Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 209: The Defiant Fang Boxuan

Lunar Edges shot toward Jiu Yuan one after another under the night sky of the Primordial Wilderness.

The elder of the Blood Moon Sect cursed loudly as he fended off the Lunar Edges with his Blood Reversal Blade. At times, he was even forced to resummon his protective shield.

Regardless of how he chose to respond to Pang Jian's attacks, his spiritual power was steadily depleting.

He swallowed some pills to restore his spiritual power.

Deep down, he knew it was futile. Jiu Yuan had fought the invading forces for a long time even before the Spirit Slaughtering Astral Array malfunctioned. A few pills could not possibly restore his spiritual power in such a short amount of time.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Jiu Yuan's protective shield flickered unsteadily under Pang Jian's relentless attacks, causing his spiritual power and blood essence to rapidly drain away.

As he turned around to look at the imposing Pang Jian, Jiu Yuan could not help but feel a sense of bewilderment and fear.

Why? Why hasn't this brat shown any signs of fatigue? How does he, a Profound Abode Realm cultivator, have such vast spiritual power?

Even if Pang Jian had advanced to the Profound Abode Realm, it made no sense that his spiritual power was so vast to be seemingly inexhaustible.

He killed Lou Yunming and even battled me in the world under the umbrella. Despite that, he still has the strength to relentlessly attack me with his Lunar Edges. Does this brat possess unlimited spiritual power?

Fear took root in Jiu Yuan's heart.

Boom!

Lunar Edges once again shattered Jiu Yuan's protective shield and he let out a muffled grunt as blood flowed from his nose.

His wobbling blood-colored cloud drifted steadily toward Fang Boxuan, passing through the valley between the Second Peak and the First Peak on the way.

Those in the valley raised their heads to see Pang Jian and Jiu Yuan flying several hundred zhang above them.

One chased relentlessly, while the other fled frantically.

The pursuer was calm as the hunted panicked.

The contrast between the two was striking.

"Jiu Yuan!"

"Pang Jian is chasing after Jiu Yuan of the Blood Moon Sect!"

"Am I seeing this right? Did Pang Jian chase Jiu Yuan from the summit of the First Peak? Oh my god!"

Shocked exclamations rang out throughout the valley.

The cultivators were all aware of the feud between Pang Jian and Jiu Yuan. They also knew the beautiful woman Jiu Yuan had drawn the lot for was Pang Jian's sister.

Regardless, Jiu Yuan was a cultivator in the Spirit Condensation Realm, while Pang Jian, despite his extraordinary talent, was still only in the Profound Abode Realm.

It was unprecedented for a cultivator in the Profound Abode Realm to chase a Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator as they fled desperately.

Everyone's brows raised in astonishment.

"Damn it, my lifelong reputation is bound to be ruined today!" Jiu Yuan lamented.

A wave of sorrow swept over Jiu Yuan as he peered down at the crowd and overheard their words.

A lowly scum from the lower world like Pang Jian was chasing him, a powerful cultivator in the Spirit Condensation Realm. This was probably the most humiliating moment of his life!

Even so, he was powerless to retaliate.

While in the small world under the umbrella, Pang Jian had explicitly told Jiu Yuan that he had killed Liang Ying. Jiu Yuan had also been there when Lou Yunming's dismembered body was revealed from beneath the umbrella.

It did not matter how Pang Jian did it. The key point was that Lou Yunming, a cultivator with the same cultivation realm as Jiu Yuan, had died.

If Pang Jian could kill Lou Yunming, he could also kill Jiu Yuan. Moreover, Jiu Yuan was already exhausted from fighting the foreign races, and the soul technique he had secretly unleashed was ineffective against Pang Jian.

Considering all these factors, Jiu Yuan knew he could not deal with Pang Jian in the harsh environment of the First Peak's summit and had to temporarily avoid confrontation.

Regrettably, that resulted in many rogue cultivators and noble family elders seeing him in this wretched state.

I probably won't have the face to stay in the Third World after this battle. Jiu Yuan despaired.

At that moment, Fang Boxuan, Xie Xiwen, Shen Lei, and the other members of the Star River Alliance came into view, and hope rose up in Jiu Yuan.

Boom!

Jiu Yuan's protective shield was shattered yet again.

As he floated down to where Fang Boxuan and the others were, he shouted, "Pang Jian killed your Elder Liang and seized her Star Crushing Umbrella. Help me kill him!"

Fang Boxuan and the others stared at Jiu Yuan in shock.

"Pang Jian killed Elder Liang?!" Shen Lei shouted,

"He said so himself!" Jiu Yuan yelled back.

Shen Lei and the other members of the Star River Alliance immediately cast suspicious glances at the approaching Pang Jian.

Whoosh!

The Star Crushing Umbrella drifted into view.

Holding the Star Crushing Umbrella, Pang Jian floated down, bathed in its radiant light.

The umbrella's canopy was adorned with exquisitely intricate arrays that resembled a brilliant galaxy filled with the moon and stars.

Pang Jian looked like the divine child of the stars and moon under the shimmering green light of the umbrella,

"Pang Jian..." Fang Boxuan felt a pang of inferiority and bitterness as he shook his head in resignation.

The Star Crushing Umbrella displayed a mysterious profoundness in Pang Jian's hands far surpassing what it could in Liang Ying's possession.

The sight was a heavy blow to Fang Boxuan as he prided himself on being a cultivation genius.

"Pang Jian, did you kill our Elder Liang?!" a female disciple from the Star River Alliance questioned sharply, her voice rising with righteous indignation.

Xie Xiwen's starry eyes also shone with anger. She bit her lower lip and glared at Pang Jian, "Pang Jian, is what Jiu Yuan said true?"

Had they not personally witnessed Pang Jian chase down Jiu Yuan, they would not have believed him even if he had previously claimed to have killed Liang Ying.

But now they knew Pang Jian indeed possessed such strength!

Not to mention, Jiu Yuan claimed to have heard it from Pang Jian himself, and given Jiu Yuan's status, he would not lie about such a matter.

Therefore, they demanded an explanation from Pang Jian. They wanted Pang Jian to prove Liang Ying died at the hands of the Ghost Race leader.

"Yes, I killed Liang Ying."

To everyone's surprise, Pang Jian admitted it.

"Pang Jian, the Star River Alliance will not forgive you!" a female disciple screamed, hands flailing like a wild cat. "Elder Liang was so kind. Why did you kill her? You deserve to die! She was even willing to shelter you under the Star Crushing Umbrella. How could you do this to her?"

Some of the other younger disciples previously under Liang Ying's care also shouted indignantly at Pang Jian.

Frowning, Pang Jian fixed his cold stare on Jiu Yuan of the Blood Moon Sect and said "When she separated from you all at Emerald Lake, she pretended to question me with the intention of killing me and taking my spatial bracelet."

Pang Jian paused, gaze shifting from Jiu Yuan to the members of the Star River Alliance.

"After I narrowly escaped, she ambushed me again in the valley between the Fourth Peak and the Fifth Peak, once again intending to kill me and seize my million spirit stones.

"You may have experienced her so-called kindness, but that kindness of hers didn't extend to someone like me.

"Liang Ying had tried to kill me twice. Why shouldn't I kill her? Am I supposed to just stretch out my neck for her to chop off? Is there any logic to that?" Pang Jian questioned frostily.

The members of the Star River Alliance were speechless.

Pang Jian's cold eyes then turned to the equally shocked Fang Boxuan and said, "Fang Boxuan of the Blood Moon Sect witnessed the entire event. If you don't believe me, you can ask him."

Stunned, Fang Boxuan cursed inwardly. He had only seen Pang Jian kill Liang Ying and had not witnessed the events leading up to it. Thus, when he saw Xie Xiwen staring stonily at him, he was unsure how to respond.

He then noticed Shen Lei and two senior disciples of the Star River Alliance showing signs of sudden realization. Pang Jian's explanation did not seem to surprise them.

Fang Boxuan's mind turned.

The younger generation, like Xie Xiwen, did not know about Elder Liang's ruthlessness. The senior disciples like Shen Lei, on the other hand, had been in the Star River Alliance for many years and were aware that Liang Ying was not as kind and gentle as she portrayed herself to be!

"I saw it with my own eyes!" Fang Boxuan nodded solemnly. With a pained expression on his face, he then said to Xie Xiwen, "Junior Sister Xie, I hate to expose this ugly truth in front of you! After all, it concerns Elder Liang's reputation and is a stain on your Star River Alliance!

"Pang Jian was wearing the outer disciple robes of the Sword Pavilion when Elder Liang attacked him. She was truly ruthless!" Fang Boxuan condemned as though he had indeed witnessed the entire event.

"Fang Boxuan!" Jiu Yuan roared, Fang Boxuan's words enraged him to the point of wanting to stomp his feet in anger. He wanted to kill Fang Boxuan.

Senior disciples like Shen Lei hung their heads in silence. They were fully aware of Liang Ying's personality and knew what Fang Boxuan had told them was the truth.

"How could this be? I don't believe it," Xie Xiwen murmured, shaking her head in denial.

"Fang Boxuan! How dare you provide false testimony for an outsider!" Jiu Yuan snarled in fury as his face twisted with hatred. Based on his demeanor, he intended to kill Fang Boxuan once he regained his strength.

"Elder Liang Ying's character should be clearer to you than to me. The two of you have explored several restricted areas together. You should know in your heart whether what I'm saying is true," Fang Boxuan sneered.

Fang Boxuan's words unexpectedly silenced the endlessly cursing Jiu Yuan.

Whoosh!

At that moment, the Star Crushing Umbrella once again floated toward Jiu Yuan.

Realizing neither Fang Boxuan nor the members of the Star River Alliance would fight for him, Jiu Yuan turned to escape once more—only to find his feet glued to the ground.

He was rendered immobile and could not escape being enveloped by the Star Crushing Umbrella for a second time!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The radiance of the Star Crushing Umbrella cascaded down from the edges of its canopy and connected to the ground, Fang Boxuan, Xie Xiwen, and the others outside the umbrella could see Pang Jian's and Jiu Yuan's blurry figures but could not hear their conversation.

"Pang Jian!" Jiu Yuan was much more terrified now that his feet were rooted to the floor.

As he watched Pang Jian step into the small world within the umbrella, he abruptly realized something.

"Cao Mang didn't activate the Spirit Slaughtering Astral Array and tear my cloak apart with those interwoven light beams! It was you!"

Jiu Yuan finally understood what had happened.

Pang Jian could not only manipulate the gravity of the Primordial Wilderness but also activate the Spirit Slaughtering Astral Array!