While Bloodline Warriors couldn't achieve immortality, their lifespans were significantly longer than those of ordinary people.
However, it was worth noting that those who entered this place were individuals whose bloodlines were on the verge of losing control. In theory, whether they could solve the problem of bloodline instability was uncertain, so how could they live for such a long time?
The elderly man continued speaking, "There are also rumors that the Da Xuan Nation possesses a secret technique that can turn powerful individuals into peculiar puppets. These puppets can exist for hundreds or even thousands of years. This is one of the reasons why the Da Xuan Nation surpasses many other noble families."
"Puppets?" Su Nan mused. He thought of something peculiar.
Paper Marionettes! He had always wondered how those things were created. Even though he had learned the cultivation method of the Incense Fire Divine Path, he still didn't know.
But he knew that such entities could exist for thousands of years.
The paper marionettes in the Shrine of the Joyful God in the Divine Ruins didn't count, as they were merely manifestations of past powers. However, the paper marionettes in the City God Temple of Tianyun City were genuine and dated back thousands of years, products of the Da Xuan Dynasty.
"If that's the case, I should not underestimate this Da Xuan Nation!" Su Nan's expression turned serious.
Even if there were limitations to the creation of these puppets, the accumulation of thousands of years undoubtedly represented immense power. Moreover, there might even be King-level beings among them!
Thinking about this, Su Nan's previous disdain for this place disappeared instantly.
While most of the martial practitioners here had low levels of cultivation, the high-end combat power was beyond imagination.
"Do you have a map of this place? Where is the capital city of Da Xuan Nation located?" Su Nan asked. Regardless of how powerful the Da Xuan Nation was, since it was an influence established by the Da Xuan Dynasty, it was worth a visit.
Although he had learned the cultivation method of the Incense Fire Divine Path, he didn't have the associated secret techniques to fully utilize the power of the Incense Fire Divine Path. The Da Xuan Nation, being an establishment of the Da Xuan Dynasty, was likely to possess secret techniques related to the divine path.
Upon hearing Su Nan's question, both the woman and the elderly man grew anxious. They could tell that Su Nan was planning to leave, and without him, what would they do?
The woman bit her lip and knelt down, saying, "Sir, we don't have a map, but I am quite familiar with this place. I can be your guide, and if you don't mind, I'm willing to serve you as your maid."
To showcase her value, the woman even blushed and added, "If you don't mind, I am willing to serve you in any way, sir."
The elderly man watched this unfold and didn't object. In fact, he approved of the woman's approach. Their Chen family had already been destroyed, and they were being pursued by the Ma family. If they left Su Nan, they would surely meet their doom.
Although they didn't know Su Nan's exact strength, they could see that he was definitely not as simple as an initial-stage Ling-level practitioner.
By following Su Nan, they would have a chance at survival. Furthermore, if they served Su Nan well and sought his help for revenge, including dealing with the Ma family, it was not an impossible task.
In their view, Su Nan had come to this world and would be unable to leave. Like the powerful beings who had arrived a hundred years ago, he would establish roots here, reproduce, and continue his legacy.
Following Su Nan would allow them to establish themselves in this world, even if they couldn't fully restore the glory of the Chen family.
Su Nan could see the woman's intentions, and it didn't surprise him. She was a beautiful woman with a delicate figure, making her quite a rare beauty. Faced with such a request from her, most people wouldn't refuse.
However, Su Nan calmly replied, "No need."
He had come to this world to find a solution to the demonic aura, not to enjoy a comfortable life. He didn't need someone to serve him.
Furthermore, the woman was only at the Mid-level of the Profound stage, and her strength was no different from an ordinary person in his eyes.
Upon hearing Su Nan's rejection, the woman's face turned pale, and her whole demeanor deflated like a punctured balloon. She felt dejected.
She might not be as outstanding as some heavenly beauties, but she was still a refined lady. Kneeling down and begging to be someone's servant, only to receive a cold rejection, was a significant blow to her.
However, she quickly remembered something and her eyes regained determination. She activated something within herself, and Su Nan observed without stopping her.
In the next moment, she turned pale, and a mouthful of blood spurted out. Strangely, the blood turned into a blood mist but didn't dissipate. Instead,
it gradually converged on the woman and formed a blood-red rune.
"Huh?" Su Nan was taken aback as he looked at the blood-red rune. It felt strangely familiar.
Soon, he understood why.
The woman said, "Sir, this is a secret technique I accidentally acquired. It is said to have the ability to control someone's life and death. If you are willing, you can control my life and death in the future."
"No, miss!" The elderly man's expression changed. He hadn't expected the woman to be so resolute, willingly handing over control of her life and death to someone else.
"Uncle De, my mind is made up. You don't need to persuade me." The woman was determined.
This was like the Bloodline Servitude Seal, Su Nan thought, as he looked at the blood-red mark. It was similar but not identical.
He suspected that this secret technique was created based on the Bloodline Servitude Seal. When he had purchased the Bloodline Servitude Seal in the Heaven Pavilion, they had also tried to sell him similar techniques.
Seeing the woman's determination, Su Nan hesitated for a moment and then sighed, "Very well, since you're so insistent, you can come with me."
With that, he accepted the woman's blood mark.
He didn't consider himself a villain, but he wasn't a saint either. Since someone had entrusted their life and death to him, he saw no reason to refuse.
Moreover, bringing the woman along would inevitably attract the Ma family, even if he regarded the Ma family as mere clownish characters.
After accepting the blood mark from the woman, Su Nan felt a sensation. He could now sense that he had control over her life and death, similar to how he felt when using the Bloodline Servitude Seal.
"Thank you for taking me in, sir."
Upon seeing Su Nan accept her blood mark, the woman initially showed a hint of sadness, as if she regretted her fate. However, she soon relaxed. Thinking about her future role as a maid and her duties, she blushed.
The elderly man also heaved a sigh of relief. As long as they were with Su Nan, they were safe.
"Sir, where are we going now?" the woman asked.
Su Nan looked at the sky. This space was different from the ones he had entered before. Here, there was a complete ecosystem, and the sun and moon were present! It was currently sunset, with the last rays of sunlight casting a warm glow, while on the other side, a bright moon was faintly visible.
In reality, it was the opposite; the sun was just rising, and a new day was beginning.
"Let's find a place to rest for now," Su Nan said.
He hadn't slept all night, and it was time to rest. The woman and the elderly man had also been on the move all night and looked exhausted.
The woman informed him, "Sir, if we head west from here for twenty miles, we'll reach the county town of White Horse."
"Then let's go there."
The elderly man immediately brought the carriage over and respectfully said, "Sir, please get in."
Su Nan didn't refuse. As he boarded the carriage, he took another look at the so-called Death Desert.
Since that Du Qiyuan had specifically altered the desert, there had to be a reason behind it.
He believed that there were secrets hidden beneath this desert.
"The desert possesses the power to turn people into sand. I can transform into a bird and fly over the desert, but to explore its secrets, I'll need to come into direct contact with the desert," Su Nan mused.
"I, as my true self, certainly cannot directly enter the desert; I can only attempt it using my avatar."
According to his previous speculation, this desert should only turn the physical body into sand. His avatar, though appearing as a physical body, was actually a condensation of magical power, capable of resisting the sandification.
This point could be inferred from the first foresight of entering the Lost Land.
At that time, the foresight showed that his true self turned into sand and died, but nothing happened to his avatar before his death.
"Now, my avatar is still watching that demon king in the real world, and I can't use it in the game. I'll have to wait until I completely control that female demon king before using my avatar to explore the desert."
Su Nan sat in the carriage and left this place.
The path was rough, and the carriage did not travel very fast.
On the way, Su Nan inquired about some things about this world.
The woman was named Chen Ying, and the old man was named Chen De, both from the Chen family.
It turned out that just one year ago, Chen Ying's father, Chen Daohai, the head of the Chen family, was invited by a friend to go to the Ancient God Tomb. A month later, Chen Daohai suddenly returned, bringing back an ancient god's key, and then hastily left.
However, since then, there had been no news of him, and despite sending many people, the Chen family could not find Chen Daohai.
As the head of the Chen family, his strength was also the strongest in the entire Chen family, reaching the pinnacle of the Ling level.
The disappearance of such a powerhouse had dealt a significant blow to the Chen family.
If it were just this, things might not have escalated further.
However, for some reason, news of the Chen family obtaining the ancient god's key reached the Ma family.
With the disappearance of the Chen family's head and the discovery of the ancient god's key, the Ma family, who had always been at odds with the Chen family, finally couldn't hold back and attacked the Chen family two days ago.
"As for what exactly is in the Ancient God Tomb, only the Great Xuan Royal Family and the five major clans probably know, because to enter the Ancient God Tomb, you need nine keys, and in the past, all nine keys were in the hands of the Great Xuan Royal Family and the five major clans."
"Until a hundred years ago, that powerful figure named Du Qiyuan, together with the five major clans, entered the Ancient God Tomb. After that, the Great Xuan Royal Family and the five major clans never entered the Ancient God Tomb again, only exploring the area outside the tomb. The reason was that one of the keys in the possession of the Great Xuan Royal Family was lost."
"I didn't expect that after so many years, my father would find that missing key again, but..."
Chen Ying's eyes showed a hint of sorrow.
Su Nan's attention, however, was not on the origin of the ancient god's key.
"Du Qiyuan! It's Du Qiyuan again!"
"What exactly did he do in this world?"
Du Qiyuan had entered the Death Desert, and as a result, the Death Desert had turned into a forbidden area, with no one succeeding in entering for over a hundred years.
He had entered the Ancient God Tomb, and one of the keys had been lost, preventing anyone from entering for over a hundred years.
If this were a coincidence, Su Nan wouldn't believe it.
"So, didn't Du Qiyuan also visit two other forbidden areas? What happened to those two places afterward?" Su Nan asked.
Chen Ying shook her head and said, "Sir, a hundred years ago, it was only a rumor that Du Qiyuan had entered the four forbidden areas, and whether he actually entered them or not, only he knows."
"The other two forbidden areas are Black Magic Lake and Resentful Dragon Mountain. Black Magic Lake's water contains a strange power called dark magic, and anyone who attempts to enter Black Magic Lake will be eroded by the dark magic in the lake and eventually lose control."
"Resentful Dragon Mountain is said to be the burial place of a divine dragon, and the entire mountain range is shrouded in the lingering resentment of the divine dragon's death. Anyone who wants to approach Resentful Dragon Mountain will inexplicably die."
"These two places are so dangerous that even rumored King-level experts can hardly come out unscathed if they get close. Your servant suspects that Du Qiyuan did not actually enter these two places."
Chen Ying had now taken on the role of a servant, even referring to herself as "your servant."
Su Nan didn't mind, and he was more interested in the information in Chen Ying's words.
"Black Magic Lake! It also has dark magic here?"
He had come to find a solution to the invasion of dark magic, so he was naturally more sensitive to anything related to dark creatures.
He suspected that there might be something related to dark creatures under Black Magic Lake.
Even the suppression of dark creatures below was not impossible.
Compared to Black Magic Lake, the so-called Resentful Dragon Mountain did not catch his attention.
Chen Ying knew very little about Resentful Dragon Mountain, but Su Nan had already figured out what it was.
If his guess was correct, Resentful Dragon Mountain should be somewhat similar to the Dragon Burial River in Tianyun County.
Back then, in order to find a place with a dense concentration of water energy to hatch the Dragon Turtle, he had learned from Heaven Pavilion about several places in Tianyun County with the most concentrated water energy.
Among them, the number one spot was the Dragon Burial River.
That Dragon Burial River had also had a dragon buried in it, and its lingering resentment had formed the Thought Fiends. Anyone who approached the Dragon Burial River would be killed by the Thought Fiends for no apparent reason.
This Resentful Dragon Mountain seemed very similar to that.
"Among the four forbidden areas, it can be confirmed that Du Qiyuan entered the Death Desert and the Ancient God Tomb."
Su Nan looked at the ancient god's key in his hand, making a decision.
Regardless of how, he needed to visit these two places.
It seemed that he had no choice but to deal with the Great Xuan Royal Family and the five major clans.
"Get a few more keys? Sir, do you mean..." Chen Ying was astonished. The five major clans and the Great Xuan Royal Family were on a completely different level, with numerous experts at the Profound level. It was impossible for anyone else to contend with them.
She couldn't help but speculate, and as she thought about it, a hint of excitement flashed in her eyes.
Su Nan didn't explain further, continuing to ask, "Among those who entered this place before, were there any who found a solution to their problems?"
(End of this chapter)