The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 198 - 183 The Favored by the "Gods"_1

Chapter 198: Chapter 183 The Favored by the "Gods"_1

"Bang!"

Another wooden door exploded into pieces.

Confused, Luo Hongyan looked out with astonishment from within the prism-shaped crystal.

"Jiuyuan!"

Qi Qingsong arrived suddenly.

Seeing Jiuyuan carrying the entire prism-shaped crystal on his back, he shouted sternly, "Outside, the battle is severe, and the alien tribes are advancing toward the first peak. Carrying such a large crystal, whether you fight or run, will be extremely inconvenient."

"Why not..."

Qi Qingsong looked at Luo Hongyan, who had a look of horror in the crystal, and said, "I’ve gained nothing on this trip. I only have three hundred thousand spirit stones on me, and I haven’t spent a single one yet. How about you sell her to me?"

"Three hundred thousand spirit stones is all I have, and it’s my sincerity!"

"Jiuyuan, I am an Inner Sect Disciple of the Sword Tower. Why not build up some good karma?"

"How about it?"

Qi Qingsong said earnestly.

"Alien tribes, fierce battles..."

Sealed within the crystal, unable to speak or move, Luo Hongyan, startled by the news brought by Qi Qingsong, gasped.

"Kill!"

"Prepare for battle!"

"The Heaven Clan and Devil Scale Tribe are coming over first!"

At this moment, she also heard the shrill cries and roars of fury coming from outside the trading area.

Luo Hongyan finally realized what kind of people had emerged from the Mirror Tunnel at Jade Lake.

"Qi, if you didn’t know Pang Jian, if you weren’t deliberately protecting him, I would have given you the three hundred thousand spirit stones."

Jiuyuan sneered and shook his head.

Remembering Pang Jian’s previous threat and his cold eyes when he looked at him, he knew that, as long as Pang Jian lived, he would never let things go.

Furthermore,

If he handed Luo Hongyan over to Qi Qingsong, Qi Qingsong would surely release her, instead of torturing her to death as he would.

Cao Mang made it clear that Luo Hongyan had extraordinary personal combat power and had been a troublesome figure for the Blood Spirit Sect in earlier years.

Allowing her to continue her cultivation, it wouldn’t be long before even Cao Mang might not be her match—this woman must either die outright or be eternally suppressed by the Yin Spirit Temple.

In any case, she must not be allowed to escape unharmed.

"Three hundred thousand is not a small amount. Don’t be so rigid, Jiuyuan. Have mercy where you can."

Qi Qingsong continued to plead.

"Not selling!"

Jiuyuan snorted coldly.

"Forget it, good luck to you."

Qi Qingsong nodded, and without further insistence, he turned and rushed outside.

As soon as he went out, he saw Heaven Clan warriors flapping their wings and Devil Scale Tribe powerhouses riding on black-winged dragons, indeed charging towards the first peak of Yuan Mang Fragmented Lands.

"Cao Mang, from now on, don’t expect to set foot in the Human Race’s territory ever again!"

"Madam Hua, even if you two escape this disaster, death is certain!"

The high-level Individual Cultivators on the mountaintop were cursing Cao Mang and Madam Hua, panicking and making a mess.

Seeing such a situation, Qi Qingsong didn’t wish to waste time on the mountaintop; he hurried down the stone steps to Cave Dwelling No. 56. "Pang Jian, with the alien tribes suddenly arriving at Yuan Mang Fragmented Lands, hurry and follow me to retreat..."

"Eh!"

Cave Dwelling No. 56 was utterly empty.

Anger surging within him, Qi Qingsong ranted as he held the token, "Pang Jian, where have you run off to? Why didn’t you stay in the cave dwelling? I repeatedly instructed you to make sure you stayed!"

The token did not respond.

Qi Qingsong’s heart sank, immediately sensing something wrong.

With the situation in Yuan Mang Fragmented Lands so chaotic, with alien tribes and ferocious beasts from the Fifth Realm breaking in and moving throughout the Fragment Land, fierce conflicts were breaking out with the Cultivators who had come for the grand event.

The peaks where Flying Spirit Artifacts were parked were the first targets for the alien tribes, aiming to break through.

In the face of the dire situation at hand, Pang Jian, who had left the first peak at an unknown time, was very likely to have encountered an accident as well.

"First, find a Flying Spirit Artifact to leave, and if that’s not possible, find Cloud Sail!"

Qi Qingsong stepped out of Cave Dwelling No. 56, looking for the Individual Cultivator Gao Yuan at the neighboring dwelling, only to find that Gao Yuan, the boatman, had long since vanished without a trace.

"Bang! Crack!"

A Red Rosy Clouds Boat flew from a distant mountain towards the first peak. It was struck by the arm of a towering Cyclops, tens of meters high.

The Red Rosy Clouds Boat, built of special refined iron, rocked and sent out sparks of fire; several noticeable cracks appeared where it was hit.

Yet the rocking Red Rosy Clouds Boat managed to escape the Cyclops’s grasp and reached the summit of the first peak.

"Worthy of being a high-grade creation from the Heaven Treasure Sect!"

Qi Qingsong exclaimed in admiration and hurriedly rushed from Cave Dwelling No. 56 toward the top of the first peak.

He thought since he had sincerely apologized to Jiang Li and helped her regenerate her severed arm and since Zhao Yuanqi, the girl from Red Mountain, might be willing to take him on the Red Rosy Clouds Boat for a stretch, out of Yuan Mang Fragmented Lands.

However,

As he reached the summit, he saw Zhao Yuanqi and Jiang Li board the Red Rosy Clouds Boat and, disregarding the cries of the people below, quickly depart with the boat.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the body of the Red Rosy Clouds Boat is cracked and cannot carry too many people. I hope you all have good fortune."

The aloof girl, Zhao Yuanqi, standing at the forefront of the Red Rosy Clouds Boat, shook her head at the eagerly watching crowd, "I’m powerless to help!"

If it weren’t for that hit from the Cyclops, if the body of the Red Rosy Clouds Boat hadn’t been damaged, she could have taken more people.

But now, to ensure the Red Rosy Clouds Boat could successfully fly out of Yuan Mang Fragmented Lands, to be responsible for the disciples of her own Sect, she was unwilling to be the good person.

"Damn it, I knew better than to deal with that bastard Pang Jian!"

Qi Qingsong was on the verge of tears.

If he hadn’t rushed toward cave dwelling No. 56 and had waited by Zhao Yuanqi’s side on the mountain summit, he might have had a chance to board the incoming Red Rosy Clouds Boat with Jiang Li.

"Peng! Boom boom!"

Roaring sounds came from beneath everyone’s feet.

Qi Qingsong looked down only to see members of the Ghost Clan and Devil Scale Tribe, including numerous level five creatures like the Ghost Ape, Armored Demon Beast, Ice Roc, and Blood Pattern Python, swarming at the waist of the First Peak.

Cultivators from various cave dwellings, loyal to Cao Mang and Madam Hua, had left their dwellings and were now in battle with ferocious beasts and alien tribes.

It was clear that the First Peak had become the primary target of the alien tribes and ferocious beasts’ attention.

"At the summit, with Cao Mang and Madam Hua there, perhaps it’s really those two who brought forth the alien tribes..."

Muttering under his breath, Qi Qingsong saw that he couldn’t count on the Red Rosy Clouds Boat and immediately sprinted down the stone steps.

He had already summoned his pale Firm Cover, and a Spirit Sword of the same color shimmered in his hand.

He was ready to confront those Ghost Clan and Devil Scale Tribe warriors, along with the numerous level five ferocious beasts, on his way down the mountain.

Level five ferocious beasts were equivalent to Hollow Profound Realm cultivators like himself, and he was prepared to fight his way out.

But curiously...

Neither the short and wicked Ghost Clan members nor the tall and fierce Devil Scale Tribe members, nor even the level five ferocious beasts, who clearly weren’t far from him, acted as if they’d all become blind.

—It was as though they hadn’t seen him at all.

He slid down from the summit of the First Peak to the foot of the mountain without any trouble.

Then he saw the alien tribe warriors and ferocious beasts emerging and disappearing in front of the stone paths of every cave dwelling on the First Peak, all in fierce battles with the human cultivators.

"This..."

Qi Qingsong scratched his head.

Turning his head, he then saw some Cloud Sails anchored at the foot of the mountain, which had been penetrated by the branches and trunks of huge trees, with quite a few Individual Cultivators fighting against the bizarrely terrifying trees.

Some members of the Wood Tribe, who seemed to be one with the trees, stood atop the giant trees, controlling the trees to attack individual cultivators.

There were also trees beside him, clearly with members of the Wood Tribe on them.

Yet, he wasn’t attacked at all!

A Wood Tribe warrior with light green eyes rubbed his nose as if he smelt something unpleasant and looked away from him.

"Could it be that I reek?"

Feeling baffled, Qi Qingsong carefully avoided the Wood Tribe warriors in the secluded valley forest at the foot of the mountain.

To his surprise, he found that no one paid him any mind.

...

At the summit of the First Peak.

A massive blue rock, howling down from the sky, was accurately smashed toward Jiuyuan, who was carrying a rhomboid crystal, aided by the wind force granted by the flap of Yu Gu’s wings.

"Boom!"

Terrifying power from a level six Cyclops, hidden deep within the blue rock, burst forth violently.

The blue rock suddenly exploded, and dozens of fragments the size of millstones enveloped the space where Jiuyuan stood.

Jiuyuan looked up to find himself in the midst of a meteor shower, feeling incredibly weighed down, as if he were filled with lead.

It was as if he was trapped in a small cage, tightly constraining him, making him unable to move.

The shattered pieces of blue rock then came plummeting down, striking the rhomboid crystal on his back and his feet.

"Crack!"

The rhomboid crystal that Jiuyuan was unwilling to discard was smashed by the immense alien power hidden within the fragmented stone, creating cracks all over.

"Boom! Rumble!"

More rock fragments the size of millstones continuously struck Jiuyuan’s back, burying him beneath the stones.

Individual cultivators like Lian Feng, as well as Cao Mang, Madam Hua, and others watched with baffled expressions at Jiuyuan getting buried by the rocks, not understanding why that particular Heaven Clan powerhouse who had first arrived there took such "special care" of Jiuyuan.

"Damn it!"

Jiuyuan cursed from under the rubble.

"Peng!"

A faintly visible, enchanting silhouette emerged through the blood mist and out of the rubble, propelled by Jiuyuan’s curses.

After extricating herself, Luo Hongyan glanced down at Jiuyuan, then at Cao Mang, and immediately floated away.

Even if her combat strength had fully recovered, which it hadn’t, she still wouldn’t be a match for Jiuyuan or Cao Mang at the moment.

Right now, she was quickly distancing herself from the First Peak, taking advantage of the special nature of her "Crystal-clear Snow Lotus" body.

"If this woman survives, she will be a trouble without end!" Madam Hua clenched her teeth and uttered softly.

Cao Mang’s face darkened and he nodded, ready to pursue and deliver the killing blow.

"Whoosh!"

Yu Gu, who had been drifting above, finally descended gracefully.

He landed right in front of Cao Mang and said politely, "Cao Mang, I am the one who has been trading with you in the Fifth Realm."

Cao Mang had a thousand curses brewing inside, but he knew it would do no good to utter them.

Seeing everyone at the mountain summit looking at him with suspicion, Cao Mang instantly abandoned the idea of pursuing Luo Hongyan.

If he couldn’t prove that the alien tribes and ferocious beasts had nothing to do with him, he wouldn’t have a place to stand in any world of the human race!

—This threat was many times more frightening than the possibility of Luo Hongyan surviving.

"Don’t slander me; Old Cao has never had dealings with any alien tribes!"

At the crucial moment, it was Madam Hua who snapped with a harsh rebuke, "You’re deliberately framing Old Cao, trying to incite internal strife among us, all just to facilitate your plans better!"

In secret, she transmitted her voice to Cao Mang, "Old Cao, the only way to prove our innocence is to kill these alien tribes! As long as we clean up these aliens, kill them all, we’ll be able to wash away the suspicion on us!"

"Understood."

Cao Mang dared not hesitate, regardless of Yu Gu’s combat strength, and charged forward with determination.

...