Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)

“They themselves are the result of ‘origin tracing?’”

Meng Jingzhou caught the implication behind Lu Yang’s words and shot him a peculiar look. “Are you saying that the ‘Three Esse True Fire’ was originally called the ‘Three Flavor True Fire’ and that the ‘Golden Crow True Flame’ was originally called the ‘Golden Bird True Flame?’”

Lu Yang exuded the composure of an enlightened sage who had seen through it all. “More or less.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m serious.” Lu Yang was convinced his theory made perfect sense.

“Immortal Fairy, who created the Three Esse True Fire and the Golden Crow True Flame?”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy reflected on everything she had learned and offered a tentative answer. “Both of these true fires originated in the distant past, far older than our era. They likely date back to the age when the cultivation system was being established.

“As for who specifically created the Three Esse True Fire, it’s hard to say. The Golden Bird True Flame was probably invented by the Golden Crow Tribe.”

Lu Yang clapped his hands. “That lines up!

“Although the primordial forebears lived in harsh conditions, battling the heavens and the earth, the fact that they created true fire spells means that they possessed basic self-defense capabilities. Hunting wild beasts and such shouldn’t have been much of a challenge.

“Once they had enough to eat and stay warm, the next logical step was figuring out how to eat well.

“Chili, cumin, sugar, and other seasonings would have been hard to obtain in the distant ancient era. Hence, the primordial forebears created the ‘Three Flavor True Fire’ to add flavor. It could cook the meat and make it taste delicious, killing two birds with one stone!

“And one more thing. In those days, writing had only just emerged. Could the forebears have given their fire such an esoteric name like ‘Three Esse?’ Absolutely not.

“They took words at face value. Since the true fire had three flavors, they called it the ‘Three Flavor True Fire.’

“Later, for some reason, the Three Flavor True Fire was lost, or perhaps only the name survived. Building on that foundation, future generations made all sorts of haphazard changes to it, eventually turning it into the ‘Three Esse True Fire.’

“See? Perfectly logical, isn’t it?”

Applause came from both sides. The Everlasting Immortal Fairy and Yun Mengmeng were clapping, voicing their support for Lu Yang.

“Xiao Yangzi’s theory is exactly what this immortal wanted to say.”

“The Second-in-Command makes so much sense.”

Meng Jingzhou. “...”

Don’t think that just because you Everlasting Lineage folks outnumber me, you’re automatically right.

“Then how do you explain the Golden Bird True Flame?”

Before Lu Yang could respond, Yun Mengmeng raised her hand and rushed to answer. “I know this one! Back in the primordial era, the golden crows had two legs, and they mutated to grow a third leg later on.”

The biggest difference between the Golden Bird True Flame and the Golden Crow True Flame was a single leg.

Lu Yang concurred. “See? There’s your answer.”

The three members of the Everlasting Lineage were all in accord. Meng Jingzhou was starting to doubt himself. “How about you try testing some other spells...?” These two true fires aren’t the only spells Old Lu learned wrong.

“Then let me try Shrinking Earth and To Inches.”

Without hesitation, Lu Yang rose and performed Shrinking Earth just like he always did. With a swoosh, he plunged into the ground.

Meng Jingzhou tried to track him with his spiritual consciousness, but Lu Yang traversed the earth at astonishing speed. In the blink of an eye, he had gone beyond the range of Meng Jingzhou’s perception.

When Lu Yang darted out from the ground, he was clutching a handful of black soil.

Meng Jingzhou’s pupils constricted. “That’s the black soil from the deepest layer of the world in contact with the World Seal?!”

“Exactly.”

This means that Lu Yang had just tunneled all the way from the surface to the deepest depths of the world in a single breath!

“After I executed Shrinking Earth, the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit activated uncontrollably again. Compared to usual, my burrowing speed was incredible. Not even the Silver-Ringed Monarch Earthworm, the king of earthworms, can catch up to me!”

Lu Yang was fairly proud. This shows that no one can surpass me when it comes to burrowing!

“To Inches.”

He performed To Inches and shrank to just an inch tall.

This was Yun Mengmeng’s first time seeing such a tiny Lu Yang. She found it amusing and poked him repeatedly.

Lu Yang felt that this diminutive form was beneath the dignity of the Second-in-Command. One inch, three inches, one zhang, three zhang... he grew progressively larger, eventually becoming a thousand-zhang-tall titan. However, his growth process resembled bamboo expanding in segments, increasing by one inch at a time.

“Haha, I can finally execute the true Heaven-Earth Dharma Manifestation!” Lu Yang laughed heartily, his voice so thunderous that it shattered the clouds in the distance.

He then reverted to his original size.

“How would you explain Shrinking Earth To Inches now?” Meng Jingzhou was beginning to believe the nonsense Lu Yang had spouted earlier—mainly because he couldn’t think of any other explanation at the moment.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy and Yun Mengmeng remained silent. As always, at critical moments, Lu Yang could be counted on to provide an answer.

“That's easy to explain. Just now, I grew in increments of ‘inches,’ which suggests that ‘To Inches’ might have been used in the primordial era to standardize measurements. As for ‘Shrinking Earth,’ it literally means to shrink into the earth.”

Meng Jingzhou still didn’t follow. “Then how did these two completely unrelated terms end up paired together?”

“‘Even if you have to dig three feet down, you must find him.’ Does this sound familiar?”

Meng Jingzhou nodded. Who hasn’t heard this phrase before?

“Immortal Fairy, have you ever heard this saying in the ancient era?”

“Yes.”

Lu Yang stroked his chin and speculated, “My guess is that this saying dates back to the primordial era. For instance, when a tribe was robbed, the chieftain would order the entire clan to ‘dig three feet down’ to find the culprit or something.

“But how much exactly was ‘three feet?’ It was hard to determine. Hence, the forebears would make themselves thirty inches tall—which is three feet—and then shrink themselves into the ground. That way, they would know exactly how deep ‘three feet’ was!”

Meng Jingzhou was silent. Old Lu, I was ready to believe you, but could you make your explanations a little more plausible?

The more Lu Yang thought about it, the more convinced he was that his conjecture was correct. “Think about it. Just going by the literal meaning, could Shrinking Earth To Inches be a spatial spell? Of course not.

“The primordial forebears had just invented writing. Any spells they cast would have to be understood at face value. It was future generations who misinterpreted this spell.

“If you don’t believe me, ask Junior Brother Man. When he first saw the term ‘Shrinking Earth To Inches,’ would he have thought it was a spatial spell?”

Immediately after, Lu Yang performed Close Horizon From Cliff and vanished on the spot.

When he returned, he held sand from the Buddhist Kingdom, ice and snow from the Extreme North, seawater from the East Sea... a testament to just how many places he had visited in that brief span of time.

Previously, when Lu Yang used Close Horizon From Cliff, he would be randomly teleported to some cliff edge. But after activating the Origin-Tracing Incipient Dao Fruit, the result was drastically different—he could finally choose exactly which cliff to appear on.

“So what does this demonstrate? It proves that the spells I learned are the correct ones. All of you have been learning them wrong.” Lu Yang crossed his arms, looking as smug as he could be. After being maligned by the world for so long, the day of my vindication has finally arrived. I knew it! With my exceptional talent for spells, how could I have learned them askew?

After all that rambling, Meng Jingzhou suspected that the last sentence was the one Lu Yang had truly wanted to say.