Tianmen Peak held six structures in total:
The cave dwelling of Daoist Buyu, already coated in dust, with no one willing to clean it.
Yun Zhi's humble cottage.
Lu Yang's cave dwelling.
The kitchen used by Lu Yang and Yun Zhi for meals.
The discussion hall.
The Sect Master's cave dwelling, once used to handle various affairs of the Dao Seeking Sect, now requisitioned by Yun Zhi.
"Eldest Senior Sister, where is the Fairy's kitchen?" Lu Yang looked left and right, seeing nothing behind her that resembled a kitchen.
"Don't rush."
Yun Zhi rummaged in her sleeve for a moment, and an exquisite architectural model appeared in her palm. It was the size of a hand, carved visibly from a block of jade.
"That is my kitchen!" The Immortal Fairy bounded excitedly out of his spiritual space.
"This is your kitchen, Fairy? How come I remember it being inside the statue of the Immortal Celestial?" Lu Yang had thought Eldest Senior Sister had carted the entire statue over.
This time, Eldest Senior Sister did not need to explain; the Immortal Fairy spoke up in her stead. "How could this immortal's kitchen have been inside the statue from the start? Obviously, someone used spatial powers to embed it within the statue.
"And later, Little Yun must have used spatial powers of her own to move it out!"
The Immortal Fairy was visibly carried away with pride, addressing Yun Zhi as "Little Yun" this time.
Eldest Senior Sister paid no heed to such details and conferred with the Immortal Fairy. "Senior, only Lu Yang and I eat on Tianmen Peak, so there is no need for two kitchens. How about I dismantle the original one and replace it with yours?"
Lu Yang: "! ! !"
"Sounds good!" the Immortal Fairy agreed readily. A kitchen was meant to be used, and hers was bound to be far superior to the original.
Eldest Senior Sister extended her left hand and cast an imprint toward the existing kitchen. The structure shrank on its own and vanished into her sleeve.
"Oh, Universe in the Sleeve!" There were many methods to shrink objects. The Immortal Fairy had not been sure which one it was earlier, but seeing the casting process confirmed Eldest Senior Sister's technique.
Universe in the Sleeve was a spatial art worthy of being called a grand divine ability. Unlike a storage ring, Universe in the Sleeve could store not only inanimate objects, but living beings as well. It was equivalent to opening a miniature world within one's sleeve and was often regarded as the hallmark of an expert.
After all, to use Universe in the Sleeve, one first had to wear wide-sleeved robes.
Wide sleeves were exceedingly disadvantageous in combat; only those with absolute confidence in their strength would wear them.
Such as Yun Zhi.
Such as the Immortal Fairy.
"I used to use this trick all the time back in the day," the Immortal Fairy said. "I'd keep some snacks in my sleeve and pull out a handful whenever I had nothing to do.
"You can even keep a bed in your sleeve and sleep wherever you want. Once, I passed by the seashore and saw kun-fish swimming and flood dragons diving, completely free and unconstrained. So I threw my bed onto the sea, lay down on it, caught the ocean breeze, and drifted with the waves. You have no idea how comfortable it was!"
The Immortal Fairy wore a look of lingering fondness.
"This divine ability is also great for springing surprises.
"Weren't Immortal Kirin and the others always too embarrassed to eat my cooking, standing me up every single time? So I packed freshly cooked dishes into my sleeve and went to visit them. They thought it was just an ordinary visit and welcomed me in. Once I entered their cave dwellings, I pulled the food out of nowhere and gave them a surprise!"
Lu Yang tried to picture the scene for a brief moment, only to find his imagination failing him. He could not fathom what a picture of pure despair that must have been.
"Still, you can't use this trick too often."
"Why?"
The Immortal Fairy scrunched up her nose. "It's easy to end up smelling like food all over."
Yun Zhi tossed the Fairy's kitchen into the air. Catching the wind, it swelled rapidly, growing until it was the same size as Lu Yang's cave dwelling.
In truth, this was far from the kitchen's full scale. The kitchen had been compressed by spatial magic, and its interior was terrifyingly vast. When Lu Yang and the other two had visited last time, they had only taken a cursory glance; there were still many areas Lu Yang had never set foot in.
The Immortal Fairy's right hand shifted rapidly, seemingly forming seals. As she did, she said, "I'll grant both of you permission to enter the kitchen. From now on, whichever of you wants to go in can just go in. We're all on the same side, no need to be polite."
The moment she finished speaking, she flicked an imprint toward Lu Yang—a stick-figure doodle of the Immortal Fairy grinning foolishly.
Before Lu Yang could react, the imprint sank into his body and disappeared. In the dark recesses of his consciousness, he felt a link establish with the Fairy's kitchen, as if a single thought would transport him inside.
Yun Zhi did not resist either, letting the Fairy's imprint enter her body.
"Speaking of which, I gave this same imprint to Immortal Ying Tian and the other three back then, letting them enter my kitchen as they pleased.
"After my cave dwelling was completed, I invited the four of them over as guests. No matter what I said, they insisted they just wanted to look around and that I shouldn't treat them to a meal.
"I'm a kind-hearted beauty, so I felt bad about it! They had traveled from so far away, across several planets and light-years.
"Since they had already come, how could they leave without having a meal?
"They adamantly refused to eat, so I settled for the next best thing and offered them the kitchen imprint, saying they could visit my kitchen whenever they wished.
"They accepted it.
"Immortal Ying Tian and the others were full of curiosity. Whenever they got their hands on something new, they wanted to try it out. So they used the imprint, opened the kitchen door, and walked inside."
"And then?"
The Immortal Fairy broke into a scheming grin. "I only said the imprint would let them enter the kitchen whenever they wished; I never said it would let them leave whenever they wished."
She let out a scoff. "Trying to leave after stepping into my kitchen? Every last one of them had to stay obediently and eat!
"You know my culinary skills—it was so delicious they practically wanted to lick the plates clean! After stuffing themselves, the four of them slept right there in the kitchen. Luckily, I had placed a bed inside, or they would have had to sleep on the floor.
"Once they woke up, they all bid their farewells and left my cave dwelling."
A shiver ran down Lu Yang's spine as a scene took shape in his mind.
Under cover of a dark and windy night, four young men ventured out to explore an abandoned castle. Slowly pushing open the heavy gates, they found pitch-black darkness within; even the moonlight was swallowed by the castle.
Suddenly, the castle doors slammed shut with a deafening boom. Lamps fueled by human fat flickered to life one after another. Dressed in a bright red gown, the castle's mistress descended from above, laughing with a raspy cackle: "Now that you're here, don't even dream of leaving!"
The four young men trembled in terror, regretting that they had ever set foot in the castle.
If this incident were handed down to posterity, it would probably be told as: The Immortal Fairy plotted across the ages, single-handedly outmaneuvering the Four Ancient Celestials and achieving total victory, leaving the Four Ancient Celestials unconscious.
Terrifying intellect.
Lu Yang snapped to his senses. "Wait, the imprint you just gave us..."
The Immortal Fairy waved her hand breezily. "Oh, come on! Once they finished that one meal, I gave them the imprint that lets them enter and leave freely. The one I gave you two is the exact same!"
Chapter 315