Chapter 1021: New Year's Money

Having dealt with the Immortal Fairy, Lu Yang stepped out only to run into Yun Mengmeng.

"Happy New Year, Second-in-Command."

With that, Yun Mengmeng extended her hand, blinking at Lu Yang and leaving him utterly bewildered.

"Second-in-Command, it is time for lucky money," Yun Mengmeng reminded him in a soft whisper, blushing slightly, as though voicing such a request was terribly embarrassing.

"Red envelopes? Wait a moment, Sister Mengmeng, shouldn't it be you giving me lucky money, whether we are judging by cultivation or age?"

Yun Mengmeng argued with righteous conviction, "But you are the Second-in-Command, and I am only the Third-in-Command."

"I..."

Her logic left Lu Yang completely speechless; with no choice left, he could only obediently hand over the lucky money.

The amount was modest, for it was the thought that counted.

"Happy New Year, Fourth Junior Brother."

Senior Sister Gan Tian arrived as well, presenting Lu Yang with his lucky money.

"Wait a moment, Xiaotian, try this." Yun Mengmeng stuffed a paper packet into Gan Tian's hands.

"What is this?"

Gan Tian unwrapped the packet to find melon seeds, peanuts, winter melon candy, and the like.

"Hmph, I made inquiries long ago; these are exactly what one ought to eat during the New Year." To prepare these treats, Yun Mengmeng had meticulously noted down throughout the year whose melon seeds were the most savory and whose peanuts were the finest, mastering the knowledge entirely.

"You get a bag too, Second-in-Command." Yun Mengmeng handed a sack of snacks to Lu Yang as well.

"Thank you."

Lu Yang tossed a melon seed into his mouth, and a rush of spiritual energy surged straight to the crown of his head.

"Where did you get these melon seeds?" Lu Yang was shocked; how could a single tiny seed contain such a staggering amount of spiritual energy?

"Oh, I cleared a plot of land in the medicine garden to grow sunflowers and peanuts. I usually nurture them with top-grade spiritual stones and water them with Primordial True Water, and the Little Medicine Kings help look after them too."

Yun Mengmeng spoke nonchalantly; she was hardly an impractical cultivator ignorant of agriculture. On the contrary, she possessed a refined palate and believed that only what she grew herself could attain the highest quality.

And indeed, no one else’s melon seeds could ever surpass the quality of those grown by Yun Mengmeng.

Using top-grade spiritual stones just to cultivate sunflowers—even Lu Yang, with all his vast wealth, felt his heart ache at the extravagance.

Was the pocket money the Eldest Senior Sister gave you meant to be spent like this?

"Delectable treats are something this Immortal possesses as well, grown by my own hand, so consider it your lucky money."

Seeing how astonished young Yang was by Yun Mengmeng's sunflowers, the Immortal Fairy felt she could not allow the Third-in-Command to outshine her.

Producing a golden apple from who knows where, she presented it to Lu Yang with both hands: "Happy New Year, Second-in-Command, this is your New Year's gift."

A blessing from an immortal, a bounty from a sovereign, the care of the Commander for her subordinate—it left Lu Yang overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.

"Many thanks, Fairy." Lu Yang accepted the apple, catching a whiff of its delicate fragrance; though grown by the Fairy, since it was just a piece of fruit, surely nothing could go wrong?

"Fairy, when did you start growing apples?" Lu Yang asked out of curiosity; it was one thing for Yun Mengmeng to cultivate sunflowers in the medicine garden out of his sight, but how could the Immortal Fairy, who resided within his spiritual space, manage to grow an apple?

"What do you mean, apple? This is the embryonic form of the Immortal Dao Fruit; if you eat it, you will possess the embryonic form of the Immortal Dao Fruit." The Immortal Fairy looked at Lu Yang with eager anticipation.

Lu Yang shuddered in terror, nearly dropping the embryonic Immortal Dao Fruit right then and there.

Was it truly this simple to acquire the embryonic form of an Immortal Dao Fruit?

If this were the outside world, those in the Tribulation Transmutation Stage would beat each other to a bloody pulp over it.

The Immortal Fairy grinned with immense pride: "Do you think anyone who eats it can obtain the embryonic form of the Immortal Dao Fruit? It is a privilege reserved solely for you, the Second-in-Command."

"I am not eating it."

Lu Yang harbored grand ambitions; a mere half-immortal was not his ultimate goal. He was determined to ascend to true immortality, and specifically the kind of immortal that would not be constantly bullied by the Immortal Fairy.

If he consumed this embryonic Immortal Dao Fruit, would he not be trapped beneath the Immortal Fairy's thumb for the rest of his days?

Yet there was no taking back what the Immortal Fairy had given away; no matter what Lu Yang said, she steadfastly refused to take the embryonic fruit back.

Lu Yang sighed, left with no choice but to accept it for the time being.

"Where is Eldest Senior Sister?"

"Xiaozhi went home; she said she would not return until the first day of the New Year," Yun Mengmeng replied while cracking open melon seeds.

"Then why didn't you go back?"

"Oh, I plan to head home on the first day of the New Year."

"Fair enough."

"The sentiments of the New Year may well inspire me to compose a new piece, so I shall take my leave now." Senior Sister Gan Tian never neglected her cultivation, even during the holidays.

It was the first time both Lu Yang and Yun Mengmeng were spending the New Year within the sect, so the pair descended the mountain together, where they crossed paths with Meng Jingzhou, who was making his rounds offering New Year greetings.

Meng Jingzhou’s eyes lit up upon spotting Lu Yang, and he acted with great magnanimity: "Old Lu, Happy New Year, here is your lucky money."

"Get lost!" Lu Yang laughed and kicked out at him, a move Meng Jingzhou had long anticipated and easily dodged.

After a brief moment of playful roughhousing, Lu Yang finally inquired, "Why didn't you go home?"

Meng Jingzhou pocketed his money and rolled his eyes: "It is all because the old ancestor of my clan became superstitious ever since he took a beating in the Buddhist Kingdom; he claims that my return would easily draw misfortune upon us."

Lu Yang shook his head in pity: "Senior Meng the Gentleman is such an elder, how can he still believe in such nonsense? His beating in the Buddhist Kingdom was clearly just a stroke of bad luck, so why make it sound as though it had anything to do with the two of us?"

"Exactly," Meng Jingzhou agreed wholeheartedly; nothing of note had actually happened while they were in the Buddhist Kingdom, save for the appearance of the Vice Leader of the Heartless Sect, who was merely at the early stage of Tribulation Transmutation, which could hardly be considered a major event.

Lu Yang likewise felt it was no big deal, yet to be entirely certain, he turned to ask Yun Mengmeng, who was still munching on melon seeds beside him: "Sister Mengmeng, if you were to encounter a cultivator at the early stage of Tribulation Transmutation in the Buddhist Kingdom, would that count as a major event?"

Yun Mengmeng sucked the salt off a melon seed, looking somewhat puzzled: "How could that possibly be considered a major event?"

Seeing that Yun Mengmeng shared his view, Lu Yang nodded, reassured that his own judgment remained sound, and proceeded to console Old Meng: "The elderly are prone to superstition as they age, just try to understand."

"Sigh." Meng Jingzhou let out a heavy sigh; as a junior, he could only defer to the whims of his elder.

Man Gu had returned to the Barbarian Tribe for the New Year and was not present in the Daoist Sect.

Su Yiren and Qin Yanyan had both come to the Daoist Sect for the holidays, and Li Haoran's household was enjoying a harmonious atmosphere, currently engaged in wrapping dumplings.

To be precise, the entire family was researching how to forge a magical treasure that could wrap dumplings automatically.

Upon seeing the arrival of Lu Yang and Yun Mengmeng, the family welcomed them with great warmth, though Lu Yang dared not linger too long, terrified that the Immortal Fairy might have a sudden whim to wrap dumplings herself.

Fortunately, amidst the festive season, the Immortal Fairy harbored no such terrifying notions of culinary creation, but was instead reminded of ancient history.

"Come to think of it, isn't there a custom of wrapping dumplings for the New Year and placing a copper coin inside, where whoever bites into it receives good fortune?"

"When this Immortal wrapped dumplings back then, I secretly hid a copper coin inside as well, promising that whoever found it would have all their meals provided by me for an entire year."

"But it was rather strange; even after all the dumplings were devoured, not a single one of the four, including Yingtian Xian, ever found that coin."

Lu Yang thought to himself that no one would ever dare admit to finding it; if it were him, he would have grit his teeth and swallowed the coin whole.

"Do you think it might be because this Immortal used star cores as the filling for the dumplings, and they simply mistook the copper coin for a star core and ate it?"