Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 334: Everyone Refines Their Divine Soul

The future leader of the Forsaken Expanse Sect in the Northern Ruin was killed, with body and soul destroyed.

After his physical body was dealt with, his divine soul was forced to manifest, only for the golden bees to rip it apart to force out the soul projection of the Skull Crusher.

This was clear proof that an Outer God had corrupted Fu Wangchen.

Pang Jian's parting words when he fled Absolute Heaven had been proven true.

The corrupted one was not Pang Jian from the Sword Pavilion, but Fu Wangchen from the Forsaken Expanse Sect.

The truth was laid bare before everyone, leaving no room for denial.

"I can't believe Pang Jian killed Junior Brother Fu so easily." Lu Jie found it difficult to accept.

Qiao Zhen sighed. "A once-great hero had perished, body and soul. How tragic."

Fang Boxuan was also at a loss. As he stared at Pang Jian, sitting atop the glacier, he felt like the heavens had been overturned.

The Sword Pavilion in the Second World had no True God residing over it and could not compare to the Forsaken Expanse Sect.

However, despite only recently being recorded in the Sword Pavilion's register, Pang Jian had unexpectedly demonstrated an unmatched strength in the depths of the bizarre mist.

Pang Jian destroyed the puppet body of the Thunderveil Godbeast, forced a Rank Eight Ice Armor Eel Dragon into submission, and then slew the corrupted genius of the Forsaken Expanse Sect, Fu Wangchen.

Fang Boxuan could only dream of accomplishing what Pang Jian had, especially killing Fu Wangchen, which had been his goal since the destruction of his clan.

After all, Fu Wangchen's master, Li Chu, had caused the massacre of the Fang Clan, forcing Fang Boxuan to hide his identity and cultivate in the Blood Moon Sect.

"Fu Wangchen is dead. A person I should've killed with my own hands has died at Pang Jian's instead." Fang Boxuan shook his head, lost in thought.

"You?" Chen Lushi scoffed, lips curling in mockery, "The Ice Armor Eel Dragon wouldn't have bested you in Absolute Heaven if you had Pang Jian's cultivation and skills. Your biggest mistake, Fang Xuan, was—"

Chen Lushi stopped when abruptly realized that she, too, had made the same mistake as Fang Boxuan—not trusting Pang Jian.

"Pang Jian!" Lu Jie shouted toward the glacier.

Pang Jian ignored her and remained fully immersed in his cultivation.

Bing Ying and several other Rank Six Ice Race warriors glanced down from their Spirit Avians with cold expressions.

Lu Jie had intended to throw out a few harsh words, but the chill coiling around her dantian and spiritual sea under the Ice Race warriors' icy stares rendered her unable to speak.

"What should we do now?" Xiao Yu asked, having since changed into a clean robe that accentuated her long legs.

Her bewildered gaze swept over Jiang Chao, Lu Jie, Chen Lushi, Fang Boxuan, and the others before landing on Qiao Zhen from the Qiao Clan, which was allied with the Sword Pavilion.

"Sister Zhen, the Heavenly Roc Warship has been destroyed, and all our large flying vessels have been wrecked. How are we going to leave?"

"I don't know either," Qiao Zhen replied with a bitter smile.

"Why don't you ask those from the Sword Pavilion?" Xiao Yu suggested, lowering her head with a soft sigh. "Everyone in my Xiao Clan is dead, and this wretched place is terrifying. I don't care about seeking opportunities anymore—I just want to leave."

"Who doesn't?" Qiao Zhen shook her head.

"We'll likely have to rely on the Sword Pavilion if we want to leave as their Sword Boat is still anchored somewhere in the bizarre mist," Fang Boxuan said.

"The Sword Boat is still intact?!"

Everyone's spirits lifted.

"We'll just have to wait for Qi Qingsong, Zhuang Yuyan, and the others to finish their business, and then beg them to take us along when they leave," Fang Boxuan said despondently.

It could take anywhere from hours to days for them to be ready.

Whoosh!

A radiant Celestial Phoenix soared from Dong Tianze's forehead as he awakened from meditation.

His eyes glowed with a serene, mysterious light.

The massive Celestial Phoenix shone with sacred radiance, gracefully enveloping Dong Tianze's slender frame in its expansive wings as if tenderly protecting him.

"Dong Tianze!" Qi Qingsong exclaimed in surprise. "What's this? Have you already finished refining your divine soul?"

"I am," Dong Tianze answered from within the Celestial Phoenix's cradling wings. "My divine soul has taken form, but I need to merge it with my Celestial Phoenix Imprint to stabilize my cultivation."

"How many strands of divine sense did you have before refining your divine soul? And how much of it contains divine essence?" Qi Qingsong asked eagerly.

"My total number of divine sense was over three hundred strands—though I didn't count the exact number. Of those, around two hundred were imbued with divine essence." Dong Tianze then fell silent as he resumed his cultivation.

"Over three hundred strands!" Chen Lushi, Jiang Chao, and the others were filled with envy.

In general, they only had around a hundred and twenty strands of divine sense and had not obtained any divine essence from the Outer Gods.

The group watching from a distance still had a long way to go before they could refine their divine souls.

Dong Tianze of the Third World's Sinister Soul Temple was the first among his peers to refine his divine soul using over three hundred strands of divine sense!

After another long while, Zhao Yuanqi from the Red Mountain Sect finished refining a mountain in her sea of consciousness.

The mountain stood a hundred zhang tall, but only two-thirds of it was deep crimson, while the other part remained gray.

With a thought, the mountain transformed into a clear image of herself. Her divine soul's face, neck, and waist were a deep red while everything below her legs was gray.

"I don't have enough divine essence. Otherwise, the entire mountain would be deep crimson." She sighed, glancing at Qi Qingsong.

"You've formed your divine soul too?" Qi Qingsong asked.

Zhao Yuanqi nodded. "I had less than three hundred strands of total divine sense, and the divine essence I gained wasn't enough, so..."

"Of course. After all, Zhou Qingchen, Dong Tianze, and I received the most divine essence," Qi Qingsong said openly. "When Fu Wangchen captured Pang Jian on the Heavenly Roc Warship, Dong Tianze soared to the skies several times to fight for him. He ended up seriously injured and his Black Iron Mountain was also destroyed in the process.

"My and Zhou Qingchen's relationship with Pang Jian goes without saying! Do you have a problem with that?" Qi Qingsong snorted.

Zhao Yuanqi shook her head without a word of protest.

Qi Qingsong and Wu Yuan also finished refining their divine souls a few days later.

Only Zhou Qingchen, with his comparatively lower cultivation realm, and Zhuang Yuyan, already in the Spirit Condensation Realm, did not refine their divine souls.

The other four in Pang Jian's group successfully refined their divine souls using the pure divine essence they had received.

"I refined my divine soul too early!" Zhuang Yuyan huffed.

While she had fused the divine essence she received into her existing divine soul, the benefits were nowhere near as great as directly forming one's divine soul with it.

"If I had known such immense fortune awaited us, I wouldn't have broken through while in the bizarre mist!" She was filled with regret.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three flat warships that the Ice Race had meticulously repaired rose from the frigid Frozen Land.

"It worked!" n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"Second Elder! We powered up the warships!"

"With these, we can sail across the endless bizarre mist and reach the vast starry skies beyond!"

The Ice Race warriors cheered.

Not long ago, another elder had also broken through the limits of his bloodline and advanced to Rank Seven.

Many Ice Race warriors experienced a breakthrough in their bloodlines with the help of artifacts from the other foreign races and fragments from the Divine Court of Thunder.

The dawn of the Ice Race's resurgence was in sight, causing their cold blood to boil with excitement. They all hoped Pang Jian would lead them out of the Frozen Land.

***

Bing Ji and Bing Yun, the two Ice Race warriors, stood guard at the base of the glacier where Pang Jian sat.

"Halt!" They glared at an unexpected visitor.

Chen Lushi had spent some time grooming herself over the past few days. Her eyebrows were as delicate as a painting, her full lips alluringly rosy, and her beauty mark had taken on an irresistible charm.

A faint smile played at the corners of her lips as she coaxed, "Gentlemen, I have some matters to discuss with Pang Jian. Could I trouble you to let me pass?"

"Lord said that only the six in the city ruins may pass messages," Bing Ji sneered. "You're not part of that group. Go back."

"Why the distinction?!" Chen Lushi protested, glaring fiercely toward the top glacier, hoping her sharp voice would reach Pang Jian.

"Enough nonsense!" Bing Yun glared at her as the ice beneath his feet cracked audibly.

The solid chunks of ice had already been infused with his bloodline power and were ready to launch a storm-like barrage of attacks against Chen Lushi at any moment.

"Foreign races are just foreign races!" Chen Lushi left in a fury. As she stomped back to the hill, she shouted at the ruins, "Wu Yuan! You're the leader of the expedition from the Demon Sect. Are you going to stay with them forever?"

"It's better than staying with you," Wu Yuan coldly replied. Then, adding fuel to the fire, he continued "You led a whole group of cultivators into the lake for the Ice Armor Eel Dragon to devour.

"I survived and successfully refined my divine soul because I didn't follow you."

Chen Lushi nearly spat blood.

***

Pang Jian remained silent atop the glacier, showing no signs of movement.

Qi Qingsong and the others who had successfully refined their divine souls were busy stabilizing their cultivation and were in no hurry to leave.

The Ice Race scoured every corner of the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God, gathering everything the other foreign races had left behind.

The Forbidden Land of the Thunder God and the Frozen Land had merged into one, and there were no signs they would split apart again. Thus, after consulting with the other members of the Ice Race, Bing Yuan decided to rename the two merged lands "Frozen Thunder."

One day, Lu Jie from the Forsaken Expanse Sect awoke from her long meditation.

"I've successfully refined my divine soul too. Unfortunately, I could neither obtain divine essence nor forge an eye like Junior Brother Fu." She sighed with regret.

"I've also successfully refined my divine soul," Jiang Chao, Chen Lushi, and others also announced as they broke through to the Spirit Condensation Realm one after another.

They had been meditating while waiting for Pang Jian to bring them out of Frozen Thunder and had eventually broken through after patiently working through the obstacles.

Eventually, even Zhou Qingchen, who had the weakest cultivation realm when they first arrived, also completed the refining of his divine soul as well. Once that happened, everyone could not help but turn curious eyes at where Pang Jian sat atop the glacier.

"Why hasn't Pang Jian formed his divine soul yet?"