The Purgatory Calamity
Chapter 691 - 653: The Pioneer, the One Who Fell into Darkness.

Chapter 691: Chapter 653: The Pioneer, the One Who Fell into Darkness.

"How could it be so easy?"

The girl with the gradually intensifying life aura glanced at him reproachfully and explained, "Peering into the future is even more difficult and complex than severing someone’s future."

"Take the woman named Qi Xu, for example, I can only try to sever her future possibilities through her past and present."

"To catch a glimpse of her future would enable me, through some clues, to see the outcome of the struggle between the Human Race and the Alien Tribes."

"If her future always has images, complete experiences decades or centuries later, doesn’t that mean they won the victory?"

"To deduce the whole situation of Purgatory through one person is beyond my current capabilities."

The delicate body of Li Yuqing, which had suffered backlash from her use of the power of the ’River of Destiny’, began to weaken.

Her face, as pale as jade, gained a healthy shade of red.

With a thoughtful expression, Pang Jian hesitated for a moment before he spoke, "For those whose life levels are on the same tier as mine, it’s difficult to catch a glimpse of the future, and what is seen is definitely not the distant future but only a day or two ahead, or even just a few hours, and it is quite vague."

"For those whose life levels surpass mine, with my current understanding of the mysteries of life, it’s impossible even to see a brief future."

"Only those far weaker than me can I vaguely discern, through the life force I control, what short-term events will occur."

"Ordinary mortals see it more clearly and consume less of my energy. Cultivators, the higher their realm, the greater the cost to me to see their future."

"..."

This renowned girl from Purgatory’s Upper Realm, who made the prodigies of the major Sects feel inferior, was opening up to Pang Jian about her divine ability to manipulate destiny.

Pang Jian held her hand, turning himself into a bridge, and continued to channel pure life force into her.

Through her detailed account, Pang Jian gradually gained a rudimentary understanding of her divine ability to manipulate destiny.

For Cultivators weaker than her, or even those of the same level, facing her, an opponent with such astonishing magical abilities, there was almost no chance of victory.

Capturing glimpses of the future, even if only for a very brief moment, is a divine skill when applied to combat!

It meant she could anticipate her enemy, knowing their next move in battle, allowing her to find countermeasures in advance, to know whether her opponent planned to fight desperately or to flee.

She could even accurately predict where they would flee to.

With her foresight into the future, she would be invincible in combat; those on the same level of life as her had no hope against such a prodigy.

Against higher-level beings like Qi Xu, she would be able to involve their past and present to try and directly sever their future.

Her defeat this time was because she had just entered the Immortal Realm, and because Qi Xu possessed a drop of Divine Blood bestowed by the Fire God.

Once her cultivation became more refined, as she progressed to the middle and later stages of the Immortal Realm, or even its peak, and when she advanced the mysterious ’River of Destiny’ again, would she be able to cut down Qi Xu with a single strike?

What about when she became a True God?

The deeper Pang Jian thought, the more he realized that her potential and future could be far more than just Purgatory.

Compared to her, he was merely someone whose fortune soared to the heavens, who rapidly advanced in realm, becoming a True God in an unimaginably unconventional way.

Once she became a True God, who would be stronger or weaker was indeed hard to say.

No wonder she had such confidence and assurance, saying that even if Li Wang, Zhu Ji, and Ghost Mother all perished, the future of the Human Race would not be bleak and dark.

"You..."

Li Yuqing’s eyebrows twitched, as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.

"Do you feel it?" Pang Jian asked with a smile.

"Yes."

Perhaps due to the recent situation not favoring the Human Race, the slightly emaciated girl’s chin became more defined, enhancing her already exquisite features.

She nodded gently, her bright eyes full of confusion, "How can you involve a strand of the Filthy Essence that helps the Alien Tribes ascend to power?"

As her life force grew more intense and her injuries healed – especially after she had swallowed a healing pill nourishing her Spiritual Soul – she suddenly sensed a change in Pang Jian’s aura, different from any other time before.

Particularly within Pang Jian’s Sea of Consciousness, a wondrous transformation was clearly taking place.

She felt it, the emergence of a power similar to Qi Xu’s aura gradually arising from Pang Jian.

She guessed what might be happening in Pang Jian’s mind, yet she only felt curiosity, without any wariness.

Pang Jian, with the body of someone from the Human Race, drew in a strand of Filthy Essence into his Sea of Consciousness. If it were someone else, they might suspect Pang Jian had some connection to the Fifth Realm.

They might even suspect Pang Jian had secretly pledged loyalty to the Sovereign named Luo Hongyan?

She did not; she simply felt curious.

"My Chaos Sea is different from others; when we first met in Bagua City, you also said that my Chaos Sea could make me a ruler in the Fifth Realm."

Pang Jian spoke with a smile, and a small half of the girl’s bloody exsection of hand bone had already been covered by blood vessels and flesh.

"You’re right,"

"I really can draw in the Filth Alien Power of the Fifth Realm with a special dantian. Now, I can separate the Spiritual Energy and the Filth Alien Power in the dantian with a piece of dark green Demon Element Sky Curtain, just like the firmament above the Fifth Layer of Purgatory."

Just as the girl described the mysterious aspects of her fateful divine ability, Pang Jian also spoke of his own "Chaos Sea," to the amazement of Li Yuqing.

He also divulged his understanding of the properties of the Filth Alien Power and the nature’s spiritual energy.

"Do you know that there was a period where the Purgatory Human Tribe practiced tempering their bodies, and many powerful sects and families were strengthening their flesh and blood?" Li Yuqing pondered as he spoke.

"Of course, the Great Creation Sacred Body that I cultivate comes from a sect called the Creation Sect."

Pang Jian nodded and said, "Isn’t it said that every time Purgatory opens, the sight of the Alien Gods from Outer Space can peer into Purgatory through the Altar of Praying to God and special objects, and we can also capture the puppets of the Alien Gods, applying the Alien Gods’ Divine Consciousness to the Spirit Condensation Realm?"

Li Yuqing responded, "That is one of the theories."

"There’s another theory that suggested some believed our strong human cultivators could also ascend to become True Gods using the Filthy Essence of the Fifth Realm."

"Their theoretical ideas have almost no difference from those you’ve come to understand on your own."

"They also believed that, after cultivating to a certain level and when the body is sufficiently resilient and strong, one would descend into the Fifth Realm to rid themselves of nature’s spiritual energy. Then, with their already strengthened bodies, they would collect the Filth Alien Power and continue their cultivation."

"At that time, the cultivators thought that the tempering of the body was key to adapting to the Filth Alien Power."

"And it was then that the secret skills for body tempering became very popular, with many firmly believing in its feasibility and eagerly following suit."

"They had such bold conjectures because they felt they had no other choice,"

"At that time, the limit for Purgatory’s True Gods was far less than it is now; the spots simply were not enough. We now have fifteen spots, but back then there were only half that number, and they were all tightly held by the older generation of True Gods."

"Without the old True Gods dying or departing, the new ones could never rise."

"When the Alien Tribes faced a terrible defeat, with their strongest at level ten falling, and their Filthy Essence returning to Darkness, someone suddenly had the radical idea to achieve Divine Enthronement using the pristine Filthy Essence that had helped the Alien Tribes become level ten warriors."

"At the start, many agreed, and the older generation of True Gods even let them try.

"After all, if someone succeeded, by merging the Filthy Essence with their Spiritual Soul to become a True God, that meant seizing a spot meant for the Alien Tribes’ level ten warriors."

"And it would permanently resolve the trouble of the Alien Tribes ascending to challenge the Human Race every few years."

Li Yuqing revealed the hidden truths of the past.

Pang Jian listened very intently, surprised that so long ago, there were those who had such foresight and also explored converting the power pathway by tempering the body.

"So what happened? Did anyone succeed?" He couldn’t help asking.

"Some did succeed in converting the source of power within their bodies and also ascended in realm using the Filth Alien Power. According to the records collected by our Li Family, the strongest among them reached the Immortal Realm, and then..."

Li Yuqing paused, then continued, "They entered a state of demonic corruption, completely descending into the path of an Evil Demon, and even began to assist the Alien Tribes of the Fifth Realm in their attempt to overthrow the foundation of the Human Race."

"That individual had once been pinned with high hopes by the True Gods above, believed to be the trailblazer,"

"Before his grand notion could be realized, those True Gods hastily descended into the Fifth Realm and snuffed him out in the bud."

"After that, others reached the Immortal Realm using the same method, but the outcome remained the same. Every one who switched paths and ascended to the Immortal Realm using the Filth Alien Power fell into demonic ways in short order, turning into our enemies instead."

"No one knew why they underwent such a profound change of heart at the final step, without exception falling into the Demon Tao."

"But the True Gods of that era lost patience and hope for this path and suddenly called a stop one day. They not only forbade human cultivators from switching paths midway but also fiercely eradicated a few of the most famous Body Refining Sects."

"The Creation Sect was one of them."

At this point, a hint of concern appeared in Li Yuqing’s eyes as he surreptitiously observed Pang Jian’s condition.

The strong from the past era would fall into demonic ways by the Immortal Realm, and Pang Jian, in terms of cultivation level, was undoubtedly the one who had gone the furthest.

He had already incorporated a surge of Filthy Essence within his body.

Would he, like the predecessors who changed paths, also undergo a radical change of heart at some moment?

"Pang Jian, I don’t know what your situation is, but you must be extremely cautious!" Li Yuqing solemnly warned.

"Mhm, I will take it seriously and not be negligent in the slightest," Pang Jian nodded.

He focused his attention on his Sea of Consciousness, feeling the changes within himself, and said, "The difference between them and me is that I have already become a True God once through fate, and I have another lucid consciousness that can always remind me."

"Besides, my foundation is more solid than theirs; I have my very own Chaos Sea!"

"Don’t worry, I should not succumb to demonic corruption; I won’t become an aide to the Alien Tribes of the Fifth Realm like they did."

As he spoke, the Black Dragon King, clad in a robe as black as pitch, slowly emerged from the dense darkness, gazing deeply as he came.

...