Trials of the Abyss

Clang!

A copper lid materialized and sealed the Qilin Bell—transformed into a blazing furnace—shut, swiftly capping the roaring flames within.

Inside the bell, Li Jie masterfully commanded his fire energy and the flames from his divine soul to carefully inscribe arrays onto the sword scabbard.

His divine soul hovered within his sea of consciousness like a fiery deity.

Unique arrays shimmered on the surface of the Qilin Bell, with some resembling fiery phoenixes, vermilion birds, and even flaming lions.

The arrays fluctuated, generating tiny flickering flames that Li Jie deftly guided into the sword scabbard with his divine soul.

A new intricate array would emerge on the sword scabbard with each tiny flame that entered it. Some were imbued with sealing power while others were designed to suppress the turbulence of the demonic soul within.

"A Rank Eight Flame Dragon," Li Jie muttered, a hint of worry flashing across his round, flushed face.

He had sensed Long Yan approaching and had quickly sealed the furnace to prevent the dragon from disrupting his work on the nearly completed scabbard.

"Pang Jian has reached the Nirvana Realm in just over a decade. He's also been making waves recently.

"But Long Yan is a Rank Eight Flame Dragon with a pure bloodline. He's likely here for me. I don't know if Pang Jian can handle him."

Li Jie did not know the specifics of Pang Jian's grudge against the Dragon Lair Sect, but he knew his family had staked everything on supporting the Four-Eyed Spirit Fox. His sister, Li Yuqing, had even gone to the Sacred Soul Continent to assist the Fey King.

The Dragon Lair Sect had made it clear to the outside world that no external interference in the struggle for the Fey God position would be tolerated.

Evidently, his family's clandestine involvement had been discovered, and the Flame Dragon had come to deliver retribution.

Everything made perfect sense.

Although it had been years since he had last seen Pang Jian, Li Jie did not doubt that Pang Jian would stand up for him.

His concern was whether Pang Jian could actually handle the Rank Eight Flame Dragon.

All Li Jie could do now was seal the furnace and focus on finishing the scabbard to avoid adding to Pang Jian's troubles.

"Let's hope the rumors are true and that you've grown strong enough to stand against a Rank Eight dragon,' he murmured.

***

Whoosh!

Long Yan transformed into his human form and descended beside the furnace, a grin stretching across his face. "Pang Jian, we meet again."

A domineering aura emanated from the Rank Eight Flame Dragon as his crimson eyes swept across Pang Jian's black-gold sword.

From this close, his bloodline instinctively resonated with the black-gold sword, confirming his suspicion that Long Zhan's horn and claws had been absorbed into the sword.

The Dragon Lair Sect was fiercely insular from the outside world, which also made them extraordinarily unified internally.

All dragons with pure bloodlines from the Dragon Lair Sect supported one another. The older dragons guided and nurtured the younger generation, never stooping to the scheming and political machinations often seen among the human race.

Since ancient times, the older dragons had always cared for the younger ones, while the younger dragons revered and respected their elders.

As a Rank Eight Flame Dragon, Long Yan shared Long Zhan's passion for combat, and the Gold Dragon had even meticulously trained him for an extended period. This had fostered a deep bond between them.

Long Yan greatly respected all elder dragons, but his reverence for Long Zhan ran the deepest.

"We meet again," Pang Jian repeated, expression indifferent.

Long Yan peered around with narrow eyes and sighed casually. "The whole Abyss is waiting for your master to ascend to the True God Realm. It's too bad there's been no news from the Sword Pavilion."

Seeing no powerful Demon Sect cultivators or rogue cultivators nearby, Long Yan raised his hand and slapped the Qilin Bell.

Dong!

A single strike from Long Yan deformed the furnace concealing Li Jie, causing it to transform back into the form of the Qilin Bell.

Long Yan bared his teeth in a feral grin.

An immense surge of blood essence streamed from his body. His blood vessels seemed to flow with a terrifying liquid fire.

Tiny sparks scattered outward as he flexed. These sparks resembled meteors from beyond the Abyss, molten magma deep beneath the earth, and even the imprints of the bloodline mysteries of fire-attribute Great Feys.

Profound truths of the Dao of Fire manifested within each shower of sparks, complete and expansive in their breadth.

"The Li Family of the Divine Treasure Sect secretly forged powerful artifacts and handed them to the Four-Eyed Spirit Fox through Li Yuqing," Long Yan accused, staring fixedly at Pang Jian. "The Li Family has broken the Dragon Lair Sect's rules and undermined the natural order of the struggle for the position of Fey God,

"This amounts to a declaration of war! The Li Family will have to endure the wrath of our Dragon Lair Sect!"

Throughout his speech, Long Yan deliberately avoided mentioning Long Zhan or Pang Jian's Abyssal Demon Sword, planning to deal with Li Jie first before addressing anything else.

Li Jie was only in the Soul Wandering Realm and survived solely by relying on his artifacts. If his artifacts were destroyed, Li Jie would die.

Only once Li Jie was dead could Long Yan focus entirely on dealing with Pang Jian.

Whoosh!

A blazing green sword light shot straight for Long Yan's hand, which rested on the Qilin Bell as he gradually extinguished the patterns on its surface.

The sword light was sharp and dazzling. As it streaked forward, it filled the air with the sound of erupting volcanoes and the collapsing of blazing suns.

Long Yan's expression changed drastically. Despite his hand resembling fiery molten iron, he dared not directly face the sword strike and had no choice but to leap away from the Qilin Bell.

"Pang Jian, what's the meaning of this?" Long Yan knitted his brows in displeasure as he dodged. "The Fey Race on the Sacred Soul Continent holds great respect for your Sword Pavilion.

"Our Dragon Lair Sect has always maintained peaceful relations with your Sword Pavilion as well.

"Pang Jian, I'm here to settle the grudge between the Dragon Lair Sect and the Li Family. Surely, that has nothing to do with you?"

To Long Yan's surprise, Pang Jian bluntly replied, "It does."

Long Yan was stunned.

"The first time we met, outside of Spirit Offering, you were already a nuisance to me.

"The second time we met, you invoked the Dragon Lair Sect's name and forcefully brought Yuan Qi away, which also made things difficult for me.

"And now, this third time, by targeting Li Jie, you're in my way once again."

Pang Jian knew full well what Long Yan's intentions were and could not be bothered with any pretense.

"Back on the Sacred Soul Continent, Long Zhan killed Fan Chen, whom I had personally invited, right in front of me with a single strike," he added coldly. "Even after I left the Sacred Soul Continent, Long Zhan continued to secretly tail me.

"He followed me into the bizarre mist because he wanted to kill me. It's a pity he ended up dying there instead."

"Have a look." Pang Jian raised the Abyssal Demon Sword and waved it in the air to show off its golden radiance. "I refined Long Zhan's four claws and one of his horns into this sword.

"Long Zhan's generous contributions turned a pure-black divine sword into a sharper, more resilient black-gold one.

"So, Long Yan, do you still intend to play dumb?"

Unable to hold back the raging flames in his heart any longer, Long Yan's expression twisted with fury as he roared, "Good! Very good, Pang Jian! The Sword Pavilion taught you well!

"The reason for Lord Long Zhan's demise doesn't matter. The fact that you dared to refine a sword using his horn and claws is reason enough for me to kill you!

"Pang Jian, don't think that killing a Rank Eight warrior from the Radiant Race has made you invincible.

"Any dragon of the same level as you will forever be the insurmountable peak you can never surpass!

"I'll kill you first before finishing off that brat from the Divine Treasure Sect's Li Family!"

With that, the Rank Eight Flame Dragon transformed into a crimson dragon.

Although Long Yan's true dragon form exceeded a thousand zhang in length, he opted to shift to a smaller size at only a few dozen zhang long.

While his immense size granted him an overwhelming advantage when battling Great Feys, the same could not be said for human cultivators like Pang Jian.

Thus, he chose to sacrifice the length of his dragon body for the sake of agility and precision, exchanging size for a more refined and pure strength.

A blast of fiery dragon's breath spewed from his mouth.

Incredibly fine flaming crystalline sparks, etched with the Dao of Fire, instantly transformed the area into Long Yan's domain.

The sky seemed to burn and the earth boiled into molten lava as the dragon's breath swept forward.

It was like time and space were on the brink of collapse and the world was about to turn to ashes from this single dragon's breath.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The blazing patterns on the surface of the Qilin Bell flickered chaotically. The flames inside the bell and Li Jie's fire energy both trembled under the overwhelming influence of Long Yan's fiery breath.

The flames darted about wildly as they tried to merge with Long Yan's breath, only to be extinguished under Li Jie's desperate control.

Li Jie secretly observed the happenings outside from beneath the Qilin Bell. All he could see was Long Yan's fiery breath swallowing Pang Jian in a raging sphere of flames.

The sphere of flames was enormous, and Li Jie could not discern Pang Jian's figure within the blazing inferno.

"The Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars do not affect the dragons, meaning they all have unmatched combat prowess.

"Moreover, Long Yan is one of the most exceptional among the Rank Eight dragons.

"Pang Jian…" Li Jie was deeply concerned.

The two had been apart for many years, and he had only recently discovered that Pang Jian of the Sword Pavilion was the same person he had once met in Eight Trigrams City.

No matter how much the outside world praised Pang Jian's combat prowess, Li Jie could not help but remain slightly skeptical as he had not witnessed it with his own eyes.

Pang Jian had only recently advanced to the Nirvana Realm. Li Jie feared he would not be able to overcome this Rank Eight Flame Dragon.

After all, he was well aware of the terrifying power of the Dragon Race.

Crackle! Crackle!

Pang Jian's protective shield popped like roasting beans as the flames engulfed him. Despite the sounds, his protective shield was unmatched in sturdiness among those of the same cultivation realm and completely shielded him from the flames.

Observing outside the sphere of flames with his divine sense, he saw Long Yan—now shrunken to only a few zhang in length—flying towards him after unleashing his dragon's breath.

During their first encounter, outside of Spirit Offering, Pang Jian was still weak and did not have the power to resist Long Yan.

When he encountered Long Yan in the Rock Bear's territory, he was still a cultivation realm behind the Rank Eight Flame Dragon and knew he stood no chance of victory, even with the Abyssal Demon Sword and the Heart of Winter.

However, he had since ascended to the Nirvana Realm.

Pang Jian's battle with Lie Yi had allowed him to gain enlightenment regarding his sword technique. He had also absorbed a large amount of stellar and lunar energies from the Stellar-Lunar Veins.

Unlike before, he now had the confidence to fight back against the Rank Eight Flame Dragon!