The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 238 - 223 Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone_1

Chapter 238: Chapter 223 Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone_1

The man in black was none other than Pang Jian, who had left Panshi Fragment Land.

With his "Phantom Bone Realm" slightly honed, he adjusted his cheekbones and cheeks to hide his true appearance, blending in with a group of individual cultivators.

Listening in secret to the conversation between He Hui and Ning Wei, he only then learned the identities of the two and confirmed that the disfavored He Hui before his eyes was indeed the father of He Ziren, whom he had killed.

Indeed, the ways of the world were hard to predict.

Having stepped out of Solitude Mountain Range, he had now reached the Hollow Profound Realm. Among those on Cloud Sail, his strength was second to none.

If he were not afraid of revealing his identity, he could summon the Astonishing Spear and the Star-shattering Umbrella and slaughter everyone on the Cloud Sail.

In contrast, people like He Hui who used to hold themselves so high in the Fourth Realm, now didn’t dare to meet his gaze and seemed so lowly and cowardly.

"Pang Jian, after killing the public enemy of the Human Race, Cao Mang, boarded the Black Iron Mountain belonging to Cao Zhuru and disappeared without a trace."

"That one, like Dong Tianze, is a kid who climbed up from the Lower Realm, truly extraordinary."

"The Sword Tower must have already regarded him as a core disciple, that’s why they bestowed upon him a great ferocious weapon capable of slaying Cao Zhuru!"

"Even with a powerful spiritual artifact, his realm is after all only Hollow Profound, while Cao Zhuru is a Great Cultivator at the Spirit Condensation Realm!"

"That’s what makes him so remarkable!"

"..."

The scions were again in a buzz of discussion.

"This young hunter who, like us, comes from the Fourth Realm, is truly extraordinary."

Ning Wei listened seriously.

Her bright eyes shimmered with admiration as she said to He Hui, "Every few decades, one or two individuals always emerge from our Fourth Realm, capable of shining in the higher worlds. Pang Jian should be one of them."

He Hui nodded in agreement.

The scions didn’t mention that Pang Jian, who had shone so brightly in Yuanmang, was also the Dark Ghost Hall Master Hong Jian who had caused a ruckus on Ice Rock Island.

Therefore, He Hui and Ning Wei had no idea that the Pang Jian they were secretly admiring was the same young Dark Ghost Hall Master who had looted the Blood Moon Beast-Catching Ship at Sky Fortune Fragment Land.

At the moment, the two of them still looked on with faces full of admiration.

"My identity as the Dark Ghost Hall Master has actually been directly overlooked, not even mentioned by anyone."

The weary subject’s eyes revealed a hint of shock before he closed them to communicate with the Mysterious Turtle.

Lying beneath the thick Lead Cloud, the Mysterious Turtle was maneuvering Panshi Fragment Land towards the edge of the Third Realm with "Mysterious Fog," planning to hide with the land for a while.

The Black Iron Mountain that belonged to Cao Mang was currently hidden deep underground by the Mysterious Turtle, ready to be delivered to Pang Jian whenever he needed it.

Pang Jian had not yet fully deciphered the mountain’s profound mysteries and could not store it in his storage ring.

Because of its high profile, he chose not to leave Panshi Fragment Land on the Black Iron Mountain; instead, he dutifully paid fifty spirit stones to board the ship when Wang Ying guided the Cloud Sail nearby.

"The next stop, Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone, I hope it will be the key to my breakthrough."

Pang Jian muttered to himself.

His realm had been stagnant for a long time.

Despite diligently tempering his flesh and body, elevating the Great Creation Sacred Body from "Jade Body Realm" to "Phantom Bone Realm," he was unable to stir a trace of Divine Sense.

Within his Spiritual Sea, stars shone brightly, and the light of the sun and moon was intensely splendid.

Yet, these did not help him break through to the mid-stage of the Hollow Profound Realm.

After pondering for a long time, he thought back to his breakthrough to the Innate Realm at the underground palace of Ice Rock Island, where he drew Extreme Cold Alien Power into his Spiritual Sea to form an Ice Pool by communicating with the Cyclops and the Ice Demon at the extreme cold altar.

It was through this that he ascended to the Innate Realm.

He suspected privately that the reason his realm had not advanced for so long was due to the uniqueness of his Chaos Sea.

In Panshi Fragment Land, he also tried to draw alien power from the spiritual materials in his hand, such as the Alien Powers of Thunderbolt and Water.

However, none could create in the depths of his Spiritual Sea something tangible like the Ice Pool or Flame Pool.

Having no other choice, he planned to take an alternative path and try his luck at some Forbidden Lands.

Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone, it was said that its basin was constantly filled with flashing lightning and rumbling thunder all year round, concealing many mysterious events. He intended to take a look this time.

The Cloud Sail continued to glide smoothly.

Half a month later.

"We’ve arrived."

Wang Ying pursed her lips and softly declared.

Her gaze turned cold as she looked at He Hui, Ning Wei, and the other newcomers from the Lower Realm, and said, "The highland hills wrapped in a faint spiritual energy around the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone are the footholds sought for you by the Star River Alliance."

"As for the central basin of the highlands, it’s a famous Forbidden Land in the Third Realm, and if you don’t want to die, don’t go in."

"Of course, I believe the people of the Star River Alliance will remind you of that."

While speaking, the Cloud Sail began its descent.

Like many others, Pang Jian also stood up, holding onto the side of the boat to look down below.

An expression of surprise crossed his face.

Looking down from high above, he could see the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone, squarely nestled within the thick banks of leaden clouds of the Third Realm.

Surrounding the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone were towering highland hills that emerged from the depths of the clouds.

The central basin, covering the largest area, lay within a misty atmosphere of grey fog.

Pang Jian narrowed his eyes for a better look and noticed that sporadic flashes of lightning were accompanied by thunderous booms inside the basin.

"The peripheral highland hills have pure yet thin nature’s spiritual energy, the central basin regarded as Forbidden Land is intermixed with a variety of forces, with Thunderous Lightning predominating..."

As the Cloud Sail slowly descended, Wang Ying, the boatman, habitually explained to everyone.

Suddenly, her eyes widened in horror.

"The Spirit Boat from Sky Water Swamp!"

A massive boat with sails like a huge ink painting of mountains and rivers was leisurely floating in the mist deep within the basin.

On hearing this, Pang Jian looked down and saw the large Spirit Boat, referred to by Wang Ying as the "Landscape Spirit Boat," resembling a vast Ferocious Beast roaming within the cloud sea.

On the ship, some cultivators had landscapes painted on their bodies, while others wore different clothes but all had a "Demon" character etched onto their chests.

Still, others bore the unique insignia of Black Valley.

"Demon Sect, Black Valley, boarding the Landscape Spirit Boat of Sky Water Swamp—it seems they have also come to explore the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone."

Wang Ying was greatly astonished.

Her Cloud Sail halted, and she immediately shouted loudly, ordering the people from the He and Ning Families to hurry down, and then urged those individual cultivators who had only paid fifty Spirit Stones.

"Fifty Spirit Stones can only get you to the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone, If you want to go to the Black Nether Continent, add another fifty!"

"Otherwise, get the hell off my boat!"

Wang Ying ranted fiercely.

Compared to the boatman Gao Yuan, her demeanor was somewhat more arrogant, which was because she, just like Pang Jian, also had the cultivation of the Hollow Profound Realm.

However, when facing Pang Jian, a cultivator of the same realm, she suddenly became much more polite and said earnestly, "Friend, the Landscape Spirit Boat from Sky Water Swamp has arrived. I suggest you no longer head to the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone. Their arrival indicates that there must be something peculiar happening there recently, but their presence also means that the opportunity is gone for everyone else."

Pang Jian hadn’t yet made a sound.

"Fifty!"

"Damn it, what bad luck! I was hoping to try my luck in the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone, but who would have thought I’d run into guys from the Second Realm coming down here—what’s the point in sticking around now?"

"Let’s go, straight to Black Nether Continent."

The individual cultivators who had come for the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone mostly added another fifty Spirit Stones and decisively gave up exploring the basin.

The young scions of the major families, however, not a single one disembarked. They had been drifting about for a long time and, after experiencing the tragedy with Yuanmang, now only wanted to return home as soon as possible.

"Bang!"

Pang Jian flew out from the Cloud Sail and landed on the highland.

"To think that with the cultivation of the Hollow Profound Realm, one would be so unaware of life and death."

Wang Ying shook her head and let out a cold snort in secret, then maneuvered the Cloud Sail to soar into the sky, quickly disappearing from everyone’s sight.

"Cloud Thunder, Forbidden Zone..."

A Hollow Profound Realm Protector from the Star River Alliance was rushing over from a distance when He Hui happened to pass by Pang Jian.

He Hui would never expect that the black-clad man passing him by was the murderer of his son, the same Dark Ghost Hong Jian that he had wanted to eliminate in the Fragment Land of Sky Fortune.

"Let’s go."

The adventurers who decided to stay heaved a sigh, cursing the arrival of the Landscape Spirit Boat, but still headed towards the basin below.

Pang Jian cast a glance at the rudimentary stone and wooden huts temporarily constructed on the edge of the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone.

He hadn’t expected that the place arranged by the Star River Alliance for the Ning and He Families to stay would be like this.

"Compared to the wilds of Panshi Fragment Land, it’s hard to say how many times worse this is."

After muttering to himself, Pang Jian also headed toward the basin.

"Whoosh!"

Pang Jian took a deep breath, drawing in various strange powers into his chest to discern their types.

"There’s water vapor, brimming within the mist—the water’s Spiritual Power is not weak."

"Deep in the swamp, there’s a bit of toxin, although not significantly harmful to humans."

"Thunderous Lightning appears sporadically in any area of the basin, one must be very careful in dealing with it."

"..."

Pang Jian silently sensed.

Without Mysterious Turtle to burrow and investigate for him, he had to use a more crude method to probe the secrets of the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone, feeling out the mysteries of this forbidden land.

The areas called forbidden lands in the Third Realm, unlike lands tainted with Filth Alien Power, are just mixed with various strange energies.

The types of power differing from Spiritual Energy are not suitable for everyone; cultivators who absorb it into their dantian need to cleanse and purify it a second time.

"Boom!"

One of the explorers, who had left the highlands for the sea of mist below before him, was suddenly bewilderingly struck by a bolt of lightning.

That person was blasted into dust and bone before his very eyes.

"Crackle!"

From the area where the lightning originated, a series of slender, gleaming, white bolts appeared out of nowhere for an instant.

After an instant, the gleaming, white lightning inexplicably vanished.

"Splash!"

"Splash, splash!"

Individual cultivators before and behind Pang Jian, as if by mutual understanding, successively produced their Spiritual Power Strong Shields, their faces turning pale as they slowly descended.

"Crackle!"

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck, lighting up a person’s Spiritual Power Strong Shield with a dazzling glow; that person frantically gathered Spiritual Power to sustain it, and it took several seconds before the lightning disappeared.

"Not tempting fate anymore!"

The person who felt quite unlucky turned back towards the highland hills and abandoned the original exploration plan.

Pang Jian was dumbfounded for a moment.

"I wonder if I can absorb this Thunderous Lightning into my Spiritual Sea to perfect my Chaos Sea, helping me to smoothly step into the next stage of the Hollow Profound Realm."

Two days later.

"Whoosh!"

The Landscape Spirit Boat hovering above the basin, now seemingly a bit emptier, suddenly drifted out of the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone.

As the Landscape Spirit Boat flew away, many who had been in the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone secretly heaved a sigh of relief.

Pang Jian was among them.

...