The rain passed, and the sky cleared.
Abundant life energy filled the entire mountain.
Big Dipper, the Southern Region of the Eastern Wasteland.
Spring had come again. A young man strode through the void, settled on the mountaintop, and gazed into the distance.
"Have I truly reached the end? This body's original owner really was a monstrous genius, actually breaking through to such a realm! There are only two paths left if I want to extend my lifespan.
"One is to descend the mountain and temper myself through experience, honing my Dao heart to fight for a sliver of hope on the future Road to Immortality.
"The other is to enter the great forbidden zones and search for the legendary Immortal Medicine to extend my lifespan! But those things are guarded so tightly that obtaining them would be harder than climbing to heaven."
When Luo Yan transmigrated here, he was already a supreme cultivator at this realm. The body's former owner had hidden away, clinging to life year after year, only to die from cultivation deviation because his Dao heart was unstable. In the end, Luo Yan had reaped the windfall.
And this was the world of Shrouding the Heavens, an age of declining cultivation. With no Great Emperors appearing, the peak of the Quasi-Emperor realm represented the pinnacle of strength!
Ye Fan and his companions had yet to arrive. That would happen more than twenty years later!
"A hundred years since I transmigrated, and I still can't escape the end of my allotted years?" Looking at the deathly energy shrouding his body, Luo Yan refused to accept it.
Although he looked like a young man in his twenties, this body had actually lived for thousands of years. At his realm, he could already change his appearance at will.
"There are still a few hundred years before the Road to Immortality opens. I have to hold out until then, or I can only pass away in meditation!"
"I've already died once anyway. Why not take this chance to see the mortal world and admire its thousand mountains and myriad rivers?"
With that thought, Luo Yan picked up a blue-green longsword and fastened it at his waist, tied up his long hair, and draped himself in a Daoist robe.
"This humble Daoist has three goals in descending the mountain: first, to find the Immortal Medicine; second, to find people to fight and temper my Dao heart; third, to see the myriad rivers and thousand mountains, and witness the surging tide of mortal life!"
With a single step, he reached the foot of the mountain.
"I happen to need a little fellow to carry me around. Would you be willing, donkey?"
The black donkey crouched on the ground, trembling. A moment ago, he had been sleeping in his cave, only to find himself silently snatched here the next instant. He was one of the top young prodigies of the demon race, after all. Only a few hundred years old, he had already reached the Dragon Transformation realm. Even in the Southern Region, he was powerful enough to dominate a region!
Yet this man had captured him with effortless ease. How terrifying!
Could this man be an old monster of the human race, a human Saint living in seclusion?
If he really is a human Saint, my life is over!
"Yes, yes! Senior, please climb on!"
He had no choice but to agree!
Satisfied, Luo Yan mounted the black donkey and patted his raised rump. "Giddyup!"
One man, one donkey, and one sword departed in a cloud of dust.
This mountain was not deserted, in fact. A human city stood a little over a hundred li away, and people often came here to search for treasures.
Luo Yan knew very well how terrifying this world was: the Desolate Ancient Families, the transcendent holy lands, the Ancient Imperial Clans, the Ancient Clan, the Life Forbidden Zones...
There were quite a few experts like him, and even several Great Emperors who remained hidden from the world!
Luo Yan rode the donkey to the human city, dismounted, and led him toward its towering, ancient gate.
"Please stop, Daoist. Entry into the city costs three source stones." Several cultivators at the gate barred his way.
Luo Yan turned back and searched himself, then said awkwardly, "I don't have that much source on me right now. Could I owe it for the moment? Once I've earned enough working in the city, I'll pay you gentlemen."
The source here was naturally fragmentary source, far inferior to genuine source.
The cultivators froze, apparently never expecting such an otherworldly young Daoist to have no source to spend.
"Very well. Please go ahead, Daoist!"
"Splendid!"
Luo Yan led the donkey into the city.
"Brother Liu, isn't this against the rules?"
"Do you know why you've guarded this gate for over ten years without the higher-ups transferring you elsewhere?"
"Why?"
"Because you have no eyes! That Daoist had an otherworldly air. He's either a young master from some great family or a disciple of some holy land! Offending someone like that over three source stones-no wonder I say you have no brains! You should be secretly thanking your lucky stars that you've lived this long!"
Hearing this, the cultivator fell silent.
I've clearly followed Mo City's rules to the letter, wholeheartedly handling everything by the book. How did that make me wrong instead?
He did not understand, nor could he.
Among the crowd, however, one cultivator looked thoughtful. Why did that Daoist seem so familiar?
He seemed to have seen him somewhere before.
Luo Yan entered Mo City. Candied hawthorn sellers roamed the streets and alleys, itinerant merchants carried shoulder poles, and stalls stood everywhere. There were also roadside shops, winehouses with intoxicating aromas, brothels that made visitors reluctant to leave, and inns occupying their own stretches of the street.
The city bustled with prosperity, people streaming to and fro amid an endless flow of horses and carriages.
"Daoist, would you like a skewer of candied hawthorn? One coin a skewer!" Noticing Luo Yan staring at him for some time, the vendor called out to attract his business.
Customers did not come from simply waiting!
But Luo Yan said, "I have no money on me. How about this: I'll tell your fortune, and you give me a skewer of candied hawthorn?"
The vendor immediately looked disgusted. "Shoo, shoo! If you have no money, don't block my business!"
"If I really wanted my fortune told, wouldn't I go to an immortal master at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion? Who knows where a wandering Daoist like you popped out from, or whether you're any good!"
Luo Yan could only let out a leisurely sigh. "What a pity!"
"What's a pity?"
"Your face has a healthy glow. You should have a destined encounter with immortality. If you give me a skewer of candied hawthorn, I wouldn't mind telling your fortune!" Luo Yan said mysteriously.
"Me? A destined encounter with immortality?"
The vendor clearly did not believe him, but still took down a skewer of candied hawthorn. "You certainly have a way with words, Daoist. Consider this skewer my treat!"
"Many thanks, good brother!" Luo Yan accepted it with a smile and tasted it. The flavor was quite good. In truth, at his realm, eating or not made no difference.
"Candied hawthorn! One coin a skewer!" The vendor called out as he walked away.
Luo Yan pointed a finger, and a ray of divine light sank into the man's body.
The vendor abruptly stopped and turned around in shock. The Daoist was already leading his donkey into the crowd, vanishing from sight within a few moments.
"Good heavens, I met a real immortal!"
With a thought, his body was tempered; with a thought, he drew in energy. A mortal was transformed into an immortal, and from then on, longevity lay within reach.
Bitter Sea, Life Spring, Divine Bridge, Other Shore...
The path ahead was clear, the road of immortality free of worry!
Eating his candied hawthorn, Luo Yan led the little donkey into the crowd. Like an unaffiliated cultivator who had never seen the world, he wandered and paused, looking here and there.
He overlooked nothing, whether meant for mortals or cultivators.
Luo Yan wandered around the marketplace again and again, but bought not a single item.
It was not that he disliked them. He simply had no money.
Even Quasi-Emperors had their troubles!
"Senior, if you like something, I'll snatch it for you!" The donkey stood beside him, eager to try, as though he would act without hesitation at a single word from Luo Yan.
Luo Yan certainly did not doubt his ability to do so. The donkey was in the Dragon Transformation realm, and throughout all of Mo City, Luo Yan had sensed only one human cultivator of that level.
Luo Yan smiled. "I have little lifespan left. Taking them would be useless. Ruining my reputation for a few ordinary trinkets isn't worth it!"
"We'll come back and buy them once we have money!"
"Does someone at your realm still care about reputation, Senior?"
"One must leave an unsullied name in the mortal world!" Luo Yan said with a chuckle.
The donkey rolled his dark eyes, seemingly unable to understand. Who would dare curse a Saint?
Luo Yan stopped walking.
"Luo's Medicine Hall? Its name has a connection with mine. Let's ask whether they're hiring!" Luo Yan walked into the medicine hall.
Before you continue