Lin Chen felt relieved upon hearing this. He pondered for a moment and ultimately didn't change his route.

As he entered the city, he immediately witnessed what a city in disrepair looked like. The sign on the city gate was missing a corner, the gate itself was dilapidated, the streets devoid of stalls or shops, piled high with garbage, and the pedestrians hurried along, looking uneasy.

Lin Chen glanced at Bai Ling, suddenly thinking of a question, and asked:

"Bai Ling, what's your opinion on the Demon Race?"

"Demon Race?"

Bai Ling was taken aback. Although she didn't know why Lin Chen asked this, she still pondered for a moment and earnestly said:

"I think the Demon Race is also a form of life. There's essentially not much difference between the Demon Race and Spirit Beasts. It's just that most of the Demon Race doesn't like humans and prefers to become Spirit Beasts, which is why they are classified as the Demon Race."

"There are differences," Lin Chen said. "Precisely because they don't like us, that's why there's continuous conflict between us."

"Can't we coexist peacefully?" Bai Ling asked.

"That's impossible," Lin Chen said. "Once a race has life and wisdom, they'll think about developing and growing. Even if both we and they desire peace, we both fear one thing: the other becoming too strong."

Bai Ling listened, appearing thoughtful.

Lin Chen didn't continue speaking. The reason he asked this question was because if Zhong Nan truly intended to groom Bai Ling as the next National Preceptor, these are issues she would need to face.

Relationships between individuals.

Relationships between powers.

Relationships between races.

Relationships between nations.

The direction of a National Preceptor represents the future direction of a country.

...

As for the demon race's forbidden zones, Lin Chen didn't agree with them entirely.

The area each Demon King can occupy is actually not large, but they are dispersed widely.

These forbidden zones are akin to nails, driven into every part of the Cangling Ancient Country.

Once war truly breaks out between the two races, these nails will play a significant role.

Lin Chen previously didn't understand why the Dubhe Pavilion would agree to sign the Celestial Realm Mountain 2.0 agreement until he saw Zhong Nan's condition, and everything became clear.

Zhong Nan's weakness caused significant turmoil in the Celestial Capital.

If war with the Demon Race broke out, it wouldn't be resolved quickly.

A year...

Two years...

Or even longer.

If at this juncture, Zhong Nan were to suddenly depart, the Dubhe Pavilion would be left with a mess, and the powers in the Celestial Capital would go crazy vying for the new National Preceptor.

Simultaneously dealing with internal and external crises, while being wary of other major nations watching closely.

The current Cangling Ancient Country is weaker than imagined.

So, only with the new National Preceptor smoothly taking the position can this issue be resolved.

Passing through Willow City, Lin Chen and his companions continued towards Ling Mountain, and after another half month, the Little Fox was the first to level up.

The Little Fox is now Level 27.

Meanwhile, Xiaobai also made impressive progress, reaching Level 33.

Thanks to them, Lin Chen also advanced to Level 18.

However, Lin Chen's level-up this time was a bit peculiar, as Xiaobai and Xiao Hong only leveled up once and managed to pull Lin Chen's level up, whereas before they required about two levels. After pondering, Lin Chen ultimately credited the Dragon Transformation Skill.

Lin Chen was delighted, meaning that in just two more levels, he could make a contract with the Big White Bear.

This journey wasn't aimless; Lin Chen always remembered the Calamity-Devouring Beast, a walking Dragon Seeking Ruler, frequently venturing into the mountains to search for medicinal materials.

In a month and a half, Lin Chen gathered medicinal materials worth three million.

When passing through a small city, Lin Chen went to auction these materials.

The auctioneer gave Lin Chen and his companion a glance and didn't say much, just asked them to wait patiently.

While Lin Chen and his companion were waiting, suddenly a commotion came from ahead.

"This really is an antique; you should appraise it."

"A tattered novel can be considered an antique."

"I found it in an ancient tomb; what if it's genuine?"

"If you had a complete novel, maybe we could talk, but this tattered thing has only a few pages..."

"That's what makes it precious."

"Move along."

Looking up, Lin Chen saw an artifact appraiser arguing with a dark-skinned chubby man, and soon the chubby man came stomping angrily towards Lin Chen.

Originally, the man was just passing by, but for some reason, he turned back and smiled at Lin Chen and Bai Ling, saying:

"Both of you, I feel a connection with you. I have a book..."

"An Immortal Technique manual?" Lin Chen interrupted directly.

"Immortal Technique is nothing. This is a map, a map leading to the Celestial Realm," the chubby man said. "You both seem like refined people, perhaps you can recognize its worth."

Lin Chen said nothing, just squinted slightly.

Bai Ling naturally said nothing either, only revealing a fake smile.

"Tch..."

The chubby man shook his head and walked away disinterestedly.

Just as he left, Lin Chen suddenly felt a tug on his pant leg. Looking down, he found it was the Calamity-Devouring Beast.

Lin Chen's heart was stirred...

The Calamity-Devouring Beast always had a special sense for treasures.

Could it be...

Lin Chen's eyes flashed with realization, and he looked towards Bai Ling, who nodded in agreement.

The Calamity-Devouring Beast had used mind communication to inform her that it indeed sensed a different scent.

Lin Chen immediately stood up and said, "Wait a minute."

The chubby man turned back, eyeing Lin Chen unfavorably.

Lin Chen ran forward, gave a glance back at the artifact appraiser, and whispered, "Are you a tomb raider?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.