Eyes from beyond the galaxy
Dan Heng's gaze fell on the Imperial Bow in Lin Yuan's hand, and his originally calm expression became noticeably more serious.
Compared to March 7th and Xing, he was more perceptive of the power of Path. As soon as the blue-green longbow appeared, he sensed the aura contained within it. It was not the Soul Power commonly found in Soul Master of the Douluo Continent, nor was it power formed solely by Martial Soul. The sharp aura within it was not unfamiliar to the Nameless, who frequently traveled through the Star Sea.
Dan Heng examined the Imperial Bow for a moment before finally speaking, "A very strong the Hunt aura, and it doesn't seem to be simply influenced by Path. Are you really from the Douluo Continent?"
March 7th was still studying the shape of the Imperial Bow when she heard this and turned to look at Lin Yuan. Along the way, she had discovered that Lin Yuan's understanding of the Star Sea far surpassed that of other people on the Douluo Continent. He not only knew Qingque and the Astral Express, but he was also very familiar with Borisin and the Path of the Hunt. Now, his Martial Soul had such a clear the Hunt aura, and he didn't seem like someone who had never left this planet.
Lin Yuan didn't explain much, but simply put the Imperial Bow back into his body and said with a smile, "I'm just an ordinary person following the path of the Hunt. As for other things, you'll naturally find out later."
March 7th rolled her eyes after hearing this. "What ordinary person introduces themselves like that? And the expression you just made it clear that you had a lot more to say."
Lin Yuan pretended not to hear.
As for Xing, she clearly wasn't involved in the conversation. While the others were talking, she noticed another large, unchecked wooden barrel on the street corner. She was almost completely submerged inside, with only her legs sticking out. Residents of Spirit City passing by stopped in their tracks, staring in astonishment at the unfamiliar-looking girl, wondering why she would be so interested in a trash can.
When March 7th turned around and saw this scene, his forehead twitched. "Xing! What are you doing!"
A moment later, Xing finally stood up straight again, holding an old badge that someone had tossed into her hand. She carefully wiped off the dust, then put it in her pocket with satisfaction, as if she had just completed a rather valuable exploration.
Lin Yuan was too lazy to comment anymore.
The group continued along the main street, and Lin Yuan took the opportunity to introduce the current power distribution of the Douluo Continent to the three of them. The Spirit Hall was spread throughout the continent, the two major empires occupied the main areas in the north and south respectively, in addition to the Upper Three Sects, the Lower Four Sects, and a large number of Soul Master families. Although all parties maintained a superficial stability, the conflict of interests never truly stopped.
As Dan Heng listened, he took notes of the key information.
"In other words, the Spirit Hall is not the only ruling power in this world, but it possesses the most complete organizational system for Soul Master," Dan Heng asked.
Lin Yuan nodded. "That's one way to understand it. The two great empires control the land, the army, and the aristocratic system; the Spirit Hall controls a large number of Soul Master resources; and the various sects have their own traditions and territories. When things really get involved, it's far more complex than what's shown on a map."
After listening for a while, March 7th was clearly not as interested in the relationships between these forces as Dan Heng was, and his attention was soon drawn to the shops on the street.
As one of the cities with the largest number of Soul Master on the continent, Spirit City naturally sells things that are different from those in ordinary cities. Ornaments made from Soul Beast materials, medicinal herbs processed by Soul Master, commemorative badges engraved with the Spirit Hall logo, and some trinkets that can only be bought in Spirit City all dazzled March 7th.
She quickly picked out a hair ornament made of Soul Beast feather, and also took several uniquely designed Martial Soul badges, intending to give them to Himeko, Welt, and the Conductor after returning to the train.
However, after the shop owner quoted the price, March 7th naturally took out his own device.
A few seconds later, she and the shop owner fell silent simultaneously.
The shop owner couldn't understand what she was holding.
March 7th finally realized that they didn't accept Credits here.
"It's over." She glanced down at the pile of items she had already selected, then looked at Lin Yuan. "I forgot this isn't Interastral Peace Corporation territory; it seems we can't use Credits here."
Xing silently took out the Copper Soul Coin she had just picked up from the trash can.
March 7th glanced at it and immediately shook his head. "Your one is definitely not enough, and it was even picked up from the trash can!"
Lin Yuan chuckled as he walked to the counter and took out a blue-green token from his pocket. The token had an Imperial Bow pattern engraved in the center and special patterns of the Worship Hall along the edges.
The shop owner's expression immediately turned serious the moment he saw the token.
"Send the bill to the Worship Hall," Lin Yuan said. "Everything they bought in town today is on my tab."
March 7th's eyes lit up immediately. "That's so good?"
Lin Yuan glanced at her. "This is only for today, and you'd better not follow Xing's example and take everything you can from the whole street."
Subsequent events proved that this reminder was absolutely necessary.
On March 7th, Xing bought things along the way. Although she wasn't very interested in ordinary goods, she didn't refuse any strange or unusual trinkets. Dan Heng initially remained an observer, but eventually bought a few books about Soul Beast and the geography of the continent.
When the group returned to the Worship Hall, March 7th and Xing were carrying bags of all sizes, and even Dan Heng had several thick books in his hands.
The discussions in the Pope Hall had now concluded.
Himeko, Welt, Qian Daoliu, and Bibi Dong have basically finalized their future cooperation plan. The Astral Express will provide the Spirit Hall with some basic knowledge of the Star Sea and information on known forces, while the Spirit Hall will compile basic intelligence on the Douluo Continent and hand it over to the train's think tank. If any unfamiliar forces from the Star Sea appear again in the future, the Astral Express will also provide assistance to the Spirit Hall.
For the Spirit Hall, which had just come into contact with the Star Sea, this cooperation was enough to save them from many detours.
However, at the same time that Douluo Continent established contact with the Astral Express, another behemoth in the distant star sea also took notice of this world that had never appeared on the star map before.
Inside a large space observation station of the Interastral Peace Corporation, a set of devices originally responsible for monitoring interstellar routes simultaneously malfunctioned.
A staff member quickly retrieved the records; in the center of the screen, an irregular spatial rift was slowly widening. The probe signal did not disappear after passing through the rift, but instead captured a clear planetary environment on the other side.
More importantly, there was no registration information for that planet in the database.
The message was escalated up the chain of command, quickly becoming beyond the scope of what ordinary departments could handle.
Not long after, an emergency high-level meeting was convened.
At the center of the enormous projection screen, observational data from the spatial rift scrolled continuously, interspersed with preliminary data from the other side. Unknown planets, stable life-bearing environments, unregistered civilizations, and a space passage that could be reached directly without traversing conventional interstellar routes—each of these was enough to pique the company's interest.
In the conference room, a calm voice rang out. "Since the fissure can reliably transmit detection signals, it means that it may form a real shipping channel."
Another person quickly added, "And this isn't the only one. Over the past few days, the company has detected several similar spatial anomalies in different star systems, some of which are continuing to expand."
The image on the central screen then changes.
Dozens of points of light appeared one after another on the star map.
They were very far apart, yet they appeared at almost the same time.
And beyond the most stable rift lies the Douluo Continent.
After a brief silence in the meeting room, new orders were quickly issued.
"Continue the observation, and at the same time, I need to know what's on the other side of the fissure."
Meanwhile, in another star system, the Xianzhou Luofu also detected the anomaly.
Inside the Divination Commission, the Matrix of Prescience was operating continuously. A spatial fluctuation that was not originally within the established observation range appeared in the array's calculation results. The diviner on duty initially thought it was a calculation error, but after three consecutive re-calculations, the anomaly not only did not disappear, but became even clearer.
The message was quickly delivered to Fu Xuan.
Fu Xuan stood in the center of the Matrix of Prescience, gazing at the ever-changing hexagrams before her, her brows gradually furrowing. The spatial rift itself was already unusual enough, but what truly concerned her was the faint causal connection emanating from the other end of that rift.
She raised her hand to adjust the Matrix of Prescience, adding one person's information to the deduction.
Qingque.
Since Qingque mysteriously disappeared, Divination Commission has been searching for her for some time. She left no travel records and did not leave Luofu through any normal means, as if she vanished from the Xianzhou into thin air.
This time, however, the divination result finally changed.
The initially chaotic deductions gradually converged, and the spatial rift connecting the unknown region slowly overlapped with the destiny trajectory left by Qingque.
Looking at the result before him, Fu Xuan's expression became exceptionally interesting.
"So I've been looking for you for so long, and you weren't just hiding somewhere slacking off...?"
She stared at the hexagram in the center of the Matrix of Prescience, pointing to the other side of the crack, and slowly narrowed her eyes.
"Did you just go straight to another world?"
A moment later, Fu Xuan turned to the Divination Commission personnel behind him, his voice now calm again. "Compile all the observation records of this spatial rift, and send the message to the Seat of Divine Foresight. Tell them that I have found the approximate location of Qingque."
She paused, then glanced again at the ever-expanding spatial rift.
"She's on the other side of the crevice."