Wait a minute, where is my master?

"This object..."

Jin Xu acutely sensed that the moment he saw the item in the box, his golden spiritual power seemed to surge with excitement for a brief instance.

He hesitantly reached out to pick up the object, examining it closely for a moment.

"Strange, why does this thing feel so familiar to me."

The young Taoist muttered to himself as he observed, but after a long while, he could not discern any clues, so he tentatively pushed his golden spiritual power toward it.

However, just as the golden spiritual power made contact with the surface of the ink jade, the purple-golden skull hanging from the coconut tree suddenly began to struggle violently as if it had gone mad.

He shouted with a voice that was hoarse and harsh.

"Bastard, do not touch the item belonging to my master!"

At the same time, an endless purple-golden glow erupted from the skull's surface, trying to wear away the golden spiritual power that tightly bound it.

However, the disparity between the two powers was like the difference between the blazing sun and a firefly.

The young Taoist furrowed his brows as he looked at the suddenly furious purple-golden skull, then forcefully injected his golden spiritual power into the ink jade in his hand.

"Roar!"

Like a beloved woman being defiled in front of its eyes, the purple-golden skull let out a mournful roar.

"Hiss, why does it feel like I'm the villain."

Jin Xu complained in a somewhat helpless whisper.

But the next second, his attention was completely drawn to the ink jade in his hand.

"This feeling... it's so wonderful."

The young Taoist felt as if the very moment his golden spiritual power penetrated the ink jade, it was completely enveloped by a warm and gentle force which firmly gripped it.

It was as if the other party intended for him to continue exploring further inside, guiding the golden spiritual power gently inward with this force.

Though the ink jade looked small, its internal space was incredibly vast, much like the concept of holding Mount Sumeru in a mustard seed.

The golden spiritual power traveled forward for a while and still hadn't reached the apex.

Therefore, keeping caution in mind, Jin Xu injected another stream of golden spiritual power into the ink jade to prevent any loss of energy.

At the same time, he sent his Spiritual Power toward it, intending to take a two-pronged approach to try and deduce the identity of the purple-golden skull and why it mistook him for someone else.

...

Three breaths later.

The spiritual power and Spiritual Sense that the young Taoist had sunk into the ink jade both discovered a pure and flawless water sphere at its heart. He judged from the aura it emitted that this water sphere seemed to be formed by the condensation and compression of the warm and gentle force from within.

Jin Xu felt his own golden spiritual power seemed even more joyous in front of this flawless water sphere.

He rallied his spirits, concentrated his attention, and controlled the spread of his spiritual power without any distractions.

The moment the golden spiritual power touched the water sphere, the flawless water sphere, as if having its own consciousness, actively merged into the golden spiritual power.

In just a moment's time.

The originally massive water sphere was completely absorbed by Jin Xu.

And not only that, but at the same time, even the pervasive warm and gentle forces within the ink jade, as if they were called upon, followed the young Taoist's golden spiritual power and seeped back into his body.

"Hiss!!!"

A distinctly pleasant sensation of a realm enhancement suddenly filled Jin Xu's brain. At that moment, he even wondered if this was the feeling others experienced under his "Body Purification Skill."

"Young Master/Temple Master, are you alright?"

Noticing the young Taoist's unusual state, the two women expressed their concern.

Jin Xu waved at them, gradually reigning in that sense of comfort.

He steadied his mind and observed the changes in his body's golden spiritual power after absorbing that mysterious energy.

However, unbeknownst to him until he checked, it gave him quite the shock.

The young Taoist was surprised to discover that the golden spiritual power inside his body, which usually grew incrementally after much cultivation, had just directly increased by a full twenty percent!

"If this happens four more times, wouldn't my cultivation double!?"

Feeling the surging golden spiritual power within him, this thought involuntarily rose in the young Taoist's heart.

However, the next moment, he realized something was amiss.

"No, increasing cultivation is good, but that's not my goal.

"The identity of that purple-gold skull and the reason why it started calling me master—these two matters are still unresolved."

Jin Xu muttered softly to himself and looked once again at the irregular piece of ink jade in his hand.

However, as soon as his gaze touched it, he heard a faint cracking sound by his ear.

The source of the sound was coming from the ink jade in his hand.

Sure enough, along with the sound of shattering, the young Taoist watched as the irregular piece of ink jade in his palm turned into a pile of dust in the blink of an eye.

"This..."

The young Taoist looked at the small pile of dust in his palm, inexplicably reminded of the scene when Xu Qian first gave him the Spirit Stone.

He shook his head lightly, breaking off the untimely memory

All right, it seemed there was little hope of finding clues in the contents of this box.

Jin Xu turned his face to look at the "last" hope—the purple-gold skull hanging from the coconut tree.

But he was startled to discover.

The body of the purple-gold skull on the coconut tree had turned into a greyish white appearance emanating an air of decay, no longer the ferocity it once had.

The raging purple-gold flames that had burned within the skull had also been extinguished.

"Hm!? I wasn't paying attention; this thing isn't also going to turn to ash, is it?"

Thinking this, the young Taoist's eyebrows knitted tightly together, his eyes filled with confusion.

That faint feeling of suddenly having a secret on himself, yet being unable to start uncovering the secret, was indeed a bit frustrating.

"Master, the skeleton was roaring and struggling just now, and then it suddenly stopped moving. Um, it seems to be right when that piece of ink jade in your hand broke," Yu Yaoer said as she noticed the confusion in Jin Xu's eyes and promptly spoke up to explain.

"Could it be that this piece of ink jade is the source of power for this skull? If there's jade, there's skull, no jade, no skull?"

Seeing his "last" hope for solving the mystery also falling through, the young Taoist walked towards it with a somewhat pained expression, intending to see if he could still save the situation.

"Master, if you have no use for this thing, might as well give it to me," Yu Yaoer suddenly said, pointing at the remnants of ink jade in his hand just as he took a step forward.

"What do you want this for?"

"To try and use it in cooking!"

"...I shouldn't have asked."

Complaints aside, Jin Xu still carefully gathered the remains in his palm and placed them into the purple-gold box, handing it over to Yu Yaoer.

Afterward.

He stepped under the coconut tree and gently prodded the decayed skeletal remains with his hand.

The next instant, the bones on the torso of the purple-gold skull suddenly turned to ashes.

Jin Xu was about to contemplate this scene when he suddenly noticed that the skull, which had not been bound by the golden spiritual power before, remained intact.

Not only was the skull intact.

It even reverted to its purple-gold color in an instant after the body turned to ashes and swiftly lunged at his face.

"Hiss, since when can someone's pet skull play dead!"