Chapter 5: Fairy Meng Li (Part 1)

The drone wove through the dense forest, crossing rugged mountain paths and passing through the pervasive mist.

Lin Fan stared intently at the screen, not letting any possible clue slip by, but there was still no trace of Meng Li.

Lin Fan slapped his forehead. "Oh no, this girl wouldn't be trying to end her life, would she?" Lin Fan turned the drone around and flew toward the Black Wind Cliff.

On the edge of the cliff, a slender figure in green robes stood quietly. It was Meng Li. Her figure looked lonely and fragile, as if she were making a final decision.

Lin Fan's heart tightened abruptly. "My goodness, she's actually going to jump off the cliff!" Lin Fan took off, running toward the Black Wind Cliff.

When Lin Fan arrived at the edge of the Black Wind Cliff, panting, Meng Li was standing right at the edge, her back to him. She was taking small, unsteady steps, swaying as she moved closer and closer to the Black Wind Abyss.

The wind suddenly intensified at that moment. Meng Li's green dress danced in the wind, clinging to her graceful figure and outlining her perfect curves, revealing an unusual beauty in that instant.

Lin Fan had no time to appreciate this unusual beauty; he immediately shouted Meng Li's name.

"Meng Li! Meng Li! It's me, Lin Fan! Don't do anything foolish!"

"Lin Fan…" Meng Li turned her head, her voice choked with sobs, tears welling up in her eyes.

Lin Fan hurriedly stepped forward, intending to pull Meng Li back from the edge of the cliff, but Meng Li immediately stopped him.

"Don't come over here!"

Lin Fan stopped in his tracks. "Alright, alright, I won't come over, but you need to come back here. It's very windy; be careful you don't get blown off."

With tears hanging from the corners of her eyes, Meng Li sobbed, "Thank you for letting me know that Left Sword Envoy Yun Che is such an unbearable person. I regret everything, but there is no turning back now. Only death can end all of these mistakes."

Lin Fan was anxious, but he couldn't exactly say that he had fabricated everything to frame Left Sword Envoy Yun Che.

"Fairy Meng Li, listen to me. Your beauty is like that of a Fairy descended from the heavens; you are a goddess admired by countless men. If you leave like this, how are they supposed to go on?"

Meng Li was startled, her face full of disbelief. "Stop trying to comfort me. I know my own worth. Although I may have some beauty, I am nowhere near as moving as you describe. If I were truly as you say, how could Left Sword Envoy Yun Che have the heart to sell me into this Black Wind Stronghold, where dragons and snakes intermingle?"

Lin Fan knew his chance had come. He spoke in a low, sincere tone, "I don't know about others, but I can say one thing for certain: if you leave just like that, it would feel as if a corner of my world had collapsed. I would become like a traveler who has lost their Soul, wandering aimlessly through the vast sea of people."

Meng Li chuckled. "Alright, Young Stronghold Master Lin, stop trying to make me happy. I appreciate your kindness, but there are some things I must face myself."

With that, she took a light, resolute step forward and leaped down into the fog-filled, bottomless Black Wind Abyss below.

Lin Fan's heart tightened violently. He stomped on the ground, shooting out like an arrow from a bow, and caught Meng Li by her slender waist. Together, they plummeted down the cliff.

Meng Li felt herself suddenly enveloped in a solid, warm embrace, and her heart trembled. She never expected that, after just one meeting, Lin Fan would be willing to go this far for her. The hurricane winds here were fierce; even someone at the Peak of Qi Refining couldn't fly out of it, let alone Lin Fan, who was still in the Body Refining stage. This was absolutely a situation of certain death.

"You!!"

"Don't speak, hold on tight to me!"

At this moment, Meng Li's heart was pounding wildly. Relying on her instinctual trust in Lin Fan, she turned and wrapped her arms around Lin Fan's neck. Lin Fan could only feel a refreshing, faint scent of orchids wafting from Meng Li.

However, Lin Fan had no time to pay attention to such things; he quickly manipulated the nano cube on his hand.

This was the precious legacy Lin Fan had obtained in his previous 99 lives from a highly advanced technological civilization—the nano cube.

This device had a built-in, expandable storage space filled with malleable nano-units.

These tiny units could precisely transform into various weapons and tools based on the instructions received.

Whether it was sharp swords, sturdy shields, or complex mechanical devices, they could be constructed in an instant.

After more than a decade of unremitting effort and exploration, Lin Fan finally enabled the most basic functions of the nano cube in this cultivation world of the Canglan Immortal Domain.

Lin Fan's fingers danced, and a pair of cool mechanical wings unfolded behind him.

Their descent slowed. If it were just Lin Fan alone, these mechanical wings could easily carry him into the high sky, but now with a girl in his arms, he could only ensure they wouldn't fall to their deaths.

The reason Black Wind Ridge was called Black Wind Ridge was because of the howling mountain winds that blew all year round, accompanied by thick fog. These perennial mountain winds roared out from the Black Wind Abyss, and no one knew what was down there.

Thirty years ago, the Yiyun Empire sent five Golden Core experts to investigate the Black Wind Abyss, but all five of these Golden Core experts went missing in the Black Wind Abyss, and even after 30 full years, there has been no news of them.

Lin Fan controlled the mechanical wings, weaving through the thick fog of the Black Wind Abyss. His vision was severely impaired, and one careless move could cause them to crash into the cliff face, leading to both their deaths.

"Alright, this is the only way." Lin Fan's fingers rapidly spun across the nano cube again. He knew that under adverse weather conditions like thick fog, electromagnetic waves such as lasers and visible light suffered from severe scattering and absorption, causing the detection range to be greatly reduced.

As a type of mechanical wave, sonar had a longer wavelength and was less susceptible to scattering by fog droplets and particulate matter, and thus could better penetrate the thick fog for detection.

Now, he had to quickly construct a simple sonar device. In his memory, there were many types of creations that possessed sonar detection capabilities.

For example, shuttle craft, landing pods, and detection pods all had excellent detection capabilities, but Lin Fan couldn't assemble any of these because his nano cube simply didn't have that many nano-units.

Sweat beaded on Lin Fan's forehead as he tried his best to slow their gliding speed, his mind recalling the descriptions of sonar detection for these devices and inputting them one by one into the nano cube.

"Command error. Construction parameters incorrect. Please re-enter!" The nano cube emitted a prompt sound.

"Damn it!" Lin Fan cursed loudly, his fingers quickly continuing to input commands into the cube.

Meng Li spoke softly and weakly, "What's wrong? Why don't you put me down? It would probably be easier for you to fly out of this Black Wind Abyss alone."

"It's fine. I can fly out of this abyss just as well with you." Lin Fan didn't tell her that, in reality, the two of them were falling into the abyss.

"Alright."

"Construction failed. Insufficient nano-units. Please re-enter!" The nano cube emitted the prompt sound again.