Trials of the Abyss

Chapter 338: The Beehive Settles Down

Chapter 338: The Beehive Settles Down

A cloud of despair loomed over the group standing on the glacier.

The group sighed and lamented, lost in uncertain thoughts about not only their individual futures but also the future of the human race as a whole. They simply could not see a way forward.

Frozen Thunder drifted slowly toward the bizarre mist where the Sword Boat was anchored.

A golden flash sparked in Pang Jian's eyes as the fragmented land passed Absolute Heaven.

Shaking off the effects of the alcohol, he said, "Remind the Ice Race to be cautious of the bizarre mist's corruption before this fragmented land enters it.

"After accumulating enough momentum, this fragmented land will accelerate directly toward the Abyss.

"I'm going to have a chat with the Ice Armor Eel Dragon."

With that, he disappeared, with a golden bee taking his place.

The others were now well-acquainted with Pang Jian's strange abilities and knew that Pang Jian had left the bee as a marker.

***

Whoosh!

Pang Jiang pulled a massive beehive out of the Gate of the Abyss and placed it in the heart of the forest in Absolute Heaven where the Wood Race warrior, Ka Zi, had perished.

The nearly hundred-zhang-tall beehive was home to bee pupae and golden bees. The golden bees' compound eyes glowed eerily as they silently observed Pang Jian.

One particularly enormous bee rested at the top of the beehive.

It was the hibernating Bee Sovereign.

The Bee Sovereign was in the middle of his transformation and showed no signs of emerging anytime soon.

However, he had sent a mental message to Pang Jian earlier, instructing him to place the beehive there.

Does this place benefit the growth and transformation of more bees? Pang Jian's eyes flickered with curiosity.

Extending his divine sense outward, he released a faint golden light from his forehead that swept through the forest.

The golden light scanned the whole area in seconds.

Corpses of human cultivators, Vicious Beasts, and Spirit Beasts were still impaled on branches and dangled in the air.

Small insects buzzed about the forest, but no other living beings were present.

Despite this, Pang Jian could sense faint soul remnants lingering in the heads of the deceased humans, Vicious Beasts, and Spirit Beasts with his newly refined divine soul.

These soul remnants still carried dim memories, laced with resentment and an unwillingness to die.

Even in death, their souls held emotion.

Soul remnants? They didn't scatter into the heaven and earth? Pang Jian was taken aback.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

A swarm of bees emerged from the beehive to inspect the bodies.

These bodies still harbored soul fragments that had yet to disperse into the surroundings, and the bees could absorb them using their bee souls to nourish their beehive.

As Pang Jian observed them, he soon understood the reasoning behind their actions.

They're gathering soul remnants, extracting the stray thoughts within, and using them to spark intelligence in their bee souls.

Pang Jian had entered the forest to kill the Wood Race warrior, Ka Zi, under the guidance of the Bee Sovereign.

Despite only being at the early stage of the Spirit Condensation Realm, his divine soul could freely travel outside his physical body and explore the world around him.

Few Soul Wandering Realm cultivators could achieve such a feat even in the Abyss.

The accumulation of divine consciousness and the terrifying strength of three thousand strands of divine sense meant Pang Jian's divine soul was exceptionally powerful from the moment it was refined.

Bang!

The Ice Armor Eel Dragon leaped out of the lake in human form and instantly spotted Frozen Thunder drifting in the distance.

"You're using a divine artifact to move the fragmented land—are you heading back to the Abyss?"

"I am." Pang Jian nodded. "You mentioned that someone captured you from the Fifth World and threw you into this restricted area. Did that person truly resemble me?"

"I do think there's some resemblance," the Ice Armor Eel Dragon muttered, eyes darting around evasively. "But I was weak back then and hadn't developed full intelligence yet, so my memory's fuzzy. By the way, where are your glaciers? And the Thunder Pool?"

"They're in Frozen Thunder," Pang Jian replied.

"And you still dare to come to Absolute Heaven?" The Ice Armor Eel Dragon unleashed a torrent of cold wind and lightning with a wicked grin. "If you're dead, those artifacts will be mine! Haha, Pang Jian, you're too careless!"

Boom! Crackle!

Thunder roared and hundreds of ice blades collided, leaving a deep crater where Pang Jian stood.

But Pang Jian was nowhere to be found.

The Ice Armor Eel Dragon caught sight of Pang Jian hovering near the bizarre mist with a tiny golden bee floating behind him.

"You can teleport!" It cried.

Pang Jian frowned. "Stop."

Frozen Thunder had been speeding toward the Sword Boat's anchor point in the bizarre mist and Pang Jian's command caused it to slow to a halt.

Pang Jian summoned the Heart of Winter and three towering glaciers from Frozen Thunder.

They flew over at lightning speed and soon hovered in the air behind Pang Jian.

Whoosh!

Pang Jian's golden divine soul shot into the crystalline Heart of Winter and gently cradled the crystal core of Winter.

A cascade of memories surged into his divine soul, revealing the Ice Demon's complete path to godhood.

Pang Jian saw the Ice Demon's humble beginnings as a simple Ice Race warrior and how he had refined his bloodline over millennia, gradually comprehending the Dao of Cold until he eventually became a God.

Every step was laid out—from the materials the Ice Demon collected and the forging of his divine soul to how he strengthened his body!

The Bee Sovereign was right. This path isn't for me. Pang Jian shook his head as he gently cradled the core with his golden divine soul.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Beams of cold light shot downward like swords.

The Ice Armor Eel Dragon howled in pain as he returned to his original form. His scales, infused with cold energy and lightning, struggled desperately to withstand the piercing beams of cold light.

"Pang Jian!" The Ice Armor Eel Dragon roared furiously. When the onslaught continued relentlessly, it switched gears to plead for mercy, "Let's talk this through. I was only joking!"

The cold light beams also shot toward the palace the Ice Armor Eel Dragon had painstakingly built at the bottom of the lake.

He had no choice but to block the attack with his body and endure the barrage.

If he did not, everything he had built would be destroyed.