Xie Feng, owing to her background and age, was no match for the cunning schemes of the deeply entrenched veterans, nor could she compare with the ancient human powerhouses who had lived for centuries. However, compared to the Black Serpent, who had known nothing but the isolation of this otherworldly realm, Xie Feng was leagues ahead in shrewdness.

The Black Serpent had cultivated for an immeasurable span, yet its existence was a simple cycle: survival, cultivation, hunting, and sometimes, being hunted. It had never encountered the complexities of intrigue and deceit. In this regard, the Black Serpent was only marginally superior to the Thunder Dragon, who had also never interacted with civilization, and even that advantage was slight.

Escorted by Xie Feng with civilized etiquette into the exquisite pavilion aboard her flying vessel, the Black Serpent was wide-eyed with wonder, flitting about like an excited child. Recently, it had been studying the rudimentary civilized knowledge provided by the jade slips Xie Feng offered. It had become utterly captivated, yearning for a life within civilization to such an extreme degree that it could no longer restrain itself, thus presenting itself to Xie Feng, desperately begging to be taken to the civilized world.

Xie Feng calmly accompanied the Black Serpent in sipping tea, pausing in thought for a moment before speaking: "You wish to leave the Gloomy Void? To venture out and witness the civilized world?"

"Yes, yes," the Black Serpent affirmed, stunned by the sheer elegance of Xie Feng's vessel. Compared to this splendor, its own 'lair' felt like a beggar's hovel. Had any other beast possessed such exquisite surroundings, the Black Serpent would surely have resorted to jungle law and taken it by force. But against Xie Feng, it dared not act rashly; an indistinct sense of her immense power suggested it would be no match. Yearning for the world glimpsed through the jade slips, the Black Serpent grew impatient: "If you agree to take me out, I will give you thirty percent of the rare treasures I have stored away." As it spoke, a flicker of genuine pain crossed its grim and ugly face.

"Thirty percent?" Xie Feng offered a faint smile. "I believe I mentioned that I am the sovereign of a clan, leading tens of thousands of kin, dominating two-tenths of the Nether Domain's territory. In terms of wealth, I surpass you by a factor of at least a hundred. Keep your meager thirty percent of heavenly materials and earthly treasures. I have pressing matters here and will not be returning anytime soon." When Xie Feng first encountered the Black Serpent, her injuries had barely recovered to sixty percent, which is why she hadn't provoked conflict. But now, having healed to nearly eighty percent, she no longer feared the Black Serpent turning hostile. Even at its strongest, the Black Serpent relied primarily on instinct for combat. Xie Feng, however, possessed the renowned innate spiritual treasure, Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens, capable of boosting her combat prowess by several tens of percent.

Recalling the severe losses the Thunder Dragon suffered at her hands was enough to illustrate the vast difference possessing such a treasure made. Furthermore, the Thunder Dragon's strength surpassed the Black Serpent's; the Dragon's divine sense intensity was comparable to a peak intermediate stage Soul Transformation cultivator. The Thunder Dragon was also a rare, innate subspecies with pure Dragon lineage. The Nether Black Serpent’s bloodline was significantly inferior; tracing its ancestors yielded no truly formidable beings. Perhaps a distant, tenuous link to the Dragon race existed, but it was incredibly remote.

Upon hearing Xie Feng’s dismissal, the Black Serpent grew agitated, its face darkening momentarily before quickly smoothing over.

Though ignorant of social niceties or the concept of civilization, its long tenure surviving the perilous void, clawing its way to its current achievements through constant near-death experiences, had honed its instincts for danger to a razor's edge. It had a sharp intuition that Xie Feng was anticipating a confrontation. It forced itself to relent, plastering on a strained, false smile: "Xie Feng, please reconsider? How about I give you fifty percent of my treasures?"

"Black Serpent, to be frank, I have no interest in your treasures, even if you gave them all to me," Xie Feng replied, adopting a languid posture, feigning impatience.

"Then tell me what it will take for you to bring me out? To that world of splendor." The Black Serpent grew desperate, making a grand vow: "Whatever you ask, I will do."

"One thousand years. If you agree to serve me faithfully for one thousand years, I will take you out," Xie Feng said casually, taking a sip of tea, making an exorbitant demand.

"What?" The Black Serpent’s eyes nearly popped out of its head. "You want me to become your subordinate? For a full thousand years? Xie Feng, are you joking? Absolutely not, this condition is unacceptable." The Black Serpent shook its head violently like a rattle drum, speaking in the halting Common Tongue it had barely learned.

"Heh, so much for saying you'd do whatever I asked," Xie Feng stared at it, a cold smirk playing on her lips. Yet, her tone softened slightly. "However, you misunderstood my meaning. You should know that as a clan leader, one of the four Emperors of the Nether Domain, my status is quite high. It is, admittedly, somewhat unreasonable to ask a dignified Soul Transformation stage Black Serpent to serve as my underling. I am merely inviting you to become an Elder Guardian for my clan for one thousand years. You understand Elder Guardian, yes? The knowledge in those jade slips should cover it."

The Black Serpent sighed in relief and nodded hurriedly. "I understand Elder Guardian; it means serving as an honored guest within your clan, receiving all manner of provisions normally, with the obligation to act only in times of extreme crisis."

"Precisely. The position of Elder Guardian holds immense prestige, almost equating to parity with me. You can even command my clan members to serve you when needed. This is hardly the same as being a subordinate," Xie Feng continued to persuade. "Most importantly, this gives you a powerful, official identity when operating in the civilized world. Anyone who opposes you opposes our entire Nether Phoenix Clan of tens of thousands. Moreover, if I bring you to the civilized world and you wander about alone as a solitary Black Serpent, you are certain to be discovered by some powerful entity—either eliminated outright or forcibly taken as a war pet to live a life worse than death. Don't imagine that the strong are few in the civilized world; there are many far exceeding my power. If you encounter someone unreasonable, you’ll have no time to cry before you're turned into snake soup."

The thought of those grim fates sent a shiver down the Black Serpent’s spine. Indeed, as Xie Feng suggested, wandering alone was perilous; having a powerful backer offered significantly greater safety. The jade slips contained similar axioms: even the strongest individual, isolated, eventually becomes someone else's meal.

The more he considered it, the more logical it seemed. The Black Serpent finally agreed: "Fine, I will serve as your clan's Elder Guardian for one thousand years, provided you take me away from this wretched place." He hadn't felt anything wrong with the Gloomy Void where he had spent his entire life, but after witnessing what was revealed in Xie Feng's jade slips, he now felt his environment was utterly dismal, and the desire to experience the civilized world and truly enjoy life became unbearable.

"Deal," Xie Feng declared with finality, producing an object resembling an ancient, intricately patterned collar, speaking calmly. "This is the token of the Elder Guardian. You must voluntarily integrate a small portion of your primordial spirit into it."

"What is this?" The Black Serpent eyed the collar with visible apprehension.

"This is your identification plaque. By holding this token, you can contact the Nether Phoenix Clan even from millions of miles away, summoning aid in any unforeseen event. Conversely, other members of the Nether Phoenix Clan can call upon you for aid through this token," Xie Feng explained slowly. "If you are unwilling, we can drop the matter."

After all, this was an outsider beast, utterly lacking in worldly knowledge. Beyond instinctive cultivation, it had never witnessed a single magical artifact in its life, let alone the world-rare beast-taming collars—relics only rumored during the zenith of cultivation history.

Though the Black Serpent was at the Soul Transformation level and quite intelligent, it simply lacked experience with the machinations of deceit. Any nascent suspicion quickly dissipated due to its limited exposure and Xie Feng’s smooth persuasion.

It immediately took the beast-taming collar and, following Xie Feng’s instructions, merged its vital blood and a fragment of its soul into it.

The Black Serpent felt a wave of dizziness and was about to stop when Xie Feng quickly spoke: "A slight dizziness from merging the primordial spirit is normal. Do not resist, lest you damage this incredibly precious Guardian Token. Your entire fortune is not worth the price of this token." Xie Feng wasn't lying about the latter half; the method for refining this beast-taming collar had been lost for hundreds of thousands of years. The one Xie Feng possessed was a treasure passed down through generations of the Nether Phoenix Clan. Only two remained, making them extraordinarily precious—no amount of spiritual stones, even billions, could purchase one.

Xie Feng had kept this item in her storage bracelet, hoping to capture a suitable beast as a war pet. However, she never found the right candidate, and moreover, any beast with significant intelligence would never willingly submit. Unless the beast willingly merged its essence and spirit, trying to capture it by force, even after killing it, was impossible.

In the Ancient or Primordial Eras, the few entities capable of refining such collars demanded an exorbitant price. Now, they were almost mythical. Xie Feng would never waste such an artifact on a mere Nascent Soul-level beast. Thus, the item had remained with her for centuries, unused. Had the Black Serpent not conveniently delivered itself, Xie Feng might have forgotten she even possessed a beast-taming collar.

The Black Serpent, truly naive, was startled by the severity of Xie Feng’s warning and became even more hesitant to resist, obediently allowing itself to be guided by the subjugation array embedded within the collar. In a moment, the taming ritual concluded. The Black Serpent felt as though something had been imprinted upon its soul.

Xie Feng, meanwhile, executed a hand seal, and the beast-taming collar whizzed back into her palm, her expression a mixture of pleasant surprise and deep satisfaction. While a single beast-taming collar was precious, enslaving a Soul Transformation stage demon beast was certainly worth the investment; it was not wasted. Such beasts were exceedingly rare in this era, and even if found, they were invariably too cunning to be fooled.

"I have now become an Elder Guardian of your clan, right?" the Black Serpent asked eagerly. "Hurry and take me away from this dreadful place; I truly cannot bear to stay another moment."