A Lone Figure Sits on the City Wall of the Left Front

"What is this? Why can't I quite figure it out?" a sage asked, puzzled.

"Given that it's surrounded by so many alchemy furnaces, it must be an alchemy furnace too. But I've never seen one so massive before. And why does it smell like food inside? Something feels off."

"Could it be that you're just too ignorant? I think it's a unique medicinal aroma. Since it's placed at the center of all these alchemy furnaces, it must belong to an extremely skilled alchemist!"

This person actually managed to reason it out.

The cultivators grew curious about the enormous boiler and someone suggested taking a closer look to assess its quality. They speculated it might be another top-tier treasure.

Several cultivators rushed forward, climbing onto the boiler, and were immediately hit by a wave of food-like fragrance.

"There are actually pills inside!" one cultivator exclaimed, pointing into the massive boiler, clearly astonished.

The others saw it too and dove inside the boiler. Picking up a pill, they were instantly shocked.

"This is actually a damaged low-grade grand pill!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the other cultivators became excited. Seeing many remnants of pills still inside the boiler, they scrambled to grab them.

Even a damaged low-grade grand pill was considered valuable for a quasi-saint. Even if they didn't use it themselves, they could sell it for a decent amount of spirit stones.

The boiler was filled with damaged pills, and the cultivators grew increasingly frenzied, leading to conflicts and even bloodshed.

A quasi-saint, sensing the chaos, quickly went to fetch an elder sage to restore order.

This elder sage was a cultivator who had returned from the frontlines and served as their guide. He was a highly respected figure.

Ever since the eight quasi-emperors returned from their treasure hunt at the frontlines, cultivators who had fought on the Heavenly Dao frontlines became highly sought after by major factions.

Some factions even jointly invited a sage who had fought on the Heavenly Dao frontlines to lead them.

The elder sage before them was such a figure. Seeing the cultivators fighting over the pills, he frowned and scolded,

"What are you doing? Fighting over a few alchemy furnaces? They're not even rare treasures. Look at yourselves, what a disgrace!"

"It's not the alchemy furnaces, it's the grand pills!" a sage nearby explained.

"Grand pills? Where are there grand pills here?" The elder sage was puzzled. As someone who had fought on the left frontlines, he was familiar with the area. The logistics department's pills should be stored in the storage room. This was where the alchemy furnaces were kept. How could there be grand pills here?

"It's this treasure!" A cultivator who had been fighting stepped back, opening his palm to show the elder sage the damaged low-grade grand pill he had grabbed.

The elder sage was stunned. Pointing at the damaged pill, he exclaimed,

"Isn't this just trash left over from the Chen Saint's alchemy? You're fighting over this? Back in the day, the cultivators who fought here didn't even bother taking it!"

His words silenced the crowd. The cultivators clenched the pills in their hands, feeling a bit sour.

So, they had become garbage collectors.

Now, even if the pills were valuable, they no longer felt like fighting over them. Instead, they started to politely offer them to each other.

"Brother Ma, you haven't taken a pill yet. Why don't you take one?"

"No, no, such treasures are better suited for you. I don't have the fortune to enjoy them," Brother Ma declined politely.

After all, it was just a damaged low-grade grand pill. It wasn't worth tarnishing their reputation as garbage collectors.

The elder sage shook his head, sighing at them, "The truly good pills are all in the storage room of the logistics department. Some of them were even personally refined by the Chen Saint. The highest grade among them is a half-finished emperor-grade pill. You should be fighting over those instead."

"But for some reason, the left frontlines have been severely shattered. I don't even know where the storage room ended up. It's up to your luck now."

The elder sage had left before the Four Emperors collided with the city walls, so he didn't know the reason for the destruction. That was also why he survived; otherwise, he would have been crushed by the Four Emperors.

Hearing this news, the cultivators became even more excited and began searching the entire left frontlines. Many more cultivators arrived, and almost every one of them was startled by the dozen or so emperor heads hanging on the city walls.

Some cultivators, upon seeing the hanging emperor heads, refused to enter the left frontlines, preferring to seek opportunities in the central frontlines instead.

The left frontlines did indeed hold many opportunities. The sages' treasures were gradually discovered, and most cultivators found something valuable. Of course, there were also conflicts and battles, which was to be expected when searching for treasures.

As the cultivators ventured deeper, the true nature of the left frontlines began to reveal itself.

Eventually, a group of cultivators discovered a section of the city wall that stood out from the rest. What made it unique was the presence of numerous chessboards.

Chessboards weren't unusual, but what was strange was that there was also a figure sitting on the city wall, facing away from the wall as if gazing into the void above.

The group of cultivators who had come to explore assumed it was another cultivator who had arrived earlier and asked,

"Fellow Daoist, when did you arrive? Are there any opportunities here?"

The figure slowly turned around, revealing a calm face, and shook his head.

"I've been here for a long time. There probably aren't any opportunities."

"Oh," the sage who asked nodded, then suddenly added, "If there are no opportunities, why are you sitting here?"

"Because I wanted to see things from a different perspective," the figure replied with a cryptic statement that left the sage puzzled. He shook his head and said,

"Even though you say there are no opportunities, we'll still search the area just to be cautious. It's better to be safe than sorry. That's how things are on the Heavenly Dao frontlines. Apologies, Fellow Daoist."

The figure turned back around, still calm, and said, "Do as you please."

The sage ignored him, feeling that there was something odd about this person, and quickly searched the area. He did find a few remnants of sage-level treasures, but they were hardly significant discoveries, more like minor gains.

Having found so little, the group of sages felt unsatisfied. Exchanging glances, they turned back to the figure sitting with his back to them and asked,

"Fellow Daoist, was it like this when you arrived?"

"Not exactly. It was still intact when I got here," the figure replied.

"Then where are the opportunities?" the sages pressed, thinking that if the area had been intact, there should have been opportunities.

"There aren't any," the figure answered again.

The sages frowned, growing slightly impatient, and directly asked, "Fellow Daoist, what is your cultivation level?"

If he was a great sage or quasi-emperor, they would leave immediately and not bother him further.

"About the same as yours," the figure replied calmly.

The sages pressed further, "What is your name? How should we address you?"

They were asking about his background. If he came from a prominent family, they wouldn't cause trouble.

The figure still didn't turn around, seemingly lost in thought as he gazed into the void. He slowly replied,

"Call me... Yan Zi."