Chapter 1682: Prying Into the Dark

The sectmaster!

Ji Cang, the sectmaster of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, had been the strongest Qi warrior throughout the entire Mortal World.

Before he had disappeared, no one else had been able to match him in battle, not Qu Yi, not Chu Yuan, not Shao Tianyang, not anyone.

Rumor had it that Ji Cang’s disappearance had been the result of Qin Yao’s scheming. However, the kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea knew that wasn’t true.

Ji Cang had only spent a short period of time in the Doomed Star Sea before going off to the Void World.

They knew that their master, Qin Yao, had had a private meeting with Ji Cang, but that was all.

Even though they weren’t sure if the two of them had engaged in battle, they were certain that Ji Cang had left the Doomed Star Sea after their meeting.

After that, Ji Cang had been spotted in many different areas of the Void World. It was said that he had encountered and fought Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits of the Netherspirits, Grand Monarch Bone Piercer of the Bonedrudes, and a number of other grand monarchs of the Void World.

According to the latest news, Grand Monarch Thousand Spirits had joined hands with several powerful experts and surrounded Ji Cang. Even still, he had broken free.

They hadn’t received any word of him after that.

No one knew where he had gone, or whether he was still alive.

Now, Nie Tian had said that someone very weak was in the entrance of the Dark Abyss, making continuous efforts to channel streaks of starlight through profound magics.

“It has to be the sectmaster!” With these words, Chu Rui took a deep breath before suddenly shooting towards the Dark Abyss in the Realm of Shadow Devil like a streak of starlight.

He covered hundreds of thousands of kilometers in a breath’s time!

FIZZ!

It seemed as if he had created a tunnel that was filled with brilliant light in the dim starry river.

“The Dark Abyss is far too dangerous! You...!” Mo Heng exclaimed.

However, now that he was convinced that Ji Cang was very weak and trapped in the Dark Abyss, Chu Rui turned a deaf ear to his warnings and shot downwards with unswayed determination.

Mo Heng let out a sigh, but found his behavior understandable.

After all, Chu Rui and Ji Cang had been close friends since they had been Sons of the Stars. After Ji Cang had risen to the position of sectmaster, he had put great trust in him, and helped him become the vice sectmaster.

Chu Rui’s friendship with Ji Cang was like his friendship with Qin Yao.

“Vice Sectmaster!” Dou Tianchen exclaimed.

However, after he arrived, he found that the streak of starlight Chu Rui had morphed into had already disappeared into the depths of the entrance to the Dark Abyss.

No one could sense a single wisp of his aura, or see a ray of light in the bottomless pit.

It was like a stone being tossed into the sea.

Seeing this, Yu Suying and the others muttered in low voices, saying that Nie Tian’s peculiar bone had entered the pit earlier and emanated a tremendous amount of light, thanks to which they had been able to see the titan high chieftain’s corpse, along with tons of devilish plants and sinister flowers.

Upon hearing this, the expressions of Dou Tianchen, Zu Guangyao, and the other Qi warriors from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace turned grim.

Even Ji Cang, their sectmaster, was trapped in there and was in a feeble state. Even that late tenth grade grand monarch titan high chieftain had been killed. Could Chu Rui, their vice sectmaster, really bring Ji Cang out to safety?

Grand Monarch Hell Demon, Dylan, and the Snow Devil, the three kingpins of the Doomed Star Sea, fixed their eyes on Nie Tian. “Young Master.”

They hurried to explain how terrifying and dangerous the Dark Abyss was, and tell him that the Dark Abyss had multiple entrances and that his father, Qin Yao, had a better understanding of this forbidden place than anyone.

They warned Nie Tian against making any rash moves and putting himself in danger for Chu Rui.

Mo Heng, who was the grand elder of the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, didn’t make any remarks after hearing their words.

However, Dou Tianchen, Zu Guangyao, and the others from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace had fixed Nie Tian with anticipating gazes from the moment they had learned that the bone belonging to Nie Tian could light up the inside of that entrance to the Dark Abyss.

They hoped that Nie Tian would send in that bone, or rescue Chu Rui and Ji Cang through some other miraculous means.

Eyes narrowed, Nie Tian pondered the situation. “The Dark Abyss, the forbidden place that holds countless mysteries and where paragons were made...”

Wisp after wisp of his star power and soul power flew into the fragments that had been separated from the Magnetic Star Crystal in his hand and refined into Fragmentary Stars. “Perhaps I can pry into the darkness with the help of these Fragmentary Stars. Perhaps my Star Eyes will work too.”

FIZZ! FIZZ!

Clusters of twinkling starlight flew from Nie Tian’s eyes and descended towards those mountains in the Realm of Shadow Devil.

Flying down with them were the Fragmentary Stars he had just forged and infused with his refined star power and soul power.

Intangible and shapeless, Star Eyes could be used to detect souls. Fragmentary Stars, however, could be used to attack material objects. Both of them had profound connections to his star power sub-soul.

“Star Eyes!”

Dou Tianchen’s eyes lit up as he released his Star Eyes as Nie Tian had.

The others saw them casting secret spells in attempts to pry into the Dark Abyss. After a moment of hesitation, they went into action as well.

All sorts of glowing spheres, soul power-infused crystals, and spiritual tools with soul connections to them whizzed down towards the Dark Abyss.

POOH! POOH! POOH!

However, many of them burst like balloons before they could even reach the entrance to the Dark Abyss.

The Star Eyes and Fragmentary Stars cast down by those from the Ancient Fragmentary Star Palace, the silver streak of Heaven-purging Divine Light released by Yu Suying, the void medium created by Ji Yuanquan, the cluster of corpse fire released by Feng Beiluo, and the golden feather cast down by Dylan all exploded midway.

Even Nie Tian’s Star Eyes burst and vanished.

He let out a muffled groan, feeling as if someone had hammered his chest a few times.

However, the Fragmentary Stars he had made by infusing the star core fragments he had separated from the Magnetic Star Crystal with his star and soul power were pulled by some power as they fell, and vanished into the dark pit.

He immediately lost his connection to them.

Even Fan Tianze’s streak of refined sword light burst and perished midway.

He, who had entered the late God domain and come to high attainments in the Dao of the sword, exclaimed in surprise. Then, countless streams of sword light that were running through his meridians suddenly gathered to his fingertip, which he then pointed at the darkness and let out a snort.

WHOOSH!

A streak of sword light that was even fiercer than the last one shot down, carrying a heaven-rending, earth-destroying will.

All of a sudden, a brown branch stretched out of the true darkness beyond the flowing lights and pierced straight upwards.

With a boom, Fan Tianze’s streak of sword light exploded again.

The sword light split into countless tiny sparks, all of which carried bits of fierce sword intent. However, they quickly died out like a large shoal of fish that were poisoned.

At the same time, a hint of cyan quietly emerged on Fan Tianze’s fingertip.

Fan Tianze’s expression flickered drastically as a torrential sword intent burst forth from within him. Everyone was surprised to see him activating his God domain and attacking that finger with numerous illusory swords.

Only after a while did the cyan slowly fade from his fingertip.

Fan Tianze took a deep breath and slowly recovered from his state of shock. “That was close.”

“That was the Ghost Grass,” Mu Biqiong, the Holy Daughter of the Bliss Mountain Sect, said faintly. “It’s harder for spiritual and devilish plants to upgrade than living beings. Their upgrade requires more time and is more reliant on opportunities.

“It’s said that the Ghost Grass was transformed from the discarnate soul of a deceased Netherspirit grand monarch, who referred to himself as Grand Monarch Ghostly Spirit. He lived in a time before Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit. It appears that it was Grand Monarch Heavenly Spirit who killed him.

“Only after his death did that Ghost Grass appear.”

“How do you know all that?” The Snow Devil asked in surprise.

“I have two coexisting flowers growing inside of me,” Mu Biqiong answered.

“Oh, I see.”