The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 410 - 389: When the Map Ends, the Dagger Appears_1

Chapter 410: Chapter 389: When the Map Ends, the Dagger Appears_1

Deep within the mainland, the God and Demon Origin Academy was suspended in mid-air, dreamlike and illusory.

In this world engulfed by the Mysterious Fog, everyone’s senses were limited, with only the peculiar bluestone city remaining clear and unaffected by the obstructions of the fog.

Ling Yimo from the Gui Sacrificial Sect drifted uncertainly like a ghost, adding a sinister and evil aura to the illusory city.

Su Yue and Cao Jingbai looked at the God and Demon Origin Academy with an instinctual desire to refuse.

"Only the four of us are in the Soul Wandering Realm, the others cannot project their Spiritual Souls."

Hong Qiming’s expression was grim. He glanced at both Su Yue and Cao Jingbai and stealthily exchanged a look with Zhou Yi.

As a disciple of the Great Elder Jiang Ran from the Sword Tower, Su Yue was quite domineering within the Sect, but he dared not be presumptuous in front of Hong Qiming and Zhou Yi.

After a brief silence, Su Yue summoned a delicate Golden Tripod, saying with embarrassment, "I am only in the mid-phase of the Soul Wandering Realm, inferior in cultivation to Brother Cao and ranked lower than him."

He bowed, lowering his head, "I must trouble Brother Cao to enter the God and Demon Origin Academy in Soul Departure!"

The neat and clean Cao Jingbai would probably be labeled "third pretty boy" if he appeared before Hu.

He snorted, flatly refusing, "I will not go!"

"Ah, this is truly troublesome."

Zhou Yi of the Jiuli Sect sighed softly, his head aching as he said, "Our True Bodies and Spiritual Souls are connected by sensation, and one must enter the God and Demon Origin Academy with the Spiritual Soul. If no one goes in to confront Ling Yimo and clarify the situation, we will be clueless about what has transpired."

Hong Qiming spoke impatiently, "Cao Jingbai, you are the one to take a look inside!"

As he spoke, he was shaking that Clear Oil Lamp.

The flame of the lamp wick exerted a force that twisted the Sea of Consciousness. The fierce member of the Demon Sect coldly said, "Cao Jingbai, you come from the Broken Armor Army of the Bright Heaven Divine Kingdom. You bear the surname Cao, not Zhu nor Jiang!"

"Therefore, among me, Zhou Yi, Su Yue, and you, it should be you who enters with the Spiritual Soul."

"If you bore the surname Zhu or Jiang, then it would be Su Yue!"

Zhou Yi nodded almost imperceptibly.

The Zhu family and Jiang Family of the Bright Heaven Divine Kingdom both had a True God at their helm; these two families were the true masters of the Bright Heaven Divine Kingdom, with the most prestigious heritage.

Since Cao Jingbai did not hail from these families and had no support from a True God, his status was not as distinguished as Su Yue’s.

Cao Jingbai’s face turned pale, "Can I withdraw?"

Hong Qiming shook his head with a stern face.

Cao Jingbai cursed inwardly, realizing he had inadvertently boarded a pirate ship and said in resignation, "Fine."

He was resolute, realizing he could not go against the two of them, and directly projected his Spiritual Soul towards the peculiar God and Demon Origin Academy.

Elsewhere, Pang Jian softly explained the situation.

He informed the several people on this side that, under the coercion of Zhou Yi and Hong Qiming from the Bright Heaven Divine Kingdom, Cao Jingbai’s Spiritual Soul had been projected and was heading towards the God and Demon Origin Academy.

Fan Chen, Hu, Liou Youyu, and the others immediately fixed their gaze on the God and Demon Origin Academy.

Before long, they, just like Zhou Yi and Hong Qiming, saw Cao Jingbai’s Spiritual Soul fall into the God and Demon Origin Academy.

Cao Jingbai’s soul form appeared momentarily in the ghostly city, as if he saw something inconceivable, then immediately attempted to return to his True Body.

Panic and fear surfaced on Cao Jingbai’s face, and he seemed to be in a desperate hurry.

"Whoosh!"

Ling Yimo, who had been drifting around like a spirit, suddenly appeared in front of Cao Jingbai’s Spiritual Soul.

"Ling Yimo!"

"The girl from the Gui Sacrificial Sect!"

Everyone huddled near the illusionary city, paying close attention to the situation inside, exclaimed in low voices.

They clearly saw the Gui Sacrificial Sect girl with a terrifying smile, waving her hand towards Cao Jingbai’s Spiritual Soul.

Ling Yimo’s True Body had become a skeleton, petite and lovely, but within the God and Demon Origin Academy, she appeared as a grim figure, akin to a massive Demon Fiend.

She instantly grasped Cao Jingbai’s Spiritual Soul, dragging it like a dead dog into a house within the city.

"I’m going to die! Ling Yimo is devouring my Spiritual Soul! Save me! Hong Qiming, Zhou Yi, you two hurry and save me!"

Cao Jingbai’s True Body screamed in agony, blood flowing from his nostrils and pupils, and soon there was silence.

The fall of his Spiritual Soul rapidly reflected onto his corporeal body.

Without the protection of the Spiritual Power Strong Shield, without the control of his own consciousness, his Spiritual Sea collapsed, and his body started to decay within the Mysterious Fog.

In no time, he, like Ling Yimo’s True Body, became a bony corpse still dressed in clothing.

Those lured by Zhou Yi and Hong Qiming felt a chill run down their spine, and suddenly, they snapped to awareness.

"Zhou, Hong, we won’t be accompanying you any longer!"

The few Spirit Condensation Realm members invited to the scene, terrified by Cao Jingbai’s tragic death, dropped a few words and fled.

Su Yue, without a word, leapt into the Golden Tripod bestowed by Jiang Ran.

The Golden Tripod emitted golden light and expanded rapidly, becoming incredibly hard. Without a second glance, Su Yue headed straight in the direction he came from, fleeing the scene.

He was afraid that he would be the next victim following Cao Jingbai and chose to escape first.

In the blink of an eye, only the two masterminds remained.

"What do you think?"

Hong Qiming’s face was grave.

He shook the Clear Oil Lamp in his hand, and as the flame fluctuated, he seemed to lock onto the fading figures in the distance and asked, "Shall we capture Su Yue for another investigation, or?"

Zhou Yi shook his head and said, "The Strange Treasure on Su Yue isn’t sufficient. After his Spiritual Soul Out Of Body, I’m afraid he still won’t be able to hold on."

"Those who run away will spread news about this place. In my opinion..." Hong Qiming’s eyes revealed a murderous intent.

"No need to rush, they can’t get away in a moment’s time," Zhou Yi mused, then said, "You left a trace of the Clear Oil Lamp on Wu Yuan, and we’ve been following the residue of its presence all the way here. Is Wu Yuan also nearby?"

Hong Qiming nodded, "Not far from here."

"Find Wu Yuan, as well as the first group of entrants, and let them explore the God and Demon Origin Academy again!" Zhou Yi said.

...

Alternatively.

Pang Jian, with his incredibly strong Divine Sense, witnessed the conversation between the two men.

"Zhou Yi, Hong Qiming, one plays the good guy, the other plays the bad. These two are in cahoots, their goal is to entice us in, and besides..." Pang Jian narrowed his eyes and said, "They’ll come looking for us soon."

He also quickly recapped the matter of the Clear Oil Lamp.

"I knew those two were up to no good!" Hu declared, summoning the Kunpeng Sword and preparing for battle, and said, "About this continent and what those two have done, once their superiors find out, they won’t be able to escape the consequences!"

Fan Chen snorted coldly and also said, "Do they really think we’re pushovers?"

In the rankings of grandmasters in the Soul Wandering Realm, he was second only to Hong Qiming, and before the beast tide struck, he was even more highly regarded than Hong Qiming.

He was discontented with both Hong Qiming from the Demon Sect and Zhou Yi from the Jiuli Sect.

The only one he truly respected was Li Yuqing.

Upon hearing that Zhou Yi and Hong Qiming were scheming to trap everyone, Fan Chen remained unafraid and said, "With me, Liou Youyu, and Hu fighting together, I’d like to see what tricks those two can come up with!"

"You all go away first, and let me and Wu Yuan stay to reveal their true faces," Pang Jian strategically said, a flash of insight in his mind, "If you are all around, they might still cover it up and not dare to reveal their true intentions."

"You and Wu Yuan?" Fan Chen was surprised.

"Pang Jian, Wu Yuan is Hong Qiming’s junior, he might be able to escape this disaster, but you will certainly be forced into the God and Demon Origin Academy!" Hu urgently said.

Pang Jian commanded, "Don’t go too far, just wait for my signal to come back! Quick! Get away from me and Wu Yuan, they are about to find us!"

"Let’s go, he’ll be fine."

Liou Youyu, using the Flying Fish Ship, carried Hu and Zhou Qingchen and took off first.

Fan Chen and the others then departed far away.

A moment later.

"Finally found you guys!"

Zhou Yi was excited, not waiting for Pang Jian or Wu Yuan to speak, he said, "While I was dealing with Alien Tribes, I encountered an eighth-level Flame Clan warrior. In order to prevent the exposure of this continent, I had to lead him far away before killing him."

"This also caused me to be delayed, and by the time I returned you were nowhere to be found. I went deep inland for many days and only with great difficulty did I come across Hong Qiming."

He was overjoyed.

Pang Jian did not expose it and said gravely, "Because of Hong Qiming’s summons, we entered together, but got lost in the Mysterious Fog. Currently, only Wu Yuan and I have made it here."

"Ghost Sacrificial Sect’s Ling Yimo is roaming with her Spiritual Soul in the God and Demon Origin Academy, not knowing where her True Body is."

Feigning bewilderment, Pang Jian frowned and said, "Although she is a genius of Ghost Sacrificial Sect, she is still only in the Spirit Condensation Realm; her body and Spiritual Soul shouldn’t be too far apart."

"You didn’t see Ling Yimo’s corpse?" Hong Qiming asked, staring into his eyes.

Pang Jian voiced his shock, "She’s dead?"

Zhou Yi and Hong Qiming locked gazes.

The two men, harboring malicious intentions, were accustomed to suspecting others and sought to find flaws in Pang Jian’s words and expression.

After observing for a while, they still couldn’t determine if what Pang Jian said was true or false.

"Wu, my junior brother..."

Hong Qiming prepared to change the approach and asked, "So you haven’t seen anyone else either?"

Wu Yuan shook his head expressionlessly, too lazy to even engage in conversation.

Since he was always like that, with an indifferent attitude every day, and Hong Qiming couldn’t question him closely in front of Pang Jian, he couldn’t get a clear answer either.

Pang Jian said softly, "Just now, I saw someone’s Spiritual Soul entering, seems like Ling Yimo..."

"Yes, his name is Cao Jingbai. Ling Yimo wanted to harm him," Zhou Yi nodded gently, saying, "But he has safely returned. He also said that inside the God and Demon Origin Academy, he saw some strange symbols, which seem to be related to the origins of the beings from Purgatory."

"We were just about to send our Spiritual Souls Out Of Body to delve deeper and understand more."

"Ghost Sacrificial Sect’s Ling Yimo, daring to harm her own people, I need to find her and ask for clarity to see what her current condition is!"

"Pang Jian, how about the three of us go together?"

Zhou Yi extended the invitation seriously.

"You are more advanced in your realms; the two of you entering to understand the cause would be good," Pang Jian declined, shaking his head, "I can stay outside to guard your True Bodies."

Hearing that, Zhou Yi frowned but said no more.

Then, it was Hong Qiming who sneered and said, "You wouldn’t take advantage of us being Spiritual Soul Out Of Body to harm our True Bodies, would you?"

"How is that possible?" Pang Jian reacted with shock, saying, "We are all members of the Human Race. In times of great disaster in Purgatory, of course we should help each other. How could I harm you two?"

Hong Qiming took a deep breath, not intending to continue his probing and bluntly said, "Pang Jian, will you enter in Soul Departure by yourself, or should I force your Spiritual Soul out?"

The shock on Pang Jian’s face abruptly disappeared, replaced by calm, "I’d like to see with what you’ll force my Spiritual Soul out."

...