The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 247 - 232 Meddling_1

Chapter 247: Chapter 232 Meddling_1

"Shh!"

In Pang Jian’s hand, the Spirit Sword, about two fingers wide, sometimes shone with red lightning, sometimes bright as silver ice.

"Quite handy after all," he said, a trace of joy seeping through the corners of his mouth.

The Spirit Sword given to him by Lei Kun was actually capable of carrying two different sources of power.

A moment later, in front of Pang Jian.

About a dozen disciples from major sects, each brandishing their Strange Treasures and Spiritual Artifacts, were still pursuing the injured White Crane.

The seemingly wobbly White Crane had learned its lesson—it no longer soared through the sky.

It lurked among the grass and marshes of the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone, occasionally drawing on bolts of Thunderous Lightning to attack those pursuing it.

The crane, no longer solely focused on fleeing the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone, used the complex terrain to escape, greatly complicating the hunters’ chase.

Suddenly, they would lose track of it.

Then, when they caught sight of it again, they were often greeted by a burst of white, shining lightning.

Yet those people cursed and grumbled but still refused to give up.

"Luo Yuan!"

Lu Xiangyi of Sky Water Swamp, seeing Pang Jian in black attire approaching, frowned and asked, "Luo Yuan, are you here for revenge, or for snatching the bracelet from the White Crane?"

"Both," Pang Jian replied, his voice grave.

He had been attacked three times by the White Crane in the Thunder Punishment Land, and they had long since established deep hatred for each other; he could not let it go.

The golden lightning that the White Crane collected from dry bones, a wondrous item from inside a Void Crack, was also something he hoped to seize for himself.

"There’s not enough to go around; seeking revenge is one thing, but if you’re after the crane’s bracelet... I’d advise against it," said the curvaceous and graceful Lu Xiangyi, her almond-shaped eyes wary as she continued, "Sword Tower, you’ve come alone; don’t bring trouble upon yourself."

"Besides, aside from me, the Demon Sect and Black Valley both have Inner Sect Disciples involved."

"Take my advice and don’t act. You can’t compete with us, so it’s better not to make a move and avoid an ugly scene," she warned, seemingly out of "kindness" to prevent a confrontation with weapons drawn.

Lu Xiangyi, along with a few outer sect disciples of Sky Water Swamp who came from the side intending to encircle, had given this piece of advice to avoid the conflict that was bound to happen later.

Pang Jian shook his head and, holding his Spirit Sword, flashed past them.

"Junior Sister Lu, what does he mean by this?" asked an outer sect disciple of Sky Water Swamp, his brow furrowed and voice cold. "You offered kind advice, and he seems ungrateful. Those who came on the Landscape Spiritual Boat are from the Demon Sect and Black Valley, not their Sword Tower disciples!"

"The opportunity within the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone must belong to our three factions; we cannot allow him to interfere!"

"Electric Chaser? Ha, thinks that by practicing the Thunder Secret Skill and making a spectacle of himself, he could join in the competition for Strange Treasures?" other Sword Tower disciples disdainfully sneered. "Dream on!"

Half an hour later.

The White Crane, that had been stealthily avoiding detection, finally crashed into a lake, bombarded by numerous Spiritual Artifacts.

What a coincidence.

This was the same lake where Pang Jian had previously sat in meditation, and where the crane had brought a corpse of a Sky Water Swamp disciple and cast it into the water.

It was here that Pang Jian had produced his sword-shaped Token, avoiding a battle that should have occurred and dispelling the hostility of Lu Xiangyi and the two others.

"Splash!"

The White Crane dove headfirst into the lake.

At the lakeside, the disciples from the three great sects rapidly gathered, encircling the lake.

"Eh, some Individual Cultivators?"

"Still looking? What’s there to see?"

Accompanied by such comments, a few Individual Cultivators who had been wandering around this lake were suddenly attacked and murdered by the Upper Realm’s three sect disciples before they even understood what was happening.

An Individual Cultivator named Qin Le, who arrived on the same Cloud Sail as Pang Jian, was also among those killed.

"We will withdraw!"

"Sirs, we had no intention of competing with you for that White Crane!"

"We were merely nearby by chance, with no plans to become your enemies!" the Individual Cultivators wailed, begging for mercy.

The disciples of the Demon Sect and Black Valley were unmoved and didn’t spare them just because they tried to retreat.

Just then, Pang Jian, who had burst onto the scene, suddenly stopped.

"Sword Tower, Luo Yuan."

"Electric Chaser."

"Yet another one wants a piece of the action."

"..."

The people from the Demon Sect and Black Valley, seeing Pang Jian standing alone by the lake with a cold, displeased face, spoke.

Their displeasure was one thing, but they refrained from acting against Pang Jian because he had not yet revealed his intention to snatch the bracelet from the White Crane.

They continued the slaughter of the Individual Cultivators.

"Luo Yuan!"

Qin Le, his bones shattered by a blow from the Purple Crystal Pagoda, looked at Pang Jian with eyes pleading for rescue and indignantly said, "We’ve done nothing; we were only wandering nearby. Why do we have to be senselessly killed by you?"

"Luo Yuan, we’ve been dodging disciples from great sects like you all along in the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone!"

"We dare not provoke you, nor dare to compete with you for anything; what did we do wrong?"

"Just because we’re Individual Cultivators wandering in such a Forbidden Land, do we deserve to die?"

Qin Le’s eyes were streaming with blood.

He harbored towering grievances with nowhere to vent, and at this moment, he was filled with hatred for all disciples of the various sects.

"If you were from the Third Realm, disciples of sects like the Raging Sun Sect, Red Mountain, or Star River Alliance, we might have spared you."

The Black Valley disciple controlling the Purple Crystal Pagoda said with a cold, hard expression: "But as a mere Individual Cultivator, killing you is no different from killing you. There are some odds and ends on each of you, enough to pick our teeth with."

Killing Qin Le and the others was like killing Ferocious Beasts in the Forbidden Land for their materials, utterly without reason.

"Sects, noble families, Individual Cultivators..."

Pang Jian frowned slightly.

If it weren’t for being gifted a blue robe by Qi Qingsong and left with a sword-shaped Token that could represent his identity, he would have been just another Individual Cultivator in the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone.

The fate that befell Qin Le and the others would have been his fate as well.

Back in the Thousand Miles of Cloud Land of the Fourth Realm, when Blood Moon’s Fei Zheng used the Beast-Catching Ship, his treatment of the people at Dark Ghost’s stronghold was exactly the same as the Black Valley disciple’s attitude toward Qin Le now.

The disciples of the Upper Realm sects have a natural sense of superiority once they enter the Lower Realm, as if they were above everyone else.

"Go!"

He launched the Spirit Sword in his hand.

A streak of icy sword light shot across the lake surrounded by people and struck the Purple Crystal Pagoda that was chasing Qin Le with uncanny accuracy.

With a "clang," the Purple Crystal Pagoda, which was about to shatter Qin Le’s skull the next moment, was sent flying far away.

"Luo Yuan!"

The face of the owner of the Pagoda darkened, and a chill flashed in his eyes as he said coldly, "Dare to touch my Ye Fei’s property! Do you, an outer disciple of the Sword Tower, think you’re Qi Qingsong?"

"This man and I have history, I ask you to spare him."

Pang Jian said indifferently, intervening.

As he spoke, he had already flown to Qin Le’s side and withdrew the hovering Spirit Sword back into his palm.

Glancing at the badly injured Qin Le, Pang Jian said, "Now, you’re the only one left alive. Once you leave this lake, disappear from the Cloud Thunder Forbidden Zone as soon as you can."

Qin Le struggled to his feet and gave a bow. He opened his mouth to express his thanks but instead spat out a mouthful of blood.

Seeing that Black Valley’s Ye Fei was about to activate the Purple Crystal Pagoda again, he didn’t foolishly insist on staying to say thanks and hurried away like a willow leaf on the wind.

"Whoosh!"

As the Purple Crystal Pagoda gave chase, it was once again felled by Pang Jian’s sword.

"Luo Yuan!"

Ye Fei, who was controlling the Pagoda from afar, had to unwillingly fly over, caught the returning Pagoda in midair, and said with a heavy voice, "If you were Qi Qingsong, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Sword Tower, I would give you face and let this man, who has history with you, live."

"But you are not Qi Qingsong, you’re just one of the many nondescript outer disciples of the Sword Tower."

"So, you don’t have the status to protect this man!"

Ye Fei hurled the Purple Crystal Pagoda out once more.

The Pagoda, now held afresh by him, had been charged with power. Its speed as it hovered in the air was not only faster but also scattered dazzling purple radiance along its path.

Within the captivating glow, numerous strange patterns emerged with Alien Powers that could disturb the Sea of Consciousness.

The retreating Qin Le snorted coldly. Black blood trickled from his nostrils, and his pupils were slightly fractured. The Light Body Skill he was using was immediately disrupted, and he plummeted from the sky.

"Swoosh!"

Pang Jian, without saying another word, threw his Spirit Sword out again.

The previously ice-cold Spirit Sword suddenly turned crimson. Blade, tip, and body were enshrouded with lightning of the same color, emitting an intense Sun God Glare.

"Boom!"

The Spirit Sword overtook and for the third time stabbed at the Purple Crystal Pagoda, shattering Ye Fei’s Pagoda with a single strike!

"My Purple Pagoda!"

Ye Fei screamed sharply.

Qin Le, who had just escaped death, rolled and scrambled to fly up again, repeatedly looking back at Pang Jian.

The gratitude in his eyes was evident to everyone.

He never expected that this Sword Tower disciple, whom he had only met by chance on Wang Ying’s Cloud Sail, would actually risk offending an Inner Sect Disciple of Black Valley to repeatedly come to his aid.

"Luo Yuan, I hope I have the chance to repay you in the future," Qin Le thought, having successfully escaped.

"Luo Yuan!"

Ye Fei arrived at the shattered Purple Crystal Pagoda. His heart bled as he picked up the Purple Crystal Fragments one by one.

This scene was clearly witnessed by Lu Xiangyi of the Sky Water Swamp, who had just arrived.

"Luo Yuan!"

Lu Xiangyi’s eyes showed shock, and she looked intently at Pang Jian, who held the sword. She muttered with furrowed brows, "Without revealing the Strange Treasure on White Crane, he chose to go to war with Ye Fei to protect someone with whom he has history, an Individual Cultivator."

"Ye Fei is an Inner Sect Disciple of Black Valley!"

A disciple of Sky Water Swamp who had come with her said with a fearful look after glancing at the visibly unsettled Ye Fei, "It’s really unwise for Luo Yuan to provoke him just for the sake of an Individual Cultivator."

"Sister Lu, you’ve repeatedly reminded and tried to persuade him, but he just wouldn’t listen," another person said, frowning and looking disdainfully at Pang Jian, "Black Valley won’t be waiting to hunt the White Crane at the bottom of the lake – they’ll be settling the score with Luo Yuan first."

A group of newcomers from the Demon Sect were whispering among themselves, all looking coldly at Pang Jian.

They seemed very familiar with Ye Fei, knowing that he would not let this slide after being wronged.

"I said that man and I have history, asked you to spare him, but you just wouldn’t listen."

Pang Jian looked at the Black Valley disciple calmly, his eyes serene as he said with a note of regret, "It’s truly a pity that a Pagoda has been destroyed just like that."

...