Wait a minute, where is my master?

After the Old Dean said those words,

the emaciated old man and Grandma Yu both turned their gaze toward the little Taoist, waiting for him to give a definitive answer.

Even Ji Junqiao, who was not too far away and whose face still bore traces of anxiety, momentarily forgot her own troubles and took a couple of steps toward them, looking over with curiosity and caution.

However, before everyone could hear Jin Xu speak,

they heard Little White's exclamation.

"Hey, isn't this the half piece of crispy five-layer pork that Little Hong dropped?"

Upon hearing this, a sense of foreboding sank into Elder Chi's heart.

The Old Dean, seeing a situation developing where he could witness the Ancestor of Kunlun Immortal Palace being put in his place, hastily spoke up.

"Miss Little White, do you recognize this item? I wonder who this Little Hong you mentioned is?"

"Mm, if that thing the white-bearded grandpa is holding was picked up from here, then I'm likely not mistaken.

"As for Little Hong... he is a chicken, a deliciously aromatic one at that."

Little White said, turning her head to glance at Jin Xu. After reading affirmation in his gaze, she proceeded to narrate the reason why they had come here and the origin of the half piece of crispy five-layer pork thoroughly.

After listening to Little White, the Old Dean and the others were first stunned, and then began to tremble uncontrollably with laughter.

The emaciated old man was the most exaggerated among them; he tried to hold back his laughter as he walked toward Elder Chi.

"Ku ku ku ku... The vaunted Ancestor of Kunlun Immortal Palace, to think he's holding half a... ku ku ku..."

Moving to the side, the emaciated old man seemed unable to contain himself any longer and simply squatted down and burst into laughter.

Compared to him, the Old Dean's reaction was somewhat better.

Suppressing the laughter, he walked up to Elder Chi, reaching out to pat his shoulder.

"Elder Chi, you wouldn't want the cultivators of the Nine Provinces Realm to find out about what's happened here, would you?"

The Old Dean had hoped to exploit this opportunity to exact a small revenge for the abyssal mountain crushing and maybe to get some benefits from the Ancestor of Kunlun Immortal Palace in the process.

Later, when he returned to the academy, he would share the spoils with the masters, as if he was bringing back special local products from his tenure as Dean.

However, before the Old Dean could finish speaking, his hand still resting on Elder Chi's shoulder,

Elder Chi 'pfft'ed and spat out a mouthful of blood; his originally ruddy complexion instantly turned ashen.

"Hey, Elder Chi, don't try to scam people. Those two pats I gave you barely had any force, and besides, we're a whole realm apart!"

The Old Dean raised his hand quickly, fearing he may have caused more trouble than he had intended.

The Ancestor of Kunlun Immortal Palace, who had simply been trying to suppress his worsening injury, suddenly saw an opportunity upon hearing these words.

His eyes, which had dimmed in color alongside his pale face, suddenly brightened as he clutched his shoulder and shouted,

"You sly old scholar, all I did was suppress you with a mountain undersea! Now you take advantage of my distraction to seek revenge."

As he said this, Elder Chi flashed to Grandma Yu's side and began to plead for Healing Pills.

In passing, he didn't forget to give the Old Dean, who was still standing there dumbfounded, a look of, "I can't believe you are such a person."

And with Elder Chi's interjection,

everyone temporarily dropped the matter of the crispy five-layer pork.

...

Time fast-forwards to five days later.

Still near the entrance of the spatial passageway,

Jin Xu emerged from the forest with the two ladies, looking refreshed and vibrant.

Each person was holding a different kind of exotic food in their hands.

In the little Taoist's grip was a half-meter-long piece, similar to a lobster claw with a bright red shell. As he walked, he used a wooden spoon to scoop out the snow-white and delectable flesh, savoring it in his mouth, slowly chewing.

Yu Yaoer was holding an egg larger than her head, with a slightly yellowed shell that seemed to have been roasted over fire.

Little White, who was following behind the two of them, was not only holding a huge pork knuckle in each hand but even had some sort of bird wing clenched in his mouth.

Of course, their harvest from hunting over the past five days was definitely more than just this little bit, besides these few items that were obviously freshly cooked.

Jin Xu and Yu Yaoer's storage magical treasures were packed full to the brim.

"Grandma, you have to taste this bird's egg, it's really incredibly fragrant."

As soon as Little Fish Demon emerged from the forest, she ran toward Grandma Yu, holding a bird's egg that was bigger than her head.

Five days ago, they had told a few people that they would stay in the Mountain and Sea Realm for a few days to hunt.

By coincidence, the Ancestor from Kunlun Immortal Palace also needed a few days to heal his injuries, so after discussing it, they all decided to stay.

Today was the day everyone had agreed to leave the Mountain and Sea Realm.

Next to the spatial passage.

Upon seeing his precious granddaughter running excitedly towards him with some food, the Shui Clan Elder subconsciously took half a step back.

Yu Yaoer, however, was completely unaware of the deep impression her culinary skills had left on her grandmother.

She quickly covered the distance to Grandma Yu and held up the bird's egg as if offering treasure.

"Grandma, you have to taste it, the flavor of this egg is truly unique, not only is there not the slightest hint of fishiness often associated with eggs, but once you eat it, it even gives off bursts of milky fragrance!"

The Shui Clan Elder, seeing her granddaughter's excited expression, found it a bit hard to refuse.

But upon thinking of Yu Yaoer's past achievements, the words 'I'll try it' that she originally intended to say hesitated on the tip of her tongue.

After a long silence, determination flickered in Grandma Yu's eyes.

"I'll just have a bite."

Having said that, she used her spiritual power to cut a tiny slit in the bird's egg and then scooped out a portion of the egg white, no larger than a fingernail, and popped it into her mouth as if taking medicine.

Before she could even discern the flavor, Grandma Yu was already mumbling indistinctly.

"Hmm, the taste is indeed... ah, not bad!"

Mid-sentence, the Shui Clan Elder suddenly discovered, to her surprise, that the egg white indeed had a hint of a milky fragrance, and upon careful tasting, found that it actually tasted good!

"Could it be that Yaoyao has truly improved her cooking skills during these days she's been out?"

Grandma Yu was immensely astonished and subconsciously took the bird's egg being held out to her.

She dug out another large spoonful directly and placed it in her mouth, savoring it with delight.

Seeing that her grandmother liked the egg, Yu Yaoer blinked happily and turned to go look for Little White.

She had no idea that the bird's egg, roasted by the husky, had been mistaken by her grandmother as her own creation.

At that moment, Taoist Chi, who had been meditating to heal his injuries next to the spatial passage, sensed that Little Taoist and a few others had returned and opened his eyes to stand up from the ground.

"Jin Taoist, are we heading back to the Colorful Secret Realm today?"

The Little Taoist nodded gently upon hearing the question, then looked around with a puzzled expression.

"Senior Chi, where are the Old Dean and the elder from Pan Shi Valley?"

Taoist Chi was taken aback at the question. He had been busy settling his injuries for the past five days and hadn't paid much attention to the movements of Yan Chu and the others.

Now looking around, he realized that neither the skinny elder nor the other was nearby.

"I..."

He was just about to say something.

From behind the spatial passage in the forest, the voice of the Old Dean arrived before he did.

"Little Taoist, Elder Chi, I'm over here."

As the words fell, he and the skinny elder appeared beside Taoist Chi.

"Old scholar, what have you and Elder Geda been up to?"

Upon hearing the question, the Old Dean chuckled dryly, exchanged glances with the elder from Pan Shi Valley, and then said in unison.

"Hehe, it's a secret."