Chapter 396: Chapter 390 Pazuniya

Leon was very familiar with the Bottomless Abyss; truly, the Bottomless Abyss was too iconic.

The Bottomless Abyss is the home of demons dedicated to death and destruction, embodying all that is rebellious, terrifying, and chaotic. Its almost endless layers spiral downward, forming increasingly horrific forms.

Each layer of the Bottomless Abyss has its own peculiar and terrifying environment, yet they are all equally harsh and uninhabitable, each reflecting the chaotic nature of the Abyss. In fact, most things people see or touch in this plane appear to be in a state of decay, fracture, or corruption.

As a Red Dragon, Leon wasn’t as opposed to the Bottomless Abyss; since he was here, the Joseph Garden could hone his combat skills, and the Bottomless Abyss was not much different.

The blood battles of the Bottomless Abyss were definitely more intense than those in Joseph Garden. The only concern was that the battles were so fierce that even Demon Lords could fall unexpectedly. However, as long as he kept his wits about him, even if deities appeared, the Long Rainbow Escape could whisk him away in a moment.

Speaking of which, there were Mariliths in the Bottomless Abyss. It seemed he could learn from the Marilith how to wield six swords simultaneously… The Sword Control Technique gave him proficiency. Otherwise, being a dragon, he wasn’t suited to using swords, but it didn’t give him spells, skills beyond flying swords, or any particular expertise. All these he had to train in himself.

Honestly, if he hadn’t encountered the Flame Divine Successor and been shocked by the opponent’s combat techniques, he really hadn’t considered that area, thinking his combat skills were sufficient. Who’d have thought a mere numbers game could meet its match when facing opponents of the same level?

Staring at the purple-blue Color Pool, Leon was indeed somewhat tempted, itching to give it a try. Finally, deciding on action rather than hesitation, he slowly approached the Color Pool, reaching out to touch the swirling surface of the purple-blue vortex.

It was an indescribable feeling, only understood intuitively rather than explained. Leon opened his eyes, glanced around, only to see windswept desolate lands with jagged rocky mountains intermittently visible under fleets of winged demons, a depressing red sun overhead emitting blistering heat and dazzling sunshine.

Which layer of the Bottomless Abyss was this?

Sure enough, it was Pazuniya, the top layer of the Bottomless Abyss, also known for the Plain of Ten Thousand Abysses or the Palace of One Thousand and One Chambers.

Leon didn’t have time to think carefully as he vaguely heard a ding-dong sound.

“The world is so big, I want to go see it—nestling in the Main Material Plane can never achieve anything. Boldly leave the Main Material Plane and head to a new plane.”

“Ordinary reward: Sword Casting Skill.”

Seeing the Golden Finger reward, Leon was genuinely a bit stunned.

He had stayed in the Star Realm for such a long time without ever receiving a Golden Finger reward. Why did he get a Golden Finger reward as soon as he arrived in the Bottomless Abyss?

Leon thought about it, able only to surmise that the Star Realm’s properties were special. It, alongside the etheric plane, was known as a transit plane, hardly featuring anything. Its sole purpose was to link different planes, fundamentally not a genuine plane. Staying in the Star Realm was akin to staying at a station, and station stays hardly counted as journeys.

What next… rather than Artifact Refining Technique, it’s Sword Casting Skill?

He had eagerly anticipated Artifact Refining Technique for a long time, hoping to master it and refine some powerful magic artifacts, things like the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors, Mixed Element Golden Dipper, Nine Dragon Divine Fire Cover, Heaven-Overturning Seal, etc. In the end, it turned out to be merely a Sword Casting Skill.

Only swords could be cast, other things couldn’t be, wasn’t that somewhat trivial?

Leon pondered for a moment. In Eastern traditional culture, the sword was the most special existence; not only was it a weapon, but also a magic artifact, commonly employed in spells, Taoist techniques, talismanic rituals, etc. There were only sword techniques, Sword Control Techniques, Sword Flight, Sword Cultivators, Sword Tombs, etc. Taoists mostly used swords, never heard of other weapons having so many distinctions.

Leon still remembered the story of Gan Jiang and Mo Ye, unsure how many times he had heard tales of sacrificing oneself for the sword.

In such circumstances, Sword Casting Skill appearing as a Golden Finger reward seemed quite understandable; perhaps there might be a chance to acquire the Artifact Refining Technique in the future.

No matter what else there was, having mastered the Sword Casting Skill, he now could rework the sword originally crafted by the Fire Giant Furnace Master Jasas, turning it into a Divine Artifact, or perhaps better put, a Divine Sword—it was really just the finishing touch away.

Leon was still contemplating how to transform that sword into a Divine Sword when he suddenly heard a strange call. His unfocused eyes slightly shrank, looking up at where so many demons appeared from… Pazuniya being the first layer of the Bottomless Abyss, one of the major frontlines of blood battles without demons was indeed strange.

One-meter high swollen bodies emitted the stench of rotting fat, maggots wriggling in gray-white flesh wounds. Claws and jagged teeth exposed their fierce nature. The dretch was the lowest of low-level demons, directly formed from the souls of wicked beings sent to the Bottomless Abyss.

Dretchs were too insignificant for Leon to transform into Dragon Form, and similarly to the Star Realm, such places in the Bottomless Abyss were best without transformation into a noticeable giant red dragon. Instead, he took a sword from the Sleeve of the Universe’s small space at that time, tossed it into the air, raised his finger to control the flying sword to reap those dretches’ lives—cutting through them like weeds.

Leon felt it wasn’t enough, stretching his neck, shifting into dragon-man form—taller than before with double horns growing from his head, sharp teeth showing in his mouth, scales erupting all over his body, claws springing from his fingers, huge wings and tail extending from his back—looking like a half-red dragon.

Leon charged into the swarm of dretches, gripping the sword with both hands to deliver a heavy slash splitting the dretch apart down the middle, then executed a horizontal slash slicing three dretch in half, the slain dretch transforming into stinky steam, another tail swipe sent five dretch flying.

Behind the dretch were Timid Demons, slightly higher-level demons than dretches, also emitting stench, yet in front of Leon, they were no different from dretches, even superior Quasits too were the same.

Quasits are green humanoids with barbed tails and a pair of long horns, sharp claws on hands and feet can secrete a kind of irritating toxin, lastly, they’d turn invisible.

More new demons appeared.

Vrocks’ appearance melded the features of vultures and humanoids; they’d habitually use deafening screams to stun targets first, then swoop from the skies to attack with beaks and claws, or flap wings to release clouds of poisonous spores to assault targets.

Fierce Battle Demons looked akin to giant and strong humanoid toads, differing in having human-like arms on forelimbs, and a wide mouth with several rows of powerful teeth, typically serving as infantry in demon armies of the Bottomless Abyss. Their drawback was low intelligence, easily deceived by stronger demons and fighting to the death for them.

Facing Vrocks and Fierce Battle Demons, Leon’s efficiency in cutting through suffered noticeably, managing only to sever a limb or leg at a time—facing large demons, his sword seemed somewhat short—often requiring several swords to kill one demon.

“Who are you?”

A tall Judgement Demon descended from the sky.

Judgement Demons abounded throughout the Bottomless Abyss, this wasn’t the one Leon had seen before.

“Are you a half-red dragon?”

If red dragons were so terrible, how good could half-red dragons be? They absolutely could become allies.

The Judgement Demon flapped its small wings, hovering in the air, looking down at Leon and asked: “You’re pretty good. Want to join the great Cleo’s army?”

Leon wasn’t adept at Abyss Language, completely unable to understand what the Judgement Demon said, he could only gesture.

“Wait, you’re not a half-red dragon, you’re a Red Dragon.” Judgement Demons possess True Vision, it finally identified Leon’s identity, and turned to flee.

Leon saw the Judgement Demon muttering something fearfully, then turned and ran, using Teleportation to reappear in the distance. Reacting sharply, he waited for the Judgement Demon to fly far away, snapping his fingers, the Long Rainbow Escape appearing before the Judgement Demon, a sword stabbing into its chest followed by an elbow to the head.

Judgement Demons belong to higher demons, otherwise, they’d not possess True Vision. Without reverting to dragon form, unwilling to expend mana, the effort Leon spent killing it was considerable.

Leon slew the Judgement Demon, ignored the remaining demons, flapped his wings, turned, and flew away. He intended to first find a place free from disturbance to learn the Abyss Language… within his Sleeve of the Universe’s small space were numerous books, including a quick-learning Abyss Language handbook, otherwise, being unable to understand or speak would be exceedingly frustrating.

Leon started looking forward to his life in the Bottomless Abyss, honing combat techniques amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood. He planned to participate in blood battles too; otherwise, how would there be such excellent opportunities to collect the blood of powerful demons and devils, to temper his sword being reforged, crafting a mighty Divine Sword?