Qingshan Town (Please Keep Reading, Please Vote Monthly)

Over the next few days, Gu Yi returned to the courtyard on Douluo Continent and activated the Enlightenment function to study the cultivation techniques of the Dou Qi Continent, integrating their strengths into the Iron Blood Malice Art.

As for Cloud Sea Sect on the Nine Heavens Continent, under normal circumstances, no one would go to First Line Sky to disturb him.

In just a few days, Gu Yi completed his cultivation of Dou Qi, widening the meridians within his body by several degrees and greatly improving their toughness.

Moreover, when cultivating on the Dou Qi Continent, he found it easy to refine the violent natural energy of heaven and earth. His cultivation speed was no slower than it had been on Douluo Continent or the Nine Heavens Continent.

Late at night, on the main road outside Wutan City, two figures suddenly appeared without drawing anyone's attention.

One of them was Gu Yi, and beneath him was a Crimson Blood Steed.

"The preparations are complete. It's time to set off for Qingshan Town."

Gu Yi held a map of the Jia Ma Empire that he had bought two days earlier, recalling what the original story said about the first Purifying Lotus Demonic Flame Fragment Map.

Qingshan Town was a town renowned throughout the Myriad Heavens and Worlds.

The first place where Gu Yi had settled down on the Nine Heavens Continent had happened to be Qingshan Town.

This time, Gu Yi would also pass through Qingshan Town on his way to the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Gu Yi truly seemed to have quite a connection with the name Qingshan Town.

Gu Yi gazed toward the nearby Wutan City, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

"Wutan City... Xiao Yan... we'll meet again."

Originally, Gu Yi had wanted to take a look at Xiao Yan and see what the future Flame Emperor was like now.

While he was at it, he wanted to see whether he could snatch the storage ring containing Old Yao's soul from Xiao Yan.

After all, Xiao Yan had not yet become trash, which meant Old Yao's soul had not absorbed his Dou Qi and had yet to awaken.

If he took that storage ring, Gu Yi could not only obtain the Flame Mantra, but also acquire a complete alchemist inheritance capable of reaching at least the eighth tier.

However, after seeing the graceful figure that never left Xiao Yan's side, Gu Yi dismissed the thought.

A Dou Huang expert was constantly guarding Gu Xun'er.

If Gu Yi went to seize Xiao Yan's storage ring, that Dou Huang expert would certainly intervene to protect Gu Xun'er.

Besides, with the Myriad Worlds Gate in his possession, it truly was inconvenient for him to have an intelligent old man like Old Yao by his side.

After giving it considerable thought, Gu Yi gave up on the idea.

He should just go claim opportunities such as the fragment map and Heavenly Flames instead.

Hyah!

Gu Yi rode the Crimson Blood Steed at full gallop along the main road, following the map toward Qingshan Town, the northern province's settlement closest to the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

In the original plot, Xiao Yan, Xiao Yi Xian, and the others set out from Qingshan Town to gather herbs in a medicinal region on the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Along the way, they passed the cliff where the cave containing the Purifying Lotus Demonic Flame Fragment Map was located.

Thus, Gu Yi estimated that the cave was no more than several kilometers from Qingshan Town.

As long as he gathered intelligence in Qingshan Town about the terrain of the surrounding Magical Beast Mountain Range, he could pinpoint the cave's approximate location on that cliff.

After that, he only needed to search bit by bit to determine its exact location.

The Crimson Blood Steed was incredibly fast and could travel three thousand li in a day. In less than half a day, Gu Yi rode it from Wutan City to Qingshan Town.

As the town closest to the Magical Beast Mountain Range, Qingshan Town was also known as Magical Beast Town.

Naturally, the largest group in town consisted of mercenaries who lived every day with their lives on the line.

They traveled Qingshan Town's streets in groups, brazenly discussing which women in town had the most flavor, where the strongest liquor could be found, and which magical beasts were the fiercest...

The moment Gu Yi entered Qingshan Town on the Crimson Blood Steed, he drew the attention of many mercenaries.

Mercenaries who had spent years making a living in the Magical Beast Mountain Range could tell at a glance how precious the Crimson Blood Steed was. Its strength was likely no weaker than that of a first-tier magical beast.

Such a high-quality magical beast mount could fetch at least a thousand gold coins in a major city.

However, the mercenaries knew their place. They knew that someone who could ride such a fine steed was either rich or noble, not someone lowly mercenaries like them could covet.

Mercenaries without good judgment had long since died in the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

Gu Yi's expression remained calm, utterly unconcerned by the mercenaries' stares.

After several days of exploration and analysis, Gu Yi had determined that his realm on the Dou Qi Continent was roughly equivalent to that of a Three-Star Dou Zhe.

Combined with his various methods, he possessed the strength to fight an Eight- or Nine-Star Dou Zhe.

Within Qingshan Town, an Eight- or Nine-Star Dou Zhe was already among the most powerful experts and could move about without restraint.

Gu Yi swept his gaze over the brightly lit shops along the road and quickly found a spacious medicinal herb shop. Above it hung three large words: "Myriad Medicine Hall"!

Gu Yi's eyes flickered slightly. He dismounted and entered Myriad Medicine Hall, asking one of the clerks inside, "Do you have a physician named Xiao Yi Xian here?"

"Xiao Yi Xian?" The clerk froze for a moment, then shook his head. "Sir, there is no physician by that name at our Myriad Medicine Hall."

"I see..." Gu Yi nodded faintly.

It seemed his guess had been correct.

Xiao Yan was only eleven years old now, while Xiao Yi Xian in the original story was merely two years older than him. She was only thirteen now.

It was indeed unlikely that he could become an apothecary at Myriad Medicine Hall.

At the very least, Xiao Yi Xian would not appear in Qingshan Town for another two or three years...

"The Poisonous Body of Misfortune... I had been thinking of collecting some of Xiao Yi Xian's blood to see whether I could analyze the constitution of the Poisonous Body of Misfortune." Gu Yi shook his head and walked out of Myriad Medicine Hall.

Over the following day, Gu Yi used gold coins to pave the way, gathering all kinds of information about the Magical Beast Mountain Range in Qingshan Town.

After spending a considerable sum, Gu Yi gained a rough understanding of the terrain within the first few kilometers of the Magical Beast Mountain Range and learned of several areas with cliffs.

The next day, Gu Yi gazed at the Magical Beast Mountain Range, which stretched for countless miles, spanned several provinces of the Jia Ma Empire, and rivaled the Cloud Sea Mountain Range in scale, before stepping directly inside.

So as not to implicate the Crimson Blood Steed, Gu Yi sent it back to his residence at the Cloud Sea Sect and entered the Magical Beast Mountain Range alone.

Countless magical beasts lived within the Magical Beast Mountain Range. Gu Yi had ventured only a few hundred meters in before suffering several waves of attacks from magical beasts.

Fortunately, the outermost region of the Magical Beast Mountain Range was not particularly dangerous. The creatures living here were merely first-rank magical beasts.

Thus, the magical beasts that attacked him posed little threat to Gu Yi.

Instead, they became targets for him to hone his spear and archery skills.

With every arrow he fired, a first-rank magical beast died; with every thrust of his spear, it pierced through a beast's body, sending scorching blood spraying out.

Before long, Gu Yi arrived at the first cliff.

After pondering for a moment, Gu Yi took out a rope specially made for climbing and descended step by step, searching for caves that might be hidden behind strange trees growing from the cliff face.

Unfortunately, Gu Yi's luck was clearly not very good. He searched this cliff for two days, enduring several attacks from magical beasts that lived upon it, yet still found no trace of a cave.

Silently crossing this place off his list, Gu Yi headed toward the second cliff.

And so, Gu Yi searched the outskirts of the Magical Beast Mountain Range for more than half a month, experiencing over a hundred battles with low-rank magical beasts.

That day, Gu Yi arrived at a new cliff and discovered traces of human activity on a sheer rock face several dozen meters below.

Gu Yi's body jolted at the sight, and his eyes lit up. He knew that he had finally found his destination.