Who Let Him Cultivate?! (WX)-Chapter 941: The Tree Ancestor’s Care

The Moon Laurel Immortal Palace acted with caution. They wouldn’t eat the demon rabbit under the pretext of dissection.

At the very least, they had to ascertain whether the demon rabbit’s meat was poisonous before consuming it.

Lu Yang watched the immortal palace disciples eagerly volunteer for the task of dissecting the demon rabbit, washing pots, chopping vegetables, and boiling water... Their movements were quite practiced, and it didn’t look like they were doing this for the first time.

“Do you need a chef?” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy felt it was time to showcase her skills. She volunteered enthusiastically, ready to demonstrate the culinary skills of an immortal.

Having the Everlasting Immortal Fairy cook was out of the question. Back in ancient times, when she tried to barbecue on the moon, the four immortals were poisoned unconscious, and she had to carry them home, leaving the immortal fire behind on the moon. The immortal palace disciples, being mere mortals, would certainly be unable to withstand such an immortal-grade poison.

Directly refusing wouldn’t do. With his meticulous mind and quick thinking, Lu Yang soon came up with an appropriate response. As the saying goes, it’s better to redirect than to resist. Rejecting the Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s proposal outright may trigger her rebellious nature. The best method is to find a chef who would satisfy her.

And this chef will have to be none other than myself.

“Your Exalted Majesty is noble like golden branches and jade leaves. How could you do such things? Allow your concu—subject to handle it.” Lately, with time on his hands, Lu Yang had been reading novels from the Moon Laurel Immortal Palace’s scripture library, especially those about palace intrigue.[1] For a moment, his tongue betrayed him, and he nearly misspoke.

“That works too.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy found Lu Yang’s reasoning valid. I’m already the emperor; handling everything personally would diminish my stature. Letting Xiao Yangzi take charge is better.

“Can I handle the barbecue later?” Lu Yang secretly transmitted an auditory message to Lan Ting.

Lan Ting had witnessed Lu Yang’s culinary skills back in Yanjiang Commandery. There’s no doubt about it; the taste was superb.

Now that Lu Yang has advanced to the Divine Transfiguration Stage, his control over heat and the meat quality must have reached the “subtlety” realm. The flavor would definitely be even better than before.

And it has also been a long time since I’ve had Lu Yang’s barbeque.

“I’ll speak with the senior sister in charge of cooking.”

~~~

“Let him have a try then! I’d like to see what he’s capable of!” The senior female disciple was disgruntled.

Having secured the cooking opportunity for Lu Yang, Lan Ting happily reported the good news to him.

“The head cook senior sister agreed to let you try. She said she also wanted to see your skills for herself, Senior Brother.”

“Did she really say that?” Lu Yang looked at Lan Ting skeptically. Although he wasn’t in the habit of eavesdropping, judging by the expression on the senior female disciple’s face when Lan Ting had approached her earlier, it hadn’t looked promising.

“It’s more or less something along those lines.”

“That’s good then.” Lu Yang was worried that his actions could have displeased the head cook.

The Moon Laurel Immortal Palace was remarkably efficient. In the time it took to wash the pots, they had already figured out why the demon rabbit had suddenly grown so large.

“It’s the reaction between the Beautifying Pill and the osmanthus flowers,” Qin Nan concluded. “Beautifying pills inherently have an enlarging effect. For some reason, the freshly picked osmanthus flowers also possessed this property. The combination of these two factors caused a sharp increase in the demon rabbit’s size.”

“And also caused the demon rabbit to go berserk,” a junior female disciple added. This was a crucial point.

“Ah, right, and it also caused the demon rabbit to go berserk.”

“But the good news is that the demon rabbit has fully metabolized the medicinal properties. It’s edible, non-toxic, and harmless, with healthy meat quality."

It is good news that the demon rabbit is edible; it means I can showcase my skills. But Lu Yang still had one question. “Why do Beautifying Pills have an enlarging effect?” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Don’t female cultivators consume Beautifying Pills to make themselves more attractive?

Asking such a question revealed that Lu Yang was an outsider in the field. All Moon Laurel Immortal Palace disciples knew the answer.

Qin Nan explained, “It’s like this. Female cultivators commonly consume two types of pills. Youth-Preservation Pill locks in one’s appearance, while Beautifying Pills alter it.

“Altering appearances generally falls into two categories: enlarging or reducing.

“Some female cultivators are talented and able to cultivate rapidly, reaching the Youth-Preservation realm while still young, after which their appearance no longer changes.

“This leads to a problem—their bodies haven’t fully developed. In such cases, Beautifying Pills are needed.”

Lu Yang was enlightened. This is a domain I’ve never ventured into; there are indeed many intricacies.

“Relying on pills is nothing but a crooked path!” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy expressed her disdain for such practices.

As the number one of the Top Ten Ancient Beauties, I’m qualified to say such things.

Unfortunately, her pronouncement as the foremost of the Ten Ancient Beauties went unnoticed by Lu Yang, who was diligently learning about Beautifying Pills with an open mind.

Although I may not have use for this knowledge, learning a bit more can’t hurt.

Lu Yang examined the demon rabbit, now bled and butchered, and began preparing the marinade base. To save time, Lu Yang opted for a quick-pickling method to infuse the meat with flavor rapidly.

“By the way, have you ever tried using moon laurel wood as fuel for barbecue?” Lu Yang asked while grinding the marinade ingredients. The Everlasting Immortal Fairy’s barbecue method does have its merits.

“Use moon laurel trees as firewood?” Lan Ting was stunned. This was something she had never considered.

“Wait a moment. I’ll go ask the Tree Ancestor. If it agrees, then it’s fine.”

“The Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor has consciousness?” Lu Yang was astonished. He had assumed the Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor was simply tall.

“It does have consciousness, though I’ve never heard it speak. My shifu says the Tree Ancestor is our immortal palace’s most important trump card.”

Noticing Lu Yang’s interest, Lan Ting led him deep into the moon laurel grove once again, where they saw the Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor that reached the sky.

Lan Ting bowed three times to the Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor and performed an entire complex ritual before respectfully asking, “Your disciple wishes to fell a moon laurel tree for firewood. I humbly seek your consent, Tree Ancestor.”

Rustle, rustle, rustle. The massive branches swayed without any wind.

Lan Ting looked up excitedly. “The Tree Ancestor has agreed!”

Lu Yang hadn’t expected the Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor to be so amicable. He also bowed three times to it.

Having obtained the Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor’s approval, the two began searching for a suitable moon laurel tree. Since the tree needed to be felled with a single strike, choosing an overly thick one would inevitably lead to embarrassment, while an overly thin one wouldn’t provide enough firewood.

“This one should do.” Lu Yang patted a nearby moon laurel tree that was about an arm's span in girth.

“Isn’t it too thick?” Lan Ting doubted she could chop down such a thick moon laurel tree.

“We’ll find out when we try.” Lu Yang drew his Qingfeng Sword and tapped the moon laurel tree. He had never chopped one down before; this would be a novel experience.

Within the Qingfeng Sword, Ten Thousand Swords Return to One was activated. Lu Yang’s gaze sharpened as he unified his waist and stance, pushed off with his right foot, twisted his torso, channeled all his strength into the Qingfeng Sword, and bellowed, “Slash!”

Crack!

As the strike fell, the Qingfeng Sword embedded itself halfway into the trunk. It wasn’t severed. Lu Yang scratched his head. He had wanted to show off before Lan Ting, but his attempt had failed.

Just as he was about to say something to diffuse the awkwardness, Lan Ting pointed at the partially severed moon laurel tree in surprise. “The moon laurel tree isn’t healing!”

This has never happened before! Lu Yang swung his sword again.

Crack. Crash.

The moon laurel tree toppled down.

“Strange. Did I chop it too fast for the moon laurel tree to heal?” Lu Yang hoisted the tree onto his shoulder, puzzled.

The Everlasting Immortal Fairy rolled her eyes. Too fast for the tree to heal? It’s clearly the Moon Laurel Tree Ancestor deliberately controlling this moon laurel tree, preventing it from healing.

“Takes quite good care of Xiao Yangzi, huh.”

1. Gongdou is a popular genre in Chinese novels and dramas, especially for female audiences. ☜