Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 218: Pang Jian's Network for Offloading Stolen Goods

I'll find a way to get more spirit jades to support you and the Resolute Expanse.

Pang Jian's gaze wandered over the spirit artifacts, barrels of beast blood, and scattered spirit materials on the ground, planning to sell them.

These miscellaneous cultivation resources came from Cao Mang, Lou Yunming, Jiu Yuan, and Liang Ying. Most were unfamiliar to Pang Jian, and he did not know their value.

However, considering they belonged to cultivators in the Spirit Condensation Realm, he believed they were surely extraordinary.

Pang Jian carefully looked over each item.

He did not hesitate to keep the three bottles of Soul Nourishing Pills from Lou Yunming's spatial bracelet for himself. He also set aside the meat and blood of Rank Five and Rank Six Vicious Beasts from Jiu Yuan's spatial bracelet.

When he tested Jiu Yuan's Blood Reversal Blade, he found that the spirit artifact could only accommodate spiritual power and blood energy.

Stellar energy, lunar energy, solar energy, and cold energy immediately dispersed when channeled through the Blood Reversal Blade. It simply could not accommodate all these energies and did not allow Pang Jian to fully make use of his unique spiritual sea.

The spirit artifact went into the pile to be sold.

The Black Crow Cauldron, on the other hand, he planned to give to Luo Hongyan to house her Spirit Devils, so Pang Jian placed it in the keep pile.

The Meteorite Pearl, capable of gathering stellar and lunar energy, also went into the keep pile.

The most valuable item from Cao Mang, the Black Iron Mountain, was a small flying vessel that could travel to the Fourth World or even the Second World above.

It also went into the keep pile.

Pang Jian methodically sorted through the items, keeping the spirit artifacts, pills, and beast blood he found useful, and moving the unfamiliar or unnecessary items into a separate pile.

After four hours, he had divided the items into two piles, with the excess empty spatial bracelets sitting in the sell pile.

I wonder if I should barter with Yu Xin of the Celestial Race or...

Pang Jian ultimately decided not to contact Yu Xin to avoid revealing his identity as the leader of the Wood Race knew he had killed Jiu Yuan, Lou Yunming, and the others.

Instead, he took out the Ghost Altar and assembled it.

Once the Ghost Altar was successfully set up, three pieces of paper appeared before him.

Pang Jian had not used the Ghost Altar for a long time and was stunned to see the three pieces of paper. After a moment, he realized they were messages from Dong Tianze.

The first paper read:

Pang Jian, my sect elder, Lou Yunming, is currently in the Primordial Wilderness. He found a woman named Luo Hongyan. Damn it, it turns out the Sinister Soul Temple originally meant to send me Luo Hongyan and the fan!

The second piece of paper read:

Pang Jian, foreign races have launched a large-scale invasion against the Primordial Wilderness. Elder Lou has sent an urgent message to our Cult Leader. Since Luo Hongyan is in the Primordial Wilderness, you must be there too. You'll probably die in that fragmented land!

The third piece of paper read:

Pang Jian, are you dead yet?

Dong Tianze had sent these three messages at different times.

These pieces of paper would appear whenever Pang Jian activated the Ghost Altar.

Dong Tianze appeared exceptionally concerned about his fate, sending three messages in succession when Pang Jian did not respond.

As Pang Jian stared at the messages, his expression became complex, and he fell into deep thought.

Dong Tianze had joined the Sinister Soul Temple on the Dark Abyss Continent, where the Star River Alliance and the Blood Moon Sect also resided.

Lou Yunming had been able to secretly communicate with the Cult Leader of the Sinister Soul Temple while in the Primordial Wilderness.

The reason Lou Yunming eventually stopped sending messages was because Pang Jian had killed him.

The Blood Moon Sect and the Star River Alliance likely also had ways to communicate with Jiu Yuan and Liang Ying from the Dark Abyss Continent.

Like Lou Yunming, Pang Jian had also killed both these elders in the Primordial Wilderness.

It had only been a day since the battle in Primordial Wilderness ended. With Lou Yunming, Jiu Yuan, and Liang Ying dead, the three major sects on the Dark Abyss Continent were likely still uninformed about the situation in the Primordial Wilderness.

After some consideration, Pang Jian moved Lou Yunming's belongings further back.

Then, Pang Jian wrote a note, infused it with his spiritual power, and sent it through the Ghost Altar.

Meanwhile, Dong Tianze had been in seclusion in the Sinister Soul Temple on the Dark Abyss Continent. He had recently reached the late stage of the Innate Realm and was close to breaking through to the Profound Abode Realm.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes in his dark cave dwelling.

The long-dormant Ghost Altar quietly lit up.

Dong Tianze frowned and said with some irritation, "Is it another plea for help from the Shadow Specter Sect's hall masters in the Fourth World?"

The members of the Shadow Specter Sect and the seven major clans had all gathered in the fragmented lands under the jurisdiction of the Zhou Clan and Dong Clan in light of the recent contamination of murky energy and increased Vicious Beast attacks.

Those fragmented lands were among the few remaining sanctuaries for the human race in the Fourth World.

Several hall masters of the Shadow Specter Sect continually sought help from their leader, Dong Tianze, when they noticed the murky energy was spreading.

Lately, the messages Dong Tianze had received were all from those hall masters asking him for help. He mostly ignored them.

Eventually, those hall masters gave up, and the number of messages he received lessened to none.

"You're not the only ones in trouble. The foreign races had invaded the Primordial Wilderness, causing thousands of casualties. Nobody has time to deal with your issues," Dong Tianze grumbled.

Glancing at the piece of paper from the Ghost Altar, he saw a familiar line of text.

Sect Leader, it's me, Pang Jian.

Dong Tianze's mind reeled as he squinted at the paper before curling his lips into a smirk. "He's still alive?"

He continued to read.

"What? He has many rare spirit artifacts and spirit materials of great value? He must've made a fortune off the dead in the Primordial Wilderness! He's proposing a trade and wants it all in spirit jade?"

Dong Tianze stood up in shock.

Lou Yunming had yet to make contact with their Cult Leader, so they were left unaware of the situation in the Primordial Wilderness.

It was not only them, as the Blood Moon Sect and the Star River Alliance were also in the dark.

Therefore, when Pang Jian made contact, Dong Tianze could not help but become excited.

He hesitated briefly before finally taking a piece of paper and writing two simple words, Three days.

After mulling it over, he decided the matter was too important to put off, so he tore up the paper and wrote a new note, Three hours!

He then threw the message into the Ghost Altar and left the cave to look for Liu Yan, the person meant to be watching over him. However, he was nowhere to be seen.

Dong Tianze then sought out his master, Han Zhiyuan, and informed him about this recent development.

"Pang Jian!"

Han Zhiyuan was equally shocked by the news. After a moment of hesitation, he took Dong Tianze to the Cult Leader of the Sinister Soul Temple.

Three hours later, the Cult Leader of the Sinister Soul Temple, Yin Yiqing; one of the Vice Cult Leaders, Han Zhiyuan; and Dong Tianze, whom the Sinister Soul Temple regarded as a genius comparable to Yang Rui, were all gathered before the large Ghost Altar in Dong Tianze's cave.

"Cult Leader, it wouldn't be wise for the two of us to be seen by that kid," said the emaciated Han Zhiyuan to the ethereal-looking Yin Yiqing. "We should stand away from the Ghost Altar and watch from a distance.

"We can send our questions about the Primordial Wilderness to Dong Tianze through the Ethereal Ghost Token using our divine sense so Pang Jian won't notice us."

Yin Yiqing nodded in agreement, exuding a gentle yet eerie aura.

The two of them moved to a corner of the cave and watched as Dong Tianze stepped onto the Ghost Altar.

Whoosh!

Pang Jian's tall, black-clad figure appeared, surrounded by lush forest.

"Sect Leader," Pang Jian politely greeted.

Dong Tianze coldly replied, "I can't believe you're still alive."

"Luck was on my side," Pang Jian said nonchalantly. "Let's get down to business."

He then revealed Jiu Yuan's Blood Reversal Blade, infusing it with spiritual power and blood energy to allow the long blade to emit a dazzling blood-colored light.

"Give me an estimate for this blade."

Pang Jian did not have Luo Hongyan or Qi Qingsong to tell him the true value of the Blood Reversal Blade, so he decided to allow Dong Tianze to set a price.

Dong Tianze, also from the Fourth World, was also unfamiliar with the value of the long blade and was momentarily stunned.

"Blood Reversal Blade!"

"Jiu Yuan's Blood Reversal Blade!"

The shocked voices of Yin Yiqing and Han Zhiyuan simultaneously rang out from the Ethereal Ghost Token in Dong Tianze's pocket, startling him.

The gazes of the two leaders were also extremely peculiar.

Dong Tianze was bewildered. Unbeknownst to him, the Sinister Soul Temple, having always been at odds with the Blood Moon Sect, was extremely familiar with several of the Blood Moon Sect's elders.

Although Dong Tianze was uninformed, the two leaders of the Sinister Soul Temple knew everything related to the Blood Reversal Blade.

This blade had killed dozens of disciples from the Sinister Soul Temple, so they naturally knew of its capabilities and value.

Thus, the two leaders were understandably astonished.

Why does Pang Jian have the Blood Reversal Blade?

Did Jiu Yuan die in the Primordial Wilderness?

How would Pang Jian have gotten hold of the Blood Reversal Blade if he weren't dead?

Questions filled the two leaders' minds, and Yin Yiqing quietly sent a transmission through the Ethereal Ghost Token, "Tianze, ask him how he got that long blade."

"Pang Jian, how did you get hold of this long blade?" Dong Tianze asked.

"Jiu Yuan is dead and left this long blade behind. I happened to stumble upon it by chance."

"How did Jiu Yuan die?" Dong Tianze asked again.

Pang Jian paused for a moment, then calmly said, "He died in a battle against Rank Six Vicious Beasts. I happened to be nearby and managed to pick up this long blade. Now, enough chit-chat. Just give me a price."

Dong Tianze remained silent as he secretly communicated with the two leaders through the Ethereal Ghost Token.

Moments later, Dong Tianze said, "Fifteen thousand spirit jades!"

Fifteen thousand... Pang Jian's heart pounded at the price.

The Blood Reversal Blade was worth 1.5 million spirit stones, comparable to the total value of the spirit materials from Rank Seven Vicious Beasts he had previously sold.

"Deal!"

Pang Jian promptly placed the long blade in the depression on the altar.

Dong Tianze piled up the owed spirit jades, which the two leaders had provided in advance, in front of the Ghost Altar.

The first transaction was swiftly completed.