The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 648 - 612 Eradicate Future Troubles_1

Chapter 648: Chapter 612 Eradicate Future Troubles_1

"Source Demon!"

Pang Jian communicated with the handsome demon god in the small world of the sword using his heart’s voice, "What do you know about the Nine-Headed Bird?"

"Not very clear, I did not spend a long time in Purgatory. I never came into contact with those ancient demons from the old legends of Purgatory," the Source Demon said truthfully.

"Within the extraterrestrial demonic clan, are there any legends about the Nine-Headed Bird?" Pang Jian asked again.

"The Outer Domain Galaxy is too vast, and the Ancient Demon Clan lives very far from the star domain where I was active. When I waged battles outside, I rarely encountered any Demon Gods. I am more familiar with the situation of the Ghost Clan and the Demon Clan," the Source Demon thought for a while and strategized for him, "You might want to ask the Goddess of Cold Crystal and the Moon Goddess."

"The star rivers they control are not too far from the Ancient Demon World; perhaps they know some inside stories."

"Come to think of it, the Goddess of Cold Crystal would probably be very willing to help you clear up your doubts."

The Source Demon said with a grin and a wink inside the small world of the sword.

"Pang Jian, you, a human true god, are not quite like the ones I’ve heard of. Luo Hongyan, the Sovereign, Han Yi, Ying Yue, each of these extraordinary goddesses seems to have a good fate with you," it said.

"Perhaps, you could use this as a starting point to divide the gods from outside, causing them to have internal disagreements," it cheerfully suggested.

"You should think carefully about where that vanished Original Demon has gone," Pang Jian coldly snorted.

...

Dark Prison.

In the depths of the Mysterious Fog close to the Boundary Wall, Pang Jian’s True Body sat in the "Heart of Winter."

The Thunder Pond, bestowed by the Thunder God, was suspended in front of him.

Above the edges of the pond, the carved Tao patterns twisted and wandered like Thunderous Lightning.

His Divine Sense immersed and perceived through the Thunder Pond, seeing the Thunder Divine Court, built by the Thunder God, soaring through the starry skies in the distant past.

The Thunder God, righteous and naturally violent, wielded the control of that Divine Court, seeking to exterminate evil ghosts and Heaven Demons, and attempted to annihilate all evil demons from this world.

The way of heaven’s thunder, always the bane of ghosts and Heaven Demons, and He especially detested the Ghost Clan that mastered the Soul Secret Skill and the Heaven Demons that grew powerful from the evil thoughts of all beings.

That Divine Court, when drifting through various ghost realms and Demon Realms, acted on the principle of seeing a ghost and slaying it, encountering a demon and exterminating it.

At that time, the Thunder God was one of the most formidable High Gods in all the star rivers. He had the potential to go even further and become the Sovereign revered by various gods and spirits.

If not for the secret conspiracy of multiple Thunder Gods and the cooperation of the Lei Meng Beast God, the Thunder God might have already become the Sovereign.

Sensing the Great Tao pursued by the Thunder God, Pang Jian suddenly had a feeling.

The fall of the Thunder God and the shatter of the Divine Court, leaving only the Thunder Pond behind, perhaps gods and spirits from the Ghost Clan and Heaven Demons, alike Zimo and He Motian, had a considerable hidden hand in it.

After all, the Thunder God’s grand goal was based on the extermination of the Ghost Clan and the Heaven Demons.

How could the gods of those two clans let the Thunder God Tao evolve and allow Him to truly join the Sovereign’s ranks?

"Hmm!"

The moment the True Body and Primordial Spirit communicated, the True Body remaining in the Dark Prison’s Mysterious Fog instantly knew all the circumstances related to the Nine-Headed Bird.

He hesitated for a moment, then put away the Thunder Pond and, treading on the "Heart of Winter," flew out of the Mysterious Fog.

His Divine Sense spread and released, quickly detecting the presence of the Goddess of Cold Crystal.

Moments later, in a frigid Divine Temple, Pang Jian silently stepped in.

He suddenly appeared before Han Yi, who had entrusted a sliver of Divine Consciousness in the body of a Dark Spirit Clan woman.

"I thought you had left already."

Han Yi sat above a stone platform surrounded by a mist of coldness, and a clear joy shone through Her bright eyes upon seeing Pang Jian appear.

In a flash, that joy was obscured by sorrow.

She forced a smile, her mouth awkwardly pulling into a grin, and said, "Ying Yue has already retracted Her descent of Divine Consciousness. Only I still have a small portion of Divine Consciousness here."

She did not say that She left a wisp of Divine Consciousness in this puppet body just in the hope that Pang Jian would return to the Dark Prison.

In Purgatory, the Ice Tribe had no faith in Her, and the Cyclops Aman was not something She could control.

When Pang Jian removed the Extreme Cold Divine Power belonging to Her from his body, She would lose all contact with Pang Jian.

Her puppet body remained because She felt that Pang Jian might, in the future, continue to explore the nearby worlds marked with the character ’prison.’

To Her surprise, She had indeed waited until His return.

"I have a question to ask."

Pang Jian didn’t beat around the bush and straightforwardly said, "In our Purgatory World, there is a Nine-headed Bird Demon God whose heads seem to have nine evils and one good, and also a version with nine goods and one evil."

He succinctly shared the origin and traits of the Nine-Headed Bird, including what the last bird head had said.

"I suspect this Nine-Headed Bird might not be native to our Purgatory Demon Race. You are a god from beyond the star rivers, have you ever heard..."

Pang Jian inquired.

"I know," Han Yi frowned and thought for a moment before replying, "The Nine-Headed Bird has a terrible reputation in the Ancient Demon World. That level-ten Nine-Headed Bird has definitely deceived you."

"This demon race, the Nine-Headed Birds, have a little-known trait that I happen to know."

"After they grow up, they indeed have a total of ten heads. But they will never show all ten heads in front of others. They always present themselves with nine heads, which is why they are called the Nine-Headed Bird."

"The sayings about nine evils and one good, as well as nine goods and one evil, do exist," she continued.

"However, once a Nine-Headed Bird dies once, if it has ever had nine evils, then it is highly likely to be nine evils and one good afterward."

"When there is one evil among nine good heads, the Nine-headed Bird suppresses the evil one and moves through heaven and earth with the nine good heads."

"This form of the Nine-headed Bird, when it appears in the Star River, even the Alien Gods from Outer Space who resent the Ancient Demon Clan won’t trouble it too much."

"If such a Nine-headed Bird dies accidentally, the suppressed evil head will try to regain its strength."

"The new heads that grow will consist of eight evil ones accompanied by one good. At this time, the Nine-headed Bird will absolutely not suppress the good head but will instead use the eight evil heads to influence the remaining good head."

"Because only by keeping an evil head for reserve will the regenerated heads mostly consist of eight evil and one good."

"So, among the nine heads you killed, one of them was good. That head was misled by the other eight evil ones, making it hard for you to distinguish, leading you to believe it was also part of the evil."

"Keeping one good head, the regenerated nine heads will most likely consist of eight good and one evil."

"Conversely, by keeping evil for reserve, the regenerated heads will mainly consist of eight evil and one good."

"The head you spoke of, the one that was loving and kindly, was actually the most cunning and venomous head of the Nine-headed Bird. It not only deceived you but also those Demon Kings and Great Demons loyal to it."

"White Fox and that Rock Python willingly protected its last head because, like you, they believed it was good."

Han Yi shared what he had learned about the mysteries of good and evil of the Nine-headed Bird.

Pang Jian nodded slightly, saying, "So that’s how it is."

...

Once the situation was confirmed, the Immortal Primordial Spirit swiftly struck with his sword.

The last head of the Nine-headed Bird, which had looked kind and benevolent and had been putting on an act, was still saying things like "You should have killed me," trying to pry at Pang Jian’s hardened heart.

Suddenly, a sword strike came!

"Pfft!"

The bird’s neck severed its connection with the Rock Python’s tongue and frantically tried to flee into the Mysterious Fog.

It was Pang Jian, who had been forcing it to split from the Rock Python, holding back his sword force and not showing his full strength.

Only when its heads separated from the Rock Python and it screeched in a desperate attempt to escape, did the Origin Demon Sword unleash its divine might, creating a radiant Star River.

As the Star River appeared, the last head of the Nine-headed Bird smashed right into it.

Instantly, a "boom" extinguished all signs of life.

The Nine-headed Bird, that silver-tongued charmer playing the victim and pretending to be kind-hearted, had its last surviving head erased in its lair by Pang Jian.

"If there’s no surprise, it’s an foreign species. Also, its last head was one of the evil ones," Pang Jian explained as he sheathed his sword.

Afterward, he calmly waited for the arrival of the Bee Insect.

...

In Han Yi’s palace within the Dark Prison,

"Although I shouldn’t be telling you this, I have no one else to share it with. If you’re not in a hurry and have nothing else to do, just listen to me talk."

The Goddess of Cold Crystal said sorrowfully, with her head bowed, "I’ve failed Ying Yue’s trust, and she suffered along with me."

"We found the Exotic Spirit Star Devourer in the Mysterious Fog, but just when we were about to succeed, we were thwarted by the Youkui of the Ghost Clan. He even knew that Ying Yue and I were collaborating with you in the Dark Prison, planning to blackmail us with this information."

"With the Star Devourer gone, Ying Yue and I might still have to pay a price, especially since Youkui is backed by the Ghost Clan’s Zimo."

"Neither Ying Yue nor I have such a strong backing, and I’m already mired in my own troubles, alas."

With these feelings of guilt toward Ying Yue heavy in his heart, Han Yi could not bear to face her and remained in the starry sky above the Mysterious Fog.

Han Yi, solitary by nature and having no other divine friends to confide in, has been spending his days anxiously awaiting Youkui’s inevitable demands.

Each day was a torment for him.

Before speaking to Pang Jian, he had already made a decision to offer himself to a High God in order to make amends for Ying Yue’s losses and prevent her from being implicated.

"There is a High God who helped me a lot when I was promoted to a Middle-level God," Han Yi continued.

"He wants me to fulfill his ambitions, and he has made it clear that after the matters in Purgatory are resolved, I should go to his Divine Realm to meet him."

"I wanted to use the Exotic Spirit Star Devourer to reimburse him with those gains, to settle our debts and grudges."

"But now, having screwed things up myself and dragging Ying Yue down with me, it won’t be long before I have to leave and go meet him in his Divine Realm."

"..."

The Goddess of Cold Crystal seemed to revert back to the lonely, weeping little girl in the icy, snow-covered land. She didn’t know if Pang Jian would listen, or if he was even willing to do so.

She simply couldn’t resist the urge to pour her heart out, and so she vented all her recent worries and frustrations.

"I feel much better after talking. Besides Ying Yue, you are the second person I’ve been willing to open my heart to. Although we are on different sides, and you are a Human True God of Purgatory."

Han Yi still lowered her head, tears shimmering in the corners of her eyes, falling onto her robe.

"The people of the Ice Tribe from Panshi Fragment Land will come to revere you, and I will persuade them to communicate with you through the Altar of Praying to God. In the future, you’ll be able to contact me through the Ice Tribe people in the Purgatory World."

"That Youkui of the Ghost Clan should not last much longer. I’ll be able to eliminate him."

"Just stall Youkui and Ying Yue for a while longer, give me some time, and I’ll take care of him for both of you."

"We, the Human True Gods, are notoriously fast at advancing and breaking through, as long as we don’t perish along the way. And me, I’m among the best of them, which I suppose you’ve already realized."

"The High God who once helped you, the one who’s up to no good with you, I won’t need much time, I should soon be able to kill him on my own."

"I will help you kill him."

...