On the eastern side of the Earth Immortal Realm stood a small city.
Its walls were built from river stones, with yellow mud packed into the gaps.
The streets were not wide, only just broad enough for two ox carts to pass side by side.
Low earthen houses lined both sides of the streets, their roofs covered in thatch.
At the center of the city was a small plaza. A statue, weathered beyond recognition, stood there. It was said to be a sacred relic left behind from ancient times, once worshipped by their ancestors.
But after dozens of wars and breaks in civilization, no one knew whether the statue was male or female, old or young, or what its name had been.
Several thousand people lived in the small city, surviving through farming and hunting.
Spiritual Qi was sparse in the Earth Immortal Realm, and few people could cultivate, but the Human Race still retained its foundations.
Every family knew how to farm, and every household was skilled at cooking.
Though the crops in the fields contained no Spiritual Qi, they grew strong and sturdy.
Though the food in the pots lacked the flavor of Spiritual Materials, the Ingredients were fresh and the cooking was meticulous.
Every so often, artifacts passed down from ancient times could still be unearthed in the city: bronze mirrors that reflected people's images, bells that rang for a long time after being struck, and pearls that shone without being lit.
Unfortunately, most of these things required Spiritual Qi to activate. With Spiritual Qi so sparse in the Earth Immortal Realm, the broken ones had broken, the ruined ones had been ruined, and those that remained were enshrined in the ancestral hall as relics of their forebears. No one dared touch them.
The legends of ancient