Shi Feiyang contacted the Ganoderma Immortal through the Heavenly Treasure Mirror, informed him of the current situation, and what needed to be done next.

The Ganoderma Immortal had a gentle and reserved personality, yet his thoughts were extremely meticulous. He beseeched Shi Feiyang, "Golden Cicada saved me in a previous life, so I earnestly ask Father to show mercy to him in the future."

Shi Feiyang laughed, "Would I trouble myself with a little kid? Just do as I've instructed, and don't worry about the rest."

The Ganoderma Immortal knew that Shi Feiyang had a great compassionate and merciful heart. Not just Golden Cicada, but even the older and younger generations of the Emei Sect wouldn't be attacked by Shi Feiyang as long as they didn't provoke him. He happily agreed, thinking to himself: When Father intends to kill Golden Cicada, I'll help save his life. That would repay the debt of gratitude.

From that day on, the Ganoderma Immortal slowly started initiating conversations with Golden Cicada.

Initially, it was Golden Cicada who always initiated the conversations. The Ganoderma Immortal was quite stable in his emotions, allowing Golden Cicada to hug and touch him without even blinking an eye, and occasionally responded to him with a few gestures. Golden Cicada was immensely surprised by these developments.

Now that the Ganoderma Immortal began gesturing and babbling on his own, Golden Cicada could only guess, understanding just a small part of what was meant.

He roughly knew that the Ganoderma Immortal was telling him he had many little companions, all of whom were Spiritual Medicine that had cultivated into human form, like Queen Mother Grass, Immortal's Violet, Purple River Grass, as well as Ginseng, Polygonum multiflorum, Poria, a mare that was his own hermaphroditic counterpart, and a rhinoceros formed from the Taiyin Essence... All were very close to him.

As Golden Cicada listened to his gestures and stories about the lives of his companions, he yearned to meet them, thinking how wonderful it would be to live together.

He then asked the Ganoderma Immortal if those Plant Spirits were nearby. The Ganoderma Immortal told him that they were outside, that he had come to repay the favor of saving his life in a past life, and that they had sent him to Emei Mountain at the time.

After hearing this, Golden Cicada was both startled and overjoyed, "Are you saying they are also on Emei Mountain?"

The Ganoderma Immortal shook his head, indicating he didn't know, telling him that they might wait for him on Emei Mountain or they might have gone elsewhere.

Golden Cicada then ran to find Sun Nan, Laughing Monk, and Zhu Wen, who were usually on good terms with him, to discuss whether to leave the cave to search for the other Plant Spirits.

White Knight Sun Nan was a disciple of the Bearded Immortal Li Yuanhua. He was once an Independent Immortal of a side branch, who achieved Nirvana over two hundred years ago on Chicken Foot Mountain in Yunnan, and after reincarnation, joined the Emei Sect, being quite steady.

He was the first to express opposition, "The Sect Leader has ordered the mountain to be sealed. Unless granted permission by the rotating Elder, no one may enter or leave privately, lest the Blood Demon and the Red Corpses take the opportunity to invade."

Although he opposed the idea, his tone was not so firm.

He grew up with Golden Cicada from a young age, and since he was destined by fate to be with Qi Lingyun, though it was only in name, they were meant to cultivate together in the future. Since childhood, the elders intended to bring them together. Li Yuanhua often sent Sun Nan to cultivate and practice the sword with Qi Lingyun, hence Golden Cicada had the most contact with him and the best relationship, often calling him brother-in-law.

Compared to him, Golden Cicada's status was both "little uncle" and "Crown Prince of the Sect." Hence, whenever Golden Cicada was mischievous, although Sun Nan would try to prevent him at first, he would eventually give in.

Zhu Wen was indecisive, merely wanting to discuss with his close girlfriends. Golden Cicada didn't allow it, "Once you speak, it will surely spread, and then we won't be able to leave! Anyway, if we can't leave because of this, it'll be your fault."

Zhu Wen was furious, "If you're going to blame me, then don't tell me anything in advance! You might as well not tell me anything in the future!"

Zhu Wen's previous life was Wen Jin, who cultivated together with Zhu Mei, the reincarnation of a previous life. They became disciples of Master Changmei's disciple, Crystal Child. Later, Wen Jin obtained a Langhuan Secret Manual from a mountain wall.

Together they practiced cultivation until they just managed to form their Nascent Soul, which could leave the body, astrally projecting.

For cultivators, at this stage, the Nascent Soul is still very fragile. Due to insufficient Yang energy, it is especially prone to getting lost in endless illusions.

Just after reaching this stage, they could only leave the body for a few steps before immediately needing to return, continuing to nurture the infant soul within the Yellow Court, daily feeding it with Jade Liquid Rice that descends from the skull, like a ten-month pregnancy, allowing the infant to grow gradually until it can leave the body farther and farther, eventually wandering freely for thousands of miles.

The Saintess of the Yihai Ridge Illusion Pool initially cultivated a side branch of Immortal Law, reaching the stage where her Nascent Soul could travel everywhere, but she could not ascend to the Immortal Realm. It was only after the guidance of Li Ning in a past life and tempering inside the Divine Wood of Shendu Country to acquire a Buddhist Scripture, that she switched to the Buddhist path. However, there are intricacies in the Buddhist way, and with her innate deficiencies, she had to endure over a hundred years in a deep meditative state. Even after the completion of this period, her Nascent Soul would need to continue cultivating for many years before achieving success.

Zhu Mei and Wen Jin, whose Nascent Souls had just been formed and were not yet stable, ran out to play.

Hence, Wen Jin joked with Zhu Mei, saying that the Langhuan Secret Manual had an upper and lower volume, and he had only taken out the first volume, withholding the second unless Zhu Mei agreed to become his disciple.

With a keen desire for the Dao, Zhu Mei repeatedly pleaded and was willing to become a disciple.

Wen Jin saw that he had agreed, but instead felt at a loss, and hurriedly confessed he did not have the second volume.

Zhu Mei, however, did not believe him, thinking that he wanted to keep the Secret Manual for himself. She came up with a plan. While both their Nascent Souls had left their bodies, she hid her own physical form and possessed Wen Jin's body, demanding he hand over the Secret Manual. Wen Jin, not having it, swore up and down that he didn't possess it. It took a lot of convincing for Zhu Mei to believe him, and only then did she decide to return the body. But by then it was already too late.

As it turned out, their cultivation efforts were still shallow, and the longer Zhu Mei's Nascent Soul remained in Wen Jin's body, the more difficult it became to leave. No matter how hard they tried, the Nascent Soul could not exit the body.

The two of them were terribly frightened and blamed each other for a while. In the end, Zhu Mei decided to compensate Wen Jin with her own body, but by the time they were looking for the body, Zhu Mei's physical form had been devoured by wild beasts, leaving only broken bones and rotten flesh.

Wen Jin believed Zhu Mei had harmed him on purpose and vowed not to let the matter rest. Later, he possessed the body of a newly deceased farmer, but the farmer's innate talents were too weak to make any advancement in cultivation. His repeated attempts to find Zhu Mei and seek revenge all failed, and in a fit of rage, he leaped off a cliff to his death.

Years later, Zhu Mei took on a proud disciple who bore a striking resemblance to Wen Jin — indeed, it was the reincarnation of Wen Jin. After completing his training, he again attempted assassination but was ultimately killed by Zhu Mei.

Many more years passed, and Wen Jin reincarnated again, this time as a little girl born to beggars by the roadside. Zhu Mei procured a coffin to bury the beggars and took Wen Jin up the mountain, where she was initiated into the Emei Sect under Master Can Xia. Renamed Zhu Wen, this finally concluded their long history of mutual killing.

The current Zhu Wen, although having entered the Immortal Sect and put past grudges behind her, still bore the deeply ingrained prejudice from three lifetimes of hatred.

She felt that Golden Cicada disdained her as a troublemaker, became furiously upset and wanted to walk away, ignoring Golden Cicada to find her senior sister and complain of the injustice. Golden Cicada hurriedly pulled her back, quickly apologized and spent an armload of kind words to barely soothe her.

Next, Golden Cicada had to persuade the Laughing Monk.

In the original story, after the Laughing Monk went to obtain the Qiantian Fire Spirit Pearl, he was led astray by greed and anger, resulting in his junior brother being poisoned. The Ascetic Monk punished him by making him face the wall in meditation, which matured and steadied his personality. However, there were still later incidents, such as the accidental killing of Golden Cicada and Silver Cicada, who had joined the Wudang Sect.

Now he had not gone through that ordeal; the Qiantian plants that housed the Fire Spirit Pearls were taken away by Shi Feiyang ahead of time, and the Taiyin Essence and Wanzai Kongqing were also taken by Shi Feiyang. The Ascetic Monk had been slain by Shi Feiyang's Heavenly Demon Nine Swords in the Star Constellations Sea, and after reincarnation had been preoccupied with his own matters. Therefore, the Laughing Monk lacked the discipline of facing the wall in meditation and had also missed the experience of going with Golden Cicada to slay the one in the Green Robe.

Without these experiences, the Laughing Monk still carried the pride of his ascetic origins, believing that his Invisible Sword could become undetectable, and that with Body and Sword Combined, even if the Blood Demon and Red Corpse were to come, he would certainly have no trouble defending himself or escaping if he could not defeat them. Moreover, he had acquired quite a few treasures from Pan Luo's Immortal Mansion, all of which were Ancient Treasures left to him by his friend Pan Luo from three thousand years ago!

He even believed that he could put up a fight against the Blood Demon and Red Corpse!

So when Golden Cicada proposed it, he was somewhat tempted and agreed to join Golden Cicada in searching for the companions of the Ganoderma Immortal.

The group of four quickly reached a consensus and planned their departure from the mountain.

At this time, the Emei Sect was in the midst of a profound crisis, even facing the danger of extinction, so everyone was intensifying their training.

Madam Miao Yi Xun Lanyin was also striving to cultivate diligently. The current duty elder responsible for managing the sect's affairs was Master Can Xia.

Opening the Mountain Gate would not be easy, and Master Can Xia would surely not permit it, so the very clever Golden Cicada came up with an idea and prepared to exit through the Thirteenth Limitation.

There were thirteen limitations in the Zuo Immortal Mansion, meant to test disciples, somewhat akin to Shaolin Temple's Wooden Men Alley. One had to pass them to earn the qualifications to leave the mountain.

The path originally led to the back mountain of Emei, with an exit, but after the sect closed its doors, it was sealed by the Immortal Law Prohibition. However, it was still easier to pass than other places.

The four of them stood out among the younger disciples, with the Laughing Monk leading the way with his Wuxing Sword Escape, Sun Nan using his Xuan Ying Sword to cover their rear, while Golden Cicada and Zhu Wen followed in the middle, carrying the Ganoderma Immortal. They smoothly passed through the thirteen illusions of the Limitation and eventually reached the exit.

The Liangyi Dust Formation originally set up here by the Three Immortals was exceedingly ingenious, combined with the central Spiritual Jade Peak, creating a twisted space. Anyone trying to escape via this route would be turned into the dark entrance of the Liangyi Dust Formation and immediately become trapped within, with no hope of escape without a rescuer.

By all rights, they should not have been able to leave, but Shi Feiyang covertly cast a spell, creating a branching path through the distorted space leading outside. He also discreetly suppressed the formation's prohibition with the Heavenly Treasure Mirror, causing it to temporarily lose its effect, and no reaction occurred.

The four of them ran unobstructed to the outside, standing on the grassland of Emei's back mountain, basking in the brilliant sunlight, and breathing the fresh air, they all felt indescribably happy.

Golden Cicada happily rolled several times on the ground while holding the Ganoderma Immortal.

Sun Nan urged, "Junior brother, stop playing. Let's hurry and find the companions of the Ganoderma Immortal. Once we've found them, we must return quickly, and certainly not let Master and Mistress find out about this!"

Golden Cicada also knew that defying the sect's rules to come out this time, if discovered, the punishment would not be light. He immediately took things seriously, and the four of them erected a flying light and started searching behind the mountain for Plant Spirits similar to the Ganoderma Immortal.

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