Chapter 1078: Heaven Abyss Heart

The Pavilion Master of Jiangshan Yipin put away the two items and smiled, "Do you want to know?"

"Pay up!"

He extended his palm.

Jiang Fan rolled his eyes. "Pretend I didn't ask!"

He leaped up and pursued the Hellish Desolate Beast in the direction it fled. From his understanding of the Hellish Desolate Beast, the creature wouldn't simply stick to one direction. But that didn't matter. As long as he could get within 500 *li* of it, he would find a way to capture it.

Estimating the Hellish Desolate Beast's movement technique at the Four-Aperture Nascent Soul stage, Jiang Fan pursued for the duration of a cup of tea, using the Cloud Shadow technique, then decisively stopped. The distance between them should now be within 500 *li*. This was precisely the range within which the Void Fishing Rod could accurately "fish." He closed his eyes, silently pictured Elder Xiang, and cast out a rod.

At that moment, the Hellish Desolate Beast was hidden in a patch of seemingly ordinary seabed sand. It had not only concealed its aura but also affixed a precious High-grade Dustless Talisman to itself. Even a Nascent Soul stage expert wouldn't be able to detect its presence. It sneered inwardly, "Jiang Fan, you used a High-grade Dustless Talisman to evade my pursuit back then, didn't you? Now the tables have turned. It's my turn to use a High-grade Dustless Talisman to evade *you*! Taste the flavor of an invisibility talisman yourself!"

As it was thinking this, it suddenly felt the sand move slightly, as if something very subtle was burrowing into it. At first, it dismissed it as just a small fish and paid no attention, until a cold, golden fishhook snagged its neck. The Hellish Desolate Beast's expression drastically changed. It quickly threw off the sand covering it, only then realizing a void crack had appeared behind it. A fishing line extended from an unknown source. It subconsciously tried to resist, but the fishing line suddenly exerted force, pulling it towards the void crack. The Hellish Desolate Beast was horrified!

In this critical moment, it decisively shrank its body, transforming into a palm-sized Hellish Desolate Beast, and slipped out of its clothes. The fishhook then pulled its clothes away. The Hellish Desolate Beast slapped its head, rushing to retrieve the clothes, and roared, "I have a spatial storage device still in there!" However, the crack closed, and it was helpless. It didn't understand what had happened, but its intuition told it that the other party might try again. So, it decisively fled!

Sure enough! Just as it escaped the 500 *li* range, a gleaming golden fishhook brushed past it. This made the Hellish Desolate Beast break out in a cold sweat. "Is it Jiang Fan?"

Calming down, it felt both angry and resentful. "The Giant King I painstakingly revived was destroyed by you! Jiang Fan, you always ruin my plans! I'm not done with you!" It opened its mouth and spat out another spatial storage device. A quick scan revealed several bottles of True Spirit Blood inside. "Fortunately, I still have True Spirit Blood. It's enough for me to accomplish one more thing! I hope that ancient giant doesn't fall into the hands of the Great Yin Sect. For the past thousand years, he has sustained his life by eating the Giant King's flesh. Who knows how much of the Giant King's blood has condensed within his body. As long as he obtains the Star, he can immediately resurrect through a drop of blood and recover most of his cultivation! If that Evil Crow Venerable doesn't discover this blood, it'll be fine. But if he does, then it'll be troublesome. The Giant King would never have another chance to resurrect through a drop of blood."

On the other side, Jiang Fan cast the rod one last time, but it still came up empty. "That cunning creature!" His expression darkened. This was the first time he had used the Void Fishing Rod to catch someone, and the target had successfully escaped. Looking at the pile of clothes he had hooked, he was about to toss them away. But suddenly, he noticed a talisman affixed to the clothes, and his eyes immediately lit up with joy. "A High-grade Dustless Talisman? This fellow got quite a few good things at Mount Sanqing." He immediately removed the High-grade Dustless Talisman, which still had half its effect, and put it into his spatial storage device.

He then searched through the clothes. A clattering sound! A spatial storage device rolled out from a sleeve. Jiang Fan found it familiar. He quickly remembered and gasped, "Yan Daoan's spatial storage device?" He looked utterly bewildered. This spatial storage device was originally Jiang Fan's spoils of war after he killed Yan Daoan. Later, he used the restrictions within it to severely wound Reverend Xiaoyao of the Divine Movement Sect, after which it fell into Reverend Xiaoyao's hands. Finally, Reverend Xiaoyao was eaten by the Hellish Desolate Beast, and it ended up in the beast's hands. Now, after all these twists and turns, it had returned to Jiang Fan's possession.

He remembered that Yan Daoan had once used a Lightning Command Token of the Heavenly Abyss Heart to entice him to open the spatial storage device, triggering a trap within. He also recalled that the Pavilion Master of Jiangshan Yipin had personally traveled to the continent to find Yan Daoan and retrieve this very spatial storage device. His eyes lit up. He immediately opened the spatial storage device. It contained many miscellaneous items, some belonging to Yan Daoan and some to the Hellish Desolate Beast. Soon, a Lightning Command Token, discarded in a corner and deemed useless by the Hellish Desolate Beast, appeared in his awareness. He immediately took it out, and after examining its contents, his eyebrows shot up in delight. "It's really the Heavenly Abyss Heart! The fourth volume! And it's the complete version!" A smile spread across his face. He couldn't imagine what expression the Venerable of the Myriad Tribulations Sacred Hall would have when he discovered Jiang Fan had mastered yet another volume of the Six Heavenly Thunder Arts.

Next, he continued searching. He soon found a strange red jade box. It was covered with seals and bore the inscription, "Gift from Gongsun Yan." It appeared to belong to a woman. This clearly wasn't something belonging to the Hellish Desolate Beast or Yan Daoan. "Who is Gongsun Yan?" He took out the red jade box and opened it. Inside, there was only a letter and an ordinary copper coin. Jiang Fan was puzzled. This red jade box was surely hundreds, if not thousands, of times more valuable than the copper coin, wasn't it?

After thinking for a moment, he curiously opened the letter and looked at it. It contained only a few short words, but the words on it made Jiang Fan pause slightly:

"Lian Jing, may you be safe upon reading this.The fate between us began with this copper coin.Today, I return it to you, and our fate ends here.Destiny begins and ends; life is but a fleeting dream.May I be a beggar in our next life, and you, a beauty passing by in haste.Do not linger for me any longer."

It was a dying wish from someone on the verge of death, addressed to a beloved but unobtainable person. He closed it with a slight apology and returned the red jade box to its original place. A question arose in his mind. Who was this Gongsun Yan? Why did he have a death wish? Never mind. He was close to dying himself; how could he care about others?

He flew back to the trench and rejoined the others. Reverend Six Paths had already returned, with the ancient giant whimpering and pinned under his foot. He had bound the ancient giant with chains, wrapping it up like a *zongzi*, making it difficult for it to even commit suicide. Seeing Jiang Fan return, he kicked the giant over to Jiang Fan's front, clapped his hands, and said, "I've caught the ancient giant for you. But do you have a plan for how to exchange it for the Evil Crow Venerable's cultivation technique? You need to be careful; this Evil Crow Venerable is not a good person. Don't let him refuse your request for the cultivation technique and forcefully seize your ancient giant."

Jiang Fan replied with a faint, unreadable smile, "Don't worry. He wouldn't dare." Clearly, he already had a contingency plan.

At that time, outside the Heavenly Secret Pavilion, Wei Wuji bowed respectfully. "Senior, this is the new Heavenly Secret Pavilion. The Jiang Fan you're looking for is inside!"

The Heart Devil Venerable's gaze swept over the three characters for "Heavenly Secret Pavilion." A chilling gleam appeared in his eyes, and he sneered coldly: "My good disciple. You like to play games, don't you? Your master will play along with you properly!"