Trials of the Abyss

The seven elders stood up and surrounded Pang Jian.

Some held staffs or wore ice crystal crowns, while others donned white ceremonial robes that exuded an aura of divine authority.

The Ice Race elders were a mix of both men and women.

They rubbed their hands together with growing excitement, but none seemed to know what to do next.

The most senior elder gripped a shimmering ice scepter and finally said with a trembling voice, "Honored guest, have you truly felt the presence of the Ice Demon?"

The other six elders stared at Pang Jian with anticipation.

The members of the Ice Race in the square, at the windows, and on the viewing platforms, all waited for Pang Jian's response with bated breaths.

It was as if the entire ice fortress had been placed under a silencing spell.

Pang Jian hesitated, carefully choosing his words as he frowned and asked, "You reside here in the Frozen Land, with this complete altar capable of communicating with the Ice Demon. Have you never spoken with the Ice Demon?"

One elder sighed heavily and helplessly sat down as if their old wounds had been reopened.

"We've been abandoned." The most senior elder's eyes filled with sorrow and loss.

With a heavy heart, he explained, "We've been abandoned for as long as I can remember.

"Although we have everything we need to communicate with the Ice Demon—the Heart of Winter and a complete altar,—we can neither feel its presence nor hear its teachings."

"As far as I know, our ancestors were able to communicate with the Ice Demon before the Frozen Land was enveloped in the bizarre mist.

"The bizarre mist has severed our communication and the Ice Demon has abandoned us," the elder muttered, gazing up at the sky as if reminiscing about the past,

The members of the Ice Race all looked up at the sky and let out deep sighs of despair.

"Who put the Frozen Land inside the bizarre mist?" Pang Jian curiously asked.

"It seems to have been…the Ice Demon." The elder lowered his head, seemingly feeling a great sense of dissatisfaction toward the Ice Demon. "Perhaps the Ice Demon simply forgot to move the Frozen Land out of the bizarre mist.

"Honored guest, where do you come from? Can you still communicate with the Ice Demon in your world?" the elder asked excitedly. "Could you, perhaps, tell the Ice Demon that we are still here, waiting desperately for its favor once again?"

"Why are you so desperate to communicate with the Ice Demon?" Pang Jian asked tentatively. "Can't you just leave and cross the bizarre mist to return to your original world?"

The mysterious barrier restricts outsiders, allowing them to enter but not leave.

Does it also affect the native Ice Race? Pang Jian wondered.

"We can never leave. The barrier seals everything, including our Ice Race!" the elder cried out hoarsely. As if on the verge of collapse, he wailed, "We were born here, and we'll die here, forever unable to leave! Even our bloodline is limited to Rank Six—we elders will never break through again."

The other elders chimed in as well.

"We've always known this is an incomplete, fragmented land."

"Who wouldn't want to see the outside world? Who wouldn't want to transcend the limits of their bloodline and break free from the shackles of Rank Six?"

"Honored guest from a distant world, you're surely aware that many races from the worlds beyond the bizarre mist can elevate their bloodlines to Rank Nine or even Rank Ten."

"The outsiders invading our Frozen Land are also limited to Rank Six, but that's because the bizarre mist restricts them! They cannot be higher than Rank Five to enter, but that does not mean they don't have the potential to continue breaking through."

"But we do not."

"We only learned about the bigger world outside through their arrival."

"We want to leave!"

The elders gazed at the sky with longing eyes.

They looked exactly like the foreign races trapped in the eternal darkness of the Fifth World of the Abyss, desperately longing to ascend to the upper worlds.

Pang Jian was dumbfounded at their words.

He could never have expected a powerful race like the Ice Race to be confined to this fragmented land, forever unable to break through Rank Six or escape their prison.

After some consideration, Pang Jian decided to test the waters by revealing part of the truth.

"I come from a world called the Abyss. There was once a one-eyed giant in my world who communicated with the Ice Demon through a complete altar.

"While at that broken altar, I felt what had to have been the Ice Demon gazing upon me. That bone-chilling cold that reached my soul was likely its presence, but I can't be certain," Pang Jian said as he tried closing his eyes.

Sure enough, he did not experience the terrifying sensation of being transported to another world as at the broken altar in Spirit Offering.

The barrier around the Frozen Land allowed entry but not exit. It also prevented communication with the Ice Demon.

No way out? Pang Jian's expression changed. If the Ice Race can't leave, does that mean I can't either?

Standing up, he said urgently, "Let me try and see if I can get out!"

Pang Jian activated the innate abilities of the black turtle scute and soared straight up into the sky.

"The Abyss? A one-eyed giant?"

The Ice Race elders were still processing the shocking information Pang Jian had revealed.

None of them tried to stop him when he flew into the sky. They were all convinced he would not be able to leave the Frozen Land and would soon descend again.

The Gate of Abyss warmed as Pang Jian neared the barrier sealing the fragmented land.

He effortlessly passed through the barrier and escaped the Frozen Land.

The Ice Race elders watched with astonishment as Pang Jian disappeared from the fragmented land.

"He-he's gone!"

"He's the first to leave in thousands of years!"

"Could the Ice Demon have sent him as an emissary to deliver us from our suffering?"

The members of the Ice Race started praying fervently once more.

Many were in tears.

Meanwhile, Pang Jian peered down at the glaciers and snow-covered mountains scattered across the fragmented land. Neither the ice fortress atop the Sacred Mountain nor the Ice Race could be seen.

The scenery he saw outside was vastly different from what truly lay within.

I can use the little ones to teleport us now that we're outside the Frozen Land, the Bee Sovereign informed. Are you planning to go back?

Pang Jian asked hesitantly, Can we steal the divine consciousness from the Heart of Winter without the Ice Race noticing?

That would be difficult, the Bee Sovereign replied. Without your divine sense entering or a bee soul inside, I can't know what lies inside the Heart of Winter, but I sensed something dangerous lurking. We need to proceed with caution.

At that moment, six new bees emerged from their cocoons.

These bees had been formed from Li Yuanchen's silver divine sense.

The sixteen other bee pupae from Ka Zi remained dormant and still needed time to mature.

Perhaps we could send one to investigate? asked the Bee Sovereign.

Pang Jian nodded. Alright, let's send one in.

Whoosh!

A golden bee quietly descended into the Frozen Land.

Despite Pang Jian's and the Bee Sovereign's attempts, neither could sense it once it crossed the barrier.

While inside, Pang Jian could still connect to the golden bees outside, but not vice versa.

After several seconds, the Bee Sovereign said coldly, I believe it's dead.

Killed by the Ice Race?

Most likely.

The Bee Sovereign now bore a grudge against the Ice Race for the death of one of his bees.

It's not a big deal. I can always nurture more. I just need divine consciousness.

The Bee Sovereign no longer intended to hold back against the Ice Race and firmly regarded the Heart of Winter as a target.

Pang Jian frowned and said, Let's not go back for now. Let's check out that fragmented land engulfed in lightning instead.

Alright.

Don't be too upset about the lost bee.

You're right, I can always nurture more bees. Death and rebirth—I'll eventually get used to it.

Pang Jian nodded solemnly before teleporting to the golden bee closest to the fragmented land engulfed in lightning.

Before stepping into the fragmented land, he spurred the lightning within his lightning vortex and merged it into his green protective shield.

He then flew forward.

Boom!

Thick bolts of lightning hung from the sky like waterfalls and the land below was charred black.

Glancing around, Pang Jian saw many oddly shaped warships exchanging blasts of cannon fire in mid-air.

A white crane screeched fiercely as it roamed the lightning-filled skies.

A giant dark yellow banner, riddled with holes, fluttered high in the sky. The Observer was watching every corner of the fragmented land.

Many stone statues, wood carvings, and strange objects forged from metal were locked in fierce combat with one another. Each bore the likeness of an Outer God and appeared to be Outer God Puppets.

Silver-winged foreign race warriors manipulated the suspended lightning in the sky with waves of their hands, using it to strike the Outer God Puppets and the foreign race warriors aboard the warships.

The ruins of a city stood atop the blackened earth.

Colorful lightning danced within the rocks that made up the city as if embodying the profound mysteries of the Dao of Lightning.

The silver-winged foreign race warriors were stationed around the ruined city, seemingly defending their homeland from the invading Outer God Puppets.

"Luo Yuan!" the white crane cried. "How dare you come here? Leave now!"

Many sinister eyes appeared on the dark yellow banner floating high in the sky and locked onto Pang Jian.

"Master of the Nether Abyss Spirit Bee!" said the Observer in an echo of fragmented whispers.

Hundreds of green ants crawled out of the holes in the banner, only to shrink back in fear at the sight of Pang Jian.

The Observer was deeply shaken.

"The Bee Sovereign has completed its initial evolution."

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