Innate Sage?

Endless blood-colored mist surged forth like a tide that blotted out the sky and covered the earth, in countless threads, like rivers and streams, swiftly drowning that underground palace completely.

Jiang Lan sat cross-legged there, his robes stirring without wind. The blood river roared, seeming to run through the void of ages as it lay stretched across the space.

As the waves swept over, the Immortal Corpse rolled about, as though even the heavens and myriad worlds were being submerged and devoured.

Boundless River of Life could not truly be called a cultivation method, for it possessed no concept of levels or divisions.

From the very beginning of cultivation, it transformed all energy between heaven and earth into the source of one's own life, evolving it into a river of life.

Life was without end, and the blood river boundless. There was no upper limit; as long as one possessed sufficient vitality, the power one could command could be called inexhaustible.

This was, in truth, a conceptual mental art. Virtually no one could truly attain inexhaustible life. So-called infinity was merely a hypothetical state.

Yet because of the Life Dao Fruit, Jiang Lan already possessed a terrifying vitality beyond what ordinary people would dare imagine.

So long as his injuries were not fatal, he could recover completely in an extremely short time.

This also made Boundless River of Life the cultivation method best suited to him at present.

Within the underground palace, the trembling grew ever more violent. Endless blood-colored mist completely enveloped Jiang Lan, forming a massive blood-colored cocoon.

At this moment, every cell in his body seemed as though it had hungered for countless years, frantically devouring the blood-colored mist pouring toward him.

Every wisp of blood-colored mist contained astonishing, surging vitality. To other cultivators, it was a dangerous substance not to be touched lightly, but to Jiang Lan at this moment, it was the purest energy.

He could clearly sense that every inch of his skin, every bone, every organ, every strand of his soul was undergoing an earth-shaking transformation, as though tempered by true fire and reborn from the flames from within to without.

Abundant, surging power filled his limbs and bones, vast as roaring rivers and billowing oceans, before finally transforming into a boundless, silent, dark abyssal sea.

His skin shimmered with a lustrous white glow, like jade and glazed crystal, flawless and untainted by dust. Waves of fragrance wafted from him, as though he possessed the treasured body of a true immortal embryo.

At this moment, every living being and cultivator within the Blood-Colored Plateau could clearly sense the changes in heaven and earth.

The blood-colored mist that had drifted through the void seemed drawn by some force, rushing madly toward the depths of the Blood-Colored Plateau. Even some of the outer regions began to grow clear.

"What is that?"

A cultivator who had come seeking experience and opportunities felt his heart tremble. He hastily transformed into a Divine Rainbow and fled toward the outer regions.

In that fleeting instant just now, he had felt as though his life itself was about to drift away, leaving his fleshly body behind.

It was the first time he had encountered such strange and terrifying sensation. His face turned pale with fear as he hurriedly fled.

Even more cultivators and living beings felt waves of horror and trembling, and began to withdraw.

Many regions of the Blood-Colored Plateau erupted into great disturbances. Demonic beasts fled madly outward, as though trying to evade something.

A thousand miles away, blood-colored smoke and dust rolled through the air, nearly shooting straight into the heavens. One column after another rose up, incomparably thick and vast, like small mountain peaks—bright scarlet and vivid.

Blood-colored mist from across the skies continually surged over and poured into them. The violent fluctuations that spread out made every cultivator and living being on the Blood-Colored Plateau tremble in terror.

"Old Ghost, what is going on?"

"Could some shocking change have occurred over there?"

Upon a low mountain peak stood a dark-faced man whose eyes gleamed sharply. He gazed at the scene behind him, his face filled with astonishment and shock.

He was none other than Ye Ming, who had fled not far from that collapsed underground palace.

A blood-colored marking on his palm flickered with a faint radiance. An aura of soul spread out, and a hazy blood-colored figure, like a wisp of smoke, slowly emerged at his words.

"These aura fluctuations either mean some strange treasure has been born, or someone is gathering the blood-colored mist of this place..."

The blood-colored figure spoke with equal astonishment. "But the blood-colored mist here is saturated with poisonous miasma. What use would there be in gathering it?"

Ye Ming's expression darkened, and he could not help asking, "Could it be related to that mysterious man from earlier?"

The blood-colored figure pondered for a moment before guessing, "That is possible, but I cannot understand what use he has for gathering this blood-colored mist. Does he intend to refine some kind of magical artifact?"

"I only want to know where that fellow came from. It is the first time I have seen you act so cautious and wary..."

Ye Ming let out a soft breath, his heart heavy. "If he is still in the depths of the Blood-Colored Plateau, then if I return now, would I not run straight into him?"

"I do not yet know where that fellow comes from, but in any case, he is exceedingly strange and mysterious."

"If I cannot sense any aura fluctuations from him because he possesses an extremely powerful concealment treasure, I can understand that."

"But why were there no aura fluctuations even when he attacked? He simply appeared abruptly out of nowhere. That makes me suspect he possesses some means involving laws..."

The blood-colored figure's tone was equally grave. In his long life, it was also the first time he had encountered such a strange and bizarre situation.

"Means involving laws?"

Ye Ming was startled, disbelief appearing on his face. "But I clearly felt that he should not be very old, at most about my age. Aren't means involving laws something only experts of the Tribulation Bridge Realm, or even the Feather Transformation Realm, can employ?"

The blood-colored figure shook his head. "You do not understand. This world is so vast, and geniuses are as numerous as the stars. It is possible for one or two anomalies beyond all common sense to appear."

"But now that I think about it, perhaps that fellow has also encountered some problem. Otherwise, why would he not attack directly, instead using this power resembling laws? Is he not afraid of exposing his secret?"

Ye Ming's eyes were filled with envy and admiration. Clenching his fists, he said unwillingly, "To be born able to wield the power of laws—would that not make him an Innate Sage? The Great Xia Dynasty truly hides crouching tigers and coiled dragons. Even such a terrifying young existence has appeared."

"To his peers, would he not be a mountain destined to be impossible to cross, one whose shadow they are fated to live beneath for their entire lives?"

The blood-colored figure gave him a somewhat pitying glance and sighed. "For geniuses of the same generation, encountering such a terrifying fellow is indeed a kind of despair and sorrow."

"So you must be careful from now on. Something has happened to that fellow. Once he recovers, he will certainly come to silence you. He cannot allow his secret to be exposed."

"I do not know whether the inheritance of the Blood Immortal Sect is here, but you may try your luck at the Blood Immortal Sect's Ancestral Shrine. When I drifted through the various lands back then, I did not know much about the Blood Immortal Sect. After the Blood Immortal Old Ancestor died, I was not certain where he left his inheritance."

Ye Ming nodded, understanding that this was not a place to linger, and prepared to leave.