Red Snake was extremely uncomfortable being embraced by humans. Recently, when the Black Dragon King had been involved in disaster relief and rescuing people, Xuan Turtle was very active, but Red Snake was reluctant and appeared in front of people only when brought along by the Black Dragon King.
His Dao Level wasn't very high; he could communicate with Shi Feiyang, but he couldn't yet speak human languages. He did, however, understand what the girl was saying and wondered internally, "She must be referring to the Black Dragon King, right? The King didn't ask me to retrieve anyone, did he?"
Before he could figure out what was happening, another bride was swept downstream, so he dived into the water and rescued her.
In total, there were four girls, the oldest being nineteen and the youngest fourteen, shivering in their red auspicious dresses on the muddy ground, which annoyed Red Snake. Since they said they were going to the Dragon Palace, he decided to take them to the King, reasoning that even if there were some misunderstandings, at least he had saved people and the King would surely praise him rather than punish him.
From the girls' cries, Red Snake understood that four had fallen into the water and he had rescued them all, so he didn't wait any longer. From his mouth, he exhaled Dan Qi, which transformed into a clump of yellow clouds. These clouds stirred up a demon wind, and together they lifted Red Snake and the four girls off the ground and flew straight to Dinghu Peak.
At that moment, Shi Feiyang wasn't at the bottom of the lake; he was on the peak making incense.
It is said that Red Snake and Xuan Turtle mingled once a year, choosing when the Xuanwu Seven Stars were directly overhead in the sky. This mingling of turtle and snake, enticing the energies of Heaven and Earth, drew down the pure essence of the Xuanwu Star Constellation, which they absorbed.
During this time, the essence blood from their bodies became a medicinal substance.
There were four top-tier medicinal herbs in Shu Mountain, the second of which was called Joyful Lotus.
A female Immortal from Mysterious Sect, Lu Rongbo, who was a disciple of Jile Perfected Li Jingxu, had cultivated for a hundred years, and though she was as young as a girl of eighteen or nineteen, she could ascend in a few more years. She took Joyful Lotus because of its beauty to adorn her cave residence, but after sniffing it, she fainted. Lying on the rocks of the mountain range, she conceived through the essence energy of Spirit Stones and gave birth to one of the Emei Dwarfs, Shi Sheng.
Joyful Lotus could allow a person to conceive with the essence energy of a stone, showing the strong medicinal nature of the plant; however, it could only occupy the second rank. If any stone could conceive with a person, it would be the first, but since only Spirit Stones nourished by the Earth's veins for millions of years could conceive, it remained second.
If Shi Feiyang hadn't arrived, Xiong Man from the trio of Min Mountain would have killed the mingling turtle and snake, smeared essence blood on her Flying Sword, and then attacked Cang Lingzi. Upon contact with Cang Lingzi's Primordial Spirit, he would be immediately confused, and both would have lost their Dao and honor.
Cang Lingzi's magical powers need no explanation, but the key was that he was in a Primordial Spirit state at that time, essentially similar to a ghost. The essence blood of the mingling turtle and snake could affect a disembodied ghost, not only acting on physical bodies but also possessing consciousness-related soul bodies, forcing an interaction between humans and ghosts. Faced with such a high Dao Level Sword Immortal Primordial Spirit as Cang Lingzi, it indeed deserved the first rank!
Shi Feiyang obtained the turtle and snake essence blood and examined its medicinal properties carefully. He didn't intend to do any harm; instead, he wanted to use it to aid his cultivation.
He possessed two inner cores, one of water and one of fire, one Yin and one Yang, originally incompatible and repelling each other. The higher his mana, the more energy contained in his inner cores, and the greater the repelling force.
He cultivated the "True Scriptures" of "Two Eights" and "Three Sevens," coupled with the Golden Seal on the rock walls, and realized the concept where old Yin yields Shaoyang, and the Sun yields Shaoyin, the intermingling of Yin and Yang, inherently signified Heaven and Earth Harmony. He then thought of using the turtle and snake essence blood to facilitate his cultivation.
All medicine is toxic; used correctly, it is medicine, used wrongly, it's poison. Immortal Pills given to mortals would kill them immediately upon ingestion. But when a poison meets its match in a disease, it can be used to fight the poison and cure ailments and injuries.
He spent many days concocting a recipe, and after careful consideration and several adjustments, he finally gave it form.
The main ingredient was the essence blood of turtles and snakes, supplemented by twelve kinds of heart-strengthening and kidney-nourishing herbs, Six Yin and Six Yang, with a bit of juice from Immortal Mushrooms, all combined into a medicine. This substance could not be taken directly, but was made into sticks of incense that, when lit during cultivation, filled the air with a faint sweet fragrance. Inhaling this fragrance would enhance the circulation of the body's Qi and blood, inducing a state of Harmony between Heaven and Earth: the heart and kidneys resonated, the Qi and fluids resonated, the Divine Energy resonated, and the mortal and the divine resonated—with all originally opposing elements resonating together...
In this state, it was crucial to have absolutely no desires. A single thought could trigger an outburst like a flood, creating an uncontrollable situation that would drain all the primordial Qi from the heart and kidneys, harming rather than benefiting the body.
Shi Feiyang, having acquired a dragon body with a human soul, had no reaction when he saw beautiful girls. Thinking about attractive female dragons left him totally undisturbed. Thus, he could maintain a calm mind amidst the fragrance without losing his senses, mobilizing his two inner cores and causing them to generate True Yin and True Yang, interacting with each other. Using this method for cultivation, he would reap the benefits without suffering any harm.
That day, he had made a hundred sticks of Harmony Incense and placed them under the sun to bake while he cast a spell to infuse them with the Qi of the heavens and earth.
As he was refining, Red Snake flew to Dinghu Peak with four brides.
Seeing them, Shi Feiyang was displeased, "People are getting married, and you've abducted them from the wedding? What are you thinking?"
Frightened, Red Snake hurriedly explained that he had rescued the four from a stream while fishing.
Shi Feiyang then asked the four girls. Finally meeting the Dragon King of legend, they indeed found him impressively robust and long; one of his fingers was nearly as thick as their waists, and his mouth was so big he could swallow them like spring rolls.
Originally weeping and wailing, convinced that Yao Suxiu was exacting personal revenge wishing to doom them to death, their perception changed upon seeing the real Dragon King. They believed that everything Yao Suxiu said and did was true—that the Dragon King indeed intended to take a wife; consequently, they stopped crying and knelt in a row, orderly performing bridal rituals toward their Dragon King husband.
Shi Feiyang was confounded by their actions and asked them to rise and explain what was happening.
One bold girl said, "Isn't this the bridal ceremony that Yao Temple arranged for you to take a wife? At first, we thought being in the water meant certain death, but it turned out you truly sent General Red Snake to bring us here." She peered down into the lake below, "Your Dragon Palace is down there, isn't it? Yao from the temple has visited a few times and said that inside the Dragon Palace are all kinds of rare treasures. We thought it was beneath the stream, never imagining it was actually inside Dinghu Peak…"
They were actually somewhat eager to enter the Dragon Palace to have a look.
After understanding the full story from them, Shi Feiyang was furiously uncontrollable; someone below had been using his name to amass wealth and harm lives, a crime deserving death!
Without explaining to the girls, he gathered a large mass of clouds and swept up Red Snake and the girls, gliding down from Dinghu Peak and plunging directly above the Dragon King Temple.
Yao Suxiu and others were dining on the shore. With the Dragon King getting married, he was central to the arrangements, responsible both for representing the village as the bride's family in sending off the brides and for representing the Dragon King in receiving them. After sending off the brides, he set up a flowing banquet in front of the Dragon King Temple for everyone to enjoy eating and drinking.
Suddenly, a mass of black clouds descended from the sky, looming over the Dragon King Temple. Red Snake was first to land, falling behind the temple and proudly raising its horned serpent head, climbing above the temple.
"General Red Snake is showing up!" the crowd shouted, about to set down their bowls and kneel beside the tables in worship when four small clouds wrapped in red floated lightly to the ground—it was the girls who had been thrown into the river earlier.