Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 44: Hollow Skull

On Central Lake Island, the white pagoda emitted a faint light, giving off an eerie and sinister aura.

As everyone in the group focused their senses, they heard the wailing of departed souls. A shiver ran down their spines.

Looking back at the white pagoda, Pang Jian could not help but feel that the white pagoda was harmless as it had not caused him any discomfort to him whatsoever.

The white pagoda belonged to the mysterious Sinister Soul Temple and had the ability to seek out souls and spirits. However, it seemed to ignore him and refrained from probing his soul.

"I'm so happy you came to rescue me," Luo Hongyan said, pursing her lips as her bright eyes shone with happiness and satisfaction.

Pang Jian knitted his brows and coldly said, "If you had treated me this well when we first entered the Solitary Mountain Range, I would not have turned a blind eye to you at the bottom of Blackwater Pond."

Luo Hongyan was startled.

Meanwhile, in Ning Yao's sea of consciousness, she proudly addressed Ning Yao's faint soul, "See that? He didn't rescue you when you fell into Blackwater Pond, but he saved me."

Ning Yao hung her head in regret as she said, "If only I'd known he was so remarkable, I would've treated him better."

Luo Hongyan shook her head with a mocking smirk. "You lack insight. Both you and Zhou Qingchen are from the seven major clans. Zhou Qingchen saw his potential and reached out to him early on. But you? Although you met him first, you failed to see his true worth and treated him like an ordinary hunter."

Ning Yao fell silent.

Luo Hongyan's words struck a chord within her. Although Ning Yao had initially ventured into the Solitary Mountain Range with Pang Jian, Zhou Qingchen was the one who extended an olive branch and worked to earn Pang Jian's trust.

When Ning Yao realized this, she resorted to threats instead of trying to win Pang Jian back to her side.

Ultimately, Pang Jian had thrown the pouch of silver she had paid him onto the ground, ending his employment.

As he gazed at Divine Spirit Pagoda from the sideline, He Rong found it difficult to put down his pride and approach Luo Hongyan. Instead, he turned to Pang Jian and coaxed, "Little brother, since you're unaffected, why don't you go to the top floor of the Divine Spirit Pagoda and destroy the array?"

With an awkward smile, Su Yuntian nodded in agreement.

Their fear of the Divine Spirit Pagoda prevented them from helping Luo Hongyan when she was in danger, leaving them feeling ashamed in her presence.

Luo Hongyan, however, seemed unperturbed. She was only concerned with Pang Jian. With a smile, she said, "Whether you can destroy the array doesn't matter. I trust that you'll be fine. The Divine Spirit Pagoda of the Sinister Soul Temple can't hurt you.

"I saw it with my own eyes. The moment you set foot on this Central Lake Island, it plummeted from the sky. It seemed to be...afraid of you."

Hearing these words, the crowd could not help but recall how the white pagoda had fallen from the sky, nor how the ground had trembled.

They looked at Pang Jian with deep confusion.

Maybe what had happened was not a coincidence after all.

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"I'll go take a look," Pang Jian said solemnly.

Pang Jian also had an inexplicable feeling that the Divine Spirit Pagoda could not harm him. However, this was just a gut feeling, and he had no evidence to back it up.

Having made up his mind, Pang Jian no longer hesitated. He walked toward the white pagoda with his Dragonwood Spear in hand.

His pace quickened and he no longer paused to cautiously observe his surroundings.

A moment later, he arrived at the front entrance of the white pagoda.

All eyes were on Pang Jian. They all seemed more nervous and uneasy than Pang Jian himself.

Luo Hongyan remained calm and composed. Her small white hand rested on her waist, her expression inscrutable.

"This is my body!"

Ning Yao sensed Luo Hongyan's movement and said with barely suppressed anger, "The places he touched are also part of my body!"

Luo Hongyan paid no attention to her as she floated in the void of Ning Yao's sea of consciousness.

"I could make this body mine if I wanted to. I was just thinking that possessing you and taking over your identity isn't a bad idea. Although your cultivation talent is somewhat lacking, there are ways to compensate for it. It'll just take time and resources."

Hearing this, Ning Yao no longer dared to express her anger and hastily suppressed her dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile, Pang Jian had entered the white pagoda.

A thick spiritual qi permeated the room. The spiritual qi on the first floor of the Divine Spirit Pagoda was several times thicker than that of Central Lake Island, filling the room like a white mist.

Translucent and luminous crystal pieces were arranged on the floor of the pagoda, laid out in the shapes of the Chinese character for "return"[1] to form a complex and mysterious array.

Each of these shapes was interconnected. Bright lights flowed like water within the bright crystals that formed them.

Standing over these crystals, Pang Jian activated the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art.

An incomparably rich spiritual qi surged from the bright crystals!

Boundless spiritual qi cascaded into his dantian like a waterfall, flowing directly into his spiritual sea!

This was immaculate, pure spiritual qi. Unlike the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, it did not need to be purified or refined. Moreover, it was extremely abundant!

Pang Jian felt as if an entire lake's worth of spiritual qi had rushed into him!

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Pang Jian's heartbeat quickened as he stared at the array beneath him in disbelief. This was the best cultivation place imaginable!

If he cultivated with the bright crystals, filling his spiritual sea with spiritual power would be a breeze. He would undoubtedly break through the bottleneck of the Qi Practicing Realm and have enough spiritual qi to enter the next realm!

Taking in the wonders of the Divine Spirit Pagoda, Pang Jian took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

This was not the time.

Pang Jian found the stairs leading up, not daring to cast a second glance at the bright crystals as he ascended the white pagoda.

The second, third, and fourth floors were empty. The floors and structure of the pagoda were constructed from the same material, resembling the white bones of a colossal creature.

Pang Jian did not hesitate. He headed straight to the fifth and final floor of the Divine Spirit Pagoda.

On the fifth floor was a massive, hollow ivory-white skull.

The top of the skull was empty, with hollow eye sockets and cheekbones. Countless ghostly apparitions, swarming like insects, surrounded a living being inside the hollow skull.

As Pang Jian recovered from the startling sight, he heard an endless cacophony of noise; desperate screams, frenzied roars, pleading wails, and boundless resentment and curses toward the world.

The fifth floor seemed to be filled with a myriad of sinister entities, including wandering spirits and ghosts,

He quickly calmed his mind, refusing to listen too closely to the specific meanings behind those strange noises or to think about where they came from. Instead, he focused on the center of the hollow skull.

Inside the hollow skull was a black turtle. Like the surrounding spirits and ghosts, it was in ethereal form. However, it was larger than all of them.

The black turtle floated in the center of the hollow skull, surrounded by ghostly apparitions that seemed to be slowly eating away its consciousness.

Observing the situation, Pang Jian realized that the sounds were coming from the ghostly apparitions.

The numerous ghostly apparitions swarmed around the much larger black turtle, clouding its thoughts and will. The black turtle became increasingly confused and disoriented, almost losing its sense of self.

The skull is the special array, Pang Jian realized.

As he approached, a surge of pure Profound Yin energy rushed toward him.

The hollow skull was made of jade stones imbued with Profound Yin energy.

These jade stones were not gray, but pure white. The Profound Yin energy in these jade stones was much purer than the gray stone he had found in the stone pile.

These jade stones contained only Profound Yin energy and not spiritual qi or other energies.

Pang Jian continued to approach the skull, cautiously aware of its eerie, chilling aura. Meanwhile, the door-shaped bronze pendant on his chest started to warm.

As the bronze pendant warmed, the black turtle inside the skull suddenly seemed to sense something.

The spirit turtle struggled to regain its awareness and made great efforts to adjust itself to face Pang Jian.

Eventually, it caught sight of the young man, wielding a spear as if preparing to face a formidable enemy. At first, its eyes flickered with confusion before abruptly turning into a look of ecstasy!

However, as the black turtle studied Pang Jian, it soon realized that he was not the person it had expected. A deep disappointment filled its expression.

Even though it existed in an ethereal form and did not possess a physical body, the black turtle's complicated and ever-changing gaze as it watched Pang Jian betrayed its innermost thoughts.

Even without verbal communication, Pang Jian could read the black turtle's thoughts by looking into its eyes.

"I will destroy this skull and set you free," Pang Jian promised without hesitation. After all, his sole purpose in coming here was to dismantle the array.

He grabbed his Dragonwood Spear and thrust it at the skull.

Clang!

The resounding clang of metal echoed as the spearhead struck the jade stone. However, not even a spark flew from the seemingly inconspicuous jade stone.

Pang Jian was stunned. He tightly gripped the Dragonwood Spear with both hands once more. A surging tide of brute strength flowed through his arms and the rest of his body.

He thrust the spear at the jade stone again.

Clang!

As before, a resounding clang of metal echoed out and the jade stone remained undamaged.

Is this jade stone just special? Pang Jian was undeterred. He knew how terrifying his physical strength could be, so he tightened his grip on the Dragonwood Spear and targeted the other jade stones instead.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Even after dozens of attempts to hit different jade stones, none of the stones that made up the array were damaged. There was no sign of them even moving from their positions.

The spirit turtle at the center of the skull closed its eyes in disappointment. It no longer seemed to hold any expectations for him.

Pang Jian was not discouraged. After many attempts, he put down and tried to push the jade stones with both hands. However, in the end, not a single one moved.

"Let me think of another method. I'll definitely destroy this thing," Pang Jian declared before departing, paying no mind to whether or not the spirit turtle heard him.

Pang Jian did not bother to retrieve the Dragonwood Spear or descend the tower via the stairs. Instead, he jumped directly out of one of the open windows.

Boom!

Pang Jian fell heavily from the five-story white pagoda. Landing on the lush grass-covered ground, he rushed over to Luo Hongyan.

The onlookers watched him with a mix of astonishment and uncertainty.

1. The Chinese character for return is 回 ☜