Wait a minute, where is my master?

The chubby elder stood up, nodded towards Zhu Yangzi, and walked over to Zhao Dabao's side.

His Spiritual Sense probed out, and he too started to examine.

Clearly, the two knew each other and Zhu Yangzi wasn't the least bit surprised by the elder's appearance.

"Grandfather, you..."

Fatty Zhao's face was a mixture of excitement and astonishment, making his broad face look exceedingly contorted.

"Hehe, are you surprised your grandpa is still alive?"

The chubby elder, while checking Zhao Dabao's meridians with his Spiritual Sense, responded with a chuckle as if he had anticipated his grandson's reaction upon seeing him.

"So, grandfather, you feigned death back then?"

Fatty Zhao quickly regained his ability to think.

"Yes."

The chubby elder had no intention of explaining further, as Zhao's father, standing by, spoke up.

"Dabao, during my absence from Gusu City, have you had any fortuitous encounters or consumed any Heavenly Talent and Earthly Treasure?"

"Dad, my biggest encounter might have been that Enlightenment Pill, I haven't had anything else. So, what's wrong with me, is there an issue with my Spirit Root again?"

Fatty Zhao, seeing his father and suddenly resurrected grandfather circling around him, knew there must be some problem.

His first thought was of his extremely rare Ice and Fire Spirit Roots; he figured they were acting up again.

Zhao's father shook his head, his face full of puzzlement, "It's not the Spirit Root; it's your body and meridians. They seem to have been refined by the most top-level Wash Essence and Marrow technique. Normally, at your age, most of your meridians should be blocked."

"Is it related to my martial arts training?"

Zhao Dabao guessed.

"Unrelated."

Zhu Yangzi dismissed Fatty Zhao's speculation.

"So my body and meridians seem like they have been refined by the most top-level Wash Essence and Marrow technique. Is there any downside to this?"

Zhao Dabao asked tentatively, anxious as he looked at his father and grandfather.

"Tsk, there isn't, we're just curious about the cause.

Your body and meridians, the way they are now, have actually spared you the agony of undergoing Wash Essence and Marrow. Oh right, the only downside is that you possess Ice and Fire Spirit Roots, Dabao. You'll need to control your cultivation speed. Otherwise, without ingesting the essences of Taiyin and Taiyang before Foundation Establishment, you'll explode."

The chubby elder teased, as if the matter didn't concern his own grandson.

Fatty Zhao, hearing the first part of his grandfather's statement, let go of the worry he had been holding in his heart, thinking there was something wrong inside his body.

They were just curious!

But the latter part of his grandfather's comment made him anxious once again.

What could be more pathetic than being a cultivation genius but exploding upon reaching Foundation Establishment?

...

However, you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

So, even knowing that he might explode if he didn't consume Taiyin and Taiyang essences before Foundation Establishment, Fatty Zhao still chose to cultivate the cultivation technique exclusive to Ice and Fire Spirit Roots— "Ice and Fire Nine Heavens."

He didn't know who named this technique; it didn't exactly sound auspicious.

As Zhao Dabao complained, he decided to go ahead with the cultivation.

And indeed, he lived up to his most top-level body and meridians.

Just three days, only three days!

He had become a glorious third level Qi Cultivation Realm cultivator!

Seeing how quickly he was progressing and knowing he shouldn't continue, Fatty Zhao chose to come out of his closed-door cultivation. Standing on the mountain path, he suddenly remembered the words of that Brother Ou and decided to go to the Miscellaneous Hall to buy an imaging stone for a look.

In the future, as someone from the Nine Provinces Immortal World, he should at least understand the major events happening in the Nine Provinces.

...

Miao State, five hundred li underground.

Yan Meishan, having procured a lounge chair from who knows where, lay lazily in front of Granny Meng.

After a few days of recovery, her strength had mostly returned. Only, all the talismans, Spirit Pills, and magical treasures she had been carrying before had vanished with that explosion.

After all, everything was stored within the storage treasures she carried, and the intensity of her self-explosion was more than enough to destroy a storage ring with ease.

"Granny, can you perhaps speak to the Great Elder on my behalf and tell him that my injuries haven't fully healed and I'm really of no help to the Second Elder?"

The Demon Sect's Third Elder cooed playfully on purpose.

Yesterday, she had received orders from the Great Elder to go to Qing State and assist the Demon Sect's Second Elder, who had been entrenched there for many years, in finalizing the plan.

Yet Yan Meishan, perhaps having been spooked by that little Taoist in Shangjing City, or maybe sensing something instinctively, was very reluctant to go to Qing State. But she didn't dare defy the Great Elder's command, so she came to plead with Granny Meng in front of her to speak on her behalf.

"Ah, the Great Elder's command, me, an old lady who can't even leave this underground palace, what words can I speak? Just obediently follow the order and go. Otherwise..."

Granny Meng, with a kind expression, her tone weirdly mixed with dissatisfaction, clearly unhappy with the Great Elder.

She had learned of Ye Wuyang's death and speculated it was the work of the little Taoist from Shangjing City. She wanted to leave the cave to exact revenge for her Master, but the Demon Sect's Great Elder forcibly suppressed her.

There was plenty of resentment simmering in her heart.

"Granny~~ In your days, you were the Right Protector of the Divine Sect; the Great Elder surely cannot disregard your words."

Yan Meishan's face was ripe with a radiant smile, though internally she cursed profusely.

"You would seek vengeance for Ye's death, yet for me, still alive, you do not even bother to utter a word, pah! No wonder everyone in the sect gossips about Ye and you having an unusual relationship."

"Hehe, Little Yan, don't make things hard for this old lady who can only stew soups," Granny Meng retorted, her face still wearing a gentleness. She lowered her head, shaking the long spoon in her hand, focusing on the large pot before her without lifting her head, dismissing the matter. She knew Yan Meishan too well; despite the glowing smile, who knows how she was cursing internally.

All foxes of a thousand years, what pretense of a ghost story you're playing at.

Seeing her coquettish sweet talk had no effect, the Third Elder's face suddenly changed to a completely different expression.

"Granny, Little Night and I both grew up under your watch, and now that he's dead, won't you..."

She didn't finish her sentence.

Granny Meng lowered her head, withdrew the ladle from the pot, and charged directly toward Yan Meishan's mouth.

The Third Elder didn't expect that just mentioning it would cause her to take action so abruptly. Startled, she was about to muster her spiritual power to counterattack.

But at that moment, another unexpected incident occurred.

In the space between the two of them, while Granny Meng's ladle was still moving forward, a shiny silver fishing hook suddenly shot out from the void.

In an instant, Yan Meishan felt the space around her completely locked down; she couldn't move a muscle.

The turn of events frightened her into desperately trying to mobilize her spiritual power to struggle, but it was to no avail.

As she frantically struggled, driving her spiritual power, Granny Meng's ladle, unable to stop its momentum, crashed into the shiny silver fish hook.

There was a clang!

The sound of metal clashing echoed throughout the entire underground palace.

The suddenly struck fishing hook seemed to pause for a moment, then it turned its hook tip and latched onto the ladle.

It fished it away!

Inside the underground palace.

Yan Meishan was gasping for breath after realizing she could move again. On the other side, Granny Meng looked at her empty right hand, momentarily stunned.

Where did my big ladle go?!

...

Little Platform Mountain, Xuanxu Temple.

Jin Xu stood in the courtyard, his hands gripping an ink jade rod, focused on fishing for the Demon Sect's Third Elder.

He just felt a jolt on the other end of the line, followed by a heavy pull.

The little Taoist priest thought that Yan Meishan was caught on the hook, so he hurriedly flicked the rod upward.

To his surprise, what was hanging on the end of the line turned out to be a ladle?

"Is this fishing rod broken again? Why am I catching kitchenware..."

Jin Xu was utterly baffled.

At the entrance to the kitchen, Yu Yaoer came out holding a white porcelain plate, with Little White following closely behind.

"Young Master, come and see the dish I fried! Eh, why is there a ladle on the ground?"

After Jiang Xiulan left, Yu Yaoer had always been saying how regrettable it was that she didn't get the chance to compete with her.

The little Taoist priest said something offhand.

He mentioned that cooking skills involve more than just knife work and the white kitchen bench; there's frying, stir-frying, deep-frying, stewing, simmering... He had only ever seen Little Yu stew soups and had never seen her demonstrate any other cooking techniques, so they should postpone the contest for another time.

Jin Xu swore that he said this to discourage Yu Yaoer, but it seemed like the Little Fish Demon misunderstood his intention and headed straight for the kitchen to show off her culinary skills beyond stewing.

And now, she was evidently here to demonstrate her frying skills to the little Taoist priest.

"Little Fish, don't touch it. That ladle is very likely something from the Demon Sect."

The little Taoist priest saw the two women heading straight for the ladle and hastily shouted to stop them.

"Ah, okay, Young Master."

Hearing Jin Xu's words, Yu Yaoer steered clear of the ladle that had fallen to the ground and also pulled Little White, who had been sniffing around, to the stone table to put down the white porcelain dish.

"Temple master, this ladle seems to have just been stirring in soup."

The Husky's nose twitched as she reported her findings.

"Hmm-hmm."

Jin Xu approached the ladle, his eyes invoking the power of insight, and discovered the item was covered with demonic energy but appeared to be just a magical item. He then switched to using his fortune-telling method to take another look and saw a large "ominous" character on the head of the ladle.

"Mm, that aligns with its fate of being smashed to pieces by me."

The little Taoist priest murmured as he reached out his right hand, condensing the "Hand Palm Thunder." However, after a second of contemplation, he dissipated the golden thunderbolt.

Using "Hand Palm Thunder" might add another well to the temple grounds.

So, Jin Xu chose to use his foot.

He raised his left foot high and then brought it down hard on top of the ladle.

As expected, the ladle wasn't as sturdy as the little Taoist priest's foot.

With that stamp, the ladle shattered into more than a dozen fragments.

One of Granny Meng's personal magical treasures, gone.

At that moment, far away in Miao State, Granny Meng suddenly spurt a mouthful of fresh blood into the large pot in front of her.

...

Having dealt with the ladle that was suspected to be a kitchen utensil from the Demon Sect, Jin Xu turned and returned to the stone table.

"Young Master, Young Master, come and see how my frying skills are!"

Yu Yaoer enthusiastically called Jin Xu over.

Standing nearby, Little White seemed to crave a taste, but the little Taoist priest had said as a punishment she was not allowed to eat for a few days.

Thus, the Husky's curiosity would remain unsatisfied for now.

"Hmm... Is this your fried dish?"

"Yes, Young Master."

"Then why do they all look like round balls?"

On the stone table, the white porcelain dish notably held about a dozen round, pill-shaped "fried dishes."

...