Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 48: Destroying the Array

At the top floor of the Divine Spirit Pagoda, Pang Jian wielded his Dragonwood Spear and squinted his eyes as he immersed himself in the sensation of surging spiritual power.

His eyes were as sharp as the tip of his spear.

Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, spiritual power burst forth from Pang Jian's palms, its speed so fast that it quickened his heartbeat.

A radiant light illuminated the dark room!

Pang Jian lowered his head and saw the natural wood grain on his spear's shaft shimmering like dragon scales!

As the spear gleamed brightly, Pang Jian could distinctly feel that the array in the scale-like wood grain of the spear. After being infused with green spiritual power, the spear's strength and sharpness had been greatly amplified.

His strength increased dramatically, and the tip of the Dragonwood Spear became razor-sharp.

Whoosh!

A beam of green light shot out from the tip of the Dragonwood Spear and struck a stone on the array.

Ding!

A small, shallow hole had appeared on the stone, no bigger than a toenail.

However, the Dragonwood Spear had not come into contact with that stone.

Pang Jian's morale was greatly boosted!

Despite exerting all his strength with the Dragonwood Spear before, Pang Jian could not even leave a mark on the stones, let alone dislodge them.

Now, with four meridians in his body opened up, coupled with the support from the array within the Dragonwood Spear, he managed to damage a stone.

He could destroy the array on the top floor!

Anchoring his feet, Pang Jian tightened his core, twisting his body as he infused the Dragonwood Spear with spiritual power in preparation for a precise strike!

The long spear became perfectly straight and a dazzling light resembling a tiny sun radiated from its tip!

Pang Jian's eyes flashed. He thrust his spear toward the skull-shaped array.

His spiritual power poured into the Dragonwood Spear, the array on the spear's shaft amplifying its strength and sharpness of the spear. The brilliant light at the tip of the spear grew even more dazzling!

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Outside the white pagoda, Zhou Qingchen and the others were shocked by the appearance of a radiant light emanating from its fifth floor. They could not help but look toward it.

Bang!

Pang Jian pierced a stone imbued with Profound Yin energy. The tip of the Dragonwood Spear penetrated deeply into the hollow skull.

The deep green turtle, surrounded by ghostly apparitions that constantly ate at its consciousness, became aware of the spear.

The deep green turtle opened its eyes again, exerting considerable effort to adjust its angle to gaze at the tip of the spear piercing through the skull.

Pang Jian smiled with a triumphant grin. He had succeeded with a single strike. Exerting his strength, he wrenched the Dragonwood Spear out.

The instant he dislodged the Dragonwood Spear, the hollow skull made from numerous peculiar stones collapsed and disintegrated.

Damaging just one area triggered a chain reaction throughout the seamlessly integrated array.

Rumble!

The mysterious array crumbled like a tower struck by an earthquake. Pieces of stone shattered and fell to the ground.

It was only then that the spirit turtle in the skull dared to believe the array binding it had been destroyed.

The spirit turtle yelled out silently. Now free, it broke through the roof of the white pagoda and soared directly to the sky above the island.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The ghostly apparitions that had surrounded the deep green turtle flew out from the skull and escaped from the four open windows on the fifth floor.

Pang Jian was startled.

The ghostly apparitions, akin to a swarm of insects, enlarged a hundredfold and transformed into blurry figures once they left the collapsing skull.

Some of the blurry figures were clearly human, while the others resembled the mightiest beasts of the Solitary Mountain Range. Some figures looked neither human nor beast. They were unlike any creature he had ever seen before.

The spirit turtle... Pang Jian returned to his senses. He leaped out from an opened window and landed on the ground with a resounding thud before looking up toward the sky.

Nearly a hundred ghostly apparitions flew in the gloomy, dim sky, attempting to escape from Central Lake Island.

Above the ghostly apparitions, a huge turtle a dozen mu in size hovered steadily in the sky. It gazed down at the island with sorrow and nostalgia.

Its eyes were filled with reluctance. It did not want to leave its territory and embark on a new journey.

"Pang Jian succeeded!"

"He destroyed the soul array on the top of the Divine Spirit Pagoda and released all the ghostly apparitions held captive there!"

"The Divine Spirit Pagoda has lost its most terrifying ability!"

Han Duping, Su Meng, and He Rong yelled excitedly. They raised their heads and looked toward the ghostly apparitions that had escaped from the Divine Spirit Pagoda.

Meanwhile, Spirit Devils drifted out from the edges of Central Lake Island and preyed on the weaker ghostly apparitions.

Among them were two Spirit Devils whom Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping were familiar with. It was Hong Tai and Luo Meng!

Han Duping was scared witless. "That evil woman is also on this island. She killed Hong Tai!"

The Shadow Specter Sect's Hong Tai was killed and refined into a Spirit Devil. This indicated that the evil woman they met at the stone pile had recovered most of her strength.

Shangguan Qin was also startled by the commotion at the top of the small hill and soon caught sight of the Spirit Devil Luo Meng. "Luo-Luo Meng..."

"It wasn't my imagination. That night, that was truly Luo Meng! He came to see me. Even after his death, he came to see me!" Unable to restrain herself any longer, Shangguan Qin forgot to stay silent. She cried uncontrollably, her sobs filled with madness and sorrow.

She stood on the tips of her toes and desperately waved at Luo Meng, hoping he would come to her like before. However, Luo Meng was now a Spirit Devil. He no longer recognized her,

High in the sky, the massive spirit turtle had been gazing fondly at the island and reminiscing about times past. Still, when Spirit Devils drifted out, it no longer dared to reminisce and hastily flew toward the northern area of the Solitary Mountain Range.

Boom!

The spirit turtle, still in its ethereal form, crashed into an invisible barrier, causing a thunderous boom in the sky above the island.

Hesitating briefly, it swiftly condensed into a beam of green light before once again heading toward the northernmost area of the Solitary Mountain Range.

Whoosh!

The beam of light that was the spirit turtle broke through the barrier and escaped.

The ghostly apparitions previously surrounding the spirit turtle could not break through the barrier. One by one, they were gradually consumed and absorbed by the Spirit Devils.

"So there was actually a seal in the sky and the creature it was sealing was....a mysterious turtle." Standing on the top of the small hill overseeing Shangguan Qin and the deep hole, Luo Hongyan watched as the spirit turtle departed. She did not dare to command her Spirit Devils to pursue it.

The mysterious turtle was a rare Spirit Beast that roamed the upper world. It was mightier than the Giant Abyssal Serpent in Blackwater Pond.

Although the spirit turtle was currently in its ethereal form, it was still stronger than her Spirit Devils. If it were not for its misgivings, her Spirit Devils like Hong Tai and Luo Meng would have long become its prey.

The three forbidden zones of the Solitary Mountain Range: Blackwater Pond, Insect Valley, and Central Lake Island. All housed a mystical creature. Blackwater Pond had the Giant Abyssal Serpent; Insect Valley, a giant beehive; and now, on Central Lake Island, there's this mysterious turtle.

Whoever is behind this not only captured a Giant Abyssal Serpent from the eternal darkness of the Fifth World, but also reached the Second World, or even the First World to capture this mysterious turtle!

Who are they? Luo Hongyan wondered to herself.

The mysterious turtle had long disappeared from her line of sight. Luo Hongyan knitted her eyebrows and looked toward the deep hole.

If the person in the deep hole is the creator of these three forbidden zones, then everyone on the island will... Bitterness curled the corners of her mouth downward.

The destruction of the soul array in the white pagoda and the subsequent escape of the multitude of ghostly apparitions seemed to have alerted the person in the deep hole.

"Ah!" Shangguan Qin let out a cry of horror.

Her cries immediately caught the attention of the crowd looking at the sky.

The reason Pang Jian destroyed the array was because they were afraid that the person in the deep hole would come out and control the Divine Spirit Pagoda to extract their souls.

Shangguan Qin's terrified scream undoubtedly indicated movement in the deep hole. The person within...was about to appear!

Everyone gathered at the top of the small hill, wanting a clear view of the person emerging from the deep hole.

When he saw the Spirit Devils preying on the ghostly apparitions after he had destroyed the array, Pang Jian knew that the evil woman was on the island.

After the spirit turtle escaped toward the northernmost area of the Solitary Mountain Range, he heard Shangguan Qin's scream and hastily went over to the top of the small hill.

When Zhou Qingchen saw Pang Jian approaching, he pushed Han Duping aside and made room for Pang Jian.

"Pang Jian, congratulations! You actually pulled it off!" Ignoring Han Duping's displeasure, Zhou Qingchen smiled brightly and said, "You just entered the Meridian Opening Realm, but you managed to open up a meridian and destroy the soul formation with the Dragonwood Spear. I knew I was right about you!"

Pang Jian did not mention that he had opened up four meridians in one go. Instead, he said, "The Dragonwood Spear you gave me was very useful."

"The Dragonwood Spear is just a low-grade spirit artifact. However, there's a fundamental difference between a spirit artifact and the long saber you used before. Spirit artifacts can be imbued with spiritual power, while ordinary weapons cannot," Zhou Qingchen explained with a chuckle. "I knew you'd reach the Meridian Opening Realm even back when I gave you the Dragonwood Spear! But I didn't expect you to do it so quickly!"

As he chatted with Pang Jian, Zhou Qingchen occasionally glanced toward Shangguan Qin, gaze fixed on the deep hole beside her.

The others did the same.

Meanwhile, Luo Hongyan stood a distance away from the others, seemingly out of place among the crowd. She waved her hand to beckon Pang Jian over.

"Come here," she said.

Zhou Qingchen chuckled, expression somewhat ambiguous as he joked, "I heard that, after we parted ways, this girl had quite the change of heart toward you."

"Yes, she indeed changed a lot," Pang Jian replied before walking toward Luo Hongyan.

"Here it comes," He Rong said in a low voice.

Curious eyes stared intently at the deep hole formed by the bone of the Celestial Phoenix.

Soon, they saw a naked man, covered in viscous blood, slowly climb out.

His face, hair, and body were all covered in sticky, fresh blood, obscuring his true appearance from everyone.

Shangguan Qin trembled uncontrollably at the sight of him. She looked at him as if he were the most terrifying being in the world.

He simply smiled at Shangguan Qin, causing her to shiver in fear. Then, he glanced at the small hill where Pang Jian and the others were gathered.

In the end, he said nothing. Without a hint of concern, he jumped into Black Orchid Lake to wash off the viscous blood on his body.