The deflated cultivator refused to give up and vowed to turn the tables.

Qin Xiangxue shouted, grabbing Su Zinong's collar tightly, and said fiercely, "You clearly took the wrong road, but you didn't dare let me know! Humph! You made me waste a whole day walking the wrong way..."

"Hehe, I just realized that too!" Su Zinong scratched his head and said, "How about I carry Miss down the mountain?"

"Don't lie to me next time!" Qin Xiangxue threatened through gritted teeth.

"I won't lie anymore, I won't dare again, I'll never dare again!" Su Zinong waved his hand hurriedly, thinking to himself: If I had known you were so fierce, I would have definitely asked for directions before coming.

"It's so comfortable to be carried like this! Giddy up! Hurry up!" Qin Xiangxue pointed ahead from Su Zinong's back and even found a long vine to use as a whip, urging Su Zinong to move forward quickly.

"My goodness, isn't that fast enough? It's already as fast as a shooting star. Any faster and it might break off from the land!" Su Zinong murmured.

Back at the inn, Su Zinong was already suffering from back pain.

The next morning, Su Zinong asked the shopkeeper early to find out the way to Lingshan.

"It's just west of Hat Mountain," the waiter said.

Upon arriving at the foot of Lingshan Mountain, they found an old man by the mountainside and, after confirming that it was indeed Lingshan Mountain, Su Zinong and Qin Xiangxue officially entered the mountain.

"This real sacred mountain is much easier to walk on than yesterday's Hat Mountain. There is less grass on the mountain, and the path is wider and flatter. It seems that the more people walk on it, the easier the path becomes."

However, the two walked along the mountain path for a whole day without finding even a wild rabbit, nor any common medicinal herbs.

The two went into the mountains again the next day.

Su Zinong said, "Yesterday we walked the paths that others had walked before, and we had nothing there. Today we are going to walk the paths that no one has ever walked before."

However, this made the journey much more difficult, with thorns everywhere. After a day, they found three Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms, only a few decades old, far from the thousand-year-old fire Ganoderma lucidum they were looking for.

Just as they were about to descend the mountain, they suddenly heard voices from not far away.

"You two tell me, who among those people from Baiyun Fortress could kill him with a single sword strike to the chest? That person's cultivation is on par with mine, or perhaps even a little bit higher, and I'm not confident I could kill him. I never imagined this place would be such a hidden place of dragons and crouching tigers." A familiar voice rang out, and Su Zinong recognized it as Qi Renfu speaking.

Another voice said from the side, "That bastard has offended too many people, so it's not surprising that he was killed by his enemies. We're not from around here, so we don't know which important figures are around."

After a while, the voice said again, "Senior brother, we came out to hunt down Su Zinong, so why did we come to Mount Ling to look for the Fire Spirit Mushroom?"

"Our three teams have been heading down the mountain for months, but we haven't seen a trace of Su Zinong. I think we'll most likely return empty-handed. Since we can't find him, it wouldn't hurt to find something else to take back. Father will surely praise me for being clever. Besides, our entire sect is dirt poor, living on loans. We've been frugal this time, the three of us crammed into one room, it's really not good. If we can find the Fire Spirit Mushroom, we can either eat it or sell it for tens of thousands of taels of silver. Then we can travel around, maybe even go to some brothels and have some fun, wouldn't that be wonderful?" Qi Renfu said with a lewd smile.

"Senior brother's insight is brilliant!"

"Do you two know how to deal with people from our sect who encounter others on Mount Ling?" Qi Renfu suddenly asked.

"I don't know, this is my first time coming to this mountain."

"I've heard people from other sects say that when they encounter a woman, they grab her for pleasure and then kill her. They usually kill men as well, taking their elixirs and valuables," Qi Renfu said mysteriously.

"Ah...that terrifying? Then...wouldn't it be quite dangerous if we encountered someone stronger than us?" Another voice trembled slightly.

“There is some danger, but if the other side knows we are disciples of Tianqi Mountain, they generally won’t dare to make a move. Let’s not talk about it anymore, it’s getting dark, let’s hurry down the mountain!” After saying that, Qi Renfu led his two junior brothers down the mountain in a hurry.

"Why is your brother-in-law like that?" Qin Xiangxue said.

“I already told you he’s not my brother-in-law! My brother-in-law is your brother. Didn’t you say yesterday that he was handsome and dashing?” Su Zinong winked.

"You're asking for it!" Qin Xiangxue chased after Su Zinong and beat him mercilessly.

Su Zinong and his companion returned to the inn. After thinking for a moment, Su Zinong said, "Let's not go tomorrow. We've wasted our energy for three days. This time we're going to do it seriously! We'll fast and bathe for three days first. I'll go buy a compass first thing tomorrow morning."

Three days later, Su Zinong took Qin Xiangxue to Maozi Mountain and climbed to the top.

"Hey, isn't this the Hat Mountain where we got lost? Why are we here? You didn't get lost again, did you?" Qin Xiangxue kept asking.

"Don't say a word, just watch me!" Su Zinong said seriously.

At the mountaintop, Su Zinong looked down and gestured around Lingshan Mountain, using a compass to determine the direction.

After a quarter of an hour, Su Zinong said, "We're going to find treasure, so let's use the aura-gazing technique first. I've divided Mount Ling into four directions: east, south, west, and north. Looking from here, only the side near Hat Mountain, which is the east, has some aura. Let's search for treasure in the east."

"Wow, you're amazing!" Qin Xiangxue clapped her hands and exclaimed, "I never knew you knew all this! You look just like a wise and enlightened master!"

"I only know a little bit," Su Zinong said modestly, fiddling with his fingers.

As they descended Hat Mountain, Su Zinong noticed a clump of trees emitting mist and rustling sounds. However, he didn't look closely because he was in a hurry and rushed off towards Ling Mountain with Qin Xiangxue.

The path to Lingshan from the east is particularly difficult. The rocks are sharp, the mountain is steep, and there are many mountain streams that drip and trickle.

However, the immortal energy here was so dense that Su Zinong had no choice but to focus his search here with Qin Xiangxue. Obtaining immortal herbs was no easy feat.

After walking for two hours, the two arrived at a waterfall and sat down to rest.

Su Zinong found fish in the pool, so he sharpened a tree branch to make a harpoon, caught two big fish, and roasted them over a fire to eat.

"Mmm... This is the first time I've ever eaten such delicious fish!" Qin Xiangxue smacked her lips as she ate. "Why do you never grill fish for me? You have such great skills, yet you never do it."

“Why bother cooking when there are restaurants around? Besides, this is the first time I’ve ever had such delicious fish. You won’t find it anywhere else, and I don’t even know what kind of fish it is.” Su Zinong was also enjoying his meal.

"It's even more delicious than that pickled fish..." Qin Xiangxue recalled Su Zinong's wicked smile when she ate pickled fish last time, and how he encouraged her to use her beauty to seduce him. She was also touched by Qi Renfu's dirty hands. She was a little angry and pinched Su Zinong hard.

Su Zinong, bewildered, glared angrily while biting into a large piece of fish.

"There seems to be a small cave behind the waterfall, and there's a faint mist coming from there. Let's go take a look!" Su Zinong said, pointing behind the cascading white waterfall.

The two jumped over the waterfall, but were soaked to the bone. Su Zinong looked at Qin Xiangxue's drenched appearance and said she was a feast for the eyes, but Qin Xiangxue beat him up.

The two playfully entered the cave, which was not large; the end of the cave could be seen at a glance.

Qin Xiangxue walked deeper into the room and saw something emitting a soft purplish-red glow. Upon closer inspection, she discovered it was a purple jade pendant.

She turned around and strode up to Su Zinong, touching him all over.

"Young lady, could you please not be in such a hurry?" Su Zinong said helplessly.

"Why should I be in such a hurry!" Qin Xiangxue glared at him and asked, "Where's your purple jade pendant?"

“I lost it when I fell into the sinkhole…” Su Zinong sighed. It was a jade pendant he had worn since childhood and cherished very much.

"Isn't this your purple jade pendant!" Qin Xiangxue walked back to the end of the cave, picked up the jade pendant, and exclaimed in surprise.

Su Zinong took it and saw that it was indeed the purple jade pendant he had lost in the bottomless abyss of the sinkhole, exactly the same, which made his scalp tingle.

That's so weird...