Wait a minute, where is my master?

Seeing that the other party didn't seem to want to take direct action but instead wanted to exchange a few words,

the Great Elder of the Demon Sect felt a glimmer of faint hope rise in his heart.

He wasn't afraid of dying, but the thought of not witnessing the Demon Lord break the seal before his death made him feel that his lingering soul would definitely turn into a vengeful ghost soul.

"Yes, I wanted to steal your fishing rod,"

the Great Elder of the Demon Sect, after composing his emotions, replied heavily.

In his mind, he was rapidly thinking about what kind of trump card he still had to use. If he detonated himself now, could his Divine Soul penetrate the Flame Cage, pass through the spatial channel, and successfully return to the Transformation Mother Tree.

Could his alternate death method withstand the young Taoist's flames?

If he unfortunately died, would anyone in the Demon Sect inherit his will, continue to lie dormant, and then seize the opportunity to rescue the sealed Demon Lord?

The Great Elder pondered many things.

Outside the Flame Cage,

Jin Xu, upon hearing the other party admit the purpose of his visit, nodded slightly and said, "Alright."

Then his fingers suddenly clenched!

The Flame Cage around the Great Elder of the Demon Sect suddenly contracted, viciously tightening around his limbs and torso!

"Hiss! Can't you talk to me a bit more?!"

"So you came over to ask questions just to confirm my crimes, right."

At that moment, the Great Elder of the Demon Sect felt extremely agitated.

He didn't have time to think any further,

Having experienced Jin Xu's flame prowess,

he resolutely chose to self-detonate.

A loud boom echoed, accompanied by violent fluctuations of Spiritual Power bursting out from the Flame Cage.

The young Taoist slightly frowned upon witnessing this, and his fingers spread slightly.

A flame tendril similar to an octopus's tentacle entered and cautiously protected the ink jade puppet he held.

The other flame tendrils quickly expanded several times in size, trapping ninety-nine percent of the Spiritual Power released by the self-detonation within the deep red flames.

He indeed came to confirm the crimes.

The Qi above this person's head had turned dark red, and his identity was that of the highest echelon of the Demon Sect.

To not kill him swiftly would be absurd.

Concerning who sent him, Jin Xu had listened to his conversation with the puppet and knew that the puppet had cut off mid-sentence.

So, he never really expected to get a clear explanation from him.

Nevertheless, keeping that ink jade puppet would allow him to trace its origin later on.

However, the other party's fierce resistance, leading directly to self-detonation, was unexpected.

"Recently, it's either self-detonation or self-detonation,"

muttered the young Taoist softly, his eyes suddenly flashing with a peculiar light.

"Huh?"

His encompassing Spiritual Sense detected that among the Spiritual Power dispersed by the recent self-detonation, there were slight fluctuations of Spiritual Sense.

"Is this his lingering soul?"

Adhering to the principle of eradicating the root, Jin Xu, with a thought, easily crushed the soul that was attempting to escape into a spatial crack.

Now, the Great Elder of the Demon Sect's worry about his lingering soul turning into a vengeful ghost would never happen.

After using his Spiritual Sense to crush the lingering soul, the young Taoist expanded his range of Spiritual Sense and scrutinized the surroundings once more.

Once he confirmed there were no remnants nearby, he hooked his finger, controlling the deep red flames to bring out the specifically protected ink jade puppet, seizing it in his palm.

Afterward, he gently waved his hand, dispersing the flames that had burned the Demon Sect's Great Elder's self-destructed Spiritual Power into nothingness.

Having done all this,

Jin Xu casually stuffed the ink jade puppet into his storage treasure and turned his head toward Elder Chi.

"Elder Chi, what were you saying you wanted to discuss with me earlier?"

At that moment, the Ancestor from Kunlun Immortal Palace's eyes were wide open, looking astonished at where the Great Elder of the Demon Sect had disappeared.

Elder Chi had lived for many years, weathering countless major and minor events, but only today he truly understood what "hearing is not as good as seeing" meant.

Even though he had heard numerous rumors about Jin Xu and had even seen from a distance how he led a city's people in breaking through calamitous clouds,

now, witnessing firsthand how Jin Xu acted on his words immediately, effortlessly smoothing over the raging Spiritual Power initiated by the Great Elder's self-destruction,

this scene was somewhat hard to believe.

"Phew, fortunately, I was wise enough to immediately take that good-for-nothing thing to Shangjing City, intending to apologize to Taoist Jin Xu."

The Ancestor of Kunlun Immortal Palace reflected on this and felt a slight chill of fear.

After all, when the little fatty's mother found out her son had been "bullied," she even thought about demanding an explanation with force.

Fortunately, Elder Chi intervened in time and made a ruling that the little fatty was indeed in the wrong.

Otherwise...

"Elder Chi?"

Seeing that the other party only opened his mouth without replying, Jin Xu called out politely again.

"Ah? Oh. Well, actually it's nothing important. By the way, let's consider each other as peers from now on."

The Ancestor of the Immortal Palace responded as if awoken from a dream.

At the same time, he hesitantly communicated secretly to Yan Chu.

"Old Scholar, perhaps it's better if you speak about it. After all, you have a special relationship with Tianxing Taoist and the news from the Upper Realm was also passed down by your Taoist lineage. I'm worried that if I speak, it might lead to some misunderstanding..."

Elder Chi was reluctant to admit that he was frightened.

But just now, what Jin Xu had said and then incinerated Shangyin, who had contended with Righteous Path cultivators for many years, leaving not even ashes behind, made a deep impression on him.

He feared that just after he finished relaying the message from the Upper Realm calling Jin Xu a demon, the latter might point him out too.

"Elder Chi, you're not scared, are you? Don't worry, the young Taoist has a friendly, gentle, and respectful nature, much better than his snobbish master!"

Equally shocked but having seen Jin Xu swiftly slaughter Shen Zhi, the Old Dean, who had a slightly stronger mental fortitude, responded via secret communication.

"Cough, I'm certainly not scared, I just... never mind, I'll speak. Quickly take Fairy Jun Qiao somewhere far, and don't cause any more trouble."

After finishing his secret communication, Elder Chi clenched his fist and stepped toward the young Taoist.

In just a few short steps, he managed to assume an air as if he were ready to face death.

"Alright, I will take care of Fairy Jun Qiao."

The Old Dean replied, looking down at Ji Junqiao who was still dazed in front of him, thinking that she probably couldn't cause any more trouble.

"I hope this young ancestor's Taoist heart remains unobstructed. But speaking of which, the young Taoist easily solved even the jade slips from Ancestor Ji Ye's secret vault; what is his cultivation level now?"

On the other hand,

Jin Xu, without missing a word, listened to the entire secret communication between the two, and deeply agreed with the Old Dean's assessment of him, except for the part about his master.

"Young Taoist, this isn't the place to talk, how about we move to the dense forest over there to talk in detail?"

At that moment, Elder Chi, who was assuming the attitude of facing death, approached Jin Xu and gestured toward the nearby Lin Zixu.

The young Taoist politely acknowledged upon hearing this.

Then, he followed the Ancestor of Kunlun Immortal Palace into the grove.