Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 454: Extracting Metal Energy

Once upon a time, the Celestial Maiden Yu Xin had been deeply troubled over obtaining Gold Obsidian and had pleaded for his assistance.

Since then, the foreign race warriors from the Fifth World had taken over the Radiant Sun Sect, which housed the Gold Obsidian mineral veins.

Most of the sect\'s cultivators were dead and geniuses of the Radiant Sun Sect like Su Meng had been sacrificed to the Outer God dwelling on the sun.

My assistance to Yu Xin then played a role, but ultimately, it was the malfunction of the seven Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars, the death of the Celestial Phoenix, and...

The image of the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest surfaced in his mind.

Shaking his head, Pang Jian focused his attention on the present, casting aside his distracting thoughts.

He passed through the mineral veins that shimmered like a web of golden lightning and approached the colossal spirit vein, which was coiled like a crystalline dragon.

Following the black turtle\'s teachings, he used the blackish-yellow mountain within his spiritual sea to attempt to draw pure spiritual power from the spirit vein.

Pang Jian calmed his thoughts and activated the Qi Nurturing Divine Cauldron Art, visualizing his spiritual sea as a green spirit cauldron.

Whoosh!

Tiny specks of light flew out from within the spirit vein like shattered stars, drawn to his spiritual sea like moths to a flame.

The tiny star-like fragments were neither mist-like spiritual qi nor liquid spiritual power; but solid like the green fragmented land within his spiritual sea.

Using his divine soul, Pang Jian watched as the tiny crystalline fragments directly linked to the green fragmented land within his spiritual sea.

At the same time, golden-red specks of light emerged from the Gold Obsidian mineral veins, and they too materialized into something tangible.

Crack!

The specks were drawn into the massive spirit cauldron that Pang Jian had visualized within his spiritual sea.

They split into two energies—one ascended into his dantian and fused with the miniature sun there, while the other accumulated on the green fragmented land, forming a growing peak of a golden mountain.

The mountain was pure gold in color and contained refined metal energy.

It\'s a new energy, one corresponding to the Metal element from the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth!

Pang Jian\'s eyes lit up as he observed the mineral veins around him as metal and solar energies streamed into his body.

Realization dawned upon Pang Jian—the naming conventions of the human race cultivation method for the body\'s mysteries were anything but arbitrary; they were profoundly meaningful.

Before, his spiritual sea had been a vast expanse of spiritual power in liquid form, aptly named for its boundless, ocean-like nature. After being further purified and condensed, it transformed from a liquid into a solid state to form a fragmented land.

This fragmented land acted like a tangible continent within the Abyss and could manifest extraordinary wonders.

At the moment, the fragmented land was absorbing star-like fragments from the spirit vein beneath the Radiant Sun Sect and integrating them into itself.

Even the metal and solar energies within the Gold Obsidian mineral veins were drawn in seamlessly.

The accumulated metal energy soon formed a fist-sized golden nugget that resembled a miniature golden mountain.

Pang Jian had now extracted the Metal element from the five elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.

As the fragmented land gradually solidified, it shifted into Pang Jian\'s dantian, settling beneath the sun, moons, and stars.

Gazing at the sun suspended above the fragmented land, Pang Jian noticed it had fully taken on a solid form, continuously absorbing solar energy from the mineral veins to reinforce itself further.

Crystalline deposits formed within the sun\'s core, causing it to become more tangible and real.

The blazing sun in my Primordial Chaos Spiritual Sea always felt somewhat ethereal and insubstantial when I absorbed the solar radiance solely from the sun in the starry skies.

But the sun beyond the Abyss is not a mere illusion. Its core is solid.

With the help of countless arrays, the Radiant Sun Sect absorbs this solar radiance year-round, forming these unique mineral veins.

These mineral veins are tangible and solid. They contain the power to transform the blazing sun within my body into something real.

As Pang Jian silently studied the starry sky above the green fragmented land, he noticed that while the sun had become more real, the stars and moons remained illusory.

If the sun can become solid, then so too can the two moons and the stars. I can likely use the same method to solidify them.

If his sun, moons, and stars became as real as those in the starry skies, the solar, stellar, and lunar energies he wielded would be vastly enhanced.

This would likely also allow him to comprehend the profound Daos related to the sun, moon, and stars.

He would obtain groundbreaking advancements in his cultivation realm, combat prowess, and understanding of the Abyss and the starry skies.

This could be the path forward for my Nirvana Realm cultivation.

With that in mind, Pang Jian calmed himself and centered his thoughts as he further enriched the various phenomena within his dantian beneath the Radiant Sun Sect on the Cosmic Skies Continent.

***

At the initial site where Pang Jian disappeared, the grotesque and diminutive Geospirit Race warriors used their unique bloodline abilities to delve underground.

The Geospirit Race warriors moved like wandering ghosts underground, drifting aimlessly as they extended their divine senses outward to search for Pang Jian.

Armed with their weapons, the Geospirit Race warriors moved through the ground like fish in water, their divine senses rippling outward in waves.

They scoured depths of three hundred zhang, then five hundred zhang, swimming freely underground.

However, even after searching a region of nearly a hundred li, they still failed to find any trace of Pang Jian. @@novelbin@@

After a long time, a Rank Eight Geospirit Race warrior leading the search party approached a Rank Nine Radiant Race warrior.

"Lord Guang Xu, either he possesses an ability similar to ours to move freely underground and has already left the area, or has burrowed even deeper underground." The Geospirit Race warrior bowed his head in frustration. "We apologize for our inability to locate him."

The Cosmic Skies Continent was vast, and if Pang Jian had moved to another region, searching for him using the Geospirit Race would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Guang Xu understood this well and knew that expending too much effort searching for Pang Jian underground was impractical.

"If he heads toward the edge of the Cosmic Skies Continent from underground, he can easily escape," Guang Xu replied. "There are limits to how deep our divine senses can delve underground, even for our Radiant and Ghost Race powerhouses.

"Forget it. I\'ll report this to Lie Yi."

***

Meanwhile, Xuan Ying of the Demon Scale Race was throwing a fit at the peak of a mountain that once belonged to the Red Mountain Sect.

Following Lie Yi\'s appeal, several Rank Ten foreign race warriors from the Fifth World, excluding Xuan Ying\'s father, Li Bai, agreed to let Lie Yi use any means necessary to eliminate Pang Jian on the Cosmic Skies Continent.

This decision nullified the promises that Xuan Ying had arrogantly made earlier.

Xuan Ying\'s most trusted Demon Scale Race warrior flew in from afar to deliver the latest news.

"A party of Geospirit Race warriors was dispatched. They searched deep underground for a long time but found nothing.

"Don\'t be upset. Lie Yi is determined to kill Pang Jian on this continent. Unfortunately, while his resolve is strong, he simply doesn\'t have the ability to make it happen."

"Heh, that\'s for the best," Xuan Ying said with a gleeful smirk.

She was no longer in her battle attire and her tall, curvaceous figure was elegantly draped in a silver-white gown. The absence of her gleaming silvery scale mask revealed an exceptionally stunning visage.

The massive serrated blade lay on a stone table behind her, continuously emanating a terrifying aura.

Her close companion offered her some pills alongside buckets of blood from high-ranked Vicious Beasts.

"I still prefer consuming beast blood," she said, raising her long eyebrows.

She then grabbed a bucket of beast blood and boldly drank it.

Although the pills could also provide abundant vitality and were smaller and easier to consume, she deliberately set them aside.

"Patriarch mentioned that it\'s best to avoid drinking beast blood in front of those beasts—I mean, in front of the Fey Race," the older Demon Scale Race warrior reminded her, a subtle, entranced gleam in his solemn eyes.

He had accompanied Xuan Ying since childhood, acting as both mentor and companion as he watched her grow up. As her "big brother," he was the one Xuan Ying trusted most, and he was willing to lay down his life for her.

Between her and the Patriarch of the Demon Scale Race, Li Bai, his loyalty always leaned toward Xuan Ying, not because of her high likelihood of ascending to godhood, but simply because he had always deeply loved her.

"Vicious Beasts are just beasts. A trip to Northern Qi doesn\'t suddenly make them part of the Fey Race," Xuan Ying scoffed disdainfully. "Our ancestors slaughtered their so-called Fey Gods to conquer the Abyss. We\'ve always used their blood to restore our strength and their bones to forge our artifacts."

Xuan Ying\'s lips curled into an arrogant sneer.

"I\'m nothing like Yu Xin," she scorned. "To me, all Vicious Beasts are either food or mounts.

"Friends? To treat that Giant Abyssal Serpent as a friend is nothing short of a joke!"

"Keep your voice down. This is a decision that the higher-ups have made. It\'s not our place to question it," her companion cautioned.

"Vicious Beasts, like humans, have opposed us for years. They\'ve repeatedly helped the human race hinder our rise to the upper worlds," Xuan Ying sneered. "Cooperation? Alliance? That\'s absurd?"

As she was about to continue, her gaze caught the serrated blade on the stone table. Blackish-purple demonic patterns bloomed on its surface like flowers, exuding an air of mystique and majesty.

Xuan Ying set down the bucket of beast blood, approached the blade, and placed her pale hands on the intricate patterns.

Through this, she established a connection with the Demon Gods in the starry skies.

The Rank Eight Demon Scale Race warrior at her side knelt on one knee and bowed his head in reverence.

He did not dare to even glance at the patterns on the blade as they represented the wills of the Demon Gods.

"You want me to kill Pang Jian, seize the Abyssal Demon Sword, and destroy the Abyssal Demon within?

"And you\'re providing me with his precise location?

"I\'ve already said that Pang Jian could help me break through my bloodline and that I allowed him to leave alive!"

Xuan Ying kept her hand pressed against the sword, maintaining her connection to the Demon Gods as she unyieldingly declared, "I, Xuan Ying, will never go back on my word! I will not make a move against him on this Cosmic Skies Continent. Absolutely not!

"You can\'t make me take back my words, no matter who you are!"

With that, she withdrew her hands in extreme displeasure.

The kneeling Rank Eight Demon Scale Race warrior turned pale as a sheet, his shoulders trembling uncontrollably with fear.

Even their Patriarch, Li Bai, would not dare to address the revered Demon Gods with such defiance or openly go against their wills.

But Xuan Ying dared.

The intricate patterns representing various Demon Gods\' wills on the serrated blade slowly faded before disappearing entirely.

It was as if the Demon Gods in the starry skies had reluctantly abandoned their plans.