The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 147 - 132 I am Pang Jian’s Tree!_1

Chapter 147: Chapter 132 I am Pang Jian’s Tree!_1

Calamity descends from the heavens as one sits idly at home.

Dong Tianze was utterly baffled.

In the recent two months, he had been refining his blood within his cave abode, eager to advance to the Innate Realm as soon as possible.

Occasionally, he would respond to the messages from other Dark Ghost Hall Masters of the Fourth Realm.

From the other Hall Masters’ reports, he knew that the entire Sky Fortune Fragment Land had been tainted, and the great clans were successively withdrawing their Cloud Sails.

As for that freshly-minted Hall Master with whom he had conducted two transactions, his complete silence over the last two months had led Dong Tianze to consider him as good as dead.

Thus, never having set foot outside the Yin Spirit Temple, he was shocked to hear that someone had committed misdeeds under his identity, leaving him feeling utterly lost.

"I know it’s not you."

The gaunt Han Zhiyuan, rubbing his temples, said, "It’s someone impersonating you. Oddly enough, they actually possess a Heavenly Spirit Tower."

Dong Tianze was startled, "Could it really be one of our own?"

"That shouldn’t be possible."

Han Zhiyuan first shook his head in denial, then added with some uncertainty, "Of course, over the years, a number of Heavenly Spirit Towers have been lost. All I can say is that the person impersonating you is familiar with us."

"Very well, I shall make a trip to the Three Immortal Islands." Dong Tianze stood up and said coldly, "It’s also time for a little activity. Recently, I have felt restless and am stuck at the final step of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, unable to find the breakthrough opportunity."

"Hmm, be careful on your own."

Han Zhiyuan walked outside.

Upon reaching the entrance of the cave abode, he paused and said, "After the fall of the Heavenly Phoenix, there are a few in the Third Realm who have obtained the Phoenix Marrow just like you. I’ve heard that amongst you Heavenly Phoenix Guards, there is mutual hunting. Be careful on the Three Immortal Islands..."

"Master!"

Dong Tianze’s figure shook slightly.

"The fact that you are one of the Heavenly Phoenix Guards has spread from Red Mountain and the Raging Sun Sect. Zhou Qingchen of Red Mountain and a girl from the Su Family in the Raging Sun Sect claimed they saw the phoenix mark on your brow on an island."

With his back to Dong Tianze, Han Zhiyuan said indifferently, "You don’t need to be concerned about that."

"For the Yin Spirit Temple, your identity as a Heavenly Phoenix Guard is more beneficial than harmful. The Sect Leader has received accurate information that the true inheritor of the Heavenly Phoenix has been taken in by the Pure Land of the First Realm. That master of yours... has the potential to stand at the pinnacle of power in the First Realm."

"With your status as a Heavenly Phoenix Guard, Red Mountain, Raging Sun Sect, Blood Moon, Star River Alliance can’t dare to treat you lightly."

"The only thing you need to watch out for are other Heavenly Phoenix Guards like yourself. The infighting and competition between Guards is a rule among yourselves, and other sects have no right to interfere."

Han Zhiyuan laid out the situation.

Dong Tianze, who had been worried that his identity as a Guard might affect his cultivation in the Yin Spirit Temple, breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this and asked, "Master, are you saying that there’s another Guard who wants to hunt me down on the Three Immortal Islands?"

"That’s my guess."

Han Zhiyuan nodded.

"That’s wonderful!"

Dong Tianze was unexpectedly pleased.

He had benefited from the integration of a drop of Phoenix Marrow.

It was at Wulan Lake where he successfully underwent the Bone Severing Marrow Washing, and in Bagua City where he tempered his internal organs and flesh; recently, he focused on solidifying his blood.

He knew that if he could find another Guard and kill and assimilate their brand, he would grow even stronger.

The trip to the Three Immortal Islands, the hunting of another Guard, he viewed as a new challenge.

...

Qian Tian Continent.

Red Mountain.

"Old Han, I’ve received accurate intel that Dong Tianze, mounting a Heavenly Spirit Tower, is hunting down individual cultivators near the Three Immortal Islands!"

Zhou Qingchen came to the village at the foot of the mountain, kicked open the yard gate, and exclaimed, "Pang Jian’s fate in the Solitude Mountain Range is unknown; I will slaughter Dong Tianze to avenge him!"

He couldn’t forget how Pang Jian had sent him to the Mirror Tunnel and the tragic sight of himself left behind, drenched in blood.

"Sword Tower’s Qi Qingsong already said that after you left, Pang Jian nearly killed Dong Tianze; he took his revenge himself."

With the aid of more than half a bottle of Green Fruit Juice from Li Jie, having successfully completed the Bone Severing Marrow Washing to reach the midpoint of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, Han Duping said in a deep voice, "That brat Dong Tianze is very crafty and has the status of a Heavenly Phoenix Guard. Even the Heaven Treasure Li Family shows respect to his master; can’t you just keep still?"

"I’m just asking you if you’re coming or not!"

Zhou Qingchen cursed.

"Fine! Damn it, I’ll join you, alright?"

Han Duping cursed back in response.

...

An unnamed Fragment Land.

"Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!"

The moon blades, bright as silver daggers, spun around Pang Jian, deftly controlled by him.

Like Jin Yang’s "Cicada Wing Swords," after fleeting through the air for a while, the moon blades suddenly shot towards a rock wall.

"Crack!"

The tough rhyolite of the volcanic crater, under the slashing of the moon blades, only cracked apart into chunks of debris.

"The power is mediocre."

Pang Jian tossed aside the manual entitled Moon Blade, left behind by Luo Hongyan, casually throwing it into the magma pit below.

Harvesting the Moon Energy from the dantian’s Spiritual Sea and refining it into moon blades was only suited for the torture of the slightly weaker cultivators.

Against those of the same level like Qi Qingsong and Dong Tianze, the fierce ones, the moon blades could only play a supplementary role, not enough to decisively determine the outcome of a battle.

"It’s considered an additional offensive method, nonetheless."

Thinking so, Pang Jian then took out the Origin Sun Spell and Star Flow Skill, preparing to study them as well.

Suddenly, he sensed a vague cry for help.

He was momentarily stunned, but quickly entered the meditative state of the "Pot Heaven Nourishing Qi Spell" and immediately determined that the plea for help came from the Sapling in the Lower Realm!

All this time, it had always been him and the Sapling initiating the connection; the Sapling had never proactively communicated with him.

This was the first time!

With a single thought, his perspective expanded, as if he were deep within Cloud Marsh.

A figure that was both familiar and strange appeared before his eyes!

Under the dimming sky, a pure and ethereal girl floated in the air!

She wore a simple, pale green dress, her figure slender, her curves graceful.

On the ring finger of her left hand, which was as delicate as a green onion, she wore an exquisite jade ring—with no other adornment on her entire body.

Behind the girl, a silver-white greatsword as broad as a mountain hung silently, emanating earth-shattering might.

Below, all the ferocious plants, including the Sapling, shuddered uncontrollably.

"Li Yuqing!"

Pang Jian, who was in the Third Realm, looked up through the Sapling’s eyes and saw the familiar girl—it was Li Yuqing from the Dark Alley!

His exclamation, although shrill, clearly couldn’t reach the girl.

But through the Sapling, he could feel the terrifying might emanating from that silver-white greatsword!

This massive sword that truly existed, towering a hundred zhang, seemed like it could cleave in one stroke and render the entire Sky Fortune Fragment Land nonexistent!

The Sapling and all the ferocious plants it had spawned, including the entirety of Thousand Miles of Cloud Land, would turn to dust and ashes in a flash!

"So she’s this powerful!"

Separate by an entire world, merely sensing through the Sapling, Pang Jian could vaguely feel Li Yuqing’s power to destroy and devastate!

Although they were of similar age, the girl he had shared braised fruits with in the Dark Alley of Bagua City, her true combat strength was disheartening!

Sun Bin, Yuan Shishan, Luo Hongyan...

He felt that all the human Great Cultivators he had encountered so far paled in comparison to Li Yuqing’s strength.

"Corrosion Boundary Vine."

Li Yuqing let out a soft hum, murmuring to herself in confusion, "This kind of dreadful Spirit Plant, I remember it being extinct in the Fifth Realm, so how could it suddenly appear in this ordinary, unremarkable Fragment Land?"

Recently, she had surveyed the Ouyang Family’s Fragment Land, investigating the unusual activities in those areas tainted by Filth Alien Power.

She noticed that in mountainous Forbidden Lands frequented by Ferocious Beasts, some of the lucky ones underwent transformation— their bloodlines surged, turning them into kings of those lands.

Many plants from the Fourth Realm suddenly became bloodthirsty and terrifying, filled with the characteristics of Spirit Plants from the Fifth Realm.

Ordinary people and Cultivators, unable to adapt to the corruption of the Alien Power, either died as dry bones or leaped from the edge of the Fragment Land, seeking refuge in the Fifth Realm.

After inspecting the Ouyang Family’s territories, she came to the Shangguan Family’s and noticed—unexpectedly— that the burned Cloud Marsh had rapidly sprouted a new growth of plants.

Finding this strange, she used her Divine Eye to inspect and discovered that all the Spirit Plants in Cloud Marsh were quietly transferring Plant Spirit Energy to one particular tree.

As if making an offering to a God Spirit.

After covertly observing for a while, she became convinced that the seemingly ordinary Sapling was indeed a young Corrosion Boundary Vine!

Although she had never personally witnessed the horrors of the Corrosion Boundary Vine, she had heard about it more than once.

Once she confirmed that the miracle of Cloud Marsh was caused by a young Corrosion Boundary Vine, she was prepared to destroy the entire Sky Fortune Fragment Land, not giving the Corrosion Boundary Vine any chance of survival.

"Fifth Realm, Corrosion Boundary Vine..."

Through her murmurs, Pang Jian also came to know the true identity of the Sapling that had left the bronze medallion.

The young Corrosion Boundary Vine, sensing its doom underneath the girl’s greatsword and the imminent nonexistence of the Sky Fortune Fragment Land, reluctantly sent out a plea for help, to see if he had any solutions.

"Whatever the reason, you should not exist here."

Li Yuqing’s lips moved slightly, a glint in her eye.

The silver-white greatsword behind her suddenly radiated a divine light piercing the heavens, and an earth-rending Sword Intent enveloped the entire Sky Fortune Fragment Land in an instant!

Pang Jian, frantic, could feel the despair and helplessness of the young Corrosion Boundary Vine, but he was currently in the Third Realm and had no means like the Dark Giant Python to quickly travel there using the bronze medallion.

His voice and thoughts couldn’t be conveyed through the Corrosion Boundary Vine.

"What do I do? What to do?"

Ideas flashed through his mind like lightning.

Suddenly, a spark of inspiration struck, and a solution dawned on him!

Pang Jian hastily communicated with the Corrosion Boundary Vine, conveying his thoughts and intentions at breakneck speed, grasping at straws: "Quick, do as I say!"

And so.

The previously concealed Corrosion Boundary Vine suddenly radiated a luminescent green glow.

A sharp segment of its branch began to etch upon the earth.

"I..."

A crooked, hastily scribed character appeared in panic.

Just as she was about to use her sword to destroy Sky Fortune, Li Yuqing, seeing the character etched by the Corrosion Boundary Vine’s branch on the ground, suddenly froze.

"I am..."

"I am Pang..."

"I am Pang Jian’s..."

"I am Pang Jian’s tree!"

A row of crooked, hastily scrawled characters, punctuated with a conspicuous exclamation mark, was imprinted onto the land of Cloud Marsh, displayed right under Li Yuqing’s eyes.

...