Jiang Ziya and Little Annie

As the saying went, life was full of disappointments, and there were few people one could truly confide in. The path of cultivation was no different.

For cultivators, the goal was nothing more than to live forever, or to attain immortality and become one with the Dao, sharing the lifespan of heaven and earth and the years of the sun and moon! But the path of cultivation was fraught with hardship. It was all too common for a thousand years of cultivation to be lost in a single day, for the cultivator to die and the Dao to vanish, leaving nothing but a dream.

In truth, death and the destruction of one's Dao were not the worst outcomes. For some, the road to the heavens had once lain right before them, only for all their years of effort to come to nothing. Before they could even learn immortal arts or discover the secret to eternal life, they were cruelly driven down the mountain. That was hardly a pleasant fate.

"Alas..."

"Forty years passed in the blink of an eye, yet who could have imagined that I, Jiang Shang, would end up being driven down the mountain by my master?"

An old Daoist in a robe sat dejectedly on a rock beside a muddy road. His long beard and hair had already turned somewhat gray, and his luggage lay beside him. He sighed heavily from time to time, drawing curious glances from passersby hurrying along the road.

But he paid no heed to those who looked at him curiously. Instead, he thought back to what Yuanshi Tianzun had told him:

"You were born with a meager fate. You cannot attain immortality, and can only enjoy the blessings of the mortal world... Cheng Tang's mandate is nearing its end, and House of