Shangri-La was an ancient, mysterious Eastern legend. Whether in ancient times or the modern era, the word represented a distant land of purity—the Eastern version of utopia.
Unlike mere prosperity, Shangri-La, influenced by religion, more often represented a flawless sacred land within one's heart. It was the pearl of the Snowy Plateau, embodying freedom, peace, and a mind untroubled by worldly thoughts.
Passed down through the mouths of high monks, such legends had endured for ages. Many novels had even been written based on them, and countless adventurers with faith in their hearts had found their own peace here after enduring countless hardships.
In fact, such legends had a basis in reality. What many people did not know was that the plateau at an altitude of four thousand meters was not made up solely of barren mountains and snow that never melted. On the southern foothills of the Himalayan Mountains, beneath Mount Everest, warm, moist air currents from the Indian Ocean had nurtured an oasis known as the Little Jiangnan of Everest.
Besides its lush vegetation and verdant trees, this place had also been home to a human community for generations: the Sherpa.
Sherpa actually meant Easterners. They largely lived intermingled along the border between China and Nepal, mainly within Nepal, though China also had over a thousand of them.
Past the Sherpa villages and deeper into the Himalayan Mountains, several villages also lay amid these subtropical forests. Their inhabitants were Chinese residents omitted from population statistics, because they were a lost tribe of the Guardians of Shambhala. By the reckoning of Chinese dynasties, they were people of the Ming Dynasty.
The legendary Shambhala was Kamar-Taj under The Ancient One's leadership, while these mysterious villagers, who had never contacted the outside world since the Ming Dynasty, were The Ancient One's