Lu Yang could confidently say that his understanding of ancient knowledge was now comparable to that of old scholars who had studied it their entire lives.

Unlike the miscellaneous knowledge of those old scholars, the knowledge Lu Yang had mastered was all related to ancient immortals, something those scholars deeply desired.

Previously, Lu Yang knew nothing about ancient knowledge, and he would listen to whatever the Everlasting Fairy said, accepting it easily.

But someone like the Eldest Senior Sister, who had her own unique insights into ancient times, found it difficult to accept when listening to the Everlasting Fairy’s stories.

This was the advantage of ignorance.

Lu Yang no longer fretted over the discrepancies between legends and truths. He curiously inquired about the items stored in the underwater space.

“What is this piece of beast meat that exudes vigorous vitality?”

The Everlasting Fairy, touching her chin, tried hard to recall what the creature looked like when it was alive. “Is it the meat of a Bi Fang… no, it’s the meat of a Chaos beast… no, what was it again?”

(TL Note: The Classic of Mountains and Seas lists the Bifang bird as item sixty-nine. Described as one-legged, crane-like, red markings on green, white-beaked, named by onomatopoiesis by the sound it makes, and an omen of fire https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifang)

“Fairy, you can’t remember what kind of meat this is? Then how do you cook it?” Lu Yang was quite astonished.

Although the Everlasting Fairy was from 300,000 years ago, from her perspective, it was as if she had been killed 300,000 years ago, fell into a deep sleep, woke up to be scolded by the Eldest Senior Sister, and then stayed in her own mental space for three months.

In other words, to the Everlasting Fairy, it was as if she hadn’t been in the kitchen for just three months and had forgotten what kind of meat this was?

“Why do I need to know what kind of meat it is?” the Everlasting Fairy retorted, leaving Lu Yang speechless.

“Meeting is fate, and eating also follows the fate. The piece of meat I choose means it has a fate with today’s meal.” Clearly, the Everlasting Fairy had her own unique views on cooking.

“Then what about this fruit?” Lu Yang pointed at a rather conspicuous fruit. It was about the size of an apple, pure white, with three faint rings of light surrounding it. The light emitted brilliance that lingered in the air, staying still due to the time suspension.

“This, ah, is the Everlasting Immortal Fruit I planted.”

“Everlasting Immortal Fruit? What does it do? Grant immortality?” Lu Yang immediately thought the fruit was incredibly valuable.

Immortality was the wish of many. When people die, they vanish like extinguished lamps, no matter how powerful they were in life, they become mere dust, rendering everything they owned useless.

An immortal fruit that could grant eternal life was an irresistible temptation even for those in the Tribulation Crossing Stage.

The Everlasting Fairy solemnly nodded, “The person who consumes the immortal fruit will have an everlasting corpse.”

Lu Yang: “…”

How does this relate to what I guessed?

“Senior, is this a Azure Wood Immortal Fruit?” Yun Zhi pointed at another dark blue fruit. She thought it resembled the Azure Wood Immortal Fruit that the newly recruited disciple Jin Qinqin had consumed in her childhood.

One Azure Wood Immortal Fruit had given Jin Qinqin a physique comparable to top-tier dual spirit roots.

“Yes, this is the Azure Wood Immortal Fruit planted by an Immemorial Immortal. I asked for a few, they taste good, and this is the only one left after I ate the others.”

“What about this stone? Is it a whetstone?” Lu Yang then noticed a very regular spherical stone, puzzled as to why a stone was stored in an underwater space meant for food.

Even the Eldest Senior Sister frowned. She could sense the strange power contained in this stone, comparable to the power of the Void Refinement Stage or even Unity.

But she couldn’t identify what the stone was.

“This is a star core, the core of a planet. I dug it out from a massive uninhabited planet. You don’t recognize it? Oh right, there are no more planets in the universe now.”

“So this is a star core.” The Eldest Senior Sister had seen it in ancient books, stating it was a good material for refining artifacts, capable of creating immortal treasures.

But why was a star core in the kitchen?

“What is this star core used for?”

“Food.”

Lu Yang was shocked, “This thing can be eaten?!”

The Everlasting Fairy waved her hand, feeling that Lu Yang was very ignorant. “If it couldn’t be eaten, why would I put it here?”

“Ordinary people certainly can’t eat it. For instance, you, a little guy who just formed a golden core, would break all your teeth if you tried to take a bite.”

“But immortals are different. Immortals have immortal bodies, the hardest bodies in the world. Teeth, being the hardest part of the body, can definitely bite through a small star core.”

“Don’t you know the higher the energy content of an ingredient, the more delicious it is? Star cores are top-notch ingredients in my eyes!”

“Moreover, isn’t one of the purposes of eating to replenish energy?”

“Besides, haven’t you heard of the ‘Goldstone Powder’ pill formula? Stones can be used in medicine, so they can naturally be eaten as food.”

Lu Yang felt that the Everlasting Fairy made some sense. Immortals chewing on star cores might be as simple as chewing on cookies, but it still felt odd.

Could it be that he had always misunderstood the four ancient immortals?

Thinking they spent their days happily chewing on stones, why did it feel like they were so impoverished?

“What about this flower? Is it also an ingredient?” Lu Yang pointed at a flower emitting five-colored light, frozen in time.

“No, it’s a garnish for plating. But if you want to eat it, that’s fine too; it tastes good and is quite refreshing.” The Everlasting Fairy knew that cooking required attention to color, aroma, and taste.

This five-colored light flower represented the “color” aspect.

The three of them wandered around the kitchen, which greatly broadened the horizons of both Lu Yang and Yun Zhi.

Lu Yang felt that this kitchen perfectly matched the Everlasting Fairy’s style.

Yun Zhi was worried that the Everlasting Fairy, living in Lu Yang’s mental space, might lead him astray.

Seeing the fairy leave the kitchen reluctantly, Yun Zhi asked, “Fairy, are you reluctant to leave the kitchen?”

“Not really, it’s just rare to see familiar things. It’s quite nostalgic.” The Everlasting Fairy laughed, a bit embarrassed.

Yun Zhi nodded, “No problem, these were originally your things. After we leave, I will speak with Emperor Xia to get your kitchen back.”

The Everlasting Fairy’s eyes lit up, “Really?”

“Really.”

The three of them took another turn around the Everlasting ruins but found nothing new, so they left the ruins.

The Everlasting Fairy voluntarily entered Lu Yang’s mental space.

The old general had been guarding the entrance to the ruins. Seeing the two come out, he asked, “Did you gain anything from your trip to the ruins?”

“A great harvest. I will inform His Majesty, Emperor Xia, about the ruins,” Yun Zhi said calmly, not at all like someone who actually had a great harvest.

“It’s good to have gains.” The old general saw the two off.

On the way back, Lu Yang pondered the issue of the ruins and asked, “Eldest Senior Sister, how exactly were the Everlasting ruins formed?”

Yun Zhi thought for a moment and said, “I believe they were created by the mastermind. Let’s first assume that the Xinhuo Dynasty really existed and that it worshiped the Everlasting Celestial. This explains the origin of the nineteen floating stones in the ruins.”

“As for the predecessor’s kitchen, I speculate that during ancient times, when the nameless person refined the stars, he caused the predecessor’s cave to crumble and split into several parts, with the kitchen being one of them.”

“The mastermind refined the Xinhuo Dynasty’s sacrificial site into the body of the Everlasting ruins and refined the predecessor’s kitchen into the Everlasting Celestial statue. This way, the first-generation Sect Leader not only knew of the Everlasting Celestial’s existence and established the Undying Sect but also, with the mastermind’s secret help, obtained immortal treasures from the predecessor’s kitchen, ensuring the Undying Sect wouldn’t perish prematurely.”

“I see.”

Halfway through, Lu Yang realized that the Eldest Senior Sister had no intention of returning to the Dao Seeking Sect but was instead heading towards Great Yan County.

“Eldest Senior Sister, do we still need to return to Great Yan County?”

Eldest Senior Sister said faintly, “Our master is imprisoned in Great Yan County’s jail. We should visit him, both emotionally and logically.”