"Hey, did you hear? Something huge happened at the Wu Tong Martial Gathering this time!" "As if I didn’t know! Our Immortal Realm produced such an outstanding figure; it’s the talk of all three realms!" "An upper lord with only three years of immortal cultivation—a rarity not seen for a thousand years! I heard that Jin Yao, the Supreme Immortal, plans to bring him into the Celestial Palace, accepting him as a disciple to personally teach him spiritual arts." "Tsk, tsk, this is a big win for Miao Miao! Chong Zhao, the young lord, won the Wu Tong Martial Gathering for our Immortal Clan, earning a vast territory of blessed lands—a great achievement. With someone like him in Miao Miao, I’d bet that within a hundred years, the position of the Three Mountains will fall right into Miao Miao’s hands." "That might be a bit of a stretch. Kunlun’s Yun Xiao has a thousand years of foundation; they won’t be easily replaced! Besides, what you’re all talking about is minor. While our Immortal Clan won the martial gathering, the real spotlight was on the Demon Clan. I heard that the Hao Yue Hall Master reached demigod status in Foreign City, slaying evil spirits, subduing a demon dragon, and saving both immortal and demon youths. He left in such a graceful manner that the High Immortals of Nine Heavens were left utterly embarrassed." "With a new demigod in the Demon Realm, I fear our Immortal Clan will face restrictions for the next hundred years." "The Hao Yue Hall Master has long been a powerful figure in the Demon Realm, renowned for ages. Even if he became a demigod, he would still be on the same level as Jin Yao, the Supreme Immortal. But this young Chong Zhao has achieved so much after just three years of immortal cultivation; give him a hundred years, and he might surpass the Hao Yue Hall Master!" "Exactly! You’re an immortal—why praise the demons and diminish our clan’s prestige?"
The bickering voices continued in the teahouse. Nearby, at a quiet fortune-teller's stand, Bai Shuo, who had been napping all day, was awakened by the noise. She stretched, glanced at the few copper coins in the old wooden bowl, and yawned as she tossed the tattered “Fortunes Guaranteed” sign into her small basket, ready to close up. Life had been bleak since she lost her little disciple.
"Hey there, White Immortal! Why are you leaving so early today?" Old Song, the butcher next door, called out in his booming voice. “The sun’s setting—time to go home and sleep.” “What about your little disciple? Haven’t seen him for a while.” “Oh, don’t mention it. His family is wealthy; he went back to enjoy the good life.” Bai Shuo waved him off and walked away in her straw sandals. As she disappeared into the sunset, Old Song took a puff of his pipe, blowing two smoke rings and watching her back as she walked away with her little basket. He couldn’t help but feel a tinge of pity.
With a loud “boom,” half of her thatched cottage collapsed. Covered in dust, with her hair in disarray, Bai Shuo climbed out from under a leaning tree. Two small paper dolls clumsily presented her with a plate of burnt fish. Hands on her hips, Bai Shuo was about to scold them when she saw their charred, pitiful expressions. Instead, she silently swallowed the fish in a few bites, rolled up her sleeves, and started fixing her cottage. By the time she’d finished patching it up into a somewhat intact structure, it was already the middle of the night. Exhausted and sore all over, she collapsed onto a bamboo chair, sprawled out like a lazy fish. “Mumu, I’m thirsty…” she called out, raising her hand. Mid-sentence, her voice stopped. She lowered her hand with a sigh, got up to draw water from the only well in the courtyard. After fumbling around without finding a single cup, she ended up crafting a bowl from a leaf, lowering it into the deep well to fetch water. But the well was too deep, and Bai Shuo’s weak magic skills caused the leaf to tear halfway down, spilling the water with a splash and leaving not a drop behind. Dizzy and unsteady, Bai Shuo slumped by the edge of the well, clutching her chest as her consciousness began to blur. The heart’s blood she had given in Foreign City had damaged her vital energy. If she hadn’t accidentally absorbed the Heartfire of the Wu Tong Tree, Bai Shuo figured she might have died already.
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