The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 292 - 277: The Observer Reappears_1

Chapter 292: Chapter 277: The Observer Reappears_1

"Thump!"

In Black Valley, Shen Dong, like the others, had retracted his protective shield, and like the others, he collapsed to the ground with a bang.

His death came without warning, his face calm, his open eyes betraying confusion.

"Shen Dong!"

Qi Qingsong cried out in alarm.

Familiar with Shen Dong and having some rapport with him, he hurriedly moved closer to inspect, hoping to see if there was any chance of saving him.

"Thump! Thump thump!"

From the third floor, the second floor, and from the rooms and stands, the sound of bodies hitting the floor continued to resound.

Pang Jian’s expression tightened slightly, and he instinctively moved to Zhou Qingchen’s side, saying gravely, "Zhou, don’t stray too far from me."

Zhou Qingchen was also shaken by the deaths occurring before his eyes and asked in astonishment, "How did they die?"

"Thump! Thump thump!"

Within the cabins, on the deck, the deceased kept falling.

In a blink of an eye, over a dozen people died inexplicably.

"Do not retract your protective shields!"

In a time of widespread panic, a Black Valley woman named Lu Lingchan coldly commanded, "There are invisible entities among us, seizing the opportunity to penetrate our bodies the moment our shields vanish."

At these words, those Sword Tower and Black Valley disciples who were at a loss, fearing that their shields weren’t strong enough, frantically condensed their spiritual power, illuminating every shield with dazzling brilliance.

Below, on the deck.

"Hiss!"

Embedded deep in Dong Tianze’s brow, a resplendent phoenix dancing gracefully, suddenly exuded a divine aura.

It emitted a brilliant light, akin to diamond crystals, shining from the phoenix seal on his forehead, enveloping his body securely.

Dong Tianze’s face turned grave as he hastily reactivated the recently retracted spiritual power shield, a rare look of panic in his eyes.

Like those who had perished, in a moment of carelessness, he too had dismissed his shield.

But the phoenix seal on his brow had detected the danger instantly, protecting him in time with its hidden might, allowing him to narrowly escape fate.

"I knew the Mysterious Fog was utterly terrifying."

Always cautious because he knew his abilities were modest, Zhou Qingchen had kept his shield up. He quickly looked down at Zhao Yuanqi on the deck below, "Zhao, are you okay?"

"I’m fine."

The girl in black with silver hair and carrying a huge wine gourd, her delicate face full of pride.

Four disciples from the Sword Tower and Black Valley lay dead beside her.

She snorted lightly, looking disdainfully at the panicking disciples from the Sword Tower and Black Valley and said, "How dare you be so careless in the Mysterious Fog, truly seeking death."

The surviving members of both groups gave her a cold glance, showing some displeasure.

"We haven’t even entered the Absolute Sky Forbidden Land, and...

Startled, Fang Boxuan moved away from the bodies beside him and silently approached Lu Lingchan of Black Valley.

He seemed to think that by being closer to this reticent girl, he might be a bit safer.

"Fang Xuan? You’re Fang Xuan, aren’t you?"

Behind Lu Lingchan, a woman in her fifties stared at Fang Boxuan, scrutinizing him before asking, "Fang Xuan, is that really you?"

"You’ve mistaken me for someone else, I am Fang Boxuan from the Blood Moon, not some Fang Xuan."

Fang Boxuan said with a frown.

"No! I’ve seen you before, you are Fang Xuan!"

The woman pointed at Fang Boxuan, very sure of herself, "Before the Fang Family was wiped out, you disappeared, and now it turns out you went to the Third Realm!"

"That’s right, the Fang Family had provoked the Demon Sect, they were afraid you would be found by them, so they could only send you to the Third Realm!"

"Fang Xuan, whether you admit it or not, I know it’s you!"

The woman scoffed.

"Demon Abyss Continent, Fang Family."

Lu Lingchan of Black Valley, surprised, looked at Fang Boxuan approaching her, her thick lashes trembling slightly as she said, "Fang Xuan, is it you?"

"It’s not me! You’ve gotten the wrong person!"

Fang Boxuan said coldly, suddenly moving away from where Lu Lingchan stood, to Dong Tianze’s side.

Alone and seated at the top of Black Iron Mountain, Dong Tianze watched Fang Boxuan with a peculiar gaze and said, "No wonder, you’re so familiar with the Saint Spirit Continent, even knowing the legends of the four great spirit beasts."

"You turn out to be from the Second Realm."

Dong Tianze seemed slightly surprised.

"I’ve told you, they’ve got the wrong person," Fang Boxuan shook his head.

"Miss, he is Fang Xuan!"

Standing behind Lu Lingchan, a lean-faced elderly woman with an acerbic look said with a sneer, "Speaking of which, you two had a betrothal back in the day. It’s a pity the Fang Family was eradicated by the Demon Sect, and all direct lineage was slain, leaving only Fang Xuan, who was sent to the Third Realm."

Lu Lingchan, born into the Lu military family from the Second Realm, spoke softly, "I was young back then, only heard of him and never saw him in person."

She looked at Fang Boxuan from afar, a complex expression in her eyes—perplexed, curious, and sympathetic.

She thought to herself, "He approached quietly, probably never considering that Mrs. Huang would uncover his identity. Is his proximity because he wanted to... see me?"

On the third floor of the Sword Boat.

"Fang Xuan..."

Qi Qingsong’s gaze moved from Shen Dong’s body on the floor, looking thoughtfully at Fang Boxuan for a moment.

Pang Jian, however, didn’t care about Fang Boxuan’s identity.

With his protective shield activated, he crouched down to examine Shen Dong’s body. After a moment’s hesitation, he suddenly summoned the Astonishing Spear and used its tip to prod Shen Dong a few times.

"Pfft!"

Where the spear tip struck, blood oozed out.

"Brother Pang, there’s no need to examine like this, is there?"

Nie You, also an Inner Sect Disciple, furrowed his brow and said, "If you stab him a few more times, there won’t be anything left of his body. Also, Brother Pang, don’t you use a sword?"

Several Inner Sect Disciples from the Sword Tower watched as Shen Dong’s body was quickly riddled with holes and said sternly, "Brother Pang, what’s the point of doing this?"

Pang Jian did not even lift his head as he coldly responded, "So you don’t die as inexplicably as he did."

Poking around in Shen Dong’s skeletal remains with the Astonishing Spear, he found nothing unusual. Then, with the tip of the spear, he lifted and flipped the remains, tapping and probing the back.

Just as the spear tip was about to enter the back of Shen Dong’s skull...

In Pang Jian’s Sea of Consciousness, the twelve fine threads of golden Divine Sense, as if suddenly triggered, retracted into his pupils.

His eyes instantly became golden!

At that moment, he saw many green ants, their abdomens swollen, crawling out from Shen Dong’s eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.

Each ant appeared to have feasted to its heart’s content.

A chill in his heart, Pang Jian abruptly stood up and looked towards the deck and various other places on the third level.

He immediately found that all those who had died from the dismissing of their Firm Cover had numerous green ants entering and exiting the holes on their faces!

Those bloated green ants were invisible to the eyes of the others and undetectable by normal Divine Sense.

Only his Divine Consciousness, which contained a trace of the divine, gathered deep within his pupils, could make them visible!

"They can’t break through the Spiritual Power Strong Shield and can only enter the brain when the cultivator lowers their guard, in an invisible state. What they’re nibbling on must be... brain matter!"

Pang Jian immediately understood the situation and promptly activated the Power of the Sun and Flame Force.

The tip of the Astonishing Spear instantly burst into fierce flames.

"Boom!"

Shen Dong’s body immediately caught fire, and the green ants that had crawled out of his brain were burned to a "sizzle" in the flames.

Faint traces of Alien Power, from the dead green ants, dispersed, and with his golden pupils, Pang Jian could see them clearly.

"Containing extremely faint Divine Consciousness..."

Pang Jian’s eyes brightened as he thought about how to collect that visible Alien Power.

"Hiss!"

A golden electric arc suddenly shot out from his pupils.

Following his intent, the arc wove through the void, absorbing the Alien Power released by all the burned green ants.

The fine golden electric arc quietly grew stronger!

"It works!"

Pang Jian was invigorated.

He leaped to the deck of the Sword Boat and thrust his long spear repeatedly.

Bunches of bright flames wrapped around the corpses of the inexplicably dead disciples from the Sword Tower and Black Valley, burning all the green ants he could temporarily see.

More golden electric arcs flew from his pupils, capturing the faint Divine Consciousness that the dead green ants had released.

"Pang Jian, what are you doing?"

"Everyone’s already dead, do you need to turn them to ashes too?"

"Surely this isn’t necessary?"

The cultivators from Sword Tower and Black Valley complained dissatisfiedly.

Lu Lingchan, with her icy beauty, seeing one of the senior sisters who had taken good care of her also be burned to bones by Pang Jian, coldly shouted, "Stop!"

Pang Jian turned a deaf ear.

"Whoosh!"

From the bamboo flute in Lu Lingchan’s hands, different colors of brilliance emerged through each sound hole – gold, black, dark green, azure blue...

Each sound wave, as if to shatter the soul, quietly locked onto Pang Jian’s Spirit Sea of Consciousness, ready to strike at any moment.

"If you dare to act, Lu Lingchan, all of your Black Valley people will roll out of the Sword Boat right now!"

Qi Qingsong landed heavily, standing in front of Pang Jian, glaring at Lu Lingchan, who seemed eager to make a move, and shouted, "If you can’t understand, then shut your mouth and save the nonsense."

He then roared at the disciples from Sword Tower, "Are all of you blind? Can’t you see they were poisoned?"

"Poison?"

A chill settled in the hearts of the crowd, and they hurried away from the burning bodies.

Upon hearing Qi Qingsong threaten to kick all Black Valley members off the boat, and seeing his firm support for Pang Jian, Lu Lingchan’s brows knitted slightly, "He better be right."

Pang Jian ignored her, with six golden lightning bolts flying from his pupils, absorbing the Divine Consciousness unseen by the others.

He executed his spear technique, and bursts of dazzling fireballs continued to appear.

"Boom! Boom, boom!"

Fierce fireballs chased after the green ants that tried to fly out from the corpses’ brains and escape.

After a while.

Pang Jian suddenly activated the Mysterious Turtle Shell’s "Gravity Control" talent, flying solo out of the Sword Boat, in pursuit of the fleeing green ants.

"Han, you make the Sword Boat follow Pang Jian. Wherever he goes, the Sword Boat follows!"

After instructing Han, Qi Qingsong turned to Pang Jian and shouted, "Pang Jian, what exactly is happening?"

The Sword Boat soared, catching up to Pang Jian, who was controlling the spear, racing through the depths of the Mysterious Fog.

A quarter of an hour later.

A flag, dark yellow and riddled with holes, appeared in the depth of the thick fog.

Wielding the Astonishing Spear, having activated the hidden talents of the Mysterious Turtle Shell, and surrounded by the Qingying Gang Shield, Pang Jian suddenly stopped in front of that dark yellow flag.

He saw thousands of bloated green ants crawling into the broken holes of the flag.

As if entering the many eyes of an Alien God known as The Observer.

All the green ants that ate the brain matter were released by this Alien God, who once appeared in Prayer Spirit Forbidden Land and had visited Meteorite Sea. He used the green ants to feed on the cultivators’ brain matter.

It seemed even their souls and thoughts were included.

...

ps: There will be three Chapters today as well, just to update the kind readers and lords; I might not be able to maintain three daily releases from now on. If there isn’t an update before nine in the morning, it means the usual two Chapters in the afternoon will follow.

For the past two months, the daily three Chapters were due to Ni’s manuscript backlog, which has now run out~~

If Ni can wake up at five or six in the morning to write, there will be three Chapters. However, if Ni has insomnia or late-night dining or drinking sessions that lead to late sleep, there will be just two Chapters.

I hope everyone understands, thank you~~