I'll Wait for You Here

"I... I'm afraid the light from the Domain Breaking Talisman won't reach you..."

"Just bear with it for a moment."

Li Mengning, as if afraid Jiang Lan would misunderstand, explained in a low voice.

"..."

Jiang Lan glanced at her, then directly hugged her waist. It was soft and slender, barely able to be grasped.

His nose tip seemed to have crashed into a serene, cool, and fragrant sea of flowers.

"So fragrant..." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Li Mengning's fair, flawless, frost-kissed, snow-like slender neck instantly turned crimson, like exquisite mutton-fat jade dyed with a rosy hue.

She gently bit her red lips, then reached out and wrapped her arms around Jiang Lan.

The clear light of the Domain Breaking Talisman flashed, enveloping them both.

The void before their eyes blurred, and a dark, deep passage appeared. Their figures vanished.

"Do you really know where the Blood-Colored Plateau is?"

The next moment, they appeared on a solitary, sharp, and cold mountain. The world was pure white, vast and covered in snow.

Jiang Lan deeply suspected that this woman didn't know the way.

"I... I'll look for it..." Li Mengning whispered, her tone clearly lacking confidence.

"Is the Domain Breaking Talisman enough?" Jiang Lan asked.

"It... it should be enough..."

"..."

If he had known she was so unreliable, he shouldn't have trusted her so much.

Now Jiang Lan suddenly regretted being too hasty.

Fortunately, Li Mengning didn't disappoint him too much later. After truly realizing she didn't know where the Blood-Colored Plateau was, she personally went to a nearby town to ask, bought a map, and then very seriously used a pen to draw out the route.

With the map, after half a day of further trouble, they finally reached the border area of the Blood-Colored Plateau.

The air was filled with a dry, slightly bloody scent, and wisps of miasma drifted over.

From afar, blood-colored mist swirled, dim and dark. Vast stretches of scorched earth, withered mountains, dry lakes, and undulating hills could be seen. Deep within, towering mountains rose one after another.

From time to time, streaks of light and divine rainbows could be seen flying from other places and landing in the Blood-Colored Plateau ahead.

Jiang Lan recalled the plot in his mind.

After the ruins of the Blood Immortal Sect appeared, they would attract many noble families and sects to fight over them, leading to bloody conflicts and heavy casualties.

At the same time, it would cause the Blood Immortal Sect's former protective formation to revive. Blood-colored divine light would cover thirty thousand miles, and all the cultivators who went to seize opportunities would be annihilated, with almost no survivors.

But that was actually a scheme by the remnants of the Blood Immortal Sect to gather enough life force to open the ancestral shrine.

However, when the remnants of the Blood Immortal Sect opened the ancestral shrine, they would find it empty. The Blood Immortal Sect's inheritance was nowhere to be found in the ancestral shrine.

"The Blood Immortal Sect's inheritance is actually in the burial grounds where the previous Blood Immortal Old Ancestor's corpse was located after his death."

"According to the plot, it will be accidentally obtained by a guy named Ye Ming..."

Jiang Lan's gaze swept across the Blood-Colored Plateau, which covered a vast area. There were dozens of known burial grounds, not including others that were unknown or had not seen the light of day.

If he had to search them one by one, he didn't know how long it would take.

However, since he chose to intercept it early, he naturally had confidence. The Blood Immortal Old Ancestor was a supreme figure who roamed the Nine Provinces in his lifetime. Even after death, his corpse would absolutely not be ordinary. The corpses buried with him were also not ordinary people in their lives.

"The burial grounds surrounding the Blood Immortal Old Ancestor's tomb would definitely not be without powerful Demonic Beasts and Fierce Demons. Following the clues, it should be easy to determine..."

Jiang Lan's gaze fell upon a colorful snake with a flickering tongue coiled in a rock crevice.

As his mind moved, wisps of life force were drawn away and disappeared. The snake instantly disintegrated, turning into ashes and vanishing.

The snake's memories, experiences, and talents were instantly stripped and devoured by him.

Jiang Lan even felt that he had gained some resistance to poison.

"As expected, the creatures living here all have a natural fear of a certain area..."

Afterward, Li Mengning smoothly became his current "transportation tool."

The two transformed into a divine light and flew away.

She flew through the air, her black hair dancing. Her flawless, fair face beneath the veil showed no emotional fluctuations.

Her glass-like eyes, carrying a serene coldness, only revealed traces of worry when they swept over certain areas of the Blood-Colored Plateau.

Those areas were occupied by powerful Demonic Beasts and were very dangerous. If Jiang Lan went there, he would be eaten without even a bone left...

Not long after, the hot and bloody aura in the air grew more intense, and the sky became darker.

The mountains on both sides were steep and rugged, with almost no vegetation. The reddish-brown land was filled with a scorching heat.

They walked in a great rift, like a scar in the sky, with only a sliver of the heavens visible.

In some of the rock walls, they could even see spurting crimson mist. Without an antidote pill, ordinary cultivators would likely not survive half a day here before succumbing to poison.

Li Mengning possessed many treasures and was not lacking in items like poison-repelling pearls. Moreover, her cultivation and strength meant she had no fear of this crimson mist.

Jiang Lan, however, could clearly feel that the crimson mist contained a dense life force.

This meant he could actually manipulate and absorb this crimson mist.

What was a bane to others was a great tonic for him.

"This place is truly a good spot."

As they ventured deeper into the Blood-Colored Plateau, Jiang Lan could clearly feel the crimson mist growing denser and the number of Demonic Beasts increasing.

However, in Li Mengning's hands, they were cut in half before they could even withstand a single sword strike.

"Years ago, she was already at the Fourth Realm's Illuminating Nether Realm. Now, she's only stronger. Unless we encounter a Demonic Beast King, nothing can stop her."

"I recall there's a Crimson Yin Pond within this Blood-Colored Plateau. It seems to contain a Nine Yin Desert Ginseng Lotus nearing maturity, guarded by a Demonic Beast with the strength of a Demonic Beast King."

"It's a pity it's useless to me now. But for Li Mengning, who cultivates the Supreme Profound Nether Art, it's a rare heavenly treasure that could increase her cultivation..."

"Jiang Lan..."

As Jiang Lan was lost in thought, a soft voice suddenly reached his ears.

He turned his head, raising an eyebrow. "Hm?"

"It's very dangerous ahead. You shouldn't go," Li Mengning said softly.

She stood behind Jiang Lan, clad in a simple cyan gauze dress, her hair like clouds, with a few strands of dark silk falling to her exquisite ears, which she gently tucked behind them.

"If you need anything, I'll bring it back for you." Seeing Jiang Lan's confusion, she explained.

Jiang Lan shook his head. "No need."

"You... don't push yourself. I sensed a very strong presence ahead. If you stay here, you'll be safe," Li Mengning said very seriously, her gaze like liquid glass fixed on his face.

"Even you can't handle it?" Jiang Lan asked.

Li Mengning hesitated slightly. After a moment's thought, she replied, "I can handle it, but... I'm afraid I can't protect you."

Jiang Lan chuckled inwardly. In Li Mengning's eyes, he was no different from a burden or a drag.

"Alright, I'll wait for you here."

"Ahead should be a Crimson Yin Pond. Inside, there's a Nine Yin Desert Ginseng Lotus nearing maturity, but it's guarded by a Two-Headed Evil Python. Help me pick it for me," Jiang Lan said.