Chapter 1053: I Am the Real Her!

An exquisitely beautiful female immortal strode through the bustling streets, basket in hand; strangely, the passersby looked right through her, as though she were completely invisible.

Lost in thought over the intelligence she had just received, her mind wandered, and a creeping panic began to set in.

"A mysterious immortal self-detonated in the Buddhist kingdom, and that brat Lu Yang just happened to be at Xitian Temple at the time—there are no such coincidences, that mysterious immortal must be Lu Yang!"

"How could this be, how could it be? How could a boy like Lu Yang possess the embryonic form of the Immortal Dao Fruit, and how did he obtain it?"

"His cultivation level is insufficient, so he certainly didn't condense it himself. That means someone gave the embryonic Immortal Dao Fruit to him!"

"Immortal... it must be Immortal who has been resurrected! Only she could accomplish such a feat!"

"Oh no, Qing He..."

At that realization, Hui Doudou abandoned her imitation of mortal life, warped space itself, and vanished instantly into a secluded, forgotten little restaurant.

Hui Doudou carried her market basket into the back kitchen and breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Qing He still leafing through a recipe book.

Noticing Hui Doudou's rushed return, Qing He closed the book and, with utter serenity, uttered the very words Hui Doudou least desired to hear.

"You must have heard about the mysterious immortal appearing in the Buddhist kingdom. I am going to find him."

"No, from this moment on, you are not allowed to go anywhere!"

Qing He stared directly into Hui Doudou's bright, furious immortal eyes, pronouncing each word with deliberate emphasis: "I. Am. Definitely. Going."

Flaring into a rage, Hui Doudou flashed instantly before Qing He and seized her by the wrist; Qing He was no match for her and was pinned flat against the wall, sending pots and pans clattering to the floor in a noisy, chaotic din that echoed through the kitchen.

"Qing He, do not force my hand!"

"Remember your place! The only reason I have kept you around until now is simply because I wanted someone to keep me company. I can replace you at any moment!"

Looking at the snarling, teeth-gritting Hui Doudou, Qing He actually let out a laugh, which only served to agitate Hui Doudou further.

"What are you laughing at!"

"Originally, it was a mere guess of mine that the mysterious immortal of the Buddhist kingdom was related to Milady, but seeing your extraordinary reaction now, I am certain my suspicion was correct."

Seething with fury, Hui Doudou gave a cold snort and released her grip on Qing He's wrist.

"The Immortal One, is it? I will surely kill her to prove that I am the true one!"

...

"Old Lu, how are you even back? I heard you were carried off by the Nian beast during the New Year." Meng Jingzhou pushed open the door to the cave dwelling, only to find Lu Yang wearing a thoroughly hypocritical smile.

"The Nian beast just took a liking to me and brought me to the Buddhist kingdom for a tour, that's all. Why wouldn't I be able to come back?"

"You ran off to the Buddhist kingdom again?" Meng Jingzhou thought of that kingdom with its endless sands, thinking Old Lu was truly pitiful; to be gone for months, he must have endured a great deal of hardship before managing to return.

That Nian beast truly deserved its reputation as an auspicious creature, doing nothing but good deeds.

"Let me tell you, the Buddhist kingdom is a wonderful place. Next time you go there, your brother here will cover you!" Lu Yang thumped his chest in reassurance, speaking with absolute solemnity.

"You have that much power?" Meng Jingzhou looked at Lu Yang skeptically, instinctively feeling that he probably shouldn't have asked.

Lu Yang shook his head and sighed, adopting a posture of supreme modesty: "My humble self is untalented, but I ascended to immortality while in the Buddhist kingdom."

"Oh, please. Old Lu, your lies are getting lazier and lazier lately."

"It's fine, I knew you wouldn't believe me, so I kept proof."

Lu Yang cheerfully produced a shadow-recording orb and played a first-person perspective of his battle against the Divine Lord Shichen, condescending to provide a personal commentary for Meng Jingzhou.

"This is the Divine Lord Shichen of the Great Gan Empire. He doesn't have much else going for him, but he possesses the embryonic Time Dao Fruit and can manipulate time; even Grandmaster Mingyu, the abbot of Xitian Temple, was defeated by him."

"And wouldn't you say it was a coincidence? My resurrecting of the Fairy counted as a grand virtue, just enough to achieve immortality."

"I saw that things were going south, so I reluctantly ascended to immortality and finished the lad off. Look, here is where the clone of the Emperor of the Central Heaven appeared, and he was no match for me either..."

"Later, I even ran into the Time Immortal, and he praised me up and down as the strongest of the future."

Meng Jingzhou's eyes instantly turned red with envy. His own moral character was no worse than Old Lu's, so why did this kind of good fortune never fall into his lap?

"Why is it that I only ever encounter minor, trivial scenes?"

"What kind of trivial scene did you encounter?"

"That must have been about two months ago. I went out on a mission, intending to keep a low profile. It just so happened that a certain young lady thought I was quite handsome and mentioned that her grandfather was terminally ill and about to celebrate his birthday. She asked if I could pretend to be her Dao companion so her grandfather could have a pleasant final birthday."

"That lady's family was just an obscure, minor clan—well, considered a grand clan locally."

"Being a helpful soul, I agreed. Thinking that her grandfather was celebrating a birthday after all, I couldn't go empty-handed, so I casually picked out a piece of top-grade Warm Yang Precious Jade from my identity token."

"That lady's cousin didn't know his wares; he insisted my gift was a fake, claiming he knew people in the Imperial City and couldn't possibly be mistaken, and even muttered about how the lady had terrible taste to choose a companion like me."

"When her grandfather came out, I took one look and realized what kind of illness it was—just an innate deficiency of Yang energy, a matter of a single drop of blood. I said I could cure him, but they still refused to believe me. The grandfather was sensible, or perhaps he just had an open mind, so he said he could let me try, but the family insisted on blocking me, calling me a fraud."

"Just as I was about to reveal my identity, people from the Imperial City arrived to offer their birthday congratulations. I can't recall exactly who that person was, just that he was someone's lackey, but he recognized me. The moment he saw me, he fell to his knees and cried, 'Young Master Meng!' He severed ties with the cousin on the spot and declared that any future business would be done exclusively through that lady."

Lu Yang: "..."

How is that any worse than my experience? I didn't even dare reveal my real name at Xitian Temple, yet you get to blatantly flaunt your status!

...

Lu Yang handed over the spiritual fruit given by the Time Immortal to Tang Chuanwu, instructing him to consume it in the proper order, before finally returning to Tianmen Peak.

"Second Boss, you're back!" Yun Mengmeng smiled happily upon seeing Lu Yang.

She trotted over and placed a freshly woven flower garland onto Lu Yang's head: "I was scared to death when you were carried off by the Nian beast, thinking something terrible was going to happen to you. It's so good to see you back safe and sound."

"Aw, what could possibly happen to me?"

"By the way, here is the promised specialty product from the Buddhist kingdom." Lu Yang produced a square sand sculpture from behind his back; the craftsmanship was exquisite, with every single detail executed with great care.

This was a magical treasure Lu Yang had forged on his way back, taking advantage of the fact that he still possessed the body of an immortal.

Though Lu Yang was not particularly adept at forging magical treasures, under the empowerment of an immortal body, even a casual creation would turn out to be a high-quality artifact.

For some unknown reason, there were two voices in Lu Yang's mind: one saying that the Immortal Fairy had already brought a Buddhist kingdom specialty to Yun Mengmeng on his behalf, while the other told him no such thing had happened.

In his dilemma, Lu Yang decided it was best to bring her a specialty product himself this time.

"Thank you, Second Boss!" Yun Mengmeng smiled sweetly, carefully stowing the sand sculpture away, terrified of breaking it.

"Second Boss, what place is this sand sculpture?"

Lu Yang introduced it earnestly: "Due to certain special reasons, if you were to visit the Buddhist kingdom anytime soon, it would be difficult to see an intact Xitian Temple. The sand sculpture you hold in your hands represents Xitian Temple in its most complete form; just consider it as though you've already been there."