Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 316: The Treacherous Grand Elder

Pang Jian had gained a deeper understanding of the four fragmented lands.

The four fragmented lands were originally from different regions, and some unknown power had forcibly drawn them together.

Among these, only Absolute Heaven was exposed—its true form visible from outside. All the foreign races could freely navigate their warships in and out of Absolute Heaven without obstruction.

The fiery fragmented land with the Fire God's body and the one with the ruins of the Divine Court of Thunder were veiled behind fire and lightning respectively. Crossing these veils was not difficult. It was just that what lay within could not be seen from outside.

The final fragmented land, the Frozen Land, had the most terrifying restriction—one could enter but never leave.

Although the arachnid Outer God, the soul projection of the Ghost Race's worshiped Outer God, and the Observer could transmit their divine consciousness here, the Ice Race in the Frozen Land could not communicate with the Ice Demon through their fully functional altar.

The Outer God Puppets also appeared in the other fragmented lands but not the Frozen Land.

It seemed even the Outer Gods had sensed something was amiss.

After some thought, Pang Jian concluded the Ice Race's inability to communicate with the Ice Demon was likely due to the barrier surrounding the Frozen Land.

With the help of the Gate of the Abyss, he could pass through the barrier, making him the only one capable of freely entering and leaving the Frozen Land.

The puppets the foreign races from other worlds used to communicate with the Outer Gods would likely lose their connection to their Outer Gods once they entered the Frozen Land.

With that in mind, Pang Jian prepared to pass through the barrier.

Wait! the Bee Sovereign called before summoning back a few golden bees.

Twelve golden bees soon appeared and vanished into the bronze pendant.

Master, we'll need these little ones to seize the divine consciousness within the Heart of Winter, the Bee Sovereign explained.

Pang Jian nodded approvingly. You've thought this through.

After some contemplation, he shifted his focus to the golden bee following Qi Qingsong.

"Listen carefully," he said through the bee. "The other three fragmented lands besides Absolute Heaven are all peculiar. One is called the Forbidden Land of the Thunder God, where the destroyed Divine Court of Thunder resides. Another holds the body of a perished Fire God..."

The golden bee carefully revealed the secrets behind the three fragmented lands on a mountaintop in Absolute Heaven.

"You sneaky little devil, you've already visited the three other fragmented lands?" Qi Qingsong exclaimed. "Pang Jian, which one's the safest? And when are you going to take us with you?"

"Each of the three fragmented lands holds its own mysterious and unfathomable secrets," Zhuang Yuyan remarked, eyes sparkling with fascination.

Dong Tianze remained silent. He was still focusing on using pills to heal his injuries as quickly as possible.

"I'll leave a golden bee with you to keep in touch. I'll tell you where to go once I confirm it's safe. Just hold on a little longer."

Pang Jian then descended into the Frozen Land and stood atop the altar on the Sacred Mountain with the cheers of the Ice Race resounding around him.

The seven excited Ice Race elders immediately surrounded him.

"You actually managed to leave!"

"You're the first person to leave the Frozen Land in thousands of years!"

"Mysterious guest, can you tell us what you saw in the outside world?"

The seven elders bombarded Pang Jian with questions.

"There are three fragmented lands adjacent to the Frozen Land," Pang Jian began. "One of them originates from my world, the Abyss. The other two are from different worlds, one inhabited by the Flame Race and the other by the Thunder Race.

"I believe the barrier over the Frozen Land prevents you from not only leaving but also communicating with the Ice Demon."

He then approached the Heart of Winter.

"It seems the mist the Heart of Winter releases is responsible for keeping the barrier in place," he added tentatively.

"The Heart of Winter?"

"Are you saying the Heart of Winter, which heals our bodies and helps us defend against invaders, is sustaining the barrier?"

"How's that possible?"

"The Heart of Winter is a divine artifact the Ice Demon left behind. It has always protected us!"

"Without it, our Ice Race couldn't have survived in this fragmented land. Invaders would've overrun our Frozen Land long ago. We would've been wiped out!"

The Ice Race elders found it hard to believe.

Pang Jian did not address their doubts and instead asked, "Can you feel the divine consciousness within the Heart of Winter?"

The most senior of the elders, the Grand Elder, gazed at the massive crystalline heart and gripped his scepter with a tense expression.

"All I know is that it absorbs the flesh, blood, and lingering souls of the frozen corpses. It's also consumed some unusual beings with strange consciousness in the past.

"I can sometimes glimpse visions from the absorbed souls through my scepter." He offered the icy white scepter to Pang Jian. "We share the same faith, and you carry the aura of the Ice Demon. Perhaps you could also sense something through it.

"The divine consciousness you speak of is likely the strange consciousness absorbed from those puppet bodies.

"See if you can feel it too."

With that, the elder placed the white scepter before Pang Jian.

Pang Jian instinctively reached out to touch it.

Whoosh!

A thick, freezing mist burst forth from the icy white scepter, enveloping the entire altar.

Those outside the altar could no longer see what was happening inside.

Extreme cold energy spread from the scepter, up Pang Jian's hand, and throughout his body, instantly freezing him into an icy statue.

The scepter's strange power transformed into icy lightning and surged into his dantian, spiritual sea, Providence Mystic Reservoir Acupoint, heart, and even his sea of consciousness.

Pang Jian's dantian and spiritual sea were encased in ice.

The frozen Pang Jian watched helplessly as the icy power of the scepter sealed his Providence Mystic Reservoir Acupoint, the eight Leaves of Life covering his heart, and even the black turtle scute.

The invading cold even froze the gray strands of divine sense in his sea of consciousness.

Only his golden divine sense remained unaffected.

"Grand Elder!"

"What are you doing?"

"Why have you frozen our guest?"

The other six elders wore expressions of shock.

"What's going on? Why has the altar been engulfed in white fog?"

The members of the Ice Race outside murmured in confusion when the light mist surrounding the altar thickened into a dense fog.

They could see neither the elders nor Pang Jian, only the faint glow from the Heart of Winter.

The Grand Elder, who had handed his scepter to Pang Jian, wore a cold expression and explained, "It's better to directly search his memory instead of asking endless questions and not knowing whether the answers are true or false!"

"But he shares our faith. He, too, believes in the Ice Demon," One of the other six elders protested.

"He's not one of us," the Grand Elder said, locking eyes with Pang Jian. "Even if he believes in the Ice Demon, he's not from the Frozen Land. He cannot be trusted!

"Do you all remember the golden bee earlier? It carried the same aura as this man!"

The Grand Elder placed one hand on the Heart of Winter and the other on Pang Jian's frozen shoulder.

"I'll use the Heart of Winter to unravel all his secrets! Then, I'll not only know if he's telling the truth but also discover how he managed to leave the Frozen Land!

"I must find the way out of here!"

The Grand Elder's eyes burned with cold intensity.

When the other six elders saw the firm resolution radiating from his eyes, they knew what he truly sought was the knowledge of how to escape from the Frozen Land.

"I'm dying. If I don't leave soon, I'll end up like all our ancestors." The Grand Elder calmly gazed at the other six elders. "This man's appearance gave me a glimpse of hope, and I won't let it slip away! If I can leave, so can all of you. Our entire Ice Race, abandoned here for so long, will have a chance to escape!"

With that, the Grand Elder cast his secret art.

Whoosh!

The lingering souls of the frozen corpses flowed from within the massive Heart of Winter, through the Grand Elder's palm, and into Pang Jian's body in icy clouds.

Soon, the frozen lingering souls surfaced in Pang Jian's sea of consciousness.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Pang Jian's golden divine sense slipped to the far edges of his sea of consciousness and quietly hid.

Though Pang Jian's entire body was frozen, his golden divine sense remained usable, and he could also communicate with the Bee Sovereign.

Luckily, the Bee Sovereign and the golden bees in the beehive were unharmed.

Prepare for battle, Pang Jian calmly informed the bees as he awaited the Grand Elder's approach.

"What an expansive soul sea! I've never seen such a vast soul sea before! Outsider, you are truly extraordinary!" The Grand Elder exclaimed in shock. "Please forgive my rudeness!"

A faint shadow of the Grand Elder's soul surged forward, shrouded in icy mist.

Not long after, with the Heart of Winter's assistance, the Grand Elder's soul manifested within Pang Jian's sea of consciousness.

Hundreds of icy clouds floated above Pang Jian's frozen divine sense inside his sea of consciousness. These clouds contained the powerful lingering souls of those who had fallen in the Frozen Land.

"Tears of Winter," the Grand Elder muttered.

The icy clouds swirled with cold energy and condensed into crystalline teardrops.

A ghostly cold flame ignited the frozen souls within the gleaming tears.

The frozen souls wailed in agony as their will and spirit burned away.

As the souls blazed, the crystalline Tears of Winter emanated a profound insight, seeking to extract Pang Jian's memories from his frozen divine sense and the acupoints in his sea of consciousness.