The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 235 - 220: Covert Cultivation and Secret Observations_1

Chapter 235: Chapter 220: Covert Cultivation and Secret Observations_1

Yin Spirit Temple.

In the dark and gloomy cave dwelling, Sect Leader Yin Yiqing’s narrow and long phoenix eyes sparkled with profound and cold light.

Surrounded by the vast Ghost Altar, the ground was covered with various types of Spiritual Materials collected by Spirit Condensation Realm Great Cultivators; at this moment, he looked at a familiar "Ghost Commanded Token" and sighed, "Old Lou..."

Elders of the Spirit Condensation Realm were the backbone of any sect, and Lou Yunming’s death grieved him deeply.

"Sect Leader, what should we do with these Spiritual Materials and items we have acquired through trade?"

Han Zhiyuan asked with a bitter expression.

"You handle it personally, don’t let anyone know that we still have a connection with Pang Jian."

Yin Yiqing frowned slightly and spoke cautiously, "The total value of these materials actually turns out to be slightly higher than our estimation for Pang Jian; it’s just more troublesome to deal with."

If the belongings of Jiuyuan, Liang Ying, and others were known to be sold by Yin Spirit Temple, it would inevitably attract criticism.

"Don’t worry, I have experience in this area."

Han Zhiyuan responded gravely.

Yin Yiqing gave a grunt and then looked toward Dong Tianze who had descended from the Ghost Altar, thought for a while, and then said, "After a while, you don’t need to torture yourself with arduous cultivation anymore, you can leave and look for your fortune. By the way, dismantle this Ghost Altar and take it with you."

Dong Tianze, feeling sullen, stared at the Ghost Altar for a moment before he slowly nodded.

Han Zhiyuan wondered, "Under what pretext?"

"With the Alien Tribes invading the Yuan Mang Fragmented Lands, we’re arranging for people to rush there; our temple’s internal strength is depleted, giving him the chance to escape."

Yin Yiqing casually concocted a reason and said coldly, "The Fourth Realm is in turmoil, Alien Tribes have appeared in the Third Realm as well, the signs of a great chaos are evident, nobody has time to care for these trivial matters."

Han Zhiyuan acknowledged, "Understood."

Yin Yiqing pointed a finger downward.

The storage ring belonging to Lou Yunming, including items like the "Yin Spirit Wand," instantly absorbed into the ring.

This ring also floated towards Dong Tianze, slid over his arm seamlessly, and Yin Yiqing said, "We have lost an Elder, and I hope you will diligently cultivate and reach the Hollow Profound Realm as soon as possible."

The Raging Sun Sect has Yang Rui, Blood Moon has Fang Boxuan, but their Yin Spirit Temple currently lacks an outstanding leader of its own.

Dong Tianze, who came from the Lower Realm, was considered by Yin Yiqing and Han Zhiyuan to be an elite newcomer capable of rivaling these two peerless geniuses.

But to become such a person, there was one key condition—he must ascend to the Hollow Profound Realm before the age of twenty.

Only then could he truly be called a child of heaven.

"Thank you, Sect Leader."

Dong Tianze bowed and then, right in front of the two Sect Leaders, began to dismantle the Ghost Altar.

He made a secret vow: once he left the Yin Spirit Temple, he would use the Phoenix imprint between his brows to search the entire Third Realm for those with hidden Phoenix Marrow, utilizing the power of the dead "Divine Guards" to strengthen himself.

"I’ll go take care of the subsequent matters."

Yin Yiqing floated away from the cave dwelling.

Ten days later.

In the Yin Spirit Temple, from which Dong Tianze had departed, a solemn and majestic hall echoed with the extremely suppressed howl of Sect Leader Yin Yiqing. It was like the wails of ten thousand ghosts from hell, reverberating throughout every corner of the hall.

"Hissla!"

The howling sound, sharp as a carving knife, made the iron-stone walls of the hall suddenly bear numerous deep scratches.

Next to a black stone pillar engraved with countless ghostly symbols, the Deputy Sect Leader Han Zhiyuan’s withered and shriveled body also shook violently.

"Pang Jian!"

The howl from the two Sect Leaders, resembling the cries of evil ghosts, could rupture one’s eardrums.

They had just learned the latest news: the one who killed Lou Yunming in the Yuan Mang Fragmented Lands wasn’t any Alien Tribe Ferocious Beast but Pang Jian, who had traded with them not long ago!

The murderer Pang Jian, using the Ghost Altar of Dark Ghost and using Old Lou’s belongings, had exchanged them for a great quantity of Spirit Jade!

The two Sect Leaders felt they had been subject to the most malicious mockery!

More than the death of Lou Yunming, the insult and provocation were greater because of Pang Jian’s despicable tactic of trading with the Ghost Altar by exploiting the asymmetry of information!

"This brat, this brat took us all for fools!"

Han Zhiyuan was so angry that his whole body trembled as if his bones would fall apart.

"If he dares to appear again, even if he is a disciple of Sword Tower, I will not let him live to reach Sword Tower!"

Yin Yiqing howled furiously.

...

Daytime, the fierce sun hung high in the sky.

In the Panshi Fragment Land hidden deep beneath the thick clouds, which had long since left the Yuan Mang, Pang Jian wasn’t in a hurry to go his separate ways with the Mysterious Turtle and was instead bitterly cultivating day and night in the depths of Cloud Wilderness.

"Strange, I still cannot control Divine Sense, I have not been able to smoothly advance to the mid-stage of Hollow Profound Realm."

Pushing open the door of the wooden house, Pang Jian stood amidst the misty forest.

Without the need to focus his gaze, as long as someone was on Panshi Fragment Land, they would always have the "Demigod" vision.

With a thought, the entire Fragment Land was within his heart.

"Sigh."

He let out a soft sigh.

For the past ten days, he had been trying to harness Divine Sense, seeking a new round of breakthrough in his cultivation.

But despite much effort, none of the one hundred twenty-eight strands of Divine Sense wandering in his Sea of Consciousness could be moved by him, unable to ebb and flow with his will.

Compared to the swift progress made in the Yuan Mang Fragmented Lands, his cultivation now seemed to stagnate as he concentrated on cultivating in his free time.

"Perhaps my breakthrough was too swift before, and I need some time to settle down, to calm my heart."

He could only comfort himself in this way.

Standing in front of the wooden hut built by former individual cultivators, he collected his focus after a moment of dejection.

With a thought, he sensed the state of the Sky Fortune Fragmented Lands in the Fourth Realm, wanting to see if the Sapling had met with the people of the Wood Tribe.

His view suddenly changed.

He saw that the Wood Tribe leader, whom he had secretly helped escape, and dozens of Wood Tribe members, were all busy.

Joy and excitement swirled in the eyebrows of the Wood Tribe members as they scattered the seeds they carried all over the Fragmented Lands.

Some Wood Tribe members planted seeds in Sky Fortune City, some at the edges of the Fragmented Lands, and others in the towns between Sky Fortune City and the Fragmented Lands.

All the locations of the Wood Tribe members, their emotions of joy and sorrow, even their thoughts and ideas, Pang Jian and the Sapling could keenly perceive after establishing a connection.

He could actually hear the heartbeats of the Wood Tribe members!

"What a marvelous feeling..."

He perceived even more intently.

He quickly realized that when he established a connection with the Sapling, his perspective was not as profound and detailed as it had been in the Panshi Fragment Lands.

He couldn’t sense the movements of all beings, couldn’t delve into the ground, and couldn’t see realms without trees.

He also couldn’t utilize nature’s spiritual energy, sense the fluctuations of qi and blood within ferocious beasts, or minutely observe the conditions beyond the Fragmented Lands.

In the Sky Fortune Fragmented Lands, he didn’t have the ability to "Integrate" with a piece of heaven and earth.

But, when it came to the Wood Tribe, he could listen to their hearts.

His sensations all came from the feelings of the Corrosion Boundary Vine.

This fully demonstrated that the Sapling, seen by the Wood Tribe as a pillar of faith, was indeed an existence akin to a deity when facing the Wood Tribe members.

Upon closer observation, he found that an odd connection existed between each Wood Tribe member and himself... that is, the Sapling.

All the Wood Tribe members active in the Sky Fortune Fragmented Lands were drained of a faint trace of their mental and spiritual energy by the Sapling through these odd connections.

The Sapling seemed to be using this to amplify its own spiritual wisdom.

This discovery shocked Pang Jian.

With the arrival of the Wood Tribe members and the spread of trees and flora all over every part of Sky Fortune, the Sapling’s own power was gradually strengthening.

Then, as the Sapling irrigated the Wood Tribe members with life vitality to nourish them, it also procured soul vitality from their bodies.

The Corrosion Boundary Vine and the Wood Tribe members were indeed mutually supportive and beneficial to each other.

They naturally harmonized.

Afterward, Pang Jian observed the Sky Fortune Fragmented Lands again through the trees and plants scattered across it.

He discovered that most of the ferocious beasts led by the black Roc had vanished from the Sky Fortune Fragmented Lands.

The native ferocious beasts from the Fourth Realm still living in the Fragmented Lands were now ruled by those ferocious beasts that had descended from the Third Realm.

And the ferocious beasts that had come down to Sky Fortune along with the Wood Tribe members were all obedient to the Wood Tribe.

On closer inspection, it was clear that the Sky Fortune Fragmented Lands were firmly within the grasp of the Wood Tribe; they indeed regarded the Sky Fortune Fragmented Lands as their base, intending to build their new home based on Sky Fortune.

"Not bad, developing very well. It was worth guiding the Wood Tribe to the Sky Fortune Fragmented Lands."

After communicating with the Sapling, Pang Jian cut off the connection.

His mind shifted, and he turned his attention to the Dark Giant Python in the Fifth Realm.

Immediately, he saw Yun Xin from the Heaven Clan leading many Ferocious Beasts of the Alien Tribes, gathering beside the towering Heavenly Tribulation Pillar.

He saw the strong members of the Heaven Clan with eight pairs of wings, saw the Cyclops named Aman, as well as a Devil Scale Tribe member riding a winding White Silver Bone Dragon, and a member of the Ghost Clan crouching on a massive Ghost Ape.

The strong beings of the Alien Tribes were all converging beside the Heavenly Tribulation Pillar.

Among countless fractured skeletons, various Evil Artifacts and strange Spiritual Materials were laid out.

"Wooo!"

Aman, the Cyclops, suddenly roared.

With the roar, the Heavenly Tribulation Pillar violently emitted a turquoise divine radiance, illuminating the thousand-mile dark lands at once.

Pang Jian’s spiritual connection with the Dark Giant Python was abruptly interrupted.

Before the interruption, he felt the Dark Giant Python seemed to have... passed out.

"Useless creature."

Pang Jian huffed dismissively, having not seen more of the aftermath.

After consecutive communications with the Sapling from the Fourth Realm and the Rebel Kid from the Fifth Realm, he glanced inward at his Sea of Consciousness, noticing a part of his Divine Sense had somewhat shrunk.

Swallowing a Calming Pill and with the infusion of Alien Power to nourish it, his Divine Sense quickly plumped back up.

In the days that followed,

Pang Jian remained in the Panshi Fragment Lands, seeking a breakthrough to the mid-stage of the Hollow Profound Realm, trying various methods to attempt control of the wondrous Divine Sense.

But there was little progress.

During this period,

Through the "Demigod" perspective of the integrated fragmented lands, he noticed many Cloud Sails heading towards the Yuan Mang Fragmented Lands.

He immediately knew the news of Cao’s death and the extermination of the Alien Tribes and Ferocious Beasts must have spread throughout the Third Realm.

The gathering of the external Cloud Sails allowed the cultivators trapped in Yuan Mang to finally have Flying Spirit Artifacts to leave with.

As one Cloud Sail after another carried away cultivators from Yuan Mang, his name would echo through all the major fragmented lands.

— Including Black Nether and Universe Heaven Continent.

...