound.

After a while, someone knocked on the bell's surface. "Li Jie, I'm Wu Yuan from the Demon Sect. That woman has already left. You can come out now."

Whoosh!

The Qilin Bell turned transparent, revealing Li Jie huddled inside. Layers of defensive arrays shimmered around him as he suspiciously eyed Wu Yuan.

"I'm not coming out unless Pang Jian's here!"