The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 239 - 224 Despicable Crane_1

Chapter 239: Chapter 224 Despicable Crane_1

Pang Jian, wandering in the basin, had learned from some individual cultivators who had arrived earlier that there had been frequent anomalies in the Forbidden Land recently.

Thus, it was that a Landscape Spiritual Boat had flown over.

The Demon Sect of the Second Realm and Black Valley had each arranged for a group of disciples to ride on the Sky Water Swamp’s Landscape Spiritual Boat and enter the Forbidden Land, each seeking their own fortunes.

Most of these disciples’ cultivation levels were in the Innate Realm and the Hollow Profound Realm, with not one in the Spirit Condensation Realm.

Among them, only the Elder of Sky Water Swamp who controlled the Landscape Spiritual Boat possessed late-stage Spirit Condensation Realm cultivation.

He was said to be bound to the Landscape Spiritual Boat.

Wherever he was, there the Landscape Spiritual Boat would be, and the departure of the boat also indicated that the Spirit Condensation Realm Elder had left.

The Mysterious Turtle had already gone far, and Pang Jian, unable to achieve Integration in a Fragement Land, did not possess "Demigod" mysteries and was truly at Hollow Profound Realm battle power.

Nor did he fancy encountering a Spirit Condensation Realm Great Cultivator from Sky Water Swamp in the Forbidden Land below his feet, so their departure naturally played to his advantage.

Watching the Spirit Boat disappear, a relaxed Pang Jian finally leisurely made his way deeper into the basin.

"Shi la!"

A faint white ephemeral lightning suddenly appeared in the mist ahead.

An individual cultivator who wasn’t cautious enough, his protective Firm Cover not yet summoned, was struck by an inexplicable flash of lightning and died on the spot, his body charred black.

By the time Pang Jian arrived, he saw that two individual cultivators had preceded him.

"This piece of basin, the reason it is referred to as the Forbidden Land, is because it kills people."

A Hollow Profound Realm cultivator with a chilling aura yanked the storage bag off the corpse and said coldly to the other, "Remember, in the mid-stage Innate Realm, summoning a protective Firm Cover consumes a lot of Spiritual Power, but it’s best to keep it activated at all times."

"That’s what happens when you take off your protective Firm Cover."

Pointing at the charred body, the man glanced, wary of Pang Jian who also had not summoned his Firm Cover, "You have Hollow Profound Realm cultivation, but you need to be just as careful. Unless, of course, you are one of those adept at refining the body, who might survive one or two lightning strikes."

His Firm Cover was a pale blue, exuding a cold aura, clearly cultivating a frigid and lethal Spirit Spell.

Pang Jian, reminded by the man, simply nodded and said, "Thanks for the warning."

Though his mouth expressed gratitude, he showed no intention of summoning the Spiritual Power Strong Shield.

"In the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone, there’s no shortage of those who die from overconfidence."

Dropping this line, the man drifted away from the corpse.

The cultivator in the mid-stage Innate Realm hurriedly released a dusky yellow Spiritual Power Strong Shield.

Defending against potentially violent lightning that could emerge any moment, and also cautious of higher-level cultivators, he silently bemoaned the rapid depletion of his Spiritual Power with a rueful smile.

With his mid-stage Innate Realm cultivation and the total amount of Spiritual Power in his Spiritual Sea, he could maintain this state for at most a couple of hours.

Then, his Spiritual Power would be completely exhausted.

"Forget it..."

Casting a glance at Pang Jian and then at the departing figure, he sighed and headed towards the towering hills, opting not to continue his venture in the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone.

Pang Jian, however, remained unperturbed and continued deeper into the basin.

His exposed skin shone with a silver luster, his cultivation of the Great Creation Sacred Body granting him a "silver membrane" different from the Spiritual Power Strong Shield.

Because of this "silver membrane," he dared to boldly move about in the Forbidden Land without needing to summon the Spiritual Power Strong Shield.

Moreover, he seemed to be extremely lucky along the way, never favored by the Thunderous Lightning.

This made Pang Jian, who was somewhat hoping to be favored by Thunderous Lightning to attempt absorbing its power into his dantian for a breakthrough, feel a touch disappointed.

Night fell.

Still not cherished by the lightning, Pang Jian settled down beside a lake with a hint of helplessness.

He took out high-grade Ferocious Beast meat to eat and drank half a bucket of fifth-level Ferocious Beast Blood.

Feeling the vigor of surging blood energy, he practiced the Great Creation Sacred Body unabashedly by the lake, once again tempering his bones.

He, who had minor success in the Phantom Bone Realm, longed to reach full mastery soon and be able to freely manipulate the tendons connecting his bones to alter his height.

After achieving full mastery in the Phantom Bone Realm, he could suddenly retract or extend his arms and legs when fighting an opponent.

In such a state, his hand and foot bones were naturally sharp as knives, and when he reached the limit of arm length in close combat, a sudden protrusion of his knife-sharp hand bones could instantly lay an opponent to rest on the spot.

For this reason, Pang Jian diligently practiced.

Time passed unknowingly.

"Splash!"

A white-winged immortal crane elegantly flew in front of him over the lake and dropped a man clad in Sky Water Swamp’s robe into the water, leaving him dead.

It emitted a delighted and melodious cry.

The slender-bodied immortal crane, having killed someone from Sky Water Swamp somewhere, had an insolent look in its eyes.

While Pang Jian was cultivating the Great Creation Sacred Body and took note of the crane, it too sensed the immense Qi and Blood energy within Pang Jian.

Its intelligent eyes showed surprise as it glided over his head, throwing him a...storage bag.

The crane in midair flapped one of its wings, as if waving hello to Pang Jian, suggesting he shouldn’t be too thankful for its magnanimity.

Pang Jian was taken aback, casually picking up the storage bag only to find it empty.

Looking up again, he noticed the immortal crane winking at him with a mischievous look of successful trickery.

The immortal crane then cheerfully flew away.

Pang Jian couldn’t help but smile.

Such a wise and intelligent immortal crane, he had never seen in Solitude Mountain Range, Thousand Miles of Cloud Land, or Yuanmang; this was clearly not one of those recklessly murderous ferocious beasts.

Unconcerned about being teased by the immortal crane, Pang Jian continued to cultivate the Great Creation Sacred Body by the lakeside.

The nighttime basin, buried deep in thick clouds, was starkly dark as the star and moon radiance from the sky was obstructed by the cloud layer, giving Pang Jian a feeling of returning to the Fourth Realm.

"The starless and moonless night doesn’t affect my vision; nightfall actually gives me an advantage,"

Pang Jian thought silently.

An hour later.

"Yao’s storage pouch!"

While Pang Jian was still in bitter cultivation, two men and a woman suddenly crept over and surrounded him.

Their vision wasn’t affected by the darkness either, all focusing intently on the storage pouch beside Pang Jian, their eyes shining with malevolent light.

Like the person abandoned by the crane in the lake, they too hailed from Sky Water Swamp and had just been searching for their long-missing junior brother, only to end up at Pang Jian’s location.

As soon as they arrived, they spotted the storage pouch that Pang Jian had tossed aside, not even bothering to glance at it.

"Yao has been harmed!"

"Damn it, how dare someone from the Third Realm kill one of our own from Sky Water Swamp?"

"You heartless and crazy scoundrel!"

The three of them accused sharply.

"I..."

Realizing that something was terribly amiss, Pang Jian then understood that he had been framed by that crane.

Seeing the grim expressions on their faces, Pang Jian steeled himself and explained, "It has nothing to do with me. The person you’re looking for was killed by a crane, and the body lies in the lake. I was simply... just thrown an empty storage pouch by that crane."

"A crane?"

The fair and beautiful woman from Sky Water Swamp, her eyes filled with lethal intent, sneered: "Do you believe that yourself?"

"It’s the truth."

Pang Jian said coldly.

"Go!"

The woman tossed out a pearl, which fell towards the lake beside her.

The pearl, like her eyes, indeed saw the already deceased junior brother at the bottom of the lake, which changed her expression.

"Yao is indeed dead at the bottom of the lake!"

She suddenly shrieked.

She became more convinced that it was the man before her who had killed their fellow sect member and dumped the body in the lake, quickly blaming it on a crane when they found him.

"Where do you hail from to have the audacity to kill one of us from Sky Water Swamp?"

"Did Yao ever offend you?"

The two male Sky Water Swamp sect members asked coldly with a straight face.

A silver sword with a fish-scale handle, along with a gilded bottle containing some kind of liquid, had been taken out by the two men, who were infusing them with spiritual energy.

Their mouths asked questions, but they had no intention of listening to Pang Jian’s explanation, ready to take action immediately.

Pang Jian shook his head, narrowed his eyes, and sensed quietly for a moment, feeling that the cultivation realm of all three was roughly equivalent to his own.

Both men should be in the early stages of the Hollow Profound Realm, while the cultivation level of the woman was slightly higher.

But at most, it was the middle stage of the Hollow Profound Realm.

"Sky Water Swamp, two men and one woman, three at Hollow Profound Realm..."

Pang Jian silently assessed.

Just as he was about to take action, deciding which item to select from his storage bracelet, he inadvertently saw that sword-shaped token.

After a moment’s hesitation, not wanting to engage in a senseless fight over a misunderstanding before even entering the depths of the Forbidden Land, Pang Jian took out the sword-shaped token and hung it on his waist.

"Sword Tower!"

"You’re a disciple of Sword Tower!"

The three from Sky Water Swamp who were about to take action, their expressions suddenly turned grave, and the light released from the artifacts in their hands dimmed suddenly.

It was evident that the identity of a Sword Tower disciple made them highly cautious.

Demon Sect, Sword Tower, these were leading powers in the Second Realm, far surpassing their own Sky Water Swamp, so they dared not rashly inflict harm upon a Sword Tower disciple without a clear understanding of the situation.

"Hmm, I am indeed an outer disciple of Sword Tower,"

Pang Jian stood up, frowning as he explained: "I have been traveling in the Third Realm for some time now and heard about the curious phenomena in Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone, so I decided to come have a look by Cloud Sail. The death of your junior brother Yao has really nothing to do with me. I have no desire to engage in a senseless battle with you."

"Is it really a crane?"

The fair and beautiful Sky Water Swamp woman asked calmly.

The other two, who previously weren’t even willing to listen to an explanation and intended to kill Pang Jian first and sift through his possessions to determine whether Yao’s death was related to him, were now restrained and calm.

"It was indeed a crane."

Pang Jian described the event, pointing in the direction from which the crane had come, adding that the crane was full of spiritual awareness and enjoyed playing tricks on people.

"We’ll believe you for now,"

The woman from Sky Water Swamp huffed and finally said, "We’re giving you a chance to prove Yao’s death had nothing to do with you solely because you are from Sword Tower."

Pang Jian silently thought: "The Sword Tower identity indeed comes in handy."

...