The Purgatory Calamity

Pang Jian had a nightmare.

In the dream, the moment he awoke, he experienced the excruciating pain of being devoured by countless ants, as if it had become reality.

What was different was that in his dream, it wasn't a myriad of ants but an endless number of gracefully dancing Divine Phoenixes.

Countless tiny Divine Phoenixes, as small as dust particles, soared within his breastbone and along his arms, displaying their divine elegance within his marrow, bringing him an indescribable agony.

Compared with this intense pain, the previous discomfort he felt when Sun Bin roamed his body with lightning to check his talent was nothing at all.

Perhaps that was why, during the last episode, he was still able to grit his teeth and endure, but this time he fainted on the spot.

He didn't know how much time had passed before the fever inside his body subsided; finally, Pang Jian woke up faintly.

"What happened to you, kid? Why did you suddenly fall ill?"

The moment he opened his eyes, Pang Jian saw Zhou Qingchen seated cross-legged on the ground next to him, chewing on a blade of grass and smiling to him with a show of teeth: "How do you feel now?"

Pang Jian tried to move his neck and arms, finding his neck cracking, as if it had grown stiff for a long time.

"Hmm!"

His brows twitched, feeling as if he had been endowed with an unknown divine power, full of inexhaustible strength, and his chest bones even gave him a strange illusion of being as solid as metal.

As he swung his arms, he felt that his arm bones had been tempered as well, clearly different from before.

Feeling the strangeness throughout his body but unable to discuss it openly with Zhou Qingchen, he had to beat around the bush and inquire, "Mr. Zhou, I've heard that the third realm for cultivators is the Marrow Cleaning Realm?"

While he asked, he thought of the bizarre images of numerous Divine Phoenixes soaring through his arm bones and marrow in his dream.

"Why do you care about that? I haven't even succeeded in cleaning my marrow; you should be even less concerned about it."

Zhou Qingchen laughed wryly, enlightening him in detail: "The path of cultivation for all of us starts with the first realm, which is Qi Refinement. It requires guiding nature's spiritual energy into the Spiritual Sea within the dantian. The Qi Refining Realm is a stage of accumulation; overall strength doesn't improve qualitatively and isn't much stronger than an ordinary person who doesn't cultivate."

After a pause, he continued solemnly, "The Meridians Channeling Realm is different."

"Once you reach the Meridians Channeling Realm, you can infuse the Spiritual Power from within the dantian into the meridians of your limbs. Once the meridians are filled with Spiritual Power, the cultivator becomes immensely powerful, and can also spread it through their limbs, thus unleashing astonishing might."

He extended a hand, pulled up his sleeve, and showed half of his forearm before subtly exerting his strength.

Pang Jian clearly saw a dark red glow flowing through the veins in his forearm, going all the way to the center of his palm.

"Whoosh!"

A clump of deep red spiritual light suddenly rose from the center of his palm and, under his skillful control, slowly took the shape of a small deep-red mountain.

He casually slapped with the palm of his hand, the illusory "Red Mountain" floating above it, smashed toward a huge stone beside him.

"Bang!"

The stone exploded with a boom.

"This is the power of the Meridians Channeling Realm."

Zhou Qingchen demonstrated with calmness and composure.

The commotion he caused caught the attention of the distant Zhou and Ning family members, including Shangguan Qin, who couldn't help but look over.

"As for the Marrow Cleaning Realm, it is called Bone Severing Marrow Washing, focusing on refining the bones, flesh, and internal organs. Those who reach the peak of the Marrow Cleaning Realm often signify a rebirth, shedding their mortal flesh."

A hint of pride flashed in Zhou Qingchen's eyes as he lifted his head and said, "Once I reach the Marrow Cleaning Realm, I'll be able to cleanse the impurities hidden within my flesh, bones, and sinews without delaying my cultivation at Red Mountain."

He told Pang Jian that since the spiritual energy in the Fourth Realm was not pure enough, Qi Refiners who cultivated in this realm naturally retained filthy impurities in their bodies.

When he formally sets foot in Red Mountain, he will first break through to the Marrow Cleaning Realm and complete his transformation.

"Marrow Cleaning, Bone Severing Marrow Washing."

Pang Jian muttered thoughtfully, feeling that during his fainting spell, he was refined by some mysterious divine alien power that tempered his sternum and hand bones.

He suspected it was the cluster of amber light that had disappeared but couldn't find conclusive evidence and didn't feel it appropriate to consult Zhou Qingchen.

It was already evening, and the sky was growing darker, indicating that night was about to fall.

After a deep conversation with Zhou Qingchen, Pang Jian finally surveyed the surrounding area and noticed the Ning Family's warhorses resting together.

The Zhou Family's servants were currently busy making a fire for cooking, with Ning Yao and Ning Yuanshan not far from the fire pit, still keeping a certain distance from the Zhou family members.

A rift had already formed, and the Zhou and Ning families were no longer amicable, each beginning to be wary of the other.

Expert in breaking formations, Han Duping was playfully bothering Shangguan Qin with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the annoyance on her face.

Pang Jian rose leisurely, checking the mountain peak behind him and looking toward the sound of flowing water.

He saw a small waterfall cascading down from the mountain peak behind him, gathering into a dark, brooding pool of water.

The waterfall's descending water was clear and transparent, but strangely, it turned black when it hit the pool.

Near the edge of the pool against the mountain wall, there projected a piece of... gigantic dry bone, devoid of any luster but startling Pang Jian, who exclaimed, "Divine Phoenix remains?"

Zhou Qingchen nodded with a smile, "Most of the bones have sunk deep into the bottom of the pool, only a segment is visible."

"When you were fainting from fever, I checked it thoroughly; there's nothing divine about this dry bone. It is not the so-called Divine Bones that everyone is desperately searching for, said to possess innate legacy."

Zhou Qingchen had long concluded that a bone with divine inherited power could not possibly appear in the Fourth Realm.

Pang Jian thought of the dry bone with the mysterious glow within and mused that even if it did not have the Divine Phoenix's legacy, each bone that fell from the heavens hid something marvelous.

"Don't worry, we've been very cautious this time, and should another earthquake occur, we will evacuate immediately."

Zhou Qingchen's attitude was relaxed, naively assuming that any anomaly involving the dry bones would still be accompanied by the rumbling of an earthquake.

"Black water? Black Water Pool!"

Looking at the pool behind him, Pang Jian was stunned for a moment, then his expression turned extremely grave as he suddenly exclaimed, "This place is not safe. You shouldn't set up camp here!"

He remembered!

This area with the Black Water Pool was listed as one of the forbidden zones in the Solitude Mountain Range by his father, who had explicitly told him not to set foot in it.

He faithfully followed his father's orders, and he had never ventured deep into any of the places his father had designated as forbidden zones over the years.

Since he had a sister to care for, he was not willing to take risks, fearing that he would disappear just like his father and plunge Pang Lin's life into the darkest moments.

Pang Lin was not yet grown, and had lost her father at a tender age. She absolutely could not lose him as well.

"Something's not right here?"

Zhou Qingchen asked Pang Jian while gesturing to Han Duping to stop pestering Shangguan Qin ceaselessly.

Seeing Han Duping come over, he immediately commanded, "Han, have everyone prepare, we need to leave this place as quickly as possible."

After the previous experience, he now trusted Pang Jian unconditionally and took action immediately.

He and Pang Jian immediately headed in the direction of where the warhorses were.

Ning Yao and Ning Yuanshan, who were still quietly discussing whether to go to the Extreme North Land, suddenly tensed up at their actions.

Shangguan Qin also felt uneasy and, without waiting for Pang Jian to come over, she dashed towards the reddish-brown warhorse, leaving Han Duping behind.

However, before she could get to the warhorse, including the reddish-brown one, all the horses one by one fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth.

In the blink of an eye, all the warhorses lay on the ground, having died from severe poisoning.

"Zhang Heng!"

Ning Yuanshan was furiously enraged, roaring into the woods, "I asked you to feed the horses, what the hell did you give them?!"

"The person you guys brought in seems to have deliberately poisoned all the warhorses," said Han Duping, his face grim. He sensed something was amiss and exclaimed, "He said the water from the Black Water Pool wasn't clean and went to find another water source, but I think he went to meet someone!"

"He poisoned the warhorses to prevent us from making a calm escape," Zhou Qingchen interjected somberly.

Without much fear, the Zhou Family heir and Pang Jian approached the group, looked towards the direction Zhang Heng had gone, and then at the Black Water Pool behind them, along with the smooth, towering rock walls.

It was clear that retreat was not possible going back.

Although there were trees and tangled dead grass in front of them, the terrain was quite open, allowing for retreat in any direction.

"Among the seven great families, we seldom have a complete fallout unless there's a treasure appearing that's enough to make people green with envy," said Zhou Qingchen, a Zhou Family genius, whose identity and confidence allowed him to stay calm and collected. He coldly added, "I'd like to see which family dares to strike at me, Zhou Qingchen!"

"Worthy of being the seed chosen by Red Mountain."

A raspy, strange voice suddenly rang out, followed by the sight of someone riding a python, emerging from the deep grass at a leisurely pace.

The python, as thick as a water bucket, sported black and white patterns, its forked tongue flickered restlessly, and its snake eyes shone with a fierce green gleam.

The man riding the snake was dressed in loose clothing that matched the python's patterns and tucked his hands into his sleeves, skinny as a bamboo pole.

"I am Hong Tai. In earlier years, I was also a member of Blood Moon, but sadly, I was expelled from Blood Moon a hundred years ago. Alas, I couldn't stay in the Upper Realm any longer and could only mingle in the Lower Realm," the man riding the snake said with a smile, introducing himself.

"Sss! Sss sss!"

Following his appearance, many people dressed in different attires began to emerge from the waist-high grass.

Zhang Heng was also among them.

"Hong Tai?"

"Hong Tai!"

Younger ones like Zhou Qingchen and Ning Yao were unfamiliar with the name and showed confused expressions upon hearing it.

Han Duping, on the other hand, slightly changed color. He looked at the snake-riding Hong Tai and said to Zhou Qingchen in a low voice, "He's one of the Dark Ghosts."

"Dark Ghosts?"

Pang Jian was clueless.

Zhou Qingchen, Ning Yao, and Ning Yuanshan, upon hearing that the newcomer was from the Dark Ghosts, immediately had their expressions turn ugly.

The strongest sects and forces in the Fourth Realm, where they resided, were naturally the seven great families.

The seven great families had some connections to the sects of the Upper Realm, more or less, and were considered the official and legitimate powers of this realm, controlling the seven largest and richest areas of cultivation resources.

The seven families had close relations among themselves, and mostly got along on the surface, rarely erupting in life-and-death conflicts.

The Dark Ghosts, however, were a cultivator force that wandered in the shadows and at the fringes of Fragment Land, outside the seven great families.

The so-called Dark Ghosts referred to the lonely souls and wandering spirits that resided in the darkness.

The seven great families regularly banded together to eliminate the Dark Ghosts, but this organization was adept at hiding and fleeing, and to this day, they hadn't been wiped out and were still active in the shadows.

Who the leader of the Dark Ghosts was and what realm his cultivation level had reached remained unclear to the seven families even now.

All they knew was that the Dark Ghost leader had gathered some evil cultivators who could no longer mix in the Upper Realm, providing them with a place to hide in the Lower Realm.

"The disintegrating body of the Divine Phoenix turning into bones scattered across the realms, we Dark Ghosts, having received the news, naturally wanted to try our luck," Hong Tai said, pointing at Zhang Heng and generously introducing him, "He's one of ours, Dark Ghosts, who had long been lurking in the Ning Family. There are many more Dark Ghost members just like him within your seven great families, you just don't know it."

"Only at certain critical moments will they reveal their identity to do us some big favors."

Hearing his unabashed admission that there were many others like Zhang Heng, Zhou Qingchen and the others felt heavy at heart.

"All right, let's not waste time on chit-chat, let's get down to business," Hong Tai clapped his hands and gave the order without further delay, smiling, "Kill everyone except for those two women; don't leave any survivors for me."

...