Trials of the Abyss-Chapter 590: The Nine-Headed Bird

The fact that it knew Pang Jian was this generation's World God proved that Yuan Qi had ventured into Northern Qi and revealed the truth in an attempt to persuade the Nine-Headed Bird to intervene.

Yuan Qi had pleaded with it, hoping the Nine-Headed Bird would use Pang Jian's status as the World God to convince Long Xiao to release Pang Lin from the Thunderclap Paradise.

However, even after learning that Pang Jian was the World God, the Nine-Headed Bird refused to speak to Long Xiao and instead brutally crippled Yuan Qi.

The once-formidable Gray Ape now lay unconscious, his eye sockets still oozing dark blood.

His vital essence had been severely depleted, and beneath his thick fur, his body bore countless deep wounds.

Pang Jian could hardly believe that this battered Gray Ape was the same one he had met in Northern Qi and built a deep bond with over many years.

Yuan Qi had naively believed that the Nine-Headed Bird would honor their past ties with the World God. Instead, he had been brutally wounded and left at death's door.

"Yuan Qi..." Pang Jian fixed his gaze on the bird head staring at him and asked sharply, "Did you do this to him?"

The Abyssal Demon activated the Primeval Demon Fusion Art. The six demonic realms surrounding Pang Jian surged with power as they devoured the two Rank Nine dragon corpses.

Pang Jian took a single step forward with his healed Immortal Divine Soul, appearing before the Nine-Headed Bird in an instant.

The black turtle had been the one to inform him when Long Xiao took the Thunderclap Paradise from the Resolute Expanse. Yuan Qi also took immediate action, seeking aid from the ancient Fey Race of Northern Qi in an attempt to rescue Pang Lin.

Yuan Qi had done everything he could for Pang Jian, only to be rewarded with being thrown before death's door!

Worse still, the one responsible for inflicting this grievous harm was none other than this Fey God of Northern Qi.

Pang Jian simply could not tolerate this.

Without the aid of previous World Gods, the Nine-Headed Bird and the ancient Fey Race could not have survived to this day.

Everything he knew about the Abyss and its history pointed to this one fact.

Pang Jian did not know if his father or the World God before him had also helped ensure their survival in the Abyss.

Regardless, this Nine-Headed Bird had chosen to repay this past kindness by crippling Yuan Qi.

"Yes, I wounded him," the Nine-Headed Bird admitted without hesitation. Its voice was sharp and filled with resentment as it continued, "The World Gods have done nothing but deceive us Fey Race for generations! When have you ever truly fulfilled your promises to us?

"Humans occupy the lands that were meant to be ours!

"The Heaven Ascension Tribulation Pillars in the Fifth World shackled our bloodlines!

"The human race has only ever used us, forcing us to bleed and die for your cause!

"But from this era onward, the Fey Race will never believe a single word from a World God again!

"You've told us lies upon lies. Do you really think we'll still believe you?"

The Nine-Headed Bird let out a piercing cry.

"Thirty thousand years! What has the Fey Race gained in thirty thousand years? One measly piece of land, the Sacred Soul Continent! Meanwhile, my faction was forced to hide in the bizarre mist!

"Despite all these injustices, some fool actually dared to come begging on behalf of a human girl, pleading for me to have Long Xiao spare her?"

The Rank Ten Fey God tightened its talons around Yuan Qi before violently flinging him toward Pang Jian.

"This is the fate of any Fey Race daring to stand with the humans!"

Strands of the Nine-Headed Bird's eerie energy surged through Yuan Qi's body, gnawing at his flesh and blood essence while simultaneously strangling his soul, crushing it slowly.

It had deliberately left Yuan Qi alive so it could execute him before Pang Jian and the Fey Kings of the Sacred Soul Continent. Yuan Qi's death was to serve as a warning, lesson, and example to all.

A green light shot from Pang Jian's palm, rushing toward Yuan Qi's heart.

The radiance was infused with rich life energy and carried the ability to regenerate flesh, mend crippled bodies, and even restore the dead to life.

Pang Jian's only goal at that moment was to stabilize Yuan Qi's life and buy time to figure out another solution.

"You cannot save him," the Nine-Headed Bird mocked, letting out a piercing shriek with the power to tear through the soul itself.

The strange energy buried deep within Yuan Qi's soul reacted to its cry.

Yuan Qi's soul went out like an extinguished flame.

No matter how desperately Pang Jian tried to heal his heart, it was all in vain without his soul.

"Nether Serpent, Qilin, Golden Elephant! Break through Li Zhaotian's sword light domain!" the Nine-Headed Bird commanded with a chilling finality. "Enter the inner sanctum and kill the Pavilion Master of the Sword Pavilion! At the very least, disrupt his ascension to godhood!

"Leave the newly ascended Sword God to me. I will deal with him personally.

"World God..."

The Fey God's nine heads moved in unison, its sinister eyes flickering with an eerie light, scanning the battlefield as if in search of something.

"I seem to recall that the World Gods carry a bronze pendant. The holder of this pendant can enter and exit the Abyss at will. Tell me, where have you hidden it?" the Nine-Headed Bird demanded coldly.

Pang Jian said nothing, palm still firmly pressed against Yuan Qi's heart, channeling life energy and blood essence in a futile attempt at rescuing him.

Unfortunately, the flow of Yuan Qi's life force was irreversible.

Pang Jian could no longer sense even a flicker of life.

Finally turning to face the Nine-Headed Bird, he was greeted with a burning greed for the Gate of the Abyss flashing in each of its nine pairs of eyes.

The sight caused a disquieting realization to settle deep in Pang Jian's mind.

It was possible his father's disappearance was tied to this creature.

He had heard the tale of the farmer and the snake. There would always be those who repaid kindness with betrayal, and the Nine-Headed Bird's reputation among the Fey Race had always been vile. [1]

"You have too many heads. I find all nine of them an eyesore. I have a feeling that cutting them off one by one would bring me some satisfaction.

"I've despised you since the moment I first saw you. What puzzles me, however, is how a creature like you survived under the watch of the previous World Gods?"

Pang Jian's voice was steady, and his intent to kill was absolute.

"The other World Gods allowed you to live, but now it's my turn, and I've decided that you won't."

1. The tale of the farmer and the snake is a well-known fable with variations across different cultures, often attributed to Aesop's Fables in the Western tradition. The story carries a moral lesson that can be summarised as "don't take pity on someone who could do you harm." ☜