Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 473: The Complete Abyssal Demon

Xuan Ying hovered mid-air a hundred li away, her serrated demonic blade floating behind her. Her radiant, jade-like face emitted a faint silver glow.

Whoosh!

Strands of bluish-black demonic light drifted from the blade, masking her presence and erasing all traces of her existence.

"So, he came to the Demon Abyss as well," she mumbled coldly.

Her sharp gaze was locked onto the ruined city. Despite the Demon Abyss's unique environment that restricted perception, her vision pierced through it effortlessly, allowing her to watch as the massive crimson dragon thrashed.

Pang Jian's relentless sword strikes were tearing it apart.

The Rank Eight Flame Dragon, Long Yan, was doomed.

"This is the Demon Abyss, the homeland of the Demon Scale Race! This region is my domain! Dragons, humans, Feys—no one can lay claim to what rightfully belongs to me, Xuan Ying!" she declared resolutely.

The oppressive influence of the Demon Abyss not only did not affect her the way it did others but was actually something that empowered her.

Just as the demonic stone had acknowledged Wu Yuan, numerous Demon Gods had recognized Xuan Ying, allowing her to treat the Demon Abyss like her own private domain.

Xuan Ying seemed to harmonize with the land in the Demon Abyss, significantly boosting her combat prowess.

Whoosh!

A brilliant beam of moonlight enveloping a slender figure suddenly descended into the greenish-black veil.

Within the beam of moonlight was a beautiful young human woman with delicate moon patterns faintly visible on her smooth forehead.

Xuan Ying's expression shifted. "How does this woman radiate such potent divine power? Is she a follower of the Moon God, or perhaps her vessel?"

After entering the Demon Abyss, she had wantonly engaged in slaughter, wanting to ensure that no one would disturb her while she comprehended the mysteries of the demonic stone.

As long as no one escaped to report the Demon Abyss's situation to the Demon Sect elders, those outside would be none the wiser about what was happening inside.

She had relied on her affinity with the Demon Abyss to kill many already, leaving only a few who could potentially threaten her.

The woman's arrival and astonishing divine power brought Xuan Ying a renewed sense of threat.

"I hope she's merely a follower. Things could get troublesome if she's a vessel of the Moon God."

With that, Xuan Ying quietly departed.

***

Standing beside the Qilin Bell a hundred li away outside of the ruined city, Wu Yuan let out a sigh of relief when he sensed Xuan Ying leave. "I encountered the woman you mentioned. She's very powerful."

"You fought her?" Li Jie exclaimed in shock.

"We crossed paths. I was forced to retreat despite my resonance with the demonic stone and my advantages in the Demon Abyss," Wu Yuan said, face tinged with lingering fear. After a brief pause, he asked, "What's going on over there? How did Pang Jian end up fighting a Flame Dragon?"

"That Flame Dragon is Long Yan. He came from the Dragon Lair Sect on the Sacred Soul Continent." Li Jie coughed awkwardly. "My Divine Treasure Sect supports the Four-Eyed Spirit Fox, which angered the Dragon Lair. They sent Long Yan to kill me in retaliation."

Li Jie remained huddled inside the Qilin Bell, wary that Wu Yuan could be colluding with his attacker as he still suspected the woman was a disciple of the Demon Sect.

Even so, that did not stop him from conversing with Wu Yuan or sharing the details of what had happened.

"A Rank Eight Flame Dragon!" Wu Yuan was astonished. He had not expected Pang Jian to have grown strong enough to fight a Rank Eight Flame Dragon.

"Long Yan is as good as dead. There's no way he'll survive with that much poison in him," Li Jie said with a smug chuckle. "Back in Eight Trigrams City in the Fifth World, I saw Pang Jian and his group's methods firsthand.

"Sure, they were underhanded and shameless, but effective!

"Afterward, when I returned to the Divine Treasure Sect, I started devising ways to protect myself."

Wu Yuan frowned skeptically. "The Pang Jian I know isn't like that."

"That's because you don't know him well!" Li Jie retorted. "When he was weaker, he used any means necessary to deal with stronger enemies.

"He's learned to restrain himself now that he's made a name for himself, but I honestly think he was more terrifying back then than now."

A mournful cry rang out, rising sharply before gradually fading.

"Long Yan is dead," Li Jie said, relief washing over him.

He considered maneuvering the Qilin Bell into the city, but fearing Wu Yuan would move against him, stubbornly chose to stay in place.

Wu Yuan, on the other hand, had no issue with flying toward the city.

"Don't come in, there's poison in the air!" Pang Jian called, spotting Wu Yuan from where he had killed Long Yuan. "Leave now!"

"I have a protective shield. I'm not afraid—"

Before Wu Yuan could finish his sentence, he noticed the poisonous mist bypassing his protective shield and rushing toward his nose and mouth.

His face darkened. "My protective shield doesn't work?"

Not long after, Wu Yuan sat on the ground outside the city after swallowing an antidote, expelling poisons from his nostrils and ears.

At that moment, Li Jie finally emerged from beneath the Qilin Bell.

Wu Yuan glared coldly at him.

Li Jie coughed awkwardly and let out a nervous laugh. "You're a disciple of the Demon Sect, just like my attacker. How do I know you're not working together?"

"I came here together with Pang Jian," Wu Yuan said with a cold snort.

"You said it yourself, the closer we get to the demonic stone, the more its corrupting power affects us. How do I know you haven't been corrupted like her?" Li Jie shot back.

"She's not a disciple of the Demon Sect," Pang Jian interjected. "She's Xuan Ying, from the Demon Scale Race"

"Xuan Ying?" Wu Yuan froze. Ignoring his argument with Li Jie, he decisively said, "Pang Jian, let's stop heading toward the demonic stone!

"We have to leave the Demon Abyss as soon as possible. I need to report her arrival to the elders of the sect.

"She's from the Demon Scale Race. If she's here, then other Demon Scale Race warriors could be here too!

"The foreign races of the Fifth World are no longer planning to wait for the murky energy to rise. They could be preemptively targeting the Demon Abyss Continent!"

Wu Yuan's thoughts ran wild as he imagined the Demon Scale Race invading the Demon Sect.

A chill ran through him as he pictured the Demon Abyss swarming with Rank Nine Demon Scale Race warriors. He even suspected that Xuan Ying's father, Li Bai, the Patriarch of the Demon Scale Race, had secretly arrived in the Demon Abyss as well.

Pang Jian hesitated. "Long Yan's body is still in there. I was planning to wait for the poisonous mist to dissipate before stripping his corpse of valuable materials."

At that moment, a faint consciousness emerged from the Abyssal Demon Sword in Pang Jian's hand.

There's no need for such concern. There are no Rank Nine Demon Scale Race warriors in the Demon Abyss, let alone anyone in Rank Ten.

Clusters of demonic clouds gathered within the miniature world of the sword, coalescing into a shadowy figure resembling the Abyssal Demon's primordial form.

The shadowy figure manifested atop the blazing demonic flames, radiating demonic light. Its spectral form conveyed an air of solemn dignity as if accustomed to the worship of the innumerable Demon Races.

Previously, its consciousnesses were scattered and unfocused, with its demonic will diffused across demonic lights, flames, and clouds.

In contrast, it now used the demonic clouds to sculpt its form and the burning flames as the foundation for its shadow, with its figure radiating demonic light.

The demonic clouds, flames, and lights had merged to form an increasingly tangible demonic figure.

Pang Jian, let me teach you a technique. You can use it to refine the Flame Dragon and consume it entirely. Utilize the fiery pool within your dantian for this purpose, the Abyssal Demon persuaded.

At this moment, the Abyssal Demon had gone from an "it" to a "he."

Pang Jian could keenly sense the difference. It seemed the Demon God from the starry skies had been reborn through a process of destruction, reconstruction, and consolidation.

The Great Demon Gods suppressing the Abyssal Demon, He Motian and Tian Wei, had ultimately failed to destroy him.

After a long period of dormancy, the Abyssal Demon had undergone a transcendent transformation.

This was largely due to the Demon Abyss and Pang Jian wielding it against the Rank Eight Flame Dragon.

From this day forward, I will cooperate with you wholeheartedly and no longer harbor any intent to harm you, the Abyssal Demon solemnly vowed.

He swore an oath on the names of various Demon Gods, pledging eternal exile in darkness, never to return to the starry skies or ascend to the rank of Demon God if he were to break it.

The names of the Demon Gods he mentioned were unfamiliar to Pang Jian, but he could sense the oath carried significant weight for the Abyssal Demon.

It felt like the Abyssal Demon truly meant it this time.

Pang Jian raised the black-gold Abyssal Demon Sword in his hand. "Wu Yuan, he's awakened. He told me there are no other Demon Scale Race warriors here, only Xuan Ying."

"What do you mean 'he's awakened?'" Wu Yuan asked, visibly startled.

"It means the Abyssal Demon was incomplete before, but now, he's become whole." Pang Jian explained vaguely before flying toward Long Yan's corpse. "Stay with Li Jie and watch each other's backs. This Rank Eight Flame Dragon will be beneficial for advancing my cultivation realm."

Shing!

With one swing of the Abyssal Demon Sword, Pang Jian split open Long Yan's underbelly, revealing the Flame Dragon's motionless heart.

The massive dragon heart resembled a crimson gemstone. Its interior was filled with intertwined crystal bloodline chains like scarlet lightning, each containing a profound Dao of Fire.

Long Yan's blood essence had solidified into crystals, concealing an immense reservoir of energy within them.

Primeval Demon Fusion Art.

Runic demonic thoughts leaped out from the sword and surged into Pang Jian's mind one after another, allowing him to grasp the essence of this secret demonic technique in the blink of an eye.

He did not hesitate to enter Long Yan's heart cavity and sit atop the gemstone-like heart.

Pang Jian burst into flames, which in turn set the heart of the Rank Eight Flame Dragon ablaze as well.

The fiery pool on the fragmented land in his dantian transformed into a surging, boiling sea of flames. It emanated an aura as if capable of dissolving and refining everything.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

Long Yan's crystal bloodline chain slowly vanished within the heart and reappeared in the depths of Pang Jian's fiery pool.