The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 541 - 515 Fabricating Reasons_1

Chapter 541: Chapter 515 Fabricating Reasons_1

It was already evening, and the sky was full of sunset clouds.

In the open and in secret, no one knew how many people were watching the tall figure standing proudly in the air above the lake, sword in hand, frozen in place.

The surroundings were quiet, yet a huge wave was surging in countless hearts.

The Ghost Sacrificial Sect’s Xing Heng from the Immortal Realm was slain by Pang Jian right here.

The two were a whole major realm apart in strength.

A new star of the Sword Dao was rising at this moment, destined to shine brightly across the world.

After Pu Zhaotian, during the dire times faced by the Purgatory Human Tribe, another even sharper sword shone out from the Sword Tower!

"Pang Jian!"

This name was being screamed in their hearts.

They remained silent, but their hearts were roaring.

Behind Pang Jian, the dark blue Devil Sky in the void made everyone feel oppressed, and the Secret Demonic Realm hidden in the Sky Curtain felt so real.

At this moment, Pang Jian, holding the Origin Demon Sword, seemed more like a demonic cultivator than Dong Tianze.

However, many were aware that the Origin Demon Sword was a divine sword crafted by Mo Nan of the Demon Sword Sect, known to harbor a terrifying Demon Soul within.

If a swordbearer can suppress the Demon Soul and use it for righteous purposes, then it is the righteous path.

Otherwise, it is the path of a demonic cultivator.

After Pang Jian killed Xing Heng, even if some suspected that he might one day be devoured by the Origin Demon Sword and become an evil demon, they dared not voice their doubts, nor speak their thoughts aloud.

If Pang Jian dared to kill Xing Heng of the Ghost Sacrificial Sect, what could these people, insignificant as duckweed, do?

Thus, the individual cultivators were shocked into silence, merely wondering why Pang Jian possessed such immense strength and how he could possibly kill Xing Heng across realms.

They were just contemplating what the limit of Pang Jian’s potential might be.

...

"Immortal Realm," Pang Jian murmured with a smirk tugging at his lips.

The "Sky-covering Demon Array" spread out by the Source Demon suddenly vanished into the sword.

Six dark light spots appeared in the blade for an instant and then quietly faded away.

All the thunderous glows and ghostly lightning disappeared without a trace.

Below, on the surface of the lake, floated the corpse of Xing Heng, with a hole from the sword light pierce through his forehead.

The Gray Stone Ritual Platform, those pillars, dry bones, and decayed wood—some turned to dust, some fell into the lake.

After this battle, his reputation was sure to climb to new heights.

All the True Gods of Purgatory, all the strongest sects of the First Realm, would know of his power to kill across realms!

The True Gods could naturally see his boundless potential.

If he were given the opportunity to break through to the Immortal Realm, if he were to ascend to True Godhood, how much influence could this new era’s Realm God wield in the strained battle situation between Human Race and Alien Tribes?

The stronger he became, the more he stood out, the more the True Gods would rely on him!

It was precisely because he saw this clearly that he fearlessly chose to make an example of the Ghost Sacrificial Sect’s Immortal Realm Xing Heng, especially when the morale of the Sword Tower was low.

...

The lakebed.

"Xing Heng is dead, what will the Ghost Sacrificial Sect do?"

As Dong Tianze pondered this, he suddenly began to worry about how Pang Jian would face the wrath of the Ghost Sacrificial Sect.

Would the Sword Tower also be implicated because of Pang Jian?

After Pu Zhaotian’s failure to reach True Godhood, what could the Sword Tower offer to appease the Ghost Sacrificial Sect?

From the moment he cared for Pang Jian’s well-being, and kept silent about the fact that Pang Lin was indeed the heir to Heaven Phoenix, it ceased to be a thorn in his side.

His frustrations dissipated like a heavy snowfall.

...

"Hoo!"

A tall figure wrapped in a tiger-skin cloak whooshed in from the direction of Hongdu City and quickly settled above the lake.

"City Lord Shang Xiuchun!"

Many individual cultivators whispered.

"He should have come earlier, not after Xing Heng is dead."

"Who would have thought that Xing Heng from the Immortal Realm would be defeated by Pang Jian? Who could have imagined that Pang Jian would dare to kill him?"

"Xing Heng is dead, how will the Ghost Sacrificial Sect respond?"

"..."

The arrival of Shang Xiuchun broke the silence of the northern Fragment Land, and the individual cultivators started to whisper among themselves.

"I am Shang Xiuchun, the City Lord of Hongdu,"

Shang Xiuchun’s words hadn’t fully formed when they clearly faltered, pausing, and then he said with bitter difficulty, "Why did you have to kill Xing Heng?"

Yes, why did you have to kill Xing Heng.

That’s what everyone was thinking, but until now, no one had asked aloud.

No matter how you look at it, Pang Jian had no reason to kill Xing Heng, nor was it necessary.

To rescue someone, to ensure Dong Tianze came out unscathed, all that was needed was to defeat Xing Heng—why the need to kill?

"Why must you make enemies of Sword Tower?"

They couldn’t understand.

"Back in the day, when I was still struggling in the Fourth Realm, I joined an organization called Dark Ghost temporarily. My initial purpose for joining was to seek some cultivation resources."

"Life for cultivators in the Fourth Realm is tough. I came from humble beginnings, not a member of the seven major families, and I joined Dark Ghost to break through my own limits."

Pang Jian clenched the Sword Command and looked at Shang Xiuchun, suddenly starting to speak without preamble.

Below, on the lake, Dong Tianze looked utterly astonished, not understanding why he suddenly brought this up.

Qian Bo and Yang Ronghao, still reeling from Xing Heng’s death, were shocked to hear Pang Jian mention ’Dark Ghost,’ both wearing baffled expressions as they looked towards the sky.

"Dark Ghost’s leader at that time was Dong Tianze, his master had tasked him with temporarily controlling Dark Ghost."

"That is to say, both of us belonged to the organization Dark Ghost for a while. And Dark Ghost’s existence was due to the Gui Sacrificial Sect’s Second Elder Jiang Cen, who cultivated the Dark Ghost Dao."

"So, we once unknowingly did the bidding of this Second Elder of the Gui Sacrificial Sect. Han Zhiyuan, the late leader of Yin Spirit Temple, also acted under the instructions of that Second Elder to establish Dark Ghost."

"Dark Ghost no longer exists, and Han Zhiyuan died in battle in the Black Nether Continent; the only key members left of the organization are Dong Tianze and me."

Pausing for a moment, he looked towards the Ghost Cloud Ship in the sky and said, "I don’t know who is so intent on killing Dong Tianze, but I know that the secret skill he cultivated has always come from Yin Spirit Temple."

"Dong Tianze shows no sign of being tainted by an Alien God, and Xing Heng wanted to kill him without any solid proof; I believe there must be another reason."

His words subtly pointed towards the Gui Sacrificial Sect’s Second Elder.

It was a hint that Jiang Cen wanted to erase everything related to Dark Ghost.

Because before the surge of the Filth Alien Power, Dark Ghost had once traded with the Alien Tribes of the Fifth Realm, exchanging goods with them.

After receiving a message via Xu Yu, he put forth a forced explanation knowing Jiang Cen was the mastermind behind Dark Ghost.

He was aware that this explanation was contrived, filled with too many flaws that couldn’t withstand scrutiny.

But he had to say it this way.

If he didn’t, and people from the Gui Sacrificial Sect kept targeting Dong Tianze, it would be because Dong Tianze was from the Blood Spirit Sect—a Different Kind.

During a sensitive time when various demonic cultivators appeared, once Dong Tianze is branded as an Evil Demon, the Gui Sacrificial Sect would appear to act righteously.

Bringing up Jiang Cen and talking about Dark Ghost would help to cover this up effectively.

Before the Alien Tribes broke out from the Fifth Realm, some major sects secretly traded with them too.

The existence and actions of Dark Ghost, occurring before the surge of Filth Alien Power, were not considered serious faults to the True Gods.

He was just trying to clear Dong Tianze of the suspicion of being an Evil Demon.

"These matters..."

With an embarrassed smile, Shang Xiuchun didn’t know how to respond.

Even if it truly was the Gui Sacrificial Sect’s Second Elder Jiang Cen orchestrating Xing Heng’s attempt to kill Dong Tianze and wipe out everything related to Dark Ghost, what could he do about it?

Could he control Jiang Cen? Could he control the Gui Sacrificial Sect?

"I shouldn’t have come, shouldn’t have shown up; I should’ve just kept playing dead!" Shang Xiuchun muttered to himself inwardly, grinning awkwardly and feeling as if his presence was superfluous.

Pang Jian was indifferent to his discomfort.

While it seemed he was speaking to Shang Xiuchun, his real audience was the Individual Cultivators, Qian Bo, and Yang Ronghao.

He wanted to use their mouths to spread the news, to make everyone think his fierce retaliation with the sword was not only because he was a member of Dark Ghost, but also because of the despicable acts of the Gui Sacrificial Sect’s Second Elder.

Allowing everyone a moment to digest the information, his gaze pierced through the water towards Qian Bo and Yang Ronghao and he said, "You may leave. I know you were just following orders, and I won’t make it difficult for you. Take Xing Heng’s body and leave the Hongdu Fragment Land."

"Uh, alright, alright."

The two of them stammered, heart pounding as they flew up from the lake with Xing Heng’s corpse.

"Let’s disperse."

With a wave of his hand, Pang Jian landed on the banks of the lake to wait for Dong Tianze to come out by himself.

Shang Xiuchun, the City Lord of Hongdu City, hesitated before approaching Pang Jian and said, "Just when you and Xing Heng were fighting, that Space Teleportation Array suddenly shattered."

Pang Jian frowned, "Do you know who did it?"

"Can’t find out." Shang Xiuchun clenched his teeth, then added in a hushed voice, "The moment the Space Teleportation Array broke, I sent a message to Elder Xu Yu from your Sword Tower, informing him about the damage to the array."

"Appreciated," Pang Jian nodded.

Only then did he clutch the Sword Command and inform those Immortal Realm Elders about Xing Heng’s death.

"Xing Heng is dead?"

"Did you, kid, kill him?"

"Wasn’t Xing Heng at the Immortal Realm? Did you really kill him?"

"We are aboard a Sword Boat, en route to you! We thought you might be at a disadvantage, that Xing Heng would bully you with his status, afraid he might make things difficult for you. Who knew... you would actually kill him!"

From each Sword Light Symbol, representative light points for Xu Yu, Liu Junhong, Guanghe, and Wang Ce continually sent messages.

"The Gui Sacrificial Sect wanted to capture Dong Tianze alive, not to kill him on the spot," Shang Xiuchun spoke up again, softly saying, "It’s strange. With Xing Heng’s power at the Immortal Realm, had he been willing to act sooner, Dong Tianze would have been captured and taken away long ago."

"The shattering of the Space Teleportation Array, and their gradual approach to catching Dong Tianze, make me think they have other plans."

Shang Xiuchun looked around suspiciously and said, "Perhaps someone wants to lure you and a certain elder from Sword Tower to the Hongdu Fragment Land."

"Be careful yourself."

After speaking, Shang Xiuchun drifted away.

The direction he flew was not towards Hongdu City, but outside the Hongdu Fragment Land!

From his demeanor, he probably sensed that something was not right with the Hongdu Fragment Land and decided to abandon this base directly.

...