The Queen Mother Grass sprite told Shi Feiyang that the Red-Scaled One-Horned Snake had been following him for over three hundred years, and it was a foolish snake, often killing itself; he had resurrected it six times already!
Though foolish, the snake was well-behaved; he often sat atop the horn on the snake's head and let the foolish snake carry him around to patrol the forest.
Besides raising a summoning beast, he had devised an even more brilliant method to protect himself.
Beside him, the Black Ganoderma, called the Immortal Mushrooms, resembled Lingzhi in appearance but was actually a herb containing deadly poison. The Queen Mother Grass had specifically chosen it, transplanting it beside himself, and over the years, had watered and fertilized it, making it grow plump and strong.
The spiritual energy of Immortal Mountain was concentrated, yielding abundant spiritual medicines; thus, many people came here to gather herbs. Often, they would spot the outgoing sprite of Queen Mother Grass and follow him all the way to his home, or stumble upon his place by mistake.
In such cases, the first thing people noticed was the Black Ganoderma, as large as a wash basin, assuming it to be a prime spiritual medicine, while the Queen Mother Grass next to it seemed too insignificant, merely a weed...
When they dug out the Immortal Mushrooms, just a whiff of its juice was enough to kill them instantly. If it was an immortal with some Dao cultivation, they could withstand for a moment, but any mortal who touched the leaves or inhaled its scent would faint.
Dozens of medicine gatherers, both immortals and mortals, had been killed by this scheme of Queen Mother Grass.
The Immortal Mushrooms, which he had planted, had been around for over three thousand years. It had been dug up numerous times, suffering broken roots and torn leaves, yet under the meticulous care of the Queen Mother Grass, it continued to thrive and its toxicity increased. Now, it had grown to resemble a human form, although it had not yet gained sentience.
"Truly a clever creature," praised Shi Feiyang sincerely, "I shall name you; your body is dark as ink, so your surname will be Mo. You love to leap and run, so you shall be called Mo Zhui."
The sprite didn't care what his name was; as a plant, he didn't even care about being male or female. He just wanted to stay safe, but since a powerful new summoning beast had named him, he grinned and nodded in agreement.
That Immortal Mushrooms was also a three-thousand-year-old spiritual object. Although poisonous, poison and medicine came from the same source; used rightly it's medicine, misused it's poison. Shi Feiyang planned to "hatch" it soon, turning it into a little sprite sprinting across the ground.
Thus, each time he cultivated, he redirected some of the light and heat from the Divine Fire Primordial Pill towards the Immortal Mushrooms and infused it with a burst of Dan Qi.
The next day, the Red-Scaled Strange Snake came to find Shi Feiyang. Although it had three hundred years of Dao cultivation, it had just been severely wounded by Sikong Hu, with its Primordial Qi greatly diminished. Climbing the barren, towering Dinghu Peak had been an arduous effort.
The Red Snake still wanted to acknowledge Shi Feiyang as its leader. Amongst different species, desires were expressed very directly; it once again expressed its wish for Shi Feiyang's protection, wanting to learn cultivation techniques from him. It was willing to serve Shi Feiyang in any way it could, even prepared to settle on the peak that very night, guarding Shi Feiyang's home.
Shi Feiyang didn't want a monstrous snake guarding his door; Wei Fengniang would arrive before long, and with the Red Snake's ability, it would again be chopped into seventeen or eighteen pieces.
"I will impart to you a cultivation method; go back and cultivate. I am facing an ordeal right now; after I overcome it, you can return. If you have made progress in cultivation, I will accept you."
He placed his Dragon Claw on the Red Snake's head, infusing a stream of Dan Qi and transmitting a cultivation method.
Different species were generally foolish and slow-witted, with their minds shut tight. Without teachings, they could only vaguely gather spiritual energy and the essence of the sun and moon by instinct, progressing slowly, and most perished before achieving results from their cultivation.
Shi Feiyang noticed that the constitution of the Red Snake was different from his own, so he devised a cultivation method for him, teaching him to collect the sunshine at noon every day, absorb the True Sun Fire, and then disperse it throughout his whole body to refine his form and quality.
Overjoyed at receiving the Dan Qi and cultivation technique, the Red Snake kowtowed to Shi Feiyang in thanks, "My benefactor, do you have any impending calamities? Please let me know the time, so I may risk my life..."
"Losing your life will be of no use," Shi Feiyang interrupted him. "Go back and cultivate properly, and we can meet again in the future!"
He then spat a strange wind from his mouth, sweeping up the Red Snake and blowing it off Dinghu Peak, rolling it over and over until it landed in Alchemy Creek.
The day of shedding his skin was approaching, and while Shi Feiyang engaged in cultivation, he also practiced alchemy. The millennia-old Queen Mother Grass had the incredible ability to reattach severed limbs, bring the dead back to life, and even reattach severed heads.
He explained his predicament to the dwarf Mo Zhui, who, without a word, drew blood from his arm for Shi Feiyang's alchemical needs.
With the juice of the millennia-old Queen Mother Grass, several types of Immortal Pills could be made; Shi Feiyang managed to obtain two small cups of it, and besides Scraping Immortal Pill, he also concocted a furnace of Angry Mysterious Pills for emergencies.
Sikong Hu's physical body was blown apart by him that night, and his Primordial Spirit was captured. Shi Feiyang forced him to recite the original texts of two Daoist books.
By this time, Sikong Hu had lost his previously arrogant demeanor and obediently recited the "Twenty-Eight True Scripture" and the "Three-Seven Scripture" verbatim. Then he pleaded with Shi Feiyang to release him, "I was blind and provoked the might of the True Dragon... Now I have already died once and have learned my lesson. Please, Dragon God, pity my years of cultivation and allow me to reincarnate..."
"That sounds familiar," remarked Shi Feiyang as he memorized the contents of the two scriptures and deliberated them, asking Sikong Hu to explain the annotations. Sikong Hu had refined these two books for over sixty years, knew them inside out, and had developed insights for every character, presenting explanations far exceeding the original text.
Shi Feiyang listened to the entirety of the scriptures and their interpretations, compared them with the Heavenly Book Supplement and the Golden Seal on the rock walls, pondered for half a day, suddenly laughed, and told Sikong Hu, "You fool, to have misinterpreted the true essence of these Daoist scriptures into something entirely unrecognizable and yet dared to frivolously claim the title of Sword Immortal!"
Dissatisfied, Sikong Hu had, together with Pu Miaomiao, delved deeply into these two Daoist books for many years and, following the teachings of the book, achieved swordsmanship and divine skills, making a name for himself as a Sword Immortal. How could he have possibly misinterpreted the True Scripture?
He couldn't help but interject, "You say I lack comprehension and haven't fully grasped the deep meaning within the scripture, which is true. However, I believe I have understood seventy to eighty percent of it…"
"No, no!" Shi Feiyang interrupted him, "You were wrong from the beginning! I suspected something was odd when I first heard your nephew mention it; he hadn't learned it completely. Now that I've heard you explain both books completely, I finally understand that you fundamentally misunderstood from the beginning."
Sikong Hu wanted to leap up and bite the dragon but forcibly restrained himself, "Then please enlighten me, where exactly did I go wrong?"
With a hint of pride, Shi Feiyang explained, "You say 'two' represents Yi Wood, and 'eight' represents Xin Metal, thus the Twenty-Eight True Scripture is actually the Yi Xin Scripture, practicing the Wood and Metal Path, which is wrong! You say 'three' represents Bing Fire, and 'seven' represents Geng Metal, thus the Three-Seven Scripture is actually the Bing Geng Scripture, practicing the Fire Gold Dao, which is even more incorrect! It's a sheer travesty! Combined with the whole context of the scripture and the arithmetic adjustments, it should not be derived from the Heavenly Stems Yin Yang Five Elements!
Let me tell you, 'one' represents Sun, 'two' represents Shaoyin, 'three' represents Shaoyang, and 'four' represents Taiyin, these are the birth numbers; 'six' represents Taiyin, 'seven' represents Shaoyang, 'eight' represents Shaoyin, and 'nine' represents Sun, these are the completion numbers. Birth and completion recycle and ascend in a spiraling Four Symbols, understand? 'Three' is Shaoyang as birth number, and 'seven' is Shaoyang as completion number; the Three-Seven True Scripture is actually the Shaoyang Scripture, cultivating the Shaoyang True Qi!
'Two' is Shaoyin as a birth number, and 'eight' is Shaoyin as a completion number; the Twenty-Eight True Scripture is actually the Shaoyin Scripture, cultivating the Shaoyin True Qi! Shaoyang belongs to Wood as genuine Yang, Shaoyin as Metal is True Yin, when Metal and Wood combine, they match Yin and Yang, this is a Daoist alchemical scripture for cultivating the inner core! Do you know what 'Over Five' is? Do you understand what 'Seven Returns Nine' even means?"
Upon hearing all this, Sikong Hu was left dumbfounded!