On the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain, there are two continents, with the east side being relatively flat. There, one can find the city that never sleeps, and its city master, Qian Kang, is an Earth Immortal living there with his wife and servants.

Everyone who can enter the Outer Heaven Divine Mountain is somewhat experienced, be it Sword Immortals or Demon Beasts that have grown powerful. Usually, they take the route through the Forty-Seven Islands of the Little Antarctic during the Winter Solstice. Not far from the entrance is the seacoast of the main eastern road where the city is located. Sword Immortals restock at the city, some settling down, while Demon Beasts reproduce between the mountains and the sea. The Spiritual Energy here is rich, promoting rapid growth of all things, resulting in an immense population over thousands of years.

The descendants of more than a thousand Sword Immortals live within the city, the majority skilled in some swordsmanship, yet not many are truly accomplished, hovering between the Immortals and mortals.

The Western Continent is known as the Bright Realm, with a succession of towering, rolling mountains, adorned with exotic flowers and jade trees that densely cover the land, many being unique species from the Spiritual Space Immortal Realm.

This has mainly become a paradise for various Demon Beasts; among nearly ten thousand, more than a dozen are prominent. One of the most formidable is the Myriad Cold Centipede, who uses sorcery to beguile and incite betrayal and slaughter, and has managed to gain a dominant position without any other Demon Beasts able to rival it.

Shi Feiyang's first target to clear out was the Myriad Cold Centipede. Being new to the area, he only had minimal clues and couldn't deduce everything. He planned to find a place to settle down first.

He scouted from the air, noting the tallest peak of the West Continent estimated at over six thousand zhang high, with rocks like jade. On the very top sat a yellow Jade Pavilion, over ten zhang high, carved from a single piece of jade.

Below was a basin several thousand li in diameter, with lakes. On their shores, hills rose and fell, and palaces and towers were built according to the terrain, all golden terraces and jade pillars, with jade bridges and crystal pavilions, green trees, Red Flowers, and also planted were various towering trees of twenty to thirty zhang, their branches intertwining like jade. Some blossomed with wheel-sized Red Flowers, brilliant as brocades, while others bloomed with fist-sized blue flowers, veiling the trees in a haze of blue... This splendor and opulence rivalled that of the Purple Cloud Palace and was a hundred times more majestic!

From a distance, Shi Feiyang saw a platform carved out of jade on the lake, spanning tens of acres, surrounded by a swirling mass of green vapor. He knew it was the Myriad Cold Centipede enjoying itself.

He led his disciples flying toward the Southwest and quickly found a geomantic treasure—a bay facing east. Along the shore were three small mountains each over a hundred zhang tall, with white stones as pure as jade, towering green trees, and lush flowers, and below, the sea water was clear. It was an excellent place for gathering wind and hiding energy, suited for tranquil cultivation.

He carved a cave dwelling for himself halfway up the main peak, instructed Yuan Hua and Jin Xunu to carve their caves on the mountain to the left, Xiong Man and Deng Bagu to establish cave abodes on the mountain to the right, while the two younger ones, Lin Han and Shi Sheng, created dwellings by the waterside below him.

The mountain rock also had the lustre of jade and was extremely tough. The first three locations were workable, but Lin Han and Shi Sheng were struggling to dig with their Flying Swords, the sword light flashing, constantly hacking and stabbing forward. Unlike cutting tofu as usual, their progress was incredibly slow despite the stone shavings they managed to carve off.

Yuan Hua and Jin Xunu had finished their caves first and wanted to help, but Shi Feiyang stopped them, "Focus on cultivating well. In a few days, we will go hunt a Great Demon."

He instructed Yuan Hua and Jin Xunu to reforge all their treasures, specifically showing them how to refine several items. Xiong Man and Deng Bagu also finished their abodes quickly, and Shi Feiyang also had them each reforge the Dragon Sparrow Ring and the Snow Soul Pearl.

With no help, Lin Han and Shi Sheng made slow progress but didn't complain or rush. Lin Han took the task as a chance for self-improvement, while Shi Sheng found it fun. As they dug, they also designed the space, and upon finding out that Lin Han was skilled in carving, Shi Sheng began enthusiastically directing him to sculpt a dragon here and a tree there. Although Lin Han did not appreciate his taste, he believed a Cultivator shouldn't be so obsessed with right or wrong, and went along with his younger disciple, carving wherever Shi Sheng pointed.

Together, amidst their playful labor, they created their cave, the entrance a mere zhang above the water, with a flight of steps two arms-width wide leading straight into the water. Inside, a living room connected to two bedrooms, with walls and ceilings carved with images of fish, dragons, flowers, and birds—full of childlike charm.

Shi Feiyang released the creatures from the Yu Ding—Divine Skills, Falcon Crane, Red Snake, Xuan Turtle, and three Green Flood Dragons—who had spent several years inside. Suddenly finding themselves in such a dreamlike world, they were too amazed to speak.

Xuan Turtle had fully recovered. He and the Red Snake saw Shi Feiyang in human form for the first time, staring dumbfounded, "Your Majesty! You—you—you... have truly transformed into a human?"

Divine Skills and Falcon Crane had listened to these two constantly speak of Shi Feiyang as a Black Dragon who had attained Dao, but they hadn't believed it. They knew the grotesque process by which Demons transformed into humans, involving odd shapes and hideous features, retaining many characteristics of their original form, unless they reincarnated as humans or, like Jin Xunu, shed their skin and bones.

Red Snake and Xuan Turtle were adamant their King was a valiant and handsome Black Dragon: "Even if you see the King in human form, once he reverts to his original Dragon Form outside again."

Divine Skills and Falcon Crane were more dismissive. In this world, for a Demon to turn into a human, today they'd grow arms, tomorrow legs, gradually transforming piece by piece. Once changed, it's not possible to revert, just as Jin Xunu can no longer turn back into Merfolk.

Shi Feiyang, seeing his old generals the Tortoise and Snake so happy, nodded, "True, I have already transformed into human form."

Red Snake asked, "They don't believe you were originally a Black Dragon who attained Dao. Can you transform back into your original form?"

"It's possible," replied Shi Feiyang, who had presented himself as a human to the world since traveling to Central Earth. He felt a bit unaccustomed at the thought of reverting to his Dragon Body.

Asking everyone to step back, he shook his body and suddenly morphed into a Black Giant Dragon, seventy to eighty zhang long, with double horns atop his head and wings growing on his back.

In the years he spent in Central Earth, although he had been conducting himself in human form, the dragon body and the human body were inherently one; as the human form grew, so too did the dragon form. Now that he had reverted to his dragon body, it had not only grown larger and longer, but the twin wings on his back had each reached the length of fifty to sixty feet. Fully spread, their span surpassed forty feet. Each wing bore seventy-two sword feathers, resembling long swords, glossy as oil, with a layer of light like rippling water encircling and flowing around them, looking no less impressive than Geng Kun's or Geng Peng's golden feathers.

Such a colossal being, brandishing its claws and soaring above the sea, even Shen Gongbao felt a chill in his heart. Looking up, he felt as if Mount Taishan was pressing down upon him, bringing with it an overwhelming sense of deterrence.

Red Snake and Xuan Turtle were overjoyed, emerging from the sea to worship incessantly, "The King has returned! The King has returned! We always said our King was the Dragon King!"

Shen Gongbao and Falcon Crane hurriedly followed suit in worship, "The King's divine skills are vast and mighty, beyond our reach!" They spoke the truth, for they had never before seen a creature of a different kind successfully revert to its original form after transforming into a human.

Only the three Green Flood Dragons were somewhat confused, "Is our master also a demon? He looks even more demonic than we do."

Shi Feiyang stretched out his right claw, scooping the three Green Flood Dragons out of the water as if they were three slender snakes, and brought them before his eyes, "Do you think I look more demonic than you?"

Engulfed by his immense majesty, the three dragons shivered in fear, "We are the demons, we are the demons, you are not at all demonic."

Shi Feiyang tossed them back into the sea and slithered gracefully, "You rascals! The Sun and Moon Refining Technique I taught you, you haven't been dedicated in practicing. Other than Little Shenzi who managed to refine one claw on his chest into two, the rest of you have shown no improvement, spending your days in the cauldron only to idle chat and boast, wasting the precious time! You are only my in-name disciples, if you don't cultivate diligently, don't expect to be welcomed into the inner circle. Those who don't strive to better themselves, when their tribulations come, I won't help you!"

The demons, including Red Snake and Xuan Turtle, were all terrified, repeatedly admitting their errors and repenting, promising to exert themselves in the future.

Lin Han and Shi Sheng stood on the steps of the shore, looking up at him in amazement. Lin Han was shocked, Shi Sheng envious, as he waved his arms loudly, "Master! Master! Are you still yourself?"

Shi Feiyang lowered his enormous head, "If I am not myself, then who am I?"

Shi Sheng looked at his dragon horns enviously, "Master, I want to touch your horns, your nose, and your dragon whiskers..."

"No messing around!" Shi Feiyang did not permit his request.

At this time, Yuan Hua, Jin Xunu, along with Xiong Man and Deng Bagu, all emerged from their caves to look. They all found it unbelievable. Yuan Hua and Jin Xunu, being creatures of different kinds, understood best that one could not freely switch between human and non-human forms. Even Deng Bagu included, none could comprehend how he managed it.

Xiong Man couldn't help but ask, "Master! Are you really human or a dragon?"

"One life as human, another as dragon; having been a dragon and then transformed back into human again, some might say it's reincarnation, yet it is actually a reversal to a past life. As a dragon, my Dao name is Feiyang, as a human, my secular surname is Long. Tell me, what differences lie between me being human and being dragon?"

From the mountain top to the base, both humans and demons listened in a fog of confusion, trying to savor the meaning within his words.

Shi Sheng was the first to reply, "Master, you are very small when you're human, and very large when you're a dragon."

The others didn't have an answer for a long time; some couldn't think of one, while others dared not speak recklessly. Finally, Shi Feiyang turned to Jin Xunu, the one who had transformed from a different kind into a human, "What do you say?"

Jin Xunu mustered his courage, "There is no difference."

"Hahaha." Shi Feiyang burst out laughing, his voice booming like thunder. He then addressed Jin Xunu commandingly, "Since there is inherently no difference, what's there for you to feel inferior about! Know that only through self-respect and self-love can one become strong; only through strength can one achieve independence, and only independence can lead to endless life. If you always see yourself as lesser than others, such self-deprecation is the demon obstructing your path of cultivation!"

"Thank you, master, for your teachings!" Jin Xunu quickly bowed in gratitude, "Your disciple will remember this in his heart and correct this flaw."

"Hmm." Shi Feiyang turned his dragon head towards the north; within thousands of miles, all the Great Demons and Little Demons already knew of his existence, especially that Myriad Cold Centipede that was spying in this direction.

It would be best to lure the Cold Centipede out of its lair for an ambush. Shi Feiyang issued a dragon's roar towards it, a threatening and thunderous dragon chant, which pierced the heavens. The roar, carrying for thousands of miles, echoed through the surrounding mountains, causing the water in the lake to leap, and if not for the palaces being built by Immortals with casting and protected by Immortal prohibitions, they too would have been shaken and rattled.

After issuing his roar, Shi Feiyang ordered them to return to their abodes and continue refining treasures, while he began to arrange Prohibition Formations for the ambush.

In one-on-one combat, he did not fear the Cold Centipede; whether it attacked now was inconsequential. But that millennia-old Great Demon had nine incarnations, making it difficult to eradicate completely. Hence, it would be necessary to wait until his disciples had finished refining their treasures to launch a collective hunt.

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