A Bountiful Harvest
Lu Yang can confidently say that his understanding of High Antiquity knowledge is comparable to that of veteran scholars who have studied it their entire lives.
Moreover, unlike the haphazard knowledge of the old scholars, Lu Yang's knowledge was all related to High Antiquity immortals, which was the kind of knowledge that the old scholars longed to obtain.
Previously, Lu Yang had zero knowledge of High Antiquity knowledge, so he listened to whatever the Immortal Fairy said and readily accepted it.
However, for someone like the eldest sister who has her own unique insights into the High Antiquity times, it becomes somewhat difficult for her to accept the stories told by the immortal fairy.
That's the advantage of ignorance.
Lu Yang stopped dwelling on the discrepancy between the legend and the truth, and instead asked curiously what was stored in the underwater space.
"What is this piece of meat, radiating vitality?"
The Immortal Fairy stroked her chin, trying hard to recall what this piece of flesh looked like in its previous life, "It's Bifang's flesh... no, it's Chaos's flesh... no, what was it again?"
"Fairy, you can't remember what kind of meat this is? Then how do you cook it?" Lu Yang asked, quite surprised.
Although the Immortal Fairy was a person from 300,000 years ago, from the Immortal Fairy's perspective...
It's like she was killed 300,000 years ago, fell into a deep sleep, woke up to be reprimanded by her senior sister, and stayed in her own mental space for three months.
In other words, for the Immortal Fairy, it was only three months since she last visited the kitchen, and she had completely forgotten what kind of beast meat it was?
"Why do you need to know what kind of meat this is?" the Immortal Fairy retorted, leaving Lu Yang speechless.
"Meeting is fate, and so is eating. The piece of meat I choose means that it's destined to be with today's meal." Clearly, the Immortal Fairy has her own unique insights into cooking.
"And what about this fruit?" Lu Yang pointed to a rather conspicuous fruit. The fruit was about the size of an apple, pure white, and surrounded by three faint halos. The halos radiated light and shone in the air. Because time had stopped, the light, which should have dissipated, remained in the air.
"This is the Eternal Immortal Fruit I grew."
"The Eternal Immortal Fruit? What are its effects? Does it grant immortality?" Upon hearing this, Lu Yang immediately sensed the astonishing value of this immortal fruit.
Immortality is the long-cherished wish of many. When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out. No matter Law Power or influential you were in life, after death you're just a handful of dust, and everything you had in life becomes useless.
The promise of immortality from a single celestial fruit is an irresistible temptation even for those at the Tribulation Transcendence stage.
The Immortal Fairy nodded solemnly, "Just as you guessed: 'Those who consume the immortal fruit will have their bodies immortal.'"
Lu Yang: "..."
Does this have anything to do with what I guessed?
"Senior, is this the Green Wood Immortal Fruit?"
Yun Zhi pointed to another dark blue fruit and asked, feeling that it looked very much like the Green Wood Immortal Fruit that Jin Qinqin, a disciple recruited this year, had consumed when she was young.
A single Green Wood Immortal Fruit gave Jin Qinqin a physique comparable to top-tier dual Spirit Root.
"Yes, this is the Green Wood Immortal Fruit planted by the Immortal of Time. I asked him for a few, and they tasted good. Now I've eaten them all, and this is the only one left."
"And what is this stone, a whetstone?" Lu Yang noticed another rather regular spherical stone, wondering why there was a stone in the underwater space where food was stored.
Even the eldest senior sister frowned. She could sense the strange power contained in this stone, a power comparable to that of the Void Refinement stage or even the Body Integration Realm.
But she couldn't recognize what the stone was.
"This is a star core, the core of a planet. I pulled it out of a huge, uninhabited planet. Don't you recognize it? Oh right, there are no planets left in the universe now."
"So this is a star core." The eldest sister had seen it in ancient books, which said it was a good material for refining artifacts and could be used to forge immortal treasures.
But why would a stellar core appear in the kitchen?
"What is this star core used for?"
"Ingredients."
Lu Yang was shocked. "This thing is edible?!"
The Immortal Fairy waved her hand, finding Lu Yang utterly ignorant. "What kind of talk is this? If I can't eat it, why would I put it here?"
"Ordinary people certainly couldn't eat that, for example, a little guy like you who has just formed your core. One bite from him would break all your teeth."
"But immortals are different. Immortals possess the immortal body, the hardest body in the world. How could their teeth, the hardest substance in their bodies, be unable to even gnaw on a tiny star core?"
"Don't you know that the higher the energy content of an ingredient, the more delicious it tastes? Star cores are top-tier ingredients in my eyes!"
"Besides, isn't one of the purposes of eating to replenish energy?"
"Besides, haven't you heard of the 'Gold and Stone Powder' Pill Formula? If stones can be used as medicine, then of course they can be eaten as food."
Lu Yang felt that what the Immortal Fairy said made some sense; it was probably as easy for immortals to eat star cores as eating cookies, but it still felt a bit strange.
Could it be that he has always misunderstood the Four Immortals of High Antiquity, and that the four of them spent their days munching on stones, seemingly enjoying it immensely?
What kind of feeling is this—utter poverty and destitution?
"What about this flower? Is it also an ingredient?" Lu Yang pointed to a flower that seemed to be frozen in time, emitting a rainbow of colors.
"No, these are just decorative items for plating. But you can eat them if you want; they taste pretty good, quite refreshing." The Immortal Fairy knew that cooking should be appealing in color, aroma, and taste.
This colorful, radiant flower is the embodiment of "color".
The three of them took a stroll around the kitchen, which broadened Lu Yang and Yun Zhi's horizons.
Lu Yang felt that this kitchen perfectly matched the style of the Immortal Fairy.
Yun Zhi wondered if the Immortal Fairy, residing in Lu Yang's mental space, might lead Lu Yang astray.
Worry.
Seeing the fairy reluctantly leave the kitchen, Yun Zhi asked, "Fairy, are you reluctant to leave the kitchen?"
"No, it's just that it's rare to see familiar things, and I miss them," the Immortal Fairy chuckled, a little embarrassed.
Yun Zhi nodded. "It's alright, this originally belonged to the senior. I'll find Emperor Xia after we get out and get the senior's kitchen back."
The immortal fairy's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Really?"
"Real."
The three of them circled the Immortal Ruins again, but found nothing new, so they left.
The Immortal Fairy consciously entered Lu Yang's mental space.
The old general, who had been guarding the entrance to the ruins, asked when the two emerged, "Did you find anything from your trip to the ruins?"
"I have gained a lot. I will inform His Majesty the Xia Emperor about the ruins." Yun Zhi's voice was as calm as ever, not at all like someone who had gained a lot.
"It's good that you've gained something." The old general saw the two off.
On the way back, Lu Yang thought about the ruins and asked, "Senior Sister, how exactly were the Immortal Ruins formed?"
Yun Zhi thought for a moment and said, "I believe it was created by a mastermind. Let's assume for now that the Fire Dynasty really existed and that it worshipped immortals. That would explain the origin of the nineteen floating stones in the ruins."
"As for the senior's kitchen, I guess that when the nameless High Antiquity person was refining stars, he destroyed the senior's cave abode, breaking it into several pieces, and the kitchen was one of them."
"The mastermind behind the scenes refined the sacrificial site of the Fire Dynasty into the body of the Immortal Ruins, and refined the predecessor's kitchen into the Immortal Immortal statue. In this way, the first leader not only knew of the existence of the Immortal Immortal and would establish the Immortal Cult, but also, with the secret help of the mastermind, could obtain the immortal treasure from the predecessor's kitchen, ensuring that the Immortal Cult would not perish."
"I see."
Lu Yang realized halfway there that his senior sister had no intention of returning to the Ask Dao Sect, but instead was leading him to continue towards Dayan County.
"Senior Sister, is it still necessary for us to return to Dayan County?"
The eldest sister said calmly, "Our master is imprisoned in the Dayan County jail. It's only right and proper that we go and visit him."