Ye Tianfan followed these three people through the air, flying for over three thousand miles, taking a full two days. Along the way, they paused to rest overnight.

On the second day, these three finally arrived at the foot of a desolate mountain. Ye Tianfan landed not far behind them. Due to the clouds and mist surrounding them in the sky, Ye Tianfan had managed to follow them for two whole days without being detected. Upon landing and seeing the surrounding environment, Ye Tianfan realized these three might not be people of the righteous path. The area for hundreds of miles around was dominated by a towering and perilous mountain, with more rocks than vegetation, and no sign of human habitation at the base—utter desolation.

Just as Ye Tianfan saw the three standing at the entrance of a cave, unsure of what they were doing, several howls suddenly emanated from inside the cave. The three responded with howls of their own, alerting Ye Tianfan that someone was there to meet them.

Sure enough, shortly after, four beams of purple-black light flashed within the cave and a moment later these lights appeared before the three people, revealing four figures.

Ye Tianfan saw them exchange a few words, after which the three he had been following went with the four from the cave into its depths, restoring silence once more.

After they had all entered, Ye Tianfan emerged from his hiding place and slowly approached the entrance of the cave, hesitating whether or not to go in. If discovered, there would be no return; if not, that would be ideal.

Weighing life and death, Ye Tianfan stood beside the cave, thinking for a while, and decided not to enter. Currently, his own strength was still too weak, and the main purpose of this outing was to see if he could find his own opportunity, not to take risks. After taking one last, deep look at the cave's appearance, Ye Tianfan summoned his magic sword and flew away.

Ye Tianfan didn't return the way he came because there was no opportunity to be found on that route. Over these two days, he not only followed but also observed the ground, passing few cities and thus finding little opportunity.

After flying for about half a day, it was noon, and the sun shone brightly on the land below—an open expanse with few inhabitants. Only an ancient road stretched across this plain, trodden by countless ancient and modern people.

Ye Tianfan followed this ancient road with his eyes to a small town at its end, although small in scale, it was bustling with people!

Seeing the small town ahead filled Ye Tianfan with joy. Knowing that for days he had been eating and sleeping in the open, though he had silver taels with him, there was nowhere to spend them. When hungry, he nibbled on dry rations bought in Yu Garden City and, at night, he barely slept to avoid them slipping away.

Ye Tianfan quickly controlled the flying sword and descended, walking to the town's entrance, where a stone tablet stood, engraved with the words "Snack Town"—clearly the name of this place.

Ye Tianfan walked straight in, and the road noises grew noisy with hawking cries. The small town had several main streets, lined with houses and some shops, but mostly vendors with stalls on the roadside.

"Give me a roast chicken!" Ye Tianfan walked straight to a stall selling roast chicken and ordered one. He was simply craving it beyond control.

For these two or three days, he had mostly eaten dry food and drunk cold water; now Ye Tianfan wanted to indulge, eating roast chicken and drinking fine wine.

In this Snack Town, a youth could be seen stopping at every snack stall until his stomach was bloated and only then did he stop.

Lying in a room he had just rented at an inn, Ye Tianfan was so full his eyes rolled back.

After a while, Ye Tianfan's stomach settled enough for him to sit up.

"Finally recovered, so full, so delicious, truly worthy of being called Snack Town; it even awakened my gluttony among the seven deadly sins. Looks like I should stay here a while longer, just enough time to practice resisting temptation." Ye Tianfan wouldn't admit he wanted to sample all the snacks here before leaving. He even blamed this town for bringing out his gluttonous side.

"Dang dang dang dang dang dang dang…"

Just as Ye Tianfan was indulging in the taste of snacks, suddenly loud gong noises erupted from the street outside, startling him. He quickly opened the door and caught the passing inn waiter.

"Hey, what's going on? Why such a big commotion outside?" Ye Tianfan inquired of the inn waiter.

"Sir, that's our Snack Town's town gong. When it's struck, the whole town hears it. The town chief is calling everyone, probably for an announcement." After explaining, the inn waiter hurried out, as he too was a town resident and needed to attend the gathering.

"Seems there's something significant happening. As a disciple of the righteous path, helping the common folk is my responsibility." After speaking, Ye Tianfan followed the waiter, joining him to the gathering spot. Of course, he wasn't just interested in watching the excitement.

Soon, Ye Tianfan followed the waiter to the town center, where there was a large stone platform, around which the hurrying townsfolk gathered.

Ye Tianfan stood amidst the crowd, gazing at the stone platform, on which an elder was already seated.

Seeing nearly everyone had arrived, the elder on the platform, leaning on his cane, stood up and waved to the townsfolk, who gradually quieted down.

Once silence reigned, the elder looked around with a smile and said, "Good people, I've gathered you here today because, as you likely know, the annual Snack Town Snack Competition will officially begin the day after tomorrow. Registration starts just after this gathering ends. If you have a special skill and can make great snacks, you are qualified to register."

A cheer arose from the townsfolk, with some even taking off their shirts and waving them around. Ye Tianfan understood—it was a snack contest. Conveniently, as a disciple of the righteous path, he had a duty to ensure the contest's safety.

Ye Tianfan found a reason to stay, thinking it better than the flimsy excuse before—a more compelling reason to persuade himself.

Then the town chief continued: "This time, the reward is quite extraordinary—a knife used by an Immortal. My nephew gave it to me as a birthday gift, but I'm too old to use it, so I decided to offer it as a prize for this year's Snack Competition."

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