Trials of the Abyss

"The Dragon Lair Sect..."

The White Lynx's inky black eyes shone with a mix of reverence and dread at the mention of the Dragon Lair Sect, and a conflicted expression appeared on her delicate face.

Although she was no match for Fey King Yuan Min, she was confident in her ability to protect herself and did not truly fear him.

At worst, she could flee the Sacred Soul Continent and hide in a human-occupied fragmented land.

However, the Dragon Lair Sect was different. They symbolized authority and bloodshed for all the Fey Race in the Abyss.

After the Celestial Phoenix's death, no Fey Race could defy the Dragon Lair Sect without meeting a terrible end.

Provoking the Dragon Lair Sect meant having no safe haven in the Abyss. The dragons of the Dragon Lair Sect would inevitably track them down and exact brutal punishment.

Every powerful Fey Race carried a scale in their hearts, weighing their actions against their fear of the Dragon Lair Sect.

Thus, the White Lynx was torn at Yuan Qi's sole condition opposing the Dragon Lair Sect.

The massive skeletal hand imprisoning Pang Jian burned with ghostly pale flames that exuded a sinister, icy aura.

Blood streamed uncontrollably from Pang Jian's eyes, nose, and mouth.

From his perspective, the blood flowing from his body appeared as pitch-black filth.

When he peered up at the night sky, he saw no hint of starlight or moonlight, only an endless expanse of black.

He glanced down at the ground through the cracks in the white bones and found that the ground had turned pure white, with grass swaying like soft, hair-like objects.

The entire world had seemingly transformed into a surreal domain of black and white.

The White Lynx's soul isn't just more powerful because she's Rank Nine. She's an anomaly among the Fey Race—a prodigy with an innately superior soul! Pang Jian realized.

Rise!

He summoned the Heart of Winter within his spiritual sea.

With the heart-shaped divine artifact, he unleashed all the power he had at his disposal to break free from the skeletal hand's grasp.

Sword light infused with cold energy, stellar energy, lunar energy, and lightning slashed at the inside of the skeletal hand.

In his dantian, the stars and two moons—one full and one crescent—glowed in unison!

For just a brief moment, the sky lit up as if the stars and moon had returned.

The sword light unleashed with the Abyssal Demon Sword frantically drew upon the cold energy within the Heart of Winter.

Crack! Crack!

The cold energy appeared to assimilate with the ghostly pale flames covering the skeletal hand.

Whoosh!

A streak of icy brilliance pierced through the ghostly pale flames, slipping between two white bones as Pang Jian stubbornly broke free from the White Lynx's grasp.

"A mere Soul Wandering Realm cultivator wants to escape from me? Dream on," the White Lynx sneered disdainfully.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Skeletal hands appeared in the sky one after another.

Whenever Pang Jian escaped one skeletal hand, another would immediately grab him, leaving him trapped in a perpetual cycle of escape and recapture.

A Sword Boat streaked through the air like lightning.

Fan Chen, Dong Tianze, Hu Yuanfei, and Liu Youyu unleashed their divine artifacts and talismans, preparing to assist Pang Jian in striking down the skeletal hands conjured from the White Lynx's power and blood essence.

The White Lynx's eyes flashed with murderous intent. "You're all courting death!"

"White Lynx, their backers are True Gods!" Yuan Qi warned.

"True Gods? So what? We Fey Race revere Fey Gods, not True Gods!" the Fey King White Lynx shouted, eyes once again turning black and white.

A sudden dizziness struck the Soul Wandering Realm prodigies on the Sword Boat.

Their divine souls felt as though they had fallen into a surreal domain of pure black and white, and the connection between their divine souls and their physical bodies was severed in the blink of an eye.

To Yuan Qi's horror, everyone on the Sword Boat became dazed, eyes lifeless as if their souls had been extracted.

The Sword Boat came to a stop in the air.

***

On a green mountain near the coast, Fey King Yuan Min stared at his crystal ball, which now showed nothing but darkness.

Yuan Min had been observing everything since the blood-colored beast's eye entered the Fey King White Lynx's territory.

He had seen the three Rank Eight Great Feys lead a charge of Lesser Feys against Pang Jian and Yuan Qi, as well as Yuan Qi's massacre of the three Great Feys that followed.

The terrifying power Yuan Qi displayed and his growth in strength excited Yuan Min immensely.

Yuan Qi was still only in the early stages of Rank Eight, but his complete bloodline allowed him to slay Fey Race much older and more experienced.

Yuan Min could not help but anticipate the strength he would achieve once all his latent bloodline divine abilities were awakened.

Then, the blood-colored beast's eye disappeared into a small hand and the crystal ball turned black, cutting off his observation of the distant battlefield.

Standing behind Yuan Min was the Golden Carp, another Rank Nine Fey King.

"It's the White Lynx," she said, voice laced with envy and bitterness. "Yuan Min, she doesn't want you to see what she's doing next. Do you think she's secretly disloyal toward the Dragon Lair Sect?"

Yuan Min frowned. "She wouldn't dare."

"Just because you don't dare to betray the Dragon Lair Sect doesn't mean she doesn't." The Golden Carp's beautiful human face was filled with jealousy. "She's younger than you, and back when her bloodline was only in Rank Eight, no Great Feys in her territory dared to provoke her.

"She's an anomaly among the Fey Race, with intelligence that blossomed unnaturally early and a mastery over her soul that surpasses all other Great Feys of her rank.

"The only reason she didn't qualify to compete for the Fey God position this time is because she's still too young.

"In my opinion—"

"Silence!" Yuan Min coldly interrupted. "The Black Stork is dead. Golden Carp, go and delay the Rock Bear's return. Keep him away from the White Lynx for now."

The Golden Carp stared at Yuan Min in disbelief, face filled with fear and resentment.

"Defying my orders is the same as defying the Dragon Lair Sect," Yuan Min said icily. "I'm not asking you to risk your life against the Rock Bear. Just lead him away from his territory and stall for time."

"Yuan Min, you-you..." The Golden Carp's expression morphed into one of utter despair.

It was as though she had never experienced such deep sorrow in her long life.

She had admired Yuan Min for years and had done all she could for him, only for him to casually cast her aside as a sacrificial pawn on his path to becoming a Fey God.

He even mentioned the Dragon Lair Sect to force her compliance.

"I'll go, but not because I fear the Dragon Lair Sect. I truly want you to become a Fey God, you know." The Golden Carp lowered her head, let out a sorrowful sigh, and leaped into a nearby rushing stream.

"The path to becoming a Fey God is paved with blood and corpses. No one is an exception," Yuan Min said as if trying to convince himself. "One has to first ascend to the rank of Fey God to oppose the Dragon Lair Sect and stand as equals with that ancient Thunder Dragon.

"Any Fey Race who fails to reach that rank will inevitably be swept away in this great calamity."

***

The White Lynx stood atop a withered tree in the marshlands, silver hair draped over her petite body and blood-colored beast's eye in her hand.

She paid no attention to Pang Jian—once again caught in a skeletal hand's grasp—nor to the motionless Sword Boat. Instead, her gaze shifted toward the direction of the Dragon Lair Sect.

Pang Jian, everyone aboard the Sword Boat, and even Yuan Qi, with his knowledge of how to awaken the bloodline of the Fey Race, were no longer within her scope of concern.

I…

I can't kill them if I wish to stand against the Dragon Lair Sect.

But, if I obey the Dragon Lair Sect, they'll back me up, even if I offend a True God.

If I defy the Dragon Lair Sect, I'll be forced to leave the Sacred Soul Continent, and a True God will surely kill me after I kill them.

Her mind waged an intense inner battle.

After a long silence, she finally said, "I need time to think."

Yuan Qi nodded. "This is my only condition."

He knew what the Dragon Lair Sect and Ancient Thunder Dragon represented to the Fey Race in the Abyss after the death of the Celestial Phoenix.

Even someone as powerful as the White Lynx, with her rare bloodline, agonized over the idea of opposing the Dragon Lair Sect.

"Lady White Lynx, let me share one more piece of information with you," Yuan Qi said, taking a deep breath. "In the northernmost region of the Fourth World lies Northern Qi, a fragmented land shrouded in bizarre mist.

"Beyond that is a cluster of fragmented lands within the bizarre mist where the ancient Fey Race have lived and hid in isolation for countless years!

"An ancestor of our Fey Race resides there. They're powerful enough to rival the Thunder Dragon! If you ever feel like you have no way out, you can take refuge in Northern Qi!

"The Dragon Lair Sect's strength may not necessarily surpass that of the ancient Fey Race!

"Please take your time to consider my condition," Yuan Qi advised.

The White Lynx's eyes widened in shock. "Very well, allow me some time to think it over!"

Whoosh!

Her petite figure vanished into thin air.

The skeletal hands disappeared, and although the sky remained pitch-black, the moon and stars slowly started to emerge.

Those on the Sword Boat abruptly snapped back to reality.

The night wind was cool, with the stars and moon faintly visible.

It was almost like the terrifying White Lynx had never been there at all.

"What happened?"

"Where's that silver-haired girl?"

"Pang Jian, are you alright?"

Hu Yuanfei and the others on the Sword Boat questioned.

"I'm fine." Pang Jian shook his head as he landed on the Sword Boat.

Relief washed over him when he saw that the others were only lightly injured.

The Rank Nine Fey King White Lynx's displayed combat prowess had only been the tip of the iceberg of her power, but even then, it was enough to leave him deeply shaken.

The cavernous gulf between their strength was a harsh reminder that his Soul Wandering Realm cultivation—exceptional as it was—could not possibly contend with a Fey King that was two ranks above him.

Not to mention, the White Lynx's bloodline was still incomplete.

The profound insights of her ancestors had failed to manifest as they were meant to.

If she accepted Yuan Qi's condition to defy the Dragon Lair Sect in exchange for the awakening of her ancient bloodline, the Fey King White Lynx would only become even more terrifying.

It would likely require several Immortal Realm cultivators from the human race to go against her.

"The White Lynx is an exceptional talent of the Fey Race, akin to a prodigy of the human race," Yuan Qi remarked. "She stands out as one of the best, even among other Fey Kings of the same rank.

"If not for her youth and lack of accumulated power compared to the Rock Bear, I would have sought her out first on this trip.

"She's a prodigy of the Fey Race and a Rank Nine Fey King. If you humans could contend with someone like her, our Fey Race would have been annihilated long ago."