Chapter 243: Everlasting Fairy's Adventure
Chapter 243: Everlasting Fairy's Adventure
Translator: yikaii Editor: yikaii
"Gathering mushrooms, gathering mushrooms, picking a little mushroom..."
An ancient nursery rhyme echoed through the dense forest, its melodious and cheerful voice clearly belonging to a lively and bright little girl.
However, if anyone saw the singer's appearance, they would be greatly surprised.
The singer was a bald man, looking solemn and dignified, wearing clothes made of leaves. It was hard to imagine someone like him singing a children's song.
Everlasting Fairy squatted by the lake, looking at the body, her eyes darting around.
"Although this kid Lu Yang isn't ugly, he is a man. Since he's not around, why not change to my original appearance?"
Once Everlasting Fairy had the thought, she acted on it. Finally able to come out and play without anyone watching over her, she wanted to do things her way.
She pressed her two fingers together, brought them to her lips, and whispered something, causing a resonance with the world around her, making the surrounding space blur and distort.
When the space returned to normal, the figure squatting by the lake was no longer the bald Lu Yang but a young girl who looked about sixteen or seventeen years old.
The girl was innocent and charming, with big, twinkling eyes. Her long hair reached her waist, and she wore a light yellow dress, barefoot, looking like a young lady who had sneaked out of her house, not even properly dressed.
"Hehe, I'm so cute." Everlasting Fairy, seeing her original appearance reflected in the lake, smiled happily.
She sat by the lake, barefoot, playfully kicking the water, creating ripples.
The ripples attracted small fish, who, thinking food had appeared, swam closer. Realizing it was just a human playing with water, they swam away in disappointment.
Although Everlasting Fairy could conjure anything in Lu Yang's mental space, those were all mental constructs and didn't feel as real or fun as this. Even kicking water felt more enjoyable now.
The lake water was cool and refreshing, and her little feet soaking in it made her grin with delight.
She picked up a slightly long branch from the lakeside, infused it with her immortal energy to make a fishing line, and tied it to the branch, creating a simple fishing rod.
"Heave ho."
Without even using bait, she cast the line, embodying a carefree attitude.
The thread of immortal energy was thin, but it was still immortal energy, a power unique to immortals. It didn't need bait; the line itself was the best bait.
Everlasting Fairy half-lay by the lake, squinting her eyes. She used a technique that kept her perfectly clean despite the muddy lakeside.
If Lu Yang were here, he would recognize it as the Clean Clothes Spell he always wanted to learn. However, Everlasting Fairy's version was far more advanced than the one Lan Ting taught him, reaching the level of immortal arts, with virtually no energy consumption.
Soon, a big fish bit the line, firmly clamping down on it.
The fish wanted to refine that strand of immortal energy, but the difference in their levels was too vast; it couldn't do it.
"Got a bite?"
Everlasting Fairy jumped up excitedly, her eyes sparkling. With a strong pull, she lifted a fathead fish out of the water.
"Oh dear, it's a fathead fish. Not pretty, not tasty, and not nutritious." Disappointed, Everlasting Fairy shook her head, patted the fish's face, signaled it to let go, and threw it back into the lake.
"Reincarnate as a tastier animal next time," she advised the fish, sparing its life. As a fish, it should repay this kindness.
The fathead fish, lacking intelligence, didn't understand what she was saying.
After the fathead fish left, various other lake creatures bit the line—fish, shrimp, crabs, shells, and other post-ancient era creatures Everlasting Fairy didn't recognize.
But that didn't matter. With her extensive experience in cooking and life, she knew what was edible and what wasn't after just one taste.
Soon, a pile of lake delicacies surrounded Everlasting Fairy. Worried they might escape, she mixed lake water with black soil to make mud, fashioned it into a small enclosure, and penned the creatures in.
Suddenly, a dark shadow shot out from the lake, covered in spikes, resembling a porcupine but with much shorter spines.
This lake was several times larger than the one controlled by the old turtle, and accordingly, its ruler's strength was extraordinary.
The dark shadow was the master of the lake, possessing late Golden Core stage cultivation. Countless humans and demonic beasts had been swallowed by it while drinking from the lake.
Upon seeing Everlasting Fairy, it was incredibly tempted. Although she looked like a late Foundation Establishment stage girl, it had an inexplicable feeling that devouring her would allow it to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.
At that point, it could expand its territory further and grow even stronger.
Lu Yang's cultivation was at the late Foundation Establishment stage, and the bodhi tree avatar inherited eighty percent of his strength. This meant Everlasting Fairy was also at the late Foundation Establishment stage now.
Everlasting Fairy blinked once and was immediately swallowed by the lake master.
The lake master wasn't worried about Everlasting Fairy attacking it from inside. Its stomach was filled with highly corrosive fluid; any attempts to attack from within would be neutralized by this fluid, posing no threat to it.
"Water-repelling... never mind, Fennel Fist."
A soft punch landed on the stomach wall, and the lake master felt its insides churning violently, as if a massive force was stirring its body.
"Wait, let me off..."
Before the lake master could finish begging for mercy, the force of the Fennel Fist tore it into pieces.
Everlasting Fairy held a piece of the lake master's flesh and swam back to the surface.
Initially, she planned to use the water-repelling technique to deal with the lake master. But then she realized the lake master was a creature she had never encountered before, and she was curious about its taste. Using the water-repelling technique would dry out the lake master, making it less appetizing.
So, she decided on the spot to use the Fennel Fist.
The Fennel Fist regulates qi and aids digestion. When used on an opponent, it could nurture their body, but if the opponent was healthy, the Fennel Fist turned into a deadly weapon.
"Why doesn't Lu Yang learn such a powerful fist technique? This wet feeling is uncomfortable, water-repelling technique."
As she uttered the words "water-repelling technique," the water on and around her quickly dissipated, and an invisible force lifted her up.
Standing on the lake's surface, holding a piece of the lake master's flesh, she hummed a tune as she returned to the lakeside, feeling at ease.
"I wonder how the lake master tastes."
Her intuition as an immortal chef told her that the lake master should taste quite good.
"But there's no pot."
Everlasting Fairy scratched her head, noticing that there weren't any proper cooking utensils nearby.
Then she saw the lotus leaves on the lake and her eyes lit up. "Got it! I can wrap it in lotus leaves, cover it with mud, and roast it over a fire."
Without any seasoning, she used nearby plants that resembled spices as substitutes.
"Everlasting True Fire." She exhaled a flame, a fire unknown to the world and independent of the 108 known True Fires.
Everlasting True Fire was gentle, heating the food from the inside out, soon releasing a fresh aroma.
Just as Everlasting Fairy was about to start eating, a gentle voice sounded behind her.
"Little girl, what are you doing here alone? It's dangerous."
Everlasting Fairy turned around, her face showing a naive and confused expression. There were a few spots of mud on her cheeks, splattered while making the "Beggar's fish." (TL Note: Beggar's fish doesn't exist but the method used here is the same method used for Beggar's Chicken which is famous in Huangzhou https://bestrecipetube.blogspot.com/2013/02/chinese-recipe-beggars-chicken.html)
Behind her stood four people, all at the Golden Core stage. Whether it was a trick of her mind or not, Everlasting Fairy felt their initial smiles were insincere, quickly replaced by kind and friendly expressions.
"Little girl, where are your family members?"
(End of the chapter)