The Purgatory Calamity

Ning Yao frequently looked back, and when flying over the ravine, she was still keeping an eye on Pang Jian's movements, fearing that he would do something out of the ordinary.

Pang Jian stood still, unmoving like a rock.

It was not until Ning Yao finally climbed the wooden ladder to reach the deck of the "Unstable Ferry" and after searching, descended into the cabin that Pang Jian dismounted and moved to the side of the enormous Phoenix Bone.

The Upper Realm's Heaven Phoenix had left behind a towering bone, tall and straight like a broad sword piercing the dim sky.

The surrounding so-called towering ancient trees paled in comparison to the grandeur of even one Phoenix Bone, inspiring awe and a sense of the sacred within Pang Jian.

He paced around the Heaven Phoenix's remains.

Sometimes, he looked towards the end of the bone stabbing into the sky, other times to the part buried in the ground, with a growing light of anticipation in his eyes.

Ning Yao was right; he was certainly not a simple and naïve youth, and it was hard for him to trust others, let alone share everything with them.

Even towards Zhou Qingchen, there were things he kept hidden, never revealing what he had seen through the "Branded Eye," let alone to Ning Yao.

Only he knew that as the Murderous Vines retracted into the fissures in the ground and the rumbling slowly subsided, a mysterious light had briefly wandered inside the massive bone that was seemingly unremarkable.

The mysterious light roamed for a while before gradually fading away, and everything eventually returned to normal.

—This was the continuation he had kept to himself.

His willingness to revisit the perilous place was not out of kindness, nor was it to collect the remains of Roman and the others for Shangguan Qin.

The reason he had come back was to see what that wandering mysterious light inside the Phoenix Bone truly was.

He suggested exploring the "Unstable Ferry" because he knew that Ning Yao did not trust him, and she was constantly on guard, always wanting to oppose him.

—He had been right.

When he said he wanted to go to the "Unstable Ferry," Ning Yao did indeed stop him and insisted that he stay outside.

Ning Yao herself was in a hurry to explore, wanting to uncover the secrets within the ship all by herself.

This played right into Pang Jian's hands.

"Judging by the time, it should be appearing soon."

Pang Jian gazed intently at the tall, thick Phoenix Bone, maintaining a certain distance. Unlike Zhou Qingchen, who had tried to touch it with his hand, he was just waiting for the appearance of the mysterious light.

After a while,

a cluster of hazy, white luminous light, similar to liquid amber, truly rose slowly from where the Phoenix Bone penetrated deep into the ground.

The white, mysterious light, like a cluster of drifting beings, soared up from the bottom of the vast bone.

Pang Jian's eyes remained fixed on the enigmatic light, not wanting to miss any detail.

In his mind, he recalled the image of the white, jade-like Divine Bone piercing and killing the Qing Jue, then looked at the similar luster of the light, feeling both anxious and excited.

Could the light, similar in sheen to the Divine Bone that so cleanly killed the mighty Qing Jue, also harbor Divine Power that could penetrate the heavens and the earth?

Being so close, would he be affected like the two guards who were reduced to ashes?

The uneasy Pang Jian held his breath, condensed his spirit, and observed carefully, but he did not sense any terrifying heat from the wandering light, nor did he see countless runes whistling like drills.

"No, this is definitely not a Divine Bone; Zhou Qingchen was right."

His anticipation and desire slowly turned into thick disappointment as the realization sank in.

This bone that penetrated the ground was not the one he had seen before, lacking any power resembling that which could penetrate the Sky Curtain, only retaining a bit of strangeness.

"Since it's not that one..."

After confirming this, Pang Jian finally mustered more courage, daring to get extremely close to the bone.

"Oh!"

Suddenly, from deep within the cabin of the "Unstable Ferry," came Ning Yao's surprised and joyful exclamations.

She seemed to have made a discovery and shouted, "Pang Jian, is everything normal outside? Zhou Qingchen and Shangguan Qin haven't come over, have they?"

"No, everything is normal," Pang Jian responded loudly.

The mysterious white light that had been wandering around the bone, as if attracted by his voice, quickly moved to the area of the bone in front of Pang Jian, silently observing him.

"Bang! Bang, bang!"

The palm-sized white light, as if suddenly becoming sentient, started striking the bone wall repeatedly, attempting to burst out from inside the Phoenix Bone and enter Pang Jian's body.

Pang Jian's face changed color as he immediately stepped back, afraid that the cluster of light would succeed.

He had no idea what kind of transformation would occur inside him if the luminous light were to enter his body.

However, he had seen with his own eyes the fate of the Qing Jue and the two guards.

Returning from this adventure, he wanted to see if there was a secret within the light, to see if he could gain an opportunity visible to the naked eye.

But he was certainly not about to gamble his life without any clear understanding of the situation.

"Bang!"

After several forceful impacts, the faint white glow finally burst forth from the bone wall as Pang Jian retreated!

Pang Jian's expression was one of terror. He wanted to grab something to block it but soon realized it was all too late.

The liquid-amber-like light headed straight for Pang Jian's heart within his chest as if trying to drill into it, but just as it tore open the clothes on Pang Jian's chest, its fierce momentum was abruptly halted!

As Pang Jian's heart and mind trembled, the bronze door pendant on his chest that seemed as if it would never open suddenly cracked open a sliver as thin as a hair.

"Swoosh!"

The light, which was supposed to enter Pang Jian's heart and lay dormant for transformation, was thus sucked into the bronze door.

The light vanished in a flash, and the crack in the bronze door quickly closed as if nothing had happened.

At that very moment, in a deep crevice in the ground out of Pang Jian's sight, the buried Ancient Vine Tree suddenly underwent a bizarre change.

The entire Ancient Vine Tree had been pierced into the ground by the Phoenix Bone, with countless vines writhing about like monstrous trees, sinister and aberrant.

However, after that cluster of amber light was sucked in through the crack in the bronze door on Pang Jian's chest, all the wildly writhing Murderous Vines and the Ancient Vine Tree itself withered and died in the blink of an eye, with no trace of anything mystical left.

But Pang Jian had no idea.

He wore a look of astonishment, still in a guarding posture with both hands out, only to find he had blocked nothing but air.

The mysterious amber light that had leaped out of the Phoenix Bone and seemed ready to devour someone vanished into thin air in front of his chest.

The bone wall of the skeletal remains was intact, with no signs of breakage, still as smooth as before.

Yet for some reason, when Pang Jian looked at this bone again, he felt all of its mystical qualities had vanished without a trace of mystery remaining.

Looking left and right, Pang Jian noticed only a barely noticeable seam had been added to the front of his clothes.

It was as if someone had taken advantage of his distraction to slice open his robe with a thin, sharp blade.

Pang Jian's expression was odd as he looked at the inexplicable seam on his clothes, wondering if it had anything to do with the disappearing light of amber.

"Pang Jian!"

As he pondered where that wisp of light had gone, Ning Yao excitedly rushed out of the "Unstable Ferry."

Ning Yao had a very large sack on her back, seemingly stuffed with items, making her figure appear somewhat bulky.

"I knew it; you saw the Cultivator's Spiritual Materials left behind in the 'Unstable Ferry' by the Blood Moon cultivators!"

She patted the sack on her back excitedly and said, "Spirit Stones are essential materials for all cultivators!"

"In our Fourth Realm, nearly all Spirit Stones contain impurities that are as difficult to purge as nature's spiritual energy. The Spirit Stones carried by the Blood Moon experts in the hold of the 'Unstable Ferry,' though not of a very high grade, are valuable because they are free of contaminants!"

Ning Yao's face was full of surprise as she swung her arm forcefully, exclaiming, "These are not available in our Fourth Realm."

Carrying the large sack on her back, she jumped above the ground's gaping fissure, clearly slower than before due to the bulk, but her excitement was unmistakable.

"Congratulations."

Pang Jian offered his lukewarm congratulations, not having expected Ning Yao to have actually found something in the "Unstable Ferry."

"First, put it in the net pocket under the warhorse's belly. It's too conspicuous on my back."

After Ning Yao arrived, she tossed all of Liu Qi's worthless items that were originally inside the net pocket under the horse's belly, replaced them with the sack of Spirit Stones she had picked, and then scoffed coldly, "You think you can be clever with me?"

Pang Jian was speechless: "I really didn't know there were Blood Moon Spirit Stones in there."

"Spare me that nonsense! You're carrying that bamboo basket to hold those Spirit Stones, aren't you?" Ning Yao questioned with a sneer.

Pang Jian shook his head, remaining silent.

"Forget it, I don't want to quarrel with you. Considering your merit in keeping watch outside, since you are also a finder, I will give you a few to use for your cultivation." Ning Yao thought for a moment, then took out several jade stones, like chipped bricks, from under the warhorse's belly and tossed them into the bamboo basket on Pang Jian's back.

"What's this?"

She paused abruptly.

Inside the basket, the grey stone emanating a faint "Mysterious Yin Power" suddenly caught her eye.

At that moment, the strange stone, having been repeatedly drawn upon by Pang Jian, no longer emitted noticeable wisps without being touched by the palm of a hand.

When Ning Yao had leaned close before, she only felt a coolness from the basket and did not think much of it.

Only upon a closer look did she realize something was amiss and furrowed her brow, "Turns out it's a stone rich in yin energy. Ordinary people can't use it; only those with sinister Spirit Spells can draw from it. Pang Jian, where did you get this, and why do you carry it with you?"

"Picked it up from a pile of stones. It was bone-chilling cold when I held it, and I was planning to see if I could sell it later," Pang Jian replied.

"You're not wrong; this thing does have some value in the market," Ning Yao unassumingly said. "However, such an obscure Spiritual Material is seldom needed, and its value is often not high."

Ning Yao, not paying it much attention, tossed several Spirit Stones she deemed "incredibly valuable" into Pang Jian's bamboo basket on his back, then urged him that they could mount up and return.

"Remember this, you're not allowed to breathe a word about acquiring these Spirit Stones," she warned with a stern face.

"Oh."

Pang Jian responded indifferently and then once again mounted the horse, rushing back towards Zhou Qingchen and the others.

...