The thousand-year-old Ganoderma Immortal had long attained consciousness, knowing that many creatures wanted to devour him, so he had to find himself a Guardian Beast.

His Guardian Beast was a unique Lin Spirit, also a formidable monster, residing in his rooted cave.

But having such a Guardian Beast still wasn't safe, so the Ganoderma Immortal specifically placed his cave at Drunken Immortal Cliff, right beneath the crevice from which the Beauty Serpent could stick its head out.

If other monsters pursued him, the Beauty Serpent only had to poke its head out to suck the assailants in and devour them. Of course, what it wanted to eat most was him, but he managed to carefully avoid it every time.

With the assistance of the Beauty Serpent, he had escaped many calamities.

Until Xun Lanyin came to Jiuhua Mountain with her children. When Golden Cicada played behind the mountain, it broke the Divine Talisman seal in front of the Beauty Serpent's cave, allowing the serpent to stretch half its body out, enlarging its angle and range of attack, and that's when it swallowed his Zhi Ma and nearly devoured him too.

Shi Feiyang warned the Beauty Serpent, "That Lin Spirit is also an exotic beast. You're not allowed to harm it. Capture it alive and bring it out for me."

The Beauty Serpent slithered into the small hole, directly to the Ganoderma Immortal's cave.

Terrified, the Ganoderma Immortal, along with his Zhi Ma, burrowed into the ground while the Lin Spirit lunged forward to confront the Beauty Serpent with its horn.

The Lin Spirit had a lion's head and a dragon body, with six legs below and a single horn on top. Its nose was over a foot long, with two golden teeth protruding, each about three feet long.

This creature, a bizarre fusion of dragon, elephant, and lion, especially known for its terrifying golden teeth that could slice through iron like mud, was covered in shiny golden fur that protected it from heat and cold.

The Beauty Serpent reared up the upper half of its body and opened its large mouth towards the Lin Spirit, revealing its sharp teeth while producing a hoarse roar from its throat.

The Lin Spirit was also terrified but had guarded the Ganoderma Immortal for two to three thousand years, already regarding it as its own food, just waiting for the Ganoderma Immortal to pass its millennial tribulation. After devouring it, it would gain the power to endure thousands of years of heat and cold, and was even close to refining its lifebound embryo. So instead of retreating, it brandished its large teeth and jabbed at the Beauty Serpent.

The Beauty Serpent spewed a stream of venomous mist. Hit by the incredibly foul poison, the Lin Spirit began to sway, shaking its head and snorting as it struggled for a few moments before collapsing with a thud.

Witnessing his Guardian Beast being so effortlessly defeated by the Beauty Serpent, the Ganoderma Immortal was petrified and decided to abandon even its root system, escaping directly and riding the Zhi Ma headlong out of the cave.

He ran at a tricky angle, and though the Beauty Serpent was large and long, it dared not move excessively, fearing that a flick of its tail might flatten him. Thus, it awkwardly allowed him to escape from its side.

Riding the Zhi Ma, the Ganoderma Immortal sprinted wildly, jumping out of the cave like a rabbit, only to see Shi Feiyang standing there with a grin. Terrified, his entire body shuddered, and he immediately turned around to flee along the cliff base.

Shi Feiyang stretched out his hand and immediately used a Prohibition Technique to confine the Ganoderma Immortal and Zhi Ma within an invisible circle about 10 feet in diameter. The Ganoderma Immortal bumped around, seeing Shi Feiyang approaching closer, trembling intensely, finally unable to endure, he dismounted from the Zhi Ma, knelt on the ground, babbling and gesturing frantically, begging Shi Feiyang not to devour him.

Seeing him terrified, Shi Feiyang crouched down to soothe him, "There, there, don't be afraid. I won't eat you. I'm going to take you back to my home, where you can avoid a future calamity. Mainly it's for your Zhi Ma; she isn't as fortunate as you. Without me, she'd be eaten in a few years.

In my home, there are a few other spiritual creatures like you, and you can live with them henceforth. I have a vast stretch of meadows and mountains for you all to roam freely. In time, I will help your Zhi Ma transform into human form, then you two can marry and produce a bunch of little Ganoderma offsprings, forming a clan that will be entered into my official family records and even be granted land."

The Ganoderma Immortal couldn't quite imagine what the promised scenario looked like, but knew at least he wouldn't be eaten for now, slightly relieved, he continued babbling towards his cave behind him.

He was begging Shi Feiyang to save his plant body, or at least preserve its roots.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I sent the Beauty Serpent in there. She wouldn't dare eat your roots," Shi Feiyang knew the Beauty Serpent had coveted the Ganoderma Immortal for years, and since he dared to send her in, naturally he had a way to control her.

True enough, the Beauty Serpent quickly crawled out of the cave, firstly letting the poisoned, unconscious Lin Spirit out, then returned to dig up the Ganoderma Immortal's roots.

Seeing the Beauty Serpent, the Ganoderma Immortal shrieked in terror, clinging to Shi Feiyang's wrist and ducking under his arm, while the Zhi Ma also curled up next to him, both small creatures shivering together.

Shi Feiyang stroked them to comfort, "Don't be afraid, this Beauty Serpent is also very well-behaved."

He waved at the Beauty Serpent, "Come here, lie down."

The Beauty Serpent, looking at Shi Feiyang, trembled as well, not knowing what his boss intended to do but dared not resist, crawling over to lie down where he pointed.

Shi Feiyang stroked the densely packed yellow fur on the head of the Beauty Serpent, saying to the Ganoderma Immortal, "See? Both of you little ones, follow my orders from now on."

He held the Ganoderma Immortal close to the mouth of the Beauty Serpent, "Will you eat him?"

Terrified, the Ganoderma Immortal struggled frantically but couldn't break free, only managing to grip Shi Feiyang's arm tightly.

The beautiful python sniffed the fragrant aroma emanating from the body of Zhi Xian. In the past, it would salivate, but this time, under the overpowering dragon might, it tasted only bitterness and quickly shook its head frantically. It knew that if it showed even the slightest intent to devour Zhi Xian, it would certainly be severely dealt with by the True Dragon, possibly even losing its life.

Shi Feiyang gently patted the yellow furry top of its head, "From now on, we're all one family, and no one will bully anyone. If you dare to harm a single hair on it, I will pull out your teeth one by one, pull off all your hair, skin you, disassemble your bones, and preserve you in salt for a damp day."

The beautiful python nodded hurriedly, hissing in agreement, promising not only to not harm Zhi Xian but also to protect it with its life.

As Shi Feiyang was playing around, suddenly two sword lights flew from the sky, accompanied by an angry shout, "Who dares to steal Spiritual Medicine from Jiuhua Mountain!"

It happened that on the Golden Summit of Jiuhua Mountain, there was a Guiyuan Temple housing two monks, one known as Dragon Transformation the Heavenly King, and the other called Tiger Face Kālana Lei Yin.

Although they dressed as monks of the Buddhist order, they were actually practitioners of a deviation from the Righteous Path. Among them, Dragon Transformation had an elder brother named Seven-Handed Yaksha Long Fei, a favorite disciple of the Taiyin Hunyuan Ancestor from the Wutai Sect. They also had a sister, a nun, ordained as Fei Long, who cultivated at Lu Mountain White Deer Cave, widely known as Eight-Handed Guanyin.

That day, Dragon Transformation and Lei Yin were drinking tea and playing chess under the pine trees atop the mountain when they suddenly heard some disturbance from Drunken Immortal Cliff. From afar, they saw a young man in green capturing a humanoid snake and trapping a small person and a small horse in conversation.

Both being somewhat worldly, they recognized at a glance that this was the legendary Meat Zhi, which had attained human form. They immediately flew on their controlled swords to contest for it.

Shi Feiyang, squatting on the ground, did not stand up and turned to ask, "Who are you? You look like a monk but don't seem like a proper one."

"I am Dragon Transformation the Heavenly King, Abbot of Guiyuan Temple at Jiuhua Mountain's Golden Summit, and this is the Second Abbot, Tiger Face Kālana Lei Yin. Have you ever heard of us?"

"Oh, I've heard of you, not very impressive though."

Hearing this, Dragon Transformation burst into anger and was about to attack with his flying sword when Lei Yin, who was somewhat more sensible, noticed that the youth was poised and utterly disregarded both of them. Knowing their own reputation in the realm of Sword Immortals was widely recognized and usually respected by any Sword Immortal, they realized that someone with such confidence and righteous demeanor must have strong backing.

He stopped Dragon Transformation and asked, "What sect do you belong to? How should we address you?"

"Shi Feiyang, ever heard of me? No sect."

The two glanced at each other, indicating they had not heard of him. Shi Feiyang's act of slaying One Light Master and leveling Zhuanlun Temple had taken place in the Himalayas and, although it caused a sensation at the time, only Sword Immortals from the Southwest, Sichuan, Yun Gui Region were likely to know unless others had well-connected sources.

The lives of Immortals moved at a slow pace, often spending months or even years in secluded cultivation, and news spread slowly unless one traveled widely like Xu Feiniang, who knew of myriad major and minor events trading camels across nine countries.

Dragon Transformation and Lei Yin also belonged to the category of Loose Cultivators without a specific sect, usually cultivating peacefully on Jiuhua Mountain, playing chess, drinking tea, refining swords, and meditating without much interaction with the people from the Wutai Sect, hence the relatively secluded flow of information and their ignorance.

Dragon Transformation, not having heard of Shi Feiyang's reputation and hearing his claim of belonging to no sect, wanted to take action.

Lei Yin stopped him again and asked Shi Feiyang, "Who is your master then?"

"I have no master. I obtained a few Daoist books and cultivated on my own."

Hearing this, Lei Yin no longer stopped him, but Dragon Transformation, hearing that this youth had actually obtained several Daoist books, felt a growing itch in his heart: "Ordinary people would be immensely fortunate to obtain a single Daoist book, and yet you've managed several? How many Daoist books have you actually got?"

Shi Feiyang found this fellow somewhat amusing in his foolishness and began counting on his fingers, "There are three volumes of Ancient Heavenly Books and one vice volume, also Classic of Mountains and Seas, Twenty-Eight True Scripture, Three-Seven Scripture, one volume of Chi You Three Disks Scripture, two volumes of Inner View Primordial Sect, Red Lotus Secret Manual, and more..."

"You even have the Chi You Three Disks Scripture? What is this Ancient Heavenly Book?" Hearing these names, Dragon Transformation grew even more eager, "Hand over all your Daoist books immediately! This way, you shall be spared from the transgression of stealing Immortal Herbs from this mountain!"

Shi Feiyang laughed, "How have I stolen Immortal Herbs? Is this little Meat Zhi yours?"

"It was born on Jiuhua Mountain, so naturally it belongs to us!" Dragon Transformation claimed with full confidence, "Not only does this Meat Zhi belong to us, but this beautiful python is also a Spirit creature we raised to guard the mountain gate. Moreover, this Unicorn Shen Lin that you killed, you must also compensate for."

"You say it's your pet raised to guard the mountain gate? Call her and see if she responds," Shi Feiyang asked the beautiful python, "They say they raised you."

Terrified by his mighty authority, the beautiful python turned pale, both angry and anxious. It hurriedly crawled forward a few steps, raised its upper body, and suddenly spewed out a chilling poison mist toward Dragon Transformation!

"Not good!" Lei Yin knew the lethal nature of the beautiful python's poison. Seeing it rise with eyes full of frenzied resentment, he took caution. As the poison mist was released, he immediately emitted a blue divine talisman, creating a barrier that shielded both himself and his companion. The poison mist sprayed on it, all blocked by the blue light.

Enraged, Dragon Transformation yelled, "Monstrous creature, you seek death voluntarily!" and released his Flying Sword.

Furious at this man for trying to sabotage her relationship with her newly recognized dragon lord, fearing the Dragon Lord would believe the slander and in a fit of anger crush her, seeing that her first burst of poison mist was ineffective, she directly spewed her inner core.

Her inner core was a bowl-sized red bead, its surface burning with fierce flames, surrounded by a large mass of red, viscous poison fog that collided with Dragon Transformation's Flying Sword.

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