Nan Zhongjie was profoundly grateful, nearly moved to tears, as he wolfed down the fragrant roast beef. Ye Qin could deeply understand that feeling. When he himself was begging near the county seat, his situation was certainly no better than Nan Zhongjie's now.

Only, his capabilities back then were far inferior to what Nan Zhongjie possessed now. He didn't think Nan Zhongjie was truly foolish or inflexible. Instead, he secretly admired the young man's simple and honest nature; having stayed in Zhuqi County for two months, not a single thought of stealing or robbing had sprouted in his mind.

Otherwise, all the immense wealth of the noble and rich families in Zhuqi County wouldn't have been enough for Nan Zhongjie to plunder alone. In terms of character, Nan Zhongjie was far superior to his father, uncle, and cousin combined. Ye Qin paused for a moment and inquired, "Your father is dead, and your cousin has vanished somewhere.

What are your plans now?" Nan Zhongjie looked utterly lost. "Me? I don't know.

I’ve been waiting for my cousin. Usually, he made the decisions for all the big and small matters I encountered. With him gone, I don't know what to do.

Oh, right, Big Brother, my name is Nan Zhongjie, from the Nan Clan of Pingzhou. What is your name, and which clan are you from? Where are you headed?" Ye Qin made no attempt to conceal the truth, merely offering a wry smile.

"My surname is Ye. I have no clan. I also don't know where I'm going—perhaps just wandering around." That was the truth.

He genuinely had no destination once he left this familiar Zhuqi County. Visiting the capital of Pingzhou, then traveling through the various prefectures of the Wu Kingdom, lacked any precise goal. He simply wanted to see more places to broaden his horizons, and then find the place he truly needed to go—a place where cultivators resided, allowing him to advance his immortal cultivation strength.

"So, Big Brother Ye is a rogue cultivator," Nan Zhongjie suddenly recalled something and exclaimed excitedly, "I know of a very excellent place. Big Brother Ye, why don't we travel together?" "What place?" "Immortal Fate City!" Ye Qin’s spirits immediately lifted. Immortal Fate City.

Judging by the name, it seemed closely related to cultivators. Could this be the world of immortal practitioners? In any case, there was nothing left to tie him to this Zhuqi County.

He was eager to see the world and witness the realm of cultivators. Ye Qin was moved and asked, "What kind of place is Immortal Fate City?" Nan Zhongjie took a large bite of beef, saying somewhat proudly, "It's a place where countless cultivators gather. There are many rogue cultivators, as well as numerous immortal cultivation families like my Nan Clan.

Several years ago, when my father took me and my cousin to seek refuge, we visited Immortal Fate City once. The scene was incredible. When it was bustling, it was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people.

Everyone there was a cultivator. However, the journey is extremely far—it requires passing through dozens of countries, near a nation called the Nanliang Kingdom." "That far?" Ye Qin was startled. He had assumed Immortal Fate City was within the borders of the Wu Kingdom.

He hadn't expected it to require traveling through dozens of nations to reach. He also felt a touch of apprehension. He wouldn't venture there rashly without understanding the situation in that city.

"Roughly how many cultivators are in that Immortal Fate City, and what is their general strength?" "My father said that Immortal Fate City usually has a population of at least tens of thousands. During major festivals, even more cultivators from various nations flock there. The cultivators there are mainly composed of those in the early stage of Qi Refining, layers one to three, and the middle stage, layers four to six.

A small portion have reached the late stage, layers seven to nine. There are even master cultivators who have broken through the Qi Refining stage—they are incredibly powerful," Nan Zhongjie explained with evident admiration. Ye Qin’s worries, however, grew heavier.

He said with gravity, "If that's the case, all the cultivators there are formidable. I am at the fourth layer of Qi Refining, and you are only at the first. Can we even survive in such a place?" Nan Zhongjie thumped his chest.

"I stayed there for a short while. The city is very safe. There are guards formed by rogue cultivators, and no one dares cause trouble wantonly within Immortal Fate City.

As long as we don't provoke those high-level rogue cultivators or the people from the great immortal cultivation families, we shouldn't have any issues. It’s only outside the city walls that things get unpredictable. My father never allowed me to leave the city alone, saying that cultivators often engage in fierce battles outside, which is quite dangerous." "Cultivators fighting outside the city?

Then how did you and your father enter the city back then?" "We hid inside the carriage of mortal travelers, naturally. Cultivators usually don't bother ordinary mortals. Once we reached the vicinity of Immortal Fate City, we quickly entered and stayed inside; it was extremely safe then." Ye Qin inquired further about the various conditions within Immortal Fate City.

After considering for a long while, he decided to go to Immortal Fate City. The reason was simple: to acquire sufficient spirit stones and spirit herbs. Nan Zhongjie mentioned that most of the time, cultivators in Immortal Fate City conducted transactions using precious spirit stones.

This meant that although spirit stones were valuable items, they were common currency in Immortal Fate City. And spirit herbs, essential for pill refinement, were even easier to find there. This was unlike his situation in Zhuqi County, where finding even a single spirit stone might take one or two months—and that was only possible because Elder Huang of the Treasure Gang mobilized numerous disciples to occasionally collect one or two stones.

If Ye Qin were alone, finding them would be impossible. In Immortal Fate City, spirit stones and spirit herbs were easily accessible, meaning he wouldn't need to expend so much effort seeking them out, and his cultivation speed would naturally be significantly faster. This was the true reason for his excitement.

Ye Qin thought it over. "Going together is fine. However, my strength isn't much greater than yours.

If we encounter danger outside Immortal Fate City, I won't be able to help you much. You must rely on yourself." Nan Zhongjie quickly assured him, "Big Brother Ye, don't worry, I don't need looking after. My cousin has been missing for so long.

The Nan Clan has an enmity with the Feng Clan, so I dare not stay in Pingzhou alone for long. You just need to take me to Immortal Fate City. There are many merchants in the city who hire low-level cultivators like me for work, and the pay is quite good.

Once we reach Immortal Fate City, I can find a job inside the city, earning money while cultivating." Ye Qin nodded, deciding to accompany Nan Zhongjie to Immortal Fate City. After all, if Nan Zhongjie hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't have known about such a dense gathering place for cultivators. Since a destination was now set, everything else fell into place.

After Nan Zhongjie finished his hearty beef breakfast, Ye Qin paid for him to stay at the county inn first. Ye Qin then returned alone to his private courtyard residence in the county seat. Everything in the small yard was undisturbed; the iron alchemy furnace still sat firmly inside, though covered in dust.

He began to close his doors to refine pills, occasionally venturing out to procure supplementary herbs and firewood needed for alchemy. He possessed eight spirit stones in total, obtained from the Golden Tiger, Nan Tianxiong, and Nan Zhonghao. The white and cyan spirit stones among them could yield a large quantity of Dew-Reducing Grass, which he could then refine into Dew-Reducing Pills.

He could refine ten batches an hour, with each batch yielding over a dozen pills. Accounting for rest time and failed batches, he could manage about ten batches a day, storing them in small vials for consumption during the journey to Immortal Fate City. Five days later, Ye Qin and Nan Zhongjie met at the post station outside the city gates of Zhuqi County.

They purchased two fine horses near the station, mounted them, and set off, leaving the Wu Kingdom and heading toward the distant Nanliang Kingdom. Volume One: Zhuqi County (End). Volume Two: Immortal Fate City (Coming soon, please look forward to it).

－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－ The first volume is finally complete. This volume was entirely set within a mundane mortal town. The protagonist experienced joining a gang, obtaining the Purple Mansion, beginning at the first layer of Qi Refining, and initially making contact with the vast forces of immortal cultivation families.

Now, the protagonist is finally heading to a city comprised almost entirely of cultivators, beginning his true path of immortal cultivation. .