Chapter 44: Chapter 43: Searching for the Location

Shen Shiyin left.

He left after handing over the tribute of one hundred Spirit Stones.

The reason he paid in Spirit Stones was because Shen Changchuan had learned after asking that if he were to simply hand over one thousand catties of Spirit Grain, he would be responsible for a five-percent transportation and handling fee.

However, if he paid purely in Spirit Stones, one hundred was all that was required.

This regulation wasn’t specifically aimed at Shen Changchuan. It was a long-standing rule.

After all, Dawan Village was a minor case. For places with hundreds of acres of Spirit Fields, a quarterly tribute could amount to tens of thousands of catties of Spirit Grain. It would take several Storage Bags just to hold it all.

During this process, one also had to pay attention to quality control, as well as subsequent storage and preservation issues.

It was simply too much trouble.

It was far simpler to just take the Spirit Stones and leave.

That was why the additional five-percent transport fee for handing over Spirit Grain had long been an unspoken convention.

Faced with this, Shen Changchuan decisively chose to pay one hundred Spirit Stones.

This used up more than half of the Spirit Stones he had seized from the He Mountain Four Fierce.

He had already looked into it.

According to the market, barring any natural disasters or man-made calamities, the price of Spirit Grain generally hovered around ten catties per Spirit Stone, and even if it fluctuated, it wouldn’t be by much.

Regardless, he was planning a trip to the Wu Family Collection soon to sell the majority of his harvest, aside from the portion he would keep for his own consumption.

And with his Storage Bag, packing and transporting two thousand catties of Spirit Grain wasn’t a problem.

So, he might as well save those five Spirit Stones.

This, in turn, made Shen Shiyin even more certain that Shen Changchuan had suffered a heavy loss this time.

He must have not had enough Spirit Grain and was forced to use his own capital of Spirit Stones to make up the shortfall for the tribute.

Seeing their "enemy" down on his luck, the father and son felt a sense of satisfaction and left in high spirits.

Shen Changchuan, however, didn’t care.

In fact, he was pleased with this outcome.

Until he could extract enough wealth from Dawan Village and convert it into sufficient strength to protect himself, it was better to keep the true details of the Spirit Fields’ output hidden for as long as possible.

’After all, it’s best not to flaunt one’s wealth!’

After Shen Shiyin departed, Shen Changchuan began to set his own next steps in motion.

The juicy gossip about Shen Han back in Tian Nan City was certainly enticing, but it clearly had little to do with Shen Changchuan.

He only took a moment to privately gloat that the domineering and jealous First Madam got what she deserved before putting the matter out of his mind.

Tian Nan City was too far away, and its vortex of troubles was, for now, none of his concern.

The most important thing right now was to focus on increasing his own strength.

After all, the possible threat of retaliation from the Gale Falcon loomed in the near future.

’According to what others have said, the merchant caravan from Qing City should arrive at the Wu Family Collection to open the market in about a month.’

’A month should be enough...’

Shen Changchuan calculated inwardly, a faint glimmer in his eyes.

He thought of the token in his Storage Bag, the one engraved with the character for "Elephant."

He had learned from Zhao Hanguo the full story behind the fall of the Hu Family, the previous masters of Dawan Village twenty years ago. At the same time, he had also obtained a map from Zhao Hanguo, one that led to the ruins of a Soul Emergence Level cultivator’s cave dwelling.

It was just that at the time, his strength was merely at the Qi Introduction Fourth Layer.

He couldn’t claim to be able to easily handle the dangers lurking within the mountain forests.

Therefore, although Shen Changchuan had been very tempted to go and take a look, his ever-cautious nature made him ultimately suppress the urge.

But now, he had reached the Qi Introduction Fifth Layer.

He had also mastered several new Magic techniques.

Compared to before, his strength had increased tremendously.

The battle with the Gale Falcon had also proven his capabilities.

’It’s time!’

Instantly, Shen Changchuan made his decision.

However, over the next few days, Shen Changchuan couldn’t set out and was forced to remain for a while longer.

He was unable to depart immediately.

This was because the leaders of the other nearby villages had begun arriving one after another to deliver their Spirit Grain tributes for the season’s harvest.

The six villages didn’t have many Spirit Fields, totaling only about four or five acres combined.

Nevertheless, the Spirit Grain they delivered amounted to about three hundred catties in total.

For these good people who came bearing gifts, Shen Changchuan naturally had to appear and receive each one personally to build rapport.

At the same time, he also took the opportunity to set a date for them to travel to the Wu Family Collection together.

Only after seeing off the Cultivator from the last village and bringing this interlude to a close was Shen Changchuan finally able to proceed with his treasure-hunting plan.

He roughly estimated that investigating the location on the map given to him by Zhao Hanguo would take at least ten days or more.

This was because Shen Changchuan didn’t fully trust Zhao Hanguo.

Even though he had broken the man’s will by forcing him to watch as his family and friends were slaughtered by the He Mountain Four Fierce, his clan’s century-old foundation destroyed in a single day, which had allowed him to pry these secrets from his lips.

In the end, Zhao Hanguo’s spirit had been so utterly broken that he took his own life in his cell.

But who could be certain that in his final moments, Zhao Hanguo’s mind hadn’t twisted, making him decide to drag Shen Changchuan down with him by planting some huge, hidden trap in the map?

It was never wrong to be cautious when trusting others.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Shen Changchuan planned to be on constant alert after entering the mountains, intending to frequently use his Spiritual Eye Technique to scout the area before moving forward.

The ten-odd days he’d allotted were a buffer for precisely this reason.

Of course, to avoid missing the merchant caravan’s market opening at the Wu Family Collection,

Shen Changchuan also resolved from the start to turn back after fifteen days, whether he had found anything or not.

With his general plan in place, Shen Changchuan prepared to set off.

But before that, he still needed to make arrangements for Dawan Village and Zhao Family Village.

After all, he would be gone for over half a month, and Dawan Village’s defenses would be dangerously thin.

He informed Han Qinhu, briefly explaining that he was heading into the mountains for a while and laying out some arrangements for the next half-month or so.

He even prepared contingency plans for potential attacks on Dawan Village by Demon Beasts or Tribulation Cultivators during his absence.

After that, he stored most of the Spirit Grain in his Storage Bag to carry with him, thus avoiding the worst-case scenario of having his home base raided and cleaned out while he was away.

Once all preparations were complete, Shen Changchuan left Dawan Village, following the map from Zhao Hanguo into the mountain forest.

...

「Ten-odd days later」

Within the dense, impenetrable forest, ancient trees soared toward the heavens, their thick canopies blocking out the sunlight and casting the woods into perpetual twilight.

Shen Changchuan moved cautiously through the forest. Underfoot was a soft layer of decaying leaves that gave off a putrid smell, and with every step, small insects like centipedes and spiders scurried away.

Thick, dense ferns grew all around him.

The air was damp, and colorful mushrooms of all kinds could be seen everywhere on the roots and trunks of the trees.

Every so often, Shen Changchuan would stop to cast his Spiritual Eye Technique and observe his surroundings.

Once his Magical Power was more than seventy percent depleted, he would immediately stop to meditate, refining more Magical Power to restore his condition.

He continued on in this stop-and-go fashion.

Along the way, he encountered several attacks from Demon Beasts, but he managed to either evade them all or successfully counter-kill them.

Until one day, Shen Changchuan had just passed through a dense section of the woods and arrived at a small hill. He took the map from his robes and compared it with his surroundings.

’I’m almost there! It’s right around here!’

Clutching the map, a hint of joy appeared on the somewhat weary Shen Changchuan’s face.