Volume 1, Chapter 419 – Qinglan

The space on the third floor was much smaller, displaying some weapons and battle armor inscribed with runes, as well as the skeletons of various fierce beasts.

The bones were wrapped in a layer of flowing rune-light, dazzlingly brilliant.

Most of those weapons were stained with blood, and some of the armor was covered in beast bite marks, clearly having seen brutally intense battles.

The old man did not stop walking and went straight up to the fourth floor. Several guards remained on the third floor and did not follow.

At last, the old man stopped on the fourth floor and pushed open a wooden door. Behind it was a quiet room furnished with a table and chairs.

“Please, have a seat, honored guest.”

After Shi Lan sat down by the table, the old man stretched out a hand and produced a tea set out of thin air.

Runes contained all sorts of mysteries of the laws, so it was hardly strange for them to include the laws of space as well.

“This old man is named Molen. I am the lord of this city, and most of those living here are my clansmen.”

The old man poured Shi Lan a cup of hot tea. His expression was gentle, his silver-white hair meticulously arranged, and every movement of his carried a steady composure.

“You must have come from beyond this realm, honored guest.”

“What makes you say that?”

Shi Lan lifted her eyes, unable to help feeling a little surprised.

“In the Qiongluo Realm, people from beyond the realm have been appearing in greater and greater numbers with each passing day in recent years.”

The old man sighed and shook his head slightly.

“That black stone was split apart by spiritual power. A runemaster would never misjudge the limits of his own strength.”

“There are many outsiders in the Qiongluo Realm?”

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Shi Lan was somewhat startled. The Heavenly Dao had always been extremely hostile toward power from beyond the realm. In the Lingyang Realm, she had never even heard of such people existing.

“I cannot speak for other places, but more than ten have already appeared in this area alone. They all took over borrowed bodies and lodged their souls within them, and the flaws were exposed.”

The old man seemed to recall something, and his expression grew complicated.

Runemasters specialized in spiritual power and were extremely sensitive to fluctuations of the spirit. If a body suddenly housed a different soul, abnormalities were inevitable. It was very difficult to conceal such a thing.

“Where are those people now?”

Shi Lan frowned slightly. The Qiongluo Realm was more complicated than she had imagined.

“Some vanished without a trace. Some entered the great academies to cultivate the Dao of runes. And one of them was slain by this old man.”

At this point, Molen’s expression became even more complicated. He took a deep breath.

“That was my great-grandson.”

“My condolences.”

The pain of killing one’s own kin was not something an outsider could understand. Shi Lan fell silent for a long while before changing the subject.

“You brought me here because you had something to say?”

“This old man will stop speaking in circles.”

Molen shook his head with a smile, though there was a trace of helplessness in it.

“Honored guest, your spirit is complete, your qi is abundant, and your soul-light is flawless. You must have crossed realms here in your true body. Your strength is beyond this old man’s ability to fathom. I ask only that you speak plainly and tell me what you seek by coming across realms this time. This old man will do everything in his power to satisfy you. Please, do not harm my clansmen.”

Shi Lan finally understood. She could well understand Molen’s worries, so she immediately waved a hand.

“You needn’t worry. I came to the Qiongluo Realm only for rune stones. I will not remain here for long.”

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“Then please wait a moment, honored guest. This old man will gather rune stones at once.”

Molen assumed her words carried an implied warning and rose to his feet immediately.

Shi Lan spoke up to stop him, reached out, and took several items from thin air, placing them on the table.

“I have no wish to accept rewards for no merit. We each take what we need. This is only a simple transaction.”

She was not a bandit or a thief.

“This old man understands.”

Molen glanced at the scattered objects on the table, bowed, and showed a trace of gratitude.

The items Shi Lan had taken out were quite miscellaneous, ranging from magic treasures and spiritual materials to cultivation methods and talismans, all in sample form.

What interested Molen most was a manual on low-level formations.

In the end, he kept two magic treasures and that formation manual, then turned and went to gather rune stones for Shi Lan.

Shi Lan returned to the second floor and browsed through the books. After waiting for half a day, Molen returned.

“These are all the rune stones that can be gathered at present. Ours is not a great clan, and our strength is limited.”

Nearly a thousand rune stones were piled into a small mountain. Any single one of them was hundreds of times better than the two Shi Lan had bought earlier.

Among them were a few rune stones whose contained runes made Shi Lan feel slightly dizzy with a single glance. They were clearly extraordinary treasures.

“This is too much.”

Shi Lan shook her head. The value of these rune stones clearly far exceeded the few items Molen had selected earlier.

“This old man has a favor to ask.”

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Molen looked somewhat uneasy.

“Speak freely.”

“I would like to ask you, my lady, to wipe out a nest of vicious beasts.”

Perhaps afraid Shi Lan might be angered, Molen hurriedly added,

“If these rune stones are not enough, then please grant this old man a few more days, and I will gather more.”

Shi Lan pondered for a moment before replying,

“Take me to the beasts’ nest first. After that, I will give you my answer.”

If she agreed now, and the beasts in that nest turned out to be too powerful for her to deal with, it would be awkward.

“That is only right, only right!”

Molen nodded again and again, secretly wiping his sweat-damp palms against the hem of his robe. He let out a long breath of relief, then quickly turned to arrange men to prepare to take Shi Lan to the nest of vicious beasts.

…

Lingyang Realm, Boundless Demon Domain, Lan Clan territory.

Qinglan sat cross-legged beside the Ancestral Blood Pool, her eyes closed and her expression cold as a frigid abyss in the deep sea. In a face almost identical to Shi Lan’s, there was not the slightest trace of warmth.

Though she was Shi Lan’s incarnation, Qinglan’s five senses toward the outside world were entirely independent.

Whether it was because of the Tiancang Xuanling Scripture or not, the traces of the seven emotions and six desires were exceedingly faint in her. Her whole person was like ten-thousand-year-old ice, with not a shred of mortal warmth.

“Your Excellency.”

Cangyue entered the ancestral ground, came before Qinglan, and bowed respectfully.

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“The Purple Lightning Leopard clan is willing to submit?”

Qinglan slowly opened her eyes and glanced at Cangyue.

“Yes.”

Cangyue nodded, unconsciously slowing his breathing and calming his heartbeat, not even daring to breathe too loudly.

To him, the oppressive force he felt from Qinglan was far more terrifying than what he felt from Shi Lan.

Over the past year, the Lan Clan’s rate of expansion had increased by more than tenfold. The number of Nascent Soul Realm great demons had risen by nearly ten, and the number of Demon Kings had long since exceeded one hundred.

Qinglan’s methods were so iron-blooded that nearly every demon race within a radius of over a million li trembled in fear.

No fewer than five great demons had died by her hand, among them even a Heaven Demon who had only recently passed a lightning tribulation.

It could truly be said that those who followed her would not necessarily prosper, but those who defied her would certainly perish.

That sentence was embodied by Qinglan to the fullest.

The Lan Clan’s name had spread throughout the entire territory of the Feather Emperor Hall, and even the neighboring Demon Emperor Halls had heard of them.

The Lan Clan’s momentum was too fierce. There had once been a great demon clan of the demon domain that wanted to move against them and blunt their edge, but it had been suppressed by the Feather Emperor Hall.

With strength of its own, and with the Feather Emperor Hall backing it, the Lan Clan’s development was now almost entirely without restraint. That it had reached its current scale was hardly surprising.

Qinglan paid no attention to the various matters of the outside world. She was the lord of the Lan Clan, and the only thing she needed to do was strengthen the clan’s power.

“Is there anything else to report?”

“The Feather Emperor Hall has sent down a summons, asking Your Excellency to make a trip to the Feather Emperor Palace.”