The Purgatory Calamity-Chapter 69 - 56 Innate Talent_1

Chapter 69: Chapter 56 Innate Talent_1

Chapter 69 -56 Innate Talent_1

Enshrouded by the darkness of the Sky Curtain, lies the Lower Realm.

The fifth floor of the Heavenly Spirit Tower.

Luo Hongyan, now dressed in a complicatedly patterned skirt, paused with her delicate figure at the center of the Mysterious Yin Stone.

A faint luminescence emitted from the Mysterious Yin Stone, illuminating her skin as white as snow, making her appear like a graceful and beautiful white lotus.

Her eyes filled with a probing light, lingered on the directions where Pang Jian had disappeared, and she murmured with furrowed brows, “That greedy boy, could it be that he really broke through my defenses?”

With a smile on her lips, she found the real Ning Yao within that void Sea of Consciousness.

“Did you see? That boy is already defending me at every turn. Using your body to interact with him, just by slightly changing the way we relate, I gained his recognition.”

Dressed in a bright red skirt, Luo Hongyan looked stunning in this empty and desolate realm, captivating to the mind and soul.

After absorbing a wave of power from the Mysterious Yin Stone, the form of her Soul Spirit grew much more solid, and the patterns within her skin became clearer.

Only a Spiritual Body like hers could make use of the power within the Mysterious Yin Stone to cleanse impurities from within the soul.

Watching the Demon Girl boast with pride, Ning Yao, imprisoned within her own Sea of Consciousness, couldn’t help but admit that the Demon Girl was indeed naturally beautiful, a kind of stunning beauty she had never seen before in the human world.

After absorbing the “Mysterious Yin Power,” the Demon Girl’s Spiritual Body seemed even more bewitchingly beautiful, causing Ning Yao to feel ashamed of her own appearance.

If this truly was the Demon Girl’s former form, then back in her day, she must have astounded many great figures of the world.

The comparison of Shangguan Qin, who perished just as she became fragrant, to the beauty before her, was such that Shangguan Qin couldn’t even hold a candle to her.

Ning Yao, losing confidence the more she looked, turned her head away, no longer wanting to see her, and responded coldly, “When Pang Jian and I were investigating the first Phoenix Bone, I saw a piece of fragmented gray-white rock in his bamboo basket, one that was mingled with Spiritual Power and Mysterious Yin Power.”

Luo Hongyan hesitated and said, “Are you suggesting that he knows I refine my Spiritual Body with the essence of Mysterious Yin Stone?”

“I think so. He has been here before, and more than once. The collapse of the Soul Array, which shattered into numerous Mysterious Yin Stones, was also because of him. The Mysterious Yin Stones from which you’ve absorbed the Mysterious Yin Power have all turned into ordinary rocks; perhaps he noticed something.”

As an observer, Ning Yao had been watching through her own eyes, constantly reflecting on her actions.

She had to admit that she indeed had been shortsighted.

Even if Pang Jian hadn’t embarked on the path of cultivation and was just a hunter from the mountains, he still had many admirable qualities.

Moreover, Pang Jian was enveloped in mystery, which she had completely overlooked at the time.

“Knowing that I can cultivate with the Mysterious Yin Stone, and still he handed over these precious stones to me? Haha, he really does care about me,” Luo Hongyan laughed lightly as she circulated Magic Spells among the many Mysterious Yin Stones.

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

Streams of chilly “Mysterious Yin Power” immediately rushed toward the center of her brow, disappearing into that void Sea of Consciousness, then were consumed by Luo Hongyan, with the hem of her skirt fluttering.

Stone by stone, the sparkle and translucence within the Mysterious Yin Stones also ceased to exist.

…

As night fell, a profound silence ensued.

At the summit a dozen yards away from White Tower, Pang Jian and Zhou Qingchen huddled near a campfire, eating the cured meat and dry provisions prepared by the Su Family and He Family, and talking beside the fire.

Zhou Qingchen also took out several jars of spicy, strong liquor from his storage ring and tossed one to Pang Jian.

Pang Jian set down the bamboo basket on his back and threw his Dragon Pattern Spear to the side, taking the porcelain jar of wine with a slight frown.

“Try this jar of wine!”

Zhou Qingchen, without mentioning the name, tore open the seal and drank heartily from it.

“Wine is really a great thing!”

Han Duping bellowed, and just like Zhou Qingchen, he drank lustily.

After hesitating for a moment, Pang Jian cautiously imitated the two men and drank from the jar.

A few gulps of the fiery liquor caused him to cough violently, and while unaccustomed to the taste, he gradually got used to it.

“Zhou, give me a jar too.”

Su Meng asked softly.

Seeing her crystal clear eyes full of sorrow, Zhou Qingchen knew she had not yet emerged from the shadow of Su Yuntian’s death. He passed a jar of wine to her, speaking softly, “When my father died, I was just beginning to understand things. I wasn’t as strong as you, and it also took me a long time to get over it.”

Clasping the porcelain jar in both hands, Su Meng drank the wine in small sips, neither eating nor speaking.

Zhou Qingchen then continued to talk about other things with Pang Jian.

He told Pang Jian that after he and Han Duping escaped from Black Water Pool, they quickly made contact using their secret family signals.

After they reunited, they assumed that apart from Shangguan Qin, all the others must have fallen to Dark Ghost Hong Tai and his men.

To prevent the Dark Ghosts from guessing their itinerary, they did not rush to leave, but instead delved deeper into the most dangerous regions of the north.

They both believed that the hunting party from the Dark Ghost organization would definitely not venture into the land of “Mysterious Fog” that lay in the extreme north.

Along the way, the two of them also discovered several Phoenix Bones, but unfortunately, these bones were not rooted in vibrant and exuberant extraneous objects, so substances like Phoenix Marrow were not produced.

They didn’t encounter anyone else until they reached Wulan Lake, where they saw many animal carcasses.

Pang Jian omitted many details and recounted his experiences at Black Water Pool, explaining how it was the help of the “Black and White King Python” that allowed him to escape from Hong Tai.

After both sides finished telling their experiences, a drunken Han Duping couldn’t help but ask, “Did you really channel through four meridians in one go?”

Zhou Qingchen, with bleary drunk eyes, also looked at him.

Pang Jian, feeling somewhat dizzy, nodded and uttered a soft “Mm.”

“Just having broken through to the Meridians Channeling Realm and in a short time, opened up four channels connected to the arms, that can prove one thing,” Zhou Qingchen, somewhat envious, praised, “The Spiritual Sea beneath your dantian is much wider than that of people at the same realm!”

“Only with a sufficiently wide Spiritual Sea, storing far more spiritual power than ordinary people, one can achieve such a feat like you did!”

“You kid…”

He glared fiercely at Pang Jian, cursing, “And you say your talent for cultivation is poor!”

When recruiting Pang Jian for the Zhou Family amongst the rubble, Pang Jian had mentioned that his talent for cultivation was too poor, to which he had consoled Pang Jian that talent was not the only measure of a cultivator’s future.

“If Pang Jian’s talent is poor, then the young people of the seven major families in the Fourth Realm are probably all trash.”

Han Duping shook his head, lamenting, “Just look at you, Zhou, when you entered the Meridians Channeling Realm, you only cultivated one and a half channels before your spiritual power was depleted.”

“Among the seven great families in the Fourth Realm, you’re truly outstanding with first-rate talent for cultivation!”

“People like Ning Yao and He Ziren, when they had just advanced to the Meridians Channeling Realm, couldn’t even open up a single meridian!”

He got along extremely well with Zhou Qingchen, calling him “little Zhou” casually, and Zhou Qingchen didn’t get angry, responding with a playful smile.

Su Meng, who was sipping her drink with her head down, suddenly raised her head and blankly stared at Pang Jian.

It was then she realized that Luo Hongyan’s praise for Pang Jian might still have been too conservative.

Luo Hongyan had said that only Pang Jian was qualified to challenge Dong Tianze at the same realm, and that no one else in the Fourth Realm had that right.

——Including Zhou Qingchen from Zhou Family.

Having heard from her family about Dong Tianze’s situation, Su Meng knew that during his advancement to the Meridians Channeling Realm, his meridian expansion was far from Pang Jian’s.

“The Spiritual Sea in the dantian often needs a major breakthrough in the realm to be re-explored. Pang Jian, with your current realm having such a vast Spiritual Sea, it implies that when you reach higher levels in the future, it will become even more boundless!” Zhou Qingchen marveled, and amid his envy, he shamelessly flattered himself, “I really didn’t choose wrong!”

Pang Jian silently took another swig of wine.

Only he himself knew that four meridians were not his limit; in fact, he still had some spiritual power left in his Spiritual Sea at that time.

He had refrained from cultivating the subsequent meridians to conserve his strength for the upcoming battle and quick destruction of the Soul Array.

“I’ve heard that only some geniuses in the Upper Realm, due to their exceptional innate talent and the peculiar spirit spells they practice, are able to open up multiple channels like Pang Jian did when they have just advanced to the Meridians Channeling Realm,” Han Duping said dreamily, staring into the pitch-black sky, “And by Upper Realm, I don’t mean the Third Realm.”

…

At the bottom of the solitary island.

One of the thick stone columns wrapped in black rock had a section at its base that was carved out into a den big enough to hide a person.

The den was right under one of the feet of the Mysterious Turtle.

Dong Tianze, severely wounded, curled up and lay in the den at the foot of the turtle, his forehead marked by a striking Phoenix Seal that shone brightly.

He gasped for air, using the Mysterious Turtle Essence Blood, which was originally meant to temper his viscera, to heal the wound pierced by the Dragon Pattern Spear.

Updat𝓮d fr𝙤m ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com.

His incredibly resilient life force, in conjunction with his astounding healing ability, was slowly closing the wound.

But his spirit, which had been drained due to the self-immolation of a series of Spirit Evils, teetered on the verge of collapse.

Extreme spiritual exhaustion is not something that a cultivator of his level could heal through training but required deep and prolonged sleep.

Eventually, he fell into a deep sleep, while the magnificent phoenix on his forehead remained bright in the dark den.

In his dazed state, Dong Tianze felt the presence of his master.

In his senses, the master who had previously granted him a trace of power was observing him from a place incredibly far away in the Upper Realm, through a divine artifact.

Dong Tianze’s spirit trembled slightly.

As the droplet of Phoenix Marrow formed and merged into his heart, he knew that he was undergoing a rare major calamity.

If he failed to overcome it, like Ouyang Duanhai, he would have been devoured by the Phoenix Marrow, turning into a puppet without self-will.

Having survived this ordeal, the Phoenix Marrow would move from his heart to his mind, fusing with his soul into a seal.

The moment the Sacred Phoenix Seal was formed, as Dong Tianze heaved a sigh of relief, he also knew he had acquired a master.

This master was mysterious and powerful, sitting at the pinnacle of this realm, wielding an artifact that could command the life and death of the Heavenly Phoenix Guard.

At this moment, his master was using that artifact as if viewing him from the peak of the world.

In great pain, he knelt down in this small den, hoping his master would witness his sincere humility.

HIs master radiated a mighty divine presence and possessed an inviolable and supreme authority; he needed to constantly showcase his abilities and loyalty just to receive occasional attention from his master.

His very existence as Dong Tianze was to one day be called upon by his master, to ascend to the pinnacle of this realm to protect him.

This time, he had been favored by his master, granted a sliver of power to save his life, presumably because his master held a special fondness for the Spiritually barren Solitude Mountain Range.

“Last time, it was my adoptive father, Dong Qianfeng, who saved my life. This time, it’s my master.”

Dong Tianze silently firmed up his beliefs in his mind, contemplating how to win his master’s trust and how to please him in the future.

In Dong Tianze’s view, his master’s majesty and glory surpassed everything, even his own life.

Defending his master was the lifelong pursuit of every Heavenly Phoenix Guard.

…