Lu Yang had planned to take Yun Mengmeng to visit Tao Yaoye, but before they could ascend the mountain, they saw the disciples of Spotless Peak gather at its base. It was a lively scene of beauties, with Tao Yaoye among them.

“Junior Sister Tao, what are you all doing at the foot of the mountain?” Lu Yang asked, puzzled.

“Senior Brother Lu, Happy New Year! And you too, Senior Sister Yun! It’s almost New Year’s, so we’re doing a big spring cleaning.”

“You’re all standing at the foot of the mountain for a big spring cleaning?”

“It’s naturally because Shifu is up there,” Tao Yaoye explained with a grin.

Suddenly, a powerful aura burst forth from the mountain peak. It expanded outward continuously, stirring up countless dust particles.

“Look! Shifu is using her Immaculate Immortal Physique to do the big spring cleaning. Usually, she suppresses her Immaculate Field. But now, for the New Year’s cleaning, she opens it up, and all the dust gets swept away.

“The mountain is clean now.”

Lu Yang had never seen the Immaculate Immortal Physique used this way before. How extravagant.

“Convenient, isn’t it?”

“Indeed, it’s convenient.”

“According to the senior sisters, our Spotless Peak ends up the cleanest of all every New Year.”

Lu Yang remarked inwardly, Of course. Which other peak has the Sixth Elder doing the cleaning?

“Speaking of which, we have no one cleaning Heaven’s Gate Peak.” Lu Yang suddenly realized. We should be more particular during the New Year.

“There is someone,” the Everlasting Immortal Fairy said, reassuring him. “When we left Heaven’s Gate Peak, the Fourth-in-Command brought the creed leader, the barbeque masters, and so on to clean up the place. I’m not sure if they volunteered or Lass Yun instructed them to.”

The Everlasting Creed Leader, along with Chef Liu, Chef Gao, and the others, were all tiger-henchman ghosts refined by Yun Zhi. They were absolutely obedient to her.

“That’s pretty good then.” Lu Yang smiled. Without this weighing on his mind, he could now enjoy the New Year in peace.

Crackle, pop, crackle, pop...

How could the New Year be complete without the sound of firecrackers? As New Year’s Eve arrived, the festive atmosphere at the Dao-Seeking Sect intensified.

A senior female disciple twirled two strings of firecrackers around herself, confident they couldn’t hurt her. She didn’t let go even after both strings had finished exploding.

Lu Yang hadn’t set off firecrackers in a long time. Seeing this, he itched to give it a try as well.

Whoosh!

A shell streaked over Lu Yang’s head and exploded nearby. Following which was a rapid succession of whoosh, whoosh, whoosh as countless shells flew past, some from the left, some from the right, setting off a series of explosions.

Only then did Lu Yang notice that at some point, many disciples had gathered on both sides. They had pulled cannons out of their storage rings and were firing at each other. The explosions were deafening.

These shells had only modest power, enough to kill a Qi Training cultivator, but within the Dao-Seeking Sect, they could be fired freely without even damaging clothing.

A senior male disciple found the cannon’s firing rate too slow and simply swung his arm and hurled shells directly at the opposite side. The other side refused to be outdone and retaliated in kind.

Another senior female disciple sat on a stool with countless shells piled beneath it. A single spark ignited the stack, blasting her into the sky.

Crackle. Pop.

The stool exploded in midair, resembling a resplendent firework.

“Why does this seem quite different from the firecrackers in my memory...?” Lu Yang’s mouth twitched. How is this setting off firecrackers? The whole sect is about to become an arsenal.

“I think it’s fine,” Yun Mengmeng said with a smile, the fireworks reflecting in her eyes. “It’s much weaker than my self-detonations.”

“If they were as strong as your self-detonations, wouldn’t that be a real problem?” Lu Yang mumbled.

“Not at all.” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy spoke from experience. “Back in our time, during the New Year, I would self-detonate a few times to liven things up. Later, it became a tradition.

“The world admired this immortal and wanted to imitate my style. They also wanted to make some noise during New Year’s. But they couldn’t replicate the grandeur of my self-detonations, so they settled for the next best thing—setting off firecrackers.”

“So the most orthodox way to celebrate New Year’s is to self-detonate?!”

“Of course! Have you seen my influence?” The Everlasting Immortal Fairy planted her hands on her hips and preened.

“I don’t think this New Year’s is lively enough. How about this immortal self-detonate once to let you witness the tradition?”

“No need, no need!” Lu Yang got a fright. If the Immortal Fairy self-detonates once, wouldn’t the entire sect be blown into the sky?

Boom!

A series of low rumbles came from the sky, including the roars of dragons and lions.

Lu Yang looked up and saw that the senior disciples had transformed themselves into dragons and lions through shapeshifting techniques, engaged in fierce combat in the sky. Fireworks served as a backdrop, creating a grand and magnificent spectacle. It was more than worthy to be featured in a Dreamlike Bubble Mirage as a climactic final battle between the hero and villain.

“Is this what dragon and lion dances are like during New Year’s?”

Lu Yang increasingly felt that the New Year here was completely different from the one in his memory.

“Eh, is that also a lion?”

Lu Yang noticed a lion that looked different among the dragons and lions. It was eight or nine zhang long and had a fearsome appearance. It had round eyes, red fur that resembled burning clouds, and a single horn on its head. It was unusually lively in the dragon and lion dance.

To be precise, it was frolicking with its tongue out as it shook its head.

The lion-like demon beast sensed Lu Yang’s gaze and suddenly flew down. He examined him and asked in human tongue, “You can see me?” 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

“Who are you?!” Lu Yang was startled. Am I not supposed to see it?

“Hmm, isn’t this a Nian Year Beast?” the Everlasting Immortal Fairy said, recognizing the creature at a glance.

“Nian Year Beast? The demon beast the Epoch Immortal cultivated using the Epoch Dao Fruit?” Lu Yang remembered. The Everlasting Immortal Fairy had briefly mentioned Nian Year Beasts before, and Yun Zhi had mentioned she wanted to catch one but hadn’t succeeded.

“Yes, it’s a beast created by the Epoch Immortal. It’s quite remarkable.”

“It’s a demon beast that lives within time. It only appears on New Year’s Eve each year, then jumps forward in time to the next New Year’s Eve, repeating the process. That’s why we celebrate the new year—the ‘passing of the year.’

“Nian Year Beasts like the color red and enjoy lively celebrations. Every New Year, they hide in the festivities and play. This one was probably attracted by the larger commotion in our sect compared to the ones among the common folk.

“As their birth is tied to a Dao Fruit, only immortals can see them.”

“So you’re a Nian Year Beast?” Now that Lu Yang understood the demon beast’s origin, he relaxed.

“You’re an immortal! Wait, no, you’re only at the Divine Transfiguration Stage!” The Nian Year Beast was shocked. Only immortals can see us. This immortal is merely at the Divine Transfiguration Stage. How could he see me and even know of the existence of Nian Year Beasts?

What is the Second-in-Command doing? Sensing something, Yun Mengmeng turned to look at Lu Yang, only to see him seemingly speaking to something invisible. His act is extremely convincing.

“The Second-in-Command is so childish? I stopped doing that kind of thing when I was sixteen.”