Chapter 1: The Peak Quasi-Emperor Whose Lifespan Is Nearing Its End
After the rain, the skies cleared.
The mountain was filled to the brim with vibrant, abundant life energy.
The Northern Dipper Star, the southern region of East Wilderness.
Another spring had arrived, and a young man, treading through the void, perched atop the mountain peak, gazing into the distance.
“Have I truly reached the end? My predecessor was indeed a prodigy, managing to break through to such a realm! If I wish to extend my lifespan, there are only two paths before me.
The first is to descend the mountain and temper my Dao heart through trials, hoping to seize a sliver of hope on the path to immortality.
The second is to venture into the forbidden zones and seek the legendary immortal medicine to lengthen my existence! Yet these treasures are fiercely guarded, and obtaining them is all but impossible.”
When Luo Yan crossed over, he found himself already an apex cultivator of this realm. The previous owner of this body had survived in secrecy year after year, only to perish from inner turmoil and instability of the Dao heart, leaving Luo Yan to inherit it by chance.
This was also the world of “Covering the Heavens,” an era of declining spiritual law, where emperors no longer emerged, and the pinnacle of power was represented by the quasi-emperor peak!
Ye Fan and his companions had not yet arrived—those events lay more than twenty years in the future.
“Even after a hundred years of crossing over, I still cannot escape the approaching end?” Luo Yan looked at the aura of death permeating his being, his heart unwilling to yield.
Do not be deceived by his youthful appearance, seemingly that of a man in his twenties; in truth, this body was thousands of years old. At such a realm, one's visage could be altered at will.
“The path to immortality will not open for several hundred years yet. I must survive until then, or else I shall fade away into dust!”
“Since I have died once already, why not seize the chance to wander the mortal world, to witness the beauty of myriad mountains and rivers?”
With this thought, Luo Yan took up a green long sword and fastened it at his waist, tied up his hair, and donned a Daoist robe.
“This journey down the mountain has three purposes: first, to seek immortal medicine; second, to find opponents and temper my Dao heart; third, to behold the vast world and witness the ever-flowing red dust!”
He stepped forward, arriving at the foot of the mountain.
“Well, I happen to need a companion for travel. Would you, little donkey, be willing?”
The black donkey trembled, crouched on the ground. Moments before, he had been sleeping in his cave, only to be silently caught and brought here. He was, after all, one of the top prodigies of the younger generation of the demon race, reaching the Dragon Transformation Realm at merely a few hundred years old—a dominant force in the southern region!
This man had captured him effortlessly, truly terrifying!
Could this be a hidden elder of the human race—a secluded sage?
If so, his fate was sealed!
“I am willing, I am willing! Please, honored senior, take your seat!”
Refusal was not an option!
Luo Yan, satisfied, mounted the black donkey, patting its rounded haunches. “Go!”
Man, donkey, and sword, setting off on their journey.
...
This mountain was not truly deserted; over a hundred li away lay a human city, and people frequently visited seeking treasure.
---
Luo Yan understood well the terrors of this world: the ancient clans, transcendent sacred lands, primordial imperial lineages, ancient races, forbidden zones of life...
He was not alone in his strength; there were even several hidden emperors.
Riding his donkey, Luo Yan arrived outside the human city. He dismounted, leading the donkey to the grand, ancient gates.
“Daoist, please wait—entry requires three source stones,” the gatekeepers stopped him.
Luo Yan turned, searched himself, and admitted awkwardly, “I don’t have that many source stones right now. Could I owe you? I’ll work in the city to earn enough and pay you later.”
The source here was incomplete, far inferior to the genuine article.
The guards were stunned, evidently not expecting such an extraordinary young Daoist to be short of source stones.
“Very well, Daoist, please proceed.”
“Thank you.”
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 and haven’t been promoted?”
“Why?”
“Because you lack discernment! That Daoist radiates an otherworldly aura—he’s either a scion of some great clan or a disciple from a sacred land. To offend such a person for three source stones would be sheer folly! Count yourself lucky to still be alive!”
The guard fell silent.
He had strictly obeyed the rules of Stranger City, conducting himself by the book—how could he be wrong?
He could not understand, nor could he accept it.
Within the crowd, however, a cultivator fell into contemplation. That Daoist seemed strangely familiar, as though encountered somewhere before.
Luo Yan entered Stranger City, wandering through bustling streets, seeing candied hawthorns, itinerant vendors carrying their wares, street stalls everywhere. Shops along the road, intoxicating taverns, alluring pleasure houses, and well-situated inns.
The city was prosperous, teeming with people and traffic.
“Daoist, buy a string of candied hawthorns, one coin each!” The hawker, seeing Luo Yan staring, called out to him.
Customers weren’t going to wait—they had to be sought!
But Luo Yan replied, “I have no money. How about this: I’ll read your fortune, and you give me a string of candied hawthorns?”
The hawker looked at him with disdain. “Go on, get out of the way if you have no money! If I wanted my fortune told, I’d go to the Celestial Pavilion and ask a sage. Who knows if you, some random Daoist from who-knows-where, are reliable?”
Luo Yan could only sigh, “What a pity.”
“A pity for what?”
---
“I see your face is rosy—you’ll have a fateful encounter with immortality. If you give me a string of candied hawthorns, I wouldn’t mind reading your fortune!” Luo Yan said mysteriously.
“Me? A fateful encounter with immortality?”
The hawker clearly didn’t believe him, but still handed over a string. “You do know how to talk. Take it as my treat.”
“Thank you, good brother!” Luo Yan took it with a smile, savoring the taste. For one at his realm, food was irrelevant.
“Candied hawthorns! One coin per string!” The hawker called out, walking forward.
Luo Yan pointed, sending a ray of divine light into his body.
The hawker suddenly stopped, stunned, and turned to look back—the Daoist, already leading his donkey into the crowd, was gone in moments.
“Heavens, I’ve met a true immortal!”
With a single thought, the body was tempered, qi entered, the mundane turned divine—from now on, longevity was within reach.
Bitter Sea, Life Fountain, Divine Bridge, Far Shore...
The path ahead was clear, the immortal journey assured!
Luo Yan, eating candied hawthorns, led his little donkey into the throng, like an unworldly wanderer, stopping here and there, gazing at everything.
He spared nothing—mortal or cultivator alike.
Luo Yan wandered the market for some time, yet bought nothing.
It was not for lack of interest, but for lack of funds.
Even a quasi-emperor has his troubles!
“Senior, if you want something, I’ll snatch it for you!” The donkey said eagerly, ready to act at Luo Yan’s command.
Luo Yan had no doubt of its ability—the donkey was at the Dragon Transformation Realm, and in the entire Stranger City Luo Yan sensed only one other human cultivator of similar level.
He laughed, “My lifespan is short; whatever I take is useless. To ruin my reputation for a few trifles is not worth it!”
“We’ll buy them when we have money.”
“Even a person at your level cares about reputation, senior?”
“One must leave a pure name in the world!” Luo Yan chuckled.
The donkey rolled its dark eyes, unable to comprehend—who would dare slander a sage?
Luo Yan halted.
“Luo’s Apothecary? How auspicious—perhaps they’re hiring.”
He stepped inside.