The Purgatory Calamity-Chapter 123 - 108 Scouting Sky Fortune City_1

Zhao Ling swung her beautiful legs and made her way to a long table in the center of the hall, placing down the map of Sky Fortune City’s street layout and said softly, "Mr. Wu."

Sitting in a corner not far from her, Wu Yi had always been inconspicuous, but he stood up with a smile upon being called.

Pang Jian glanced over and noticed that this was a middle-aged man dressed like a scholar, holding a feather fan in his hand.

"Everyone, come take a look."

Wu Yi beckoned with his hand.

Pang Jian, Meng Qiulan, and Yang Yuansen all moved closer to the long table.

The two individuals who had been standing behind Yang Yuansen did not move, remaining in their original spot like cold, hard stones.

"This is the big residence where the Beast-Catching Ship is berthed."

Wu Yi pointed at a spot on the street layout map circled in ink and said, "Sky Fortune City is not much different from most cities in the Fourth Realm. There are four main streets, connecting to four city gates outward, divided into eastern, southern, western, and northern districts..."

He introduced to everyone.

Pang Jian leaned in, committing the entire map to memory, trying not to miss any details.

"The Eastern District houses the Shangguan Family and the residences of those who rely on the Shangguan Family’s power. The ship of the Blood Moon is berthed at one of the more lavish mansions, which is right here."

"The West District is inhabited by commoners. Most of our spies in the city are located here." ƒгeewebnovёl.com

"The North District is home to many families of the Guest Elders who are loyal to the Shangguan Family. The Guest Elders usually do not go out and stay in this district."

"The South District is a gathering place for Individual Cultivators, with some shops, taverns, and inns. Those who come to hunt Ferocious Beasts in the Thousand Miles of Cloud Land or those who stopover in Sky Fortune City are almost all active in this area."

"..."

Wu Yi pointed and explained, informing everyone about the layout of Sky Fortune City, saying the defenses at the Eastern District gate were the strongest while the West District was the most lax.

Apart from Yang Yuansen’s half-hearted listening, the rest were very serious, contemplating as they listened.

Especially Pang Jian, whose bright eyes looked as though they wanted to fixate on the layout map.

Wu Yi, who was acting as a military strategist, couldn’t help but be slightly astonished at his concentrated expression.

He had a sudden thought and then laughed, saying, "Hong Jian, right?"

Pang Jian nodded.

"This here is the Blood Moon’s stronghold. If you were our leader, what would you do?"

Wu Yi asked, with a hint of examination in his voice.

Pang Jian, who was contemplating the matter, said without even looking up from the map on the table, "That depends on our goal, whether it’s mainly to seize the Beast Blood and meat collected by the Blood Moon, or if it’s to kill the people of the Blood Moon."

"We need to save people as well!"

Meng Qiulan interjected, her eyes looking dimly at Pang Jian, thinking, "The moment I agreed to Yang Yuansen’s request to send Bai Wei and Bai Zhi away, this young man had no intention to save people at all, truly cold-blooded and pragmatic."

"Killing is not the objective, the main goal is to take the Beast Blood and meat, and saving people... is just incidental," Wu Yi laughed and said.

"Then there’s no need to arrange people to block the people coming in and out of this mansion. It’s better to just create chaos as much as possible."

"If possible in the early stages, it would be best to arrange for our people to poison the well water and food."

"When we take action, it’s best if Sky Fortune City falls into chaos. If flames soar into the sky in several districts and incidents of turmoil and fighting break out, whatever we do will be convenient."

Having been tempered in Bagua City and often communicating with Luo Hongyan lately, Pang Jian had more ideas about dealing with such matters.

After he finished speaking, he noticed that everyone had fallen silent, and he couldn’t help but look up.

Meng Qiulan, Zhao Ling, and Yang Yuansen were all looking at him with strange expressions in their eyes.

Wu Yi’s eyes, on the other hand, brightened.

"The nephew brought out by that son of a bitch Hong Tai, is indeed as cunning and venomous as him!"

Yang Yuansen sneered and said, "All I thought was to block the door and lead people to kill our way in under cover of night. You talk about using poison, causing chaos, and inciting a riot throughout Sky Fortune City; these must be tricks Hong Tai taught you, right?"

Pang Jian remained silent.

Zhao Ling’s sharp gaze, flickering with an odd light, stared at Pang Jian for a long moment before saying, "Mr. Wu, what do you think?"

Wu Yi cleared his throat, looking somewhat embarrassed, and said, "My thoughts are not much different from his; just a few small details need to be changed. But overall, this is my line of thinking as well."

Having said this, he seemed to feel a sense of respect, nodding toward Pang Jian and praised, "Those who come down from the Upper Realm really do things more... thoroughly."

Meng Qiulan, who had not said much, then came out of her reverie and said, "Hong Jian, you may leave now."

"Master Meng, could you give me a few more of those pills that suppress Qi and Blood?"

Pang Jian made his request.

"What are you planning to do?"

Meng Qiulan was taken aback.

"I intend to enter Sky Fortune City and scout ahead. I need to get a clear understanding of the specific situation around the mansion because the map is static, but people are not," Pang Jian answered.

Admiration in Wu Yi’s eyes grew deeper.

"Oh, alright."

Meng Qiulan gave him several wax-yellow pills and admonished, "You only need to take this near the Unstable Ferry, and its effect lasts only for a quarter of an hour. As a fellow in the Marrow Cleansing Realm, unless the two of you break out in combat, the other party won’t be able to detect your true cultivation level; you don’t have to be so cautious."

Pang Jian nodded, took the pills, and left.

"Elder Meng, when did he advance to the Marrow Cleansing Realm, and does he have any combat experience?"

As soon as Pang Jian disappeared, Zhao Ling suddenly barraged with questions, "We must ascertain whether his Marrow Cleansing Realm can be effective and if he will drag us down."

"He should have advanced about half a month ago," Meng Qiulan said.

"Just advanced? Was he always assigned by Hong Tai to cultivate elsewhere?"

Zhao Ling shook her head, disappointed, "It seems we can’t count on him as a helper who can share the burden. With little experience in skirmishes, a newly advanced Marrow Cleansing Realm practitioner, no matter how clever or cautious, is useless. When facing those Blood Moon people, let’s just hope he doesn’t get scared stiff."

"Hey, it’s a pity that Hong Tai died early and didn’t have the chance to adapt to our Dark Ghosts’ brutal battlefield," Yang Yuansen chuckled a few times and said, "Zhao Ling, as the youngest in the Marrow Cleansing Realm, you should still be able to keep yourself safe."

The meaning in his words was that in the battle of Sky Fortune City, Pang Jian would more likely die than survive.

...

Dusk.

Sky Fortune City.

With the token Fan Liang gave him, Pang Jian easily entered through the western city gate.

Walking the dirty and messy streets, Pang Jian felt reflective as he looked at the small houses built of gray, blue, black, and white stones.

The common people living in the West District wore shabby clothes and lived in these small houses, their days filled with confusion and endless busyness.

Either sewing clothes to supply the cultivators within the city or toiling in newly cultivated fields outside the city to grow food in exchange for silver taels.

After a life of hard labor, most did not live past fifty.

Not to mention seeing the sights of the Upper Realm, the vast majority of them never had the chance to leave the lands of Sky Fortune in their lifetime.

Thinking of how he had left Northern Qi, could move about as a cultivator in Sky Fortune, and had even visited the Formations of the Fifth Realm and witnessed the awe-inspiring scenes of the mighty alien tribes, Pang Jian felt fortunate.

On the streets of the West District, Pang Jian, dressed neatly with clean fingertips, looked around with emotion.

The members of the gangs in the dark alleys were all cunning, knowing at a glance he was a person on the path of cultivation.

Therefore, no one dared to provoke him, but they were puzzled as to why he would not enter through another city gate.

After wandering around the West District, memorizing the layout of the streets and comparing it with the map in his head, Pang Jian headed to the South District.

The South District was clearly much livelier.

On the streets, many individual cultivators could be seen coming and going, with loud noises coming from the taverns, shops, and inns on both sides.

This was nothing like the streets of Bagua City.

"Finally, a place with a bit of liveliness," he muttered to himself and casually entered a shop.

After leaving, his storage bag now contained quite a few Earth Flame Stones, but his main aim to purchase ferocious beast meat had yielded nothing.

He learned from the store owner that the meat of ferocious beasts was controlled by the Shangguan Family. The beast meat hunted by individual cultivators in Cloud Marsh was mostly taken by the Shangguan Family at low prices.

—This was also the main tribute that the Shangguan Family offered to the Blood Moon.

The store owner also told him that ferocious beast meat was actually sold in a few towns outside Sky Fortune City and in some bases inside Cloud Marsh, and he could try his luck there.

Pang Jian continued to wander through the South District, visiting different shops and gradually acquiring more poison powders and poisons.

Passing a pavilion filled with the laughter of joyous women, Pang Jian, hidden around the corner of the street, spotted a familiar face.

Fei Zheng of the Blood Moon.

Fei Zheng was at a window on the upper floor of the pavilion, fawned over by several people in brocade clothing, enjoying his drinks and leisure.

Frequently, these men, accompanied by beautiful women, toasted to Fei Zheng of the Blood Moon.

In front of the pavilion named Fuxiang Building, there were city guards in Shangguan Family attire on watch, forbidding anyone to enter; it seemed this place was specifically catering to Fei Zheng alone.

Fei Zheng, who had not deliberately hidden his drunkenness, with a red face and bleary eyes, enjoyed the servitude of the Lower Realm’s high officials.

For him, no one in the entire Sky Fortune City dared to cross him. He naturally didn’t care about the individual cultivators walking on the streets.

In the Upper Realm’s Blood Moon, he still had to act cautiously and low-key, but in Sky Fortune City of the Lower Realm, he was the emperor.

Even Shangguan Dong, the city lord, had to serve him carefully, offering up the city’s finest wines and most beautiful women, almost making him reluctant to think of returning.

"It seems not every night he is on that beast-catching ship; the difficulty might be lower this way," Pang Jian thought quietly to himself and stealthily left after watching for a while.

He then visited the North District and the Eastern District, strolling through all four districts of the not-too-large Sky Fortune City, carefully comparing each one with the map in his mind.

In the end, after taking a waxy yellow pill, he came to the large residence in the Eastern District where the "Unstable Ferry" was docked.

The "Unstable Ferry" was completely uncovered.

It was moored in the courtyard of the mansion, its deck higher than the pavilions, and the blood-red crescent on the black banners was particularly conspicuous.

These Blood Moon cultivators seemed to have never considered the possibility that someone would dare to attack them.

From Meng Qiulan and Zhao Ling, Pang Jian also learned that before this, the Dark Ghosts would indeed not dare to make a move on the sects of the Upper Realm, fearing that the Upper Realm’s sects would fiercely eliminate them.

That night.

Pang Jian settled down in a dilapidated building in the West District, where the common people lived and that belonged to the Dark Ghosts. He took out a white jade porcelain bottle from his chest,

lifted the stopper, and as a strand of rich Qi and Blood dissipated, Pang Jian gazed at Luo Hongyan atop the crystalline lotus. Despite its miniature and delicate form, it was still breathtakingly beautiful.

He was momentarily distracted.

It was precisely because he regularly saw Luo Hongyan, beheld such a nation-destroying beauty, that his heart remained unmoved by women like Bai Wei and Bai Zhi.

"This is not Cloud Marsh Town anymore."

Luo Hongyan, with her Divine Sense overflowing, sensed her surroundings and quickly grasped the situation, "Has the Dark Ghosts decided to make their move?"

"Yes, they plan to act in Sky Fortune City, probably within the next few days," Pang Jian briefed her on the situation, including his detailed understanding of Sky Fortune City, before asking, "What is your actual combat level? You need to be clear so I can have a measure in mind."

"If I were to join the battle now, as long as I don’t encounter a Great Cultivator from Yin Spirit Temple who specializes in soul-binding, I can slay any in the Marrow Cleansing Realm," Luo Hongyan explained with a smile, "The reason I don’t go to the Third Realm is that there are too many powerful beings there, and it’s too dangerous for us at our current cultivation levels."

"In the Fourth Realm, though, as long as we’re careful, there’s not much to worry about," Luo Hongyan said proudly.

"Good, then I’m reassured."

...