The Purgatory Calamity

Third Realm.

In the high skies, a blue Divine Bird spread its wings, soaring gracefully like a celestial being.

Within the Divine Bird's crown of feathers, Pang Lin, although wrapped in divine radiant light, still trembled with fear due to the terrifying high-speed flight of the Qing Jue.

Sun Bin and Yin Shan and Yin Hai sat on top of the Divine Bird's neck, looking down at the ground beneath their feet.

As the Qing Jue flew higher and higher, the land of Northern Qi where Pang Jian was located rapidly shrank below the surging clouds, gradually turning into a sizable floating stone.

Lands fragmented like Northern Qi were numerous and widely distributed in the Fourth Realm below.

Compared to the areas governed by the seven major families, Northern Qi was nothing unusual.

Moreover, due to its proximity to the barrier of the northern boundary, there was a risk of being shrouded in "Mysterious Fog," and very few high-level cultivators ventured there.

Sun Bin's purpose in coming here was to see if Solitude Mountain Range in Northern Qi would be engulfed by the "Mysterious Fog" in a short time.

However, just as he descended upon Northern Qi and was about to start inspecting Solitude Mountain Range, he first noticed that the skies above Pang Lin were dense with Thunder and Lightning, seemingly attracted by a powerful magnetic field.

After some inspection, Sun Bin discovered that there was a natural Thunder Vortex in Pang Lin's dantian, which could autonomously attract Thunderbolt in severe thunderstorms.

And because Pang Lin had not yet cultivated and did not know how to channel the Thunderbolt, the Thunder and Lightning gathered more and more.

If not for Sun Bin isolating the area with the Qing Jue's divine light, the bad weather would have persisted, causing the Thunderous Lightning to linger, and the girl might have been in mortal danger.

Meeting Pang Lin was purely an accident.

"Elder Sun, why did you give him a cultivation Spirit Spell?"

Guard Yin Hai, not understanding why, couldn't help but ask, "That kid doesn't have any talent, and it's extremely difficult for him to ascend to the Upper Realm. Why waste a Spirit Spell on him? When the little girl breaks through to the Hollow Profound Realm, even if that lad doesn't die an untimely death, he will most likely have passed away of old age."

"After all, the lifespan of beings from the Lower Realm is limited; he won't survive a hundred years, and won't be able to wait for Pang Lin's return to lead him."

Common mortals in the Lower Realm often don't live past seventy, and only those who know how to cultivate can hope to live over a hundred.

In Yin Hai's view, since Pang Jian had limited talent, even if he was given a cultivation Spirit Spell by Sun Bin, it would be difficult for him to advance to the Marrow Cleansing Realm, and he would die of old age before Pang Lin returned.

"What if Pang Lin receives the attention of a Sect and is cultivated at any cost, possibly advancing to Hollow Profound within a century? And what if, by chance, that lad survives through the years and is able to wait for Pang Lin's return?" Sun Bin said coldly.

After speaking, he turned his head and glanced at the small figure within the Divine Bird's crown of feathers, then added, "For these two 'what ifs,' it is worth giving a spell to forge a good connection. Besides, the Spirit Spell I obtained by chance contains only the techniques for the first six realms of cultivation."

After hearing this, Yin Shan and Yin Hai nodded slightly, their expressions showing humility and a willingness to learn.

The Divine Bird continued its flight, gradually surpassing the Third Realm.

Beneath them, the mountains and lakes on two continents, the families and Sects hidden from view, and the ancient yet magnificent cities, also spread out slowly like a scrolling painting under the moonlight.

No violent storms were seen in this realm.

When the Divine Bird Qing Jue soared high and continued to ascend, the strong beings on the two intact continents below sensed their presence, gazing upward from the grand summits of the cities, silently watching from the ancient temples.

Sun Bin smiled and said, "The Sect powers of the Third Realm have developed quite well over the years, with several fellows managing to take notice of us. It seems I have underestimated them."

"Isn't the choice of the Ghost Leader for the Third Realm's forces still judged and decided by the bigwigs from the higher heavens?" Yin Hai said with a tone of arrogance.

"Many of the giants from our heaven and earth also climbed up step by step through fierce battles from the lower worlds," Sun Bin said solemnly.

In Yin Hai's mind, several towering figures immediately emerged, and the pride in his eyes vanished in an instant.

At that moment, within a Forbidden Land near the "Mysterious Fog" in the Third Realm, thunder roared, and a great wind howled.

Startled, Sun Bin quickly gathered the thunderous power within his eyes to gaze intently.

He noticed that within the fragmented small world, countless huge rocks burst open, scattering like dragon scales and turtle shells, and quickly revealing the massive skeletal remains of a phoenix-shaped creature!

Under the moonlight, the skeletal remains of the phoenix, which were many times larger than the Qing Jue they were riding, radiated a lustrous glow like that of white jade.

Suddenly, numerous mysterious runes howled out from the inside of the skeleton, like a vast array of diamond stars. They seemed to have a will of their own as they whirled around the colossal phoenix bones and flew away.

"Whoosh!"

In the abruptly changing Forbidden Land, a segment of white bone shot out like lightning, crossing the void in the blink of an eye, heading straight for the Qing Jue beneath Sun Bin.

The Qing Jue, sensing the horror of the white bone, first cried out in terror with its head held high, then trembled and fluttered its broad wings before thousands of feathers suddenly burst forth in a dazzling array of divine light, desperately soaring into the sky.

"The fallen Heaven Phoenix!"

Sun Bin was shocked and pale as he decisively flew in front of Pang Lin.

He stretched out his hand, which had been concealed inside his sleeve, and in between his fingers, sparks of blinding lightning formed a giant net that enveloped Pang Lin, and he exclaimed, "Let's go!"

He knew well that the target of the fallen Heaven Phoenix's Divine Bones was the Qing Jue. If he stayed with the Qing Jue, he would get caught in the aftermath, so he ignored the Qing Jue's mournful cries and hastened away.

"The Heaven Phoenix reappears!"

"The remains of the fallen Divine Phoenix have appeared!"

In the Third Realm, at the peaks of the strongest few Sects and in the depths of the ancient Holy Land temples, thunderous roars erupted.

Several Cultivators who had reached the Spirit Condensation Realm either put down everything they were doing or stepped out of their secluded cultivation, rushing without hesitation towards the Forbidden Land where the bones had appeared.

...

The Fourth Realm, Northern Qi.

Young Pang Jian, who had just watched the Divine Bird leave, looked up at the sky with longing and silently made up his mind.

But just as he was about to lose sight of the Divine Bird, he suddenly noticed Sun Bin's expression change dramatically. In a lightning-fast move, Sun Bin took Pang Lin and instantly flew away from the bird's crown.

In the next instant, a massive white bone inscribed with Divine Fire runes, like a Long Spear heralding the end of the world, came hurtling down and impaled the Divine Bird.

The Divine Bird flapped its wings in agony, its bronze-muscled, golden-boned wings and body burning fiercely in the apocalyptic flames.

In an extremely short period of time, the Divine Bird that had once made Pang Lin feel suffocated with its overwhelming might became ashes amidst the flames, and the two guards who had failed to escape in time had already been reduced to dust,

leaving behind in the depths of Pang Jian's eyes the lingering power of the lightning that had allowed him to behold the Divine Bird's ascent, now utterly exhausted.

Pang Jian stood frozen, his entire body cold.

Such a miraculously extraordinary Spiritual Bird, yet shortly after flying out of the Third Realm, it had somehow alarmed a fearsome creature and met with a tragic end, burned to nothingness.

The heavens and earth above were indeed filled with such terrifying dangers.

...

Time passed, and the torrential rain gradually ceased.

The sky curtain of the Fourth Realm, always gray and somber, has been the unchanging theme since the beginning of time.

Yet above the thick Lead Cloud, another higher world, was the eternal yearning of the beings from the Lower Realm.

To ascend there, was the dream of countless people in the Fourth Realm, including Pang Jian at this moment.

Looking up, the young man gazed at the dark clouds in the sky, lost in a trance.

Before the raging storm had subsided, the remnants of the thunderous might in his eyes had already been spent, and now all he could see in the high skies were many fragmented worlds, like bricks, tiles, and stones, suspended motionless.

The two complete continents that lay farthest from him, shrouded in the deepest clouds, were no longer within his sight.

However, he had long been aware of the existence of those two continents and knew their names.

——Universe Heaven, Black Nether.

The two lands of the Third Realm that reigned above the Lower Realm were as well-known as thunder, known to all.

"Pang Lin, Bright Moon, countless stars, and higher realms of heaven and earth," he muttered to himself, finally lowering his head after a long while with a stiff neck.

He did not know whether Sun Bin and his younger sister Pang Lin, after fleeing from the Divine Bird, could escape to safety or if the terrifying white bone that had slain the Divine Bird would continue to pursue Sun Bin.

The young man, worried about his sister's safety, continued to gaze into the dull sky curtain for a while, but in the end, he came up empty-handed.

During this time, the scene of the Divine Bird soaring to the heavens before being suddenly shot down replayed over and over in his mind, deeply shaking him.

"Qi Refiners, Cultivators."

The young man knew very well that strong individuals like Sun Bin were referred to by the commoners of this realm in such terms.

The many Fragmented Worlds scattered throughout the Fourth Realm were also divided into seven major areas, all firmly controlled by the families of Qi Refiners.

His Lower Realm was like this, and the Upper Realm was the same.

Qi Refiners were high above, out of reach for ordinary people like him, and the threshold for cultivation was high, so Pang Jian had never had the opportunity to encounter it before.

Therefore, he regarded the cultivation spell left behind by Sun Bin as a treasure, considering it a key to a future reunion with his sister.

"Pot Heaven Nourishing Qi Spell."

Pang Jian spread the oiled paper aside, took out the ancient, tattered book left by Sun Bin, and stared at each small character on it.

Before his father disappeared in the Solitude Mountain Range, he would teach Pang Jian and Pang Lin to read and write during their free time, so Pang Jian recognized the content of the book.

In the following days, aside from the daily necessities, Pang Jian dedicated all his energy to the study and contemplation of the "Pot Heaven Nourishing Qi Spell," and gradually he began to understand.

This cultivation spell aimed to visualize a world inside a pot in the dantian, guiding the external Spiritual Energy into the body and concentrating it in the pot for cleansing and refinement.

The young man, whom Sun Bin had judged to have poor aptitude, did not believe that fate was preordained by the heavens. He spent his days studying the "Pot Heaven Nourishing Qi Spell," striving to visualize the "Spirit Pot" and thus step into the ranks of what was called a Qi Refiner.

"All things in heaven and earth require qi for life. Qi gathers and life arises; when qi departs, life ceases. At the beginning of the Pot Heaven Nourishing Qi Spell, one must first clear the mind and concentrate the spirit, feeling the existence of qi."

Reciting the scripture over and over, yet merely the initial step of calming the mind and sensing the presence of qi had already made Pang Jian restless and irritable.

Several days later, Pang Jian came to understand that to calm the mind and sense the presence of qi involved three steps: focus, relaxation, and awakening.

Focus meant maintaining awareness in the present moment, refraining from random thoughts, and waiting for one's body to completely relax.

Once truly relaxed, one could have a clear mind and thus perceive the subtleties within the body.

Only then could one welcome the awakening and genuinely feel the existence of qi.

It sounded simple, but in practice, Pang Jian found it was quite difficult.

When he adopted the posture of sitting cross-legged, with slow breathing in the abdomen, striving to gather his consciousness, his mind was always restless.

In his mind, thoughts and ideas flickered like ghostfire and lightning.

One moment he would be wondering about his sister's whereabouts, the next he would be invaded by the thought of whether his father was dead or alive, or what kind of identity and background Sun Bin had, and what he himself should do next.

Many distracting thoughts poured in, beyond his control.

"When the mind is not at peace, the spirit will surely scatter."

If the thoughts could not remain focused, one could not achieve the crucial first step of the "Pot Heaven Nourishing Qi Spell" and thus could not begin properly.

Confronted with difficulty, Pang Jian did not become discouraged but instead practiced repeatedly, every time distracting thoughts arose, refocusing immediately and silently reciting the words "Pot Heaven" to bring his thoughts back.

It wouldn't be long before the distracting thoughts would emerge again, and once his concentration scattered, Pang Jian would again silently recite "Pot Heaven" to gather it back.

After many days like this, Pang Jian gradually managed to collect his scattered thoughts, to quiet his mind and let his consciousness stay in the present.

When the wild thoughts and ideas no longer dominated his state of mind, and he could control his scattered thoughts, the seated Pang Jian finally felt true relaxation.

...