The Purgatory Calamity-Chapter 134 - 119 Sapling’s Gift_1

Cloud Marsh Town.

A Fire Cloud Ship, well-known in the Lower Realm, was quietly moored in the deserted center of town.

At this moment, on the deck, influential figures from the major families stood alongside members of the Raging Sun Sect and Blood Moon, all gazing into the distance in wait.

Before long, they saw a huge golden coach, glittering with light, flying in from the edge of the sky.

Before the Golden Coach had fully stopped, a woman leaped gracefully from it and landed steadily on the Raging Sun Sect’s Fire Cloud Ship.

"How is the situation?"

The bushy-browed Xiao Pei, the person in charge from the Raging Sun Sect on this trip, asked anxiously with a frown on his face.

Behind him stood Dong Yao from the Dong Family, and Zhu Yuanxi from the Blood Moon, who had arrived with Dong Yao on the Cloud Sail.

Further back were Shangguan Dong, the City Lord of Sky Fortune City; Ouyang Quan from the Ouyang Family; He Hui from the He Family; Ning Wei from the Ning Family, and Su Hongfei from the Su Family.

Various distinguished and powerful figures from the six major families of the Fourth Realm were now all present.

"The disaster happened unavoidably."

Huang Ying from the Star River Alliance, who possessed the cultivation of the Innate Realm, looked at the crowd that had been waiting for a long time and said gravely, "We used Star Eye to implant into the bodies of those Dark Ghost members we captured and threw them into the Fragment Land infected by the Filth Alien Power."

A look of horror flickered in her eyes.

"Those Dark Ghost members who fell, breathing in the Filth Alien Power within the Fragment Land, most of them died in a short time from their internal organs rotting away."

"Those who didn’t die became insane, wandering aimlessly, and as a result..."

She sighed before continuing, "There were Ferocious Beasts that mutated due to the Filth Alien Power and fed on those Dark Ghost members. Even huge plants were also adapting to the Filth Alien Power, becoming grotesque and bloodthirsty."

Huang Ying shook her head with a sigh, "Those insane members of the Dark Ghost rapidly died out. In the towns of the Fragment Land everywhere, one could see skeletons without flesh, the whole Fragment Land was dead silent, and we did not see any surviving living beings with our Star Eye."

The crowd turned pale with shock.

Although they anticipated that the situation in the Fragment Land, spreading with the Filth Alien Power, would certainly be dire, after hearing Huang Ying’s confirmation, they still felt panic and despair.

What frightened them the most was that the Filth Alien Power rising from below was still spreading to its surroundings!

Shangguan Dong turned his head and ordered his subordinates, "Quickly arrange for the Cloud Sail to leave for those in the city who bear no grudge against our Shangguan Family!"

The man nodded and immediately left.

"Brother Xiao, what do your three parties plan to do?"

Dong Yao, one of the mainstays of the Dong Family, the strongest family in the Fourth Realm who was tall and well-dressed, looked towards Xiao Pei.

"The information we’ve obtained is consistent."

The upright and forceful Xiao Pei did not directly answer Dong Yao’s question but instead said, "The rise of the Filth Alien Power from the Fifth Realm has happened before, and not just once."

The crowd listened solemnly.

"But the most recent one is very distant from our era."

"According to information from the Raging Sun Sect, after being infected by the Filth Alien Power from the Fifth Realm, the vast majority of mortals, including cultivators like us, are actually the fastest to die."

"Ferocious Beasts and plants are more adaptable to the Filth Alien Power and are more likely to mutate."

"After mutation, Ferocious Beasts and plants become extremely ferocious and bloodthirsty, their battle power is greatly increased, and their levels might achieve breakthroughs."

Xiao Pei expounded on the intricacies to everyone.

Each of them listened, their moods growing heavier.

"Huang Ying, you returned on the Golden Coach from there, is it confirmed to be spreading?"

Xiao Pei inquired after pausing.

Huang Ying nodded and replied in a deep voice, "Yes, it is spreading to the surroundings, and Sky Fortune Fragment Land will bear the brunt!"

"There’s no choice."

Xiao Pei shook his head bitterly and said, "I have already instructed Brother Shangguan to work with the people from the Ouyang Family to douse the edge of the Thousand Miles of Cloud Land with kerosene. Once the kerosene is spread out, we will light it up and burn the entire Cloud Marsh, eradicating all Ferocious Beasts and plants that are bound to mutate."

"When the Filth Alien Power spreads over, with no plants or Ferocious Beasts left in the Cloud Marsh, the threat will be greatly reduced."

Dong Yao asked with surprise, "Brother Xiao, are we not retreating immediately?"

"Not for now, we need to understand the situation," replied Xiao Pei immediately, cautiously saying, "People from the Upper Realm also want to know about the extent and scale of this invasion by the Filth Alien Power."

"When the Filth Alien Power spreads to Sky Fortune Fragment Land, we will all be in the sky, observing the subtle changes in the bodies and minds of the Individual Cultivators and common people through Star Eye of the Star River Alliance."

"People from the Upper Realm need to gauge the horror of the Filth Alien Power from this, then decide how to deal with it."

Xiao Pei explained to the crowd.

After listening, the faces of those from the six major families were uglier than the others.

Ning Wei from the Ning Family hesitated for a moment and then said softly, "And afterward? If the entire Fourth Realm will be slowly permeated by the Filth Alien Power, how will the people living in the Lower Realm be accommodated?"

Dong Yao, Shangguan Dong, and Ouyang Quan, as well as people from the major families of the Lower Realm, all turned to look at Xiao Pei!

Xiao Pei sighed and said, "The Third Realm simply cannot accommodate so many people. Your major families’ direct members, along with some of the elites attached to you, should have places to be settled by those above."

"As for ordinary folks, we’ll have to see if there are suitable places in the Upper Realm’s Fragment Lands when the time comes."

The mood of the crowd dropped to icy coldness.

The implication in Xiao Pei’s words was clear – if the great disaster truly erupted fully, the major Sects of the Upper Realm would only save a portion of the population, and many will be utterly abandoned.

The fate awaiting those who were abandoned, in a world permeated with the Filth Alien Power, had just been described by Huang Ying.

...

Beneath the night sky.

Pang Jian quietly left the cave, carefully observing the situation above, and moved stealthily in the Cloud Marsh.

He had learned from Luo Hongyan that the Raging Sun Sect had prepared kerosene and that Shangguan Family and Ouyang Family’s members were pouring it along the edge of Cloud Marsh.

The other side was planning to burn the entire Cloud Marsh, intent on killing all Ferocious Beasts and plants.

He left the cave under cover of the night, hoping to see if he could return the mystic sapling to the bronze token.

Otherwise.

Once Thousand Miles of Cloud Land was enveloped in sky-high flames, the sapling, which had not been easy to grow, would also turn to ash.

"Another Cloud Sail."

Standing under the dense foliage of a tree, Pang Jian peered through the gaps in the leaves at the sky and saw another Cloud Sail slowly gliding by.

Aboard the Cloud Sail were cultivators from the seven major families.

He had deliberately chosen to travel by night because Luo Hongyan had mentioned that the number of this type of Cloud Sail floating over Cloud Marsh had increased by two, and had warned him to be especially cautious.

An hour later.

After a series of stealthy movements, Pang Jian finally reached the sapling that had recently grown taller than him.

Just days earlier, the sapling had only reached his knees.

This indicated that the sapling was growing at an astonishing rate!

"Rustle rustle!"

Upon seeing him appear, the sapling, with which he shared a bond, gently swayed its tender green branches.

There was no wind, yet the branches trembled, signaling that the sapling had developed self-awareness!

Pang Jian could clearly feel a surge of joy emanating from within the sapling—it was distinctly happy about his arrival.

——This was an emotion he had never experienced before.

Caught between surprise and delight, Pang Jian promptly exposed the bronze token on his chest and said, "Cloud Marsh is about to be overwhelmed by boundless flames, and all the trees will be burnt dead, it will be difficult for you to be an exception."

"Here!"

Pointing at the bronze token, he spoke to the sapling, "If possible, return here, and once I leave this Fragment Land, I will find new soil for you."

The sapling merely shook its branches, as if it did not understand the meaning of his words, and did not enter the bronze token.

Hesitating for a moment, Pang Jian then sat down on the spot and closed his eyes to establish a connection with it, trying to convey the same message with his heart.

A short while later.

The sapling pulled its roots from the ground and drifted toward a nearby marsh, slowly sinking into the marsh bottom.

Before long.

The sapling, emanating a radiant green glow, emerged from the marsh floor once more, randomly selecting a spot to gradually sink into the ground.

It then vanished into the depths of the earth!

In this way, it told Pang Jian that it was not at all afraid of the flames that would scorch Thousand Miles of Cloud Land; it could sink deep into the marsh and just as easily bury itself underground.

Pang Jian watched, dumbfounded.

He immediately thought of the time by the Blood Moon’s Unstable Ferry, where bloodthirsty vines had sprouted from the cracks in the earth.

That massive vine had been deeply buried underground.

The sapling, having only just begun to grow, already possessed such abilities.

"It seems I’ve been overly concerned."

Pang Jian self-mockingly nodded his head, sensing that it was gradually understanding his words, he said, "If you don’t want to return to the bronze token, then be careful on your own. Apart from the flames, you also need to beware of cultivators, they..."

Before he could finish, the sapling re-emerged from the ground, and the radiant green glow it released instantly disappeared.

——It had once again become indistinguishable from the surrounding trees.

"Alright then."

Pang Jian said no more.

"Whoosh!"

A stream of tender green, jade-like divine light suddenly shot out from one of the sapling’s branches, vanishing into Pang Jian’s heart in an instant.

Inside Pang Jian’s chest, a force that seemed capable of healing his injuries immediately emerged.

This force carried a strange life essence, making Pang Jian feel a cool and comfortable sensation in his heart and lungs as if it was gently nourishing his organs.

It was clearly the sapling’s way of repaying Pang Jian.

"Take good care of yourself."

Pang Jian touched his chest and, after silently feeling the sensation for a moment, he quietly left the place.

He feared that if he stayed too long, the Cloud Sails flying above might notice him and inadvertently expose the sapling.

On his way back.

The beast-catching ship from Blood Moon suddenly came whooshing from a great distance, approaching Pang Jian at a speed many times faster than the Cloud Sails.

"There’s a Marrow Cleansing Realm cultivator!"

Ni Chen, who was following the reinforcements, stood on the deck holding a blood-red crystal ball, pointed in Pang Jian’s direction, and shouted, "Right there!"

"Whoosh!"

The beast-catching ship accelerated and roared.

Soon, a sharp-eyed member of Blood Moon spotted Pang Jian darting through the grass and called out, "It’s Hong Jian, he’s the one who killed Sir Fei Zheng!"

"Dark Ghost Hong Jian!"

"He can’t escape!"

The other two Marrow Cleansing Realm powerhouses from Blood Moon abruptly rose from their seated positions, instantly invigorated.

"He’s really that young!"

...