Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 934: The Thorough Founding Ancestor Moonchaser

Lu Yang was somewhat surprised. He had not expected that a place inhabited solely by female cultivators, like the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace, would have an artifact refinement chamber. Typically, few female cultivators were willing to engage in forging artifacts.

After all, while pursuing cultivation, female cultivators also valued elegance and aesthetics. For instance, Lu Yang had never seen a female cultivator swinging a huge hammer like Man Gu, nor a female cultivator whose body would split apart like Li Haoran’s.

“Senior Brother Lu Yang, do you find it strange that we female cultivators engage in artifact refinement?” Lan Ting noticed the peculiar look in Lu Yang’s eyes, roughly guessing what was on his mind.

“No, not at all,” Lu Yang replied with an awkward laugh.

“It’s not strange to think that way. Indeed, there are very few female artifact refiners in the outside world. It’s our immortal palace that has some unique aspects.”

“Unique aspects?”

“We have moon laurel trees.”

Seeing Lu Yang’s still perplexed expression, Lan Ting led him to a small grove filled with moon laurel trees. If these were to be sold in the outside world, they would fetch an astronomical price. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Before even entering the moon laurel grove, Lu Yang heard a continuous, muffled thumping sound, like the collision of two heavy objects.

Then he saw numerous immortal palace disciples taking turns swinging axes at the moon laurel trees. They were all panting from exhaustion, drenched in sweat. It was difficult to imagine that these were the same women with the ethereal image of immortal fairies who abstained from ordinary grains in public.

Lu Yang noticed that whenever a disciple struck a moon laurel tree, a gash would appear, only to mend itself rapidly, as though it had never been there. The disciples then had to continue chopping, repeating the cycle endlessly without pause.

“What is this?”

“This is a tradition passed down from our founding ancestor, the Moonchaser True Person. Legend has it that the Heaven Mandate Immortal frequently chopped down moon laurel trees with an axe in the ancient era, for reasons unknown. The Moonchaser True Person believed that every action of ancient immortals carried profound meaning and that this must be some form of cultivation method. Hence, she advocated using axes to chop moon laurel trees as a means of training.

“These moon laurel trees are indeed remarkably resistant to chopping. If a single swing from the axe fails to sever them, the gash will simply heal.”

Lan Ting smiled sheepishly. “Since we’re already swinging axes at moon laurel trees, wielding hammers for artifact refinement no longer seems like a crude activity in our eyes.

“As for the great strength required to swing hammers for artifact forging, we’ve already developed that through chopping moon laurel trees.”

Lu Yang was about to nod when an idea suddenly struck him. Since chopping moon laurel trees is a tradition of the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace, doesn’t that mean Lan Ting has also done it? If Lan Ting also chops trees, does it make sense for her to fight using those light, fluttery ribbons all day?

“Senior Sister Lan Ting! Senior Brother Lu Yang!”

The immortal palace disciples were diligently chopping trees when they spotted Lan Ting and Lu Yang walking together, their eyes lighting up. They all placed down their axes and approached Lu Yang.

But as they drew near Lu Yang, they hesitated and dared not go closer.

We’ve been chopping moon laurel trees for so long and are covered in sweat stains. If we approach Lu Yang in this state, won’t that be improper?

By the time they realized they could use a Body-Cleansing Incantation, Lan Ting had already pulled Lu Yang away. The two walked deep into the moon laurel grove, not stopping until they reached a tree that towered into the clouds.

Lu Yang gazed upward, unable to see the top of this moon laurel tree. He felt as infinitesimal as a speck of dust standing at its base.

“This is the Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor. It existed before our immortal palace was constructed. All the moon laurel trees on this Great Snow Mountain are its descendants. According to research by our predecessors, the Tree Ancestor is most likely a moon laurel tree from the ancient era, far distant in the past.”

“Immortal Fairy, can you determine the age of this tree?”

Within the mental space, the Everlasting Immortal Fairy was focused on building snowmen. Two snowmen stood side by side, with carrots for noses and branches for arms. Names were written on their bodies—the left one was called Huang Doudou, and the right one was called Lu Yang.

Hearing Lu Yang call her, she diverted her attention to the outside world.

“What a tall moon laurel tree!” Even the Everlasting Immortal Fairy hadn’t seen such a massive moon laurel tree before.

“I had seen a moon laurel tree on the moon that was two hundred thousand years old, and it wasn’t this tall. This one must be over two hundred thousand years old. As for its exact age, you either have to cut it down and count the rings or have the Epoch Immortal come and ask him.”

Obviously, neither method was feasible.

“But it very well could be a moon laurel tree from the ancient era,” she added.

“How so?”

“Didn’t I need the Heaven Mandate Immortal to chop firewood for my cooking back then? I instructed him that we must take responsibility for our actions. If he cut down a moon laurel tree, he must remember to plant another one.

“Perhaps this is one among the many moon laurel trees that the Heaven Mandate Immortal planted back then. It’s probably with the Heaven Mandate Immortal’s blessings that it survived until now.”

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s advanced concept of environmental protection left Lu Yang in awe.

As far as Lu Yang knew, no tree had ever lived for two hundred thousand years. Even if the Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor before him wasn’t planted in the ancient era, it must still be the oldest tree in existence, truly worthy of its name.

Exiting the moon laurel grove, they headed to the other end, where a large courtyard stood. Lu Yang saw numerous immortal palace disciples assiduously training within—repeatedly inserting their hands into scorching hot iron sand, shattering boulders of unknown material with a single elbow strike, running while carrying small mountains on their backs...

Lu Yang found this scene strangely familiar. That is exactly how Old Meng tempers his body.

“What are they doing?”

“Body tempering,” Lan Ting replied earnestly.

“Ah?” Lu Yang felt that the cultivation methods of the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace were truly distinct from those of female cultivators elsewhere. Even disciples of the Allure Sect, an S-class sect, wouldn’t both swing axes and temper their bodies.

“This also has historical origins. A thousand years after the immortal palace was established, Great Xia had recovered from the chaos of war. The nation was at peace, and the people lived happily. Founding Ancestor Moonchaser descended the mountain to travel.

“Later, she stumbled upon a bookstall and found several improper books. Though the stories differed, they shared a common thread. In each book, an immortal fairy descends the mountain to cultivate and accidentally falls victim to an aphrodisiac poison, and the male protagonist is forced to help her detoxify.

"From there on, the immortal fairy becomes one of the story’s female leads, beginning a complicated entanglement of love and hate with the male protagonist.

“At the start, the male protagonist is an insignificant figure, but as the story progresses, he grows stronger step by step, eventually becoming worthy of the immortal fairy.

“Founding Ancestor Moonchaser felt that although these were mere stories, the content wasn’t without reason; such things could happen in reality.

“Upon her return, she added another element to training—body tempering. All disciples were required to temper their bodies.

“After body tempering, one’s constitution strengthens, greatly weakening the effects of any aphrodisiac poison. This buys time to find an antidote, preventing one from recklessly giving themselves away.

“Time proved that Founding Ancestor Moonchaser’s decision was correct. Over the past one hundred thousand years, many seniors descending the mountain have fallen victim to aphrodisiac poisons. Had they not tempered their bodies, they might have ended up in bed with some random man.

“Furthermore, Founding Ancestor Moonchaser also considered that in these stories, the male and female leads often fell in love, but the female lead’s sect will disapprove, creating obstacles. Eventually, the male lead will achieve fame and success, then return to the female lead’s sect to slap their face and humble them. Therefore, she decreed that if a disciple of our sect fell in love with a man, the sect would not interfere.”

Lu Yang. “...”

Your founding ancestor really thought of everything.