The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 138 - 123: A Beautiful Yearning for the Upper Realm_1

Chapter 138: Chapter 123: A Beautiful Yearning for the Upper Realm_1

An hour later.

The Raging Sun Sect’s Fire Cloud Ship, together with the Star River Alliance’s Golden Coach, descended upon the mid-air above the wreckage of the Beast-Catching Ship.

The remaining Cloud Sails, which had always been drifting around Cloud Marsh, also came floating in one after another.

With a gloomy face, Zhu Yuanxi stood on the deck of the Fire Cloud Ship, looking at the Blood Talisman in his hand, and said coldly, "Ni Chen is dead, his Blood Talisman has been destroyed, I can’t locate the culprit through his talisman."

Shangguan Dong and Ouyang Quan, both were gathering their clan members to search for the Dark Ghosts in the vicinity.

Both families depended on Blood Moon, and Zhu Yuanxi, with Innate Realm cultivation, often represented Blood Moon in the Lower Realm, was a person they could not afford to offend.

With Blood Moon suffering successive blows, they were even more nervous than Zhu Yuanxi, uncertain about what their next move should be.

Especially when considering that if the entire Fourth Realm fell, they would have to rely on Blood Moon’s "Unstable Ferry" to arrange for their clansmen to seek survival in the Upper Realm.

"Meng Qiulan, Zhao Ling, Hong Jian..."

Xiao Pei frowned, his finger igniting a clump of intense flame, and said in a deep voice, "Our people have already searched the surrounding area and saw no trace of them."

"It’s easy to hide at night, searching for people is troublesome," Dong Yao interrupted, after pondering, he suddenly asked, "Brother Zhu, do you still have Blood Moon’s Branded Eye or the blood sphere that can detect signs of life?"

Zhu Yuanxi shook his head and said, "The last sphere capable of detecting the vitality of flesh and blood was given to Ni Chen, originally intended to help him search for ferocious beasts."

Dong Yao sighed and said, "That makes things difficult, it looks like we can only wait until daybreak and then search around again."

"Brother Xiao," Zhu Yuanxi pondered for a moment, glanced at Huang Ying from the Star River Alliance, and said, "The three of us should talk alone for a moment."

Xiao Pei nodded.

Before he had a chance to speak, the people from the seven great families of the Fourth Realm had tactfully distanced themselves.

The unaffiliated individuals from the Raging Sun Sect, Star River Alliance, and Blood Moon, as the three Innate Realm Great Cultivators gathered, voluntarily moved away, giving them space to talk alone.

"My people told me that Spirit Evils attacked the Beast-Catching Ship, causing a large number of our people to die. The blood moon in the sky, condensed by Ni Chen’s blood sphere, was also torn apart by numerous Spirit Evils."

"There’s more..."

Zhu Yuanxi’s brow furrowed as he continued, "In Sky Fortune City, an extremely beautiful woman appeared by the flag during the Dark Ghosts’ surprise attack on the Beast-Catching Ship, destroying the Branded Eye inside the flag. That’s why I couldn’t get any important information through the Branded Eye when I arrived."

"Afterward, that woman entered the cabin. Inside the cabin, there was a new body we were refining for a guest, and upon inspection, I discovered that the new body of our guest also vanished after shattering."

"The guest is an Individual Cultivator from the Third Realm at the Spirit Condensation Realm, who commissioned us to refine a new body, which, even if not fully condensed, had strength beyond that of the Marrow Cleaning Realm."

Zhu Yuanxi paused at that point.

"Spirit Evils, a mysterious woman, are you saying..."

Huang Ying, with an ordinary look and a grace-filled elegant demeanor, speculated, "You mean Yin Spirit Temple?"

Zhu Yuanxi’s gaze fell on the crashed site of the Beast-Catching Ship below, and he snorted, "Not only us, your Star River Alliance and the Raging Sun Sect have all been suspecting a connection to Yin Spirit Temple, right? I believe that Yin Spirit Temple was involved in this! Otherwise, how would the Hall Masters of Dark Ghosts dare to attack our Beast-Catching Ship?"

"I will report this matter to those above," Xiao Pei said earnestly.

He also felt that something was amiss; everyone knew that those capable of refining higher-order Spirit Evils were mostly associated with Yin Spirit Temple.

The appearance of so many Spirit Evils, causing the crash of Blood Moon’s Beast-Catching Ship and the Cloud Sails to burst, could indeed be the handiwork of Yin Spirit Temple.

"How dare Yin Spirit Temple cross the boundary!" Huang Ying let out a cold huff and said, "I will inform our superiors to pay attention to the movements of Yin Spirit Temple!"

Zhu Yuanxi said coldly, "Brother Xiao, I suggest we ignite the flammable oil and burn Cloud Marsh to the ground!"

Xiao Pei was startled, "Start the burning now?"

Zhu Yuanxi "hmmed" and said, "We had hoped to hunt more ferocious beasts with the Beast-Catching Ship to make up for our losses. Now that the ship has crashed, what else is there to wait for?"

"Alright, I’ll inform Dong Yao right away."

Xiao Pei agreed.

"I want to see where the Dark Ghosts will hide when the flames spread from the outer to the inner parts of Cloud Marsh!" Zhu Yuanxi said fiercely.

...

Meanwhile, in Cloud Marsh.

Pang Jian had torn the red talisman in half midway before leading the Dark Ghosts through a crystal-clear river valley to an underground cavern revealed to Luo Hongyan by the Spirit Evils.

Upon entering the cavern, Meng Qiulan and Zhao Ling’s subordinates lit torches, enabling everyone to see their surroundings clearly.

"Whoosh!"

The spacious and deep cavern was filled with waterfalls and dark rivers that stretched far into the distance.

"Hong Jian, how did you find this place?"

Meng Qiulan stood on the sturdy rock surface, using the light from the torches to observe the naturally carved stalactites within the cave and listened to the distant waterfall, amazed, "The mountain above doesn’t seem that tall, yet the cavern below is so deep!"

After hesitating for a moment, Pang Jian said, "They plan to burn Cloud Marsh; this is the only place where we can avoid the catastrophe of the burning."

"What?"

Zhao Ling was startled.

Her exclamation echoed through the cavern, bouncing back from various areas with a chorus of "whats," startling everyone.

"You guys rest here for a bit, I’m going to cover the entrance to the cave and see if the Fire Cloud Ship and the Golden Coach are nearby."

After settling them down, Pang Jian didn’t explain much before jumping back into the river that led here.

He swam in the water for a while before reaching the entrance to the underground cavern.

"I’ve always known you’re cold on the outside, warm on the inside."

Luo Hongyan emerged at the entrance of the cave, with a number of Spirit Evils floating behind her.

With one glance, Pang Jian noticed Ni Chen, Zhao Muye, and Qi Yue, indicating that she hadn’t been idle for a moment, seizing the opportunity to acquire a good number of powerful Spirit Evils.

Pang Jian slightly curved the corners of his mouth and said, "They still think that you are sent by the Dark Ghost Leader to specifically rescue the strong from the Yin Spirit Temple."

Luo Hongyan’s beautiful eyes suddenly flashed a ferocious light, accurately capturing the deeper meaning in Pang Jian’s words, and sharply retorted, "The Dark Ghost Leader is related to the Yin Spirit Temple?"

"Hong Tai doesn’t know?"

Pang Jian questioned.

Luo Hongyan shook her head.

Pang Jian immediately relayed Meng Qiulan’s words, mentioning that Master Yang Yuansen had inadvertently discovered this secret.

"So it is the Yin Spirit Temple!"

Luo Hongyan snorted coldly and cautiously advised, "Since the other party comes from the Yin Spirit Temple, it’s better not to reveal your true identity when you activate the Ghost Altar. You should use some methods to conceal it."

Pang Jian nodded slightly.

"Have you told them that the major forces will burn down Cloud Marsh because the Filth Alien Power is about to invade?"

Luo Hongyan asked.

"Not yet."

Pang Jian replied.

As Luo Hongyan had more and more Spirit Evils, her sources of information also increased. She knew that Cloud Marsh would be burned because the other side feared the ferocious beasts and plants undergoing peculiar mutations.

She also knew that before long the Power of Filth would seep through, completely submerging this Fragment Land.

According to the plan concocted by Pang Jian and Luo Hongyan, both of them would just stay in that cave without leaving, then block the entrance with rocks, unafraid of the flames burning Cloud Marsh.

Even if Cloud Marsh turned into scorched earth and the ferocious beasts and trees turned to ashes, they would be unscathed in the cave.

Once the Power of Filth penetrated, submerging Sky Fortune Fragment Land, Luo Hongyan would retreat into that White Jade Porcelain Bottle, and Pang Jian would tightly seal the bottle, fearing not the invasion of the Filth Alien Power.

The Raging Sun Sect, Blood Moon, Star River Alliance, and the people from various great families would eventually evacuate Sky Fortune after it was contaminated by the Power of Filth.

After everyone had left, Pang Jian, who did not fear the Filth Alien Power, could take the White Jade Porcelain Bottle to the White Tower to activate it and effortlessly escape Sky Fortune Fragment Land.

——This was the plan they had come up with after careful consideration.

"Pang Jian, this cave that I have found through the Spirit Evils can only resist the burning of Cloud Marsh." Luo Hongyan looked at him and reminded, "There are several openings in the cave that connect with the outside world, so once the Filth Alien Power invades, the cave will no longer be safe."

Pang Jian nodded to show he understood.

"It will be daylight soon, you stay here first, and do not return to the Blood Pool during the day."

Luo Hongyan cautioned him to be careful, whispering softly, "I will leave some Spirit Evils here. In case of emergency, you can come out and speak to the Spirit Evils, and I will be able to hear."

"Okay."

After Pang Jian nodded, Luo Hongyan then drifted away.

Afterward, Pang Jian stayed together with the surviving Dark Ghosts in the underground cave.

He no longer hid the truth from Meng Qiulan and the others, openly explaining that Sky Fortune Fragment Land would be contaminated by the Filth Alien Power, and the people from the Upper Realm decided to burn Cloud Marsh for fear of mutations occurring in ferocious beasts and plants.

Hearing this, Zhao Ling and the others gave up any illusions of leaving Sky Fortune Fragment Land alive.

They even felt that the Yin Spirit Temple strongman who had rescued them would also not escape this calamity and be doomed to sink into Sky Fortune Fragment Land just like them.

"I heard that in the Third Realm, when the weather is good, one can see the sun, moon, and stars."

Bai Wei looked up at the dimly lit entrance of the cave under daylight and said longingly, "It’s a pity, I can only see the shapes of the sun, moon, and stars in some paintings."

"Hong Jian, you came down from the Third Realm, can you tell me what the sun, moon, and stars look like in the sky?"

Her eyes brimmed with expectation.

"The sun, moon, and stars..."

Pang Jian muttered quietly.

He once had the privilege of seeing the starry night sky, through the Divine Power left by Sun Bin and the connection with him.

He had seen the bright moon and the resplendent stars embedded in the night sky.

After thinking for a while, he simply described it.

Then, he realized not only Bai Wei and Bai Zhi, but also Meng Qiulan, Zhao Ling, and Wu Yi were all listening very carefully, showing longing expressions.

"I hope my brother gets to see this sight."

Zhao Ling said in a murmur with her head down.

Thinking of her brother, her normally sharp gaze became unusually soft, and her face wore a smile, "That kid is quite mischievous, but his cultivation talent isn’t bad; he just doesn’t work hard. Relying on having me as his sister in the past, nobody dared to bully him, and he would always say that enjoying life was enough."

Zhao Ling’s expression darkened as she whispered, "Once he receives news of my death, realizes that no one will control or care for him anymore, he will probably start cultivating diligently."

"The Ghost Leader, since he’s willing to send strongmen from the Yin Spirit Temple to assist us, suggests that he has some conscience. The things he promised me, he will surely fulfill."

"My brother, he might have a chance to be taken to the Third Realm, no longer having to endure the hardships of the common folk in the Fourth Realm."

Zhao Ling comforted herself in a soft murmur.

...

ps: On Monday, diligent Ni is online, asking for votes, any tickets will do, monthly tickets preferred~