Zanglingzi

The one who stopped Xiong Manniang was none other than Zanglingzi Son, the head of the Qinghai Sect.

In Shushan, there was a saying about the Three Immortals and Two Elders, One Master, and Seven Perfected Ones. Zang Lingzi was that "One Master." Though his cultivation did not follow the orthodox Daoist path, he ranked alongside the Three Immortals and Two Elders—a clear indication of his profound attainment and formidable powers.

He was famously short, a mere three-inch runt, with the appearance of a young child. Yet he wore Daoist robes and an extremely solemn expression. With a point of his finger, he released a stream of red light from his fingertip and caught Xiong Manniang's Flying Sword.

Xiong Manniang's Flying Sword shone pure white and was of even higher quality than Wei Fengniang's, yet once caught in that red light, it could not break free. Utterly astonished, she retreated several steps, formed a spell seal, and asked warily, "Who are you?"

Zang Lingzi Son looked at her with a complicated expression. Suddenly, he sighed and raised his hand, sending another beam of red light toward the point between her brows. Xiong Manniang could not block it in time. Horrified, she was about to speak when memories of her previous life returned.

Only after she had absorbed those memories did Zanglingzi Son speak. "I have restored your memories of the past with the Separation and Reunion Divine Light. I am Zanglingzi Son, revered as a god on the Plateau. In your previous life, you fell in love with me, suffered bitterly from longing, and died of melancholy. In this life, we were destined to enjoy the union of fish and water once, on a geng or xin day several months before the year's end."

In this life, Xiong Manniang had sworn with her two fellow disciples never to marry. Hearing such scandalous words, she immediately flushed crimson. Yet the memories of her previous life could not lie. She really had wanted to marry Zanglingzi Son—very particularly and desperately wanted to. Later, she had longed and longed until she longed herself to death...

In her previous life, she had viewed him through the rose-tinted eyes of a believer, thinking Zanglingzi Son a god and yearning desperately for his favor, to serve him with her body. In this life, she was a sword immortal herself. With those rose-tinted glasses gone, she saw how short and small he was, and how far from handsome. She felt she must have been blind before. How could she have yearned for someone like him, even dying of lovesickness over him!

Too embarrassed to mention her previous life again, she only said, "Senior, why did you stop me? Could it be that you, too, have your eye on the Heavenly Book?"

Zang Lingzi Son sighed again. "Whether because of the ill-fated bond between us in our previous lives or my present position and standing, it would be improper for me to compete with you for this Heavenly Book. I stopped you only to urge you to turn back. Let go of this Heavenly Book."

Xiong Manniang was thoroughly puzzled. "Since you say it would be improper to compete with me, why are you urging me to let it go?"

Zang Lingzi Son explained the reason. He had initially come to Mount Xiandu to gather medicinal herbs, specifically those that had cultivated human forms and ran about everywhere. Later, upon learning that a demon dragon had hidden treasure within Dinghu Peak, he had also wanted to kill the demon dragon and seize the Heavenly Book.

Since Spiritual Herbs that had assumed human form instinctively knew how to seek good fortune and avoid calamity, Zanglingzi Son had found a cave. Each day, his physical body sat meditating inside while his Primordial Spirit flew out in search of Spiritual Herbs.

Xiong Manniang had happened to climb Mount Xiandu around that time. She should have encountered Turtle and Snake mating and killed them with her flying sword. Later, while pursuing the Queen Mother Grass, she would have come across Zanglingzi Son's physical body. Mistaking him for a medicinal herb that had cultivated human form, she would have tried to capture him, sending her flying sword to force him into submission. Zanglingzi Son would have used his Primordial Spirit to seize the sword, only to become tainted by the aura of mating. Both would immediately have lost their senses, tumbled into each other's arms, and lost their virginity.

After this calamity, Zanglingzi Son would have faced the Four-Nine Great Tribulation, the most formidable tribulation for unaffiliated immortals. Since he practiced an unorthodox cultivation method, his chances of survival would have been barely one in ten. Xiong Manniang, meanwhile, would have fallen completely into the mortal world, suffered many more hardships, and finally resigned herself to marrying a hunter in the mountains, bearing children, and growing old there.

Zang Lingzi Son told Xiong Manniang, "This was the greatest calamity I divined for the two of us in this lifetime. Since it concerned me personally, it was difficult to foresee. Tonight, I too came here to kill Long and seize the book. Just now, as I was about to release the Separation and Reunion Divine Light, a sudden inward flash of spiritual illumination brought me an insight. Only after divining it did I discover that this calamity had already passed unnoticed."

"Two days before it was due to happen, that Monster Dragon found the Queen Mother Grass ahead of time and moved it elsewhere. He also imparted the Red Snake Technique to the snake, who went off to cultivate in a different place. You never encountered Turtle and Snake, nor did you see the little person formed by the Queen Mother Grass. In the end, you never met me. A calamity dissolved without a trace, all because of that Monster Dragon's actions."

"Though he did not do it deliberately, he truly saved both our paths to immortality, making him a benefactor who has given us a new lease on life. We cultivators spend hundreds or thousands of years cultivating, or pass through several successive incarnations. What we fear most is our spiritual light growing dim, leaving us to drift with the current between life and death. Preserving our spiritual roots from darkness and keeping us from sinking again is a kindness greater even than saving a mortal's life. If we tried to harm him now, it would be repaying kindness with enmity. Heaven would surely punish us in the future!"

Zang Lingzi Son's attainment was exceedingly high. His divination was thorough and his explanation clear. Though Xiong Manniang could not divine this layer of events herself, she had recovered her memories of her previous life and knew he would not deceive her about such a thing. She also accepted his reasoning.

"But without the Heavenly Book, my future path to immortality will be uncertain as well." Xiong Manniang gazed at Dinghu Peak, bitterness welling in her heart. Both her senior and junior fellow disciples had received secret techniques. By following those methods, they had already attained great accomplishments, to say nothing of their limitless futures. She had placed her own hopes in this Heavenly Book. Now it was within arm's reach, yet she could not take it. The pain was truly hard to bear.

Zang Lingzi knew something of her future fortune, but swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue. He had only just managed to avoid the calamity and did not want to become too entangled with her again. One wrong step, and he could lose his chastity and sink into the mortal world once more.

"Didn't your master leave you a written message? Tonight marks a turning point in your destiny, so there must be a prediction concerning it. Once midnight has passed, read it yourself. But you truly must not covet this Heavenly Book." Zang Lingzi Son suddenly raised his hand and pointed. "More people are coming over there. I'll go send them away. I've explained everything, save one thing: that demon dragon's future will also be full of twists and turns, with calamity piled upon calamity. When the time comes, I will help him avoid one as well, to repay his kindness. What you choose to do is entirely up to you. Until we meet again!"

With that, he swayed and vanished into thin air, flying to Buxu Peak opposite, where he stopped three Sword Immortals and persuaded them to leave.

After midnight passed, Xiong Manniang opened the message her master had left. It laid out a different plan for her, and she rode her sword down the mountain.

Outside, Zanglingzi Son persuaded several groups to leave. Given his standing, righteous and evil cultivators alike had to show him respect when he spoke. If they refused, he beat them until they did. He never even drew a flying sword, dealing with them simply by casually releasing the Separation and Reunion Divine Light.

Shi Feiyang had no idea that Zanglingzi Son had secretly dealt with several groups of enemies for him. When he had performed his divination at the bottom of the lake beforehand, the signs had shown only Wei Fengniang and Buluyinjia's group as his enemies. Once they were dealt with, all would be well under heaven. Still, he remained cautious and did not venture out, hiding at the bottom of the lake until dawn.

After this shedding, Shi Feiyang's body grew another several zhang in length, and his chest became thicker as well. Several months later, black scales had regrown over his entire body. He looked more like a true Long than before, with larger horns and a longer mane. The Inner Cores in his belly had also grown several sizes.

Every day at noon, he went to the summit to bask in the sun and absorb true solar fire. The rest of the time, he cultivated quietly at the bottom of the lake. When he grew bored, he either teased the little person Mo Zhui or went up to the lake's surface, clinging to the edge of the peak's rocks and peering out at Mount Xiandu's scenery.

As he watched the herb gatherers in the distant mountains, the farmers working among the woods, and the fishermen on Lianjin Creek... he envied them.

Being human was still better. Though his Long body was powerful, it was nowhere near as convenient as a human body, and he did not dare venture out at will.