Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)

“Mengmeng is timid. Don’t scare her,” Granny warned, then turned back with a smile.

Lu Yang involuntarily sat ramrod straight. He felt less like a guest and more like a criminal on trial. When have I ever seen Big Senior Sister soften her tone? Her words still sounded cold, but compared to how she usually speaks, the difference is stark.

“Please don’t mind that. I heard from Mengmeng that you’ve been looking after her outside. She also often sings your praises when she returns. Mengmeng has never been very opinionated. She’s kind-hearted and timid. I’ve been worried about her since she proposed leaving the secret domain. Fortunately, the first person she met outside was you; otherwise, I feared she would have been hoodwinked by bad people.”

Lu Yang smiled. “Sister Mengmeng is innocent and adorable. Who wouldn’t like her? I believe even those bad guys wouldn’t bear to swindle her.”

Yun Mengmeng giggled happily while listening from the side.

“It’s not easy being Little Zhi’s Little Junior Brother, right?”

Pffft! Lu Yang spewed the peach blossom tea he was drinking. Why has the topic suddenly changed to this?

“What’s wrong?” Granny was taken aback. Why such a strong reaction?

Lu Yang waved frantically. “I’m fine, I’m fine. The tea was too hot. I drank too fast.”

Yun Mengmeng hurried over with a handkerchief to wipe his mouth and gently patted his back.

“Little Zhi—uh, Big Senior Sister takes very good care of me. She has saved me several times. I can’t be any more grateful to her.” Everyone here called Yun Zhi “Little Zhi,” and Lu Yang had nearly been led astray.

Seeing that Lu Yang was fine, Granny continued, “Little Zhi has been different from others since childhood. She never played with the other children. While they threw sandbags, she read. While they climbed trees, she read. Only Mengmeng played with her a lot. Mengmeng would struggle to push her up a tree, and Little Zhi would still sit there reading.

“It’s not that Little Zhi is without feelings; it’s just that she’s poor at expressing them. She keeps things bottled up and insists on handling everything alone because she doesn’t want others to worry.”

“Indeed.” Lu Yang nodded in agreement. Big Senior Sister is great in every way, except that she isn’t willing to talk. She kept even something as big as her Dao Union to herself, determined to solve it alone.

Halfway through his nod, he suddenly felt a dangerous gaze fall upon him, making his hairs stand on end. Only a few people were present, and given the topic at hand, the owner of that gaze was obvious.

Unaware of Yun Zhi’s subtle signals, Granny continued, “With a steady young man like you as her Little Junior Brother to help share her burden, I can rest easy.”

“Granny, let’s eat,” Yun Zhi reminded her, sitting quietly to the side.

Granny slapped her forehead. “Oh right, I’ve been rambling on and on, making you fill your belly with nothing but tea. Come, let’s eat.”

“Yes, Second-in-Command. Let’s go eat.” Yun Mengmeng cheerfully pulled Lu Yang toward the center of the Peach Blossom Secret Domain.

Lu Yang was the first guest in the Peach Blossom Secret Domain in nearly a thousand years. Granny had already instructed the clan to prepare a meal, and by the time they finished chatting, the food was almost ready.

A colossal peach tree occupied the center of the Peach Blossom Secret Domain, its massive canopy like a cloud, casting a cool shade over the area. The Yun Clan members set up tables, laid out dishes, and poured juice and fruit wine.

Right as Lu Yang drew near, a rich fragrance assailed his senses. Even his cultivation rose imperceptibly. He was now truly at the Advanced Transcendent Tribulation Stage, with an astonishing demand for spirit qi. The fact that a mere scent could raise his cultivation spoke volumes about how mystical the fragrance was.

“No wonder everyone here is a cultivator.” Lu Yang had long noticed that all the Yun Clan members were cultivators, and not low-level ones at that. Living in such a wondrous place, it’d be strange if their cultivation were low.

He traced the fragrance to its source—the most prominent peach tree.

He had never seen such an enormous peach tree. If someone told him it was hundreds of thousands of years old, he would have believed them. The only thing comparable in scale was the Epoch Immortal’s true form, the Jianmu buried beneath the Five-Elements Sect.

Plump, rosy peaches hung from the branches, weighing them down. The Yun Clan members were like fairies, flying through the air with their skirts fluttering. They used jade ruyi scepters to knock down the peaches, catching them in bamboo baskets and arranging them on the banquet tables as the main dish. Noticing Lu Yang’s arrival, they kept stealing glances his way even as they worked.

Everyone sat down. There were no hierarchies here. Seating was casual, and everyone ate the same food.

“Have a taste. These peaches are unique to our secret domain. You don’t get to eat them outside. I don’t know whether Little Zhi and Mengmeng have let you taste them before.”

Lu Yang’s expression turned peculiar. Of course, I’ve tasted it before. A peach like this is unforgettable after a single glance. Isn’t this the immortal peach from World Natural Spiritual Root?

It can forcibly extend one’s lifespan. This was the immortal peach used to save the Xia Emperor and lure Guan Shanhai out during the Battle of the Imperial City. Later.

When it turned out that the Xia Emperor had been feigning illness and that the immortal peach wasn’t needed, Big Senior Sister and I split it on the way back, with the Immortal Fairy watching enviously from the side.

But the problem is, didn’t Big Senior Sister say that she obtained that immortal peach by chance, and that the World Natural Spiritual Root had fled after she picked one? So why is the World Natural Spiritual Root growing right here in her hometown?

Lu Yang sneaked a glance at Yun Zhi, trying to gauge her reaction. Yun Zhi was chatting with Yun Mengmeng when she noticed his gaze and turned her head. “Little Junior Brother, why are you looking at me? Eat.”

For reasons unknown, Lu Yang couldn’t help but feel that Yun Zhi was different today, like she was trying hard to act as she usually did.

The Yun Clan had inhabited the Peach Blossom Secret Domain for a hundred thousand years, mastering every possible way to eat peaches. The banquet also featured delicacies Yun Zhi had brought from the culinary planet, elevating the feast to another level. Lu Yang ate to his heart’s content. From time to time, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy took over Lu Yang’s body to taste the dishes herself, praising them effusively.

Some of the ethereal Yun Clan members began dancing midway through the meal, their movements graceful and breathtaking. Rather than saying they were dancing for Lu Yang, it was more accurate to say they simply loved to dance.

Yun Mengmeng was itching to join and also danced a segment, drawing rounds of applause. The atmosphere was joyous.

“Immortal Fairy, aren’t you curious why Big Senior Sister claimed not to know where the World Natural Spiritual Root was?” Lu Yang secretly asked in his mental space.

“Aiya, don’t overthink it.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy waved dismissively, unusually understanding. “Lass Yun must have her reasons. We should be understanding.”

“Hmm?” Lu Yang was baffled. Isn’t the Immortal Fairy extremely curious? What’s going on today?

Lu Yang noticed the Everlasting Immortal Fairy was in a good mood and had nearly swept the table clean. “Immortal Fairy, save some for me.”

Toward the end of the banquet, Lu Yang scooted over to Granny’s side and voiced the question that had puzzled him ever since he entered the secret domain. “Granny, why are the clan members in our secret domain all women?”