Chapter 230: The Strange Being in the Bizarre Mist

A gigantic skeleton traversed the boundless void within the depths of the dense bizarre mist.

Its bones looked as though they were forged from molten gold, and its skeletal body resembled a cross between a lion and a tiger. Two massive seas of golden lightning made up its enormous pair of wings.

The lightning was so blinding that Pang Jian's eyes ached and teared up after just a single glance into the rift.

It was as if the skeleton held supreme authority over the mysteries of lightning.

Wiping away the tears from his bloodshot eyes, Pang Jian continued to risk his life by staring at the bizarre mist in the void rift.

The thick bolts of lightning within the strange creature's lightning wings seemed to transform into strange lifeforms.

In one sea of golden lightning, the lightning bolts morphed into bizarre and fierce beasts.

In the other, they condensed into slender, humanoid figures.

Boom!

Thunderous explosions reverberated deafeningly around them.

Each thunderclap sounded like the collapse of a Great Dao, containing the terrifying will to obliterate the heavens and earth with lightning.

The thunderous sounds were so powerful they seemed capable of allowing those in the highest cultivation realm with mastery of the essence of lightning to grasp the Dao of Lightning just by listening.

Pang Jian was deeply shaken.

The only other time he had felt such terrifying power was with the shattering of the Celestial Phoenix's bones.

What is it? And why is it drifting in the bizarre mist?

Pang Jian wondered in bewilderment.

As Pang Jian gazed at it, two clusters of golden lightning formed within the empty eye sockets of the strange being.

The golden lightning traced out a character in the depths of each eye socket—The Abyss!

As soon as the character appeared, Pang Jian had the eerie feeling that the strange creature had locked onto his location in Cloud Lightning.

The Gate of the Abyss heated up against the skin of Pang Jian's chest.

Whoosh!

The one hundred and twenty-eight strands of divine sense in his sea of consciousness shrunk rapidly.

His mental energy drained away madly!

As Pang Jian gazed at the colossal being, he felt as if he had traversed down the vast river of time to peer into its past.

It once had flesh and blood, with a body that radiated dazzlingly golden divine light. It seemed to be a God of an unknown world and resembled a mix between a lion and a tiger.

One day, it ventured into the depths of the bizarre mist. Once it entered, it could not find its way back. No matter how hard it tried, it could not escape, and could only drift aimlessly in the depths of the bizarre mist.

Over the course of countless millennia, its flesh, tendons, organs, and eyes had worn away, gradually disintegrating from its body and fading into nothingness.

In the end, all that remained was this fleshless, golden skeleton.

The massive creature desperately sought a way back from the endless bizarre mist. It felt as though it had drifted for millions of years.

It had no sense of the passage of time and had no idea how long it had been trapped in the depths of the bizarre mist.

Then, one day, a void rift appeared in Cloud Lightning while Pang Jian was there. Or, more importantly, while the Gate of the Abyss was present.

It finally had a clear coordinate!

The characters formed from golden lightning in the depths of its eye sockets locked onto the Gate of the Abyss on Pang Jian's body.

The Abyss.

The strange being was pointing toward the world known as the Abyss!

Pang Jian let out a muffled groan as the many thoughts and images in his mind suddenly vanished.

He felt as though he had just traversed countless eons in a second.

As the scenes of the past disappeared from his mind, Pang Jian watched helplessly as the strange being flew desperately toward him.

It was getting larger!

The one hundred and twenty-eight strands of divine sense in Pang Jian's sea of consciousness were now as thin as hairs, and his mental energy was nearly exhausted.

Hastily taking out the Mind Soothing Pills, he did not hesitate to toss half a bottle into his mouth at once.

A strong sense of unease surged in his heart as he watched the strange creature approach.

Despite being trapped in the depths of the bizarre mist for countless years, he had a terrible intuition that the strange being still possessed formidable power.

Its flesh had been completely eroded and its power was far from its peak, but it could always reclaim its rightful power, so long as it could step into the Abyss.

This creature can never appear in the Abyss, or it'll unleash a catastrophic disaster,

Pang Jian thought fearfully.

As soon as he had this thought, the Gate of the Abyss and the four deeply engraved characters on its back started to cool down.

Crackle!

The void rift started to close at an astonishing rate!

He then saw the characters in the strange being's eye sockets mysteriously disappear.

It seemed to have lost its target.

It was once again trapped in the depths of the bizarre mist, doomed to wander for another million years, waiting for its next opportunity.

Dense golden lightning burst forth from its two wings, seemingly in despair and frustration, but there were no targets for it to attack in the bizarre mist.

The void rift sealed shut.

The golden lightning from the rift and the originally white lightning of Cloud Lightning hung in the air like golden waterfalls.

Pang Jian was drenched in sweat as he stood in the middle of these broad golden waterfalls, staring with extreme astonishment at where the void rift had closed.

The Gate of the Abyss.

His right hand instinctively pressed against his chest, touching the bronze pendant through his clothes.

A storm raged in his heart.

The bronze pendant known as the Gate of the Abyss seemed to have become incredibly heavy.

A gate was also a directional coordinate.

Pang Jian seemed to have gained the authority to open and close such gates now that the characters "Gate of the Abyss" had appeared on the bronze pendant!

If I hadn’t closed the gate in time just now, and the void rift continued to tear...

He could not imagine what would have happened if that terrifying being had actually managed to cross the bizarre mist and step into Cloud Lightning.

Why is this object in my possession? What right do I have to wield such power?

Pang Jian’s mind raced.

It seemed an incredibly heavy burden had been forcibly placed on his shoulders. This world could be plunged into an apocalypse if he was not strong or cautious enough!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Thunderous lightning strikes erupted all around.

Pang Jian, spirit battered and divine sense weakened, could only turn his head to look behind him.

Disciples of the Black Valley Sect, the Demon Sect, and the Celestial Lagoon Sect brandished their magical treasures and spirit artifacts to attack the white crane.

The white crane cursed as it soared through the lightning.

The foul-mouthed white crane had a pair of jet-black claws, one of which was adorned with a small spatial bracelet.

Its other claw grasped a withered bone covered in cracks.

It flew back and forth in the sky, using the withered bone to magically absorb the massive waterfalls of golden lightning.

Whoosh!

The massive lightning bolts piercing the sky and the earth of the restricted area transformed into thin strands of golden lightning the moment it entered the withered bone.

Even while collecting the golden lightning, the white crane's stream of profanities never stopped, constantly cursing the parents and unborn children of its opponents.

Interestingly, the white crane made sure to carefully avoid mentioning its master when fighting against the disciples of the major sects.

"Screw you all! Die!" the white crane screeched, pulling in dazzling white lightning bolts from afar to strike down upon the disciples in the Lightning Retribution Grounds.

The weaker disciples in the early stage of the Profound Abode Realm or the Innate Realm died one after another.

Gradually, the white crane's once agile flight through the air slowed, becoming heavy and burdened.

Pang Jian watched closely and soon noticed that the white crane's graceful flight would falter every time the withered bone in its claw collected a golden lightning bolt.

Although the collected golden lightning bolts appeared as fine as hair, it seemed that they still weighed down the withered bone once inside.

Even so, the white crane was determined to collect all the golden lightning and did not put the withered bone back into its spatial bracelet.

The disciples of the Demon Sect, the Black Valley Sect, and the Celestial Lagoon Sect continued to chase the wicked crane down.

They had also noticed that the white crane was slowing down and wanted to seize its withered bone.

Lei Kun approached Pang Jian after the void rift disappeared.

"Luo Yuan, you—you were so close to that void rift. Did you see anything?" he asked in a deep voice.

Pang Jian shook his head, "I only saw some lightning bolts shooting out from the endless bizarre mist."

"The bizarre mist envelops the entire Abyss. That void rift...could it lead to the edge of the Abyss?" Lei Kun did not doubt Pang Jian's words. Frowning, he continued, "Cultivators who accidentally enter the bizarre mist almost always mysteriously disappear.

"It's not just us. Even the powerful cultivators of the upper worlds avoid the bizarre mist. Luo Yuan, you were too reckless just now. You shouldn't have gotten so close."

The disciples from the Second World were still battling the white crane.

They and the white crane completely ignored Pang Jian and Lei Kun, having no time to deal with them.

"You're right, I was careless. I won't do it again," Pang Jian agreed, humbly accepting the advice.

Lei Kun smiled with satisfaction. "It's good that you can listen to reason. You're not bad at all."

He found the Sword Pavilion disciple in front of him quite agreeable.

"I know of another disciple from your Sword Pavilion who has recently garnered much attention. His name is Pang Jian.

"I'm glad I didn't listen to Jiu Yuan back then and decisively withdrew. Otherwise..." Lei Kun trailed off with a sigh.