The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 155 - 140: Endurance_1

Chapter 155: Chapter 140: Endurance_1

A barren icy land strewn with jagged stones.

A group of individual cultivators fled in panic, fear written all over their faces, cursing Dong Tianze and Yin Spirit Temple’s cold-bloodedness.

A sea of Black Gold blades, controlled by Dong Tianze’s Ghost Howling, condensed and covered different areas from above.

"Buzz! Buzz!"

"Whoo! Whoo!"

The soul-piercing shrieks of Ghost Howling, like sharp stings, ravaged the cultivators’ souls, filling them with utter dread.

The domeless Stone Hall used for assembly, now resembling a vast giant stone platform, was left with only Pang Jian and Zhu Yuanxi after Individual Cultivator Cloud Ascetics departed.

Pang Jian switched from offense to defense, using the Moon Blade in conjunction with the "Silver Moon Ring" to fend off Zhu Yuanxi’s onslaught.

The two were a whole realm apart, and lest he attract too much attention, Pang Jian neither summoned the Astonishing Spear nor did he use his full strength.

He fought while dodging.

...

Outside the Great Stone Hall.

Gao Yuan and Yuan Fei, who each possessed a Cloud Sail, were now on Yuan Fei’s vessel.

Gao Yuan’s gaze fell upon the cold corpses of Zhao Ling, Meng Qiulan, and the Bai Wei sisters, his eyebrows knit with conspicuous confusion.

The frigid cold of Ice Rock Island, with bone-chilling winds sweeping the hardened ground, meant that the discarded skeletons among the rocks were perfectly preserved.

After observing for a while, Gao Yuan couldn’t help but mutter, "Strange..."

Pang Jian, then Zhu Yuanxi of Blood Moon, and finally Dong Tianze of Yin Spirit Temple—when each party entered the Great Stone Hall, they had briefly lingered here, their special interest in the group from the Lower Realm’s Dark Ghost causing Gao Yuan to feel suspicious.

"You are my witness; I didn’t reveal a word. I never mentioned that the siblings seemed particularly concerned about them."

Yuan Fei, sitting beside him and seeking recognition said, "Gao Yuan, when those siblings come out, remember to testify for me!"

He had withstood Zhu Yuanxi’s pressure and helped Pang Jian conceal the truth, feeling that this brought him a step closer to the siblings.

Frantically, Gao Yuan said, "Something’s not right. The deaths of a few minor characters from the Lower Realm should attract no attention."

"Why did those siblings from the Upper Realm, Zhu Yuanxi of Blood Moon, and the little devil from Yin Spirit Temple all explicitly linger here? After killing them, why did Zhu Yuanxi continue to inquire if anyone had noticed them?"

Gao Yuan expressed his bafflement.

Yuan Fei was just as puzzled, saying, "I’m not sure either."

"Let’s be careful. Blood Moon and Yin Spirit Temple have always been at odds. They better not start a conflict in Individual Cultivator Cloud Ascetics’ territory and drag us into it," Gao Yuan worriedly said.

"That won’t happen."

Yuan Fei smiled faintly, thinking Gao Yuan was being overly cautious, and said, "We are just individual cultivators, we never provoke Blood Moon or Yin Spirit Temple. Their conflicts shouldn’t involve us."

"That’s true."

Gao Yuan agreed.

Being far from the Great Stone Hall, the two did not hear the verbal conflict between Dong Tianze and Zhu Yuanxi, and had the luxury of idle chatter.

Suddenly!

They heard a commotion coming from the Stone Hall where Individual Cultivator Cloud Ascetics was, with the gathered cultivators wailing and cursing as though they were scrambling in all directions.

"Something’s off, we need to leave!"

Yuan Fei’s expression changed drastically.

No longer willing to wait for the other cultivators, he said, "Something big must’ve happened inside the Great Stone Hall, this place is dangerous!"

Gao Yuan panicked too, no longer planning to profit from the Spirit Stones earned by the individual cultivators.

However.

He suddenly remembered his promise to wait for the siblings and take them away on his Cloud Sail.

If his Cloud Sail left Ice Rock Island, he would miss the siblings once they left the Great Stone Hall.

"You go ahead, I’ll wait for the two of them. I’m taking this gamble!"

Though he knew it was unwise to stay, a hesitant Gao Yuan quickly made up his mind, "Yuan, see you again! Wish me luck on this risky bet. The siblings are from the Upper Realm; I’m betting they’ll be alright, and that Blood Moon and Yin Spirit Temple’s people wouldn’t dare to touch them!"

"Take care then!"

Yuan Fei, who also had hoped to gain favor with the siblings, saw several other Cloud Sails near the Great Stone Hall abandoning the cultivators and leaving, so he hastily started his own Cloud Sail.

By this time, Gao Yuan had already jumped down from Yuan Fei’s Cloud Sail and was walking towards his own.

"Wang Luhai, Dong, the madman from Yin Spirit Temple, is about to massacre Ice Rock Island—hurry, take me with you!"

"Li Yun, Dong Tianze is the Dark Ghost Leader—this has been exposed, now he’s trying to silence everyone, take me with you! Li Yun, I’m willing to offer three hundred Spirit Stones—don’t run off!"

"Wang Yu!"

"..."

Around the Great Stone Hall, from the Cloud Sails rising into the sky, came the desperate cries for help from the individual cultivators.

Wang Luhai, Li Yun, and Wang Yu, like Gao Yuan and Yuan Fei, were shipmasters who commanded Cloud Sails. Hearing that the Yin Spirit Temple had started a killing spree and that the junior known as the mad Dong had gone berserk, they were all terrified out of their wits.

Instead of staying to earn extra Spirit Stones, the shipmasters fled Ice Rock Island even faster.

Just as a number of Cloud Sails were flying away from Ice Rock Island.

An unexpected disaster struck!

"Swoosh! Swoosh!"

"Boom! Puff! Puff!"

The pristine white Heavenly Spirit Tower, as the Cloud Sails ascended and broke away from Ice Rock Island, suddenly increased its speed tenfold, smashing all those Cloud Sails to pieces!

Compared to the Heavenly Spirit Tower, Cloud Sail was as fragile as paper, ready to tear at a single touch.

Cloud Sail exploded, and the boatmen inside fell one after another from the sky, their souls instantly sucked away by the Soul Array on the fifth level of the Heavenly Spirit Tower in their terror.

"Yin Spirit Temple!"

Yuan Fei, floating in the air aboard Cloud Sail, watched this scene in a daze, feeling chilled to the core.

The Cloud Sail under his control no longer dared to stray from Ice Rock Island and came to a sudden halt.

"It’s over; Yin Spirit Temple has truly gone mad! Everyone on Ice Rock Island is being hunted down!"

Yuan Fei murmured hopelessly to himself.

He had just activated Cloud Sail when he witnessed the situation at the Great Stone Hall, saw Dong Tianze wielding an evil artifact to create seas of golden blades, and commanding numerous fierce ghosts to hunt down escaping Individual Cultivators.

He also saw a strange young man casting many Moon Blades, resisting the onslaught of Zhu Yuanxi.

The Individual Cultivator Ling Yun, who was the de facto ruler of Ice Rock Island, was nowhere to be seen, hiding somewhere unknown.

"Gao Yuan, we’ve become the collateral fish in the pond this trip, I’m afraid it’s difficult to escape this calamity."

He said with a bitter smile to Gao Yuan, who had also boarded his Cloud Sail and was equally panic-stricken, "Such bad luck, we haven’t even entered the Great Stone Hall, and we’ve become targets for silencing."

Gao Yuan looked as if he were mourning his ancestors, saying helplessly, "I also heard it, Dong Tianze is the Dark Ghost Leader, he’s avenging those dead Dark Ghost members. To cover up this news, he won’t allow anyone to know that they, the Yin Spirit Temple, have ties with the Dark Ghosts."

Both of them felt a strong sense of frustration and powerlessness.

This matter had nothing to do with them; they were just the boatmen steering Cloud Sail.

Just because they ferried people over, and because the deeds of Yin Spirit Temple and Dark Ghost were exposed, they were involved.

...

Inside.

"Crack!"

Another bright full moon shattered with a punch from Zhu Yuanxi.

Zhu Yuanxi, with his mid-stage Innate cultivation, did not even call upon Strange Treasures to deal with a mere Dark Ghost Hall Master.

With a casual strike, he forced Pang Jian to retreat step by step, one after another Silver Moon obliterated.

The seemingly fierce Moon Blades were all blocked by his body’s Firm Power, unable to break through his defense.

Protected by Firm Power, he stood as if in a deep dark red light cover, let the Moon Blades hiss and clang, the light cover would not shatter.

Zhu Yuanxi, not going all out, half-heartedly dealt with Pang Jian while frequently glancing at Dong Tianze in the high reaches of the Stone Hall.

His unsettled gaze also searched for Ling Yun’s whereabouts, wondering where Ling Yun was hiding.

The Heavenly Spirit Tower, which was smashing Cloud Sail boats in the skies above Ice Rock Island, was also under his stealthy observation.

He had many people and things to keep in mind, but Pang Jian was definitely not one of them.

"Even Hong Tai couldn’t match me back in the day, what are you?"

Zhu Yuanxi sneered, smashes another full moon with a punch, and said with a grim face, "You’ve survived till now only because I want to pry out the secret of your departure from Sky Fortune Fragment Land from your mouth."

"Those two female Hall Masters were extremely tight-lipped, their insides crushed to pieces by me, yet they refused to utter a word."

"Let’s see if your mouth is as tough."

Zhu Yuanxi was accustomed to stabbing at hearts with his words.

"Huh!"

Pang Jian stopped in his tracks, standing on the edge of the Stone Hall, secretly adjusting his breathing and the rhythm of his Spiritual Power.

He did not summon the Astonishing Spear, nor did he fully exert his power.

Before Zhu Yuanxi’s heart-stabbing words, he chose to remain silent instead of responding.

Pang Jian could tell that Zhu Yuanxi simply did not regard him as an opponent, dealing with his provocation and entanglement in a very perfunctory manner.

Zhu Yuanxi’s attention followed Dong Tianze and the drifting Heavenly Spirit Tower, and also the missing Ling Yun.

Pang Jian, who succeeded in provoking the battle between the two sides, knew he could not bring out the Astonishing Spear or showcase his full strength.

Once the Astonishing Spear appeared, Dong Tianze would immediately recognize his true identity, which would only backfire.

With the battle already erupted, and with the Yin Spirit Temple’s Wang Yisen being forced by Dong Tianze to eradicate everyone including Ling Yun,

It thus became crucial to the overall situation whether Wang Yisen and Ling Yun lived or died.

If either of the two perished, or one got injured, Luo Hongyan could appear to deal with the injured one.

Having already sparked the war, his current plan was to not show too much strength, just to keep his life.

The less he was noticed, the less he interfered, the better the effect he could have.

Therefore.

In response to Zhu Yuanxi’s heart-stabbing words, and remembering the images of Bai Wei and others’ deaths, Pang Jian remained silent.

Far from impulsively rushing forward to fight desperately, he widened the distance from Zhu Yuanxi, his eyes reflecting timely anger and... fear.

Angry over the deaths of Zhao Ling and others, it seemed as though he also feared Zhu Yuanxi’s strength, his eyes conveying just the right emotions.

"Forget it, it seems there’s no point in keeping you alive to testify that Dong Tianze is the Dark Ghost Leader."

Zhu Yuanxi scoffed, then secretly felt it was odd.

Pang Jian, who had suddenly burst onto the scene, had previously shouted his grievances and fearlessly charged at him.

He thought his verbal provocations would surely make Pang Jian unable to bear it, and he would fight back recklessly.

An out-of-control Pang Jian would naturally expose weaknesses, and Zhu Yuanxi could do as he liked, to kill or to keep.

But he hadn’t expected Pang Jian to be able to hold back.

...