Seeking the Dao East to the Eastern Capital

Trial Beast appeared, it whipped up sand, twisting and tumbling wildly in the air before finally lunging towards the pavilion!

As it pounced, the beast constantly changed its flight angle, giving it a fierce and unpredictable appearance.

This scene immediately terrified the scholars. Many of them had been covered in dust and smoke during the landslide and knew how dangerous it was.

Although the mountain collapsed, the dust remained connected. If even a speck of dust touched you, it would be like Doubt Frost falling on your body, impacting your soul with your thoughts. If you were not careful, your soul would explode.

Moreover, many people already know about the Trial Beast, and know that even if the beast is severely weakened, it is still beyond their ability to deal with.

Soon, someone instinctively turned to Qiu Yan for help. "Mr. Qiu, please stop this monster!"

Qiu Yan nodded, about to make a move, but suddenly froze, a strange expression appearing on his face.

Upon seeing his appearance, the Elder Beiming and Tang Qing, who were also preparing to take action, were puzzled. However, given Qiu Yan's cultivation level, he was implicitly in charge. Since he did not move, the others could not easily step in to take his place.

However, their questions didn't last long before they were interrupted by a loud cry.

The voice, like that of a child, was mixed with anger and resentment, yet it came from the Trial Beast. Then, Bei Ming and Tang Qing focused their attention and discovered something unusual.

Above the black mist that had condensed into Trial Beast, sat a chubby boy, naked, his two plump little hands grasping wisps of thin black smoke as if holding reins.

With each tug by the boy, the smoke from the Trial Beast twisted and changed.

"It seems that Ginseng Treasure's driving skills are not very good." Looking at the Trial Beast shaking like a headless fly, Qiu Yan sighed, then swept his sleeve.

Call!

A gust of wind rose from the ground, and a Divine Sense shot out, sweeping up the Trial Beast, and then forcibly pulling it towards him.

The Trial Beast was unwilling to give up and was about to unleash its will to resist. But unexpectedly, the fat boy opened his mouth and bit down, swallowing a large cloud of smoke. The Trial Beast's body was immediately engulfed in a violent cloud of smoke, as if boiling, and it dared not move again, letting Qiu Yan pull it along.

As they neared the ground, the chubby boy on the Trial Beast's back leaped into the air and pounced on Qiu Yan.

"Didn't I visualize a set of clothes for you? When did you take them off?" Qiu Yan frowned slightly, and with a thought, some fabric immediately appeared on the chubby boy's body, intertwining to form a bellyband.

This chubby little boy is none other than the Ginseng Baby that Qiu Yan abandoned in the Book Mountain.

Because he was attacked, Qiu Yan followed the trail and went straight to the lair. Not knowing the strength of the enemy, and fearing that he might accidentally harm the Ginseng Baby, he left it in the cave. Unexpectedly, he ended up encountering the Resurrection God. The enemy's desperate move caused the Book Mountain to collapse, and the Ginseng Baby was also trapped inside.

Qiu Yan had just returned here and saw the collapsed mountainside. He felt he had forgotten something, and now that he thought about it, wasn't it the Ginseng Baby?

"However, judging from his appearance, he must have had a pretty good time these past month." Observing the Ginseng Baby's appearance, Qiu Yan felt a strange sensation.

At this moment, the Ginseng Baby pounced on him, babbling and crying, its words revealing anger. It was clear that it had a lot of complaints about Qiu Yan's previous throwing and discarding.

Qiu Yan shook his head. Compared to before, the Ginseng Baby was noticeably fatter now, its belly bulging, making it look like a plump, white ball of flesh. Looking at the Trial Beast that was obediently curled up in one place, Qiu Yan couldn't help but reassess the Ginseng Baby.

"Looks like this guy, besides being a petty thief, does have some skills after all."

As he pondered, he set aside a wisp of his mind to soothe the Ginseng Baby's agitated emotions.

At this moment, the other Confucian scholars who had been frightened away by the Trial Beast also noticed something amiss. Those who had received favors from Qiu Yan or were bolder tried to come over and carefully examine the Trial Beast and the Ginseng Baby.

The Elder Beiming and Tang Qing understood the reason. Tang Qing was full of curiosity about the Ginseng Baby and even seemed to want to reach out and hug it, while the Elder Beiming just clicked his tongue in amazement. Then he said to Qiu Yan, "Now that the Trial Beast has been subdued by the young master, there is not much danger here for the time being. The young master asked about the passage to the Apricot Altar Dao Discourse earlier..."

At this moment, Tang Qing, who had been "forced back" by Ginseng Baby's punch, walked over and interjected, "Although the Scholar Forest is vast, each region has a corresponding counterpart in the Mortal Realm. The Apricot Altar Dao Discourse will take place simultaneously in several cities, requiring the opening of more than one passage. The closest one to here leads to Wuyue Prefecture in Jiangnan Circuit, and further north, there is another one leading to Shunhua Prefecture in Hebei Circuit."

"Hebei Circuit and Jiangnan Circuit? One in the south, one in the north..."

Upon hearing these two names, Qiu Yan frowned slightly. Then he remembered something. Although he opened his Heart Path of the heart in Eastern Capital and then Soul Entry into the Scholar Forest, his path of the Heart Path was not yet complete. Because he had left traces in the Scholar Forest, he was directly pulled into the Historical River by following this connection. When he broke out of the water, he arrived here. As for the correspondence with the Mortal Realm, it was probably already inaccurate.

"The place I've appeared in doesn't correspond to the Eastern Capital. Zhan Zhen and the others already mentioned that they are from Jiangnan and entered the forest with the Sun Household from Jiangnan. This is causing some trouble. The delay has been too long, and there's a high chance something might happen to their physical bodies. Also, I wonder if their souls will have to Wandering Soul back after leaving the Scholar Forest."

Qiu Yan was calculating in his mind, his face remaining expressionless, but this expression, when seen by Tang Qing, allowed the latter to guess something.

"I've heard people mention before that Young Master Qiu plans to participate in this Metropolitan Examination. Presumably, he intends to return through the Heart Path of Prosperity Capital, right? However, the passage to Prosperity Capital is definitely heavily guarded, and leaving smoothly will not be easy. It will inevitably involve some trouble. In my humble opinion, we might as well choose a passage that is closer to Prosperity Capital. With your Soul Dao cultivation, Young Master Qiu should be able to return safely."

"Oh?" Qiu Yan gleaned some information from the other person's words and couldn't help but ask, "Judging from your words, young lady, do you perhaps have a way to find the location of the passage? Also, what will happen to this soul after it leaves the Scholar Forest? Will the soul return to its body on its own?"

"Young Master Qiu is indeed not very knowledgeable about these things," Tang Qing smiled. "In fact, most academies and Aristocratic Clan have methods for locating, teleporting, and finding passages within the Scholar Forest. Because we are souls, once the location is determined, it is easy to go there, and it doesn't take much time. What truly restricts us is our physical bodies in the Mortal Realm."

Upon hearing this, the Elder Beiming frowned slightly, his eyes showing surprise.

Tang Qing was unaffected by this, and simply said, "Generally speaking, when the Soul Entry into the Scholar Forest, the physical body needs to be protected by layers of protection. However, after the soul leaves the Scholar Forest, it does not immediately return to the body. Therefore, if the chosen passage is too far from the physical body, it will often cause the soul to separate. Ordinary people without cultivation will have their souls scattered immediately. As for cultivators with some cultivation, they often need to travel at night and hide during the day to return to their physical bodies after a long time. However, with your Soul Dao cultivation, Young Master Qiu, you naturally do not need to worry about these things."

"I see," Qiu Yan nodded. "However, I do not intend to leave from Prosperity Capital, but rather to take the route through Eastern Capital. If it is convenient for Miss Tang, please point me in the right direction."

"Eastern Capital?" Tang Qing pondered for a moment, then said, "To be honest, it's really not easy for my Tang Household's methods to be passed on to outsiders. And since my cousin isn't here right now, it's also inconvenient for Elder Bei Ming to reveal the methods of the Bei Household..."

Qiu Yan assumed the other party was declining, so he simply nodded without getting annoyed, thinking of finding other avenues. However, Tang Qing's next words surprised him somewhat—

"How about this, I'll accompany you for a while and lead you to the Eastern Capital Passage. What do you think, young master? After all, I owe you my life, and I should repay you in some way."

"Would Miss Tang be willing to be my guide?" Qiu Yan asked. Upon receiving an affirmative answer, he naturally wouldn't refuse; now was the time to save time. "Then I'll trouble you, Miss."

"Well then, let's not delay, let's set off now." Tang Qing said, extending her slender, white left hand. A flash of light appeared in her hand, revealing unpredictable scenes.

The woman stared at the scene for a moment, then made a pinch with her right hand and said, "The Eastern Capital Passage is quite a distance from here. Even traveling by soul will take some time, but it's still faster than traveling by physical body in the Mortal Realm."

As soon as she finished speaking, the light in her hand suddenly expanded, enveloping her entire body. Then, Tang Qing beckoned to Qiu Yan: "Young Master Qiu, please come over. My Tang Household's method can directly guide the soul through the connection, but it has many limitations and cannot be delayed."

Seeing this, Qiu Yan didn't stand on ceremony. He first grabbed the Ginseng Baby in his hand, then strode over. The Ginseng Baby didn't struggle, but just let out a soft cry. The coiled Trial Beast trembled and followed.

Soon, Qiu Yan stepped into the light, and then his light gave rise to life. His two souls and one beast, along with a Trial Beast, transformed into light and departed, leaving behind only the terrified scholar and the thoughtful Elder Beiming.

The Elder Beiming seemed somewhat surprised by Tang Qing's decision, but didn't say much.

On the other side, Qiu Yan, who followed the light, was currently releasing his senses to explore the reality of the light, but the feedback he received was just a series of strange thoughts, as if they were coded, difficult to grasp clearly, and he was being driven forward by some kind of law.

The Ginseng Baby sat on Qiu Yan's shoulder, curiously looking around. The Trial Beast had shrunk into a ball and was hiding next to the Ginseng Baby.

As for Tang Qing, she kept her eyes closed and remained silent, her ten fingers constantly twitching as if playing a zither. Qiu Yan could sense a rhythm within it, harmonizing with the surrounding light.

"In terms of flight speed alone, it's much faster than the speed of Divine Soul travel, but it still can't compare to the force that pulled me back from the water." Qiu Yan was pondering when suddenly a thought struck him, and he realized the situation on his physical body.

"Oh? They finally found Chen Yun." (To be continued...)