The Purgatory Calamity

Several miles away.

On an ancient tree with withered branches and leaves reaching to the sky, a thin blood mist suddenly spread, gradually forming the curvaceous figure of a beautiful woman.

The mysterious woman, in her spiritual body form, seemed to turn the blood mist into a filmy veil, concealing her increasingly distinct exquisite figure.

Her delicate feet stepped on a withered branch as a faint face veiled in blood mist gazed toward the great commotion ahead.

Zhou Qingchen ran frantically, shattering stones and destroying wood in his path, desperately breaking free with an unstoppable force.

Hong Tai, chasing closely behind on a snake, frequently lunged with blood-red long spears, relentlessly executing many exquisite magic spells.

Halfway above Zhou Qingchen's head, a lofty deep red mountain floated, the embodiment of potent spiritual power.

The venom of long spears from Hong Tai and the python mostly fell towards that deep red mountain, which Zhou Qingchen somehow inspired to form the Red Mountain, helping him block several waves of fatal assaults.

That non-solid Red Mountain, under the relentless bombardment of man and python, began to dim in its radiance.

It looked like the mysterious Red Mountain that had been shielding Zhou Qingchen would collapse and disintegrate before long; when that time came, Hong Tai would truly become lethal.

Seeing Zhou Qingchen's escape speed was slower than the serpent below him, Hong Tai appeared relaxed and unhurried.

As the mysterious woman atop the tree observed Zhou Qingchen and Hong Tai, "Spirit Evils" from all directions converged, with Roman, formidable as a mountain, floating like a guardian deity behind her.

Like Roman, the Spirit Evils, refined by Meridians Channeling Realm powerhouses, hovered behind her, appearing to shield her like gods and demons, giving her an extraordinary aura.

"It should be that valley."

The woman, who had been laboring to consolidate her spiritual body, looked in the direction where Zhou Qingchen broke free and heard the sounds of fierce combat.

Suddenly, she felt something and turned to look in another direction.

She saw a tall figure with desiccated flesh, walking alone through the dense forest.

The blood and flesh of that person's body seemed as if devoured from within, leaving just a stretch of human skin enveloping his enormous skeleton.

The clothing over his heart was torn and frayed, revealing a lifelike Divine Phoenix tattooed on his chest, fluttering its wings as though about to ascend.

The painfully contorted face of this man seemed to follow the guidance of the Divine Phoenix within his chest, panting heavily as he proceeded toward the Black Water Pool, like a ferocious beast on the brink of losing its sanity.

"A poor soul devoured by Phoenix Marrow."

The woman gently shook her head.

With just one glance, she knew the man's heart had been invaded by Phoenix Marrow, consuming his flesh and organs, leaving only his heart intact, currently in a near-death state.

The moment the Divine Phoenix tattoo, resembling a totemic brand, fluttered free from his chest, he would meet his demise.

"Inside the valley lies another bone containing Phoenix Marrow. He was attracted here by the Phoenix Bone."

The woman devised a plan.

Currently a spiritual body, she was preparing to amass transcendent aspects to reforge her physique; if she used Phoenix Marrow as a catalyst, the new body she reconstructed would likely surpass her original one in potential.

With this thought, the woman's eyes lit up with determination, plotting to obtain any potential Phoenix Marrow within the valley.

...

In the deep valley.

"Humming!"

A horde of Cicada Wing Swords, thin as insect wings and only as long as a finger, flew out from behind Jin Yang, rapidly approaching Pang Jian.

Pang Jian, who had been rushing toward the Black Water Pool, kept looking back and saw the tiny Spirit Swords closing in, stabbing toward his back like willow leaves.

Only when the flying swords were nearly upon him did he have to stop and raise his Dragon Pattern Spear to block.

Even amid the clang of steel, some swords still struck his arms, adding more wounds to his body.

When the flying swords drifted slightly away, posing no immediate threat of another attack, he would grit his teeth and continue moving in silence, enduring the pain.

"Black Water Pool!"

Up to now, he didn't know what dangers the pool might conceal, but he believed there had to be something out of the ordinary since his father had declared it forbidden.

Moreover, a Phoenix Bone lay directly ahead, embedded within the Black Water Pool.

As the wounds on his body multiplied, he even began to hope that the ground would shake again, breaking open new fissures and releasing unknown evils to slaughter everyone indiscriminately—so he could use the chaos to escape.

Targeted by Jin Yang, it was hard for him to leave the valley on his own strength; he could only rely on other peculiarities.

The forbidden Black Water Pool and the yet-to-emerge mysterious Phoenix Bone became his last recourse.

"If there is something peculiar, I hope it reveals itself quickly."

With his bloodied arms, Pang Jian clumsily fended off the approaching flying swords and finally reached the edge of the Black Water Pool.

"Both arms, as well as the vital areas of the chest and back, seem to have undergone special tempering."

Jin Yang, who followed leisurely, skillfully controlled seven Cicada Wing Swords, carefully regulating the force, inflicting only shallow cuts on Pang Jian's body.

He soon figured out which parts of Pang Jian's sturdy and tall physique had been tempered and cleansed.

"He's clearly not of the Marrow Cleansing Realm—how did he achieve this?"

Jin Yang wasn't in a hurry to strike hard; instead, he pondered and observed Pang Jian, seeking to pry out the truth.

"Huh!"

The seven Cicada Wing Swords suddenly halted in midair, pointing from different angles at Pang Jian's waist, brow, chest, and other vital spots.

Looking at Pang Jian, who now stood with the Black Water Pool at his back, Jin Yang smiled slightly and said, "You've got the pool behind you now, where else can you retreat to?"

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"It's the pond!"

The moment Pang Jian started to speak and the "Cicada Wing Swords" paused, he immediately leaped into the pond and swam towards the protruding Phoenix Bone at the center of the pool.

The water of the pond was deep and icy, and everything below was invisible, but Pang Jian, a skilled swimmer, strove forward with all his might.

The Dragon Pattern Spear in his hand, too heavy in the water, hindered his swimming speed, so he decisively threw it towards the center of the pond.

"Huff! Huff huff!"

The seven "Cicada Wing Swords" howled above the pond.

Hearing the sound of the swords, Pang Jian shrank beneath the water's surface and continued to dive towards the dead bone.

The pitch-black water completely obscured Pang Jian from view, and the seven "Cicada Wing Swords," along with Jin Yang, could no longer see him.

"As a cultivator like you, you can't hold your breath underwater forever, I'm not afraid you won't come up," Jin Yang said calmly, controlling the seven "Cicada Wing Swords" to fly over the water surface, waiting for Pang Jian to emerge to discover the wonder on him.

Below the water.

Pang Jian, his eyes open in the piercingly cold pond water, could see nothing, as the water was as dark as ink, just like from the outside.

However, his movements under the water were no different than in any other lakes; relying on his previous sensation, he still desperately swam towards the dead bone.

He saw the dead bone as a glimmer of hope.

Struggling to hold his breath, knowing that the "Cicada Wing Swords" were waiting above him, he had to control his buoyancy as much as possible to avoid surfacing too soon before reaching the bone, inviting the fatal attack of the seven Spirit Swords.

After a while, in the dark underwater world, he actually touched the dead bone!

When his hands touched the underwater bone, unseen by him, his blood quietly seeped into the Phoenix Bone beneath the water.

The Phoenix Bone suddenly produced a suction power, continuously drawing the blood from him.

Struggling to hold his breath, Pang Jian gradually discovered that he could see the surroundings in the pitch black water.

Not only could he see the immensely thick Phoenix Bone, but he could also clearly see the "Cicada Wing Swords" flying above under the water.

The color of the water hadn't changed; it was still pitch black like ink.

What had changed was the Phoenix Bone sticking in the pond, descended from the heavens, which emitted a lustrous light through the bone, dispersing some of the darkness.

And at that moment.

"Boom!"

Starting from the Black Water Pool, a violent shaking suddenly transmitted from the surrounding land, rocks tumbled from the hill behind the pond, and several tall trees fell down one after another.

The rugged and uneven deep valley floor, as if torn by a divine power from beneath, gradually began cracking open.

Deep crevices appeared along with the unusual tremors of the earth, spreading out through every area of the valley.

"Another earthquake is here!"

Having experienced it once before, Han Duping, Shangguan Qin, and Ning Yao, feeling the tremors from below, fled desperately for their lives.

"Quick, leave this place!"

With a fearful voice tinged with tears, Shangguan Qin—having truly witnessed that tragic event—anticipated what would happen next.

She feared the terrifying vines emerging from the ground that would consume her flesh and blood more than being captured and humiliated by the Dark Ghost.

"Once an earthquake occurs near the dead bone, life-stealing vines will surge out! I will die, and you won't be able to escape either!"

She screamed in desperation at the people of the Dark Ghost.

On the other side, Ning Yao likewise ceased her struggle with the besiegers and said the same words as Shangguan Qin, wanting those people to quickly let her pass and leave this place.

"After the earthquake, terror will emerge from the ground?"

A few minor leaders of the Dark Ghosts looked at the fear on the faces of Shangguan Qin, Ning Yao, and Han Duping's impatience and anxiety, uncertain whether to believe them.

At the same moment.

The man with a Divine Phoenix totem on his chest who looked like a skeleton wrapped in human skin, began to desperately flap the wings of the Divine Phoenix on his chest.

He immediately knew he had little time left and, without any more hesitation, rushed towards the deep valley at the fastest speed.

"Ouyang Duanhai! You are Ouyang Duanhai, how have you become this ghastly figure?"

An astonished shout escaped the gold-masked leader of the Dark Ghosts as he beheld the intruder, nothing but skin and bones, a ghastly sight not human nor ghost.

"Ouyang Duanhai?"

Shangguan Qin paused, abruptly turning to look at the suddenly intruding figure, staring intently at his face.

"Duanhai? No, you are not him! You're absolutely not him!"

Shangguan Qin began to rant like a madwoman, unable to believe that her former dashing lover had transformed into such a frightful state.

She had taken the initiative to enter the Solitude Mountain Range on purpose; it was a rendezvous agreed upon with Ouyang Duanhai, the husband she had conspired with to kill.

Ouyang Duanhai was the man who truly captivated her, her love of this lifetime.

"Xiao, Xiao Qin?"

The ghoul-like intruder, when she called out the name "Duanhai," seemed to show a flicker of Spiritual Intelligence in his eyes.

Gathering his remaining willpower, he looked at her, struggling to confirm her identity. Gradually, in the murky depths of his eyes, a hint of excitement finally emerged as he exclaimed, "Leave this place! Xiao Qin, quickly escape this bloody Asura Field! I… I will help you... survive!"

In this moment, he forgot to seek the last trace of life for himself, turning instead to attack the cultivators of the Dark Ghost.

...

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