Chapter 1038: I am the real her

A stunning female immortal walked through the bustling street, carrying a vegetable basket. Strangely, passersby paid her no attention, as if they couldn't see her. The immortal recalled the information she had just received, distracted and increasingly flustered.

"The mysterious immortal in the Buddhist Kingdom self-detonated," she thought. "Lu Yang was at Western Heaven Temple at that time. It can't be such a coincidence. That mysterious immortal must be Lu Yang!"

"How could this be? How could that brat Lu Yang possess the embryonic form of an Immortal Dao Fruit? How did he get it?"

"His cultivation level isn't high enough; he certainly didn't condense it himself. Someone must have given him the embryonic Immortal Dao Fruit!"

"Immortal… It must be Immortal who has revived. Only she could have done this!"

"Oh no, Qinghe…"

Thinking of this, Huidoudou stopped mimicking human life, twisted space, and instantly appeared at a quiet, unnoticed small restaurant. Huidoudou walked into the back kitchen, still carrying the vegetable basket. Seeing Qinghe still flipping through a cookbook, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Huidoudou return in a hurry, Qinghe closed the cookbook and calmly spoke the words Huidoudou least wanted to hear. "You must have heard about the mysterious immortal appearing in the Buddhist Kingdom. I'm going to find him."

"No!" Huidoudou retorted. "From now on, you're not going anywhere!"

Qinghe met Huidoudou's bright, angry immortal eyes and stated, word by word, "I will go!"

Huidoudou was furious, instantly teleporting in front of Qinghe and grabbing her wrist. Qinghe was no match for her and was immediately pinned against the wall. Pots, pans, and bowls clattered down, filling the back kitchen with a cacophony of noise.

"Qinghe, don't force my hand!" Huidoudou threatened. "Know your place. The only reason I've kept you until now is because I wanted someone to keep me company. I can replace you at any time!"

Looking at the furious Huidoudou, Qinghe, instead, laughed aloud, which only irritated Huidoudou further.

"What are you laughing at!" Huidoudou demanded.

"Initially, I merely suspected that the mysterious immortal in the Buddhist Kingdom was related to you," Qinghe replied. "But seeing your unusual reaction now, I am certain my suspicion is correct."

Huidoudou was seething with rage. With a cold snort, she released Qinghe's wrist. "Immortal, is it?" Huidoudou snarled. "I will kill her to prove that *I* am the true one!"

"Lu, how are you back?" Meng Jingzhou asked, pushing open the cave residence door. He saw Lu Yang smiling very disingenuously. "I heard the Nian Beast carried you away during the New Year."

"The Nian Beast just found me agreeable and took me on a trip to the Buddhist Kingdom," Lu Yang replied. "Why wouldn't I be able to come back?"

"You went to the Buddhist Kingdom again?" Meng Jingzhou asked. He imagined the Buddhist Kingdom, covered in yellow sand, and felt sorry for Lu. He had been gone for several months and must have suffered a lot there before returning. *The Nian Beast truly lives up to its name as an auspicious beast,* he thought. *It only does good deeds.*

"Let me tell you, the Buddhist Kingdom is truly a great place," Lu Yang said, patting his chest and making a solemn promise. "If you ever go there, your brother will look out for you!"

"You have that much power?" Meng Jingzhou asked, looking at Lu Yang skeptically. He had a feeling he shouldn't have asked that question.

Lu Yang shook his head and sighed, saying very modestly, "I'm not particularly talented, but I became an immortal in the Buddhist Kingdom."

"Pfft," Meng Jingzhou scoffed. "Lu, your lies have been getting more and more unbelievable lately."

"No worries," Lu Yang said. "I knew you wouldn't believe me, so I kept proof."

Lu Yang happily took out a recording orb and played a first-person perspective battle scene with Commander Sichen. He then condescended to personally narrate for Meng Jingzhou. "This is Commander Sichen of the Great Gan Dynasty. He has no other special abilities, except for an embryonic Time Dao Fruit, allowing him to control time. Even Master Mingyu, the abbot of Western Heaven Temple, was defeated by him."

"And wouldn't you know," Lu Yang continued, "it was quite a coincidence. My reviving the immortal counts as great merit, which just happened to allow me to become an immortal."

"When I saw that things were going south," he explained, "I reluctantly became an immortal and took care of this guy. Look, this is where the Middle Heaven Emperor's clone appeared. He wasn't my match either…"

"Later, I even met the Immortal of Time," Lu Yang boasted. "He directly praised me as the strongest in the future."

Meng Jingzhou instantly turned green with envy. His own character wasn't worse than Lu's, so why didn't such good fortune fall upon him? "Why do I only encounter minor situations?" he grumbled.

"What minor situations did you encounter?" Lu Yang asked.

"That was about two months ago," Meng Jingzhou began. "I went out for a mission, originally wanting to keep a low profile. Just then, an older sister thought I looked good. She said her grandfather was gravely ill and his birthday was approaching, and asked if I could pretend to be her cultivation partner so her grandfather could have a good last birthday."

"That sister's family was an inconspicuous minor noble family—oh, I mean, they were considered a major family locally."

"I'm always happy to help, so I agreed. I also thought that since it was her grandfather's birthday, I shouldn't go empty-handed, so I casually picked out a top-grade Warm Sun Jade from my identity jade token."

"That sister's cousin didn't recognize its value and insisted my gift was fake. He claimed he knew people from the Imperial City and couldn't be mistaken. He also said the sister had poor judgment for finding a cultivation partner like me."

"When her grandfather came out, I could tell it wasn't a serious illness at all; he just had a congenital deficiency of yang energy. It was a simple matter of a single drop of blood. I said I could cure him, but they still didn't believe me. Her grandfather, however, was reasonable—or perhaps open-minded—and said I could try. But the rest of the family insisted on blocking me, calling me a swindler."

"Just as I was about to reveal my identity, someone from the Imperial City arrived to offer birthday wishes. I can't remember who exactly it was, just that he was someone's subordinate. But that person recognized me. Upon seeing me, he knelt down and called me 'Young Master Meng'. He immediately disavowed the cousin on the spot and said that from then on, he would only recognize the sister for business."

Lu Yang was speechless. *How is this worse than me?* Lu Yang thought. *I didn't even dare reveal my true name at Western Heaven Temple, yet you can openly flaunt your identity!*

Lu Yang handed over the spirit fruits given by the Immortal of Time to Tang Chuanwu, instructing him to eat them in order, before returning to Tianmen Peak.

"Second Boss, you're back?" Yun Mengmeng asked, smiling happily upon seeing Lu Yang. She scurried over and placed the freshly woven flower wreath on Lu Yang's head. "I was terrified when the Nian Beast carried you away. I thought something bad might happen to you. It's good that you're back safe and sound."

"Hey, what could possibly happen to me?" Lu Yang replied.

"Oh, right, here's the Buddhist Kingdom specialty I promised," Lu Yang said, taking out a square sand sculpture from behind his back. The sand sculpture was exquisitely crafted, with every detail meticulously done. This was a magic artifact Lu Yang had crafted on his way back, while he still possessed his immortal body. Although Lu Yang wasn't particularly skilled at crafting magic artifacts, with the enhancement of his immortal body, he could casually refine high-quality ones.

For some reason, Lu Yang heard two voices in his mind. One voice said that Immortal had already brought Yun Mengmeng a specialty from the Buddhist Kingdom on his behalf, while the other voice told him this hadn't happened. Torn between the two, Lu Yang decided to bring Yun Mengmeng a specialty this time.

"Thank you, Second Boss!" Yun Mengmeng said, smiling sweetly, and carefully put away the sand sculpture, afraid of damaging it.

"Second Boss, where is this sand sculpture from?" Yun Mengmeng asked.

Lu Yang explained seriously, "Due to some special reasons, it would be difficult for you to see a complete Western Heaven Temple if you went to the Buddhist Kingdom recently. The sand sculpture in your hand is Western Heaven Temple in its most complete state, so you can consider yourself to have visited it."