Outside Capital Circuit, beside the official road.
A low thatched eave flew a slanted wine flag, bearing the three words "Drunken Immortal Tower."
Though this tavern consisted of only three thatched rooms with a reed-mat awning added outside, calling it a wine tower was a stretch; even calling it a tavern was questionable.
Yet thanks to its favorable location, it had become a resting place for wandering martial folk traveling north and south.
This was no simple place. Passing guests of every sect and profession gathered here more often than anywhere else.
It could be called a place where fish and dragons mingled.
Any owner daring to run such a business was naturally no ordinary person.
What was more, the owner of Drunken Immortal Tower was a woman—a woman of exceptional beauty.
That day at noon!
The tavern was especially lively. The storyteller struck his wooden clapper, and the entire hall instantly fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.
"Let us speak of the world beyond the heavens. Four Golden Crows hung together in the firmament, while below lay eight directions, connecting three thousand worlds. There were countless billions of Innate Realm sacred spirits there. Those who founded sects and became patriarchs possessed powers that reached heaven and pierced earth, able to alter the changes of past and future..."
"They existed in every moment, every cosmos. Born Innate Realm, they were companions to creation, heaven, and earth..."
"To swallow rivers and seas was but child's play to them. With a flick of their fingers, they could cover the sky. What they sought was the two words 'Dao Fruit.' What was a Dao Fruit? One word: 'Emptiness'!"
"They used heaven and earth as their carriage and all living beings as chess pieces. One game of chess lasted a million years.