Trials of the Abyss

Pang Jian summoned the Startling Slaughter Spear and used its sharp tip to chisel away at the stone pillar, prying off the loosened fragments as he did.

The towering stone pillar was gradually whittled down as Pang Jian chipped away at it like plucking kernels from a cob of corn, causing stone pieces to fall one by one.

Clang!

The sharp spear's tip produced a crisp, ringing sound like it had hit solid steel.

Pang Jian sped up his efforts to chip away the stone pillar.

Before long, a large, black-furred ape clutching a black iron staff was revealed.

The nearly one-zhang-tall ape wore chainmail over its waist and chest. Although it had been dead for countless years, it still exuded a menacing aura, seemingly unaffected by the passage of time.

The ape tightly gripped the black iron staff like an iron claw. Dried, clotted blood caked the wounds around its tightly shut eyes.

As Pang Jian stared at the ape within the stone pillar, he could not help but recall the gray ape with icy blue eyes in the Solitary Mountain Range.

It was clad in chainmail and wielded a black iron staff, showing its higher intelligence and combat prowess than the gray ape. After all, protecting oneself with armor and wielding weapons effectively were the marks of higher intelligence.

The gray ape in the Solitary Mountain Range seemed far from possessing such intelligence. The Shangguan Clan could not have captured it otherwise.

The massive ape suddenly started to crumble away like sand in the wind.

In the blink of an eye, the ape exuding the fierce aura was reduced to dust.

It seemed it had been frozen within the stone pillar for millions of years, preserving its body from decay over time.

Unfortunately, once the ape was exposed to the outside world, the effects of time rapidly caught up, reducing it to mere dust.

The black iron staff, on the other hand, remained unaffected by the ravages of time.

Pang Jian did not hesitate to grab the staff, intending to study it closely.

The one-zhang-tall ape's black iron staff was so thick Pang Jian could not grasp it with one hand, and ended up having to use both hands to get a proper grip.

He pulled with all his strength, but the black iron staff did not budge an inch.

It was firmly embedded into the pillar.

Pang Jian's expression darkened and he channeled spiritual power into his arms, preparing to give it another go.

Boom!

Parts of the stone pillar crumbled away as the black iron staff slightly shifted.

Pang Jian tried to infuse the black iron staff with his spiritual power, but not a trace could seep in. The staff seemed completely impervious to pure spiritual power.

"Rise!" Pang Jian yelled, exerting his strength.

Drawing upon the blood essence in his Providence Mystic Reservoir Acupoint, Pang Jian activated his Illusory Bone Realm. His skin gleamed silver as he once again tried to pry the black iron staff loose.

Rumble!

The black iron staff was dislodged with a burst of rubble and came crashing toward Pang Jian.

An immense force, powerful enough to shake the heavens and earth, erupted from the black iron staff, sending a chill down Pang Jian's spine.

He hurriedly let go of the staff.

Boom!

The staff crashed heavily to the ground, carving a long, narrow trench into the earth. Web-like cracks spread out from the impact.

Pang Jian stared grimly at the black iron staff. It stood taller than the one-zhang-tall ape, and after comparing its length to the reach of his arms, he confirmed he would never be able to wield it.

"This isn't something a normal human can use. I'll put it away for now."

He did not bother to inspect it further and simply touched the black iron staff with his spatial bracelet to store it away.

A long-dead ape and a peculiar black iron staff. This stone forest…

As he glanced around at the towering stone pillars, he had the unsettling thought that there could be other strange creatures hidden within them.

Mountain Phase!

Silently activating the ability of the black turtle scute, he carefully phased through one stone pillar after another as he continued onward.

Eventually, he crossed through the stone forest and reached an open, desolate wilderness, but discovered no other anomalies.

Glancing back at the stone forest behind him, he decided he had no desire to return just to check every single stone pillar.

Pang Jian took out his sword token and infused it with spiritual power, intending to contact the battle-hardened girl from the Divine Treasure Sect's Li Family.

It's not working. The array within the sword token is completely stagnant.

His expression hardened.

Summoning the Star Crushing Umbrella, the Startling Slaughter Spear, and the spirit sword gifted by Lei Kun, he then tested them one by one.

He infused each with spiritual power in an attempt to activate their mystical powers, only to find the Star Crushing Umbrella no longer shimmered with dazzling radiance, the arrays within the Startling Slaughter Spear had all ceased functioning, and the power of the spirit sword had drastically diminished!

It seemed all the arrays within his spirit artifacts had become useless as soon as he left the stone forest and stepped into the wilderness.

Arrays were manifestations of humanity's understanding of the Daos of the world.

Flying vessels, spirit artifacts, sect protection arrays, and talismans all relied on arrays!

All the arrays within Pang Jian's spirit artifacts did not function in this area.

Li Yuqing must be here!

The Li Family girl's sword token could not function properly while she was here, which was why he could not contact her earlier.

Still, he was uncertain if he was in the right place.

Whoosh!

A familiar Formless Sailboat whistled through the sky, boldly flying over Spirit Offering.

As soon as it crossed over the wilderness, the array driving the flying vessel failed, and it plummeted to the ground with a deafening crash.

Blood-colored light surged into the sky, revealing the members of the Blood Moon Sect within.

Panicked and unintelligible cries faintly echoed in the distance.

This scene left Pang Jian stunned.

Soon after, a Gilded Chariot from the Star River Alliance descended from the skies above Spirit Offering.

Boom!

The Gilded Chariot also crashed deep within the restricted area.

Pang Jian's expression grew even more puzzled.

The Blood Moon Sect and the Star River Alliance bordered Spirit Offering.

They had explored this place countless times before and would surely know that arrays did not work in this area.

Unless the abnormalities within Spirit Offering had only recently emerged and had caught the Blood Moon Sect and the Star River Alliance off guard!

That was the only way this bizarre situation made sense.

There was no spiritual qi or other special energy within the air, but it also did not contain any harmful toxins.

Pang Jian took a deep breath, mood growing heavier, and attempted to establish a connection with the black turtle and the little tree.

Fortunately, he could still communicate with the black turtle and the little tree.

He sighed in relief.

Wanting to understand more about this strange anomaly, he Infused his Startling Slaughter Spear and spirit sword with spiritual power once more.

He realized his spiritual power flowed through them just fine—it was only the arrays within them that were not functional.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Clusters of blazing light spheres and silver lightning burst forth from the tip of his spear.

Without the amplification from the spear's arrays, these light spheres and lightning were only the size of a child's fist and were much weaker than before.

Fortunately, the malfunctioning of spirit artifacts, the inability of the arrays to function, and the complete absence of spiritual qi would affect everybody in the area.

Pang Jian stowed away his spear, gripped the spirit sword, and ventured deeper into the restricted area.

A short while later, he came across a shattered stone statue with pitch-black wings lying in the desolate wilderness.

If the statue were intact, it would likely have been dozens of zhang tall, comparable to the one-eyed giants from the Fifth World.

The statue was carved from black stone and resembled the Demon Scale Race from the Fifth World. It also had a single pair of enormous black wings far broader than those of the Celestial Race

The head, torso, and limbs had all broken apart and were scattered across the ground.

Pang Jian slowly approached the statue's head and examined its ghost-like face.

Suddenly, a sharp whistling wind arose out of nowhere.

The eerie whistling sounded like the murmurs of malevolent spirits, sending chills down one's spine and clouding one's mind with confusion.

Pang Jian's mind instantly sharpened with vigilance.

Upon closer inspection, he realized the strange whistling came from the statue's hollow eye sockets and open mouth.

It appeared as though the statue's eyes and mouth had been pierced by some sharp weapon, leaving empty cavities that produced unsettling whistles when the wind blew.

Pang Jian listened for some time.

"Something's not right..."

Strands of his divine sense within his sea of consciousness were rapidly thinning, a sign his mental energy was being consumed.

Silently swallowing a Soul Nourishing Pill, he walked past the black-winged statue and ventured deeper into the restricted area.

As he walked, he encountered more ruined altars, broken stone pillars, statues, and peculiar wooden carvings, each with a distinct style.

These remnants were scattered all along his path.

It was not hard to imagine that many intelligent beings had once inhabited Spirit Offering, building altars, statues, and carvings to communicate with their Gods.

After the foreign races were defeated and the human race became the rulers of the Abyss, Spirit Offering was destroyed.

Humans razed the altars, statues, and carvings the foreign races used to communicate with their Gods.

The foreign races were fated to either go extinct or be sealed away in the eternal darkness of the Fifth World.

Pang Jian pressed forward for four long hours, taking minimal breaks as he went, before coming to a stop at a shattered circular altar surrounded by six broken stone pillars.

Unrecognizable runes and murals of one-eyed giants worshipping the Ice Demon adorned the surface of the broken pillars.

It was clear that this was yet another of the one-eyed giants' altars used to communicate with the Ice Demon.

Pang Jian had advanced to the Innate Realm through becoming one with the world at a similarly broken altar beneath Ice Rock City.

There, he witnessed the one-eyed giant, Yan Shan, extending the life of his child, Ah Man.

After a moment of hesitation, Pang Jian stood atop the damaged altar and gazed at the six broken stone pillars lying on the ground.

He then sat down on the altar.

"Ice Demon…" he muttered as he closed his eyes and focused on sensing his surroundings as he had done beneath Ice Rock City.

His expression twisted into one of shock and horror.

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