The 94-year-old woodcutter

  Nanliang is a vast country, with a territory nearly a hundred times that of the Wu State, and is considered a medium-sized nation in the Zhongtu mainland. Such countries are quite common on the Zhongtu mainland. Because Nanliang is located on a vast plain, there are many rivers within its borders, the land is fertile, the climate is mild, and the harvests have been bountiful year after year, allowing the people to live in peace and stability.

  However, the most amazing thing about Nanliang is not its vast territory or fertile land. It's the numerous legends of immortals descending to the mortal world among its people, and even the most remote border towns are no exception.

  An ordinary family's story, like "In a certain year, an immortal fairy descended to the mortal world and fell in love with a poor scholar who was studying hard by the window. They wanted to be together forever, but were thwarted by evil demons and separated. The immortal and the mortal went through countless trials and tribulations, finally overcoming their difficulties and growing old together in love."

  There are even more legendary stories about the imperial court, such as "In a certain year, a great immortal descended to the mortal world and chose the current top scholar of the Southern Liang State as his disciple, transmitting to him three volumes of heavenly scriptures. The top scholar pondered deeply for ten years, suddenly having a great awakening one night, putting aside worldly affairs, and soaring into the void. For a time, all the civil and military officials of the imperial court, from the emperor down to the ministers, were so envious that they could not think about governance, their hearts fixed on the way of the flying immortals."

  Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that those who wrote these legendary stories were all bookworms, and a large part of these legends are centered around bookworms as the main characters. In various wine houses and tea shops in Nanliangguo, storytellers would recount these legendary stories, vividly describing them as if they had seen them with their own eyes. The common people listening below were even more entranced, lost in a state of reverie, wishing they could be that poor bookworm or the number one scholar themselves.

  Because the legend of the immortal spread too much, all the Taoist temples and monasteries in Nanliang hung up the signboard of a certain immortal to attract believers. The incense was extremely prosperous. From the high-ranking officials of the Nanliang court to the common people, regardless of whether they encountered true or false immortals, large or small temples, spiritual or not, they would first pay their respects and show their sincerity before speaking. Who knows which day a real immortal in the temple would ascend to heaven and bring good fortune to even the humblest of creatures?

  The territory of the Southern Liang Kingdom is mostly vast plains, but to its west lies a highland plateau that stretches far beyond the kingdom's borders. The plateau is desolate and barren, with sparse human habitation, no signs of birds or beasts. Most importantly, this plateau does not belong to the Southern Liang Kingdom, nor does it belong to any other country.

  It is said that a long, long time ago, about three to five thousand years ago, the Southern Liang Kingdom had an emperor with great talent and vision. Suddenly, he came up with an idea - he wanted to bring the vast plateau and Gobi Desert in the west under the jurisdiction of the Southern Liang Kingdom. He immediately became enthusiastic and discussed strategies for sending troops with his ministers.

  But the dispatch of troops had not yet yielded a result, this ambitious emperor and dozens of royal ministers who had participated in the matter suddenly died one after another within a few days. The Southern Liang Empire changed overnight, with a new emperor ascending to the throne. From then on, the courtiers of the Southern Liang Empire turned pale at the mention of the Western Territory, and no longer dared to entertain any ideas of expanding into the Western Territory.

  Since the incident, rumors have been circulating among the people of South Liang that the highlands are a place for immortals and ordinary people are strictly forbidden from setting foot there. If one accidentally offends an immortal, they will suffer bad luck.

  ......

  The western border of the Nanliang Kingdom's winding post road extended to a small town on the edge, where it came to an end. The town was located in a remote area, peaceful and quiet. The streets were neat, with bluestone pavement, ancient and old-fashioned. The thatched cottages and tile-roofed houses on both sides of the street were scattered and could accommodate at least one or two thousand people.

  In the early morning, smoke curled up in the small town, and some townspeople had already got up to work.

  Two horsemen rode along the official road of Nanliang State at a moderate pace, arriving in a small town. Looking at the two people on horseback, they were both very young. One was about seventeen years old, with an ordinary appearance, wearing a coarse linen green shirt, carrying a package, calm and gentle. The other was about fifteen years old, with a sword at his waist, still full of childishness, looking around from time to time.

  It was early in the morning, and there were few people on the street, with only the two of them riding.

  Two men walked their horses at a slow pace while chatting.

  "Brother Ye, the last time I followed my father to this Xianyuan City, I only remember passing through Nanliang State and the small town at the westernmost part of Nanliang State. But as for the road afterwards, I couldn't recall it."

  They were none other than Ye Qin and Nan Zhongjie. They spent nearly half a year, traveling through wind and dust, day and night, covering eight hundred miles, constantly changing horses, before finally arriving at the western border of Nanliang from the distant Wuguo. But when they got here, they encountered a small problem - Nan Zhongjie couldn't remember how to walk the last section of the road.

  Nan Zhong Jie looked dazedly at the Gobi outside the town and said with some embarrassment.

  Ye Qin reined in his horse and gazed out at the highlands, the entire plateau shrouded in a white misty veil that seemed to stretch on forever. The city of Xianyuan was hidden somewhere within this vast expanse, invisible to the naked eye.

  He was somewhat helpless, seeing the end of the road but forgetting the way in the last leg.

  Ye Qindao said, "If you really can't remember, let's stay within the borders of Nanliang Country for a while. Nanliang Country is so vast and close to Xianyuan City, there must be many immortal families here. Let's see if we can find one or two immortals and ask them how to get to Xianyuan City. It's better than aimlessly searching the Gobi Desert."

  Nan Zhong Jie nodded in embarrassment: "Alright, Ye brother, let's head back to Nan Liang country first. This Gobi is too desolate, if we were to encounter a few cultivators with malicious intentions, that would be terrible."

  They rode their horses back along the official road.

  In the small town, a spirited old woodcutter was carrying a load of dry firewood from the side road, saw Ye Qin and Nan Zhongjie, surprised, hurriedly put down the load of dry firewood, made a bow, and said he had seen the two immortals.

  Ye Qin was shocked and used his spiritual eye technique to examine the old woodcutter, only to find that he was just an ordinary woodcutter without any magical powers. He couldn't help but ask in puzzlement: "Old man, how did you know that we two are cultivators?"

  The old woodcutter laughed and said: "When I was young, I met a fairy by chance. The fairy asked me to cut three bundles of firewood every day, bring some oil, salt, tea, and goods, and send them to the fairy city. I have been doing this for decades and have seen many fairies. Now although I am old and my eyes are dim, I can still tell that you two have the same air and spirit as the fairies in the fairy city, you must be immortals."

  Ye Qin was even more astonished: "Have you seen many cultivators?"

  The old woodcutter chuckled and said, "Isn't that so? In the immortal city, there are many immortals with profound magical powers, and ordinary people like myself are not few either."

  Ye Qin and Nan Zhongjie exchanged a glance, overjoyed. They were worried about not knowing where to find the road to Xianyuan City, but unexpectedly met an old woodcutter who was familiar with the situation, which helped them a lot.

  "So, does the old man know where Xian City is?"

  "I was just about to go gather firewood in that immortal city. If the two of you immortals are going to the immortal city, I'd be happy to accompany you."

  "Thank you!"

  The old woodcutter walked ahead, chattering on and on about his past encounters with immortals. In Xiānyuàn City, there were many mundane and trivial matters that the cultivators did not want to attend to, such as firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, and tea. Naturally, these mortals had to take care of these tasks. By doing chores for the immortals, they could earn a lot of gold and silver, and there were many benefits. In this small town, people like the old woodcutter who were worldly and mortal were not in the minority.