Trials of the Abyss

Qi Qingsong's expression was stern.

Suspicious gazes landed on Zhuang Yuyan.

Zhuang Yuyan had hidden in her room the whole time and no one knew what she was doing inside. She never got involved with anyone, even when the others were experiencing bizarre deaths.

When Pang Jian found her, she was remarkably calm and composed.

She was still the same now

"Was it you?" Qi Qingsong asked again.

The little bit of camaraderie they had built over drinks and food fell apart with this question.

"My master is Guang He. He controls the distribution and allocation of all pills, spirit swords, and techniques in the Sword Pavilion," Zhuang Yuyan said with a serene smile. Smoothing the stray strands of hair from her forehead, she continued, "He has a peculiar temper and only has me as a disciple. So, when I decided to enter Absolute Heaven..."

She paused, the corners of her mouth tugging up slightly as she looked at Qi Qingsong. "He gave me fifty thousand spirit jades.

"I also have sixty thousand spirit jades of my own, making a total of one hundred and ten thousand spirit jades. I should have more than all of you combined."

She gracefully descended to the deck.

Whoosh!

Her pale green protective shield expanded tenfold to envelop a large portion of the deck.

Sparkling spirit jades instantly filled that space.

"The other things in my spatial bracelet aren't for show, but here you can see my spirit jades." Zhuang Yuyan stood among the mountains of spirit jade and glanced at everyone on the balcony. "Do you still think I would target Junior Brother Han for those few spirit jades?"

"One hundred and ten thousand spirit jades!" Zhou Qingchen licked his lips in shock. "Pang Jian, the two of us are paupers compared to the inner disciples of the Second World sects."

Pang Jian gently nodded.

My spirit jades would exceed hers if not for the spirit vein on the Resolute Expanse, he thought.

Zhuang Yuyan's fortune outmatched even Lu Lingchan from the Black Valley Sect.

"It seems you have nothing to do with it," Lu Lingchan admitted with a nod.

"Inner disciples and personal disciples of the Sword Pavilion and the Black Valley Sect in the Second World..." Zhao Yuanqi muttered.

She realized she should have thought of a way to reach the Second World instead of bitterly cultivating in the Red Mountain Sect.

No matter how highly the Red Mountain Sect regarded her, its foundation and wealth could not match that of Lu Lingchan or Zhuang Yuyan's masters.

Spirit jades were a symbol of wealth in the cultivation world, and allowed one to purchase high-grade spirit artifacts and even sacred artifacts!

She felt a twinge of envy.

"Junior Brother Qi, do you still think it was me?" Zhuang Yuyan asked again.

Qi Qingsong chuckled awkwardly and shook his head with an apologetic expression. "I misunderstood you, Senior Sister Zhuang."

Zhuang Yuyan had more spirit jades than Lu Lingchan. It was enough for her to last for decades in the bizarre mist.

No wonder she was not even the slightest bit anxious.

Whoosh!

The mountains of spirit stones were collected back into her spatial bracelet and Zhuang Yuyan returned to the third-floor balcony.

"Before coming here, my master instructed me to maintain my Profound Abode Realm cultivation realm before entering this bizarre mist.

"Once inside, I could attempt to break through, regardless of whether I reached Absolute Heaven.

"As for why I'm staying in my room..."

She pulled a silver wine jug and cup from the middle of the group toward her and filled the cup with wine.

Taking a small sip, she continued, "Before entering the bizarre mist, I hid in my room to suppress my breakthrough to avoid accidentally advancing to the Spirit Condensation Realm." Ꞧ𝒶𝐍𝙤ʙÊʂ

Everyone's eyes were filled with astonishment.

"Junior Brother Pang, I didn't come out to greet you because I feared any fluctuation in my state of mind would force me to start refining my divine soul."

Zhuang Yuyan turned the cup upside down to show she had done her penance. "Forcing myself to suppress a breakthrough is actually quite exhausting."

Pang Jian immediately understood.

"When the Sword Boat plunged into the bizarre mist, I immediately advanced to the Spirit Condensation Realm," she said softly. "I had little time to pay attention to the outside world while refining my soul, much less sneak into the ship's hold to kill Junior Brother Han for a few spirit jades."

Fang Boxuan was shocked. "You're in the Spirit Condensation Realm?"

Zhuang Yuyan nodded with a smile.

Everyone was astounded.

While they were lost and despairing in the bizarre mist, Zhuang Yuyan had been seizing the opportunity to advance to the Spirit Condensation Realm!

This meant her cultivation now surpassed everyone here!

No one present would be a match for her unless they possessed a powerful treasure that could bridge the gap between realms.

Pang Jian also inwardly praised her.

Lu Lingchan, Qi Qingsong, and the Sword Pavilion's Zhuang Yuyan—none of them were simple characters.

The Second World talents were indeed much stronger in all aspects when compared to Yang Rui of the Radiant Sun Sect and Xie Xiwen of the Star River Alliance.

Zhou Qingchen chuckled softly. "The pressure is really on now."

"You're still alive, and plenty who were stronger than you have already died," Pang Jian consoled.

"That's true!" Zhou Qingchen felt slightly better.

"So who's behind this treachery then?" Guo Hongyuan's suspicious gaze shifted back to Pang Jian, Zhao Yuanqi, and Dong Tianze. "Senior Brother Han died in the ship's hold, and the spirit jades and spatial bracelet that should have been there are missing."

Lu Lingchan's eyes swept across the group before finally landing on Pang Jian. "Your golden divine sense from before looked rather peculiar. Perhaps..."

She left her sentence unfinished.

"Pang Jian was with me in the room. He never left my sight!" Zhou Qingchen shouted.

"You two have a deep brotherly bond and you might be covering for him," Lu Lingchan replied coldly. "The deceased had considerable strength and combat prowess, but there aren't many on the Sword Boat who can kill Han Lu in the chaos.

"Pang Jian killed someone in the Spirit Condensation Realm back in the Primordial Wilderness, so it's reasonable to be suspicious of him.

"I suggest that we"—she glanced at Qi Qingsong and Zhuang Yuyan—"check Pang Jian's and Zhou Qingchen's spatial bracelets!"

"You're right, Pang Jian's suspicious."

"He's too close to Zhou Qingchen. Their spatial bracelets need to be checked."

Ye Fei and Lu Lianchen from the Black Valley Sect agreed.

"I'm also close to Pang Jian. Should my spatial bracelet be checked as well? After all, I could also be covering for him, couldn't I?" Qi Qingsong smirked sarcastically.

Ye Fei and Lu Lianchen fell silent.

Lu Lingchan nodded. "It wouldn't hurt to check yours as well. Just because you're the leader doesn't mean you're innocent. I've seen people cry wolf before. Who knows if you killed Han Lu and then pretended to lead others to the ship's hold as a cover?"

In Lu Lingchan's eyes, the only ones who could have killed Han Lu were herself, Zhuang Yuyan, Pang Jian, and Qi Qingsong.

She had not done it, and Zhuang Yuyan had more spirit stones than she could need, so Pang Jian and Qi Qingsong were the most likely suspects.

"We didn't do it, so we're not afraid of having our spatial bracelets checked!" Zhou Qingchen said firmly, removing his spatial bracelet and preparing to take out all its contents to prove his innocence.

Pang Jian frowned and stopped Zhou Qingchen from proceeding further. "Big Brother Zhou, we didn't do it. There's no need for this. I don't understand why you're insisting on finding the culprit. Now that we know about it, we just need to be more cautious. Even if we drag them out and kill them, it won't change the fact that we can't escape the bizarre mist."

"I'm afraid they'll continue killing," Ye Fei said bluntly.

"They won't get another chance as long as everyone stays on this balcony and doesn't leave," Fang Boxuan suggested.

"Wait! I remember something!" Zhuang Yuyan exclaimed. "I sensed someone entering the ship's hold. At the time, I had just succeeded in refining my divine soul, so I didn't pay it much attention.

"Later, I was busy stabilizing my cultivation realm and didn't keep an eye on it. When this person went to the ship's hold, the two outer disciples from the Sword Pavilion were fighting to the death on the deck, drawing everyone's attention."

Zhuang Yuyan glanced from the balcony down to the deck, expression turning increasingly grave.

"That person entered the hold from the Sword Boat's deck. Pang Jian and Qi Qingsong were both in their room on the third floor at the time.

"There's someone..." She took a deep breath, eyes filling with dread. "That someone who should be among those living dead! They haven't lost hope and still harbor a strong desire to survive. If I'm not mistaken, they're pretending to be like those living dead and are just sitting there on the deck below.

"They should be an outer disciple of the Sword Pavilion or the Black Valley Sect. Not only are they strong, but they're also extremely sinister and terrifying."

Her words sent chills down everyone's spine.

Fearful and uneasy gazes fell upon the stiff, motionless bodies with vacant expressions on the deck below.

If Zhuang Yuyan was telling the truth and someone had indeed snuck into the Sword Boat's hold and killed Han Lu while the two Sword Pavilion disciples were fighting, then that person was likely to be hiding among the living dead.

After all, no one had ever truly left the Sword Boat.

The thought of such a cunning person lurking in the shadows, waiting for the chance to kill and seize everyone's spirit jades, left everyone feeling uneasy.

Ye Fei stood on the balcony and shouted coldly at the living dead below, "Luo Yuan! Is it you? Did you change your appearance to blend in with them?"

"Luo Yuan?"

Everyone recalled his earlier words about an outer disciple from the Sword Pavilion with one hundred and twenty-eight strands of divine sense.

They all grew suspicious.

If such a person did exist, he was likely an extraordinary talent.

Neither Qi Qingsong nor Nie You had heard of this person. He was also not known within the Sword Pavilion and held the status of an outer disciple, which fit the likely characteristics of the killer.

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