The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 284 - 269 "Peering at the Sky from the Bottom of a Well_1

Chapter 284: Chapter 269 "Peering at the Sky from the Bottom of a Well_1

The Divine Tree possessed a spirit, named Pang Ling.

"Pang Ling!"

"My name is Pang Ling!"

"I have a name now!"

Her delicate, slender spiritual body twirled joyfully within the leaves, her skirt hem scattering specks of divine brilliance.

The glow, harboring the force of life, flew out from the leaves and descended toward the earth below.

Just budded flowers and grass, upon touching those luminescent green radiance, grew visibly faster, with inches of grass shooting up in an instant.

She was ecstatic, as if she had been reborn in another form, celebrating for herself.

"My... child."

Pang Jian gazed blankly at the spirit of the sapling.

This sapling, which had condensed from the "Gate of Purgatory" and been planted in Thousand Miles of Cloud Land, had after two years developed a visible soul that could communicate smoothly with him without thought.

He felt a strange sensation and was somewhat moved.

"Then how should I address you, Father? Dad?"

Pang Ling, twirling her form, asked curiously.

Pang Jian, with a weird look on his face, felt his soul drifting as if in the clouds, his mind in a dizzy haze from her repeated calls of father and dad.

"Pang Jian, just call me Pang Jian!"

He sharply chided, albeit not harshly.

"Oh, whatever Father says is right, you say Pang Jian, then... Pang Jian it is."

Pang Ling, with her new name, clapped her hands gently and said sweetly, "Father, you rarely visit, you must stay with me longer this time, you can’t be in a hurry to leave."

"Huh!"

The leaf she occupied detached from the branch and fluttered in mid-air.

"Father, let me take you around. With your help, I seized that place called Sky Rampart from Fragment Land, and you haven’t even been there yet."

Her spiritual body’s leaf drifted toward the distance.

"I don’t want to be seen by the members of the Wood Tribe!"

Pang Jian quickly expressed.

"It won’t happen."

Pang Ling’s leaf, harboring her spiritual body, fluttered lightheartedly in midair.

A slender, glowing green river of light, through the path of the leaf, was made manifest, emerging in the Cloud Marsh sky and exuding a thick breath of life.

"I have a name now, my name is Pang Ling, I am now a complete living being!"

Her laughter echoed through Pang Jian’s soul.

Pang Jian, with mixed feelings, followed the guidance of the magical leaves, moving from the root of the Corrosion Boundary Vine in Thousand Miles of Cloud Land, toward another piece of Fragment Land.

Along the way, indeed no Wood Tribe member was seen.

Occasionally, they would encounter some unintelligent ferocious beasts, staring with odd expressions at the leaf concealing Pang Ling, as it carried him through the Thousand Miles of Cloud Land.

There would be ferocious beasts revealing murderous intent, suddenly charging towards him.

But then, giants trees along the way would intercept, binding those beasts to the muddy earth, preventing them from getting anywhere close to Pang Jian.

"Corrosion Boundary Vine, the World Tree, one of the sources of filth, possessing the power to destroy a realm."

The words of the Li Family girl were recalled by Pang Jian.

Looking at Pang Ling within the leaf, innocent and carefree, feeling her joy and pure heart, it was impossible for Pang Jian to associate her with the source of evil and filth described by Li Yuqing.

"Li Yuqing might be mistaken, the Alien God that possessed the Woodman from the Outer Realm, that must be the so-called source of filth."

Pang Jian muttered internally.

Before long.

"Sky Rampart City."

Looking up at the majestic city, Pang Jian frowned.

The layout of this city was very similar to that of Sky Fortune City, originally also ruled by the Shangguan Family.

Now, Sky Rampart City was filled with dense vegetation, with heaps of bones visible on the desolate streets.

Those who failed to leave in time, both mortals and cultivators, could not withstand the corruption of the Filth Alien Power.

Their flesh eroded away, leaving only dry bones.

A sense of death and desolation struck the face, and the air filled with filth reeked of decay.

"I did not cause this, it was like this when I took over..."

Like a little girl who had done something wrong, Pang Ling timidly stated from within the leaf, "It was the energy drifting up from the Lower Realm that did all this, it has nothing to do with me."

"I know."

Pang Jian took a deep breath.

He was also a member of the Human Race, and while he held no emotional attachment to the people of Sky Rampart City or Sky Fortune City, actually being there and seeing all those skeletons did affect him somewhat.

One could hardly imagine how many similar scenes must exist in the Fragment Lands of the Fourth Realm.

Those who were not relocated to the Third Realm, those who didn’t escape the land of filth in time, likely all met the same fate.

Unlike him, carrying the Chaos Sea and having successfully performed the Marrow Cleaning in the Fifth Realm’s Bagua City, there probably wasn’t a second one to be found in the Fourth Realm.

Not as unique as him, nor a peerless genius like Li Yuqing, it was extremely difficult for the people of the Fifth Realm to survive in such an environment.

"Father, I’ve chosen a place, and I’ll take you there now."

Pang Ling’s leaf rippled with circles of ancient tree rings, and she said with a beaming smile, "I think Father will like it there, I’ve had it cleaned up, let’s go there quickly."

She led the way ahead.

Pang Jian listened to her delicate voice and followed the leaf that harbored her spiritual body, arriving at a tasteful mansion in Sky Rampart City.

Upon entering, Pang Jian saw a uniquely designed pool within the mansion, replete with rockeries and flowing water, and in the pool bloomed vibrant lotus flowers amid the green lily pads.

Ivy creepers blanketed the walls of the mansion, lending the place a lush greenery.

By the pond, in a small flower bed, a hundred flowers competed for beauty in full bloom.

"Father, I know you might not be used to staying long in the region where I’ve taken root. After all, it’s still too barren and lacks the company of your own kind—it’s just filled with trees. So..."

"I found this place for you."

Enveloped in leaves, Pang Ling rustled, shedding strands of green radiance that imbued the Qing He and the blossoms within the flower bed with a hint of vitality.

"There’s also a lounge chair here."

The leaves drifted to a chair and settled down.

Gazing at the floating leaves and the little girl with pleading eyes inside, Pang Jian’s heart warmed, and he lay down on the wooden lounger as suggested.

Facing the lotus-filled pond, Pang Jian too felt a sense of boundless serenity and contentment.

He thought, if there were no troubles and disasters in the world, no frequent interventions from Alien Gods from the Outer Realm, no irreconcilable conflicts between the Alien Tribes of the Fifth Realm and the Human Race...

...then living comfortably in such a city, with his sister Pang Lin by his side, and three or five good friends like Zhou Qingchen and Qi Qingsong, would certainly be a fine life.

Alas...

On the way to the mansion, he had seen too many skeletons. In the corners of streets and alleyways, inside the open wooden and stone houses, by some dry wells, skeletons were everywhere to be seen.

This was not a peaceful and prosperous era. No matter which world, it was filled with wars and disasters.

The tree wishes to stay still but the wind keeps blowing. If he were content with the status quo, if he really stopped in comfort...

Monsters comparable to level ten Thunder Dragons in the "Mysterious Fog," Alien Gods from the Outer Realm wanting to kill the Sapling, and The Observer from another world spying on this place...

...these fierce and mighty existences from beyond this world would reappear at some point in the future, making him taste the bitter fruit of his complacency.

"Father, will you stay with me for a few more days, please?"

Pang Ling softly pleaded.

"All right."

Seeing such a spirited and able-to-manifest-in-physical-form little tree, Pang Jian truly couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

He could guess that there should also have been skeletons within this elegant mansion.

Pang Ling must have arranged for those of the Wood Tribe who heeded her to clean away all the skeletons long ago to avoid displeasing him upon his visit.

"Father, I’m actually very scared. I’m really afraid of dying."

"That creature eyeing me will surely reappear. I don’t know when He’ll come again."

"With you by my side, I feel safe, and not so fearful of Him."

"..."

By the pond permeated with Filth Alien Power, Pang Jian gazed upon the lotuses filling it, listening to Pang Ling’s heartfelt confessions.

Pang Ling, who had just condensed into a Spiritual Body, greatly enjoyed the time spent with him, chattering endlesly.

"Take a break, I’ll arrange for the Wood Tribe’s people to keep working for me."

Seeing Pang Jian looked a bit weary, she considerately paused and her Spiritual Body, along with the leaves, took flight into the sky.

Midair, she released her thoughts and communicated with the Wood Tribe’s people.

At that moment, Pang Jian rubbed his temples and glanced at his own Spiritual Sea.

Following the previous battle, the powers of the sun, stars, and moon within his Spiritual Sea had been the most depleted, now appearing slightly dim.

The Ice Pool, Flame Pool, and Thunder Pond, enriched by the Beast Blood flesh he consumed, which also bore these three forces, had been sufficiently replenished.

"The future is unpredictable; combat might occur in the next moment."

"First, maintain the fullness of the powers of the sun, moon, and stars."

He took out the mysterious Copper Box, softly informed Pang Ling, then lay down inside to absorb the radiance of the sun and moon.

Within the world of the box.

A dazzling great sun hung close to Pang Jian, so near he felt he could almost touch it!

As surging waves of heat approached, the great sun, appearing immensely vast, shone with sunlight, which he absorbed into his Spiritual Sea with the "Pot Heaven Nourishing Qi Spell."

In the Spiritual Sea, the sun he had condensed gradually brightened.

"Why has the sun suddenly become so close?"

He focused and looked closely.

The next moment, strands of golden Divine Sense left the Sea of Consciousness and entered his eyes.

In an instant, his eyes turned golden.

With a pair of golden pupils, Pang Jian looked up at the immense sun above him. He suddenly felt as though he and the sun were rapidly drawing closer.

The sun, releasing boundless divine flames, grew even larger in his vision as if he were flying toward that star!

Suddenly.

"Whoosh!"

A grandiose golden palace abruptly filled his vision.

He was thunderstruck, feeling a slight sting in his pupils as if burned by the brilliance emanating from the palace.

Suspended in the sky, within the Purgatory World beyond, there lay a golden palace hidden within the sun!

This discovery sent shivers down Pang Jian’s spine.

"Real? Or an illusion?"

He concentrated his attention once more on the sight and saw at the very top of the golden palace, a staircase that seemed to reach the heavens.

At the end of the staircase, there was a golden Divine Seat exuding a sacred and majestic aura.

Several Three-legged Golden Crows danced above the golden Divine Seat, their wings igniting with Sun God Fire as if in anticipation of something.

The Divine Seat, carved with Divine Birds, dragons, phoenixes, Kylins, Mysterious Turtles, and other Monsters, was currently unoccupied. Yet, above the empty seat, ripples of space familiar to Pang Jian shimmered.

It was as though a powerful and mysterious entity was about to come over from another world.

...

PS: Meekly asking for a monthly ticket~