Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 360: Killing Soul Wandering Realm Cultivators

The sword token isn't working.

Pang Jian frowned.

Lei Shi and Lei Yu had died too quickly. He had not had time to prepare before one of the masked attackers killed them.

He felt a pang of guilt at the realization that he had failed Lei Kun—the man who had treated him warmly and placed his trust in him.

"The sword token has been disabled!" Zeng Yulan and Song Zihe panicked.

Sword Pavilion was not far from where they crashed. Normally, if a distress signal was sent, their Immortal Realm elders like Xu Yu or Wang Ce could arrive and resolve the crisis in the blink of an eye.

This was the reason Sword Pavilion disciples could roam the continent with impunity.

However, the sword token, their greatest source of reassurance, had failed them in this critical time.

"The sword token has been cut off from communicating with the outside world within a thirty-li radius of here," one of the masked men sneered. "We've already figured you out, Luo Yuan—or should I say Pang Jian?

"Luo Yuan had dealings with the rogue cultivator, Lei Kun, in the Third World's Cloud Lightning.

"Lei Kun's son, Lei Qie, was marked when he arrived in Moonwater Town on the Mountain Stream Spirit Boat.

"We set up the gambling trap to lure Lei Qie in, lead him to the point of wagering even his sister, and then left him with enough spirit jades to make his way to the Sword Pavilion."

The eyes of the man gleamed through the mask.

"Everything we did was for this—to track your path to the Moonwater Town and use it to predict your route back to the Sword Pavilion.

"Pang Jian, you won't be able to escape today! We already know you concealed your Soul Wandering Realm cultivation and prepared for it!

"A personal disciple of the Pavilion Master? The future leader of Sword Pavilion? Hmph, do you really think you deserve that position?"

The trio closed in and surrounded Pang Jian. Their three powerful artifacts–the Eagle Vulture Talon, the Whitebone Blood Banner, and the Vajra Ring—simultaneously locked onto Pang Jian.

"Junior Brother Pang! Don’t worry about us. Escape if you can, but make sure to root out the mastermind and avenge us!" screamed Zeng Yulan from the grounded Sword Boat.

Song Zihe bit her lip, frantically trying to get the Sword Boat to move, but the Sword Boat was firmly glued to the ground.

Meanwhile, Lei Qie was still sobbing over his loss, unable to pull himself from his grief.

Pang Jian's voice turned cold. "Whether or not I deserve it isn't up to you. That's a matter for the future, and you won't be around to see it." n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

As Pang Jian took stock of his available powers, he realized his connection with the black turtle and the World Eater Vine had not been severed. This meant he could teleport away or draw on their power for reinforcement if necessary.

Whoosh!

The Heart of Winter quietly surfaced from his spiritual sea and floated toward the Sword Boat.

Hiss! Hiss!

Thick white mist surged from the Heart of Winter and shrouded the Sword Boat.

Pang Jian descended to stand atop the Heart of Winter like he was riding a frozen star.

Looking down at the trio on the Sword Boat, he softly assured, "Don't worry. No one else will die."

"That's not up to you to decide!" One of the masked men cackled.

The blood-stained banner on the bone flagpole flared crimson as it attempted to control Pang Jian's blood.

Unfortunately, while the Whitebone Blood Banner was powerful against most people, it was useless against Pang Jian.

Pang Jian had cultivated the Grand Providence Sacred Body to the Vital Blood Realm, and every drop of his blood held many times the energy of ordinary blood.

For the Whitebone Blood Banner, trying to manipulate Pang Jian's blood was akin to using a twig to move a massive boulder.

"This kid is strange!" The one with the Whitebone Blood Flag gasped in panic. "The Sword Pavilion doesn't focus on body refinement, yet his blood flows like a torrential river!"

Pang Jian narrowed his eyes. "You're from the Blood Moon Sect?"

"An exiled disciple!" The man snorted coldly in response.

Pang Jian nodded. "It makes no difference. I'll start with you."

A bright silver streak shot out like a meteor on the pitch-black summer night.

It emanated a profound, ethereal sword intent as it locked onto the wielder of the Whitebone Blood Banner.

Radiant stars appeared in the sky, shining as brilliantly as dazzling gemstones.

Stellar, lunar, and cold energy.

Pang Jian channeled the three energies with similar attributes, applied the profound Dao of Sword Li Zhaotian had imparted, and unleashed his Chaos Sword Technique.

A crescent moon appeared in the dazzling starlight, resembling the piercing gaze of the Moon God's narrowed eyes.

The stars and the crescent moon converged on the Whitebone Blood Banner wielder.

The man claiming to be an exiled disciple of the Blood Moon Sect appeared dazed as if lost in the boundless depths of starry skies.

A palpable malice exuded from the stars and crescent moon before he could even admire their beauty.

A wave of coldness surged through his soul and dantian, causing his thoughts to become sluggish.

Coldness similarly infiltrated his connection with the Whitebone Blood Banner, slowly freezing and numbing it.

"Zhao!" shouted the man wielding the Vajra Ring.

The silver streak closed in on his companion.

Despite the danger, his companion simply stared dreamily at the crescent moon.

Boom!

The Vajra Ring wielder saw a blazing sun shooting toward him.

Pang Jian appeared within the searing flames and let out a cold smile.

A shiver ran down the spine of the Vajra Ring wielder as he hurriedly tossed the Vajra Ring.

A tunnel of golden radiance appeared.

The Vajra Ring wielder retreated into the luminous tunnel as he bombarded the approaching Pang Jian with light beams.

Before the beams could reach Pang Jian, the violent energies emanating from his body shattered them.

Pang Jian then swiftly locked onto the Vajra Ring wielder.

As Pang Jian closed in on the Vajra Ring wielder, he summoned a protective shield infused with lightning and slammed heavily into the wielder's body.

The Vajra Ring wielder fell out of the sky with a loud crack as his bones all broke.

A pale ghostly figure shot out from the Vajra Ring when his physical body was destroyed.

"This job isn't worth the price!" the divine soul screamed as it fled.

"He's supposed to be in the Soul Wandering Realm? Pathetic," Pang Jian murmured.

Blinding lightning bolts struck the Vajra Ring, destroying it. Lightning streaked after the fleeing divine soul and soon caught up to it.

Puff!

The pale divine soul dissipated into thin smoke.

Meanwhile, Pang Jian's spear had pierced the Whitebone Blood Banner wielder's heart, killing him instantly. His divine soul could not escape his physical body in time and the soul-freezing power of the Ice Soul Demon Divine Scripture destroyed it.

Two of the three Soul Wandering Realm attackers lay dead in a matter of moments.

Zeng Yulan and Song Zihe could see everything through the mist shrouding the Sword Boat and their eyes widened in awe.

"Senior Sister, he-he..." Song Zihe stammered, voice trembling as she clenched her sweating hands.

Zeng Yulan shouted in surprise, "Pang Jian's in the Soul Wandering Realm too!"

Song Zihe nodded emphatically.

Lei Qie had never experienced such a battle before and had been consumed with grief.

Reddened eyes looked up just in time to see the last attacker trying to flee, only for a spear to stab through his back and strike him down.

A blinding ray of golden light pierced the divine soul that emerged from his crown, and like his physical body, it was quickly obliterated.

The three Soul Wandering Realm cultivators had crumbled like paper dolls.

They had not even lasted a quarter of an hour before being completely wiped out.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Three severed heads rolled through the mist and came to a stop next to the bodies of Lei Shi and Lei Yu.

"Consider it vengeance for your mother and sister. Don't worry about the ones pulling the strings. I'll drag them into the light," Pang Jian said as he stepped onto the Sword Boat and absorbed the Heart of Winter back into his spiritual sea. "There's a high chance this was either Su Li's or Zhou Wenhao's doing."

"Most likely," Zeng Yulan agreed, casting her gaze at the now-unmasked faces of their attackers. "They're all rogue cultivators. I can't recall their names, but I recognize their faces."

Song Zihe added timidly, "Rogue cultivators in the Soul Wandering Realm...that'll certainly get our master's attention."

Xu Yu, the Peak Master of the Fate Severing Peak, was responsible for gathering intelligence from throughout the Abyss. Zeng Yulan and Song Zihe were her direct disciples and thus had also been involved in such tasks.

The two women suppressed their inner shock and moved closer to examine the bodies. They soon confirmed the deceased were all rogue cultivators.

"Let's head back to the Sword Pavilion first. Once we match their faces to the portraits on the Fate Severing Peak, we'll know their true identities and cultivation realms," Zeng Yulan said before turning to Pang Jian. "Junior Brother Pang, what's your true cultivation realm?"

"It seems I've reached the Soul Wandering Realm," Pang Jian answered truthfully.

"The Soul Wandering Realm..." Zeng Yulan let out a bitter smile. "You could be the youngest Soul Wandering Realm disciple in the history of the Sword Pavilion. According to Senior Brother Qi, you’re still in your twenties, right?"

"Yes."

"No wonder the Pavilion Master took you as his personal disciple," she mused, a trace of melancholy in her voice.

"They were also at the Soul Wandering Realm, but you killed them like they were cultivators with much lower cultivation realms," Song Zihe murmured.

Both women were deeply rattled at what they had witnessed. They were both slightly older than Pang Jian and in the Profound Abode Realm.

The pair had always taken pride in their positions as inner disciples, but after this experience, their sense of superiority was left in pieces.

***

Liu Junhong, Wang Ce, Xu Yu, and Chen Weihuang stood before Qi Feng at the entrance of Trimcloud Town, staring at the sky with grim expressions.

"This is outrageous!" Xu Yu fumed, flames of fury literally crackling from her head. "How long has Pang Jian been in the Sword Pavilion? First, they tried to frame him using the Abyssal Demon Sword, then when that plan failed, they sent rogue cultivators to kill him!

"My two useless disciples, Zeng Yulan and Song Zihe, nearly got caught in the crossfire!

"Not to mention, those three Soul Wandering Realm rogue cultivators—Bao Tianzhi, Cheng Yu, Wei Zheng—have no connection to Pang Jian whatsoever!

"I can't imagine they would randomly muster up the nerve to attack a disciple of our Sword Pavilion without being offered great rewards!

"Even if Pang Jian was an outer disciple, they still would have had to think twice about the consequences!

"Worse still, they ambushed him on the Heaven Awakening Continent, our Sword Pavilion's territory!

"Our Sword Pavilion has never faced such a disgraceful incident in the last hundred years! We need to get to the bottom of this!"

The more Xu Yu thought about it, the angrier she became.