Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)

“Buddha, please bless me!” Dai Bufan kowtowed three times with resounding thuds, a testament to his sincerity. When he looked up, he saw that the three incense sticks, which had already burned out, had rekindled.

The fallen ash reformed into the incense sticks once more.

A question mark popped out of his head.

As Dai Bufan emerged from the Mahavira Hall, Abbot Mingyu approached him curiously, asking, “Amitabha. How did your prayers go, Benefactor Dai?”

Dai Bufan fell silent for a moment, then slowly replied, “The Buddha manifested.”

“Oh?” Abbot Mingyu was genuinely surprised.

Dai Bufan opened his hands, revealing three perfectly intact incense sticks. “The Buddha returned the incense to me.”

~~~

Dao-Seeking Sect, Heaven’s Gate Peak...

“See, doesn’t cutting the fruit this way make it more appetizing? Although it’s only the appearance of the fruit that’s changed and the taste remains the same, it can reflect the intention of the spirit chef.”

“Eh, it really does.”

Beside the ancestral temple of the Great Dou Dynasty, Yun Mengmeng and Qing He were studying how to arrange a fruit platter.

Qing He unreservedly taught Yun Mengmeng everything she had learned in her lifetime. Yun Mengmeng didn’t let down the trust placed in her and studied diligently. This gave Qing He a sense of achievement as her teacher.

Suddenly, Yun Mengmeng looked up, gazing around as if searching for something. Qing He found it puzzling. “What’s wrong?”

“I smell the Second-in-Command!” With that, Yun Mengmeng abandoned Qing He and dashed straight down the mountainside.

Just as Lu Yang was about to ascend the mountain, he looked up to see Yun Mengmeng charging straight at him.

He was immediately tackled to the ground.

“Second-in-Command, you’re back safely! I was so worried about you!”

Yun Mengmeng flung herself at Lu Yang, her large, watery eyes gazing at him. “How did you and the First-in-Command disappear from the Buddhist Kingdom just like that? We searched everywhere but couldn’t find you. Later, Little Zhi told me you’d gone to the Extreme North for training. I said I wanted to go too, but she refused to let me!

“Bad peach! I was so mad I didn’t talk to her for days.” Yun Mengmeng pouted.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy floated out from the mental space, pretending to be dignified as she cleared her throat. “Third-in-Command, our Everlasting Lineage has a strict hierarchy. What kind of decorum is this, clinging to Xiao Yangzi like this?”

“Ah? Oh.” Yun Mengmeng scrambled up from the ground, confused. She didn’t quite understand what her actions had to do with hierarchy or decorum. But the First-in-Command is always right; I just have to listen to her.

Pink lotus petals drifted down in a flurry, like an auspicious omen that had descended from the heavens. This was Qing He’s unique way of welcoming the Everlasting Immortal Fairy.

“Mistress, you’re back.”

“Immortal Fairy, come to think of it, Senior Qing He’s original form is a lotus (lianhua). Why is she called ‘Qing He’ instead of ‘Qing Lian?’”[1] Lu Yang asked quietly.

He had already wondered about this back in the Buddhist Kingdom when he first learned that Qing He’s original form was a lotus, but he had temporarily tossed this to the back of his mind after arriving in the Extreme North. Now that he saw Qing He again, the question resurfaced.

“This is actually this immortal’s fault. When I saved Qing He, I was still young and couldn’t tell the difference between hehua and lianhua. I thought she was a hehua, so I named her ‘Qing He.’ Later, when I could distinguish them and offered to change her name, she refused, so it’s stuck ever since.”

“Qing He, long time no see,” the Nine-Layers Immortal greeted her with a smile. He had encountered many old acquaintances these past few days.

“Big Brother Nine-Layers.” Qing He returned a faint smile. It’s been three hundred thousand years. That’s a really long time.

When Lu Yang reached the summit of Heaven’s Gate Peak, he was surprised to find that the ancestral temple of the Great Dou Dynasty built in the Buddhist Kingdom had been moved here.

“After the First-in-Command and the Second-in-Command disappeared, Sister Ling, Sister Lianyi, and Sister Caiwei all wanted to move the ancestral temple to their territories, but they couldn’t win Little He and me in the argument. We stood our ground and moved it back to our sect!” Yun Mengmeng explained with a grin.

“Second-in-Command, you were in the Extreme North for so long. Was there anything fun?” She brought over a fruit platter and asked eagerly. The spirit fruits had been cut with the techniques she had just learned.

Lu Yang took a bite of a spirit fruit in the shape of the Qingfeng Sword. He didn’t know what variety it was, but it tasted rather good.

“The Extreme North was freezing cold and hardly fun. I just happened to encounter a few interesting students.” Lu Yang waved his hand. The place had nothing but chunks and chunks of ice. It couldn’t even compare to the Buddhist Kingdom. He wouldn’t recommend Yun Mengmeng visit it for fun.

“But there were plenty of good people there. Our martial arts school’s doors were broken twice, and both times they were replaced for free.

“There was also someone called the Carefree Wanderer in the Extreme North. He committed many evil deeds. I suppose he felt he had done too much evil and committed suicide. That makes him half a good person, I guess.

“Then the Heartless Creed attacked. I don’t know why they suddenly showed up at my doorstep. I was just an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire, just like the fish in the pond that gets implicated when the city catches fire. I was just a teacher and tempering myself in the mundane world. Why did he come looking for me?”

“Exactly! The Heartless Creed is truly detestable!” Yun Mengmeng said indignantly on Lu Yang’s behalf. Everything had been fine when we were in the Buddhist Kingdom.

“Although Yang Kongtong was a pretty strong half-immortal, he still wasn’t a match for me. I took him down in a few moves,” Lu Yang said smugly.

A Transcendent Tribulation cultivator defeating a half-immortal—I must be the first in all of history to pull it off. Once I get back, I’ll have to spread the news of my feat through the newspapers.

Interviewing myself would be inappropriate; it would lack credibility. I shall let the onlooker, Old Meng, do the honors.

“You’re so amazing, Second-in-Command! What happened next?” Yun Mengmeng’s eyes sparkled with excitement. The Second-in-Command always accomplishes things I can’t. Just as expected of him.

“After that, before Yang Kongtong died, he summoned the Fate Arbiter, the chief officiant of the Great Qian Dynasty. Fortunately, Senior Nine-Layers Immortal intervened at the critical juncture, saving me from disaster.”

The Nine-Layers Immortal wore a contented smile. Young Friend Lu certainly knows how to speak. Although the details don’t quite match, the general idea is close enough.

“After Senior Nine-Layers Immortal defeated the Fate Arbiter, he proposed to have a sparring match with Big Senior Sister, who readily agreed.

“The battle destroyed the martial arts school at the start, but after it concluded, Senior Nine-Layers Immortal volunteered to repair it. He’s truly a paragon of virtue.”

The Nine-Layers Immortal grew increasingly pleased as he listened to Lu Yang’s account. He’s not exactly wrong. Based on our backgrounds, I’m the most courteous among the Five Ancient Immortals.

The Heaven Mandate Immortal had escaped as a burial object; the Everlasting Immortal Fairy was born in a small tribe; the Epoch Immortal was a tree that awakened into a demon spirit; the Qilin Immortal was born a supernatural being. Only the Nine-Layers Immortal came from humanity’s great Lianshan Clan.

“Did Little Zhi win?” Yun Mengmeng was most concerned about the outcome of the battle.

Lu Yang was about to put a favorable spin on the battle’s outcome for the Nine-Layers Immortal when the latter slapped his thigh and lamented with a tone full of regret. “Aiya, if it weren’t for Fellow Daoist Yun Zhi and the Fate Arbiter joining forces, how could I have... Never mind, I won’t speak of it.”

Lu Yang was silent. You’d better say the same thing when Big Senior Sister gets back.

Qing He had been rather happy to see the Nine-Layers Immortal, but a thought suddenly struck her.

Apparently, Lu Yang was also the one who found the Heaven Mandate Immortal and the Epoch Immortal. Hui Doudou had searched for three hundred thousand years without finding a single one of them, yet Lu Yang had found them all in just a few years?

If Lu Yang had been with Hui Doudou back then, he would probably have achieved Transcendence long ago. Thank goodness Lu Yang is by the Mistress’ side—wait, why do I have such thoughts?!

1. If you remember my footnote in an earlier chapter, both “he” and “lian” can mean lotus in Chinese. The “official name” is “hehua,” but the “lian” in “lianhua” can also refer to the lotus seed (lianzi), while the “he” in “hehua” can mean “load/burden” and refer to how the leaves can support the load. In fact, the lotus flower has another name when it has yet to bloom. ☜