Seeking Immortality

In the south of the vast land of China, there are hundreds of thousands of barren mountains that are endless. The land here is barren, with many swamps and poisonous insects, and miasma is prevalent. There are even rumors that there are many powerful monsters left over from ancient times hiding here. So except for those who can fly into the sky and into the earth through practicing Taoism and refining Qi, ordinary humans are really not suitable to live here. So a long time ago, people basically gave up this place, and most of them lived in the central and eastern parts of the vast land of China, where the land is fertile and flat, and the climate is mild.

But as long as there are people, there will be classes and conflicts. The ruling class enjoys the fruits of labor but does not work, and the ruled class works hard but lacks food and clothing. Someone once sighed: "Harsh politics is fiercer than tigers." Under oppression, many people fled their homes and came here to make a living, built mountain strongholds to defend against beasts, and worked hard to cultivate on the barren land to get food. Although it was hard, it was far away from the court, there was no war, and there was no taxation, so there was at least one way to survive.

Of course, people dare not go deep into the Southern Wilds, but if they only build villages on the edge of the Southern Wilds, people still have the power to protect themselves. In this way, the edge of the Southern Wilds gradually became prosperous. Away from the oppression of the court, there is even a taste of freedom.

Xu Fan's ancestors were like this. Three hundred years ago, they led their people to the outskirts of the Hundred Thousand Wastelands and established Xujiazhai. In fact, the so-called mountain village is built on a small earth mound, with a radius of only a hundred feet and a population of only a few hundred. However, because the Xu family has been practicing martial arts for generations, they have stood firm in the Southern Wilds for hundreds of years.

But all of this changed three days ago.

It turned out that three days ago, a nine-leaf Ganoderma lucidum that had been carefully cultivated for hundreds of years in Xujiazhai was finally about to mature! As long as this Ganoderma lucidum is made into a pill and taken, the strength of many masters in Xujiazhai will immediately increase a lot. In this way, because of the improvement in strength, life in Xujiazhai will become better in a few decades.

This is the source of hope for Xujia Village, but it also became the beginning of the destruction of Xujia Village!

When the Ganoderma lucidum was about to mature, the spiritual energy it exuded was extremely rich and could not be blocked. Facing the rich spiritual energy, the elders of Xujia Village were very happy, because if they practiced in this rich spiritual energy, the martial artists would make rapid progress.

But soon, the elders stopped laughing. Because this rich spiritual energy was too conspicuous, it was like a full moon in the dark night in the barren southern wilderness, attracting countless troubles for Xujia Village. First, there was the spying of other mountain villages, and then the attack of low-level monsters. Later, this Ganoderma lucidum even attracted a human-level high-level monster-the blue-eyed cloud hoof beast!

The strength of martial artists is only relative to ordinary people. After all, martial arts have not reached the mystery and height of the immortal way. So when facing a strange beast like the blue-eyed cloud hoof beast, the people of Xujia Village had no resistance at all. The swords and knives chopped on its body, but not even a white mark was left. And the blue-eyed cloud-hoofed beast could kill many people in Xujiazhai with just one charge. Not to mention the terrifying fangs and flames in its mouth. Even Xu Hui, the great elder of Xujiazhai, had already reached the pinnacle of martial arts after years of practice. But facing this beast that was three meters tall and powerful and moved like the wind, he only resisted for two incense sticks before being bitten off the head by the blue-eyed cloud-hoofed beast.

But just as Xu Hui was struggling to resist the blue-eyed cloud-hoofed beast, Xu Fan and a dozen teenagers from Xujiazhai escaped from this former home under the desperate cover of their parents and clansmen.

It's not that they are afraid of death, they also want to accompany their parents to resist the monsters and defend their home. But they also have to shoulder the responsibility of continuing the bloodline of the Xu family, so they must live.

"All of you, run away! Now is not the time to talk about loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness! We have lived long enough, even if we are eaten by monsters, it is not in vain. But you are still young, the hope of rebuilding Xujia Village in the future and the continuation of the Xu family bloodline all depend on you. Go!!"

Originally, Xu Fan and several peers around him were going to follow their parents to resist the monsters, but the second elder Xu Wen suddenly appeared to stop everyone and said this.

The second elder has been weak and sick since childhood. He is the only one in Xujia Village who does not know martial arts, but because he is smart, literate, and good at organization, he is elected as the second elder by everyone. Moreover, he is kind and often teaches the younger generation to learn literature, so the degree of respect he enjoys in the village is no less than that of the great elder with strong martial arts. But when the second elder, who has always been weak, said this, the expression on his face was so majestic and solemn that Xu Fan and others did not dare to disobey.

Xujiazhai, which once had a population of more than 300 people, only had less than ten people escape. Facing the endless barren mountains and unknown dangers in the southern wilderness, these people had no power to protect themselves. Even if they could survive in the barren mountains, how could they survive?

In other words, the remaining people in Xujiazhai had little hope of survival.

But compared with Xu Fan, they were undoubtedly lucky, because at least they were still together and had companions to rely on. But Xu Fan himself was separated from the others.

When escaping from the mountain village, Xu Fan followed everyone and ran out of the mountain village. Hearing the shouts and screams of his parents and clansmen fighting with the monsters behind him, Xu Fan felt heartbroken. His parents in their forties were desperate to cover his seventeen-year-old self's escape, which Xu Fan could not accept anyway.

Although Xu Fan followed the others to escape from the mountain village under the order of the second elder, he was not willing to do so after all. When he thought of his parents' death, Xu Fan felt a sharp pain in his heart, and his eyes were blurred by tears unconsciously. It felt like every scream was made by his parents. But in this moment of distraction, Xu Fan did not pay attention to his feet, and accidentally tripped on a dead branch across the road and fell to the ground, rolling uncontrollably to the other side of the hillside. The people who were eager to escape did not realize that Xu Fan behind them had been rolling farther and farther away from them.

When Xu Fan finally stopped rolling and stood up, there was no trace of his original companions?

In this way, Xu Fan got separated from everyone.

In fact, when he was in Xujiazhai, Xu Fan was a little out of touch with other peers. Compared with other peers, Xu Fan did not like to wield swords and guns. In addition to practicing internal skills through meditation every day, he would save as much as possible in boxing and kicking. Instead, he often went to the second elder Xu Wen to learn all kinds of book knowledge, such as the "Book of Changes" that no one in the mountain village could understand except the second elder. As a result, without a common language, Xu Fan didn't even have a close friend around him. So Xu Fan's disappearance would not cause any waves. Perhaps, some people would secretly be glad that there was one less burden around them.

After Xu Fan was separated from everyone, he ran aimlessly in the direction of his impression in panic, hoping to catch up with his companions. Unfortunately, even if Xu Fan ran for a whole afternoon, he couldn't find his companions? In this way, I don't know how long I walked, and I don't know how many wild mountains I walked through. Xu Fan couldn't run anymore. He felt sleepy and hungry, and the gray sky of the Southern Wilderness began to darken slowly at some point.

In the Southern Wilderness, it is very dangerous to travel at night. Xu Fan also knows this truth. Although Xu Fan has always been quiet and not active, he grew up in southern Xinjiang and at least has survival skills in the wild. Knowing that the possibility of catching up with the main force is slim, after realizing that it was dark, Xu Fan suppressed the panic in his heart, found a small hill, built a fire in the leeward place to keep warm, and then found some non-toxic wild fruits to fill his stomach. After eating, he lay flat on the ground, quietly looking at the dark sky, his heart was miserable and confused.

Thinking of the tragedy of Xujiazhai and his parents who were in danger, Xu Fan, who had been tired for a day, felt even more sad and desperate. His father's teachings and his mother's kindness seemed to be the same as before. However, after only one day, everything changed. The mountain village was gone, the tribesmen were gone, and the parents were gone. It seemed that Xu Fan was the only one left in the world, living alone. In this dangerous southern wilderness, how should Xu Fan, who was alone, survive? Thinking of this, the despair and pain in Xu Fan's heart became more intense. And the face that looked a little delicate and elegant because of studying since childhood became paler.

It's just that Xu Fan's personality is naturally a little dull, and his emotions are rarely shown on his face, even when he is alone. So on the outside, Xu Fan just looks very dull at this time, but who can see the misery and hesitation in his heart?

There are certainly no people in the desolate South Wasteland at night, and after nightfall, there are only dark clouds in the sky, and there is no moonlight.

In this darkness, the only source of light is the bonfire next to Xu Fan, but although the bonfire is bright, it can't drive away even a trace of darkness in Xu Fan's heart.

"From now on, I'm alone." Xu Fan thought secretly.

The night in the South Wasteland is so dark that even stars are rare. Xu Fan couldn't help but think of the second elder's description of the dark night in the Middle Earth. It is said that there, the night sky not only has a round and big moon, but also a sky full of stars, which is not only bright, but also very beautiful.

Unfortunately, the second elder who often told him stories has now been killed by the monster.

"I must learn a lot of skills and come back to avenge my parents and the second elder." Thinking of the love his parents and the second elder had shown him, Xu Fan finally couldn't control the grief in his heart and said to himself loudly. Two lines of tears slipped down his face unconsciously.

After encouraging himself, Xu Fan fell silent again, because even he knew that although this wish was beautiful, it was very difficult to realize it. You know, the martial arts of the elder had already reached the realm of perfection, and his kicks and punches were nearly a thousand pounds of force, but even so, he couldn't cause any harm to the monster, let alone Xu Fan himself?

Thinking of this, Xu Fan's originally hot heart couldn't help but turn cold again, because he knew that his talent in martial arts was mediocre, and it was difficult to reach the realm of the elder, let alone kill the terrifying monster?

"Perhaps, only if I meet the legendary gods and ask them to accept me as their apprentice, can I have a chance of revenge?" Xu Fan whispered to himself, remembering some words he had heard when he was studying.

The so-called immortals eat wind and drink dew, travel to the north sea in the morning and return to the mountains in the evening. What a realm that is!

Just as Xu Fan was lying on the ground and thinking about it, two green lights slowly approached Xu Fan without any sound. When the two green lights approached less than ten feet around Xu Fan, Xu Fan finally found something wrong. A burst of bloody smell rushed into his chest and nose, making Xu Fan's stomach churn. Looking up, it turned out that the two green lights were actually the eyes of a monster! ! He couldn't help but exclaimed: "Mountain spirit and wood monster!!"

Even though Xu Fan always boasted that he was calm and composed, his voice at this moment was trembling and panicking uncontrollably.

The mountain spirit wood monster is a very scary spirit in the Ten Thousand Wasteland Mountains. It looks like a tree, but its body is neither gold nor stone nor wood. It automatically absorbs the wood energy between heaven and earth every morning and evening. It likes to feed on the flesh and blood of tigers and leopards. In the past, Xu Fan often heard news that hunters in other mountain villages were harmed by the mountain spirit wood monster. It is really notorious in the Southern Wasteland for stopping children from crying.

Seeing that the mountain spirit wood monster is several feet tall and looks like a towering tree, Xu Fan knows that this mountain spirit wood monster has been practicing for at least a thousand years. Even if it encounters the blue-eyed cloud hoof beast, it has a high chance of winning. But he didn't expect that Xu Fan would encounter it this time.

Various information and rumors about the mountain spirit wood monster flashed through his mind like lightning. Xu Fan was panicked for a while. He got up and ran in the opposite direction in a hurry, not daring to look back.

But after running a few steps, he suddenly felt something entangled under his feet and fell to the ground. Unable to stop his body from rushing forward, Xu Fan fell to the ground in embarrassment. Regardless of the pain in his body, Xu Fan hurriedly looked down and found that a thin branch had been entangled around his ankle at some point.

Then, the branch began to slowly pull Xu Fan towards the mountain spirit wood monster. It turned out that it was not a branch that was entangled around his ankle, but a tentacle of the mountain spirit wood monster! !

As Xu Fan got closer and closer to the mountain spirit wood monster, the mountain spirit wood monster's face, which looked like a tree trunk, slowly opened a big mouth full of tiny fangs, and the fishy smell came to his face. And the tentacle that resembled a branch also hung Xu Fan and fed him into its mouth.

Watching the mountain spirit wood monster getting closer and closer to its mouth, Xu Fan first struggled with his body and shouted loudly. But how could he break free from the mountain spirit wood monster? Not long after, Xu Qingfan finally realized that his struggle was useless. He sighed in his heart and knew that he was dead this time. But surprisingly, there was no panic in his heart, only despair.

"If I had known this would be the result, I would have followed my parents and fought the blue-eyed cloud-hoofed beast to the death. At least I could die with everyone."

This was Xu Fan's last thought at the moment.