Wait a minute, where is my master?

The four people inside the Fire Pillar Prison heard the shout and turned their heads together to look toward the spider web-like space rift.

They noticed that, right after Ji Junqiao had finished yelling "Well, you guys are really here!",

Less than half a breath's time had passed.

And now she was already about to start crossing through the space passage!

"Fairy, please wait!"

"Little Ancestor, hey!"

"Hold on!"

"Fellow Ji, please listen to me first!"

Seeing that their counterpart was about to come over, the four people's faces changed, and they immediately rose to their feet and simultaneously sent messages to stop her.

The space inside the Fire Pillar Prison was already small, with barely enough room for the four of them.

If they added one more person,

Then...

But who was Ji Junqiao? She was a rebellious female cultivator of advanced age who had twice descended to the Lower Realm without permission.

Her name was even listed in the Immortal Court!

Moreover, she was intent on catching up with the others; having finally located Old Dean and the other three, there was no way mere words could stop her.

As expected, Ji Junqiao completely ignored what the four had said.

With a big stride forward, she took out a talisman from her bosom whose name was unknown and crushed it firmly.

Then she plunged headfirst into the space rift.

"Hiss~"

"Sigh."

"Hmph!"

"Great, now there's another one!"

The "Imprisoned Quartet," upon realizing their attempts to stop her were futile, subconsciously let out sighs of exasperation.

Ji Junqiao's movements were too fast; the whole process didn't even take up a breath's time before she had already started crossing the boundary.

At this point, it wasn't impossible for the four people to stop her from coming over; they only needed one of them to act casually, disturbing the space within the rift, causing the spacial currents to flow chaotically, and there was an eighty to ninety percent certainty that Ji Junqiao would get lost in it.

There was even a one to two percent chance that, due to sheer bad luck, she might end up perishing.

But after all, there was no deep hatred between them.

They simply didn't want Ji Junqiao to complicate matters further; it wasn't worth resorting to such extreme measures.

"Forget it, let her come. Elder Chi, tuck away that piece of crispy-skinned pork belly, and make some room for Fairy Jun Qiao," the gaunt old man said in a teasing tone as Ji Junqiao crossed the boundary.

Upon hearing this, the Ancestor from the Kunlun Immortal Palace gave the old man a silent glare, then swiftly put away the piece of crispy-skinned pork belly that held a "major secret."

Another eight or nine breaths of time passed.

Ji Junqiao successfully crossed the space channel and arrived in front of the four people.

And behind her, the Great Elder of the Demon Sect, who had concealed his presence with yellow paper runes, also reached this place.

"You guys..."

As Ji Junqiao's feet just touched the ground, she couldn't wait to complain to the four, but she stopped mid-sentence when she suddenly noticed the abnormalities around her and the disheveled appearance of the others.

"What's up with this Fire Pillar, and these injuries on you?

"Could it be that you've already encountered that Taoist?

Old Dean, who was closest to her, opened his mouth wanting to explain.

But he was somewhat at a loss for how to say that the injuries on the four top cultivators of the Nine Provinces Realm were actually caused by trying to break through the Fire Pillar and getting scorched.

Seeing the four fell silent, Ji Junqiao's guess in her heart grew firmer, and she frowned as she looked around, complaining.

"If only you had waited for me, if I had been there too, I definitely could have used dad's secret..."

"Fairy Jun Qiao."

Ji Junqiao was interrupted mid-sentence by Elder Chi.

"What is it?"

"We haven't encountered Daoist Jin Xu."

"Then these injuries on you?"

"...We got burned trying to break through the surrounding Fire Pillar."

"What?!"

Around the time of half a cup of tea had passed.

The four of them finally managed to explain to Ji Junqiao that they encountered the Fire Pillar Prison upon arriving, and now they couldn't break free or return for the moment.

During this time, the rebellious older female cultivator naturally did not believe in evil and had tried various methods on the surrounding six fire pillars.

And the result...

"...why didn't you guys stop me just now!"

Ji Junqiao said angrily, her pink gown that was impervious to both water and fire now had several large holes torn in it.

Quite a bit of snowy white scenery was playfully vying to escape from the holes.

"Fairy Jun Qiao."

"Hmm?"

"We did try to stop you, but your movements were too fast," said the Old Dean with an innocent look in his eyes.

Ji Junqiao's expression froze.

She instinctively took out the completely white jade slip from her bosom, intending to smash it out!

But after pondering for a moment, Ji Junqiao eventually put it back.

After all, this thing was meant to be kept as a trump card against the little Taoist, and if she used it against a few fire pillars now, that would be ridiculous.

As the somewhat gruff rebellious female cultivator quieted down,

the atmosphere within the Fire Pillar Prison became silent for a while.

After a while,

Ji Junqiao seemed to resign herself to fate, squatting on the ground with her chin propped up, and looking up at the others, she said,

"So, what should we do now?"

"Tend to your injuries, restore your spiritual power, and let's first head back to the Colorful Secret Realm to devise a long-term plan," said Grandma Yu as she took out two jade bottles containing pills from her bosom and threw them towards Ji Junqiao.

Ji Junqiao caught the two jade bottles and was just about to sit cross-legged and behave, but she suddenly heard Elder Chi of the Kunlun Immortal Palace speak up in a tone laced with mystery.

"Fairy Jun Qiao, actually, there is another way. Jin Xu once left something in this Fire Pillar Prison, and I suspect it might have something to do with how to get out.

"However, we have all lived and grown up in the Nine Provinces, and our experiences are more or less limited. Fairy Jun Qiao, since you come from the Upper Realm, do you think you might be able to figure out the secret of this item?"

Upon hearing this, Ji Junqiao's eyes shone with interest.

If she could avoid returning to the Colorful Secret Realm like a defeated dog, that would naturally be for the best.

She agreed verbally, and ignoring the peculiar expressions of the three people beside her, she looked eagerly towards Elder Chi.

Then, Ji Junqiao saw the venerable and esteemed ancestor of the Kunlun Immortal Palace carefully...

...pull out a piece of crispy pork belly.

And upon closer inspection, it was even half-eaten!

"Could this old man be making fun of me?!"

This thought instantly arose in Ji Junqiao's mind.

...

...

At this very moment, within the territory of the Age Chicken clan,

The little Taoist walked out of the cavern known as "the Land of the Curse," pondering how to explain the situation to Little Hong and her father.

"If I tell them that this so-called 'Land of the Curse' is actually a kitchen, and the place where they are living is actually..."

Jin Xu thought up to this point and shook his head slightly.

This answer seemed to be a bit too cruel to the Age Chicken clan, especially to those who had heroically entered the "Land of the Curse" to explore without regard for their lives.

"But if I conceal the truth, not letting them know..."

The little Taoist stood in the shadow at the entrance of the cavern, pinching the bridge of his nose, weighing how he should proceed.

Suddenly...

He saw a gigantic Age Chicken about four or five meters tall running past the cave's entrance.

Behind this enormous chicken followed a normally sized one,

Pecking fiercely at the feathers on the giant's backside!