Ye Guan walked briskly on the streets, but he was not in a hurry to leave. Even if he left now, he would not be able to beat those three Gods. Hence, his priority now was to enhance his and Ao Qianqian's strength.

So, he returned to the second shop. The moment he entered, the old shopkeeper was immediately on edge, clearly aware of Ye Guan's involvement in the death of the Black Shop's lady boss.

Ye Guan walked up to him and then said, "How much does the Ancient Guiding Technique cost?"

The old shopkeeper looked as if he wanted to say something, but decided not to.

Ye Guan frowned. "The lady boss of the Black Shop is already dead; what are you afraid so of?"

The old shopkeeper hesitated before saying muttering, "The Qi Clan…"

Ye Guan stared at him without a word.

The old shopkeeper began to feel uneasy under Ye Guan's gaze, so he hastily said, "Thirty strands of Ancestral Origin will do."

Although he did not want to provoke the Qi Clan, he couldn't afford to offend the young man in front of him as well. If the young man resorted to violence again, he wasn't confident that he'd stay alive.

Ye Guan opened his palm, and thirty strands of Ancestral Origin floated over to the old shopkeeper, who quickly accepted it and offered an ancient scroll in return.

Ye Guan took the scroll and turned around to leave. However, just as he was about to depart, the old shopkeeper suddenly said, "I heard that the people of the Qi Clan have arrived."

"Thank you," said Ye Guan with cupped fists. Then, he glanced at the signboard of the shop before leaving.

The name of the shop was "Zhou Family Shop."

Seeing Ye Guan leave, the old shopkeeper shook his head slightly. He had warned Ye Guan because he had never really liked the lady boss of the Black Shop. She was becoming increasingly domineering over the years, and she often exploited the shopkeepers, as she had the backing of the Qi Clan. Killing such a person was akin to removing a scourge for all these shops in the town.

After leaving the shop, Ye Guan walked into an alleyway. There, he opened the black scroll, and a black light melted into his forehead. A torrent of information flooded his mind.

Ancient Guiding Technique!

The Ancient Guiding Technique was made to trace something back to its origin. Simply put, it could allow one to locate the War Qilin just from its scale.

In no time, Ye Guan mastered the technique. Then, he took out the War Qilin's scale.

He opened his palm and activated the Ancient Guiding Technique. Soon, wisps of white gas floated out from his palm and into the scale. The scale trembled, and an image appeared in his head.

However, Ye Guan frowned.

Ao Qianqian asked, "What is it?"

He said, "The War Qilin is in the Mountain Sea World."

"So we have to go to the Mountain Sea World, then?" Ao Qianqian asked.

"Yes," Ye Guan said, nodding slightly. He then grabbed her hand and added, "Let's go."

Hand in hand, both of them returned to the Zhou Family Shop. The old shopkeeper was slightly surprised to see them return.

Ye Guan cupped his fists and asked, "Shopkeeper, we'd like to ask about something. We want to go to Mountain Sea World; how should we go about it?"

The old shopkeeper frowned and asked, "You want to go to Mountain Sea World?"

Ye Guan nodded. "Yes."

"I advise you not to go there."

"Why not?"

"That place is too dangerous. Not to mention you, even people in the Divine Dao Realm wouldn't dare to enter that place recklessly."

Ye Guan pondered for a moment before he took out the Qilin scale and asked, "Do you know where I could find more of these for sale?"

The shopkeeper was puzzled. "War Qilin scales?"

Ye Guan nodded.

The shopkeeper said, "That's a valuable item that comes from a war beast in the Mountain Sea World. It's a war beast with unparalleled martial prowess. If a demonic beast were to absorb its battle intent, its combat power would greatly increase. If you want more of this item, you can only find it at Mountain Sea World."

"Please tell me how I can get to Mountain Sea World."

"If you really want to go, I suggest you join an expedition group."

"An expedition group?"

"Yes, there's an expedition group heading to Mountain Sea World, and they're recruiting more people to go with them. You can consider joining them. If you're lucky, you might be able to get more of those scales. It's actually a pretty popular activity among those who want to try their luck whenever those beasts are shedding their scales."

"How do I join the group?"

"Go to the Li Family's tavern. To go there, turn right after leaving this shop and walk down two streets. You'll see it by then."

"Thank you," Ye Guan said with cupped fists before leaving.

Following the directions given to him by the shopkeeper, Ye Guan soon found himself before the Li Family's tavern. There were quite a few people gathered inside the tavern.

When Ye Guan and Ao Qianqian entered the tavern, everyone's gazes fell on them.

Ye Guan saw a familiar face. It was Wang Shou!

Upon seeing Ye Guan and Ao Qianqian, Wang Shou hurried over and greeted them with a smile, "My friend, it's nice to meet you again."

Ye Guan smiled back. "Likewise."

Wang Shou laughed heartily and said, "I knew it. The Dao Prison couldn't possibly hold you down for a long time. Come, let me buy you a drink."

Wang Shou then led Ye Guan to a nearby table.

Around them, a few people looked at Ye Guan and Ao Qianqian curiously. They had heard of Ye Guan, and they knew that he was the one who killed the lady boss of the Black Shop.

Wang Shou said, "Are you going to Mountain Sea World, too?"

Ye Guan nodded. "Brother Wang, are you thinking of going as well?"

"Yes. To be honest, my goods are sourced from the Mountain Sea World. That place is like a treasure trove for merchants like us. However, it is quite dangerous."

"Brother Wang, you're pretty strong, so how come you don't have enough money yet?"

Wang Shou rolled his eyes at Ye Guan. "Brother Ye, your question is strange. Who would ever have enough money?"

Ye Guan nodded and said sincerely, "I had quite a tough time during my childhood, but I ended up inheriting the family business when I grew up, and I never had any worries about money since then."

Wang Shou laughed bitterly. "Brother Ye, I'm not sure if you know, but the higher you ascend, the more important money becomes. It's all because cultivation requires a ton of resources. I'm doing quite well, but some cultivators not only struggle with poverty but also worry about their lifespan. You will have to make consistent progress, or you'll run out of lifespan. Apart from that, one needs some good equipment if they want to put themselves out there. After all, strength is the most important thing in the outside world…

"Especially for rogue cultivators like me... life isn't easy for us. We definitely have more freedom compared to those cultivators from wealthy backgrounds. And we only have to worry about ourselves, but we need money."

Ye Guan grinned. "Let's go to Mountain Sea World together then, Brother Wang. We can look out for each other there."

Wang Shou hesitated for a moment before saying, "Brother Ye, are you sure you want to go to such a dangerous place? I'm not saying this because I'm looking down on you; I just want you to know that Mountain Sea World is no ordinary place. It's not a child's playground, and you really don't have to take such a risk with your family background."

"I have no way of leaving right now, anyway. A few Gods from the First God Universe are waiting for me outside, and I just came out of the Dao Prison as well. Unfortunately, the person behind the Dao Market will not let me go, so I can only seek refuge in the Mountain Sea World."

"If you want to go to Mountain Sea World, you need someone's permission."

"Who?"

"Captain Mu!" Wang Shou replied. He turned to look at the door and then said, "Here she comes."

Ye Guan turned to look as well and saw a woman dressed in black walking in. She was wearing a bamboo hat with a sword in her left hand.

The moment she walked in, everyone in the tavern stood up. Wang Shou also stood up quickly and introduced, "This is our captain!"

Wang Shou brought Ye Guan to her and explained Ye Guan's intention. Captain Mu glanced at Ye Guan before saying, "All right."

Captain Mu then walked straight to another table and sat down.

Wang Shou quickly pulled Ye Guan to sit down nearby and reminded him, "Brother Ye, you have to remember this one thing: You must follow the captain's orders and must no wander around on your own. There are terrifying beasts living there, and once you enter their territory, they will see it as a declaration of war. Then, they might harm everyone."

Ye Guan nodded. "I'll make sure to follow you guys closely."

Wang Shou then briefed him on some other matters about Mountain Sea World.

Half an hour later, Captain Mu suddenly stood up and said, "Let's go."

With that, she led everyone out of the tavern. Ye Guan and Wang Shou quickly followed behind her.

After passing through a street, they arrived at a teleportation array that was guarded by an old man.

Captain Mu walked up to the old man and opened her palm. A strand of Ancestral Origin floated slowly to the old man, and then she walked into the array.

Everyone else did the same and handed the old man a strand of Ancestral Origin each before they entered the array.

The array activated just as Ye Guan and Wang Shou entered it.

Just as it was about to whisk everyone away, Ye Guan saw a familiar face at the far end of the street. However, Ye Guan was whisked away by the teleportation array before he could make out the identity of the familiar face.

The familiar face belonged to a little girl—Erya!

Four Dao Soldiers were standing behind Erya. It turned out that Erya was the reason the Dao Market hadn't come looking for Ye Guan after his escape from prison.

The Dao Soldiers were now following Erya as if they were facing a formidable enemy. They had become the protectors of these two brats…

They had witnessed many different interesting scenes, such as Erya's Entrapment Technique. These two brats had tried various ways to entice others into robbing them, and those methods were especially effective, all thanks to the white-furred creature with a ton of divine treasures. The white-furred creature was particularly devious, as she'd show off her treasures as if she was afraid that no one would know that she was incredibly rich.

Simply put, they were really eager to rob people, but they had a bottom line—they would not rob someone unless they robbed them first. They had been exercising that bottom line, but it was optional sometimes…