Chapter 1

Jinling is situated in the eastern part of China, on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, near the river and the sea. Since ancient times, there has been a saying in Jinling that "The wealth of the world comes from the southeast, while Jinling is its meeting place". With a history of over 6,000 years of civilization, nearly 2,600 years of city-building, and almost 500 years of being a capital, it is one of the four ancient capitals of China. Jinling is known as the "Ancient Capital of Six Dynasties" and "City of Ten Dynasties", and is an important birthplace of Chinese civilization.

Jinling is surrounded by many mountains, including Zijin Mountain, Niushou Mountain, Mufu Mountain, Qixia Mountain, Tangshan Mountain, Qinglong Mountain, Huanglong Mountain, Zutang Mountain, Yuntai Mountain, Laoshan Mountain, Lingyan Mountain, and Maoshan Mountain. Additionally, Fugui Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, Beijige Mountain, Qingliang Mountain, Lion Mountain, and Jilong Mountain are scattered throughout the city, forming a unique landform feature with many mountains, water, and hills.

Among these famous mountains, there is an inconspicuous hill named Fangshan, with an area of only a few square kilometers. Fangshan is a flat-topped mountain that is not too high, but still majestic and straight due to its location on the plain.

Deep within Fangshan's dense jungle lies a Taoist temple that is easily overlooked. If it weren't for the plaque at the main entrance with the words "Shangqing Palace" chiseled and burned into it, one might mistake it for a place where mortals supply incense. It is a place so old and worn that one may suspect that even the ancestors of Sanqing might have come here to pay their respects.

While there is a saying that "Even though the mountain is not high, it is famous if there are immortals", the Taoist temple on Fangshan Mountain has no immortals to follow. As a result, it has become increasingly dilapidated over time.

An eighteen or nineteen-year-old man wearing Taoist robes is sitting on the steps in front of the Taoist temple. He taps a radio on his left palm with his right hand, but apart from the "hissing" sound of electricity, the radio no longer produces any sound.

"Tianzun Wuliang! I just changed the battery yesterday. Do I have to take it to the city for repair?" the young Taoist mutters angrily. He raises his hand, as if to throw the radio away, but hesitates and puts it away instead. After all, he has had this radio for ten years, and it has been a source of comfort during many lonely times.

"Are these cicadas bullying me too?"

The young man frowned as he heard the constant chirping of cicadas from the big tree above him. Suddenly, he stretched his body, kicked his feet, and stepped on the waist-thick tree trunk three times in a row. Just as his body was about to fall, he slapped the branch of the tree again and extended his right arm like a long-armed ape. With a sweep of his palm, he caught the cicada that was too late to fly away in the palm of his hand.

"Hehe, let's see if you're still chirping," the young man said with a smile on his face as he opened his palm and looked at the cicada. The unhappiness caused by the broken radio had just disappeared.

After chatting with the cicada for a while, the boy raised his palm and let the insect fly away. The sun shone on his face through the dense branches and leaves, revealing his extremely handsome face with sword-brows and starry eyes.

"Other people's Taoist temple may be called Shangqing Palace, but this one is different. We can't even afford to eat," the young man said, turning his head to look at the temple's plaque. A wry smile appeared on his face. The last grain of rice in the temple was cooked by him the day before yesterday. Since then, the temple had been empty, and the boy had run out of food today

Compared with those Shangqing Palaces in famous mountains and great rivers, the Shangqing Palace on Fangshan Mountain is undoubtedly a place for peddling dog meat. Three or five broken houses dare to call themselves Shangqing Palace. There is no incense for more than ten years. Digging up some herbs, poisonous scorpions and other things that can be used as medicine and exchanging some food with the farmers at the bottom of the mountain, the boy would have starved to death long ago.

"Holy Tianzun Wuliang! The deadline set by the Master to go down the mountain is still three days away! I will be starved to death like this!" The boy's eyes scanned the smoke rising in the distance at the foot of the mountain, and he couldn't help but swallow. However, he hesitated for a while, ultimately choosing to obey his teacher's orders. He sat resentfully on the stone steps in front of the Taoist temple.

"Why hasn't that stupid rabbit shown up again?" A memory flashed through the boy's mind. The year before last, a fat and large rabbit had wandered up the mountain, perhaps due to the harvest season at the base of the mountain. It had provided the boy with a good meal.

However, this fortunate encounter had only happened once in the past three years. Every day, the boy would check under the big tree, but each time he was left disappointed. The stupid rabbit never appeared again.

"Brother Yi, are you there? It's me!"

As the young Taoist priest was about to venture up the mountain to catch some poisonous scorpions due to his hunger, a voice called out from the path below the mountain. Following the sound, a figure appeared on the uneven stone steps.

The figure was slightly overweight, causing the mountain path to appear narrower. However, the man's agility and skill were not hindered by his size. Despite panting slightly, he made his way up the steps with ease.

"Hey, fatty, why did you take so long to come? I've missed you so much for over the past year," the young Taoist priest's face lit up with joy upon seeing the newcomer, and he spoke without any hint of embarrassment or monkish restraint.

"Come on, I think you're starving to death. Let me bring you something to eat," he continued.

As the fat man approached, the young priest could see that he was not very old. His face was simple and honest, and it became even more so when he smiled.

"Here, a rabbit caught by my dad..." The fatty raised his left hand, presenting the rabbit to the young priest. "Don't say I'm not loyal. I just got back home yesterday, and I sent you a rabbit early this morning. Hey, what are you doing?!"

As the fatty raised his hand, he suddenly found that the rabbit he was carrying had been snatched away. The young priest had turned and run into the Taoist temple before he could finish speaking. In an instant, the fat man was left alone.

"How hungry must this child be?" The fat man shook his head with a look of pity on his face. He knew that the young Taoist priest was restricted to a few square kilometers around Fangshan due to his teacher's orders, and food shortages were a common occurrence.

"I say, your movements are too fast, right?"

As the fat man walked into the Taoist temple and made his way to the backyard, he found that the rabbit he had brought had already been gutted and skinned by the teenager. It was now impaled on a large branch and roasting over a blazing fire in a shallow pit on the ground.

"Brother, I've been hungry for three days..."

As he gazed at the rabbit meat roasting over the flames, the young Taoist priest couldn't help but lick his lips and speak in a resentful tone. "Fatty, you're not reliable. You've been gone for over a year, while I've been waiting every day for you to come up the mountain with food."

"Come on, you won't starve to death without me!"

The fatty snorted at the young man's words, shaking his head. "Listen, kid, I've been a soldier before. I can't be a farmer all my life, can I? I went out of the mountain to work this time. And by the way, you're younger than me, so don't act like a big shot in front of me. You have to call me 'Brother Fatty', got it?"

"Tch, who said I'm younger than you? You were born three days after me," the young man retorted seriously. "Obviously, I'm the older brother. If you don't believe me, go ask your father."

Despite both being around eighteen or nineteen years old, they clearly cared about who was older and who was younger.

When the young Taoist expressed his impatience, the fat man blurted out, "Come on, you don't even know where you were born!"

"Hey, I... I didn't mean it, Brother Yi. Look, I will call you brother alright?"

After speaking, the fat man realized that he had made a mistake. He quickly raised his hand and looked at the young man cautiously. The two had grown up together, so they naturally knew each other's place in the hierarchy.

"That's what you said. I didn't force you," the young man's face froze for a moment upon hearing the fat man's words. Having grown up together, the fat man could still sense the young man's discomfort.

In truth, the fat man was correct. The young Taoist priest had no idea when he was born.

The boy had been an infant when he was adopted by his master. Although his master had lived a long life and was skilled in yin-yang and five-element divination, he had never given birth to a child. As a result, he was unsure of the boy's exact age.

Since the boy had been found outside the gate of the Taoist temple in Fangshan, the old Taoist had given him the surname Fang. The boy had slept soundly and comfortably when he was found, so the old Taoist had given him the name Yi, making him Fang Yi.

Of course, the old Taoist refused to admit that he had given Fang Yi his name so casually. According to him, the surname Fang was chosen to represent uprightness, while the name Yi was chosen to represent extraordinary refinement and individuality.

At the time, Fang Yi was only two or three months old at most. The old Taoist had carried him to the base of the mountain, where his mother, who had also given birth to the present-day fatty, had breastfed him. However, the countryside was very poor at that time. Fang Yi had only been breastfed for three months before being taken back up the mountain by an old Taoist priest and being fed rice soup.

Despite the complicated circumstances surrounding Fang Yi's birth and upbringing, he and the fat man had unknowingly become close to each other. Having both drunk the milk of the same mother, they had developed a strong bond since childhood.

Fatty's father would occasionally go up the mountain to pick herbs, and he would leave Fatty at the Taoist temple. As a result, the two children had grown up together, with the no curtains hanging between them.