The next day, Ling Xuzi gave instructions for the affairs in the cave and then set off toward Black Wind Cave, holding a porcelain plate in his hand.
Lin Fang watched his retreating figure, a cold smirk appearing on his face. He whispered a farewell and then headed straight to the Alchemy Room, stuffing all the remaining Golden Cores from the Pill Furnace into a gourd before turning and dashing toward Ling Xuzi's treasure vault.
As the keeper of the treasure vault keys, Lin Fang knew exactly what it contained; he opened the vault door and plundered all the treasures inside.
"This will be the foundation of my existence in this world!" Lin Fang murmured to himself, looking at the collected treasures and that gourd of Golden Cores.
After leaving the vault's door ajar, Lin Fang walked out.
"Lin Fang, where are you going?" It turned out to be Leopard Head Leader, who asked in confusion, as it was well known that Lin Fang was tasked by their king to guard the Pill Furnace.
"Ah, Leopard Head Leader! The king needs some herbs; I'm off to the back mountain to gather some!" Lin Fang replied without missing a beat, lying effortlessly.
Lucky for Lin Fang, who neither sought disputes nor competed for attention, his reputation among the little demons was excellent, so much so that Leopard Head Leader, despite his doubts, didn't think deeply and assumed Lin Fang had received a command from their king to concoct some elixir.
It wasn't until Lin Fang was far from the sight of the Qingfeng Mountain monsters that he finally breathed a sigh of relief. Looking up at the cloudless blue sky, he suddenly felt an urge to scream at the top of his lungs. His body shifted, revealing his true form—a hundred-meter-long blue python, slithering through the grass like lightning, heading towards the distance.
As Lin Fang returned to his natural form, Ling Xuzi also reached the vicinity of Heifeng Mountain, full of pride, pondering how he might extract some cultivation knowledge from the Black Wind Monster.
Suddenly, he heard a shout, "Monster, watch the rod!" which scared him out of his wits, and looking up, he saw before him Sun Wukong, who had gone to the Southern Seas to seek help from Guanyin Bodhisattva.
Lacking the Black Wind Monster's abilities and caught off guard, Ling Xuzi was struck on the fontanel by the Jingu Bang, instantly meeting his demise in the Underworld, revealing his true form—a gray wolf with an iron back.
"Really too weak, couldn't withstand a single blow!" Sun Wukong expressed in disappointment, shaking his head.
"Wukong, how could you have killed him!" said Guanyin Bodhisattva, her face showing compassion and holding the Willow Cleansing Bottle.
"Bodhisattva didn't know, this fiend was one of Black Wind Monster's close friends, surely here to celebrate that rogue's birthday," said Wukong, then noticed the two elixirs Ling Xuzi had carried.
The exact events of how they subdued the Black Wind Monster and retrieved the kasaya after transforming into elixirs with the Bodhisattva went unexplained.
After the Black Wind Monster was subdued by the Bodhisattva, the remaining little demons couldn't escape either. It turned out that the Temple Guardian had already led the Buddhist Soldiers and monks there.
Poor little demons, oblivious and unknowing, had no idea why they were suffering this unprovoked disaster.
"Such ruthlessness from the Buddhist Sect, intent on utterly wiping them out!" Lin Fang, hiding in the dense forest, watched the flames rise in the distance and sighed heavily.
However, this had little to do with him; the Buddhist Sect wouldn't stir up such strife just for him, a small fish that slipped the net. It's just a pity for those little demons, unaware even of how they perished.
"From now on, truly the sky is the birds' domain to fly, and the sea is the fish's vast playground!" Lin Fang muttered to himself, feeling quite relieved. Having crossed over and encountered Ling Xuzi, a leader so capriciously stingy, his days had been full of apprehension; he could now finally look at this world with ease.
He returned to his own Cave Mansion, a small residence of merely thirty square meters, yet the first piece of land in this world that truly belonged to Lin Fang, a place that gave him peace of mind.
Sitting cross-legged on the stone bed, he opened the gourd and poured the Six Turn Golden Pills into his hand. The six pills radiated light, instantly filling the cave with a wondrous fragrance that was refreshing to smell.
Lin Fang's eyes glinted with excitement; with these six Golden Cores, he could gain the equivalent of sixty Jiazi of power, enough for him to transform and avoid appearing as frightening as he currently did. He looked down at his human upper body and snake's tail, smiling bitterly at his reflection that he was so unaccustomed to.
Three months later, Lin Fang swallowed the last Immortal Pill. He felt a powerful force coursing through his body, and soon black impurities began to be expelled. His condition and aura intensified rapidly, his demon body brimming with great power, while his meridians slightly ached.
Now, unwilling to suppress his body's urges any longer, he showed his true form. The giant python burst out from the cave mansion, breaking numerous towering trees along its path, terrifying all the beasts away. The python then coiled around a small mountain and let out a roaring bellow to the heavens.
Unexpectedly, dark clouds began to gather in the initially clear sky. These clouds did not drift from afar but appeared out of nowhere, starting sparsely but soon covering half of the sky.
The clouds were dark and thick, instilling fear in all beings who saw them. These were not ordinary clouds but the calamitous clouds that appeared above cultivators facing their tribulation.
As the calamitous clouds gathered, the creatures nearby could feel the destructive power within, and they fled in terror, desperate to escape this fearsome place.
Lin Fang looked up at the dark clouds above, feeling the terrifying destructive forces within. Yet, his heart harbored not a trace of fear but was instead full of combative spirit.
Ever since his arrival through transmigration, he had always been cautious and reserved, as if his heart were bound by layers of shackles. With a fire already brewing in his heart, he now gazed at the formidable tribulation clouds overhead, eager to release his pent-up emotions in a grand display.