A cry for help came from the talisman, and Jiang Wen found it vaguely familiar. After careful recollection, he remembered who it was.
"It's Xue Changming," Jiang Wen said. He was slightly puzzled, feeling surprised that Xue Changming would ask him for help.
He had only spent a short time with Xue Changming, and the man's character was decent enough. He possessed the air of a scion of a noble family, and if he weren't hiding his cultivation, he would have liked to befriend him.
Back then, Yan Gongli said that Xue Changming was suspicious, and Jiang Wen felt the same. Upon learning that he was concealing his cultivation, he didn't want to continue to associate with him deeply.
After parting ways outside Su City, they had no further contact.
Now, to hear a message talisman from this person was truly strange.
Listening to Xue Changming's voice, it was weak and tinged with despair. He seemed to have lost his initial high-spirited demeanor, appearing somewhat downcast.
"This man is quite opportunistic, managing to have a way to send a message to me," Jiang Wen sneered.
After all, a voice transmission talisman and a message talisman are different. A voice transmission talisman has range limitations but doesn't require location. A message talisman, however, needs a location to transmit the message in time. It's like a phone number; only by dialing the correct number can you reach the person you want to find.
With Yan Gongli on board, the group flew towards the location indicated by the message talisman.
That was where Xue Changming was, a distance of five provinces away from Jingxu Mountain, a considerable distance.
Jiang Wen didn't know how large Dagan was for the time being, but he was sure that a single province of Dagan was definitely not smaller than a modern country.
Even at his speed of flight, it would take several days to reach the destination.
"That should be Cang Province in the Northern Territory, located at the northernmost part of Dagan. This land is perpetually covered in ice and snow, and it's cold and difficult to survive. Few people are willing to live there, enduring the frequent blizzards."
Yan Gongli introduced the situation in Cang Province; she was familiar with many places in Dagan. After all, she had traveled through many territories of Dagan to escape the Wuliang Pavilion Ancestor. She had even been outside Dagan a few times, making her a knowledgeable guide.
"Cang Province produces top-quality sweat-blooded horses that can carry a thousand pounds and travel a hundred miles a day without rest. Even in the harsh winter of Cang Province, these sweat-blooded horses can still thrive. Therefore, Cang Province's horses are very popular throughout Dagan, and people often go to Cang Province to purchase them."
Yan Gongli leaned on Jiang Wen's shoulder and said softly, "However, these sweat-blooded horses are quite expensive, costing over a hundred gold per horse. So, sweat-blooded horses are often supplied to the royal family first, and then used for commercial exchange."
"Are there no collective breeding programs for such expensive horses?" Jiang Wen asked curiously, after all, the sweat-blooded horse market was so large. One horse could sell for a hundred gold, so surely someone would be tempted by the profits and raise thousands of sweat-blooded horses.
"Probably not," Yan Gongli shook her head and said. "Sweat-blooded horses all live in Cang Province and need to be raised in the wild to thrive. If they are artificially bred, it will reduce the bloodline of the sweat-blooded horses, and they won't be able to breed normal sweat-blooded horses."
"I see, there are such complications," Jiang Wen said, indicating that he understood, and he had a general understanding of the customs and conditions of Cang Province.
Along the way, carrying Yan Gongli, he could occasionally admire the surrounding scenery while traveling, so this journey wasn't idle.
He conveniently solved a few problems with the God-Worshipping Sect and eliminated the evil spirits that were harassing the villagers, doing quite a few good deeds. By the time they arrived at the border of Cang Province, five days had already passed.
Although Jiang Wen was taking his time, he was still disturbed by many people. It seemed that whether it was a heretical cultivator or a righteous cultivator, they were all a little crazy.
"What's wrong with these people?" Jiang Wen frowned, looking at the rotten bodies on the ground. He really didn't understand why there were so many crazy cultivators who would interfere with their progress at all costs.
Finally, Jiang Wen was so annoyed by them that he simply had Zi Yun send away all those who came to provoke them.
He looked at the large tree woven with bright red light in the distance, feeling that it was both sacred and strange.
"What exactly is that thing? Why do I have a sense of unease?" Jiang Wen looked at the towering light tree, always feeling that something was pulsing within it.
"This is the border between Tai and Cang provinces. You should have heard that there was a great disaster here before, so much so that even the Dao Palace True Ones sent by the imperial court could not quell the disaster. Even several Dao Palace True Ones have fallen here."
"I have lived for tens of thousands of years, and I have never seen such magnificent scenery. Although I don't know what the red light tree does, it can grow in the source of disaster in Ming Province, so it must be an extremely difficult thing to deal with." Yan Gongli stared at the red light tree in the distance. The closer she got to it, the more she could feel the brilliance of the light tree.
It was not as dazzling as the sun as people imagined, but rather cold and humid with a wet, bloody smell.
"I'm afraid that the disasters in Ming, Tai, and Cang provinces are also inseparable from this light tree," Jiang Wen said to himself.
"Of course, they are inseparable. I have seen countless disasters, and few have been so vast. Presumably, some people have gone deep into it and jointly planned such a big show," Yan Gongli said, frowning slightly. She coughed a few times, and even her breathing became difficult.
"What's wrong?" Jiang Wen asked with great concern when he saw her so uncomfortable. Yan Gongli waved her hand, indicating that she was fine.
"I just feel uncomfortable after getting close to this light tree. This thing has a very strong corrosive power to mortals. I just don't have cultivation now, so it's easy to be contaminated by this power. Do you have an exorcism talisman for me so that I can recover?"
Jiang Wen immediately took out a stack of exorcism talismans and handed them to Yan Gongli. He also placed the Tai Xuan Mirror in front of her chest so that she could better resist the corrosive power of the light tree.
"The Dagan court hasn't been able to solve this for so long, so it seems that there are many things entangled here," Yan Gongli took a deep breath and found that her body became lighter. She was experiencing the feeling of being a burden for the first time. She secretly made up her mind that she would practice hard when she returned.
When Jiang Wen arrived at the border of Cang Province and looked at the clearly defined boundary, he was deeply shocked by the scene before him.
