"Gathering, gathering, gathering mushrooms, picked a little mushroom..."
An ancient folk tune echoed through the dense forest. The voice was sweet, melodious, crisp, and bright—one could tell at a listen that the singer was a lively, cheerful young girl.
Yet if anyone were to see what the singer looked like, they would be utterly shocked.
The singer was a bald man with an aura of solemn dignity, draped in clothes fashioned from leaves. It was hard to imagine such a person singing children's songs.
Squatting by the lakeside, the Immortal Fairy examined the body's appearance, her eyes darting about.
"That kid Lu Yang isn't ugly, but he's still a man. Since he's not around anyway, why not switch to my own look?"
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than she acted on it. Having finally gotten a chance to come out and play without anyone supervising her, she was naturally going to do whatever she pleased.
Pressing two fingers together before her lips, she softly chanted an incantation, evoking resonance between heaven and earth and causing the surrounding space to blur and warp.
When space settled back into place, the person squatting by the lake was no longer the bald Lu Yang, but a young girl who looked about sixteen or seventeen.
The girl looked innocent and carefree, her large eyes sparkling, with long hair falling to her waist. She wore a creamy-yellow dress and had bare jade feet, looking just like a young noble lady who had sneaked out of her manor before even finishing getting dressed.
"Hehe, I really am adorable." Seeing her reflection in the lake restored to her original appearance, the Immortal Fairy beamed with joy.
She sat at the edge of the lake, dangling her bare feet and idly kicking at the water, sending out ripples in soft circles.
Attracted by the disturbance on the surface, small fish swam close, thinking food had appeared. Upon discovering it was merely a human splashing about, they swam away in disappointment.
Although the Immortal Fairy could manifest anything in Lu Yang's spiritual space, those were mental constructs in the end; playing with them carried no real sensation. It couldn't compare to right now, where even kicking water twice felt delightful.
The lake water was icy and refreshing. Soaking her little feet in it felt so comfortable that she grinned ear to ear.
Picking up a relatively long branch from the lakeside, she spun a wisp of her own immortal power into a fishing line, wrapped it around the branch, and fashioned a rudimentary fishing rod.
"Heave-ho!"
Without even putting bait on it, she cast the line directly—a true testament to doing as she pleased.
Though she had condensed only a wisp of immortal power into the line, it was immortal power nonetheless, an energy exclusive to immortals. It required no bait; the fishing line itself was the finest bait in existence.
Narrowing her eyes, the Immortal Fairy reclined half-lounging by the lakeside. Unbeknownst to anyone, she had cast some spell: although the lakeside was muddy, not a single speck of dirt clung to her as she lay there.
Had Lu Yang been present, he would have recognized this as the Clothes-Cleansing Incantation he longed so desperately to master. It was just that the Immortal Fairy's version was incomparably more exquisite than the one Lan Ting taught, already elevated to the realm of immortal arts and consuming virtually zero energy to cast.
Before long, a large fish took the bait, biting down firmly on the fishing line.
The big fish tried to refine that wisp of immortal power, but the gap in grade was simply too vast for it to succeed.
"A bite?"
The Immortal Fairy sprang up, excitement flashing in her eyes. With a forceful jerk of her right hand, a bighead carp leaped out of the water.
"Oh, it's just a bighead carp. It looks bad, tastes bad, and doesn't have much nutritional value." The Immortal Fairy shook her head in disappointment. She tapped the carp on the face to signal it to let go, then tossed it back into the lake.
"Reincarnate as a tastier animal in your next life, all right?" the Immortal Fairy reminded the bighead carp. Having spared its life, she felt that a fish ought to know how to repay a kindness.
The carp had yet to develop intelligence, so how could it understand what she was saying?
After the carp left, all sorts of lake delicacies took the bait: fish, shrimp, crabs, clams, and various creatures that had only emerged after antiquity, none of which the Immortal Fairy recognized.
Not recognizing them was no problem at all. She possessed vast experience and culinary know-how; what could or couldn't be eaten, she would know after a single bite.
Soon, a heap of lake delicacies piled up beside her. Worried they might escape, she mixed lake water with black soil into mud, formed a small mud enclosure, and penned all the creatures inside.
Suddenly, a dark silhouette burst out from the surface of the lake. It was bristling with spines like a hedgehog, though its quills were far shorter.
This lake was several times larger than the one controlled by the Old Turtle; accordingly, the lake master who held sway over it possessed extraordinary strength.
The dark silhouette was the master of this lake, possessing late Golden Core stage cultivation. Countless humans and members of the demon race had been swallowed by it while coming to drink water.
Seeing the Immortal Fairy, its mouth practically watered. Although the opponent appeared to be a mere late Foundation Establishment slip of a girl, the beast felt an inexplicable certainty that devouring her would immediately shatter its core and form a nascent soul, elevating it to a Nascent Soul stage demon beast.
When that time came, it could expand its territory even further and grow stronger and stronger.
Lu Yang was at the late Foundation Establishment stage, and the Bodhi tree clone could inherit eighty percent of his strength—meaning the Immortal Fairy's current cultivation realm was also only at late Foundation Establishment.
The Immortal Fairy merely blinked, and the next moment, she was swallowed into the lake master's belly.
The lake master wasn't at all worried that she might attack from within. Its stomach contained extremely potent digestive fluids. Even if anyone it swallowed tried to strike, their techniques' power would be corroded away by the acid, posing not the slightest threat.
"Water Avoidance... Never mind, Fennel Fist!"
A seemingly soft punch slammed into the stomach wall. The lake master felt as though its innards were turning completely upside down—or worse, as if a colossal force were violently churning its entire body.
"Wait, spare me—"
Before the lake master could finish pleading for mercy, the force unleashed by the Fennel Fist ripped it into several pieces.
Holding a chunk of the lake master's meat, the Immortal Fairy swam back to the surface.
She had originally intended to deal with the lake master using the Water Avoidance Art, but on second thought, it was a creature she had never seen before and she didn't know what it tasted like. If she drained all its moisture with the Water Avoidance Art, how could she eat it?
That was why she had acted on a whim and used the Fennel Fist.
The Fennel Fist regulated qi and harmonized the stomach; when striking an opponent, it could nurse their body back to health. Yet if the target's body was already sound, the Fennel Fist became a death warrant.
"Why won't Lu Yang learn such a formidable fist technique? Being all soaked feels so uncomfortable... Water Avoidance Art."
As the three words "Water Avoidance Art" fell, the water clinging to her body and surrounding her was swiftly expelled, and an invisible force lifted her up.
Stepping across the lake surface with her hands behind her back, pinching the chunk of the lake master's meat, she hummed a little ditty and strode back to the shore, completely relaxed and carefree.
"I wonder how the lake master tastes."
Her instincts as an immortal chef told her that the meat should be quite good.
"There's no pot, though."
The Immortal Fairy scratched her head. There wasn't even a decent cooking utensil nearby.
Catching sight of lotus leaves floating on the lake, her eyes lit up. "Got it! I can wrap it in lotus leaves, coat the outside in mud, roast it over a fire, and it'll be ready to eat!"
She hadn't brought seasonings, so she made do with what was available, gathering plants along the lake that resembled seasoning herbs to use as real seasonings.
"Immortal True Fire." She spat out a wisp of True Fire—a flame unknown to mortal men, distinct and independent of the hundred and eight known True Fires.
The Immortal True Fire was gentle. As it roasted the food, heat penetrated from the inside out, quickly releasing a fresh, delightful aroma.
Just as the Immortal Fairy was preparing to dig in, a gentle voice sounded behind her.
"Little girl, why are you here all by yourself? It's very dangerous here."
The Immortal Fairy turned around, her face the picture of innocence and ignorance, with a few specks of mud on her cheeks splattered from preparing the beggar's fish.
Four people stood behind her, all of them at the Golden Core stage. Whether it was her imagination or not, the Immortal Fairy felt that they had exchanged a sinister smirk that vanished just as quickly, replaced by an affable, kindly smile.
"Little girl, where is your family?"
Chapter 243