The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 433 - 412: Breaking Out!_1

Chapter 433: Chapter 412: Breaking Out!_1

Xuan You Continent.

Beneath a range of mountains in the territory of the Star River Alliance, there was an exchange point.

Many Disciples of the Gui Sacrificial Sect and Jiuli Sect cultivators sat below the edge of a high dais, watching the movements within the crystal surface.

A high platform in the shape of a square was set up with numerous display cabinets, containing artifacts, pills, spells, and the flesh of high-level ferocious beasts.

Each item was also marked with the corresponding contribution value.

This exchange point, hosted by the Jiuli Sect and the Gui Sacrificial Sect and providing prizes, attracted many Great Cultivators.

Lei Kun, and Individual Cultivators like Lian Feng, had just exchanged their accumulated contribution points for suitable weapons.

As an Individual Cultivator, Lei Kun had been in a great mood recently because he learned from a disciple of the Sword Tower that his son had been taken as a Direct Disciple by Liu Junhong.

"Old Lei, you’ve really struck good fortune, to be able to get connected with Pang Jian."

Lian Feng couldn’t hide his envy.

"Haha!"

Lei Kun laughed heartily, and as he took away a high-grade Thunderbolt Spiritual Treasure, he said, "I’ll treat you guys later. Call Gao Yuan and Han Ting over, and let’s find a tavern to celebrate properly!"

"Then I’ll have to bleed you dry this time." Lian Feng replied with a smile.

Recently, everyone had been staying on Xuan You Continent instead of venturing into the various Fragment Lands, and the ships arriving from the First Realm and Second Realm, with the Extinction Realm and Immortal Realm powerhouses emerging from them, also indicated that the real war was about to erupt.

Qian Tian and Xuan You, these two continents, would become the main battlefields.

Knowing that the war was approaching, everyone was understandably feeling the pressure, which led them to frequent taverns to unwind from time to time.

"Eh! Zhou Qingchen!"

A cry of surprise caught the attention of Lei Kun, Lian Feng, and the others.

As Ling Yimo was expelled and Lv Yan Shu perished, Wu Yuan had already climbed to the top of the Spirit Condensation Realm’s Honor Roll.

Right behind him was Zhou Qingchen from Red Mountain, with more than seven thousand contribution points.

His appearance made people think he too was here at this exchange point to trade in his contribution points for treasures from the Gui Sacrificial Sect and the Jiuli Sect.

"Shouldn’t the Jiuli Sect and the Gui Sacrificial Sect consider making a public apology to all parties?"

Zhou Qingchen stood beneath the high dais, looking up at Qu Yao who was in charge of this exchange point, and spoke in a solemn voice, "Hong Qiming was persuaded by Zhou Yi, who then went on to instruct disciples of the Demon Sect, leading my friends into lands overrun by ferocious beasts, resulting in their complete annihilation!"

"Zhou Yi may have perished, but wasn’t he a prodigy cultivated by your Jiuli Sect?"

"Shouldn’t the Jiuli Sect make a public apology to all forces?"

"And as for your Gui Sacrificial Sect!"

He then turned towards another high platform and said coldly, "Ling Yimo possessed the soul of an Alien God from the Outer Realm. Could it be that the Ghost Mother was completely unaware? On the Demon Spirit Continent below us, how many of our people did she and Zhou Yi kill together?"

"Su Yue of the Sword Tower, Cai Shaoheng of Black Valley, Lv Yan Shu of Pure Land, Cao Jingbai of the Bright Heaven Divine Kingdom!"

"As their creators, do your two powerful sects really bear no responsibility?"

He confronted the person in charge of the exchange point from the two great sects with righteous indignation.

After returning to Xuan You Continent and receiving news from the Yuan Qing Divine Nation, he learned of Han Duping’s demise.

The investigation by Yuan Qing Divine Nation confirmed that it was Hong Qiming who gave the order, causing the Disciples of the Demon Sect to transmit false information.

His deep bond with Han Duping made him more indignant the more he thought about it, and he couldn’t help but come to this exchange point to express his discontent.

Following his fiery words, Jiuli Sect’s Qu Yao and Gui Sacrificial Sect’s Shang Jierou’s expressions turned dark in an instant.

Due to Zhou Yi and Ling Yimo, their respective sects had been subjected to criticism, but those criticisms were always made in private, with no one daring to openly voice them.

No one else had the audacity to demand a public apology from them as Zhou Qingchen did.

The Jiuli Sect and the Gui Sacrificial Sect were supremely powerful forces with True Gods at their helm. The conference of True Gods that recently took place in the First Realm was even led by Li Wang.

In the hierarchy of True Gods, Li Wang held a remarkably high status and seniority; few dared to question him.

And now, Zhou Qingchen had even implicated the Ghost Mother!

"Zhou Yi has perished, and his actions were of no knowledge to the Jiuli Sect," Qu Yao stated with a stern face, snorting coldly. "Kid, if you’re here to exchange for treasures, we welcome you. But if you continue to spout nonsense, then..."

"The Gui Sacrificial Sect does not need to explain anything to anyone!" Shang Jierou declared sharply.

The two Immortal Realm Great Cultivators, both holding high positions within their sects, saw Zhou Qingchen, a mere Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator and a disciple from Red Mountain in the Third Realm, as someone without the right to criticize them.

Especially not in public!

If they hadn’t been somewhat in the wrong, they would have already taken action to discipline Zhou Qingchen for his boldness!

"Keep this Heavenly Eye and my seven thousand contribution points here for today,"

Zhou Qingchen dropped the Heavenly Eye that resonated with the exchange point and said, "From now on, I will continue to hunt ferocious beasts and Alien Tribes, but I will not accept any dispatch. My brother has died, betrayed by his own people, and I have no outlet for the depression in my heart. I no longer fight for mere contribution points."

He turned and walked away.

All those gathered at the exchange point, the cultivators of various sects, scions, Individual Cultivators—all watched him leave with respect in their eyes.

Everyone knew that with Zhou Qingchen’s abilities and Red Mountain’s foundation, he stood no chance against Qu Yao and Shang Jierou.

By speaking out as he did and then discarding his status-symbol Heavenly Eye without exchanging it for treasures, he did everything he possibly could.

Besides him, who would dare to question the Jiuli Sect and the Gui Sacrificial Sect at this exchange point, with Qu Yao and Shang Jierou presiding over the stone platform?

...

Yin Spirit Temple.

In a dimly lit cavern, Dong Tianze sat withered beside the Ghost Altar, looking curiously at the self-inviting Zhou Qingchen, who was drinking himself into a stupor, and said, "All this for that Han Duping?"

At Lake Heart Island, the memory of that fat man and Zhou Qingchen racing down the mountain peak together flashed through Dong Tianze’s mind.

Back then, Zhou Qingchen was far from being his match.

Knowing full well that charging down might mean dying alongside Zhou Qingchen, Han Duping still cursed as he rushed forward.

"To me, he’s just like Pang Jian, a brother of mine!" said Zhou Qingchen as he "clang" dropped the liquor jar, his eyes bleary with drunkenness, "If it were Pang Jian who died, what would you, Dong Tianze, do?"

Dong Tianze narrowed his eyes slightly, a glint as cold as millennia-old ice in his gaze, and calmly said, "I would enhance my cultivation, accumulate power, and find ways to eliminate people from Gui Sacrificial Sect and Jiuli Sect. If I can’t kill a True God, those in the Immortal Realm, or those in the Extinction Realm, I will take down those lower realm cultivators that I can kill."

"If the other sects do nothing and align with these two sects, I will turn to the Alien Tribes."

"Ultimately, I may even use the power of the Alien Tribes to massacre the Jiuli and Gui Sacrificial Sects."

His expression indifferent, he spoke of treacherous acts like colluding with the Alien Tribes to slaughter the Human Race, without any hint of psychological burden.

The drunken haze in Zhou Qingchen’s eyes cleared up a great deal at the sound of those words.

Looking at this unfeeling yet honest madman, Zhou Qingchen gave a bitter smile and shook his head: "I’m not as mad as you, and I could never do what you’ve done. All I can do, with my current abilities and resources, is to force those two sects to admit their errors and apologize for Han’s death."

He then twisted open a new jar of liquor and drank deeply in pain.

Since no Space Teleportation Array existed between the two continents, and the central Fragment Land had been occupied by the Alien Tribes and Ferocious Beasts, he was unable to return to Red Mountain on the Qian Tian Continent.

When he was feeling down, the first person he thought of was Dong Tianze, as they had fought side by side on many occasions.

And besides, they had a common friend.

After some time had passed.

"Whoosh!"

In the Ghost Altar next to Dong Tianze’s cave abode, the image of Pang Jian silently appeared.

A dense forest and a small wooden hut also entered Dong Tianze’s gaze.

He instantly knew that Pang Jian had returned to the fragmented land he tried to search for but didn’t know where it had drifted.

Pang Jian asked in surprise, "What’s wrong with big brother Zhou?"

"Pang Jian, you, how did you..."

Zhou Qingchen, his eyes red, was also startled at the sight of his soul’s image.

After Dong Tianze’s explanation, he realized that the two had always been connected through the Dark Ghost’s Ghost Altar.

Zhou Qingchen then said, "Old Han is dead. Because of Zhou Yi’s instigation and Hong Qiming’s arrangements."

Dong Tianze added, "For that fat man, he went to the exchange point of both the Gui Sacrificial Sect and Jiuli Sect, forcing them to apologize in public. Unable to succeed, he lost the Heavenly Eye."

Pang Jian was silent for a moment, then his soul image disappeared from the Ghost Altar.

...

Half a day later.

He left Panshi Fragment Land and embarked on a "Landscape Spirit Boat" descending into the Lower Realm from Sky Water Swamp, successfully arriving at the Xuan You Continent.

At the same exchange point, Pang Jian also stepped in.

Clad in a blue robe with a Sword Command at his waist, he approached the platform where Qu Yao sat in silent contemplation.

"Sword Tower, Pang Jian!"

The identity of the newcomer was immediately recognized by the numerous cultivators in the vicinity.

Suddenly, cheers like the roaring tide surged through the exchange point!

"Pang Jian, are you here to exchange for spiritual treasures or pills?"

Qu Yao’s smile was pleasant.

He treated Pang Jian utterly differently from Zhou Qingchen, smiling and taking the initiative to fly down from the platform, eager to introduce the treasures offered by the Jiuli Sect personally.

"Besides not having any high-quality Spirit Swords, we have seven Sacred Grade Spiritual Treasures and two Divine Grade Pills, plus..."

He planned to give Pang Jian a detailed introduction.

"Swoosh!"

Shang Jierou also came with a smile, "Our Gui Sacrificial Sect has the most soul-related treasures in the entire Purgatory World! Pang Jian, with your thirty-five thousand Contribution Value, you can exchange for one of the highest-level soul-related Sacred Treasures!"

Pang Jian’s status and popularity on the leaderboard were far beyond what Zhou Qingchen could compare to.

Even the arrogant Qu Yao and Shang Jierou didn’t dare to treat him lightly.

"I have also discarded this Heavenly Eye today."

Pang Jian tossed a hexagonal crystal onto the ground.

Without looking at the suddenly darkened faces of Qu Yao and Shang Jierou, he turned to the Great Cultivators of other sects and said, "Zhou Yi and Ling Yimo are from the Jiuli Sect and Gui Sacrificial Sect respectively. Due to their plots and schemes, they have caused the deaths of many talented individuals."

"The Jiuli Sect and Gui Sacrificial Sect should issue a public apology!"

After dropping that statement, he too stormed away in anger.

...

Several hours later.

Others who remained on the Xuan You Continent, like Liou Youyu from Yuan Qing Divine Nation, Hu from Sword Tower, Dong Wenjian from Ancient Law Sect, and Fan Chen from Taiyi Divine Nation, also arrived one after another at the exchange point run by the Jiuli Sect and Gui Sacrificial Sect.

Once there, they said nothing, simply tossing their status-symbolizing Heavenly Eyes as if they were garbage.

Among those who could exchange for precious treasures and pills, they did not redeem their hard-fought Contribution Values, everyone refrained from making any exchange.

...