And so Wu Xuantian settled in Free and Easy Ravine. Apart from Jin Ping'er, who came by every few days, only a little girl visited to bring his daily meals.
After ten days or so, Wu Xuantian finally finished refining the medicine in his meridians and stepped outside for the first time.
A great river ran not far from his door, its rushing waters churning with tremendous force.
He followed the river upstream. More and more buildings came into view, until he rounded a bend and saw the breathtaking landscape beyond. He could not help praising it to himself.
Free and Easy Ravine was nothing like he had imagined.
Before him lay a vast, deep ravine. An immense waterfall plunged from the cliffs above, gathering below into a winding river that flowed along the valley floor and out of the ravine.
Grand buildings stood in rows on either side of the waterfall, with figures moving among them from time to time.
Wisps of mist drifted through the air, making the place as beautiful as a fairyland on earth.
There was none of the gloom he had expected from the Demonic Cult. Instead, the place had an almost celestial air—a haven fit for immortals.
Half a day later, Jin Ping'er led Wu Xuantian out of Free and Easy Ravine toward the place where he had fallen unconscious.
Two people were crouched furtively behind a pile of rubble, peering through its gaps at something inside.
One was a scrawny young man with pointed ears and a pinched face. He quietly asked the grim-faced old man beside him, "This is where you saw it?"
The old man was dressed as a woodcutter. He flinched at the question before answering, "Y-yes, sir. I was up here cutting firewood that day, and I really