The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 494 - 470 Sword Strike_1

Chapter 494: Chapter 470 Sword Strike_1

"Clang!"

The fire furnace in the shape of a Kirin Bell, with its scorching inner flames, suddenly revealed a red copper lid, which was quickly secured to tightly cover the furnace.

Li Jie at the bottom of the furnace was focusing intently on inscribing the internal array within a sword sheath.

His spiritual soul, like a Flame God Spirit, hovered above his true body. He was controlling both the inner flame within himself and the Flame Force of his soul to bestow the sword sheath with magic.

Above the furnace walls, twelve different types of array patterns, some resembling fire phoenixes, some like the Divine Bird Vermilion Bird, and others majestic like a fiery lion.

The array patterns suddenly transformed into tiny sparks of fire, drawn into the sword sheath in his hand by his spiritual soul.

Each time a spark entered, a new complex and mysterious array appeared on the sword sheath, some with the power to seal, others able to suppress the restlessness of demon souls.

"An eighth-level Flame Dragon."

Li Jie’s chubby red face showed a hint of worry.

He had sensed the aura of the Long Yan in advance, which was why he had hastily covered the furnace lid, to prevent the dragon from destroying his array engravings, ruining the sword sheath that was about to take shape.

"In the blink of an eye, more than ten years have passed, and Pang Jian has reached the Extinction Realm, recently gaining much attention."

"But an eighth-level Long Yan is a Flame Dragon with a complete bloodline after all. It must be coming for me; I wonder if Pang Jian can handle it."

He wasn’t clear about the grudge between Pang Jian and Dragon Cave, but he knew his family had placed a significant bet on the Four Pupils Spirit Fox, with his sister coming to the Saint Spirit Continent herself to assist that white Demon God.

And Dragon Cave had made it clear to the outside world that they would not allow any power to interfere with the competition for the seats of Demon Gods on the Saint Spirit Continent.

The Li Family had acted in secret, and then Dragon Cave found out about it, which brought the eighth-level Flame Dragon here.

Everything was logically consistent.

Although he hadn’t seen Pang Jian for a long time, he didn’t doubt that Pang Jian would take action for him.

He was just worried that Pang Jian couldn’t handle an eighth-level Flame Dragon, and he himself was not skilled in combat, yet he had to craft this nearly finished sword sheath for Pang Jian.

All he could do was to not cause any additional trouble for Pang Jian, which was why he quickly sealed the furnace with its lid.

"I hope that the rumors are all true. I hope that you already possess the power to stand against an eighth-level dragon."

Li Jie murmured to himself.

...

"Whoosh!"

Long Yan, having taken on human form, landed next to the fire furnace speaking with a grin, "Pang Jian, we meet again."

This crude and domineering eighth-level Flame Dragon glanced at the dark gold longsword in Pang Jian’s hand with a gaze that casually roved, his deep red pupils hiding a fierce bloodlust.

Being so close, his bloodline naturally felt a response; he was certain that the dragon horns of Long Zhan, the horns had been refined into the body of the sword.

Dragon Cave was highly xenophobic and extremely unified within.

All dragons with pure bloodlines from Dragon Cave supported each other, with the older generation taking care of and mentoring the younger. They never engaged in the manipulative power games typical among the Human Race.

The old dragons looked after the young ones, who in turn revered and respected their elders. This was an ancient custom and rule of Dragon Cave.

As an eighth-level Flame Dragon, skilled and fond of battling like Long Zhan, he had received extensive guidance from Long Zhan and felt deep affection for him.

He held respect for all the elder dragons, but his reverence for Long Zhan was the deepest.

"Hmm, we meet again,"

Pang Jian responded, neither warmly nor coldly.

"Ah, the whole world is waiting for your Shifu to ascend to a True God, just a pity that there’s been no news from Sword Tower." Long Yan made casual conversation, his eyes narrowing as he looked around.

He observed carefully and saw no Extinction Realm Great Cultivator from Demon Sect, nor did he sense any powerful Individual Cultivator.

Feeling somewhat relieved, he suddenly lifted his hand and slammed it towards the fire furnace next to him.

"Clang!"

The furnace hiding Li Jie was deformed by his slap, after which its walls and fire patterns subtly changed, reverting the furnace back to the form of a Kirin Bell.

Long Yan grinned viciously.

Enormous Qi and Blood exploded violently from him, and beneath his skin, his veins and blood vessels flowed with terrifying fluid like fire.

As he exerted force, tiny sparks shot out, those sparks resembling meteors from outer space, like the magma from deep within the earth’s core, or embodying the quintessential truths of the bloodlines of various fire attribute Great Demons.

The various truths of fire were all present within the sparks, displaying a complete range.

"Heaven Treasure Li Family secretly crafts several powerful items, to be given by Li Yuqing to the Four Pupils Spirit Fox, seriously interfering with the natural order of competition for the seats of Demon Gods in our Saint Spirit Continent."

"Such actions have disrupted the laws set by Dragon Cave, tantamount to declaring war on Dragon Cave!"

"Li Family, you ought to bear the wrath of our Dragon Cave!"

Long Yan fixed his eyes on Pang Jian as he declared the sins of the Heaven Treasure Li Family.

He deliberately didn’t mention Long Zhan, didn’t speak of the dragon horns and claws he felt on that Origin Demon Sword in Pang Jian’s hand, planning to eliminate Li Jie first.

Li Jie, with only Soul Wandering Realm cultivation, relied entirely on artifacts to survive. Should those artifacts shatter, Li Jie would surely die.

After killing Li Jie, he could then focus on confronting Pang Jian.

"Swoosh!"

A brilliant, dazzling blue sword light suddenly slashed towards Long Yan’s hand that had slapped the Kirin Bell.

The sword light was sharp and blinding, faintly carrying the sounds of volcanic eruptions, and the explosive shattering of the sun, creating an extraordinary sword cry.

Long Yan’s face suddenly changed color; his hand, red as fiery cast iron, had extinguished several kylin patterns on the bell’s surface but dared not directly receive the strike.

He had no choice but to withdraw from the Kylin Bell.

"Pang Jian, what is this supposed to mean?"

Dodging the sword, Long Yan’s brows furrowed, and he said with displeasure, "All ancient demon clans of the Saint Spirit Continent have shown respect to your Sword Tower. The Dragon Cave has also always peacefully coexisted with your Sword Tower. Pang Jian, I came to settle the grievances between the Dragon Cave and the Li Family, didn’t I? Have I obstructed you?"

Unexpectedly, Pang Jian spoke frankly, "You have obstructed me."

Long Yan was taken aback.

"The first time we met, outside the Prayer Spirit Forbidden Land, you obstructed me."

"The second time, you brought out the Dragon Cave, and inviting Yuan Qi back to the Dragon Cave also obstructed me."

"This is the third time, and your current actions against Li Jie are obstructing me as well."

Knowing what he was thinking, Pang Jian, without bothering to hide anything, simply laid it bare and said coldly, "In the Saint Spirit Continent, Long Zhan, before my eyes, instantly killed Fan Chen, whom I had invited. After I left the Saint Spirit Continent, Long Zhan still quietly followed me, following me all the way to the Mysterious Fog."

"He wanted to kill me, but unfortunately, he died carelessly within the Mysterious Fog."

"Look."

Raising the Origin Demon Sword, Pang Jian waved it in the air, deliberately revealing the golden radiance from within.

"I’ve fused one of Long Zhan’s dragon horns and his four dragon claws, one by one, into this sword. This sword, originally pure black, has turned black and gold due to Long Zhan’s contribution, becoming even more durable and sharp."

"Long Yan, are you going to keep up this pretense?"

He pointedly probed where it hurt.

"Good! Pang Jian, you’re very good! Sword Tower is very good too!"

Forcing down the fury in his heart and suppressing the flames within him, Long Yan erupted in an instant.

He bellowed ferociously, "Regardless of how Lord Long Zhan perished, your audacity to forge a sword from his dragon horn and claws gives me reason enough to kill you!"

"Pang Jian, don’t think that just because you killed a level-eight member of the Yao Clan, you’re something special."

"Among the Dragon Race, all dragons of your rank will always be insurmountable peaks of strength you cannot cross!"

"I’ll kill you first, Pang Jian, then the young offspring of the Heaven Treasure Li Family, ensuring that the both of you die clear-headed!"

Following a deep dragon chant, the level-eight Flame Dragon suddenly transformed, becoming a few-zhang-long red dragon.

The true dragon body of Long Yan had long surpassed a thousand zhang; when he battled with Great Demons of the same rank, his thousand-zhang dragon body afforded him an overwhelming advantage.

But when facing a human Great Cultivator like Pang Jian, he would sacrifice the enormity of his dragon form in exchange for more refined and pure power, for the sake of nimbleness and agility.

A breath of dragon fire burst forth from him.

Countless extremely fine flame crystals, imprinted with all known fiery breaths of the Purgatory World, suddenly transformed into a realm of flames dominated by Long Yan.

As the dragon breath approached, the sky was ablaze, and the ground teemed with boiling magma and fiery water.

A notion that space and time were about to collapse and the world would turn to ashes emanated from this breath of dragon fire.

"Huff! Huff, huff!"

The flame patterns above the Kylin Bell, the flames inside the base of the bell, and even the fire that was Li Jie’s own were all influenced by this breath from Long Yan.

The flames frantically surged, wanting to merge with Long Yan’s dragon breath, and then, under Li Jie’s desperate control, they extinguished one by one.

Li Jie, at the base of the bell, covertly watched as Long Yan unleashed a breath of dragon fire, and Pang Jian was enveloped in a turbulent fireball.

The fireball was enormous, burning wildly, releasing various types of fiery breath.

Within it, Pang Jian’s figure seemed to be consumed by the flames in an instant, his true form no longer discernible.

"Untamed by the Heavenly Tribulation Pillar, every member of the Dragon Race is fierce and violent, each with a remarkable ability to fight. Long Yan is among the best of the level-eight dragons."

"Pang Jian..."

His expression revealed concern.

Having been separated for many years, Li Jie had only recently discovered that the Pang Jian from Sword Tower was the same person he had once encountered in Bagua City.

No matter how the outside world praised Pang Jian’s combat prowess, unless he had seen it with his own eyes, he always maintained a degree of skepticism.

He worried that Pang Jian, who had only recently ascended to the Extinction Realm, would fall from the Divine Platform when facing this level-eight Flame Dragon.

Because he knew the terror of those dragons of the Dragon Race.

"Crackling and popping!"

In the violently burning Flame Heaven and Earth, the Firm Cover that Pang Jian had conjured emitted sounds like popping beans, his shield so robust that none in the same realm could match, shielding him from the fiery assault.

He watched as the shrunken Long Yan, now only a few zhang long, approached like a lengthy, flaming snake.

Outside the Prayer Spirit Forbidden Land, his own cultivation was too low to have any chance of retaliation against Long Yan.

During the time in the Rock Bear’s territory, he was still inferior to the level-eight Flame Dragon, and despite wielding the Origin Demon Sword and Heart of Winter, he knew himself to be without the power to fight.

But today, inside the Demon Abyss, he had reached the Extinction Realm!

Through his battle with Lie Yi, and the subsequent seeking and comprehending of the sword, coupled with absorbing the enormous alien power from the Moon Vein and Star Veins, he had reached his own peak state!

Facing the Flame Dragon he used to look up to, he finally felt the confidence to rise and fight!

...