This Is What a Villain Is Like

Hearing this, Jiang Lan glanced sideways at her. He suddenly reached out and tore the Human Skin Mask right off her face, revealing a stunningly beautiful face capable of toppling nations, her eyes filled with shock.

When Song Youwei came to her senses, she was filled with humiliation and rage, but she dared not move.

"So this is what you look like..."

Jiang Lan withdrew his gaze, seemingly satisfied. He then casually tossed her a Jade Pendant. "Within the Great Xia, go to any establishment of the Changlong Business Alliance. Present this Jade Pendant, and someone will bring you to me."

He didn’t care if Song Youwei figured out who he was.

She was an intelligent woman. Even if she did figure it out, she would have no choice but to keep it buried in her heart, never daring to speak a word of it.

Now that the Blood Immortal Inheritance was his, once he had the strength, many problems and complications would resolve themselves. There was no need to overthink things.

Only after watching Jiang Lan’s figure vanish into the depths of the Earth Palace did Song Youwei snap back to her senses.

She looked down at the Jade Pendant in her hand, which still felt warm, her expression complex.

"The Changlong Business Alliance?"

"Miss, that’s the number one Business Alliance in Great Xia! They say it controls over sixty percent of the Great Xia’s economy. You can find their branches in nearly every dynasty and kingdom across the Nine Provinces Land, and it seems they even have trade routes to foreign lands overseas..."

"I’ve heard people say the Changlong Business Alliance was founded and is controlled by a coalition of top-tier Immortal Sects. But others claim it’s actually an enterprise of the Prime Minister’s Mansion."

"Just who do you think that mysterious man is...?"

The young woman with her hair in a maid’s bun behind Song Youwei spoke, her voice filled with shock and amazement.

Her other companions were equally stunned and incredulous.

Song Youwei remained silent. Her delicate, snow-white hands gently held the Jade Pendant. On the other side, a single character was engraved: "Jiang."

She pressed her lips together, carefully stowed the Jade Pendant away, and then said, "No one is to speak a word of what happened today. It would be best to forget it entirely."

"If even the slightest detail gets out, no one will be able to protect us. I’m afraid a proper burial will become an unattainable luxury..."

Various rumors about the Son of the Prime Minister flashed through her mind: that he was an ignorant debauchee, incapable of cultivation...

Song Youwei couldn’t help but shiver, especially when she recalled the rumor that he was "incapable of cultivation."

’How terrifying. He’s hidden himself far too well...’

She sighed inwardly, then looked at her companions, who were all nodding frantically. "Let’s get out of here," she said. "Watch out for an ambush from that man, Ye. He’s a deep schemer; just because he fled doesn’t mean he’s actually gone."

「Meanwhile」

At the far end of the Earth Palace, Jiang Lan, who had paused to rest along the way, finally found what he assumed was the burial site within a collapsed side hall.

It was less a burial site and more a field of ruins. Traces of a massive battle were everywhere, along with shattered pillars, rubble, and heaps of white bones.

A blood-red mist suffused every inch of space. Here, it was so thick it was almost tangible, and in some places, it had congealed into pools of blood.

An ordinary Cultivator would likely never make it this far; they would be eroded by the blood-red mist midway, their bodies dissolving into withered bone and bloody pus.

’So the Blood Immortal Ancestor really did die here...’

’He fought a host of powerful enemies and was grievously wounded. He fled back to his bedchamber to recover, only to be betrayed by his own disciple. Although he managed to kill the disciple, his own life force was exhausted.’

’If I hadn’t intervened, based on today’s events, the Blood Immortal Inheritance would have indeed ended up in Ye Ming’s hands.’

Amid his surprise, Jiang Lan could clearly feel a significant amount of Destiny related to both Ye Ming and Song Youwei surging into his Mud Ball Palace.

In the original story, while Ye Ming wasn’t the protagonist, he was still a man of considerable fortune.

Song Youwei, moreover, was one of the fated beauties connected to the protagonist, Lin Fan.

’Well, this bit of Destiny is better than nothing. The color of the Destiny Dao Fruit has deepened considerably, and it’s gradually maturing toward its second stage...’

In the abandoned bedchamber, Jiang Lan spotted a collapsed Blood Jade Bed, which emitted a hazy, blood-red light in the darkness.

A skeleton draped in a Black Robe sat cross-legged upon it, its head hanging low, nothing but bone remaining.

Not far away were four carved-out blood pools, but they had long since run dry. Numerous skeletons lay scattered within them, their bones still gleaming with a jade-like luster even after so many years, a testament to their formidable strength in life.

’The Blood Immortal Ancestor was a cunning man. He didn’t keep the Blood Immortal Inheritance on his person or leave it in an ancestral hall. Instead, he hid it under the Blood Jade Bed where he normally cultivated...’

’But he certainly would have left some kind of protective measures, like Restrictions.’

Recalling the details from the story, Jiang Lan manipulated the surrounding blood-red mist to destroy the Blood Jade Bed.

Layer after layer of Restrictions flared to life, erupting with terrifying waves of power that made the entire bedchamber tremble as if it were about to collapse.

Fortunately, the blood-red mist here was exceptionally dense. Although Jiang Lan had rested on his way here, his mind still felt drained and a dull ache throbbed in his head, but he managed to endure it.

"The Blood-colored Forbidden Canon..."

Soon, with all the Restrictions gone, Jiang Lan could finally see the object that lay beneath the Blood Jade Bed.

An Ancient Scroll, looking as if it had been forged from Blood Jade, lay quietly in its place. It radiated a blood-red light and pulsed with a profound, mystical aura.

The moment he touched it, he felt a strange, jade-like texture, both warm and cool, as if the scroll wanted to merge with his palm.

’For me, the most important part of this is the Infinite River of Destiny...’

As Jiang Lan began to leaf through the scroll, the Ancient Vine within his Mud Ball Palace started to tremble.

A mysterious, ancient, and boundless aura seemed to emanate from its emerald-green leaves.

One of its leaves was now suffused with a bloody light, becoming as translucent as Blood Jade—resplendent, yet strangely demonic.

Astonished, Jiang Lan suddenly felt a flash of insight. The Blood-colored Forbidden Canon in his hands dissolved into a streak of red light and vanished.

At the same time, his mind was flooded with innumerable insights and a profound understanding of the Blood-colored Forbidden Canon.

He instantly and thoroughly comprehended all its Forbidden Divine Techniques and the Creation Celestial Skill, as if he had already spent countless ages studying them.

’I haven’t even started reading it yet, I was just flipping through the pages, and I’ve already mastered it?’ Jiang Lan was genuinely shocked and amazed.

It seemed the purpose of the Ancient Vine was far more profound than simply bearing a Destiny Dao Fruit.

However, he could also distinctly feel that the Power of Destiny that had been swirling around the Ancient Vine moments ago was now completely depleted.

’It seems it still requires the Power of Destiny to fuel it...’

Jiang Lan’s attention was drawn to the one leaf that resembled Blood Jade; that was where the Blood-colored Forbidden Canon had merged.

Having figured that out, he paid it no more mind.

Now that he had the Cultivation Technique, this Blood Red Plateau was the perfect place for him to cultivate—a land of immense nourishment.

OMMMM!!!

Without hesitation, Jiang Lan sat down cross-legged. A blood-red light enveloped his body. Every single cell within him seemed to spring to life, breathing as one, opening wide to feast ravenously.

Wisps of the blood-red mist began to pour in from all directions, a deluge that blotted out everything. Like rolling columns of signal smoke, it instantly submerged him.

The Void thrummed and trembled. Faintly, a hazy, blood-red river materialized above Jiang Lan’s head.

Its sanguine waves crashed and churned, a torrent that seemed to be the domain of departed spirits and the final destination of all Life Souls. Within its depths, the bodies of countless holy figures and endless Immortal Corpses could be seen, tumbling into the abyss.