"Lost track of the years in the mountains. What year was it now?"
Ant True Person suddenly narrowed his eyes and studied you closely. "To think this world could nurture someone like you. You almost seem like the fabled holy child of humanity descended to earth."
You looked up. "It is now the second millennium of the war between the Righteous Dao and Devil Dao. Seventeen hundred years ago, after their decisive battle, the Righteous Dao parted ways with the Outer Dao."
Back then, the Righteous Dao had joined forces with the Outer Dao to suppress the Devil Dao, driving it out of Central Yu Continent. Yet three hundred years after the Heavenly Grottos and blessed lands appeared, it drove the Outer Dao overseas to Eastern Azure Continent as well.
"Daoist Ant, did you support the Outer Dao back then?"
Daoist Ant nodded. "Naturally. Those Righteous Dao fellows wear the faces of saints, call themselves the true heirs of the Mysterious Sect, and stick their noses in the air. They look down on the Outer Dao and Demon Sect."
He stroked his sparse beard. "I was a fool, too. The Outer Dao's Man Above Men talked me into it, and with my Heaven-Lifting Divine Baleful Power, I went alone to challenge Mount Fangcun—a sect that wasn't even among the Righteous Dao's strongest."
"Who would have thought... that bastard Dixiang caught me and locked me beneath Little Green Peak? He clearly said he'd release me after five hundred years. That was a gentleman's agreement."
"I kept my end of it. I waited here on Little Green Peak for seventeen hundred years."
Daoist Ant cursed under his breath. "Otherwise, how could he have caught me back then? What a dishonorable little man."
Having lived seventeen hundred years, Daoist Ant was naturally a