Chapter 78: Planning for the Soul Bone

After Shi Quan explained the pros and cons clearly, Shi Jian and Li Meili finally agreed, though they did not consume the medicinal pills immediately; instead, after discussing it with Shi Quan, they decided to wait until they had left Shi Family Village and were on their journey to take them.

With his parents' issue resolved, Shi Quan began preparing for the second matter: the soul bone.

This was also the reason Shi Quan had asked for leave to return home early.

That night, Shi Quan said goodbye to Shi Jian and Li Meili, telling them he had some urgent matters to attend to that might take half a month to a month, and that they could take this time to bid farewell to the villagers; once he returned, they could prepare for the move.

The next morning.

Douluo Wang Baoqiang swaggered into Nuoding City, his ordinary appearance allowing him to blend into the crowd quickly.

Shi Quan arrived at Notting Academy and, after some selection, rented a room in a hotel with a view of the academy's main gate; the window faced Notting Academy directly, offering a view over most of the academy.

There were about two days left until the holiday.

He dared not release his Spirit Sense at will now; Tang Hao was likely in the vicinity of the academy, and he did not want to attract Tang Hao's attention.

He withdrew his gaze.

He took the map out of the Snow Jade Bracelet and spread it on the bed.

This map was also provided by Xue Qinghe at Shi Quan's request.

This map was a specialized map of the Heaven Dou Empire, drawn by Heaven Dou Empire Spirit Masters who had conducted on-site observations from the air; the complete map encompassed the entire Heaven Dou Empire, and apart from some dangerous areas and forbidden zones in the Soul Beast Forest that were not depicted in detail, other terrains were drawn with extreme precision.

Furthermore, the map marked relative distances with accurate units.

However, since it was observed from the air without on-the-ground carpet searches or detailed reconnaissance, and given the limitations of the paper, it was impossible to mark specific details like how high a mountain was or how many small streams were in a forest.

If it were detailed enough to include small creeks, rivers, and forest embankments, it would not be an ordinary map, but a military map.

Once it involved military matters, even Xue Qinghe could not give it away casually.

But since he had been able to get it from Xue Qinghe, although it was not as detailed as a military map, the terrain, mountain ranges, larger rivers, villages, and the like were all marked in detail.

"Nuoding City." Shi Quan's fingertip stopped, quickly locking onto the location of Nuoding City, and he scanned the surroundings.

"Holy Soul Village is here." Shi Quan quickly confirmed the location of Holy Soul Village and locked his gaze onto the mountain range near the village.

"Mountain range, mountain range... and a river twenty meters wide, with steep outer terrain; it took Tang San half a day to follow Tang Hao from the outskirts to the interior, weaving between the peaks, so the terrain is quite treacherous. The original story didn't specify the exact direction, but with Tang San's strength, traveling at full speed for half a day, the distance is not short..."

Muttering to himself, Shi Quan took out a ruler and a pen, starting from the entrance of Holy Soul Village, and drew a straight line.

In the original story, Tang San said their house was at the entrance of Holy Soul Village.

Since there was only one direction near the mountain range that was also the village entrance, Shi Quan used that to draw a straight line.

Who could say if the location where Tang Hao built the house happened to overlook the place where she planted A Yin and stored the soul bone?

So, by drawing a straight line from the entrance of Holy Soul Village and searching along this line, combined with the information revealed in the original story.

Before long, Shi Quan's gaze locked onto the middle section of a mountain range.

"The person who drew this is clever; although they didn't think to use color differences to indicate mountain height, using these cross-section lines is quite convenient."

A hint of a smile appeared in Shi Quan's eyes.

A river twenty meters wide, plus a waterfall nearly two hundred meters high—as long as one wasn't blind, how could one not see it from the sky?

Moreover, the waterfall marked on the map was exactly near the straight line Shi Quan had drawn.

The distance from the waterfall's location to Holy Soul Village was less than two hundred and fifty li; with Tang Hao's strength, when he missed A Yin, he could go to keep her company at night and return home silently by the next morning.

From a geographical and human perspective, this was highly likely the place where Tang Hao planted A Yin and hid the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone.

However, to be safe, Shi Quan did not finalize it immediately and instead checked all the other mountain ranges around Holy Soul Village again.

He ultimately concluded that, according to the various conditions and factors in the original story, only this one mountain range fit.

He owed this to the detailed map provided by Xue Qinghe; otherwise, he would have had to spend a vast amount of time running from mountain to mountain. Since it met almost all the conditions, Shi Quan was almost certain this was the mountain range he was looking for.

"If I can confirm this is where A Yin is located, then the location of the Blue Silver King will be easier to find," Shi Quan couldn't help but think.

"In the original story, Tang Hao traveled for five days with Tang San before arriving at an unknown forest. Tang Hao's exact words were that this forest had a Spirit Beast suitable for him, which could also be understood as meaning that besides the suitable Spirit Beast, there were others. Five days of travel, a Soul Beast Forest, and an eighty-five-thousand-year-old Blue Silver King—this forest must be quite large."

Shi Quan thought to himself, looked at the marked mountain range, and shook his head.

Although the mountain range before him met the conditions, he would have to wait until he arrived to be sure. It would be too hasty to look for the Blue Silver King's location before confirming this. The forest where the Blue Silver King resided could wait until after he had found A Yin and the hundred-thousand-year Blue Silver Emperor Soul Bone.

"And for now..." Shi Quan's gaze returned to Notting Academy, "... I just have to wait for Tang San to leave the academy and head to Shrek Academy to report."

In the original story, after Tang San was beaten up, Tang Hao appeared that very night and gave Zhao Wuji a sound thrashing.

This meant that while Tang San and Xiao Wu were on their way to Soto City to report, Tang Hao was actually secretly protecting them the whole time, perhaps out of concern that Tang San might encounter danger, or perhaps fearing they might meet a high-level Spirit Master and Xiao Wu's identity would be discovered.

Regardless of the situation, only by confirming that Tang Hao was not at the place where A Yin and the soul bone were hidden could Shi Quan act with peace of mind.

Two days later.

The academy holiday began.

At the academy gate, parents who had come to pick up their children stood in a group.

Shi Quan watched this scene quietly from the hotel; when the crowd dispersed, he did not see Tang San or Xiao Wu.

He was not in a hurry.

During the day, he would leisurely drink tea at a teahouse near the hotel or chat with the owner. With the Phantom Concealment Mask, even if Shi Quan stood in front of Tang Hao, Tang Hao would not discover that Shi Quan was a Spirit Master.

For the next few days, Shi Quan spent his days blending in near the academy as an ordinary person, only practicing at night.

Another seven days or so passed.

Only then did the figures of Xiao Wu and Tang San emerge from Notting Academy.

The two looked back at Nuoding City as if saying goodbye, paused for a moment, and then left.

Glancing at the direction they were heading, Shi Quan quickly withdrew his gaze. "This direction isn't Soto City... it looks like they plan to return to Holy Soul Village first."

"This is troublesome. I certainly can't follow them to Holy Soul Village; that guy Tang Hao is definitely watching them from somewhere."

Shi Quan got up and walked toward the hotel. Returning to his room, he opened the map between Holy Soul Village and Soto City again. "They shouldn't take any country paths, as it's dangerous; they will definitely stick to the main road."

"If it's the main road..." Shi Quan's gaze landed on the nearest main road to Holy Soul Village. "If they are going to Soto City, this should be a place they must pass through. There will be teahouses and inns along the main road for travelers to rest. I'll go take a look."

He wasn't in a hurry anyway.

After slowly checking out of the hotel, Shi Quan went to the street to buy some dry rations to carry in a pack, walked out of Nuoding City disguised as an ordinary person, and strolled leisurely along the main road, enjoying the scenery as he traveled.

Seeing that there was no one around, Douluo Wang Baoqiang logged off, and Douluo Huang Bo logged on in his place.

Tang Hao did not know where he was hiding, and if he had seen the face of Douluo Wang Baoqiang and encountered him again later on the road, it would be hard to avoid suspicion, so changing his face was a very necessary thing.

Shi Quan's speed was very slow, and it wasn't until the next day, near noon, that he looked up and saw a wisp of cooking smoke rising into the air in the distance. Lowering his gaze, a small tea shop and inn stood at the corner of the official road; this tea shop and inn was very simple, with a small tea shed in front containing two tables and a few long benches, and a single-story house in the back.

Besides the owner, there were only three scattered people in the tea shed.

These three were clearly together, sitting directly at one table and chatting happily.

"Boss, bring a pot of tea." Shi Quan arrived at the shop and sat down.

"Coming." The boss's happy voice rang out.

This boss also knew how to choose a location; the spot where this tea shop was opened connected several official roads, and with people coming and going, it had the most passersby, so business was naturally easier to do.

One of these official roads was the direction leading to Soto City, which meant that Tang San and the others were very likely to pass by this tea shop.

Over the next few days, Shi Quan began changing his identity every day to come to this tea shop, constantly walking back and forth on the official road toward Soto City, and then drinking tea in the tea shop.

Since he couldn't go to Holy Soul Village, he would wait here for Tang San and Xiao Wu to come.

Just like that, another five days passed.

"Tang San, there's a tea shop here, let's go in and have some tea. We've been walking for so long, I'm thirsty." Xiao Wu's voice came from outside the tea shop.

Inside the tea shop, hearing this familiar name and voice, the corners of Douluo Song Xiaobao's mouth curled up slightly as he drank his tea; after waiting for so long, he had finally waited for them.

In a short while, the figures of Xiao Wu and Tang San appeared at the tea shop and sat down; Xiao Wu took a carrot from somewhere and began to gnaw on it while drinking tea, eating with great delight.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Xiao Wu, having eaten and drunk her fill, nodded contentedly toward Tang San, "Let's go, Tang San."

After Tang San nodded at her dotingly, his hand flashed across his waist, two Copper Spirit Coins appeared on the table, and he followed Xiao Wu as she stood up to leave.

And the direction in which the two of them left was precisely the direction of Soto City!