Just as Su Fu was pondering how to latch onto a divine beast’s favor, the group had already swept across the sea of clouds and arrived at the Fairy Palace.
The Fairy Palace was located deep within Yaochi.
From afar, it radiated with brilliant rosy light, shrouded by colorful clouds.
Su Fu cast only a few glances before following the others into the main hall.
The floor inside was paved with white jade, translucent and bright, shining brilliantly.
At that moment, the Great Fairy stopped and turned to face everyone.
Her expression was solemn as she said, “Sisters, from now on, we must fully prepare for the Peach Banquet. This is a grand event held once every three thousand years by the Heavenly Court, personally decreed by the Queen Mother of the West. At that time, gods of the Heavenly Court and powerful beings from the Three Realms will gather at Yaochi to share the Peach Banquet. Therefore, there must be no mistakes whatsoever.”
The fairies listened tensely and instinctively straightened their backs.
The Great Fairy looked on with satisfaction and nodded, “Of course, if this banquet is a complete success, the Queen Mother will reward us handsomely. All of us sisters can receive treasures from the Heavenly Court and be nourished by Heavenly Immortal Energy…”
She paused, then looked meaningfully at the fairies, “Perhaps… even a taste of the Three-Thousand-Year Immortal Peach is not out of the question.”
At these words, the fairies’ eyes instantly brightened.
Receiving a reward of immortal peaches?
They would have to work hard for this.
Seeing their excited expressions, the Great Fairy smiled, confident the plan would succeed.
Su Fu outwardly agreed, but inwardly thought, Alright, alright, so this celestial realm also uses empty promises?
And this Great Fairy is not playing fair — secretly she prepared a Nine-Thousand-Year Peach for herself but won’t even share a Three-Thousand-Year Peach with her sisters?
Suddenly curious, Su Fu wondered how the other fairies would react if they found out.
Would they oppose her?
Or not?
Moreover, the Queen Mother mentioned by the Great Fairy was just a pretense.
This was clearly an A-level instance test paper.
Someone like the Queen Mother would never actually appear.
This was plainly using the Queen Mother’s name to dangle bait and make these fairies work hard.
No wonder the saying “When the tiger is gone from the mountain, the monkeys become kings” fits here perfectly.
She’s just using borrowed authority.
The more Su Fu thought about it, the more she realized this might actually stir up internal strife, making these anomalies turn against one another.
Maybe she could even reap the benefits of this chaos.
Just then, the Great Fairy began assigning duties.
“The preparations before the Peach Banquet are complicated and require our united effort. First, who will take charge of arranging the banquet tableware, chairs, and tables?”
Before Su Fu could react, the Second Fairy raised her hand eagerly, “I’ll do it!”
The Great Fairy nodded approvingly, “Next, who will be responsible for the banquet music and choreography?”
“I volunteer!” The Third Fairy answered immediately and also added, “That’s my specialty.”
“And the reception of the celestial guests?”
“Leave it to me!” The Fourth Fairy quickly stepped forward and introduced herself, “I am well versed in the ranks and characteristics of various celestial families across the Three Realms.”
Su Fu watched this scene dumbfounded.
For each task, fairies were scrambling to take it on, brimming with enthusiasm as if these were blessings rather than work.
Before she could say anything, the assignments were already snatched up.
She wondered, what’s going on?
Have these fairies all gone mad?
So eager to work?
And these tasks were getting harder and harder.
But that wasn’t the main issue.
The key was, if she also got assigned a heavy workload, how would she find time to approach Qingluan and Cai Feng?
Seriously, fairies are this eager to work?
‘If you all keep this up, I’m the only odd one out. If I don’t show some initiative, won’t that be too awkward?’
Seeing five fairies already assigned tasks, Su Fu’s heart skipped a beat.
Forget it, better to protect her identity.
No matter what the Great Fairy says next, she has to volunteer.
She internally groaned, this is internal competition, and it’s not good at all.
But just then, the Great Fairy paused, her expression turning serious as if the next task was particularly difficult.
Su Fu sensed trouble — difficult?
The Great Fairy’s voice became stern as she looked toward Su Fu and the Sixth Fairy.
“Next, there is an extremely important task.”
Su Fu realized the reason everyone had been fighting so hard to get the earlier tasks: the later ones were the real headaches.
She had suspected no one would actually enjoy working so hard.
The others were clever; they already knew the Great Fairy’s tricks.
Su Fu was just inexperienced and got caught out.
Heavens, she’d been fooled.
The Great Fairy said gravely, “At the Peach Banquet, Qingluan and Cai Feng, as the auspicious creatures of Yaochi, need to perform the Auspicious Dance for the guests. Who will take responsibility?”
She paused, adding, “They will also need someone to care for their daily meals and rest, especially to rehearse their performance to ensure flawless cooperation on the day of the banquet.”
The hall fell completely silent.
The fairies who had been so eager before now all lowered their heads, avoiding the Great Fairy’s gaze for fear of being chosen.
Some pretended to fix their dresses, others suddenly showed intense interest in their shoes.
But Su Fu’s eyes lit up, ‘Hmm? Dealing with divine beasts?’
She had been worried about not having a reason to get close to those two divine beasts — now she had a perfect excuse.
But why was no one else willing to take this task?
The Sixth Fairy then spoke, complaining, “Big Sister, you know how difficult those two are to handle… Last Peach Banquet, Fifth Sister was responsible for them and almost got pecked bald by Qingluan.”
The Fifth Fairy shivered as she rubbed her head.
The Sixth Fairy sighed and continued, “Besides, their diets differ every day. One wrong meal, and they get pecked. They have different routines too. Qingluan likes to bathe at midnight, Cai Feng insists on noon. One prefers quiet, the other is restless. It’s impossible to serve them both together. Last time, Fifth Sister had to sleep for seven whole days and nights to recover.”
Su Fu thought: ‘These are seriously spoiled divine beasts.’
The Sixth Fairy didn’t want to take this troublesome task.
Serving these two elders was a life-or-death ordeal.
The Great Fairy obviously knew how tough this was, but the Peach Banquet could not be without the performance of auspicious divine beasts.
How else could it showcase the festive and harmonious atmosphere?
The extraordinary status of Yaochi?
In the silence, Su Fu slowly raised her hand, “Big Sister, how about… I take responsibility? Sixth Sister is very tired today, busy running around, and the other sisters already have tasks. Let me do it.”
Hearing this, the Sixth Fairy was deeply moved.
She hadn’t expected Seventh Sister to be so considerate.
The Great Fairy smiled with admiration, “Good. It is rare to see someone step forward to take on such a difficult task with such responsibility. Very well, you will be responsible for the two divine beasts.”
She paused, “You only need to care for Qingluan and Cai Feng. You don’t need to participate in other miscellaneous tasks. Focus all your efforts on this. If you do well, I will reward you handsomely afterward!”
Su Fu immediately responded respectfully, appearing serious and sincere on the surface.
But inside, she was delighted — never expected such an unexpected bonus, not having to do other heavy work, spending plenty of time with divine beasts, and even getting some Jade Nectar and Qiong Brew.
Completely worth it.
The other fairies’ eyes flickered with envy at the news — if only they could have such a precious item for themselves…
Pecked bald?
So what?
Let’s just go bald a bit!
“Then it’s settled.” The Great Fairy made the final decision, “Seventh Sister takes care of Qingluan and Cai Feng; everyone else has their own duties. We must make the Queen Mother proud!”
She quickly assigned the remaining tasks, and everyone immediately began working with full loads.
No choice — this Peach Banquet only happens once every three thousand years; the pressure was on them all.
They couldn’t slack off.
Even the Great Fairy herself personally joined in, leaving no chance to rest.
But all this busyness had nothing to do with Su Fu.
Her only task was to care for the two divine beasts.
At that moment, a maid led several young fairies dressed in light green robes to Su Fu’s side.
“Seventh Fairy, these will be your attendants to help complete your task.”
Su Fu scanned them briefly, nodded approvingly, “Good. Let’s go.”
Her first stop was the Jade Nectar and Qiong Brew brewing area to get the precious brew.
Just as she stepped out of the Fairy Palace, Su Fu suddenly stopped and looked toward a nearby garden, alert.
“Who’s there?”
Before she finished speaking, a familiar figure appeared — it was the Land Deity.
He dusted himself off and walked toward Su Fu with a cheerful smile.
“Seventh Fairy has sharp eyes! One glance and you saw through my hiding place — truly worthy of you, with eyes like a celestial flame. A rare talent of the Heavenly Court!”
Su Fu gave a half-smile, “You sure know how to flatter.”
“Since you’re here, then let’s go.”
She was surprised at how quickly the Land Deity had arrived.
If she had that kind of teleportation, things would be much easier.
The group walked through the Yaochi fairyland.
Though the Peach Banquet hadn’t officially started, Yaochi was already bustling.
Celestial officials directed arrangements, musicians tuned zithers and jade flutes, and the Hundred Flowers Fairy tended to blooming flowers.
Besides those preparing for the banquet, many guests had already arrived early.
Each one bore an extraordinary aura, adorned in brocade robes and jade belts, some touring, some chatting.
Seeing this, the Land Deity smiled eagerly and said, “Thanks to the Queen Mother’s grand banquet inviting guests from the Three Realms, the Heavenly Court hasn’t been this lively in ages.”
Su Fu responded casually, “Hmm.”
Indeed, it was lively.
She glanced at the arriving celestial guests, some even carrying treasures, clearly intending to present offerings for the Peach Banquet.
The Land Deity explained, “The Queen Mother has opened the banquet widely, inviting guests from the Four Seas — not only the gods of Heaven but many earth deities and wandering immortals as well.”
He looked toward a jade-green stone bridge in the distance where several immortals in varied attire stood.
“For example, those great-merit earth immortals over there are the Eight Immortals.”
Su Fu followed his gaze and saw a delicate woman holding a lotus — that was He Xiangu.
Beside her stood a lame old man with a crutch and a gourd on his back — clearly Iron-Crutch Li.
Even a white donkey leisurely chewing grass — Su Fu thought, that must be Zhang Guolao’s donkey, riding backwards.
The others nearby were probably Lü Dongbin, Zhang Guolao, and the rest.
Su Fu’s mind clicked.
No wonder their appearances seemed so familiar; these were the legendary Eight Immortals from folk tales.
They continued forward and saw a barefoot, robust, and carefree immortal standing tall.
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