Trials of the Abyss

Pang Jian was deeply shaken.

The seven Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars—originally meant to suppress the foreign races of the Fifth World and trap them in eternal darkness—were also capable of suppressing the bloodlines of the Fey Race.

The Celestial Phoenix had contributed greatly to the creation of the pillars.

The World God had taken part in this endeavor as well.

However, the Celestial Phoenix would never have allowed the Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars to weaken the Fey Race bloodlines.

Similarly, the World God harbored guilt toward the ancient Fey Race and was unlikely to support such an outcome.

This pointed to an undeniable truth: the True Gods of the human race had conspired to incorporate a mechanism capable of suppressing the Fey Race's bloodlines into the pillars, either during or after their creation.

This suppression did not immediately manifest when the pillars were created. Rather, it took effect over many years, preventing the powerhouses of the Fey Race from manifesting the innate bloodline abilities as they normally would.

The Celestial Phoenix was outraged when she discovered the True Gods' betrayal. Unfortunately, her attempts at resistance were futile, leading to her untimely demise.

As the only lineage of the Fey Race left unaffected by the suppression, the Dragon Race held an unrivaled position among the Fey Race in the Abyss and easily maintained their supremacy.

The ancient Thunder Dragon almost certainly knew the truth and could have even been a participant.

After a long silence, Pang Jian left the pit and returned to the cave where he and Yuan Qi had previously discussed the Dao of Cold. Gripping his sword token, he tried to contact Li Zhaotian for confirmation.

His message disappeared like a stone sinking into the ocean.

There was no response from Li Zhaotian.

Within another sword-shaped symbol, Li Zhaotian's soul projections demonstrated the profound mysteries of the Chaos Sword Technique, showing different combinations and possible utilizations to be paired with the Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea.

Feeling restless, Pang Jian checked the other sword-shaped symbols within the sword token.

A cascade of information about the Abyss poured down like a rain of light. It did not take long for him to learn about Li Zhaotian's secluded cultivation and the joint apology that the Ghost Sacrifice Sect and the Nine Tribes Sect issued.

Li Wang and Gui Mu actually admitted to their failure in disciplining their disciples, Pang Jian noted in surprise.

He continued updating himself on other news he had missed.

One intelligence report concerning the Fey Spirit Continent in the Fourth World caught his attention. It claimed that human race powerhouses had infiltrated the Fourth World and discovered that all the foreign warriors were relocating from the Fey Spirit Continent. ṜἈℕΟᛒÊ𐌔

The continent that the black turtle had pushed out of the bizarre mist now teemed with Vicious Beasts.

The foreign races no longer fed Bloodthirst Elixirs to the Vicious Beasts of the Fifth World and had even relocated them to the Fey Spirit Continent.

Amazingly, the foreign races appeared to be allowing the Vicious Beasts to exist autonomously on the Fey Spirit Continent.

How strange. The foreign races hold control of the Vicious Beasts and hold clear disregard for their lives—often even deliberately sending them to their deaths. Why would they relinquish the Fey Spirit Continent?

The more Pang Jian thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

At that moment, Hu Yuanfei's voice came through the sword token. "Why aren't you with the others? They're quite worried about you. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Pang Jian replied. "Even after his defeat, Yuan Qi left without losing heart and remained full of fighting spirit. Why should I be any different?

"Senior Sister, I thought our master was just pretending to break through to the True God Realm? Why can't I reach him?"

"Pretending? Breaking through to the True God Realm isn't something one can fake. The energy of the heavens and earth undergoes subtle changes during such an attempt. While we may not sense it, other True Gods can.

"Master isn't pretending—he's genuinely attempting a breakthrough!"

"What?!"The weight of this revelation struck Pang Jian with full force.

***

Several days later, the thunderous roar of a dragon resounded across the Sacred Soul Continent.

"It's begun!"

"The Dragon Lair Sect has spoken! The bloody struggle for the position of Fey God has officially started!"

"Either a new Fey God will emerge or all six Fey Kings will perish!"

"I hope our Fey Race will finally have a new Fey God!"

The Great Feys and Lesser Feys unqualified to participate in the competition felt their blood boil with excitement.

It had been far too long since the Fey Race gained a new Fey God.

At its peak, the Fey Rae boasted four living Fey Gods.

If not for the Sword Pavilion's simultaneous rise—with its five Sword Gods of unparalleled might—the Fey Race would have commanded far greater influence.

Over time, the Fey Race's three other Fey Gods either perished or failed to break through the barrier in the First World.

Eventually, only the ancient Thunder Dragon in the Dragon Lair Sect was left as the sole living Fey God.

True Gods of the human had come and gone in the past three millennia, maintaining a seamless cycle of succession. The Fey Race, on the other hand, had failed to produce even one new Fey God in that time.

This stagnation had allowed the ancient Thunder Dragon to dominate the Fey Race, consolidating the Dragon Lair Sect's power and allowing the Dragon Race to act with unchecked arrogance.

The only way to shift the balance of power was for a new Fey God to be born!

Only a new Fey God capable of rivaling the ancient Thunder Dragon could humble the dragons of the Dragon Lair Sect!

The dragon's roar signaled the possibility of a new Fey God's emergence.

This event drew not only the attention of the Fey Race but also that of the human factions across the Abyss.

***

In a verdant forest on the Sacred Soul Continent, Li Yuqing was conversing with a Four-Eyed Spirit Fox.

"Lord White Fox, I wish you victory in ascending to the rank of Fey God."

"If I succeed, I'll remember the Li Family's support," the Four-Eyed Spirit Fox replied in flawless human speech. "The pills for enhancing my bloodline and the artifacts that bolster my combat prowess will be crucial in defeating the Blood Jade Scorpion.

"The dragon's roar has sounded. I must go."

The Four-Eyed Spirit Fox moved gracefully, bounding through the sprawling forest that stretched for thousands of li and vanishing in just a few leaps.

"The Dragon Lair Sect has become increasingly hard to control. What a headache," Li Yuqing muttered in frustration.

Powerful factions like the Ghost Sacrifice Sect, the Forsaken Expanse Sect, and the Ancient Law Sect had dispatched envoys to the Dragon Lair Sect to meet with the ancient Thunder Dragon following the rise of the foreign races and the murky energy into the Third and Fourth Worlds.

However, the Dragon Lair Sect turned them all away, claiming the Thunder Dragon was in deep slumber and unavailable to meet anyone.

Everyone knew this was merely an excuse.

The Dragon Lair Sect knew why these envoys had come.

The True Gods of the human race wanted to know if the Fey Race would join the fight as they had in the past.

The Dragon Lair Sect's evasiveness and the Thunder Dragon's refusal to meet anyone undoubtedly troubled the True Gods.

If the Dragon Lair Sect did not commit to the fight, the rest of the Fey Race would not participate in the war either.

Losing such a critical ally against the foreign races of the Fifth World diminished the odds of victory for the human race by ten to twenty percent.

The True Gods could not help but wish the Celestial Phoenix and the black turtle were still alive. The two Fey Gods had steadfastly stood alongside the human race through thick and thin.

Unfortunately, they had both died, leaving the Fey Race's future and alignment dependent on a single being––the ancient Thunder Dragon.

The emergence of a new Fey God thus became an event in which the True Gods were heavily invested.

Since the Thunder Dragon refused to clarify its stance, the humans were naturally eager to see another Fey God rise to prominence, preferably one opposing the Dragon Lair Sect.

This was the reason Li Yuqing had left for the Sacred Soul Continent—to offer the Four-Eyed Spirit Fox a trove of treasures to enhance its combat strength in exchange for its support if it won.

Emissaries from the Boundless Sky Divine Kingdom similarly approached the Frostfeather Drake, providing cold-attributed artifacts to aid its attempt to ascend to the rank of Fey God.

Meanwhile, Liu Youyu had suddenly produced a drop of the Primordial Serpent blood essence for the Rock Bear at a critical juncture—an intervention that clearly bore the True God Liu Fu's mark.

***

Pang Jian and the others boarded the Sword Boat and sailed to an unclaimed mountain peak called Blackflame Mountain to the north of the Greencliff Mountain Range, gazing back in the direction they came.

The struggle for the position of Fey God had begun.

Rock Bear had no intention of following the plan to enter the sea where Yuan Min ruled, meaning Yuan Min inevitably had to head to the Greencliff Mountain Range instead.

The Greencliff Mountain Range had become a designated battleground, and any being other than the Rock Bear and Yuan Min was forbidden to step foot there.

This had been an unchanging rule of the Fey Race since ancient times.

Thus, Pang Jian and the others were forced to relocate to Blackflame Mountain.

Though they could not watch the battle directly, they hoped to use Liu Youyu's Celestial Profound Mirror to observe the fight between the Rock Bear and Yuan Min from a distance.

"Do you think the Dragon Lair Sect will secretly intervene to help Yuan Min against Elder Bear?" Zhou Qingchen asked softly.

"The Dragon Lair Sect can assist Yuan Min in many ways before the battle commences," Hu Yuanfei replied, gripping her sword token. "But once the battle starts, no external forces can interfere. Elder Mu Aichuan from our Sword Pavilion is well-versed in the Fey Race and told that this is a rule of the Fey Race."

"Why hasn't it started yet?" Lin Manhe muttered, glancing anxiously at the Celestial Profound Mirror floating in mid-air.

Its reflection grew increasingly blurry.

Whoosh!

The image of Greencliff Mountain Range within the Celestial Profound Mirror vanished.

"Some force has shielded the entire Greencliff Mountain Range," Liu Youyu said bitterly. "Everything within a thousand-li radius is enveloped by it."

Dong Wenjian scratched his head and sighed. "This trip was a complete waste for us. Aside from Miss Liu being able to help Elder Bear, none of us has accomplished anything. We even ended up making fools of ourselves."

His words brought silence to the group.

Yuan Min had robbed them of their belongings, the White Lynx's black-and-white domain had ensnared their divine souls, and Long Yan had arrogantly threatened them…

Even once the struggle for the position of Fey God was underway, they were not even qualified to watch, let alone interfere.

The prodigies of the upper worlds were accustomed to their high status outside the Sacred Soul Continent, and this experience left them with a deep sense of disillusionment.

They could not help but question their purpose for coming to the Sacred Soul Continent and whether there was any reason to remain.

Whoosh!

Pang Jian's golden divine soul flew out and descended toward the depths of Blackflame Mountain.

"There's a magma pool underground. I plan to use it to temper my divine soul as the final stage in the Soul Wandering Realm involves tempering one's divine soul with magma," Pang Jian explained calmly. "We can't influence the struggle for the position of Fey God, so we might as well focus on cultivating."

"You sure know how to make the best of things," Dong Wenjian said in amazement.

Pang Jian replied seriously, "The greatest gap between us and Long Yan is still our cultivation realm.

"He's at the peak of Rank Eight, equivalent to the peak of the Nirvana Realm. Meanwhile, we're all still a cultivation realm below him, in the Soul Wandering Realm.

"His bloodline is complete and he's a member of the powerful Dragon Race. If we want to challenge someone like him, we have to first advance to the Nirvana Realm."

"Well said!" Dong Wenjian nodded.

With that, the group sat down to cultivate, hoping for a breakthrough in their cultivation realms.

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