Map! Changes! [Seeking Follow-up Reads!]

Pulled out the written records corresponding to this map.

"Just as I thought!"

Meng Nan quickly confirmed his guess.

Places like [Chashan] were indeed just a corner of the Southern Border, with vast territories beyond. However, with Meng Nan's cultivation, it was difficult to travel further or make contact, only hearing scattered rumors, most of which were distorted. It was like a mist, not yet clear.

He continued to read.

"Chashan."

"Sky-Scraping Cliff."

"Shepherd Ridge."

These three places were each occupied by a force.

Take [Chashan] for example.

Beneath it were divided into various cave-mansions, all controlled by Qi Refining Immortal Masters. [Tianlin Cave] was one of them, controlling a territory of thirty thousand li, including Yinlian Village and three hundred other villages.

"Tianlin Cave."

Seeing this, Meng Nan looked at the second map.

This was a detailed map of [Tianlin Cave]. According to the annotation at the top, it was a version from Immortal Calendar year 40, which marked out Yinlian Village and other villages.

In the area of Yinlian Village, there were indeed over three hundred villages.

But these three hundred villages only occupied a small part of the southern region of [Tianlin Cave]'s entire jurisdiction.

On the other side of the mountains and rivers, there were seven other areas similar to these three hundred villages, some near, some far, some north, some south, encircling 'Tianlin Mountain' in the center.

"The population of the three hundred villages was thirty thousand around Immortal Calendar year 18."

"By Immortal Calendar year 40, the population surged to nearly a million."

"Adding the other seven areas, by Immortal Calendar year 40, the population under [Tianlin Cave]'s jurisdiction approached ten million!"

Yet it remained sparsely populated.

The entire [Tianlin Cave] stretched thirty thousand li from east to west and eighteen thousand li from north to south, its total area possibly not less than the total land area of Earth in his previous life.

With only nearly ten million people scattered across such a vast territory, and with most of it being high mountains and dense forests, it appeared even more sparse.

"Sparse is good."

"This gives me more room to maneuver."

Meng Nan felt this was good news for him.

If [Tianlin Cave] had a dense population and strict control, with Qi Refining Immortal Masters overlooking all beings, Meng Nan would feel stifled, worried about being exposed at any moment.

But such a large area with vast uninhabited regions gave him more space.

This was a good thing.

He thought to himself.

He continued to look.

This time he was looking at the map of [Tianlin Cave] from Immortal Calendar year 50.

On this map, the three hundred villages and the gathering points in other areas were all dimmed. Instead, eight cities were built with [Tianlin Cave] as the center.

The three hundred villages jointly built one city, named 'Angming City', with a population of one million and two satellite cities for defense.

It took ten years to complete, from Immortal Calendar year 40 to 50.

And shortly after the 'Tianlin Eight Cities', including 'Angming City', were completed, the news of the death of the 'Tianlin Immortal Master' spread.

Rumor had it that this Immortal Master had already passed away six years prior, in Immortal Calendar year 44.

The construction of cities in [Tianlin Cave] was to consolidate power and guard against potential unrest following the death of the 'Tianlin Immortal Master'.

The facts proved it was useless.

When an Immortal Master from [Sky-Scraping Cliff] arrived, the Immortal Master 'Zheng Shanpeng' who had taken over the leadership of [Tianlin Cave] at the time immediately packed his bags and fled.

Along with him were over a hundred True Essence cultivators from [Tianlin Cave].

As for Chen De, Wang An, Chu Zhongliang, and others who were still in the True Qi Stage at the time, they were all abandoned, each fending for themselves in the face of disaster.

This was out of fear of retribution.

Coupled with the unification of three hundred villages into one city, various power and interest struggles intensified, leading to severe internal strife.

And the lack of understanding about the Immortal Master of [Sky-Scraping Cliff].

At that time, a considerable number of inner Qi, True Qi, and even True Essence cultivators fled from 'Angming City'.

Meng Nan and his group were one such batch.

They fled with their families, departing from [Tianlin Cave's Angming City] and traveling southeast, eventually reaching [Ghost Mother Mountain] and settling in a place called [Qingtian Mountain].

The two locations were fifty thousand li apart.

Stopping and starting.

The group fled in the Immortal Calendar year 50 and didn't reach [Qingtian Mountain] until the Immortal Calendar year 55. Finding it to their liking, they settled there.

The hardships along the way go without saying.

Over twenty years of development.

The original group of outsiders had finally put down roots here.

[Ghost Mother Mountain] was home to many rogue cultivators, and with quasi-cultivators occasionally appearing from the north at [Sky-Scraping Cliff], and from [Chashan] in the southwest and [Shepherd Ridge] in the east, Meng Nan and the others sensed a business opportunity and built a market at [Qingtian Mountain].

From rudimentary to complete.

Now, 'Qingtian Market' has achieved a certain scale, gained some fame, and is tentatively established, entering a phase of healthy development.

Given time.

Once a Qi Refining Immortal Master can be cultivated, this market might very well ascend to a higher level, becoming a small-scale immortal cultivation sect.

Using the maps as a guide, Meng Nan quickly grasped the development trajectory of the past sixty-plus years, forming a general impression in his mind.

Sorting by timeline--

In the Immortal Calendar year 32, Tianlin Cave cultivated its first Qi Refining Immortal Master, named 'Zheng Shanpeng'.

In the Immortal Calendar year 40, Tianlin Cave built eight cities, merging three hundred tribal villages into 'Angming City'.

In the Immortal Calendar year 44, the Tianlin Immortal Master passed away, and Zheng Shanpeng took over.

In the Immortal Calendar year 50, the construction of the eight cities was completed. News of the Tianlin Immortal Master's passing leaked, leading to the official outbreak of war between [Chashan] and [Sky-Scraping Cliff]. The new Tianlin Immortal Master, 'Zheng Shanpeng', fled.

Also in this year, Meng Nan, Zhao Xiaoshuang, their family, along with their friend Qian Yu, and six disciples of Meng Nan who had cultivated in Tianlin Cave—Chen De, Wang An, Chu Zhongliang, and others—as well as acquaintances in the True Qi Stage like Feng Ying, left Angming City and Tianlin Cave, heading east.

In the Immortal Calendar year 55, the group arrived at Qingtian Mountain and began establishing and managing Qingtian Market.

Until today.

It is now the Immortal Calendar year 82.

"Over sixty years!"

"Enough time for so much to happen!"

Meng Nan roughly sorted through it. Just from the changing maps and fragmented words, he could feel the grandeur of this sixty-year cycle and imagine the upheaval of Tianlin Cave building eight cities in a decade.

Then came the clash between the two major immortal cultivation forces, [Chashan] and [Sky-Scraping Cliff]. Their slightest movements had sent Meng Nan and the others fleeing in panic, fearing they would be caught in the crossfire.

Meng Nan and his group were only a part of this.

There were many others in 'Angming City' like them.

And even more throughout the entire Tianlin Cave.

If one were to expand to the vast areas of [Chashan] and [Sky-Scraping Cliff], the number of those frightened, affected, and impacted would be immeasurable.

At least in the area of 'Qingtian Market', many rogue cultivators had fled from those two places.

"When immortals fight, mortals suffer."

Meng Nan sighed.

However, it was fortunate that this war wouldn't break out until the Immortal Calendar year 50. By then, he would likely have already achieved the True Essence stage in reality, perhaps even Qi Refining, giving him greater power to protect himself.

Even during the upheaval of city construction in the Immortal Calendar year 40, Meng Nan's cultivation and status wouldn't have been low.

He would have had a certain degree of security.

Moreover, there were at least twenty-two more years in between, enough time for Meng Nan to visit the future timeline several more times, understand more major trends and minor details, and allow him to be more composed.

Thinking of these things, Meng Nan wasn't in a hurry to look at the details anymore. He put away the maps, preparing to check his cultivation progress over the years.

At this moment.

The door was pushed open.

Meng Nan looked up and saw Zhao Xiaoshuang, who also appeared aged, stride in. Though old, her competence and free-spiritedness were even stronger than in the past, surpassing even her second life.

"Xiaoshuang."

Across time and space, the couple met again.