Trials of the Abyss

The Sword Boat came to a stop several dozen li away.

Fan Chen frowned as he thoroughly surveyed their surroundings with his divine sense. "We've seen Great Feys everywhere we've gone. The spiritual qi is dense here, so why isn't there any around the Greencliff Mountain Range?"

"Isn't it because the Fey King Rock Bear is here?" Dong Wenjian said.

"Think about how many Great Feys we encountered in Fey King Yuan Min's territory," Fan Chen retorted. "Don't the Lesser Feys tend to gather around the Great Feys, with the Great Feys obeying the orders of the Fey Kings?"

Dong Wenjian shook his head. "I don't know much about the Fey Race."

It was not just him. Liu Youyu and the others were also unfamiliar with the Fey Race of the Sacred Soul Continent.

Their elders had explicitly forbidden them from exploring the Sacred Soul Continent and had not shared much about the Fey Race.

"Only the Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect truly understands the Sacred Soul Continent," Lin Manhe said softly.

Zhou Qingchen was taken aback. "The Li Family?"

"Yes." Liu Manhe sat beside her partner, Dong Wenjian, eyes gleaming brightly as she earnestly explained, "The merchant ships of the Li Family often frequent the Sacred Soul Continent.

"The Fey Race needs resources unavailable on the continent—rare stones, refined iron, and special medicinal herbs, all of which are essential to enhance their bloodlines.

"Only the Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect sells the highest-grade materials. Those small factions of rogue cultivators on the fragmented lands around the continent can't provide such resources to the Great Feys."

As the others reflected on her words, they understood why Li Yuqing would leave the battles in the Third World and head deeper into the Sacred Soul Continent.

Hu Yuanfei grasped her sword token and quietly communicated with Elder Mu Aichuan of the Sword Pavilion, the elder stationed at Eternal Crossing.

"The Greencliff Mountain Range has always been under the control of the Fey King Rock Bear," she explained after gathering information. "This Fey King was once a follower of the Celestial Phoenix.

"After the death of the Celestial Phoenix, he left the Sacred Soul Continent and only recently returned.

"According to legend, the ancient Thunder Dragon played a role in the downfall of the Celestial Phoenix. The Thunder Dragon slumbering within the Dragon Lair Sect is currently the strongest being among the Fey Race.

"The Fey Race fears the Thunder Dragon and the Dragon Lair Sect. It's why no Great Feys have chosen to follow the Fey King Rock Bear.

"My Elder Mu from the Sword Pavilion mentioned that this Rock Bear is incredibly fierce. Even though he left the Greencliff Mountain Range for a long time, no Great Feys dared to take his territory.

"Over time, this place became a rather deserted spot within the Sacred Soul Continent."

Everyone nodded in understanding.

"There's a sudden influx of Fey Race!" Liu Youyu abruptly cried, raising her Celestial Profound Mirror to show everyone the scene reflected within.

A Fey King led the charge of Rank Seven and Rank Eight Fey Race from several hundred li away.

As the Fey Race advanced, the sky changed color, and dark clouds covered the sky.

Whoosh!

Sea water surged onto the land. Tidal waves swept along rocks and trees as they rushed toward the Greencliff Mountain Range, with the tallest swelling to heights of several dozen zhang.

The white-robed old woman from Fey King Yuan Min's territory stood atop a landborne wave.

A massive Black Stork soared above the many Great Feys, its jet-black wings crackling with crimson lightning.

Crackle! Bang

Lightning intermittently struck, setting the Greencliff Mountain Range ablaze.

The surging waves, the crackling lightning, and the low roars of the Great Feys caused everyone's expressions to shift.

"The Fey King Black Stork!" Hu Yuanfei's face darkened. "I saw this Black Stork with Pang Jian in the underwater palace!

"This weaker Rank Nine Fey King is friends with Fey King Yuan Min. He doesn't have the qualifications to compete for the position of Fey God!

"Fey King Yuan Min likely commanded him here!"

"Fey King Yuan Min is trying to test the Fey King Rock Bear King!" Dong Wenjian exclaimed.

"Are we going to remain passive again, or...?" Zhou Qingchen asked in a low voice.

"The Black Stork is a Rank Nine Fey King. Even if it's weaker, we're no match for it," Fan Chen said with a bitter smile, shaking his head.

"We could perhaps contend with Rank Eight Great Feys if we risk our lives, but Rank Nines...there's simply no way for us to face them head-on."

***

Within the Greencliff Mountain Range, Pang Jian and Yuan Qi discussed matters related to Northern Qi.

Yuan Qi did not hide anything from Pang Jian. He told him about a cluster of fragmented lands in the bizarre mist, near the boundary wall in the northern region of the Fourth World.

That scattered cluster of fragmented lands was home to a group of Fey Race from ancient times.

A World God was said to have helped these Fey Race survive in the depths of the bizarre mist.

They had also obtained many secret techniques from the starry skies, which helped enhance the Fey Race's power.

In this way, this group of Fey Race had actually lived rather comfortably within the bizarre mist.

The cluster of fragmented lands had become their secluded paradise, independent from the Abyss.

They recently learned about the rise of murky energy to the upper worlds and realized that a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had arrived, so they ventured out.

"How strong is the Fey Race in the bizarre mist? What's their bloodline rank? How many of them are there?" Pang Jian asked.

Yuan Qi, still in his Gray Ape form, looked troubled. "I've achieved what I have today because of their help and my special bloodline. Before I left, I promised them to keep their secret."

"That's alright."

Pang Jian did not press him further and started talking about other matters.

The Rank Nine Fey King Rock Bear remained silent throughout their conversation, focusing on using his dense fur to refine the bloodline mysteries he deemed beneficial within the murky blood.

The Fey Race blood ritual, known as "Return to Antiquity," was composed of the blood of dozens of Great Feys closely related to the Rock Bear's lineage, mixed with over a dozen types of elixirs that could stimulate one's bloodline.

As the Rock Bear submerged in the blood, he used his bloodline rank to discern which strands of arcane bloodline lightning were beneficial to him.

Sizzle!

Dozens of hair-thin strands of arcane bloodline lightning were drawn into his flesh, vanishing into his massive bear heart to activate his dormant crystal bloodline chains.

After a while, he let out a satisfied burp and casually listened to Pang Jian and Yuan Qi reminiscing.

"Northern Qi hunter, Pang Jian," the Rock Bear suddenly interrupted. "Yuan Qi mentioned that you released the beast soul of the black turtle in the Solitary Mountain Range?"

"Yes. Not long ago, I even came across the corpse of the Rank Ten black turtle," Pang Jian replied.

The Rock Bear's eyes widened in surprise. "Where?"

Yuan Qi was also shocked.

Pang Jian had not brought up the Fey Spirit Continent to him yet, so the subject of the black turtle had also not come up.

"There's an intact continent that recently emerged from the bizarre mist of the Fourth World." Pang Jian explained with a sigh. "The Rank Ten black turtle exhausted all his strength pushing it back into the Abyss and died in the bizarre mist."

"Elder, in the end..." The Rock Bear's voice cracked. His enormous beastly eyes glistened with crystalline tears as he choked out, "Elder gave everything he had for our Fey Race.

"He sacrificed his life to seek more opportunities and hope for the Fey Race.

"The new generation of Great Feys and Fey Kings will never truly understand how much he has sacrificed!"

The Rank Nine Fey King Rock Bear clearly held the deceased Rank Ten black turtle in the highest regard.

"If not for the divisions between the human race and the Fey Race, the True Gods and the four Fey Gods could've joined forces to try and break the barrier, seeking a new path forward for both our races in the Abyss!

The Rank Nine Fey King Rock Bear let out a long, sorrowful howl.

At that moment, the Rock Bear seemed to sense something.

He stood upright in the pool of blood, his massive frame towering like a pillar holding up the sky. The thick, viscous blood at his feet seemed like a swarm of sinister serpents as they coiled up his legs.

Roar!

His roar shook the mountains and caused the ground to tremble for hundreds of li.

"Yuan Min, you little brat, is there any need to resort to such despicable methods?"

A hundred pillars of blood plunged deep into the earth like dragons weaving through the center of the Greencliff Mountain Range.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The ground cracked open as sharp rocks burst through the surface across a range of hundreds of li.

Dozens of jagged rocks, towering several zhang high, instantly obliterated many invading Lesser and Great Feys.

The anguished cries of Rank Seven and Rank Eight Fey Race filled the air as their blood stained the ground red.

Giant rocks crushed and twisted their bodies before burying them beneath the rubble.

In the blink of an eye, the Fey Race horde that Fey King Yuan Min sent to test the Rock Bear had suffered devastating casualties.

"Hold your formation! We need to force the Fey King Rock Bear to reveal his true strength!" the Rank Nine Black Stork cried.

Hundreds of crimson lightning bolts surged from its broad wings, pouring into the fissures in the ground in an attempt to suppress the Rock Bear's bloodline technique.

Deep underground, at a depth of a hundred zhang, massive "dragons" intercepted the blazing crimson lightning.

The "dragons" were imbued with the immense power of the earth and carried a profound, weighty aura that effortlessly snuffed out the Black Stork's crimson lightning infused with the Dao of Lightning and Fire.

The Black Stork let out a piercing cry.

At this moment, he finally understood why Fey King Yuan Min had not come personally but had instead sent him to test the Fey King Rock Bear's strength.

"Retreat! Withdraw from the Greencliff Mountain Range!" the Black Stork screeched in anguish.

He led by example, being the first to shoot back like lightning in the direction they had come from.

"Earth, thick soils, jagged rocks..."

The blackish-yellow fragmented land that the Rank Ten black turtle gifted Pang Jian floated in his spiritual sea, gradually manifesting several peculiar innate divine abilities.

They appeared to be the same ones the Rock Bear was unleashing at this moment!

The Rock Bear glanced down at Pang Jian with a thoughtful hum.

"So, you weren't lying—you truly did meet the elder. He even gave you something. For him to bestow such abilities on a human, how peculiar..."

Meanwhile, several silhouettes flickered repeatedly in Liu Youyu's Celestial Profound Mirror—it was the very same Great Feys that had plundered them.

She held the Celestial Profound Mirror high above her head, allowing Fan Chen, Dong Wenjian, and the others to see the Great Feys loyal to Yuan Min.

"You guys decide."

"If the Fey King Rock Bear can kill Fey King Yuan Min, then there's nothing to fear!" Fan Chen gritted his teeth.

Whoosh!

A gaunt figure charged straight toward a Great Fey.

"Dong Tianze!"