Chapter 935: Rested Quite Well

Lu Yang felt that this visit to the Laurel Immortal Palace had not been in vain. He had never known that the palace disciples were all so adept at swinging axes and tempering their bodies, nor what terrifying strength was hidden beneath those delicate frames.

He had only sparred with Lan Ting a few times, and always with restraint, entirely unaware that she too was a cultivator of immense physical might and martial skill.

Moreover, he had never imagined that the palace rules would be so permissive, completely indifferent to matters of romantic love.

This Master Zhuiyue must surely be a forward-thinking senior with a grand vision.

Impressive.

"Come to think of it, I have hardly ever studied body-tempering techniques."

Reflecting on his own path of cultivation, Lu Yang realized he had focused primarily on swordsmanship and spells, leaving the physical arts untouched.

"Why would our Immortal Lineage ever need body-tempering?" the Immortal Fairy chimed in. "Once you possess the rudimentary form of the Immortal Dao Fruit, your body will be far sturdier than any physical cultivator's."

"Besides, even if you became a physical cultivator, wouldn't your self-detonation carry the exact same power as an ordinary cultivator's?"

The Immortal Fairy laid out the pros and cons for Lu Yang with flawless logic.

"How about it? If you feel your body isn't sturdy enough, this Fairy can grant you a rudimentary Immortal Dao Fruit right now." The Immortal Fairy was eager to try; the moment Lu Yang nodded or uttered a single word of agreement, she would shove it straight into his body.

"No thank you," Lu Yang refused. His goal was to achieve true immortality, to become an existence on par with his Eldest Senior Sister and the Immortal Fairy. Accepting a mere rudimentary fruit now would just turn him into an embarrassing half-immortal like Li Haoran.

Seeing his refusal, the Immortal Fairy felt a pang of regret and muttered softly, "What is the harm in this Fairy giving you a rudimentary fruit? You are treating me like a stranger."

The Laurel Immortal Palace was vast, so vast that Lan Ting and Lu Yang spent an entire day exploring only a small fraction of it.

"Then I shall see you tomorrow, Senior Brother," Lan Ting said with a sweet smile, escorting Lu Yang back to the entrance of his guest courtyard.

"See you tomorrow."

Night had fallen, and the sun above had given way to the moon, casting a much richer concentration of Lunar Energy than before.

The night was the most crucial time for the palace disciples to cultivate, which was why Lan Ting had taken her leave.

"Lunar Energy..."

Lu Yang gazed up at the moon. His own cultivation required neither solar nor lunar energy, making him less perceptive to the shifting nuances of these two powers.

Just as Lu Yang was staring at the moon, pondering whether he should recite the poem Prelude to Water Melody, a petite palace disciple approached him rather awkwardly, appearing somewhat bashful.

"Greetings, Senior Brother Lu Yang," the disciple greeted him politely.

"And you are?"

"My name is Bai Ye, a disciple of the Immortal Palace."

Bai Ye was quite shy, keeping her head lowered while peering upward to steal glances at him. "Senior Brother Lu Yang, could you tell me about your experiences? Like your journeys to the Demon Realm or the Eastern Sea?"

She had never traveled to such distant lands. When listening to storytelling performances, she always thought Lu Yang was incredible, having been everywhere and experienced everything. Now that she had finally met the man himself, she was determined to hear his stories.

"Do you not need to cultivate?" Lu Yang had assumed all palace disciples were like Lan Ting, seizing every spare moment to practice.

"Missing one day of cultivation is no big deal," Bai Ye said with a giggle. Seeing that Lu Yang was gentle and approachable, she gradually let down her guard.

Lu Yang thought for a moment. Since he had nothing better to do, there was no harm in storytelling. At worst, he would simply omit the things that could not be spoken of, such as reviving Jiang Lianyi in the Demon Realm.

"Very well." Lu Yang gestured for her to sit, preparing to take his time.

"Let me think where to begin... Ah, right, let us start from the second time I went to the Mission Hall to accept a task. The objective was to eliminate a tiger demon..."

Lu Yang's experiences were vast. Even after omitting the secrets, it was not something that could be finished in a single evening.

Bai Ye listened with rapt attention, her eyes shining with growing admiration. It was difficult to imagine that these were the adventures of a single cultivator; she doubted that even all the palace disciples combined had experienced as much as Senior Brother Lu Yang.

"Alright, we shall stop here for today. If I keep going, the sun will rise," Lu Yang said with a smile. He had spoken through the night, and dawn was fast approaching. He could not go on indefinitely, or there would be no end to it.

"Alright then," Bai Ye said, looking unsatisfied, clearly wanting to hear more. Yet she knew it was indeed time to stop.

"Will Senior Brother Lu Yang tell more stories tomorrow night?"

"If you come to listen, I will tell them," Lu Yang smiled, finding himself quite fond of this pint-sized palace disciple.

Overjoyed, Bai Ye waved goodbye as she walked away. "Then I shall see you tomorrow night, Senior Brother Lu Yang!"

Before the sky grew completely bright, Lu Yang returned to his room and sat upon the Spirit Gathering Array, opening his mouth wide to swallow spiritual energy for his cultivation.

His entire cultivation level had been forged by seizing every second like this, an incredibly arduous process.

Simultaneously, his consciousness returned to his mental space to seek out the Immortal Fairy, balancing both tasks without delay.

"Fairy, come play in the snow."

The Immortal Fairy pouted her small lips, highly displeased that Lu Yang had waited until now to keep her company. She raised a snowman bearing the name "Lu Yang" and hurled it straight at him.

"Hmph, you only come over when you are called."

Before Lu Yang could clearly read the words on the snowman, it came flying toward him. Stepping quickly, his figure shifted, moving so fast he left an afterimage in place.

And then he failed to dodge it.

Wiping the snow from his face, Lu Yang smiled sheepishly. "I am not like you, Fairy. I have not seen much of the world. Coming to the Immortal Palace for the first time, of course I had to take a proper look around."

Hearing Lu Yang praise her worldly knowledge, the corners of the Immortal Fairy's mouth curled upward, unable to suppress her delight. "What does a mere immortal palace matter? Especially one without a single actual immortal. If you just follow this Fairy faithfully, I promise to show you genuine creations of immortals, far better than this place!"

"Of course, of course, I have full faith in your abilities, Fairy."

"What shall we play?" Lu Yang then asked.

In truth, Lu Yang was not entirely just keeping the Immortal Fairy company; he himself had not played with snow in a very long time, especially snow this thick, which he had only seen in his past life, a time when he had no peace of mind to enjoy it.

"Let us build a snowman. It is no fun with just one solitary snowman here," the Immortal Fairy said, pointing to the lonely figure.

"Who should we build?"

"There are only the two of us in this mental space, so of course we are building you!" With that, the Immortal Fairy began rolling a snowball.

Lu Yang joined in, rolling a snowball of his own.

...

"How did Senior Brother Lu Yang rest last night?" Lan Ting sought out Lu Yang early in the morning.

Lu Yang thought to himself that he hadn't rested at all. First came the storytelling, followed by building snowmen. It had been quite fun, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the word 'rest.'

Right now, the snowman named Lu Yang in his mental space was the masterpiece of both him and the Fairy.

"I rested very well."

"That is good." Lan Ting breathed a sigh of relief. She had worried that some senior or junior sisters might have sought Lu Yang out last night to grow closer to him behind her back. It seemed her anxieties had been entirely unnecessary.