Bai Xiaowen took stock of his gains from this side quest to eliminate demons in Ancient Sophora Town. They had been considerable.
He had further uncovered the Eye of Evolution's ability to analyze and seal away others' skills, and he had also learned the Spiritual Sense Art. Both were hidden improvements that did not appear on his personal panel, yet they offered tangible help to his combat strength and ability to explore the Spirit Realm.
His friendship with Chen Rong had earned him a Golden Tier Evolver item—the Thunderwood Sword—which was an unexpected delight. In addition, he had obtained two wood-element treasures.
What concerned Bai Xiaowen was that he had never received a prompt indicating that Chen Rong's Affection Level had been unlocked, nor had he received any prompt about reputation being unlocked with any faction.
This showed that on the Evolver Plane, matters such as Affection Level and reputation had been hidden, and Evolvers would no longer receive notification prompts for them.
That was rather fair. Otherwise, Evolvers could infer off-field information from changes in the natives' Affection Level, which would be extremely unfair to the natives.
After watching the Chen Caravan depart, Bai Xiaowen quietly turned back and returned to the inn in Ancient Sophora Town, where he secretly sought out the innkeeper.
"Immortal Master, y-you... hadn't you already left?"
The innkeeper looked somewhat surprised.
Bai Xiaowen smiled. "I merely saw a friend off. Innkeeper, I would like to ask you about something."
"Th-this... please speak, Immortal Master."
"Along this Cangzhou Ancient Road, aside from the Ancient Buddha Temple near Ancient Sophora Town, where demons have appeared, are there any other places rumored to be haunted by demons?" Bai Xiaowen asked.
Bai Xiawen had two reasons for asking this.
First, the townspeople kept saying that demons ran rampant.