Chapter 341: A Day Trip to Divine Soul Village
"Zhui Yun, thanks for waiting."
Qi Han smiled gently as he stroked the smooth mane on the back of Zhui Yun's neck.
After obtaining the system spirit ring, Qi Han brought Pururu back to the Snowfield Ice Pheasant's hunting grounds once more.
Without alarming any of the other Snowfield Ice Pheasants, the man and cat quietly snuck out of the hunting area and made their way swiftly out of the extreme northern snowfields. Only once they had fully exited the snow-covered region did Qi Han ask Ru Yi to bring Zhui Yun out from the system's inner world.
Though it had only been one night apart, the fatigue Zhui Yun had accumulated from flying all day the previous afternoon was already completely gone, thanks to Ru Yi's careful care. Now brimming with energy, the unicorn affectionately rubbed its neck against Qi Han, and gently touched its horn to his forehead.
"Master, Master, where are we going next?"
"Next…" Qi Han's smile widened. "We're heading to the Star Dou Forest."
Having completed the ingredient acquisition quest and reached the four-ring stage with a spirit power level of 42, Qi Han now felt far more confident.
With the addition of his Fourth Spirit Skill, it wasn't an exaggeration to say his overall strength had doubled.
With that power, he was more than ready to take on the Intermediate Advancement Quest in the Star Dou Forest.
The objective of that quest was to create a 2 Star recipe that met the system's criteria.
As Ru Yi had explained earlier, using higher-tier ingredients to brute-force the star rating wouldn't work—the system would not accept it as valid. To complete a genuine 2 Star recipe, both the spirit beast ingredients and natural treasures used had to be limited to ten-year or hundred-year tiers.
Since he only needed materials from hundred-year-level spirit beasts, Qi Han didn't need to delve deep into the Star Dou Forest. At most, he'd need to enter the area where hundred- and thousand-year spirit beasts coexisted. Given his current strength, few threats remained that could endanger him there.
After lifting Pururu and mounting Zhui Yun, the unicorn took a few running steps before spreading its wings and soaring into the sky, quickly veering away from the northern tundra and flying in the direction of the Star Dou Forest.
It was already around noon. At Zhui Yun's current speed, reaching the Star Dou Forest in a single day would be difficult. And as a spirit beast still at the thousand-year level, Qi Han wasn't about to overwork Zhui Yun with a full day of nonstop flight.
So, his plan was to travel for a few hours in the afternoon and find a town to rest in for the night. They'd continue the journey in the morning.
But which town?
Qi Han opened the system interface and pulled up the full map of the Heaven Dou Empire. Scanning the locations carefully, his eyes landed on something that piqued his interest.
His gaze locked onto three characters on the map: Divine Soul Village.
A flicker of curiosity lit in his eyes.
This was the village where Tang San grew up.
Originally called Holy Spirit Village, it had been renamed Divine Soul Village in honor of Tang San's ascension to godhood.
Qi Han vaguely recalled Ling Qing mentioning it once—over the years, Divine Soul Village had developed significantly. It was now as bustling as Nuoding City and had become a tourist destination thanks to its legacy as the home of Sea God Tang San. Every year, countless visitors came to explore and pay tribute.
Maybe... he should take a look?
As it happened, Divine Soul Village was the perfect distance—just a half-day's flight from his current location.
"Zhui Yun, let's adjust course."
Qi Han patted the unicorn and guided it to change direction slightly, turning from the path to the Star Dou Forest and heading straight toward Divine Soul Village.
…
Divine Soul Village was located in the Fasinuo Province, in the southwestern region of the Heaven Dou Empire.
More than 5,000 years ago, it had been known as Holy Spirit Village—just a tiny settlement of over 300 households south of Nuoding City.
It earned its original name because a Spirit Sage had once emerged from the area.
But everything changed when the legendary Sea God Tang San rose from this very village. The village elder at the time, Old Jack, had the name officially changed to Divine Soul Village in honor of Tang San.
Now, over five millennia later, the humble, decaying village had long since been transformed beyond recognition. Nothing of its former appearance remained—except for one thing:
A golden monument still stood at the entrance of the village.
It was as tall as a man, and engraved with two bold, majestic characters:
"Divine Soul."
Every village had a monument at its entrance inscribed with the village's name, but this one—crafted entirely from pure gold—was far beyond any ordinary stone tablet found elsewhere.
Even putting aside its symbolic significance, the sheer amount of gold alone made it an extraordinary treasure.
And yet, after more than five thousand years, this golden monument still stood untouched. No one had ever dared lay a finger on it.
Because according to legend, the tablet was blessed by the Sea God, and to damage it would incur divine wrath.
Each year, many visitors came to this place just to see the monument. They would stand before it, voice their wishes, and hope the Sea God would hear them and grant their desires.
Yeah… it was all quite superstitious.
Leading a now fully restored Zhui Yun on foot, Qi Han had changed out of his heavy cold-weather gear and into some casual clothes. From a distance, he watched as people lined up before the golden monument, each taking turns to offer prayers and wishes. He couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
In his previous life, he'd seen plenty of tourists like this—no matter where they went, they just had to make a wish and see if it would "come true."
He didn't expect to see the same scene in this life too.
Viewing everything from a "God's-eye perspective," Qi Han had no real reverence for Tang San, and naturally had no interest in joining the crowd to make a wish.
Though, that man-sized chunk of gold did catch his eye for a moment longer.
'That's one big piece of gold.'
"Meow~"
Lazily sprawled out across the back of the large Zhui Yun, Pururu curiously observed the people in line.
What are these humans lining up for? Can that shiny thing be eaten?
As Qi Han stepped into Divine Soul Village, a young girl clutching a stack of items quickly approached him.
"Welcome to Divine Soul Village! You look unfamiliar, sir—are you from out of town?"
"Yes," Qi Han nodded. "Is something the matter?"
"This is a free visitor's guide! I'm sure you're here to visit the Sea God's historical sites, right? With this guidebook, you won't have to waste time searching for places to visit!" The girl smiled warmly and pulled a small booklet from the stack in her arms, handing it to Qi Han.
'A tourist guidebook, really?'
Qi Han suddenly felt like he'd stepped into a vacation resort. Taking the booklet with a smile of his own, he nodded, "Thanks."
'Touring without a map cuts the fun in half.'
The girl didn't linger—after flashing a polite smile, she turned to hand out guides to other arriving tourists.
Intrigued, Qi Han started flipping through the booklet, but quickly his expression turned… amused.
The first page of the guide clearly marked the location of a hotel, with a detailed description of a place called the Rose Hotel.
Only from the second page onward did the actual sightseeing map begin.
Clearly, the guidebook was stuffed with some… extra promotional content.
Qi Han looked around and soon spotted several other young people handing out similar guidebooks—but on closer inspection, each guide looked a bit different.
'So… every guidebook has a different hotel or business ad?'
Qi Han chuckled under his breath, impressed by the local merchants' business acumen.
'Rose Hotel, huh? Why does that name sound kind of familiar…?'
He didn't think too hard about it. Since that particular girl had handed him her version of the guidebook, it was fate. He decided to stay at the Rose Hotel tonight.
After all, a night's rest was a night's rest—it didn't matter where.
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