Wait a minute, where is my master?

The Great Elder of the Demon Sect saw this, and suddenly a glimmer of hope appeared on his somber face.

He remembered those two ink-colored glows.

They were left behind by that mysterious entity, meant to prevent him from mistakenly attaching the yellow talisman paper to other objects again, to be invoked for use.

"I never expected these two energies to have such an effect."

In just a short moment, the Great Elder's emotions had surged and plummeted numerous times.

His current excitement wasn't because the talisman paper was untouched by the flames.

It was because after so long, he had finally seen someone capable of contending with the little Taoist's existence.

"It seems that the mysterious entity is indeed extraordinary. If I cling to this powerful support, the Demon Lord can certainly break the seal."

The Great Elder stared at the faint light standing firm in front of the flames, and with a thought, he took out the ink jade figurine from his bosom.

As for whether it was a match or not, he would put that aside for now; his immediate concern was to seek assistance from the mysterious entity, to see if it could help him escape from this Flame Cage.

Otherwise, if he were to die, everything would have been for naught.

After all, if someone else got their hands on this ink jade figurine, nine times out of ten, they wouldn't care whether the Demon Lord broke free from his seal or not.

However, no sooner had he taken the ink jade figurine in his hands, his emotions once again fluctuated wildly.

Not far away, noticing that the little flame he had condensed was blocked,

The little Taoist couldn't help but let out a surprised light 'eh.'

Then, with a couple of flicks of his index finger, a flame three times thicker than the small flame before condensed into the shape of an arrow and fiercely shot toward the ink-colored glow!

This time, the ink-colored barrier resisted strongly for a full breath!

Then it shattered...

!!!!!!

Seeing this, the Great Elder of the Demon Sect's pupils dilated instantly.

He swiftly tore the yellow talisman off himself and took half a step back in the confined space.

He then began to inject Spiritual Power and Spiritual Sense into the ink jade figurine in his hands, attempting to contact the mysterious entity.

At this time, the Great Elder was still comforting himself internally.

"The measures left by that mysterious entity failing against the little Taoist's personal efforts is normal; if the entity itself was here..."

As he was pondering, the ink jade figurine suddenly lit up.

"Contacting me so soon, have you stolen the fishing rod?"

An aged voice emanated from the figurine, and a trace of joy crossed the eyes of the Great Elder.

"Senior, there has been some unexpected incident, and for some reason, the person with the fishing rod has discovered the yellow talisman paper that you bestowed.

"I am currently trapped in this fiery predicament and implore your assistance..."

He was halfway through speaking when he suddenly noticed that the light on the ink jade figurine... went out.

"Senior? Senior?"

The Great Elder called out twice more, only to realize that the mysterious entity he had placed so much hope in,

seemed to have, possibly, likely taken off with a bucket!

...

In the Upper Realm.

In a place where the Power of the Four Symbols converges.

Within a mountain belly lies a pond of Four-colored Pond Water.

In the center of the pond, there is a small platform in the shape of an octagon. On the platform, a man whose face appeared sometimes young, sometimes old, clad in a simple white linen robe resembling pajamas.

He seems to have just come back to his senses, muttering to himself.

"Cultivators from the Lower Realm are not up to scratch, their brains don't work well.

"Damn it, if I could get out and save you, would I need you to go steal that fishing rod!"

He cursed discontentedly, and raising his eyes to the surrounding Four-colored Pond Water, a burst of black qi erupted from him, charging towards the sides.

For a moment, the previously calm pond was overtaken by fierce winds, with water and fire emerging, and green lightnings flashing!

However, the moment these phenomena appeared, he suddenly stopped the black qi bursting outward, retracting it back into his body.

"Tsk, how boring, these four old codgers can scarcely remember who they even are, and yet they never forget to infuse power into this seal at regular intervals."

As he spoke, he crossed his legs and sat down on the eight-sided platform in a most undignified manner.

Once the strange phenomena over the pond water gradually subsided.

The man propped his chin, frowning and muttering to himself.

"Strange, although the runes on that yellow talisman paper are limited in effect due to restrictions, they are nevertheless related to the principles of the Tao.

"Not to mention cultivators from the Lower Realm, even the youngsters in the Human Immortal Realm should not be able to see through them.

"Moreover, I expended a great deal of effort to transmit two strands of my power over, and yet it wasn't enough to preserve the talisman paper I sent over.

"Damn it, what kind of monster is the holder of that ink jade fishing rod?"

After a series of low whispers, the man fell into contemplation.

The space within the mountain belly then returned to calm once more.

...

Mountain and Sea Realm.

Within the Flame Cage.

After the Great Elder of the Demon Sect tore open the yellow talisman paper, in the blink of an eye, the deep red flames turned it to ashes.

With the loss of the rune-inscribed yellow paper, the Great Elder's figure was no longer obscured, fully revealed within the Flame Cage.

"It's you!"

"Hiss~~~"

"How come you're here!"

Upon seeing the other party, every face showed great astonishment.

Especially the one who had said there was no Great Elder in the Demon Sect within the Colorful Secret Realm.

His complexion turned ashen in an instant, vaguely realizing that his memory and cognition had been tampered with before this.

"Gentlemen, do you recognize him?"

Jin Xu chose to lock him up with the Flame Cage rather than kill him outright because he hadn't confirmed the other's identity and intentions.

Just now, seeing the other party suddenly converse with a puppet in his hands, he approximately deduced that this person's purpose must have been to steal the fishing rod.

At this moment, the young Taoist saw the looks and expressions on the others' faces and thus began to inquire about the other party's identity.

"Young Taoist, you may not be aware, but this man is the Great Elder of the Demon Sect, Shangyin!"

The Old Dean spoke with a solemn expression at first, but then relaxed a bit upon realizing that Shangyin was currently trapped in Jin Xu's Flame Cage.

"Shangyin? Could it be that his surname is Li?"

Jin Xu raised an eyebrow and asked.

The Old Dean answered in utter confusion.

"Er... as far as I know, this person's surname is indeed Shang."

The Old Dean continued to ask a few more questions, puzzled as to why the young Taoist would say such a thing.

Jin Xu simply shook his head, choosing not to answer.

Mainly because that matter couldn't be explained.

He walked past Ji Junqiao, who was still slumped on the ground, and couldn't help but glance at her curiously.

Jin Xu vaguely remembered that, while he was conjuring flames, she seemed to have thrown something onto the flames he was concentrating on, and then she inexplicably sat down.

However, whatever it was, it burned too quickly for him to see what it actually was.

"Forget it, Senior Yan has already said her mind isn't quite right."

Adhering to the principle of not reasoning with the foolish, the young Taoist quickly passed by her and approached the Flame Cage.

"Did you want to steal my fishing rod?"

Jin Xu, peering through the burning flames, stared at the other's figure and asked.

The Great Elder of the Demon Sect was still immersed in the shock of how that mysterious presence had vanished without a word.

Upon hearing the young Taoist's voice, he abruptly turned around, staring intently at him.