Wait a minute, where is my master?

In the reception room.

Fatty Zhao saw the newcomer, who looked like a figure of immortal bearing, and thought back to the previous remarks of the little Taoist.

Instantly, he was eighty or ninety percent certain about Senior Chi's identity.

He noticed that this person was extremely curious about the crispy pork belly in Jin Xu's hands.

Yet the little Taoist showed no intention of responding.

He thought Jin Xu was creating an opportunity for him to speak up and resolve the curiosity, to make a good impression on the elder from Kunlun Immortal Palace.

Thus, Zhao Dabao proactively got up and approached Senior Chi politely.

"You must be Senior Chi, I am Zhao Dabao, a disciple of the Blazing Sun Sword Sect... This item is from Qingmu Academy..."

After a brief self-introduction, he repeated the whole story he had just told.

Then...

Fatty Zhao discovered that the face of the white-bearded old man with a celestial presence had visibly turned the color of pig liver.

"These two old bastards have gone too far. It seems I was too lenient when I beat them outside Sae Island.

"I should have used the mountain and river map to suppress them for three years!"

Senior Chi, puffing his beard and glaring, cursed twice. With a single step, he vanished from the reception room.

It looked as though he was probably heading straight for Qingmu City.

Meanwhile, Fatty Zhao was completely baffled.

"Little Taoist, is he... hiss, could it be that the protagonist of that story is Senior Chi?"

Zhao Dabao guessed a possibility and took in a sharp breath of cold air.

He turned his head to ask Jin Xu, who had just deactivated his Spiritual Eyes.

"Yes, it's what you are thinking."

The little Taoist said while activating the Dry Land Onion Escape Skill, turning into a streak of golden light as he flashed past Fatty Zhao.

From Senior Chi's perspective, Jin Xu also felt that what the Old Dean did was truly deplorable.

Getting beaten up a bit more was well-deserved.

Of course, it might also be some unique pleasure among the elderly that he couldn't comprehend.

However, no matter where the grudges between these three ended up going,

The little Taoist felt he needed to chase the man down first.

After all, Zhao Dabao, with his "self-destructing Spirit Roots," was still eagerly waiting here.

...

Jin Xu's Spiritual Sense spread out and in an instant, he located Senior Chi who had already reached the East City Gate and was about to leave the city.

"Senior Chi."

As he transmitted his voice, he used the Dry Land Onion Escape Skill, weaving swiftly through the bustling streets of Shangjing City, fast approaching the East City Gate.

"Jin Taoist?"

Senior Chi, who had already stepped outside the city gates, planning to return to Kunlun Immortal Palace to retrieve the Half-Immortal Artifact—the Nine Tribulations Cloud Mountain Axe,

paused in his steps as he heard the voice transmission.

"Jin Taoist, don't get involved in this matter. Those two old bastards have bullied too much, and if I don't give them a good lesson this time, it's akin to betraying my years of hard cultivation!"

The Immortal Palace elder knew that the little Taoist's master was on good terms with Yan Chu, and that he himself seemed to have some friendship with the old scholar.

Fearing that Jin Xu would prevent him from taking action, he spoke with great emphasis.

"Senior Chi, you misunderstand. I also think they are... cough, I definitely won't meddle in the affairs of you three elders.

"I'm here because I have a favor to ask of you.

"The person in the reception room who spoke to you is an old friend of mine.

"He possesses the Ice and Fire Spirit Roots, but now the supply of Taiyin Essence in the Nine Provinces Realm has ceased. So I specially asked him to come here, hoping you could take a look and see if there is any way to help him survive several episodes of his self-destructing ordeal.

"After all, your lineage should be the most knowledgeable about such Spirit Roots in the Nine Provinces Realm."

As he spoke through voice transmission, Jin Xu arrived outside the East City Gate and approached Senior Chi.

"Jin Taoist came after this person not only through a message transmission, but also went from hiding from me to deliberately revealing his location to me," the Immortal Palace Ancestor mused after receiving the transmission, thoughts flashing through his mind. He also recalled the time he had staked out Jin Xu in the concealed formation, when the wolf demon and the fish demon inexplicably approached the rockery and had that conversation, which was extremely exaggerated and loud.

He pondered for a moment, roughly determining the place this person held in Jin Xu's heart.

Thereupon, he put aside the anger on his face, stroked his beard, and said in a deep voice,

"Well, Jin Taoist, you indeed found the right person. Ice and Fire Spirit Roots, whether it's in the Nine Provinces Realm or the Upper Realm - I am afraid no sect knows them better than my Kunlun Immortal Sect.

"So be it, since you've asked,

"I will let those two old bastards run wild for a couple more days. Let's go and resolve the issue with your young friend's Ice and Fire Spirit Roots first."

Hearing this, the young Taoist knew the other party was actually asking for a favor in return.

But he didn't mind.

With a light chuckle, Jin Xu said,

"Then I'll have to trouble Senior Chi."

With that, the two stepped back into Shangjing City.

...

Royal pavilion, reception room.

The moment Jin Xu walked through the door, Yu Yaoer came toward him with a stick of crispy pork belly in her hand.

And beside her, Little White was holding not just a piece of crispy pork belly but also a bun.

"Young Master, you are back."

"Temple Master, this is the bun I saved for you. There were originally three, but I gave one to Elder Zhao and couldn't resist eating one myself.

"So now there's only one left."

The young Taoist lightly tapped her on the head after hearing this.

He then looked past the two women and glanced into the room,

noting that Fatty Zhao was holding a half-eaten bun, his expression tinged with a hint of regret as he shrank back in his seat.

"I'll discuss some important matters with Senior Chi and Brother Zhao. You two behave and don't cause trouble. If you're bored, go play in the pavilion."

He took a bite of the bun he'd taken from their hands and cautioned them.

The two girls obediently nodded their heads, whispered something to each other, then left hand in hand.

Zhao Dabao also noticed the return of Jin Xu and Chi Taoist.

He quickly got up from his chair and hustled over to them.

"Daoist."

"Senior Chi, earlier I..."

"Eh, every debt has its debtor, and every wrongdoing its perpetrator. This matter does not concern you. To be honest, I should be thanking you for bringing the news to me in advance.

"Otherwise, according to the normal speed of communication, I'd have probably had to wait until Tingfeng Building spread the word across the Nine Provinces before I got the message."

Fatty Zhao intended to clarify something,

but Senior Chi kindly waved his hand and interrupted his explanation.

At this moment, Jin Xu also joined in,

"Brother Zhao, Senior Chi is no outsider. Let's get down to business first. Senior has people he needs to beat up shortly."

As they talked, the three gathered in the center of the reception room.

Zhao Dabao, following the instructions of the Immortal Palace Ancestor, sat cross-legged on the ground.

Chi Taoist rummaged through his storage artifact for a moment before pulling out a silver mirror inlaid with red and blue gems and tossed it into midair.

With a hand gesture, he directed a stream of spiritual power at the mirror.

A moment later, the mirror emitted a white light that enveloped Zhao Dabao tightly from above.

The red and blue gemstones detached themselves and floated on either side of Fatty Zhao.

About seven or eight breaths of time passed.

Chi Taoist withdrew his hand signs and the artifact in midair, his expression odd as he turned and transmitted a message to Jin Xu, who was looking on with curiosity,

"Jin Taoist, your friend here... might not be so easy to save."