Trials of the Abyss

The ancient Thunder Dragon glided above the Fey Spirit Continent, repeatedly showing the scene of True God Fan Ao's death in body and soul on the scales of his underbelly.

Bolts of blinding lightning and world-shattering thunderclaps twisted the fabric of space. The spectacle stirred the spirits and souls of the Fey Race across the Fey Spirit Continent.

Thousands of Fey Race cheered from every corner of the continent, all chanting the ancient Thunder Dragon's name.

The Fey Spirit Continent was the only other complete continent for the Fey Race apart from the Sacred Soul Continent.

Most of the Fey Race on the Fey Spirit Continent hailed from the Fifth World, while some were native to the Fourth and Third Worlds. Each reignited their intelligence and awakened their complete bloodlines in Northern Qi.

When they learned of their origins, they quickly realized that Vicious Beasts and Spirit Beasts alike were actually all part of the ancient Fey Race.

They had once been the rulers of the Abyss!

In this tumultuous era, the Fey Race had finally secured a foothold in the Fourth World and earned the respect of the foreign races of the Fifth World for the first time in millennia.

The old Fey of Northern Qi and the infamous ancient Thunder Dragon were the only two authorities they revered.

The ancient Thunder Dragon had just slain a True God of the human race and was flaunting his might in the sky, exuding an air of absolute supremacy that stirred their deepest admiration.

In that fleeting moment, the scales of popularity briefly tipped from the old Fey of Northern Qi to the ancient Thunder Dragon.

Crackle!

Satisfied with his display of power, the ancient Thunder Dragon soared into the sky, commanding thunder and lightning as he ascended.

A Giant Abyssal Serpent emerged from a frigid pool tucked away in a corner of the continent, eyes brimming with unadulterated hatred.

Unlike the other Fey Race, the sight of the ancient Thunder Dragon caused the Giant Abyssal Serpent's heart and soul to surge with overwhelming loathing.

The suffocating pressure of the ancient Thunder Dragon's terrifying might brought long-buried memories floating back to the surface.

The deepest recesses of the Giant Abyssal Serpent's soul recalled a colossal, pitch-black dragon locked in combat with the ancient Thunder Dragon.

The pitch-black dragon had drowned in a deluge of lightning as the Thunder Dragon tore it apart, ultimately perishing with a final roar of fury.

This memory repeated endlessly in the Giant Abyssal Serpent's mind, filling it with searing ache and an unrelenting rage.

Perhaps it was my ancestor. Or perhaps that dragon…was me.

The Giant Abyssal Serpent slithered back into the frigid pool, mind in turmoil.

It severed its connection to Pang Jian.

***

Pang Jian felt his heart turn cold as he sat in a wooden hut in the Cloud Wilderness.

Through the Giant Abyssal Serpent, he had seen the ancient Thunder Dragon's might as well as Fan Ao's tragic demise.

Fan Ao had once aided him in killing Long Zhan, only to now fall at the hands of the ancient Thunder Dragon.

A True God had perished, quietly and unnoticed.

The ancient Thunder Dragon had actually dared to slay a True God of the human race.

Clearly, the True Gods were nothing to be feared in the ancient Thunder Dragon's eyes.

That ancient Thunder Dragon managed to kill Fan Ao even though they're both gods.

That ancient Thunder Dragon has to be dealt with, and the Dragon Lair Sect put in its place! If not, our human race will truly have no dignity left!

I refuse to believe the other True Gods will idly stand by!

Pang Jian had faith in the True Gods.

Unfortunately, cold reality soon struck him hard.

News of Fan Ao's death spread swiftly across the First and Second Worlds.

The Dragon Lair Sect even issued a public statement, stating that Fan Ao's death was due to a personal grievance and did not concern the broader conflict between the Fey Race and the human race.

Fan Ao had slain their Rank Nine Five-Clawed Gold Dragon, Long Zhan, deep within the bizarre mist.

According to them, this had simply been a matter of retaliation and had nothing to do with the broader conflict between the two races.

But Pang Jian knew the truth.

Long Zhan had been the one to kill Fan Chen first. He had then pursued Pang Jian from the Sacred Soul Continent, seeking to kill him and seize Fan Chen's belongings.

The matter started with Long Zhan, yet the Dragon Lair Sect still dared to call it an act of revenge.

In the end, both Fan Chen and Fan Ao perished at the hands of the Dragon Lair Sect.

The truth of this grievance was plain to see.

Despite this, the True Gods collectively remained silent.

L Wang remained uncharacteristically quiet when the Supreme Monad Divine Kingdom clamored for his and the other True Gods' support in holding the ancient Thunder Dragon accountable.

The other True Gods all mirrored his silence.

Not a single True God stepped forward to avenge Fan Ao.

No one rose to pressure the Dragon Lair Sect, nor did anyone condemn the ancient Thunder Dragon for his savage arrogance.

Pang Jian waited for the True Gods to speak out against the Dragon Lair Sect, only to be left disappointed.

After stewing for days inside his wooden hut, he finally grabbed his sword token and asked with a heavy heart, "Master, why did it end up like this?"

He longed to ascend to the True God Realm and storm onto the Sacred Soul Continent to challenge the ancient Thunder Dragon.

Frustratingly, he was all too aware that he still lacked the strength to do so.

The True Gods had the power to act but chose not to.

Pang Jian's fury knew no bounds.

"The reason is simple," Li Zhaotian replied, voice laced with exhaustion and suppressed anger. "The Fey Race has more than just the ancient Thunder Dragon now; there's also the Rock Bear and the ancient Fey in Northern Qi.

"With three Fey Gods, the strength of the Fey Race can no longer be ignored. Their stance and position directly influence the larger picture.

"It would be a relief for the True Gods even if the Fey Race merely stayed neutral in the war.

"Li Wang and the others aren't confident they can win if the Fey Race side with the foreign races."

Li Zhaotian let out a cold laugh.

"Some even think they should've just sacrificed Fan Ao when the Dragon Lair Sect first demanded he willingly sacrifice himself so Long Zhan could ascend to Fey God.

"What a joke. That ancient Thunder Dragon's ambition was never limited to just this! The Dragon Lair Sect would only grow more arrogant and reckless if Long Zhan became a Fey God!

"To hell with this cursed world!

"If not for the upheaval in the Demon Abyss Continent and the interference of the Demon Fetus, I would already be a True God!

"I'd have charged straight to the Dragon Lair Sect with my sword!" Li Zhaotian snarled.

His pent-up frustration and resentment practically overflowed from the sword token.

If he had successfully ascended to the True God Realm, he would have stood up for Fan Ao and charged into the Dragon Lair Sect with his sword in hand, regardless of whether the other True Gods remained silent.

He would have ignored the broad picture, disregarding all consequences to get revenge.

However, he had failed to ascend, and the backlash had weakened him.

Setting foot on the Sacred Soul Continent with his weakened cultivation would be nothing short of suicide. The Rank Nine dragons would tear him apart before he reached the Dragon Lair Sect.

"Pang Jian, I won't be able to respond as quickly moving forward. I'm going to do everything I can to recover. The Abyss needs me to ascend to the True God Realm and crush that ancient Thunder Dragon's arrogance!"

***

The True Gods' silence surrounding Fan Ao's death meant that the matter inevitably subsided with time.

The rise of the murky energy took time. Meanwhile, the foreign races schemed in the lower worlds, quietly sowing chaos from the shadows.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Buzz! Buzz!

Pang Jian's sword token rang softly.

When he touched it, Liu Junhong's excited voice echoed through. "There's something I need you to see!"

A medicinal field in the Cloud Wilderness rippled with intense spatial fluctuations as the flowing spiritual qi carried wood and earth energies swirling toward its center.

The square-shaped medicinal field that had once been there had vanished without a trace.

It was as if the entire area, spanning dozens of mu, had been drawn into another dimension.

"It's still unstable. Physical bodies can't enter yet, only divine souls can glimpse inside."

Liu Junhong projected his divine soul, guiding Pang Jian's deliberately shrunken golden divine soul into the unnatural ripples of space.

Whoosh!

A miniature world unfolded before them, expanding steadily as mist-like spiritual qi streamed in.

The missing medicinal field lay within the misty realm, brimming with pure wood energy and nourishing earth energy.

Spiritual qi, wood energy, and earth energy coexisted in perfect harmony within this pocket dimension.

Every spirit herb and spirit plant in the field grew astonishingly fast.

A high-grade spirit herb took decades to mature in the outside world but only required half a year in this miraculous world.

Anything planted in the medicinal field grew at an accelerated pace, bearing fruit in record time.

"A Blessed Land?" Pang Jian glanced at Liu Junhong for confirmation.

Liu Junhong grinned. "A Blessed Land in the making. Such miraculous pocket dimensions are usually under the control of the most powerful sects in the First World. Blessed Lands like this can only form within transcendent sanctuaries on the four continents in the First World."

Pang Jian's divine sense sank deep into the earth to investigate.

A slender, root-like green vein stretched downward from the Blessed Land, extending deep underground to draw upon earth energy.

Is that an earthen vein? he wondered.

Liu Junhong broke Pang Jian out of his thoughts as he added, "There are actually three such Blessed Lands taking shape on the Resolute Expanse at this moment!"

Whoosh!

Pang Jian's divine soul returned to his body, and he used his power as the master of the Resolute Expanse to thoroughly investigate the fragmented land.

A deep valley rippled with abnormal spatial fluctuations in the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God. Beneath it, a radiant lightning vein seemed to crackle in and out of existence, straddling the line between reality and illusion.

The vein had languished for millennia, drained of lightning and mysteries long dormant.

That same vein now glowed vividly, its upper end connected to a slowly forming Blessed Land.

Pang Jian extended his divine sense into the still-forming Blessed Land and found a valley mirroring the real world within.

The main difference was the bolts of lightning hanging motionlessly in the sky.

These lightning bolts were no thicker than a finger, barely ten zhang long, and radiated an aura of profound Dao of Lightning.

It seemed like simply sitting in the realm and meditating on the still lightning could lead to enlightenment in the unfathomable Dao of Lightning.

Unlike the Blessed Land in the Cloud Wilderness, this one was meant for comprehending the profound truth of a Dao.

Pang Jian then turned his attention to a crystalline glacier in the Frozen Land.

An ice vein ran beneath the glacier, linking it to the depths below.

Inside the glacier, a pocket dimension was taking shape.

This Blessed Land was incredibly frigid, with snowflakes drifting endlessly in the realm. A glacier rested atop a floating expanse of icy ground.

It resembled a miniature Frozen Land.

Cold energy occasionally streaked across the desolate land like shooting stars, each containing the profound Dao of the Ice Demon.

Blessed Lands were forming in the Cloud Wilderness, the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God, and the Frozen Land.

"Pang Jian, this Resolute Expanse is far from ordinary. I have a feeling…" Liu Junhong's gaze swept across the fragmented land as though seeing it anew. "Even the most powerful sects in the First World can typically only nurture one or two Blessed Lands.

"Yet this small Resolute Expanse is forming three at once. Its value already surpasses that of the Sword Pavilion itself.

"A place capable of birthing Blessed Lands is known as a Sacred Land.

"It ranks above Spiritual Lands and restricted areas. Sacred Lands are so precious that only factions with True Gods can claim them," Liu Junhong said with palpable excitement. [1]

When Li Zhaotian entrusted him with overseeing the Resolute Expanse, Liu Junhong was reluctant, thinking Li Zhaotian was showing favoritism toward his disciple.

He had arrived to find the fragmented land to be nothing special aside from its slightly denser spiritual qi.

However, the successive emergence of three Blessed Lands told him that this fragmented land undoubtedly held an earth-shattering secret.

The appearance of these Blessed Lands signaled that the value of the Resolute Expanse had quietly surpassed that of the Sword Pavilion.

"From my observations, all three Blessed Lands will stabilize enough for us to enter with our physical body within half a year.

"Of course, those with divine souls can already enter the other two and comprehend the Daos within."

Liu Junhong's face lit up with a broad smile.

"Pang Jian, many saint and divine-grade spirit materials and ores are nurtured in places like these Blessed Lands. Their existence means you now hold three treasure troves.

"Those cultivating lightning-attribute, ice-attribute, or wood-attribute techniques can seek their fortunes within."

Liu Junhong clicked his tongue and shook his head as he sighed with admiration.

"The legends are true. The Abyss always brings forth extraordinary miracles during times of great calamity. The Resolute Expanse is truly a marvel!"

***

Half a month later, a massive "Forbid" character was carved into the rock wall in front of the deep valley that had since been named Thunderclap Paradise.

Mu Aichuan of the Sword Pavilion stood guard, ensuring no external interference disrupted the formation of the Blessed Land.

Lei Kun followed Pang Jian to the valley with a look of slight bewilderment. Upon seeing Mu Aichuan, he quickly clasped his hands in respect.

Mu Aichuan cast a lukewarm glance at Lei Kun. "Our Sword Pavilion has plenty of disciples cultivating lightning-attribute techniques. Why let him try?"

"His son is also a disciple of the Sword Pavilion. He's not an outsider," Pang Jian replied as he led Lei Kun into the valley. Then, pointing to a swirling mass of crackling lightning, he said, "Release your divine soul into the lightning.

"Within the lightning lies a Blessed Land that, for now, can only be entered by divine soul. The Dao of Lightning is preserved within. How much you comprehend depends entirely on you."

Lei Kun's eyes lit up, and he eagerly sent his divine soul into the Blessed Land.

1. Spiritual Lands in this story are regions rich in pure spiritual qi, capable of fostering the growth of rare and exotic flora. These lands also have a notable chance of yielding pure spirit stones. Moreover, the wild beasts that inhabit these areas are far more likely to evolve into Spirit Beasts. ☜