Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 449: Descending to the Lower World with the Abyssal Demon Sword

High above the Cosmic Skies Continent, two elders of the Sword Pavilion in the Immortal Realm hovered above a massive Sword Boat, expressions somber as they gazed down at the chaotic world below.

On the deck of the Sword Boat was a small spatial teleportation array. Any disciple who stepped onto it would instantly be transported back to the Sword Pavilion.

It did not matter how serious their injuries were, the Sword Pavilion could always heal them as long as they survived.

Unfortunately, the Cosmic Skies Continent below lacked a corresponding spatial teleportation array to establish a connection.

A short ways away, atop a sinister ship constructed from white bones, stood several Rank Nine Demon Scale Race warriors.

Further in the distance, Immortal Realm cultivators from the Ghost Sacrifice Sect and the Boundless Sky Divine Kingdom stood aboard their respective flying vessels, waiting for survivors to break through the encirclement and ascend to safety.

Human cultivators in the Profound Abode Realm, Spirit Condensation Realm, Soul Wandering Realm, and Nirvana Realm were dying on the battlefield below with every passing moment.

The same held true for the foreign races and Vicious Beasts.

Such was the relentless cruelty of war.

Mountains of corpses were left in the dust of every battlefield.

Once the battle ended, there was often no clear victor or loser—only heaps of corpses on both sides.

"Wenhao is in increasingly dire straits," Elder Shi Bingyun said as he stood on the Sword Boat's deck.

He watched as a Demon Scale Race warrior, a woman wielding a serrated blade, intercepted Zhou Wenhao's charge toward an evacuation point.

This fierce woman had even cut down one of Shi Bingyun's junior brothers, an elder of the Sword Pavilion in the late stages of the Nirvana Realm.

Several Rank Eight Demon Scale Race warriors followed her lead, relentlessly hunting down Sword Pavilion disciples trying to escape the Cosmic Skies Continent.

This was the strongest interception force.

None of the forces targeting the Forsaken Expanse Sect, the Ancient Law Sect, or the Boundless Sky Divine Kingdom's Cloud Devourer and Blazing Rainbow armies could match the sheer lethality of the Demon Scale Race.

It was a testament to the Fifth World's focus on the Sword Pavilion.

"That woman is Xuan Ying, the daughter of the Patriarch of the Demon Scale Race, Li Bai," Elder Cai Xin said solemnly. "I heard she advanced to Rank Eight while in Northern Qi. Back on the Fey Spirit Continent, she single-handedly held off and nearly killed Liu Youyu and Hu Yuanfei while only in Rank Seven."

"She's truly an extraordinary genius among the foreign races. Her potential could even surpass her father," Shi Bingyun said coldly.

The two elders were Immortal Realm cultivators and thus could do nothing but watch helplessly as Xuan Ying toyed with her opponents like a cat playing with mice.

Xuan Ying wielded her terrifying serrated blade, relentlessly inflicting wounds on the Nirvana Realm disciples of the Sword Pavilion.

Zhou Wenhao, his hair disheveled and body drenched in blood, could not hold his ground against the Rank Eight Xuan Ying.

Crack!

The serrated blade tore open a deep fissure in the ground.

The weapon shattered the protective barrier of a Nirvana Realm cultivator from the Sword Pavilion, splitting them in two the same way it once fractured continents and destroyed nations.

"Elder Yin!" the disciples of the Sword Pavilion cried in anguish.

The Nirvana Realm elder from the Celestial Gate Peak was a loyal follower of the Great Elder Jiang Ran. He had diligently protected them along the way, only to meet his end in battle before their eyes.

Xuan Ying, clad in a gleaming silver-scaled mask that revealed only a pair of piercing eyes, exuded an overwhelming strength that drove all her opponents into despair.

At that moment, the disciples of the Sword Pavilion finally realized that the foreign races they looked down on could produce talents of earth-shaking brilliance, even within the eternal darkness of the Fifth World.

Xuan Ying was the Fifth World's equivalent of a monstrous prodigy like Li Yuqing of the Divine Treasure Sect's Li Family.

Even Zhou Wenhao, a personal disciple of Jiang Ran with mid-stage Nirvana Realm cultivation, paled in comparison.

"Senior Brother Chen Weihuang is likely the only one who can match her," Zhuang Yuyan murmured. "It's too bad he's on the Dark Abyss Continent."

She and Qi Qingsong fought side by side against Rank Seven Demon Scale Race warriors, their protective shields repeatedly shattering and reforming.

Zhuang Yuyan's hair was stained with blood and the bones in one of Qi Qingsong's arms were crushed. Even so, the pair pushed themselves to their limits, swallowing pills mid-battle to replenish their strength as they fought.

They knew deep down that the outcome of this fight hinged entirely on Xuan Ying. Their entire force would be wiped out if no one took her down.

However, even Zhou Wenhao had failed to withstand the onslaught of Xuan Ying's fearsome serrated blade.

There was no one around strong enough to lead them to safety.

The Immortal Realm cultivators in the sky had an unspoken agreement with the Rank Nine foreign race warriors—an understanding that neither side would intervene in the battles below.

The Sword Pavilion disciples knew the Immortal Realm elders aboard the Sword Boat above would not break the rules and descend to aid them.

If the Immortal Realm cultivators and Rank Nine foreign race warriors joined the fray, the Cosmic Skies Continent would inevitably be fractured into pieces.

It was preferable for the warriors below Rank Nine and cultivators beneath the Immortal Realm to mutually annihilate one another instead of risking the destruction of another continent.

As long as the continent remained, more powerful warriors and cultivators could be fostered in the future.

Blood dripped from Zhou Wenhao's sleeve. His protective shield had shattered, and the murky energy was seeping into his body.

Zhou Wenhao did not even try to resist the murky energy invading his body as he no longer cared about the long-term effects it could inflict.

His gaze was locked firmly onto Xuan Ying, heart screaming in unbearable grief.

Elder Yin Tong took care of him and Su Li, teaching them swordsmanship and helping them solve their troubles when their master, Jiang Ran, was absent from the sect.

Although Yin Tong was no cultivation genius and had remained in the Nirvana Realm for over three centuries without further advancement, his unwavering dedication to Zhou Wenhao and Su Li never faltered.

When Xuan Ying's blade descended, Yin Tong, realizing that Zhou Wenhao could no longer hold on, had shielded him.

Yin Tong had succeeded at the cost of his life.

Zhou Wenhao's reddened eyes brimmed with unbidden tears, desperately wishing to take action for Yin Tong but powerless to do anything.

Xuan Ying stood imposingly atop a blood-soaked branch of a withered tree, her cold gaze fixed on the disciples of the Sword Pavilion below.

Her serrated blade floated ominously behind her. Its mere presence sent a wave of dread through the Sword Pavilion disciples.

"Having me leading the Demon Scale Race interception force is the highest respect we can show to the Sword Pavilion," she said coldly. "The Sword Pavilion has always produced exceptional talents whenever the human race faced peril.

"Even now, without a single True God among you, we dare not underestimate the Sword Pavilion."

Her chilling gaze landed on Qi Qingsong, then shifted to Zhuang Yuyan.

"You two are exceptional and will undoubtedly pose a significant threat to our Rank Eight warriors if allowed to advance to the Nirvana Realm.

"And then there's Pang Jian."

Xuan Ying clenched her teeth behind her silver mask.

"I specifically went to Northern Qi, his homeland, to look for him, but he was nowhere to be found.

"He poses an even greater threat than any of you. If—"

Xuan Ying suddenly peered up at the sky.

A familiar presence had appeared on the stationary Sword Boat.

"Pang Jian!" Xuan Ying shouted. @@novelbin@@

Sinister blade lights erupted from her serrated blade, swarming like bloodthirsty schools of fish.

"Pang Jian?" Qi Qingsong, Zhuang Yuyan, and Zhou Wenhao instinctively turned their gazes skyward.

Elders Shi Bingyun and Cai Xin were equally stunned.

"Pang Jian!" Cai Xin exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Senior Sister Hu said Xuan Ying was ruthlessly slaughtering our Sword Pavilion disciples and that no one could stop her. I came to escort Qi Qingsong and Senior Sister Zhuang back," Pang Jian replied coolly, descending from the small spatial teleportation array on his sword.

"Xuan Ying has advanced to Rank Eight!" Shi Bingyun shouted in warning.

Pang Jian's confident voice echoed in the air. "No matter. I've broken through to the Nirvana Realm."

"The Nirvana Realm!" Cai Xin and Shi Bingyun were stunned.

Cultivators from other factions battling across the continent snuck glances upward as a streak of black-gold sword light descended from the sky.

"Pang Jian of the Sword Pavilion, once ranked second on the Soul Wandering Realm leaderboard, has descended from the upper world!"

"The pressure on the Sword Pavilion is overwhelming. Zhou Wenhao held on for a long time, but he's reaching his limit."

"Can Pang Jian alone truly turn the tide?"

"That Demon Scale Race girl wields a divine-grade blade. Immortal Realm cultivators cannot intervene on this battlefield, which makes her practically invincible!"

"Surely no one can suppress Xuan Ying besides that monstrous prodigy from the Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect!"

"So what if Pang Jian has descended from the upper worlds?"

Although Pang Jian's reputation and combat prowess were deeply etched in the hearts of many, it did not change the fact that Xuan Ying was nothing short of terrifying.

She had already slain several Nirvana Realm protectors from the Sword Pavilion.

No one believed that Pang Jian, even formidable as he was, stood a chance against such a monstrous opponent.

***

Whoosh!

Pang Jian descended on his black-gold Abyssal Demon Sword, landing before dozens of Sword Pavilion disciples.

"Stop!" Xuan Ying barked sharply as she gestured for the Demon Scale Race warriors to retreat.

Her subordinates obediently withdrew, casting curious glances at the bold newcomer as they did.

The Sword Pavilion disciples were grateful for the brief reprieve.

Pang Jian stood before Xuan Ying in the forest shrouded in murky energy. He was dressed in the standard blue robes of a Sword Pavilion disciple and had a sword token hanging from his waist.

Whoosh!

The Abyssal Demon Sword was angled toward the ground, tip gleaming with a golden sheen.

Even though Pang Jian had not fully released its sword intent, the sharp aura emanating from the blade was still sharp enough to pierce a thin gash in the earth.

"Pang Jian!" Zhou Wenhao, Zhuang Yuyan, Qi Qingsong, and the other Sword Pavilion cultivators exclaimed in surprise.

Some keen-eyed Sword Pavilion protectors immediately noticed the changes in Pang Jian's sword and cultivation realm.

"The Abyssal Demon Sword! It's no longer broken! The missing part has been restored!"

"He's reached the Nirvana Realm!"

A human Nirvana Realm cultivator was equivalent to a Rank Eight foreign race warrior.

Pang Jian had recently advanced to the Nirvana Realm and held the restored Abyssal Demon Sword.

Meanwhile, Xuan Ying had just reached Rank Eight and wielded a divine-grade serrated blade.

One was Li Zhaotian's personal disciple and the other was Li Bai's daughter. They were perfectly matched as rivals.

"On the Fey Spirit Continent, you resorted to trickery to escape, and I couldn't track you down," Xuan Ying said coldly, icy gaze locked onto Pang Jian. "This time, you have these Sword Pavilion cultivators to protect. You don't have the luxury of slipping away anymore."

The serrated blade hovering behind her radiated an aura capable of tearing the heavens asunder.

"If you can hold your ground against me, I'll allow you to lead your sect members back."