Purgatory

There are 18 levels of purgatory. The 1st level is the skinner purgatory.
== Description ==
"In our myths, there are certain sayings about Purgatory. I was curious, so I read up on those stories. There was a picture in one of those stories that looks just like these dwarves. They're called Skinners. They are jailors of the first level of Purgatory. Their chains and skinning blades are all terrifying magical weapons. Once they stab the body, they cause indescribable pain. Their skinning doesn't just skin the body, it skins the soul as well. Have you noticed? That Magical Beast doesn't seem to be composed of the same substance as us."
Long Chen nodded. This Magical Beast truly didn't seem to be in the same form as them. As its body was skinned, its blood poured out, and they could see its innards.
"Rumor is that once the Skinners capture the spiritual body in the Netherworld, they even pull in the physical body from the other world," said Xie Qianqian. Her entire body was quivering in terror.
Death sometimes wasn't so terrifying. However, rumor was that once a person entered Purgatory, they wouldn't die again. Instead, they would suffer endless pain. That was the real terror.
== Gates of Purgatory ==
Once past the gates to Purgatory, it's impossible to leave.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here. Everything in this world has a weakness or flaw. Even the best cage has to have a hole. There is nothing perfect in this world, so as long as we don't give up, there should be a chance to escape," comforted Long Chen.
== Skinner purgatory ==
Xie Qianqian says the first level was the Skinner Purgatory.
=== Appearance ===
Everything around him was pitch-black, and he could feel himself slowly descending within the darkness. It was a similar feeling to when he had first come to the Netherworld.
After an unknown amount of time, he felt himself touch solid ground. He opened his eyes and activated his sixth sense.
Through his sixth sense, he managed to ‘see' his surroundings. It was a ruined palace. He didn't know if it was because he was too small, but he felt like an ant in a giant's lair. Based on his estimate, this palace was dozens of kilometers high and hundreds of kilometers wide.
The place he had landed was on two open hands. The owner of those hands was a giant statue.
=== Skinners ===
An angry roar came from the distance, causing him to jump. The palace gates open.
A dozen dwarfs (Skinners) were pulling a Magical Beast. The Magical Beast was three hundred meters long and had barbs all over its body. It looked to be an alligator, but it had fur. It was roaring miserably.
Long Chen hid himself and looked around carefully. He saw that the dwarfs were also holding chains that were stabbed through the Magical Beast's body.
Creepy laughter came from them, and it gave him a chill. Based on their appearance, they seemed very happy.
The dwarves pulled the Magical Beast directly in front of the statue, causing Long Chen to jump. If they came over, he would instantly be exposed.
However, the dwarves stopped right before the statue. The ground beneath them began to sink.
There was actually a hidden mechanism present. The original ground sank and an altar rose. The Magical Beast was chained to the altar by the dwarfs.
Just at this moment, the Skinners began to wield their blades. They slowly stabbed the beast's stomach. It seemed they were about to skin it.
The Magical Beast roared as if it was in incredible pain. However, its roars only made the dwarves laugh, as if its tormented cries were their greatest delight.
Those dwarves were skillfully cutting off the Magical Beast's skin. Each time they made a cut, the Magical Beast would let out a hair-raising cry.
It was clearly in immense pain. The dwarves' blades worked rapidly as they laughed sinisterly. 
Their movements weren't sloppy in the least. It wasn't long before all the Magical Beast's skin was stripped off.
The dwarves pulled the pelt and examined it for something. They were speaking amongst themselves, seeming to be discussing something. 
They quickly left along with the pelt, leaving only a bloody Magical Beast behind that was still crying miserably.
Once the dwarves were gone, Xie Qianqian quietly said, "The reason they aren't killing it is because they're waiting for it to grow back its skin so they can skin it again."
Long Chen's heart shook. This was too vicious. Just skinning it once wasn't enough? They would skin it for eternity? If the lifeforms in Purgatory were unable to die, then that Magical Beast's fate was truly miserable.
"According to the myths, the place we're in should be the first of the eighteen levels of Purgatory, the Skinner Purgatory," said Xie Qianqian.
=== Beast ===
The beast was at the level of an expert attacking the Netherpassage realm.
However, such a powerful existence couldn't resist at all in the hands of these dwarves.
In the end, its newly grown skin was stripped away, and the dwarves left once more.
Once they left, Xie Qianqian and Long Chen jumped off the statue's hands and approached the chained Magical Beast.
Long Chen reached out and grabbed one of the chains. He instantly felt like his body had been thrown into ice. It felt like even his soul was about to freeze.
It's just as strong as the blue lake's Ice Qi. But the Magical Beast did not seem to react to it. Long Chen tries to break off a few chains only to realize the beast was a true sinner and had slaughtered countless innocent lives. Realizing this, Long Chen leaves the beast alone. It deserved the punishment it got.
== Labyrinth ==
He pulled Xie Qianqian out of the palace. Once they were out of the gates, they saw a long promenade. The ground and walls were pitch-black and filled with an aura of death.
Long Chen spread his divine sense and found that there were countless hallways that intersected. It was like a labyrinth.
Even when he spread his divine sense dozens of miles out, he couldn't cover the entire labyrinth.
The only possibility in this maze was to walk around blindly. They would have to draw a map as they went.
Once the map was finished, they would be able to find the exit. 
Long Chen scratched Evilmoon on the wall and rubbed the resulting dust onto his face and body, covering himself with the aura of death.
They might not have been sensed in the palace by those Skinners, but they had been rather far away. There was no way to tell at what distance they would be able to sense their aura or spiritual fluctuations.
The two of them continued, with Xie Qianqian leading the way and Long Chen recording the path they had taken.
He told Xie Qianqian to follow the right wall and not to skip any corners. That way, they would be able to finish the map faster.
=== Exit ===
A giant pillar in the core region. Countless runes were flickering like stars within it. It emitted a great pressure that caused the world to quiver. It was the exit. There was a winding staircase going up the pillar.
The pillar was fifty thousand meters wide and had a winding staircase around it. However, it was so tall that it was impossible to see its end. One could see a path going down it as well.
"This is probably the path up and down!" exclaimed Long Chen.
There were several thirty-meter statues around the pillar. They had short legs and thick arms. They were incredibly lifelike, with each vein on their bulging muscles visible. 
Several Skinners were roving around this region. They would definitely notice them.
Statues (Loathers) also guarded the pillar.
Long Chen and Xie Qianqian escape by force.
At the top, there was black light. Without hesitation, he charged into it. When Long Chen vanished into the black light, the Loathers let out a furious roar, but they didn't dare to follow him there.
== Sticky water ==
When Long Chen charged into that black light, he immediately felt like he had landed in glue-like water. He found himself unable to move.
This strange water was binding him, and he couldn't shake it off. Long Chen's heart immediately sank. Was he about to be trapped in here for eternity?
Xie Qianqian suddenly opened her eyes. A white rune appeared on her forehead, and it transformed into a bright crescent moon that dispersed the sticky water.
The light from Xie Qianqian enveloped the two of them, forcing the water away. The two of them began to float up in a bubble.
"This water possesses a strange energy that exists between the corporeal and incorporeal, a cross between reality and illusion. That's why no matter how strong you are, you can't do anything to it. It just so happens that the mental energy I cultivate is also between the corporeal and incorporeal, allowing me to block it," explained Xie Qianqian.
The two of them continued floating up, finally reaching the surface of the water. They looked around to see an endless black ocean. Above it was a layer of primal chaos.
There was a full moon shining brightly within the primal chaos. It lit up the black water. That was a strange sight.
In truth, that moon was no moon. It was a circular hole, but due to the distance, it looked like a moon. It was the exit.
Although the two of them were floating on the water, the laws of the Netherworld were still present. They couldn't fly, and they couldn't jump up there.
Xie Qianqian took a deep breath and circulated her mental energy. The two of them began to slowly float toward the sky.
The ocean and the air were filled with that sticky spatial law, making it impossible to fly quickly. However, she was comforted to see that once Long Chen was unconscious and Evilmoon disappeared, the raging ocean returned to calm. No more chains came flying out.
== Trivia ==
*地狱 is usually translated as hell, whereas 炼狱 is translated as purgatory (a place of constant suffering in hell)
==References==
Category:Underworld