Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 50: Jumping into the Deep Hole

Dong Tianze continued his slaughter.

Pang Jian stared silently at Dong Tianze's every move from the bottom of the small hill, his hand clutching his Dragonwood Spear as he attempted to find a gap in his attacks.

The brutal slaughter of the Su Clan and the He Clan did not affect Pang Jian. His heart remained as unyielding as a rock.

All Pang Jian could think about was how to effectively counterattack while preserving his own life when facing Dong Tianze.

Dong Tianze had obviously mastered some kind of movement technique. His movements were as elusive and agile as lightning, making it hard to keep up with him.

The advantage of numbers was useless in the open terrain as he was able to attack them one by one with his swift speed.

He had to be confined to a narrow space!

While Pang Jian was calmly devising a plan to deal with Dong Tianze, Zhou Qingchen abruptly turned his head and shouted, "You two, be careful! I'll deal with Dong Tianze!"

A long saber gleaming with cold light appeared from the silver ring under his sleeve. Zhou Qingchen wielded the long saber and rushed straight toward the small hill!

The edge of the long saber did not look sharp. It even had many nicks. However, when Zhou Qingchen wielded it, there was a sense of added weight as though he was holding a mountain.

"That long saber was forged from cold iron. Cold iron, like black gold, is a type of high-grade metal," Luo Hongyan casually explained. Surprise flashed in her eyes as she watched Zhou Qingchen wielding the long saber, and she said, "He has a storage-type spirit artifact on him. There are very few people in the Fourth World who own storage-type spirit artifacts.

"Dong Tianze doesn't want to make Zhou Qingchen his first opponent because Zhou Qingchen, like him, has stepped into the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

"He's worried that we and Han Duping will support and attack from a distance if he fights Zhou Qingchen. So, he chose to avoid Zhou Qingchen and use his movement technique to kill the weaker ones first!"

Luo Hongyan had long seen through Dong Tianze's intentions. The corner of her lips twitched as she asked, "Were you trying to provoke him with the bamboo flute so that we could deal with him first?

"If we engaged him in battle, he would've found it difficult to break free from the encirclement, especially with Han Duping's support. Unfortunately, he managed to regain his composure and refrain from doing something foolish by biting that woman."

Luo Hongyan calmly offered her thoughts as she watched the battle in front of her. She believed she had seen through Pang Jian's intentions.

Seeing Pang Jian remain silent, she raised her eyebrows and chuckled lightly. "You're usually aloof and always ignore others. I didn't expect there to be a hint of arrogance lurking inside you."

"I wasn't thinking that far ahead. I just don't like him," Pang Jian replied.

According to Dong Tianze, those with an essence of the Celestial Phoenix would come to Central Lake Island and fight to the death here with him.

Pang Jian had acquired more than one essence of the Celestial Phoenix.

Since they were destined to fight to the death, Pang Jian naturally racked his brain to come up with a plan to eliminate Dong Tianze.

He would find a way to kill anyone who posed a threat to his life, ensuring that there were no lingering dangers.

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Pang Jian soon noticed that Zhou Qingchen was much slower compared to Dong Tianze.

After arriving at the small hill, Zhou Qingchen ripped the Heartguard Mirror hanging on his chest and threw it to Han Duping. "Old Han, use this to protect yourself!"

He then darted toward Dong Tianze.

At that moment, the blood-soaked Dong Tianze was fighting barehanded with Su Yuntian and He Rong.

The black gold dagger named Ghost's Cry hovered in the sky like the Divine Spirit Pagoda, capturing both ghostly apparitions and Spirit Devils.

The more ghostly apparitions it captured, the more powerful it became.

When he saw Zhou Qingchen approach imposingly, Dong Tianze flashed a wicked grin. Ghost's Cry swiftly descended and hovered above Zhou Qingchen's head.

The numerous ghostly apparitions that were captured and stored inside Ghost's Cry flew out from the holes on its blade and swarmed Zhou Qingchen in a way reminiscent of the spirit turtle in the hollow skull.

Zhou Qingchen found himself ensnared in a quagmire of ghostly apparitions. Anguish could be seen in his eyes as he fought desperately against the encroachment of the ghostly apparitions on his soul.

"It seemed that Dong Tianze avoided Zhou Qingchen because he needed to enhance the power of his spirit artifact by capturing ghostly apparitions. The more his spirit artifact captures, the more powerful it becomes." Luo Hongyan's cold eyes stared at the sky as she sensed the aura emanating from Ghost's Cry.

"Don't worry too much. Zhou Qingchen is not a pushover. He should be able to hold his own. After all, the Ghost's Cry is not like the soul array in the Divine Spirit Pagoda. It's not as terrifying as it may seem," she said, grabbing Pang Jian and pulling him toward the deep hole. "Zhou Qingchen should be fine for now. Dong Tianze is only using his spirit artifact to restrain him, and give himself a chance to kill the rest."

Pang Jian had originally faced the small hill. However, when Luo Hongyan pulled him, he was forced to turn around. He spotted a familiar-looking Spirit Devil descending toward the deep hole.

"Luo Meng!" Pang Jian shouted.

Shangguan Qin had also caught sight of the Spirit Devil Luo Meng. In between sobs, she cried out, "Luo Meng! Are you coming to save me?"

"Luo Meng" ignored her, directly descending into the deep hole that Dong Tianze had climbed out from and vanishing without a trace.

Shangguan Qin stood there blankly, face covered in blood. She could not accept the fact that the loyal Luo Meng would choose to ignore her.

After a moment, she screamed frantically, "Damn you, you worthless man! Now that I've lost my beauty, even you abandon me! Now that I'm ugly and repulsive to look at, you choose to leave me..."

As she cupped her cheeks, blood seeped through her fingers, causing her to hastily hide her face.

She buried her head in the grass and sobbed bitterly, too ashamed to lift her head to face anyone again.

"Luo Meng died a long time ago. The one you've been longing to see again, Ouyang Duanhai, also met his demise at Blackwater Pond," Luo Hongyan remarked as she leisurely approached. She wanted to add a few more sarcastic remarks but decided against it when she saw that Shangguan Qin was on the verge of losing her mind.

Hearing that even Ouyang Duanhai had died, Shangguan Qin's world collapsed around her. She crumpled onto the grass and murmured dazedly to herself, "Yes, I deserve it, it was all my fault. It was me who caused the death of my Ouyang Duanhai. My beloved Duanhai, for your whole life, I've let you down. I'm so sorry..."

In her heart, Ouyang Duanhai may not have been her husband but he shared the essence of marriage with her. He was the only man in her life.

"The evil woman from the stone pile is also on this island!" Pang Jian reminded Luo Hongyan.

Luo Hongyan stopped. She rolled her eyes and snorted. "Isn't that even better? Zhou Qingchen may not be able to handle the troublesome Dong Tianze alone. With that woman interfering, our chances of success will be higher."

"No, the evil woman controls the Spirit Devils. I think she's more troublesome than Dong Tianze," Pang Jian said earnestly.

Infuriated by his repeated use of "evil woman," Luo Hongyan retorted coldly, "She has neither killed you nor your friends. Stop calling her an evil woman just because everybody else does!"

Pang Jian was baffled.

Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping had been calling her that, so why couldn't he?

Before Pang Jian could ponder too deeply, Luo Hongyan dragged him to the edge of the deep hole and said, "There's blood essence of the black turtle in the deep hole. The black turtle was killed by the bone of the Celestial Phoenix piercing its heart. The essence of the Celestial Phoenix, formed from the essence of the black turtle, is likely in Dong Tianze's possession.

"The black turtle is far stronger than the Giant Abyssal Serpent in Blackwater Pond. A single drop of the essence of the Celestial Phoenix doesn't require all of its blood essence to produce.

"Dong Tianze is using the remaining essence of the black turtle to undergo the bone forging, marrow cleansing process."

Luo Hongyan told Pang Jian everything she had observed at the bottom of the deep hole through the Spirit Devil.

"The giant serpent at the bottom of Blackwater Pond is called the Giant Abyssal Serpent..." Pang Jian paused and asked, "Black turtle? The one that just appeared in the sky?"

Luo Hongyan nodded. "Yes, that was the black turtle's beast soul! In fact, the entire island is the shell of the black turtle! If you dive deep enough, you'll see that the black turtle is standing on its four limbs and carrying the island on its back."

Pang Jian was astonished. "Is the black turtle that big?"

"This black turtle is considered small. It was only able to transform such a small island into a spiritual land."

Luo Hongyan glanced at the gloomy sky and sighed. "Legend has it that there exists an even larger black turtle, carrying a landmass equivalent to the one beneath our feet and wandering across the three worlds above.

"The landmass on the back of that black turtle is so rich in spiritual qi that it's a place where sects are founded. Countless experts aspiring to establish their own sect secretly seek out that black turtle, hoping to tame it and establish their sect using the land it carries on its back as their sacred ground."

Pang Jian was even more shocked.

Since he was young, he had only ever been to the Solitary Mountain Range and Linshan Town. He had never left the continent named Northern Qi.

It was hard for him to imagine that a black turtle could carry such a vast expanse of land on its back and wander across the three worlds above.

"Dong Tianze is different from Ouyang Duanhai. Although they both obtained a drop of the essence of the Celestial Phoenix, Ouyang Duanhai's heart was devoured by it while Dong Tianze maintained his spiritual consciousness. This means that he has refined the essence of the Celestial Phoenix, making him much more terrifying as a Divine Guard!"

Luo Hongyan watched with growing unease as Dong Tianze killed He Rong and Su Yuntian with his bare hands.

She had always known that He Rong harbored subtle hostility toward her, but she had paid it no mind.

The deaths of He Rong and Su Yuntian did not stir any ripples in her heart. It was exactly what she had anticipated.

However, she never thought that it would happen this quickly.

While Su Meng cried, Han Duping activated the Heartguard Mirror that Zhou Qingchen had thrown earlier. A towering red mountain appeared above his and Su Meng's heads.

The red mountain resembled the peak at the Red Mountain Sect, radiating a deep crimson light that enveloped the two.

Dong Tianze had smashed He Rong's eyes with his punch and wiped the bloodstains from his fists with the sharkskin. He then stood up and walked toward Han Duping and Su Meng.

Han Duping hastily transformed himself into a silver ball, then said to Su Meng from inside, "Young lady, we're both in the Meridian Opening Realm. I can't protect you. I'll be rolling down the mountain soon. I won't be able to take care of you."

Han Duping held Zhou Qingchen's Heartguard Mirror, so the towering red mountain would follow him wherever he went.

The towering red mountain suspended above his head was capable of fending off the mental attacks. Having curled up into a silver ball, he could also fend off Dong Tianze's barehand attacks.

His words were to remind Su Meng to follow him in fleeing the small hill, so the towering red mountain could also help shield her.

However, seeing her father brutally murdered in front of her, Su Meng no longer cared about Han Duping's words. In her grief, she even attempted to break free from the protective shield of the towering red mountain.

Han Duping reached out from the silver ball and grabbed her, angrily asking, "Do you want to die too?"

"Pang Jian, aren't you going to save her?"

At the foot of the small hill, Luo Hongyan cast a strange glance at Pang Jian and said, "That little girl is quite cute, and she hasn't been annoying. She's about to be killed by Dong Tianze. Aren't you going to lend a hand?"

Pang Jian stayed silent as he jumped into the deep hole.

Luo Hongyan was stunned.

On the top of the small hill, Dong Tianze had been walking toward Su Meng and Han Duping when he suddenly stopped in his tracks!

He had been closely monitoring the entire island and was alerted when Pang Jian unexpectedly jumped into the deep hole.

His expression changed as he glanced between Han Duping, now transformed into a silver ball; the floating crimson mountain; and the temporarily restrained Zhou Qingchen.

After a fierce internal struggle, he roared, "He just loves courting death!"

Whoosh!

He stomped the ground with his feet and soared into the sky. Like a hawk diving for prey, he aimed straight for the deep hole.

He did not even spare a glance at Luo Hongyan or Shangguan Qin even though they were both next to the deep hole.

In his eyes, both women were insignificant side characters. Whether he killed them now or later was inconsequential.

"Curse you!"

Luo Hongyan acted as though she was unaware of Dong Tianze's rapid approach. She angrily leaned over the deep hole and yelled, "Don't you realize you're also putting me in danger by constantly provoking him?"

"I was hoping you would come down too," Pang Jian shouted from below.

"You want me to come down too? Who told you I was planning to fight him? Do you think I care about the Su Clan or the He Clan or even Zhou Qingchen?" As Luo Hongyan cursed Pang Jian, she nimbly moved aside to avoid blocking Dong Tianze's descent into the deep hole.

Boom!

Dong Tianze collided with something hard, leaving him dizzy and disoriented, and was forcefully ejected from the deep hole.