Y City, Dao County.

In the early morning, a majestic fog hung in the air while a gentle autumn breeze blew. Dao County was a backward and poor county in Y City, with most of its area being rural farmland. The county center consisted only of a few simple intersecting streets.

At the end of one of these streets, near the river and bordering on the farmland, stood a particularly luxurious and spacious house. The house was designed in the classical garden style and contained four courtyards, seven or eight rooms, several additional quarters, and a large garden.

This wealthy residence, which was starkly out of place amidst Dao County's poverty, belonged to the underworld merchant family, the Li Family.

For Li Zhengwen's Nether Soul wedding, Li Jiachang had not only spent a great deal of money on a bridal procession of over fifty people, but he had also hired a troupe of actors, a dragon and lion dance team, and chefs and their team from a five-star hotel in Y City to manage the cooking.

Late last night, after receiving a phone call from Wang Chuan, president of the Yin Yang Master Association, Li Jiachang immediately reached out to a business friend. This friend was a black market merchant from the Netherworld, with whom Li Jiachang had been conducting business for over a decade. Upon hearing that Li Zhengwen's Nether Soul bride had been kidnapped, the friend eagerly agreed to assist Li Jiachang in currying favor with Clan Leader Qian Feng of the Eight Great Clans. The friend hired a renowned assassin from the Netherworld with money and sent the assassin to Y City to retrieve the bride, Tang Jing.

The friend promised Li Jiachang with absolute certainty that he would bring back the bride Tang Jing, which is why Li Jiachang decided to keep the chefs and actors, and did not allow the servants to take down the tables or dismantle the stage. Yet now, with daylight upon them, there was still no sign of the bride being brought back.

"Dad," Li Jiachang's son, Li Ming, hurried into the living room, "the head chef just asked me if we're going to hold the banquet today. If not, they're preparing to leave."

Li Jiachang frowned, expressing his difficulty: "It's already light out; it seems the bride won't be coming back. Go quickly and make arrangements to settle everyone's wages for the past two days."

"Oh!" Li Ming nodded.

Li Ming had just stepped out the door when Li Jiachang suddenly turned around and called out urgently to his son's retreating figure, "Son, wait! Let the people go, but don't dismantle the stage and the stove yet."

Not long thereafter, the actors, chefs, and lion dance team, numbering dozens, received their wages and bade farewell to Li Jiachang before departing. Following their departure, the entire Li residence fell quiet.

Li Jiachang walked out to the front courtyard of the house, feeling wistful at the sight of the desolation. Li Zhengwen was the godson of Clan Leader Qian Feng from the Qian Family, and Li Jiachang had been willing to spend lavishly on this wedding to please Qian Feng, never expecting that the entire affair would be ruined due to the bride's abduction.

"It pains my heart!" Li Jiachang muttered to himself with a sorrowful frown, "All that was spent was hard-earned money!"

Shortly afterward, several people assisted a white-haired old man with a walking stick up to Li Jiachang. This old man was a well-known Feng Shui master from the county, invited by Li Jiachang to determine if there was any way to recapture Li Zhengwen's bride.

After listening to the situation, the old man pointed to a distant mountain to the east of the house and asked, "Do you know what this mountain used to be called?"

Li Jiachang shook his head.

"In the past, our generation called it Snake King Mountain," the old man said thoughtfully, "There lived a Snake King on that mountain, one of the seven great Snake Kings of the East Country. Notice how, over the years, many mountains in our county were taken over for fruit tree cultivation, yet this one remains untouched. You must quickly prepare a load of rabbit meat, chicken meat, dog meat, pork, and toad meat. Accompany me up the mountain later to request the Snake King's help."

As evening fell, there was a knock at the door.

"Chen Hao, quickly go open the door," Ye Yuqiao called out to Chen Hao from inside the room.

At that moment, Chen Hao was ordered by Ye Yuqiao to cook in the kitchen. He felt aggrieved and showed displeasure on his face as he replied, "I'm busy in the kitchen right now, you go!"

"You're not going?" Ye Yuqiao's voice carried a hint of threat.

"I'll go." Chen Hao sighed resignedly and said, then walked out of the kitchen with a sullen face.

Then, Ye Yuqiao walked to the doorway of the room, glanced at Chen Hao, and coldly asked, "With such an unhappy face, do you really not want to go that badly?"

Chen Hao approached Ye Yuqiao and quipped, "How dare I not want to, Your Majesty the Nether King."

"Go on then!" Ye Yuqiao stretched out a hand and pinched Chen Hao's face, a queenly air about her. "There will be a generous reward from me later."

Chen Hao nodded repeatedly and then opened the door with a spring in his step to find Tang Jing, Tang Chao, and Xie Xiaofeng crowding at the doorstep.

"Hmm! As soon as the door opened, I smelled a sweet scent," Xie Xiaofeng said with a mocking laugh, "Sorry to disturb your cozy couple's life."

"It's okay, I forgive you!" Chen Hao laughed, "Since you're so self-aware, perhaps I should cooperate and close the door, leaving you outside."

Seeing Chen Hao about to shut the door, Xie Xiaofeng quickly reached out to stop him, hurriedly saying, "Hey, don't rush, we came with two important matters to discuss with you."

"What matters?"

"The first matter," Xie Xiaofeng said with a smile, "is that I've already moved into your place. I'll be counting on your hospitality from now on. The second matter, I'll let this little beauty next to me tell you herself."

After saying this, Xie Xiaofeng turned to look at Tang Jing.

Tang Jing's face suddenly flushed red, and she looked at Chen Hao with a somewhat flustered gaze. After a pause, she said shyly, "You've just learned the 'Return to Yang Spell,' right? Getting more sunlight is beneficial for recovery and the absorption of your Yang Energy, especially the sunlight in the early morning. Tomorrow is the weekend, so come practice with me in the mountains. It will also be an opportunity for me to teach you some breathing techniques."

"Tang Chao and I will be going too," Xie Xiaofeng added.

Chen Hao looked toward Ye Yuqiao and asked, "Your Majesty, are you going too?"

Ye Yuqiao looked at Chen Hao with a stern expression, and after a long while, she nodded slightly.

...

At this time, in the mountains surrounding Dao County, snakes slithered out of their dens, making a faint rustling sound. In the past, at dusk, the forest would be full of the calls and roars of birds and wild animals. Now, birds flew out of the forest to nearby villages, and the wild beasts fell silent as if hibernating. The whole forest fell into a terrifying and strange silence.

The next morning dawned.

As the sky began to lighten, Chen Hao, Ye Yuqiao, Xie Xiaofeng, Tang Chao, and Tang Jing, a group of five, had already arrived at Red Leaf Mountain. Chen Hao had a vivid memory of the place. Over a month ago, he had come here alone to demolish the fake Seven Fairies' temple and ended up being thrown into the water at the foot of the mountain, where water ghosts howled at him.

Halfway up the mountain, looking at the abandoned, dark temple, Xie Xiaofeng patted Chen Hao on the shoulder and teased, "Look at the good job you did."

Chen Hao smiled ruefully and felt a bit ashamed, thinking to himself that he had indeed been too impulsive. It was right to get rid of the fake Seven Fairies, but the temple could have been left standing.

"Did you burn down this temple?" Tang Jing asked in surprise.

The corners of Chen Hao's mouth lifted bitterly, and he suddenly looked up at the mountain peak, deliberately changing the subject and asking Tang Jing, "Where are we going to practice cultivation?"

"There's a secluded and remote cave on the mountain called the Sage's Cave. The fake Taiyi Sage who was burned by you a while ago used to live there. Later we can sit at the entrance of the cave to cultivate!"

"Then the three of us won't go to the mountain top," Xie Xiaofeng said. "You two need to meditate in quietude. We'll do our morning exercises nearby halfway up the mountain, eat something, and wait for you to come down."

Chen Hao was somewhat reluctant and suddenly felt a sense of loss without Ye Yuqiao by his side. He looked at Ye Yuqiao, who was staring at him coldly.

"Let's do that, then!" Ye Yuqiao suddenly said. "We won't disturb the two of them."

"Ah!" Chen Hao's face showed a touch of helplessness, thinking to himself, My Nether King, are you jealous?

Afterward, Chen Hao and Tang Jing headed to the mountain peak.

Arriving in front of the Sage's Cave, the two sat cross-legged facing each other. Tang Jing closed her eyes and did not speak for a long time, as if already in a meditative trance.

"She's entered the state so quickly, that's a bit too fast!" Chen Hao muttered to himself. He leaned toward Tang Jing, first waving his hands repeatedly in front of her and then making faces. Finally, he picked a blade of grass and tickled her nose, but Tang Jing did not react.

Chen Hao found this incredible and looked at Tang Jing admiringly from a close distance.

Suddenly, two bright lights flickered in front of him—Tang Jing opened her big eyes. As their eyes met, two blushes appeared on Tang Jing's face.

"Uh, sorry," Chen Hao retracted his head and straightened his back. "I thought you had fallen asleep."

"I didn't fall asleep," Tang Jing said shyly, looking down. "I was just closing my eyes to adjust my breathing."

"Oh!"

After a brief silence, Tang Jing finally dared to look at Chen Hao. By this time, the blush on her face had faded, and she whispered, "Next, listen to me and follow what I do."

"Close your eyes!"

"Breathe in and out!"

"Exhale the old and inhale the new!"

...

Twenty minutes later, Chen Hao felt as light as a feather, as if he were in the midst of ethereal clouds under a blue sky and bright sun. It was hard for him to focus on anything, with his attention solely on the sensation of each breath in and out through his nose.

"Ah!"

Suddenly, a scream from Tang Jing reached Chen Hao's ears. Panicked, he felt his breathing disrupted, then his whole body felt heavy. A sensation of falling from a great height overcame him as if he had tumbled from the clouds.

"Ah!" Chen Hao opened his eyes in shock, and saw a yellow snake biting Tang Jing's left knee.

Immediately, Chen Hao activated his Nether Eye Power, concentrating it in his left hand, and with precision, he struck just behind the snake's head, killing it.

After tossing the snake into the grass nearby, Chen Hao hurriedly asked while supporting Tang Jing's shoulder, "Do you feel any pain in your chest?"

"Mhm!" Tang Jing nodded slightly, her lips showing a hint of purple, clearly poisoned. "My chest hurts, it feels awful!"

Chen Hao frowned, carefully laid Tang Jing's left leg straight across his own, lifted the leg of her pants to her thigh, then leaned down to suck the venom from the wound on her knee.

At that moment, Ye Yuqiao, Xie Xiaofeng, and Tang Chao had just arrived...

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