Li Mengning was a little puzzled, as if she did not know how Jiang Lan had found out. She also seemed confused as to why he had agreed so quickly, but she still nodded. "All right."
Then she set off, intending to hurry ahead.
But as though she had remembered something, she suddenly stopped, turned back to look at Jiang Lan, and instructed him with a very serious expression in her eyes, "Promise me you won't run around."
Jiang Lan wondered how her brain had suddenly become sharp again, but he still agreed aloud, "All right, I promise."
Li Mengning still looked at him uneasily, then added another warning, "Stay right where you are. Don't run around."
"I'm far more afraid of death than you are."
Jiang Lan smiled, took a jade talisman still carrying warmth from his robes, then caught her soft, boneless jade hand and placed it in her palm. "Be careful."
Li Mengning suddenly stared blankly at what he had done.
By the time she came back to herself, Jiang Lan had already found an exposed rock and sat there with his eyes closed, resting.
She pursed her delicate red lips, and waves of emotion welled up in her tranquil, glass-like eyes.
Then she clenched her hand, carefully put away the jade talisman, and her expression returned to the stillness of an ancient well.
Though she knew this jade talisman was probably something Jiang Lan had given her to save her life...
It was still something he had given her.
Only after confirming that Li Mengning had truly left and had not turned back midway did Jiang Lan slowly open his eyes and rise from the rock.
The burial grounds he had sensed were not far from here.
It was not that his skill was so great that his courage had grown boundless, and that he did not need Li Mengning's protection.
Rather, in this place, he could clearly feel that he had more methods at his disposal than Li Mengning did.
With her gone, it would also be much more convenient for him to act.
Buzz!!!
As Jiang Lan's gaze fell, the blood-colored mist drifting through the void suddenly contracted and gathered, as though twisted tight by a surging force.
It then transformed into one sharp blade after another. With a puff, they pierced straight through the nearby rock wall, then exploded with a bang, scattering stone fragments through the air.
With another thought from him, more and more blood-colored mist gathered. Astonishing energy filled and permeated it, and even the void faintly hummed.
"Caught off guard, any cultivator whose Heaven and Earth Void Qi has not naturally formed armor around their body would be severely injured, or even killed..."
"This blood-colored mist not only contains dense poisonous miasma, but can also block divine sense."
"As long as it leaves a wound, I can manipulate this blood-colored mist to destroy their vital organs from within."
Unless he encountered cultivators who followed the body-refinement path, with powerful physiques and surging vitality.
Otherwise, ordinary cultivators truly had no way to deal with such an unsolvable method.
After leaving this place, Jiang Lan headed deeper into the area he had sensed.
Along the way, he seized the lives of several demonic creatures and used their memories to determine the situation in this region.
Under his deliberate avoidance, although many areas here were fraught with danger, he walked as though on level ground, and nothing unexpected happened.
Bang...
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, all life drained from a bull-headed demonic creature before him. Its enormous true body rapidly withered and decayed, until even its corpse turned into sand-like matter and vanished.
"So it's here..."
Jiang Lan frowned slightly as he appeared before an increasingly dark, ruined passageway.
The steep peaks on both sides had collapsed, blocking the road ahead long ago.
If not for absorbing the memories of the demonic creatures here, he would not have known there was such a shortcut.
The passageway was extremely narrow at first, barely allowing one person through. Yet after more than ten steps, it suddenly opened up.
Jiang Lan absorbed the life force of the weak demonic creatures hidden in the dark passageway. Through their memories, he swiftly understood the layout in its depths, and only after confirming there was no danger did he slowly proceed deeper.
The farther in he went, the denser the scorching air and bloody stench became.
The blood-colored haze grew incomparably thick as well, drifting through the void like a layer of rosy smoke.
With a thought from Jiang Lan, countless strands of blood-colored haze spread over him. A sheet of crimson radiance steamed upward, completely concealing his body and features in a blurred veil.
He had not continued for long when Jiang Lan faintly heard voices coming from nearby.
Judging from the voices, it should have been a group of young men and women.
He narrowed his eyes and drew in several wisps of the blood-colored mist here. Unfortunately, it was not an individual life form and could not provide him with complete memories.
Still, he could vaguely glimpse several blurred figures.
"So this place used to be an underground palace..."
"Recently, the disturbances on the Blood-Colored Plateau have grown increasingly severe. Some demonic beasts dwelling nearby often go berserk and attack surrounding villages, towns, and cities for no reason. Master suspects that some kind of change has occurred within the Blood-Colored Plateau..."
"That is why he sent us here to investigate the cause."
"Myriad Laws Sect is, after all, the foremost Great Sect in Danzhou Prefecture. How could we stand by and do nothing in the face of such a situation?"
"You fellow brothers possess chivalrous hearts and guts, aiding all under Heaven. I deeply admire you. To speak frankly, I am merely a Rogue Cultivator. I only heard that the Blood-Colored Plateau has had many opportunities lately, so I came to try my luck. If you fellow brothers had not saved me just now, I fear I would already have died beneath the fangs of those demonic beasts..."
The man speaking at that moment wore a dark blue robe. His resolute face was slightly dark, his features upright. As he smiled bitterly, he habitually rubbed his nose.
A brawny man beside him, dressed in the attire of a Myriad Laws Sect disciple, laughed heartily and patted his shoulder, clearly holding him in high regard. "Brother Ye Ming, you are too modest. Everyone has seen your strength. If you had not helped us in time, we would have been the ones to die at the demonic beasts' hands. How could we have reached this underground palace?"
Ye Ming?
The fellow who had obtained the Blood Immortal Sect's inheritance?
Jiang Lan was somewhat surprised. He had not expected this fellow to be here.
That explained why, before the Blood Immortal Sect ruins emerged in the plot, the Blood-Colored Plateau had nearly been turned upside down by every sect and lineage, yet no one had found anything related to the Blood Immortal Sect's inheritance.
He had even suspected there was an error in the plot. Now it seemed Ye Ming had obtained the Blood Immortal Sect's inheritance long ago and merely concealed it.
Even when the remnants of the Blood Immortal Sect found him later and made him explain the matter, he had still hidden part of the truth.
"Watch out."
"They're Blood-Patterned Bat Demons..."
At that moment, voices came again from not far away. Someone seemed to cry out in alarm, followed by the sounds of a fierce battle.
Jiang Lan was some distance away and still within the passageway. He could only hear the rustling flap of wings, but that alone showed there were many Blood-Patterned Bat Demons.
They were pack-dwelling demonic creatures. Once they appeared, they would inevitably come in a vast swarm.
He had no interest in standing here to watch the show. He continued deeper along the passageway, and the sounds of battle gradually faded farther and farther behind him.
But Jiang Lan had not walked far when the Stone Wall beside him suddenly boomed and was blasted open by a tremendous force.
Several blood-covered figures flew through the air, smashing through the Stone Wall with their bodies before being buried beneath the rubble, seemingly knocked unconscious.
"A surprise attack? I knew this Ye Ming was no good."
Jiang Lan's gaze shifted. Looking at the several figures sprawled before him and blocking his way, he directly kicked out.
But before his kick could land, one of the figures suddenly rolled sideways and scrambled miserably away.
"Brother Ye Ming, why did you suddenly attack us so viciously for no reason?" An enraged voice came from the distance.
At the same time, several streaks of light rapidly rushed toward Jiang Lan.
Jiang Lan's gaze fell upon them, and the dense, surging blood-colored haze in this place immediately gathered and interwove, forming a vast, solid hand of blood that smashed directly toward them.
The void rumbled. The blow was immensely powerful and heavy, making everything tremble. The entire dim underground palace seemed to shake violently.
Before those rushing figures could even approach, they all spat out blood and were sent flying with a puff, crashing to the ground like torn sacks.
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