The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 210 - 195 Embrace_1

Chapter 210: Chapter 195 Embrace_1

"Sword Tower..."

Liang Ying didn’t immediately answer. Her gaze first lingered on the identity marker on Pang Jian’s chest, then shifted to the sword-shaped token hanging at his waist.

She suddenly felt a twinge of regret.

She regretted that when Pang Jian had just left Jade Lake and had not yet commanded the Astonishing Spear, she had held back from summoning the Star-shattering Umbrella to obliterate him just because she was concerned about what Xie Xiwen’s disciples might think. As a result, Pang Jian had managed to escape unharmed.

"I just want to ask you some questions related to the Individual Cultivator Huang Qi."

Liang Ying casually brushed it off with a remark, her lips curling into a smile as she said, "What’s with these clothes of yours?"

"I had been through a trial with Qi Qingsong. At that time, he promised to find a way to get me the qualification of an outer sect disciple of Sword Tower. I didn’t really take it seriously."

"But when I saw him again in the Yuan Mang Fragmented Lands, he had actually become an Inner Sect Disciple and truly kept his word."

Pang Jian spoke indifferently.

"Hmm, with Qi Qingsong’s current status, getting you the position of an outer sect disciple of Sword Tower isn’t that difficult," Liang Ying said with a nod and a gentle smile. "However, when you take that token to Sword Tower, you’ll still need to be tested anew."

"Sword Tower is indeed very cautious, even when admitting an outer sect disciple, they won’t..."

Liang Ying, who was covertly using her Divine Sense to investigate, paused mid-sentence.

"Hollow Profound!"

A look of shock crossed her face.

In just a few days since they had parted at Jade Lake, Pang Jian had made a breakthrough!

"Hollow Profound?"

The Protecting Disciples of Star River Alliance were visibly shaken by her words.

Pang Jian was clearly under twenty years old, and at this age, a Hollow Profound Realm cultivator would cause a sensation in any part of the Third Realm!

Prodigies in cultivation like Xie Xiwen and Fang Boxuan could advance to the Hollow Profound Realm before the age of twenty, and both were treasured by their Sects, treated like little ancestral spirits.

The rumor that Pang Jian, who came from the Solitude Mountain Range of the Fourth Realm, had not yet formally been recorded in the Sword Tower’s roster but had already advanced to the Hollow Profound Realm!

"Sword Tower will probably consider taking you in as an Inner Sect Disciple once they truly meet you,"

Liang Ying said with mixed emotions.

"So impressive!"

A round-faced girl from the Star River Alliance gleamed with excitement as she first glanced at Pang Jian and then at Fang Boxuan under the Blood Moon, inwardly comparing the two of them.

Fang Boxuan was more handsome, while Pang Jian appeared a bit colder. Both were of similar age and had reached the Hollow Profound Realm.

Fang Boxuan was a cultivation genius of Blood Moon, while Pang Jian hoped to become an Inner Sect Disciple after arriving at Sword Tower, like Qi Qingsong.

"It’s so hard to choose..."

The girl thought to herself as she bit her lower lip.

"I heard that people like Cao Mang at the summit of the first peak are planning to launch a counterattack when the allied forces of alien tribes attack again,"

Pang Jian, who had taken the initiative to descend the mountain, revealed his purpose: "You must have also received the news, which is why you came here from Jade Lake, right?"

"Exactly."

Liang Ying answered with a smile, her mind racing to determine whether this young man knew of her malevolent intentions when she had chased after him before.

"If you don’t mind, I would like to stay with you, what do you think?"

Pang Jian asked for their opinions.

"Of course there’s no problem."

Before Liang Ying could speak up, Xie Xiwen immediately agreed without hesitation.

The naive and spoiled Xie Xiwen, who never knew the wickedness of people’s hearts, complained, "Last time at Jade Lake, I asked you to stay, but you insisted on leaving."

Pang Jian, for daring to reprimand Cao without fear in order to save Luo Hongyan, had won her respect.

—This was the reason she was willing to offer an olive branch.

"Thank you."

Pang Jian expressed his gratitude with a bow of his hands.

Afterwards, the group settled at the foot of the fourth peak, waiting for the alien tribes to regroup and renew their assault.

As night fell, the members of the Star River Alliance, without lighting fires, scattered in different directions.

Liang Ying summoned the Star-shattering Umbrella to shield some of the younger and weaker disciples in it, advising them on what to pay attention to and informing them about the prowess of the Ghost Clan and Devil Scale Tribe warriors.

"Jiuyuan, not only is Pang Jian alive, but he has also advanced to the Hollow Profound Realm. He now holds a Sword Tower identity token, and once he reaches the Tower, he is likely to become an Inner Sect Disciple."

"Heh, you’ll have to seek your own fortune,"

"..."

Fang Boxuan clenched the Blood Talisman and sneered.

"Jiuyuan, I will kill you."

Pang Jian’s voice suddenly sounded from behind him.

Fang Boxuan jumped with fright. Crouched behind a rock, he watched Pang Jian, who had stealthily approached, with a ghastly expression and warned, "How did you make no sound at all?"

With his cultivation at the Hollow Profound Realm, he should have been acutely aware of anyone approaching within a certain range.

It was an instinct of the Hollow Profound Realm.

Yet, when Pang Jian suddenly appeared, he felt nothing, which was clearly unnatural.

Already having a psychological shadow from the last time Pang Jian had chased him, Fang Boxuan quickly glanced towards the location of the Star-shattering Umbrella and cried out, "Pang Jian, don’t you mess around! Liang Ying is right over there, and I don’t want to fight you to the death!"

He tried to use Liang Ying, who was at the Spirit Condensation Realm, to threaten Pang Jian. He continued to confront Pang Jian, knowing that Pang Jian had not fled because of the people from Star River Alliance nearby.

"I deliberately concealed my presence."

Pang Jian said flatly.

Seeing that Pang Jian had no intention of acting immediately, Fang Boxuan grew slightly more at ease and remained on guard as he retorted, "You’ve just entered the Hollow Profound Realm, you’re still a notch below me, you shouldn’t be able to evade my perception!"

"Pang Jian?"

After identifying the voice as Pang Jian’s, Jiuyuan retorted with a fierce sneer on the other end, "You want to kill me? Kid, you’ve just ascended to the Hollow Profound Realm, who gave you the courage to say such things? Fang kid, how did you get mixed up with him?"

"Fang kid!"

"He killed Bai Guanjie and the others, even if he is a disciple of the Sword Tower, you should not let him go!"

Jiuyuan bellowed.

The moment Jiuyuan turned his aggression towards Fang Boxuan, he casually put away the Blood Talisman.

"Integration with the Fragment Land, truly is full of marvelous wonders!"

Pang Jian exclaimed quietly to himself, he had approached Fang Boxuan specifically to make a trial.

He discovered he could completely conceal his own breath, becoming invisible as if transparent, disappearing from the perception of people like Fang Boxuan.

This also meant that if he intended to assassinate someone, he could materialize suddenly at the moment of his strike, without being detected in advance.

If Fang Boxuan could not detect him, then perhaps Liang Ying in the Spirit Condensation Realm would also be unlikely to notice.

"I came here to tell Jiuyuan through your Blood Talisman, that I will make sure he dies in the Yuan Mang Fragmented Lands."

After dropping that sentence, Pang Jian turned around and left.

"Fang Boxuan is of the Hollow Profound Realm, and Liang Ying is of the Spirit Condensation Realm, I wonder about her side..."

Pang Jian quietly approached where the Star-shattering Umbrella was, his specially concealed breath making him feel as though he was merging with heaven and earth.

As if, he had become the eternally unchanging mountains and rivers of Yuan Mang, the trickling streams in the ravines, the lush trees with abundant leaves, and a small stone on the ground.

Flesh and breath, spiritual power fluctuations, thoughts and consciousness—all seemed to be concealed by the entire Fragment Land due to his integration with it.

He was getting closer and closer to the Star-shattering Umbrella, and wanted to see how long it would take for Liang Ying of the Spirit Condensation Realm to detect his approach.

He knew that those who cultivated up to Hollow Profound could use their Divine Sense to inspect their surroundings when needed, but it was not an ongoing surveillance.

For someone in the Spirit Condensation Realm like Liang Ying, her awareness of her surroundings mostly relied on vigilance.

The qi and blood, spiritual power, and the soul’s magnetic field of approaching powerhouses would trigger attention in someone like her.

Thirty steps, twenty steps, seven steps.

Pang Jian, integrated with Yuan Mang, could clearly see Liang Ying’s Spiritual Sea stirring waves through the assistance of the Mysterious Turtle that had arrived there.

The giant Star-shattering Umbrella, with the multitude of stars on its surface and the arrays hidden within its handle and ribs, suddenly began to rotate.

"Whoosh!"

The surface of the Star-shattering Umbrella, with its tiny stars, began to twinkle, one after another.

Liang Ying stood up in surprise, turned to look at Pang Jian seven steps away, and with a puzzled look in her eyes, asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Seven steps, and she became alert. I can see her Spiritual Sea, her bodily condition, and even the arrays of the Star-shattering Umbrella, but I can’t see into her Sea of Consciousness..." Pang Jian silently noted to himself in his trial.

However, he spoke out loud, "I have just ascended to the Hollow Profound Realm, there are many mysteries in cultivation I’m unclear about, and I would like to ask Miss Xie for guidance."

He looked at the girl in the Star River Alliance who treated him kindly, the most innocent and naive, and bowed slightly as a sign of respect.

"Okay, sure."

Xie Xiwen got up, happily saying, "Then I’ll explain some things to you."

After thanking Pang Jian, she walked to the other side, and he directly followed her.

"This kid, could it be that he fancies our Miss Xie?"

An older protector of the Hollow Profound Realm frowned and coldly watched Pang Jian’s broad back, saying, "Miss Xie comes from a prominent family, and ever since she joined the alliance, she’s been protected and cherished by all. She’s unaware of the complexity of human hearts, and I worry about what this wild kid from the Lower Realm might do to disrupt her path of cultivation."

"If he becomes an Inner Gate Disciple of the Sword Tower, he really will be worthy of pursuing Miss Xie," another person said despondently.

"I think he really has that idea! He doesn’t ask Elder Liang, nor any of us, but specifically asks for the junior sister and even takes her away to another place!"

"The bastard has impure intentions!"

The male cultivators of the Star River Alliance muttered curses under their breath, looking unfavorably towards Pang Jian.

"Boom!"

The inner parts of the Star-shattering Umbrella, its dazzling stars, suddenly and inexplicably shattered.

The dozen or so complex arrays inscribed on the bones and surface of the umbrella seemed to malfunction, causing the flow of spiritual power to stagnate.

Liang Ying’s face changed dramatically as she gripped the handle of the umbrella and scrutinized it carefully with her Divine Sense.

"There’s no damage? All the array structures remain unchanged, how could there be a mistake in the flow of spiritual power?"

With her mood suddenly soured, Liang Ying paid no attention to the criticisms leveled at Pang Jian, she waved everyone away from the Star-shattering Umbrella and checked it over and over again to make sure there was no oversight.

The Star-shattering Umbrella was her strongest Spiritual Artifact; it absolutely could not have any problems.

This object was crucial to her survival!

If she were to fight a level six warrior of the Alien Tribes, or a level six Ferocious Beast, and the Star-shattering Umbrella suddenly malfunctioned...

She might have to pay with her life.

"Impossible, a high-grade Spiritual Artifact forged by the Heaven Treasure Li Family couldn’t have any issues!"

Comforting herself, Liang Ying checked multiple times and infused her spiritual power and Divine Sense to try more than a dozen times, but she didn’t see any recurrence of issues with the flow of spiritual power.

"It must have been a small accident."

Liang Ying exhaled a long sigh, still feeling anxious at heart.

As for Pang Jian’s sudden appearance, his status as an Outer Gate Disciple of the Sword Tower, and the fact that he called specifically for Xie Xiwen, she no longer cared.

"What is this guy up to, taking Xie Xiwen aside like that?"

Fang Boxuan, from a distance by the rocks, kept his eyes on the departing Pang Jian, now utterly baffled.

Pang Jian’s series of actions left him totally perplexed, completely unable to understand what Pang Jian was trying to do by approaching him at one moment and quietly nearing the Star-shattering Umbrella the next.

...