Lu Yang was somewhat surprised; he hadn’t expected a place like Laurel Fairy Palace, which was full of female cultivators, to have a specialized Refinement Chamber. Generally speaking, few female cultivators were willing to engage in artifact refining.

After all, while pursuing their cultivation level, female cultivators also sought elegance and beauty. For example, Lu Yang had never seen a female cultivator swinging a hammer like Man Gu or had seen one whose body was as battered and worn as Li Haoran’s.

"Elder Brother Lu Yang, do you find it strange that we female cultivators refine artifacts?" Lan Ting noticed Lu Yang’s unusual gaze and roughly guessed what he was thinking.

"Not at all, not at all," Lu Yang replied with an embarrassed smile.

"It’s not surprising to think that way. Indeed, there are very few female cultivators who are Artifact Refiners in the outside world, but our Fairy Palace has its unique aspects."

"Unique aspects?"

"We have the Laurel Trees."

Seeing that Lu Yang was still confused, Lan Ting led him to a small grove, which was full of Laurel Trees that could fetch sky-high prices if sold outside.

Before they even entered the Laurel Forest, Lu Yang heard a series of dull thuds, like the collision of two heavy objects.

Then, he saw many disciples of the Immortal Palace taking turns to chop the Laurel Trees, all exhausted and gasping for breath, sweat flowing ceaselessly. It was hard to imagine that outside they all appeared as if they were fairies who did not subsist on grains.

Lu Yang noticed that when the disciples struck the Laurel Trees, a notch would appear on the tree, which would then heal quickly, as if the notch had never existed. The disciples had to keep chopping at the trees, tirelessly and without pause.

"What is this?"

"This is a tradition passed down by our founder, Chasing Moon True Person. It is said that in ancient times, Ying Tian Immortal often chopped at the Laurel Trees with an axe, though the reason is unclear. Chasing Moon True Person believed that every action of an Ancient Immortal had a profound meaning.

This must be some method of cultivation, so he advocated chopping at Laurel Trees with an axe as a form of training."

"Indeed, the Laurel Trees are very resistant to being chopped; if they cannot be cut through with one axe strike, the notches heal."

With an embarrassed smile, Lan Ting said, "We’ve all been swinging axes to split Laurel Trees, so the act of swinging a Refining Hammer doesn’t seem vulgar to us anymore."

"As for the great strength needed for the Refining Hammer Technique, we developed it while chopping the Laurel Trees."

Just as Lu Yang was about to nod, it suddenly occurred to him that since chopping Laurel Trees was a tradition of the Laurel Fairy Palace, didn’t that mean Lan Ting had chopped them as well?

If Lan Ting also chopped trees, was it logical for her to fight every day using her light and fluttering ribbons?

"Senior Sister Lan Ting, Elder Brother Lu Yang!"

The disciples, who were working hard at chopping trees, brightened up when they saw Lan Ting and Lu Yang walking together. They all put down their axes and approached Lu Yang.

But as they neared Lu Yang, they hesitated, not daring to come closer.

They had been chopping Laurel Trees for a long time and were covered in sweat. Approaching Lu Yang in such a state would surely be a breach of decorum, wouldn’t it?

By the time they remembered they could use a Body Cleaning Spell, Lan Ting had already pulled Lu Yang away; they walked deeper into the Laurel Forest, stopping only when they reached a towering Laurel Tree that soared into the clouds.

Looking up, Lu Yang couldn’t see the end of the tree, feeling tiny as dust at the foot of the Laurel Tree.

"This is the Laurel Tree Ancestor, which existed before the founding of our Fairy Palace. All the Laurel Trees on Great Snow Mountain are its descendants."

"After research by our preceding ancestors, the Tree Ancestor is very likely to be a Laurel Tree from the Ancient Times, its age extremely venerable."

"Fairy, can you tell the age of this tree?"

In the Spiritual Space, Fairy Eternity was busy building snowmen. Two snowmen stood side by side, with carrots for noses and branches for arms. Names were written on the snowmen, with the one on the left named Doudou, and the one on the right named Lu Yang.

Hearing Lu Yang calling her, she returned from her reverie to look at the outside world.

"What a tall laurel tree!" Even Fairy Eternity had never seen such a colossal laurel tree before.

"I once saw a laurel tree on the moon with a lifespan of two hundred thousand years, and it was not as tall as this one. This tree definitely exceeds two hundred thousand years. As for its exact age, either we cut down the tree to count the rings, or let Time Immortal come and ask the laurel tree itself."

Obviously, neither method was feasible.

"However, it is indeed likely to be a laurel tree from Ancient Times."

"How so?"

"Well, when I needed Yingtian Immortal to chop firewood for cooking, I reminded him that we should take responsibility for our actions. If he felled a laurel tree, don’t forget to plant another one," she explained.

"Perhaps this one is among the many laurel trees originally planted by Yingtian Immortal."

"With the blessing of Yingtian Immortal, it’s probably why it was lucky enough to survive until now."

The advanced environmental protection concept of Fairy Eternity deeply impressed Lu Yang.

As far as Lu Yang knew, no tree had lived for two hundred thousand years. The laurel Tree Ancestor in front of him, even if not planted during Ancient Times, must be one of the oldest trees, truly deserving of the name Tree Ancestor.

Exiting the Laurel Forest, they arrived at the other end of the woods where there was a very large courtyard. Lu Yang saw many disciples of the Fairy Palace diligently cultivating: their hands repeatedly piercing scalding hot iron sand, an elbow shattering a boulder of unknown material, carrying the weight of a small mountain while running...

Lu Yang felt this scene was all too familiar, as Old Meng practiced body refinement in the same way.

"What are they doing?"

"Body Refinement," Lan Ting answered earnestly.

"Ah?"

Lu Yang thought the method of cultivation in Laurel Fairy Palace was indeed completely different from those of female cultivators outside, even the disciples of the Seduction Sect, which was a super-grade sect, wouldn’t be splitting firewood and practicing body refinement like this.

"There’s a historical reason for that too."

"It was a thousand years after the establishment of the Fairy Palace. Great Xia was recuperating from its wars, the country was peaceful, and the people lived and worked in happiness and contentment. Chasing Moon True Person descended the mountain to travel."

"Then, at a bookstall, she stumbled upon several rather unconventional books.

While the stories varied, there was one common point amongst all of them: in each book, a fairy left the mountains for cultivation, accidentally got afflicted with a love poison, and the male protagonist had no choice but to administer an antidote, making the fairy one of the main female characters and starting a complex tangle of love and hate with the male protagonist."

"Initially, the male protagonist was a nobody, but as the story progressed, he grew stronger step by step until he was worthy of the fairy."

"Chasing Moon True Person felt that even though it was fiction, the content wasn’t without merit and such scenarios were possible."

"When she returned, she added one more aspect to cultivation: body refinement. All disciples must practice body refinement."

"After body refinement, the constitution strengthens, greatly reducing the effects of being afflicted with the love poison and extending the time to find an antidote, sparing disciples from surrendering their bodies to just anyone."

"Indeed, the decision of Chasing Moon True Person proved correct. In the span of a hundred thousand years, quite a few predecessors who descended the mountain succumbed to the love poison. If they had not practiced body refinement, they would have ended up in bed with some unknown wild man."

"At the same time, Chasing Moon True Person also took into account how in the stories it’s common for the male and female protagonists to fall in love, but the female protagonist’s sect disagrees, creating obstacles, until the male protagonist gains success and then confronts the female protagonist’s sect.

Consequently, she stipulated that if a disciple of our sect falls in love with a man, the sect shall not obstruct it."

Lu Yang: "..."

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Your founding ancestor sure thought of everything.