Wait a minute, where is my master?

Empress Xia Yunzhao led the civil and military officials along with the one hundred thousand rescued citizens.

They stood behind the young Taoist, disorganized yet reverent, and deeply bowed to him!

After these citizens of Great Xia were awakened from their plight, Xia Xuanmin had arranged for someone to explain the causes and effects to them and let them know exactly who had saved them.

They knew they needed to repay this kindness.

So none of these one hundred thousand citizens left; they all drank water diluted with Strengthening Pills, enduring it just to thank the lifesaver in front of them at this moment.

After everyone completed their bowing, they rose and said in unison,

"We thank the young Taoist for saving our lives! Should the Taoist need anything in the future, we will surely provide it with all our might!"

This speech had been agreed upon in advance, which is why they could say it so uniformly.

But the gratitude was genuinely heartfelt.

At that moment, the voices of one hundred thousand people merged, shaking the heavens, deafening, and startling countless birds in the nearby woods. Even Ye Wuyang, who had flown far away, faintly heard this voice of ten thousand people.

Jin Xu, expressionless, looked woodenly at the civil and military officials and one hundred thousand citizens in front of him, who were bowing and expressing their gratitude.

That was truly shocking!

The young Taoist had last enjoyed such a reception in his previous life when he had been specially invited to give a speech on stage.

But back then, there were only about a thousand people in the audience, far less impressive than the scene before him now.

So he was momentarily stunned.

Not until Yu Yaoer gently nudged him did he come to his senses.

After restraining himself for a long while, he finally said,

"Ahem, you're welcome, everyone. I am your emperor's uncle, all family here."

Having said that, he shot up like a spring from dry ground!

And disappeared into the vast night...

"Little Yu sister, what's with the temple master?"

Little White cheerfully waved at the citizens who were thanking them while asking Yu Yaoer beside him.

"Uh... he might be experiencing social anxiety, I guess."

Little Fish Demon blinked her clear yet slightly foolish large eyes thoughtfully and then her lips curved slightly upwards.

The term "social anxiety" was something the young Taoist had taught her.

Meanwhile, Xia Yunzhao's "face was contorted," she was still immersed in Jin Xu's words about being her uncle and couldn't pull herself out!

...

Five hundred miles underground in Miao State,

there lay a hollowed-out underground cavern.

Within this cavern, various grotesque structures existed. The most noticeable among them was a black obsidian throne located on a raised platform and a twisted giant tree of earthy yellow color.

There was no one sitting on the obsidian throne, but under the twisted giant tree, there was a kindly old granny stewing some strange soup.

This granny was dressed in a dark robe of blue and red, her hair silver as snow, her face kind. But her back was slightly hunched, and she was stirring the big pot in front of her with a long-handled soup spoon.

There was also a homemade clay bowl beside her.

Though there were no flames under the pot, the soup inside continually bubbled as the granny stirred, mumbling something under her breath.

"Roaming through the Underworld, passed the Naihe Bridge, all prisoners' grievances are thus dissolved ..."

"Crack, crack, crack..."

Suddenly, a noise interrupted her mumbling.

The granny turned her head towards the twisted giant tree, only to see the shape of a small human-shaped fruit on it that had grown to the size of an adult, the sound "crack" coming from the fruit as it split open.

"Hehehehehe."

The old woman grinned, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth!

This image starkly contrasted with her kindly appearance; any faint-hearted person seeing this would surely have nightmares for days.

"Snap!"

The fruit made another noise, having now been punctured.

And what punctured the shell of that fruit was a snow-white, slender jade leg. The long leg stretched in the air, seemingly enjoying the sensation of a new birth.

Then....

a coquettish yet slightly panicked voice came from inside the fruit.

"Granny Meng, are you there? It's Little Yan, I seem to be stuck..."

"..."

Granny Meng's cackling suddenly stopped; she casually stretched out the soup spoon from the pot and swung it heavily at the fruit.

With a loud bang, the stuck Yan Meishan fell from the tree.

"Ah!"

A scream, followed by a glimpse of a whirling white figure.

A moment later,

dressed in a purple gauze dress and having escaped a dangerous fate, Yan Meishan was already sitting opposite the old granny.

"Granny Meng, the new Transformation Mother Tree developed by the Great Elder seems a bit off, doesn't it? The shell of that fruit is too hard."

The Demon Sect's Third Elder, having narrowly escaped death, complained to the old woman in front of her.

At this moment, the fluctuation of Spiritual Power on her body had weakened to the top of the Void Refinement Realm.

"And what about Xiaoye? Weren't you responsible for the plan concerning the Great Xia Dynasty? Did it fail?"

Granny Meng did not pay attention to Yan Meishan's complaints. She picked up a clay bowl with her left hand and a soup spoon with her right, scooped up a spoonful of strange soup from the pot in front of her, and handed it to the other person.

"Um, glug glug."

The Third Elder took the clay bowl and drank the strange soup in one breath, and the fluctuations of Spiritual Power on her body began to slowly climb.

However, it only reached the Middle Stage of Divinity Transformation and did not restore her to her peak condition.

"Granny, could you give me another bowl~"

Yan Meishan obviously had a very familiar relationship with the old woman in front of her. She was now holding the clay bowl and whining like a little girl.

"One bowl is Spiritual Medicine, two bowls are poison, three bowls, and you'll cross the Naihe Bridge. You know my rules."

The kindly-looking old woman took back the soup bowl from her hand and continued to stir the pot in front of her.

Seeing that acting spoiled was ineffective, the Third Elder stuck out her tongue, then said seriously, "Granny Meng, Ye Wuyang might not be able to return."

The old woman's hand, which was holding a long-handled soup spoon, paused instantly, and she suddenly looked up at the other person.

"Granny, you don't know, this trip to Great Xia, we encountered a monster, and Ye Wuyang, he..."

Before Yan Meishan could finish speaking, the yellowish distorted giant tree in front of her, representing Ye Wuyang's human-shaped fruit, instantly shriveled up.

Granny Meng glanced at the branches of the giant tree, then at the Third Elder of the Demon Sect, suddenly showing a mouthful of sharp teeth, and said harshly.

"Continue."

...

Quarter of an hour earlier.

In the territories of Great Xia, at the border of Central State.

The Fourth Elder Ye Wuyang was piloting his flying treasure, the Hidden Spirit Shuttle, speeding through the air.

This treasure was not the fastest one he had for escape, but it could combine speed with concealing his aura. The three-hour protection period of the Heavenly Dao oath had just ended.

Thus, he had specifically switched to this flying treasure in advance.

The day had already begun to brighten, and as Ye Wuyang was flying westward, he could faintly feel the sun rising behind him.

"Phew~ another quarter of an hour, and I'll be out of Great Xia's territory. Plus, I still have the life-saving means that the Transformation Mother Tree left me, and I even parted out some Black Pupils, so there should be no issues."

The Fourth Elder muttered lowly to himself, trying to boost his own spirits.

However, for some reason, Ye Wuyang felt uneasy in his heart.

Having cultivated to his level, sometimes he had a premonition about certain things.

But the measures he could take had already been taken, so all he could do at the moment was to try and channel all the Spiritual Power inside his body into the Hidden Spirit Shuttle under his feet.

Poor him, his flying treasure was almost prone to bursting at this moment.

"There must be nothing wrong, that little Taoist can't appear next to me in a flash, can he!"

The Fourth Elder muttered to himself, then instantly applied two defensive magic protections on himself.

Throughout the journey, he had never withdrawn his Spiritual Sense, keeping it out as a precaution. At least for now, within the range covered by his Spiritual Sense, there was no sign of that little Taoist.

High above in the sky.

Ye Wuyang's eyesight was good enough to clearly see the river that divided the territory of Great Xia; a slight joy appeared in his eyes.

Just then, the sun behind him also rose up.

The golden-red sunlight instantly bathed the Central State land, and from the mountains and forests beneath the Fourth Elder came the howling of wild beasts, seemingly celebrating surviving another brutal day in the forest.

Ye Wuyang's shadow was dramatically elongated by the sun on the ground, and he felt that the instant of daylight relieved all the fear accumulated in his heart, affirming that light indeed brought more hope than darkness.

Even if the person was a member of the Demon Sect.

All this happened in an instant, and the Fourth Elder intuitively felt relieved in his heart~

Immediately afterward, he saw a sight in his Spiritual Sense that would haunt him for the rest of his life!

A little Taoist, bathed in the morning sun, was raising his right hand high, holding a massive golden thunder pillar. Moreover, this person was approaching him with a speed that Ye Wuyang could not understand.

In the blink of an eye, the man was by his side, and the huge golden thunder pillar pressed down on him with the force of a collapsing sky. By that time, the Fourth Elder could no longer feel the pain caused by the golden lightning.

Because a vast power of Spiritual Sense had violently smashed into his Sea of Consciousness first, erasing his consciousness in advance.

Indeed, Jin Xu had chosen a method of attack that cleansed both physically and mentally!

So, before the golden thunder pillar struck, Ye Wuyang had already died.

In the void.

The little Taoist retracted his "Hand Palm Thunder. Pillar Version" and took a deep breath, for it was his first time pursuing a murderer over such a long distance.

"Phew~ He should be completely dead now, right?"

Jin Xu had read in the library that high-level Cultivators could sometimes regenerate from their blood even after their bodies died, so this time he had specifically added an attack involving the power of Spiritual Sense.

After speaking to himself, a faint silver light flashed in the little Taoist's eyes, he thoroughly surveyed his surroundings to make sure that the man was truly dead and then turned and used his Flying Escape Skill to head toward Shangjing City.

...

Qing State, Blazing Sun Sword Sect.

Zhao Dabao's father finally arrived at this place with Zhao Dabao in tow.

Since Fatty Zhao was still in his mortal body, their journey was inevitably a bit slower.

At the gate of the Blazing Sun Sword Sect, Zhao's father greeted the Mountain Guardian familiarly.

He then led his son directly towards the peak where his teacher resided.

Along the way, father and son overheard the disciples of the Blazing Sun Sword Sect discussing the change of rulers in Great Xia and something about a hundred thousand citizens.

Curiously, their hearts stirred.

They had been traveling hard, eating and sleeping outdoors, so they were inevitably not very well-informed at the moment.

Therefore, Zhao's father stopped a Golden Core Realm cultivator of the sword sect and asked.

"Junior brother, you....."