Chapter 531: Ye Changhong's Discovery
Although dangerous, the rewards for this Ingredient Acquisition Quest were also extremely generous.
Besides the system spirit ring that was guaranteed for every Ingredient Acquisition Quest, there was also a 4-Star recipe: Sisters of Pearl.
This was not the first time Qi Han had obtained a 4-Star recipe. The reason he considered the rewards so valuable was entirely because of the dish itself.
It was a dish made from bear paws.
As bears had become protected animals, bear paws—already a rare delicacy even in ancient times—had completely disappeared from dining tables. As a result, Qi Han had never eaten any bear-paw dish while on Earth.
After all, eating one would earn you a prison sentence.
So Qi Han was especially looking forward to this recipe reward.
It was already late at night, so there was no way he could set off immediately. He planned to get a good night's sleep and leave Mingdu City the next day.
His original plan had been to purchase a batch of spirit tools in the morning and return to the Douluo Continent in the afternoon, but that plan had now fallen through. He needed to head to the Evildemon Forest as quickly as possible.
Perhaps because the mission was genuinely difficult, the system had given him a full ten days. Even so, if he wasted a day or two, completing the mission would still be challenging.
After leaving the Evildemon Forest, he could buy a batch of spirit tools in a nearby major city before teleporting away from the Sun Moon Continent.
Perfect plan.
Having organized everything in his mind, Qi Han carried Pururu upstairs.
"Pururu, we're leaving Mingdu City tomorrow. Once we kill a ten-thousand-year Three-Eyed War Bear and buy a few things, we can return to Shrek City."
"Meow~!"
. . .
Time quickly passed, and morning arrived.
Qi Han packed his belongings and stored everything inside his storage-type spirit tool before heading on foot toward the city gates of Mingdu City.
As for Han Shi, he intended to leave the shop exactly as it was.
Even if he departed, the automatic protection provided by Ru Yi would remain in place. No one could damage the building, and the interior would remain free of dust.
Although he was leaving the Sun Moon Continent, who knew whether he might return someday?
Selling the shop would only earn him a bit more money, and the transaction process would be troublesome. Rather than dealing with that hassle, he might as well keep it. If he ever came back, he would still have a place to stay.
What Qi Han did not know was that the moment he left Han Shi, countless spies sprang into action, and a plan targeting him officially began.
"What? Qi Han is alone?"
After receiving the report from the Secret Intelligence Division, Zhou Yuan and Xu Haolong exchanged glances inside the council hall, both frowning.
"Your Majesty, perhaps they had already arranged to meet somewhere outside Mingdu City?" After thinking for a while, Zhou Yuan could only come up with this possibility. "In that case, we should delay the original plan a little. Since Qi Han is alone right now, luring him into the secret realm would not be very effective. Commander Ye excels at tracking. Why not have him secretly follow Qi Han for now? Once the others gather with him, he can send us a signal, and we can proceed according to the original plan."
"Very well, let's do that."
Xu Haolong nodded, a trace of helplessness on his face.
Yesterday, several strategists of the court had gathered together and spent the entire day discussing matters. At last, they had devised a relatively reliable plan to lure their target into the secret realm provided by the Imperial Preceptor.
Given the current situation, the plan would have to be postponed slightly.
Fortunately, the problem was not serious and everything was still under control.
After receiving his orders, Ye Changhong, who had long been waiting on the walls of Mingdu City, immediately shot into the sky.
Following the direction provided by the intelligence agents, he rapidly gave chase. The flight-type spirit tool behind him unfolded, and the terrifying speed of a Level 9 Spirit Engineer was fully unleashed.
Before long, Ye Changhong locked onto Qi Han's location at the edge of his spiritual perception.
Rather than closing the distance further, Ye Changhong quickly slowed down and descended to a lower altitude.
Skimming close to the ground, he carefully used his spiritual power to monitor Qi Han's condition.
At that moment, Qi Han was flying through the air while riding a spirit beast that Ye Changhong had never seen before.
Ye Changhong's brows furrowed slightly.
Strange.
Why didn't he recognize this spirit beast?
And where had Qi Han gotten a spirit beast from?
After all, Qi Han had been under their surveillance the entire time.
A spirit beast was not an inanimate object; it couldn't simply be stored inside a storage-type spirit tool. Yet somehow, during the journey, this one had appeared out of nowhere.
Although puzzled, Ye Changhong continued to trail Qi Han closely. Before long, however, his brow furrowed slightly.
This direction...
Why did it seem so familiar?
Wait a minute!
Isn't this the direction of the Evildemon Forest?!
Ye Changhong's expression changed instantly.
He was the commander of the Evileye Tyrant Spirit Engineer Legion, and the Evileye Tyrant Emperor was the most powerful spirit beast in the entire Sun Moon Continent.
How strong was it?
That was difficult to describe, because everyone who had witnessed that existence fighting had died.
The only survivor was the current Imperial Preceptor of the Sun Moon Empire, De Hongchen.
Back when De Hongchen had just advanced to the realm of a Level 10 Spirit Engineer, he had ventured into the Evildemon Forest to see whether he could defeat the Evileye Tyrant Emperor.
The result had been a humiliating retreat.
It was after that incident that the Evileye Tyrant Spirit Engineer Legion had been established. The emperor had named the legion after the Evileye Tyrant Emperor in hopes of borrowing some of its fearsome reputation.
Because of this, Ye Changhong understood better than anyone just how terrifying the Evileye Tyrant Emperor truly was.
Qi Han's route was perfectly straight. There were no settlements or destinations along the way where he could reasonably stop.
His destination was obvious.
Could it be that the people from the Douluo Continent were hiding inside the Evildemon Forest?
Ye Changhong couldn't help but speculate.
After more than two hours of pursuit, the Evildemon Forest finally came into view.
Qi Han slowly descended from the sky and landed at the edge of the forest.
As expected, his destination was indeed the Evildemon Forest.
Could his guess actually be correct?
Raising an eyebrow, Ye Changhong stopped and concealed himself in the distance, continuing to monitor Qi Han's movements with his spiritual power.
Then his eyes suddenly widened.
This...
A faint light flashed in Qi Han's hand.
The horse-like spirit beast he had been riding vanished from the spot without warning.
Then Qi Han simply picked up the cat that had appeared countless times in Han Shi and walked into the Evildemon Forest.
Ye Changhong felt as though his understanding of the world had just been shattered.
How could a living creature be stored inside a storage spirit tool?
No, maybe it wasn't a storage spirit tool at all.
Thinking about Qi Han's origins, Ye Changhong suddenly arrived at a new hypothesis.
Perhaps it was some kind of treasure similar to a storage spirit tool, but capable of housing living beings.
The Sun Moon Continent still knew very little about the Douluo Continent. It wasn't impossible that such a miraculous treasure existed there.
And if that were true, then the mystery of how Qi Han's group had infiltrated the Sun Moon Continent suddenly had an explanation.
Tracking a group of people was easy. As long as one person made a mistake, clues would inevitably be exposed.
But what if only a single spirit master skilled in concealment traveled openly, while everyone else hid inside such a treasure?
Then infiltrating the Sun Moon Continent would indeed be possible.
It all fit.
Everything fit perfectly!
So the visitors from the Douluo Continent were currently hiding somewhere within the Evildemon Forest?
They knew how deeply local people feared this forest and how few dared to enter it.
It was the perfect place to conceal their tracks.
And now that Qi Han had entered, all he needed to do was store the others inside that treasure and calmly leave.
No.
The one who emerged might not even be Qi Han.
From this moment onward, the entire Evildemon Forest had to be placed under lockdown.
No one could be allowed to leave.