278: Chapter 278 Arrival!

"Qin Yan! Stop right there!"

Seeing Qin Yan leaving so decisively, Su Liuli's dark brows furrowed slightly, appearing somewhat annoyed.

Her figure flickered, instantly blocking Qin Yan's path as her beautiful eyes glared at him with a hint of reproach.

"Back in the Vine Forest, it wasn't that I didn't want to save you!"

Su Liuli raised her voice slightly and explained, "I was also pinned down by a large number of Vine Evil Spirits that suddenly swarmed from the outskirts!"

"I simply had no time to spare! By the time I dealt with them, you had already..."

Her words were half-truths; while the situation then was indeed perilous, only she knew whether she truly was 'unable to rescue' him.

However, while speaking, Su Liuli's eyes were carefully sizing up Qin Yan.

For some reason, seeing Qin Yan again, she felt an extremely peculiar yet faintly... familiar aura from him?

It wasn't Qin Yan's original masculine blood energy, but a deeper, more restrained fluctuation.

In particular, she vaguely sensed an extremely pure 'blood-colored aura' slowly circulating and lying dormant within Qin Yan's body, closely linked to his life source.

This discovery caused no small stir in Su Liuli's heart.

Otherwise, given her personality, would she bother explaining herself to anyone?

At this thought, deep within her clear eyes, a translucent blood-red luster, like the purest ruby, flashed by imperceptibly!

It was so fast that even Qin Yan failed to notice.

She had already "scanned" the blood energy throughout Qin Yan's body.

The check was complete: he was not of the Blood Race.

"I know, Miss Liuli."

Qin Yan's voice interrupted her thoughts, his tone still flat. "I only want to find my own opportunities now. We can just act separately."

After saying this, he turned sideways, intending to bypass Su Liuli and continue forward.

Su Liuli's eyebrows twitched slightly. She didn't stop him, but a faint, ambiguous smile played on her lips.

She said softly, "Oh? In such a hurry to leave? Don't you... want to help Her Highness Anya obtain the 'holy grail of life' anymore?"

Qin Yan's footsteps paused.

The holy grail of life! This was precisely one of his main goals for this trip.

He turned around and looked at Su Liuli. "Do you know the exact location of 'Qinglin Mansion'?"

The interior of the Jade Court was vast, with complex clusters of palaces like a labyrinth.

Without guidance or clear clues, trying to find one of the specific "Ten Mansions" in a short time was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

With bad luck, it could take several days or even longer.

"Of course," Su Liuli replied crisply. "Just follow me."

Having said that, she spoke no more and turned to walk toward a certain direction deep within the court, her steps light.

Qin Yan stood in place, his eyes flickering as he quickly weighed the pros and cons.

Traveling with Su Liuli certainly carried risks, but she could indeed provide the fastest route, saving a lot of time.

Ultimately, Qin Yan made his choice—he set off, following Su Liuli from a moderate distance.

One after the other, the two shuttled through the dilapidated and silent Jade Palace complex.

Along the way, remembering the eeriness of the Blood River and the shock of the blood-colored figure in the mural, Qin Yan couldn't help but probe:

"Su Liuli, how much do you know about that 'Blood River' in the Canglin Ancient Peak? Do you know its origin?"

He thought that since she could easily trigger blood flowers and condense supreme grade blood pills, she must have a far greater understanding of the Blood River than ordinary people.

Su Liuli didn't stop, nor did she even look back, simply saying flatly, "I don't know."

Was she supposed to tell Qin Yan that the Blood River very likely possessed some kind of hazy consciousness?

Was she supposed to confess that her ability to easily trigger blood flowers and condense supreme grade blood pills wasn't due to some special martial technique, but because she was of the Blood Race—and shared an indescribable deep connection with that Blood River?

Thus, it was better to simply cut off Qin Yan's curiosity to prevent him from questioning her incessantly.

Qin Yan: "..."

He could hear the perfunctoriness in Su Liuli's tone, but since she was unwilling to say more, there was nothing he could do.

"Qin Yan," after walking in silence for a while, Su Liuli suddenly spoke up, her tone carrying a faint hint of inquiry.

"Recently... has anything strange happened to you?"

"For example, did you unintentionally obtain something peculiar?"

"Or... do you feel like your constitution has undergone some unexpected change?"

Alarm bells rang softly in Qin Yan's mind, but he remained impassive. After a moment's thought, he said, "Something strange?"

"Does obtaining a supreme grade blood pill count?"

"A change in constitution? I took the supreme grade blood pill and successfully broke through to the Third Grade Limit. Does that count?"

He attributed everything to that supreme grade blood pill with its "clear origin."

This was indeed part of the truth.

"A supreme grade blood pill?"

Su Liuli was indeed intrigued, her eyes widening slightly. "You actually obtained a supreme grade blood pill? How did you do it?"

After all, in her view, unless Qin Yan possessed the Blood Race true king bloodline like her, he wouldn't be able to trigger a resonance with the Blood River.

Otherwise, the difficulty of gathering enough to condense a supreme grade blood pill would be extremely high.

Qin Yan shrugged, his face wearing an "I'm also quite helpless" expression. "Just good luck, I guess."

"During the voyage, those Tiger-shaped Blood Spirits went crazy for some reason, crowding around my spirit boat one after another. I had no choice but to kill them."

"After killing enough of them, the blood energy was sufficient, and it just condensed somehow."

He spoke nonchalantly, as if he had simply stumbled into good fortune.

Hearing this, a flicker of uncertainty passed through Su Liuli's eyes.

She stared intently into Qin Yan's eyes, trying to discern the truth of his words.

But Qin Yan's gaze was steady and his expression natural, showing no flaws.

"Could it be... he really just has heaven-defying luck?"

Su Liuli was suspicious.

Whether from her previous observations or the close-range sensing just now, Qin Yan was definitely a pure human, not of the Blood Race.

Not of the Blood Race, yet able to obtain a supreme grade blood pill?

Unless... he truly possessed "great fortune," and as he said, the Tiger-shaped Blood Spirits lined up to deliver themselves to him?

Although this explanation was far-fetched, it seemed plausible.

For the rest of the way, Su Liuli seemingly casually probed him from multiple angles.

Attempting to find clues from Qin Yan's answers.

However, Qin Yan was already on guard against her, and his answers were watertight.

He consistently attributed all changes to the miraculous effects of the supreme grade blood pill and his own long-term accumulation.

He didn't reveal a single bit of information about the black seed or the Indestructible Blood Demon Scripture.

After several failed attempts, Su Liuli understood that further questioning would be futile and might instead trigger stronger vigilance and resentment from him.

The inquiring light in her eyes gradually faded, returning to her usual cold demeanor as she stopped initiating such topics.

A subtle understanding formed between the two—each had secrets, they wouldn't pry, and they would cooperate temporarily, each taking what they needed.

Thus, under Su Liuli's lead.

The two of them shuttled through the complex palace clusters and ruins within the court, turning and taking detours for a full four hours.

Finally, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

A mansion with a style completely different from the other jade palaces appeared before their eyes.

It was not built from emerald boulders but instead displayed a warm, green jade luster throughout.

The architectural lines were soft and fluid, as if merging into the surrounding natural environment.