CHAPTER 566: ROUTE 566

Then there was Yu Laoda and his group’s belongings. Among Yu Laoda’s storage bags, there were over three thousand spirit stones. The other three people each had just a thousand.

Adding it all up, it was quite a lot. The spirit stones were stored in the space, with the magic artifacts placed separately in one storage bag, and the books set aside. They could serve as entertainment along the way, right?

Everything that could be sold as spirit stones was collected together, to be sold once they entered the city. Otherwise, it would be useless to keep them.

There were several storage bags left, all of similar size. These were common items. So Tan Shaoting set them aside, leaving them for the three children to use. Externally, appearances must be kept up.

Tan Shaoting glanced at the three children and saw that they looked quite serious.

He then began to flip through the books, many of which were basic cultivation techniques and some introductory books on the Four Arts, which could be read through.

There were also some strange stories, which seemed quite interesting.

Truly, there was nothing of great value.

In the evening, the four of them stopped again, and the children didn’t want porridge today. So they ate the food that the wife had prepared earlier.

The father and his three sons ate in silence, each thinking about how their wife and mom were doing on the other side.

Tan Shaoting smiled bitterly in his heart. If his wife were here, they could live their lives right here, whether they went back or not wouldn’t matter.

But it was such a cruel situation, separating their family.

Now Yuanyuan must be trying to find them, and the four of them must also strive to find their way back.

Tan Shaoting understood that it was difficult for his wife to find the way. But his wife’s luck was good; he feared that the five of them would miss each other.

He wondered if Yuanyuan understood what he had said.

After eating, the three children gathered around Tan Shaoting. He gave each of them a storage bag, each containing ten spirit stones and a basic cultivation technique.

"You three should use these as cover in the future, get familiar with them and don’t let your cover be blown."

The three children took them and fastened them to their belts.

"Dad, sleep with us tonight," Qi Wen said while hugging Tan Shaoting’s neck.

"Alright, we won’t cultivate tonight. Let’s sleep."

They laid down bedding, and the three children snuggled up against him. Tan Shaoting even found the blankets they had used before to cover them, so they had a familiar smell and feeling.

Tan Shaoting felt like the father and his sons were little pitiful ones who had been abandoned—no, not abandoned, but lost, that’s right, lost.

In the middle of the night, the array was attacked again. This time, there were six people, the highest cultivation being at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer.

Tan Shaoting quietly got up, exited the array, and pressed his Divine Sense directly at them, causing three cultivators at the fourth layer to immediately collapse. The other three didn’t look much better either.

"Leave."

"Sorry, we just wanted to get to know you."

Tan Shaoting wouldn’t listen to their nonsense here. He turned back and entered the array.

The six outside watched him go back in. They immediately turned and ran away.

It was best to stay far away from someone they couldn’t afford to provoke.

The entire journey went like this, and ten days later, they arrived outside the Four-direction City.

Tan Shaoting descended the spaceship from afar, and walked over with the three children.

"Dad, why are there so many people here?"

"They are all lining up to enter the city."

He queued up at the back with the three children. It was the first time for the three of them to see so many people—men, women, and the elderly, though not many children. Hence, the three of them drew a lot of attention.

Because among cultivators, it was taboo to use Divine Sense to probe others, they just swept their gaze over. If anyone looked twice, Tan Shaoting would press his Divine Sense over.

"Dad, once we’re in the city, let’s go sightseeing," Qi Wen suddenly said.

"Sure, I’ll take you to see around and buy you anything you like."

The line moved quite fast. It was their turn in just half an hour, and a queue had already formed behind them.

"Name, sect?"

"Tan Shaoting, loose cultivator. These are my three children: Tan Qiyan, Tan Qihong, and Tan Qiweng."

"Forty spirit stones."

Tan Shaoting placed forty spirit stones on the table.

In no time, Tan Shaoting had four wooden badges in his hand.

He took the children into the city. Qi Yan remarked, "Dad, it feels so nice here."

"Hmm, the Spiritual Energy here is plentiful. Let’s head to the Duobao Pavilion first."

Sell whatever couldn’t be used and treat the kids to some spirit food.

The Duobao Pavilion was a chain on this continent. Tan Shaoting preferred dealing with such stores, though they might not offer the highest price, they were fair.

They sold spiritual medicine and demon beasts for a thousand spirit stones, which should be enough for meals with the children.

"Anything you three fancy?"

All three shook their heads. They knew things were too expensive here and didn’t really have special needs.

"Fellow Taoist, does your place have any news about the secret realm?" Tan Shaoting casually asked.

"Fellow Taoist, this is a new secret realm. We don’t have any news. Looks like you intend to enter it. If you come out, you can draw a map, and our Duobao Pavilion also buys that."

Tan Shaoting nodded in understanding, acknowledging that this secret realm seemed indeed extraordinary.

Since it had already been discovered and it was said people had checked it, only cultivators in the Qi Cultivation Stage could enter. Why was there no map? That was very unreasonable.

"Definitely. If I have a map, I’ll surely sell it here."

After exiting, the father and his three sons went to Delicious Restaurant, marking the children’s first time dining at a restaurant here.

The children were quite curious too. Tan Shaoting called a waiter over to introduce them to the specialties here.

Tan Shaoting was quite good at cooking himself, but since arriving here, he never felt like it, feeling a constant sense of urgency, so he just made porridge for the children.

This time, the children finally had a normal meal.

"Dad, I think the taste is just average," Qi Wen was the most particular about food. But the kid was sensible. Even if things were muddled here, he never voiced any complaints. It was only now, dining out, that she spoke.

The father and his children were all thinking how much better wife’s and mom’s cooking was.

But no one said it out loud. The four of them wanted to go back as soon as possible.

After eating in silence, the father and his sons left. While at Delicious Restaurant, they had already heard that to enter the secret realm, one must register at the City Lord Mansion, where the specific time would be announced later.

Of course, entering the secret realm wasn’t free. After coming out, they had to give thirty percent of the harvest to the City Lord Mansion.

"Dad, are we going to register?"

"Yes," Tan Shaoting knew that if there was anything really good inside, he could just store it in the space. They wouldn’t find it at all.

The father and his sons went to the City Lord Mansion and completed the registration.

"Fellow Taoist, here’s a communication talisman. Just wait for the notification."