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

A brown spirit beast, neither dragon nor snake, slowly emerged. It was about ten feet long, with a raised ridge on its back like a small mountain. Its body was covered in smooth, hard scales, with a small, slender tail. Its mouth was nearly a foot wide open, revealing sharp inner teeth, and it was exhaling clouds of mist. Its eyes were fierce as it stared at Qin Xiangxue.

It seems this is the Fire-type Auspicious Qilin spirit beast that the old immortal spoke of.

Qin Xiangxue hurriedly hid behind Su Zinong, hugging him tightly and trembling.

"Don't be afraid. You're a four-star female cultivator, why would you be afraid of wild beasts?" Su Zinong thought Qin Xiangxue was being too exaggerated. Could it be that she was trying to take advantage of him?

"I'm not afraid of wild beasts, tigers, or lions, but I'm afraid of this kind of slippery, snake-like thing," Qin Xiangxue said, trembling.

"No need to be afraid, watch me!" Su Zinong drew his Thunder Sword with a "fragrant" sound, gathering his true energy and preparing to fight. But Huo Jilin glanced at Su Zinong, lowered his head, turned around, and disappeared into the bushes.

"Ah, this..." Su Zinong scratched his head, feeling incredulous. He had thought it was some kind of ferocious spirit beast!

The two were confused about what was going on. After a while, Su Zinong waited until Qin Xiangxue calmed down a bit, then pulled her along to continue walking. After walking for about thirty feet, they discovered a lingzhi mushroom emitting light and a faint fragrance wafting over.

"Fire Spirit Mushroom!!" Qin Xiangxue exclaimed, pointing in that direction, her heart brimming with excitement.

Su Zinong gently released Qin Xiangxue's small hand and told her to stand there and not come any closer.

He took the Thunder Sword and quietly walked towards the Fire Spirit Mushroom.

Three zhang away from the Fire Spirit Mushroom, the Fire Auspicious Scale came out again, encircling the Fire Spirit Mushroom to protect it and prevent Su Zinong from getting close to pick it, but it did not dare to raise its head to attack Su Zinong.

Su Zinong was a little confused by Huo Jilin and shouted, "Get out of the way, or I'll kill you too."

The Fire Qilin seemed to understand Su Zinong's words, yet it still lingered around the Fire Spirit Mushroom with reluctance, as if protecting it was its mission. However, it was unclear why it was so afraid of Su Zinong. Just moments before, it had been incredibly fierce, but now it had become a cute little thing, as docile as a pet.

For a moment, Su Zinong didn't know whether to fight or what to do.

Unexpectedly, Qin Xiangxue overcame her fear, drew her White Snow Sword, and thrust it forward to fight the Fire Jilin.

Huo Jilin moved very quickly, and in the blink of an eye, he was behind Qin Xiangxue. He swung his tail and with a "poof," he threw Qin Xiangxue onto her back.

Su Zinong quickly went over and stood in front of Qin Xiangxue to protect her, thrusting out his Thunderbolt Sword.

Huo Jilin dared not move.

Su Zinong thrust his sword into Huo Jilin with a clang. This incredibly sharp sword, despite using ninety percent of its power, only penetrated an inch into Huo Jilin's body before refusing to go any further; the animal hide was exceptionally tough.

But something even stranger happened: although Huo Jilin was injured, it still did not attack Su Zinong, but turned around and pounced on Qin Xiangxue.

Qin Xiangxue rolled away to avoid it, looking extremely disheveled.

Su Zinong leaped in front of Qin Xiangxue, and the Fire Qilin stopped moving again.

Su Zinong remembered the old sage's words from the dilapidated temple at the foot of the mountain. He raised his Thunder Sword and slashed at the tail of the Fire Auspicious Beast with all his might. With a clang, a three-inch section of the Fire Auspicious Beast's tail was severed off.

Huo Jilin rolled around on the ground for a full quarter of an hour before finally fainting.

Su Zinong stepped forward and slashed at the Fire Qilin five or six times, cutting it into several pieces, but dared not strike its seven-inch mark. Seeing that the spirit beast was dead, he approached and saw a large bulge at the seven-inch mark, clearly containing poisonous mist.

Su Zinong took out a dagger, carefully cut open the belly of the Fire Dragon, and took out a small blue bead, which was the Spirit Gallbladder.

Qin Xiangxue slowly struggled to her feet. Su Zinong went over to help her and asked softly, "Are you alright? Let me see where you're hurt?"

Following Huang Chenghe's example in front of the Yellow River Villa, Su Zinong grabbed Qin Xiangxue's ears with both hands and shook them from side to side to examine them.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Qin Xiangxue slapped Su Zinong's hand away.

"It's nothing, I'm just checking if you're injured, haha!" Su Zinong said with a smile.

"Wow!" Qin Xiangxue ran to the Fire Spirit Mushroom in one stride, her eyes shining.

This fire-shaped Ganoderma lucidum wasn't large, even smaller than a regular Ganoderma lucidum, but it was bright red and warm to the touch. Qin Xiangxue gently picked it and put it in her bag.

The two sat on the ground, looked at each other, and smiled, feeling extremely happy.

"Do you think I'll become incredibly beautiful after eating this Fire Spirit Mushroom?" Qin Xiangxue said smugly.

“I can’t imagine,” Su Zinong said, “she’s already stunningly beautiful, probably heavenly.”

"Then why don't you like me? Why don't you propose to my family?" Qin Xiangxue asked, her eyes fixed on Su Zinong, waiting for his answer.

“Of course I like you, but I’m a cursed star, an unlucky person. I almost married Qi Jiaojiao from Qishan that day and nearly lost my life. Now I don’t even dare to go to Yellow River Manor, let alone marry you. I’m afraid I won’t be thinking about marriage anytime soon. I just want to improve my cultivation level quickly. I’ll only consider marriage when I’ve reached an extremely powerful level, no longer needing to hide, and my enemies dare not make a move.” Su Zinong said frankly.

Qin Xiangxue knew Su Zinong was telling the truth, and sighed, saying, "This Fire Spirit Mushroom seems to be a divine medicine that is very beneficial to cultivation. Since you need to quickly advance your cultivation level, you should consume it!"

“This Fire Spirit Mushroom can certainly improve your cultivation level. Your family's cultivation method leans towards water, focusing on the Water Kidney Meridian. This Fire Spirit Mushroom is very beneficial to both the Water Kidney Meridian and the Heart Meridian, and consuming it will make you radiant. So it is indeed suitable for you. Since I have already admitted that I like you, consider it a gift from me. Please don't refuse. Besides, I have the gall of this spirit beast, which I think is also a great tonic and will greatly benefit your cultivation,” Su Zinong said slowly.

"You always have a point," Qin Xiangxue sighed. "Then thank you. Are you worried that I'm like Qi Jiaojiao, fickle and promiscuous?"

“No, you’re definitely not that kind of person. Even when there’s danger and you’re told to leave, you’re reluctant to go,” Su Zinong said.

After resting for a while, the two slowly descended the mountain. Now that they had the Fire Spirit Mushroom and the Spirit Beast's Gallbladder, there was no need to stay on Mount Ling. Therefore, instead of returning to their original inn, they headed directly northeast.

"Why take this route? Wouldn't it be better to go back the way we came?" Qin Xiangxue said.

“Walking the same path makes the experience meaningless!” Su Zinong said with a smile.

"It's already dark, and the area is so desolate, with no villages or inns in sight. What are we going to do?" Qin Xiangxue asked.

“Didn’t you say you weren’t afraid? Let’s find a cave to spend the night in and set off again tomorrow morning,” Su Zinong said.

There were caves, though. The two found a small rocky cave and lit a fire at the entrance to prevent wild animals from entering while they slept.

Qin Xiangxue took out the Fire Spirit Mushroom, looked at it from left to right, and liked it more and more, so she was about to eat it.

"Be careful if you eat it like that," Su Zinong advised.

"Is there any other special method? Didn't we already prepare glutinous rice wine to take it?" Qin Xiangxue asked, puzzled.

“I told you before, this Fire Spirit Mushroom enters the kidney meridian. This kind of elixir stimulates the kidney meridian and ignites lust throughout the body. What if you can’t control yourself and we, a man and a woman alone together, do something naughty?” Su Zinong threatened her.

Qin Xiangxue said with ill intent, "Isn't that even better? Anyway, I'm under the influence of drugs, so whatever bad things I do aren't my fault..."