After undoing the map restriction, Lin Xun checked the general process route planned by the hellish game.

Since Wusi City was located in the far west, if he wanted to head to the capital, he had to travel east the whole way, from Wusi to Longyuan, then to Luoyi, then through Bingzhou, and only finally could he reach the capital.

Regarding how to proceed through the next process stages, Lin Xun had three choices.

The first was to follow the process stages set by the hellish game and conquer these great major cities one by one. This method was also the safest method.

Because in the preset stage process, key intelligence and items regarding the subsequent plot were definitely hidden. If he missed these necessary things, perhaps he would get stuck.

The second choice was to skip these major city stages and head directly to the destination, the capital.

Such a choice was the most aggressive and most risky method.

It was like starting to play an extremely difficult suffering-type game. After the player was killed in the plot by the final BOSS at the beginning and narrowly escaped death, they would then undergo the tempering of various stages and small monsters, level up and fight monsters all the way, and only in the end could they defeat the final BOSS with a full set of divine equipment and divine skills, at max level and full status, perfectly clearing the game. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

But if the player, after narrowly escaping death, skipped the middle part of fighting monsters and leveling up and directly went to single-handedly challenge the final great BOSS, the final result could be imagined.

As for the third choice, it was free exploration, completely turning the linear boxed-garden game into an open-world game.

This was also the choice Lin Xun was currently most inclined toward.

According to experience from previous chapters, if he wanted to truly save the world, the operation with the greatest probability of salvation was to achieve a special final event that was not within the hellish game’s preset, in other words, to achieve the hidden ending.

If he chose free exploration, it was equivalent to directly jumping out of the process route set by the hellish game. Then the probability of finally achieving a special final event would greatly increase.

“In the previous chapter, I was arranged clearly and plainly from beginning to end. If not for my special talent Authority, I definitely would not have been able to achieve the special final event in the end.”

“In this chapter, I have already activated such a huge cheat. If I do not make a big scene properly, would that not be too unfair to myself?”

Of course, free exploration did not mean mindlessly wandering around blindly. He had to obtain key items and important intelligence according to the hellish game’s preset process stages, while also selecting hidden regions with the most exploration value that the hellish game did not allow him to explore.

This way, he could avoid missing the main plot while also having a very high probability of achieving a special final event.

Now, his map was fully lit and the fog of war was fully open. Facing the map and flipping through the geographical records, he quickly locked onto his next destination.

On the road from Wusi to Longyuan, by making a small detour halfway, he could reach Qingtang City that was not on the hellish game’s preset route.

Qingtang City was also a great major city no less than Wusi. It could be passed by along the eastward journey, or it could be skipped to directly reach Longyuan, but the preset route did not mention Qingtang City at all.

So Lin Xun suspected that this place was very likely a hidden region in the process, one that required triggering a certain plot before obtaining Qingtang City’s specific location.

Reading the textual records in Vermilion Geographical Records undoubtedly verified his guess.

Not only did it verify his guess, Lin Xun also obtained even more important information.

The geographical records stated: four hundred li east of Qingtang lies the hill of Kunlun. It is truly the garden park of Enma, governed by the god Lu Wu. This god has the form of a tiger’s body and nine tails, a human face and tiger claws. This god governs Enma’s garden seasons…

It meant that four hundred li east of Qingtang City, there was a mountain named Kunlun. It was Ancient Heavenly Enma’s back garden in the human realm, and the god Lu Wu managed this place.

Lu Wu had a tiger’s body and claws, nine tails, and a human face. Its duty was to manage the seasons and solar terms of Enma’s back garden, similar to a central air conditioner plus gardener and garden manager…

The god named Lu Wu was clearly also an existence like the White Elephant Demon. Both were yokai race members who had been saved and transformed by Buddhism.

And according to the records in the geographical records, this back garden named Kunlun not only had many strange plants and trees, but also many strange beasts.

After these former yokai race members converted to Buddhism, they were no longer called remnants of the evil god, but were called strange beasts.

When Lin Xun saw the words in the geographical records, he became even more certain that this was a hidden map filled everywhere with treasures.

“Qingtang City happens to be on the way, halfway to the next stage, Longyuan City.”

“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s set off quickly!”

He was very excited inside. In the past, hidden maps that required searching for many clues and could only be found through good luck or a strange combination of circumstances were now as easy to find as an open-book exam. There was no secret or difficulty to speak of.

Thinking up to this point, Lin Xun brought along his No. 1 top grade bodyguard, Senior Brother White Elephant, and headed to Qingtang City together…

[…]

[Above the nine heavens, you sit comfortably on the flying cloud raised by the White Elephant Demon, overlooking the vast land beneath your feet…]

[On the earth, grayish-yellow mountain ranges rise and fall continuously, one after another, as if they have no end.]

[After flying for a long time, you finally see a stretch of plain land at the end of your vision, where a great city seems to stand.]

[The White Elephant Demon beside you also sees that city and says to you, junior brother, senior brother did not fly in the wrong direction, right? Is that city Qingtang City?]

[You nod in response. Qingtang City is not too far from Mount Kunlun. You should first go into the city to inquire about information regarding Kunlun, so that you can know yourself and know your enemy.]

[The White Elephant Demon scratches its forehead somewhat embarrassedly and says, it is all senior brother’s fault for rarely leaving the house usually. It does not know much about this Kunlun or the yokai god named Lu Wu either…]

[You wave your hand to indicate that it is no problem. While speaking, you have already arrived above Qingtang City.]

[There are quite a few pedestrians and commoners in the city below your feet, but there is no noisy clamor. It seems deathly silent and sinister.]

[These commoners are expressionless, each lowering their head and hurrying along on their own, like walking corpses.]

[You have already grown accustomed to this eerie Extreme Evil atmosphere and do not find it strange.]

[The White Elephant Demon casts a concealment spell, covering your figures, and brings you down in front of the most conspicuous Buddhist temple in the city without attracting anyone’s attention.]

[You follow the footsteps of many incense visitors and enter the grand temple with the plaque Secret Trace Temple hanging high above.]

[The White Elephant Demon frowns and stares at the two words Secret Trace, thinking for a long time. Suddenly, it slaps its forehead and says to you, it remembers now, junior brother. The Buddha worshiped in this Secret Trace Temple should be Void Treasury Secret Trace Buddha.]

[As you walk, you ask quietly, senior brother, what is the background of this Void Treasury Secret Trace Buddha? Can we beat it?]

[The White Elephant Demon opens its mouth, its face full of speechlessness. It quietly asks you, junior brother, are you planning to kill your way to the capital? It is true that some Bodhisattvas and Buddhas in Buddhism do not get along with one another, but there is also no one who shouts about fighting and killing without asking right and wrong…]

[You shake your head and say, senior brother, those words are mistaken. Let me ask you, is this Void Treasury Secret Trace Buddha a disciple beneath your family Bodhisattva’s seat, or is it the Bodhisattva’s superior god?]

[The White Elephant Demon says without thinking, of course not.]

[You continue correcting Senior Brother White Elephant’s values and say, since this Buddha has no kinship or relation with the Bodhisattva, then would the Bodhisattva not be jealous of it occupying so much incense power?]