Trials of the Abyss

While Pang Jian conversed with the Bee Sovereign, the golden bees kept a watchful eye on the other fragmented lands.

He paid particular attention to Absolute Heaven, quietly watching Qi Qingsong and the others while keeping tabs on Fu Wangchen.

Suddenly, a giant shell radiating five-colored divine light appeared above the thin white mist covering the frozen fragmented land!

Foreign race warriors, resembling deep sea creatures with fins on their backs and bellies, stood atop the shell, wielding spears and tridents.

Their sights were set on the enormous crystalline heart, and they piloted the shell toward it with palpable excitement.

Perfect timing, Pang Jian thought, eyeing the foreign race intruders.

He wanted to see if their assault on the crystalline heart would succeed.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Foreign race warriors with bodies of gleaming ice rode Spirit Avians out of various snowy peaks and charged toward the intruders with furious battle cries.

Dazzling beams of icy light shot toward the intruding foreign race, causing them to scream in horror.

The massive crystalline heart on the mountaintop shone with radiant icy light, and the Dao of Cold in the frozen world seemed to transform.

A hundred-zhang-tall glacier shot out of a frozen lake as though summoned by a God commanding the Dao of Cold.

It then transformed into a radiant beam that streaked toward the shell.

Whoosh!

A dense, bone-chilling fog streamed from the sky to engulf the shell.

The radiant, multicolored shell trembled and hurriedly ascended to escape, only to crash into an invisible barrier.

Boom!

The hundred-zhang glacier slammed into the shell like a massive ice blade, cleaving it in half.

The foreign race intruders screamed in panic as they plummeted from the sky.

After picking off the remaining intruders on their Spirit Avians, the native foreign race warriors tossed their bodies onto a particular mountain, where they became frozen solid within moments. ɌаℕổᛒĘⱾ

A chill ran down Pang Jian's spine.

Tens of thousands of frozen corpses were piled on the mountain where the bodies had been thrown, and they were not limited to the sea-creature-esque foreign race intruders either.

The bodies of the Ghost Race, the Wood Race, the Demon Scale Race, and many other foreign races Pang Jian had never seen before were frozen on that mountain.

Corpses of outer-world intruders filled the icy mountain from base to peak.

Invading foreign races had likely been slaughtered and frozen on the mountain for millennia.

As Pang Jian studied the mountain, he sensed an ominous energy with traces of life energy and blood essence flowing outward.

It's the heart on top of that mountain!

Pang Jian used his golden divine sense to peer at the ice fortress with his golden eyes.

Faint life energy lingered in the recently slain and frozen foreign race intruders, transforming into a unique energy Pang Jian could see with his gold eyes.

This energy flowed along the ice-covered rocks in tiny streams, converging toward the altar on the peak of the tallest mountain.

The massive crystalline heart on the altar was absorbing it!

As Pang Jian glanced around, he realized there were several corpse-filled mountains.

Tens or even hundreds of thousands of foreign race warriors had likely perished on this frozen fragmented land.

The dead, frozen foreign race warriors neither decayed as per the natural laws nor did their souls dissipate.

Instead, everything fused into that massive heart.

That thing's dangerous!

As Pang Jian looked around, his eyes flashed with shock. There was not a single human corpse among the frozen bodies.

That's unusual. Absolute Heaven isn't far from here. How could there be no human bodies?

Pang Jian was puzzled.

According to the Sword Pavilion's records, Absolute Heaven had existed for ages.

Waves of explorers had entered to try and uncover its secrets.

The frozen fragmented land was close to Absolute Heaven. Other foreign races had also ventured in, only to be killed and frozen.

No matter how he thought about it, it was odd for there to be no human remains on the mountains.

Master, there's a mysterious barrier in the sky. We can't leave or teleport out, the Bee Sovereign suddenly said, startling Pang Jian.

Pang Jian tried to connect with the golden bees outside. Fortunately, the connection was still intact.

However, he found he could not teleport to any of them with the Gate of the Abyss.

Are we trapped? Pang Jian frowned.

Someone's coming, the Bee Sovereign warned.

Pang Jian hastily retracted his golden divine sense from his eyes.

A foreign race warrior appeared on a Spirit Avian and stared at Pang Jian with cold eyes.

Pang Jian summoned his Startling Slaughter Spear to prepare himself for a difficult battle.

The slaughtering of the intruders and the piles of frozen corpses on the mountains all pointed to a clear conclusion—these natives did not welcome outsiders.

Moreover, the harsh, icy environment greatly enhanced the natives' power and gave them a significant advantage. It would be difficult for outsiders to escape their grasp.

I should've chosen a different fragmented land. Pang Jian sighed inwardly.

Whoosh!

He infused more cold energy into his protective shield, making it seem like he was part of the frigid mist.

The foreign race warrior stopped at a distance.

"Stranger!" He sat atop his mount, gaping at Pang Jian with eyes filled with surprise and curiosity. "You also have pure cold energy within you! Do you also worship the Ice Demon?!"

His expression showed pure astonishment, seemingly having never encountered another race sharing his faith in the Ice Demon.

Pang Jian was taken aback.

The Ice Demon...

He soon realized the cold energy he used to adapt to the frigid environment was from his ice pool.

His ice pool had formed from the ruined altar beneath Ice Rock City, which had also been used to communicate with the Ice Demon.

Perhaps...

Pang Jian nodded solemnly. "That's right, I'm also a follower of the Ice Demon."

The foreign race warrior practically brimmed with excitement and stared at Pang Jian as though he were a rare treasure.

"I knew it! We may be of different races but we share the same faith." The foreign race warrior clenched his fist and lightly tapped his forehead in what appeared to be a special salute, "You must become a guest of our Ice Race. My name is Bing Ji and I will take you to the Sacred Mountain to meet our seven elders!"

The Spirit Avian approached Pang Jian with a swirl of cold air.

"Please, follow me!" Bing Ji eagerly urged.

"A guest..." Pang Jian uneasily eyed the Spirit Avian and the Ice Race warrior.

The warrior's skin was covered in scales that resembled ice crystals and had a strong life energy coursing through his body.

The cold and life energy were especially strong where the warrior's heart was located. They were clearly the source of his power.

Ice crystals encased his body, with bone-chilling blood and a powerful heart.

Pang Jian hesitated to make a decision.

Accepting the invitation and going to the sacred mountain would mean entering the Ice Race's territory.

A single misstep in their stronghold would mean no escape.

But, if I refuse… Pang Jian wondered if he could kill Bing Ji without alerting the rest of the Ice Race.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

More members of the Ice Race flew over from a nearby mountain peak on Spirit Avians and gazed at Pang Jian in surprise.

"Bing Ji, why haven't you killed him yet?"

"What are you waiting for?"

The Ice Race warriors questioned Bing Ji as they approached.

"He's our guest! He also worships the Ice Demon!" Bing Ji shouted, excitement growing. "He could be the answer to the mystery that has troubled our race for millennia!"

The newcomers stared at Pang Jian in shock.

"He also worships the Ice Demon?!"

It seemed Pang Jian truly was the only outsider they had ever encountered who shared their faith.

"The elders have waited for years! The outsider who worships our god has finally arrived!"

"The heavens are smiling upon us!"

"Bing Ji, take him to the Sacred Mountain!"

The Ice Race warriors led the way toward the Sacred Mountain on their Spirit Avians.

"Very well, take me to meet your seven elders," Pang Jian said, steeling himself and mounting Bing Ji's Spirit Avian. As the Spirit Avian took off, he asked, "Could you tell me more about your world?"

"Of course." Bing Ji nodded.

On the way to the Ice Race's Sacred Mountain, Bing Ji told Pang Jian about their world.

According to Bing Ji, the Ice Race called this place the "Frozen Land," and had lived here for generations, worshiping the Ice Demon as their god.

The Ice Race had seven elders, all of whom were Rank Six.

Foreign races had been invading the Frozen Land since Bing Ji could remember, and the Ice Race had grown accustomed to fighting them off.

The Ice Demon had left behind a divine artifact at the peak of the Sacred Mountain called the "Heart of Winter."

The divine artifact helped talented Ice Race warriors refine their bodies and allowed injured members to heal faster than usual.

A divine artifact called the Heart of Winter.

Pang Jian's eyes glinted with interest.

After a moment of thought, he asked, "Have you ever encountered anyone like me before? Do you know anything about Absolute Heaven?"

"We've never seen anyone like you, nor have we heard of this Absolute Heaven," Bing Ji said, scratching his head. "We've never left the Frozen Land. The invaders have all claimed to come from different worlds.

"As far as we know, there's no Absolute Heaven outside, nor any other worlds—only the endless thick mist surrounding us."

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