Wait a minute, where is my master?

Qingmu Secret Realm.

It consists of four layers, each abundant in heavenly materials and earthly treasures of the plant category, and is also home to some rare and exotic magical beasts.

The secret realm opens once every two hundred years and is under the jurisdiction of the Qingmu Academy, one of the Four Great Immortal Sects. The opening date is usually the first day of September in the current year, and all below the Divinity Transformation realm can enter.

Compared to other secret realms in the Nine Provinces Realm, this one is incredibly public-friendly. On the eve of each opening, cultivators flock to Qingmu City, creating crowds as vast as seas. The vendors affiliated with the academy can also take this opportunity to make good profits.

Why is it public-friendly?

Because Qingmu Academy, following the Confucian Saint's principle of "educating without discrimination," does not restrict entrance. As long as you are a cultivator of the Righteous Path and pass the Confucian master's assessment at the entrance, you can enter this secret realm.

Moreover, unlike other secret realms, the first layer of the Qingmu Secret Realm prohibits cultivators from killing each other.

This rule allows a large number of low-tier Loose Cultivators to try their luck.

After all, they cannot die, so why not give it a try?

"And the Eternal Lotus is one of the most precious spiritual objects on the fourth layer. Treasures often conceal themselves, and it has been six hundred years since anyone has brought out an Eternal Lotus petal from the Qingmu Secret Realm," he said.

After introducing the secret realm, Grandfather Zhao expressed his concerns to his grandson.

The Qingmu Secret Realm may have a low threshold, but that does not mean it is easy to obtain spiritual objects, especially in recent years, as fewer and fewer cultivators have been able to acquire rare spirit plants from it.

Having heard this, Fatty Zhao asked puzzledly, "Then why doesn't White Emperor Pavilion, which is also one of the Four Great Immortal Sects, send its own disciples to obtain this Eternal Lotus?"

"They cannot enter,"

Zhu Yangzi interjected unexpectedly.

"Right, not long after the celestial-demonic war a thousand years ago, the Old Dean of Qingmu Academy apparently had a falling out with the Elder Pavilion Master of White Emperor Pavilion. Since then, the sects' secret realms have been off-limits to each other's disciples,"

The old man was not entirely sure of the specifics and could only offer a vague explanation. Suddenly, he began to laugh to himself, "It's good that my grandson only recently started cultivation after obtaining an Enlightenment Pill. If it had been a few months earlier or later, the Taiyin Essence matter might have fallen through. Dabao, you do have some luck with you; you should also go to the Qingmu Secret Realm with your master this time."

The latter part of his speech was directed at Zhao Dabao.

Zhao Dabao scratched his stomach, thinking to himself how fortunate he was to have encountered Jin Xu, although he currently couldn't get in touch with him.

The old man didn't realize what his grandson was pondering.

Turning, he then said to Zhu Yangzi, "Brother, since I'm currently faking death in the Blazing Sun Sword Sect, it's not good for me to show my face. The matter of the Eternal Lotus, I'll have to entrust to you. As for Dabao, you can let him train in the first layer."

Despite knowing that White Emperor Pavilion was asking for the impossible, since they now needed their help, they still had to somehow manage to get the Eternal Lotus petals.

"I will do my best,"

This time, the Blazing Sun Sword Sect had already decided that Zhu Yangzi would lead the team to the Qingmu Secret Realm. Although he had achieved Divinity Transformation and thus could not enter the realm himself, he could still offer substantial rewards in his personal capacity to command the disciple entering the realm to procure the Eternal Lotus petals for him.

Fatty Zhao was unaware of the exact relationship between his grandfather and his master, yet he agreed so readily to the matter.

But as the promise was made, he quickly performed a gesture of respect towards Zhu Yang Zi.

Thus, his journey with the disciples of Blazing Sun Sword Sect to the Qingmu Secret Realm was settled.

...

Miao State, wilderness.

Yan Meishan was en route to Qing State.

The distance between the two places was too great, and the Demon Sect had not set up a minor transmission array. With her identity, she naturally did not dare to take a transmission array in major cities.

The incident in the underground palace a few days ago had frightened her considerably.

The Third Elder had not expected that despite being in the Demon Sect's underground palace, she could still be locked in space, rendering her unable to move.

Moreover, that mysterious fish hook had directly snatched Granny Meng's life-bound magic artifact.

Although Granny Meng later explained that it was an extraordinary artifact of the Nine Provinces Realm, the ink jade rod, and told her not to panic and that it was futile to hide,

the Third Elder found it hard to trust her, seeing Granny Meng's bloodied mouth during the incident.

Therefore, after calming her emotions, Yan Meishan went to a previously prepared hideout to retrieve some magic artifacts and other belongings and hurriedly flew towards Qing State.

She constantly felt that the underground palace was unsafe and prone to fish hooks.

...

Miao State, five hundred li underground in the Demon Palace.

Granny Meng was holding a very new-looking long-handled soup ladle, stirring the contents of a large cauldron in front of her. Directly in front of her, a figure cloaked in a black robe, their face completely obscured, waited silently for her to speak.

"My life-bound magic artifact was fished away with an ink jade rod and shattered. Do you still insist I remain in this underground palace?" she asked.

"The ink jade rod is in the hands of that old Taoist, Tianxing. His Taoist temple wanders through the Nine Provinces, and even if you were to go out, you might not be able to find him. So, Granny, you might as well focus on brewing this caldron of soup. The day we welcome back the Demon Lord, we will naturally avenge this,"

The shadow's voice was neither male nor female, sounding both distant and close, making it extremely uncomfortable to listen to.

"Heh, you said the same thing when Xiaoye died. Now that my life-bound magic artifact has been destroyed, you say the same, heh heh,"

Granny Meng was clearly dissatisfied with the shadow in front of her but seemed to have reasons she had to listen to it.

"Granny, those who achieve great things must endure what others cannot," said the shadow.

"Heh, ptui!"

Granny Meng spat disdainfully to the side.

...

The next morning dawned bright and clear.

After a night of rest, Jin Xu had temporarily set aside the matter of alchemy.

Studying required a balance of work and rest, and his frenzied practice over the past three days had certainly broken this rule.

Besides, it was important to look on the bright side.

Although he hadn't learned alchemy, his mastery of the "Fire Condensing Skill" had now reached a divine level.

The Taoist could now precisely recreate various animal forms with flames, even though he didn't yet know what use this skill might have.

But he believed that having many skills would not be a burden, and that this skill would eventually come in handy.

Jin Xu hummed a little tune, pushed open the door, and walked into the courtyard, waking up the two women.

He planned to leave for Qing State today, riding Little White and taking the journey as a chance to clear his mind.

"Master, are we heading out again?"

Yu Yaoer had just returned a few days ago and was reluctant to leave the kitchen of Xuanxu Temple. The kitchen at the temple had sturdy pots, ample wood for the fire, and sharp knives—nothing like the kitchenware she used to have to replace every three days.

She had now nurtured her culinary skills to perfection.

That's why she hadn't cooked much when she was in Shangjing City.

"Temple master, are you riding me on a trip again?"

Little White hadn't eaten in three days and was eager for Jin Xu to give her a chance to perform and end her fasting early.

"Yes, we're going to Qing State to find Brother Jiang, and also, the Qingmu Secret Realm is said to be opening in September. Xia Xuanmin mentioned that we could wait until the Secret Realm opens to directly request the Che Liang wood sap required for the Three Elements Rejuvenation Pill, but I still want to go and see for myself."

"Master, no one will be home to watch the temple while we're out; should we just bring the temple along?"

Yu Yaoer was still thinking about her kitchen.

"No need, temple master, Sister Little Fish, just ride me,"

Husky was very eager to redeem herself.

Little Fish Demon: "..."

The Taoist glanced at the two women, smiled slightly, knowing full well their intentions, and said, "We'll bring the temple, but we will still ride Little White."

When serious folks go out to clear their minds, who doesn't bring their own house along?

Upon hearing this, the two women immediately pounced forward, one on each side, clinging onto Jin Xu's arms and began flattering him.

Before leaving,

Jin Xu went to the Zhao family to check on Zhao Dabao's cultivation progress and to see if he needed any help.

After all, since his return, he had been busy with two fishing trips—one for Jiang Xiulan and one for a ladle—then there was the exploding Pill Furnace incident, and he hadn't managed to visit the Zhao family.

When he arrived at the Zhao family's place, he only met Uncle Qian. He learned that Fatty Zhao and his father had gone to the Blazing Sun Sword Sect to seek the Way. Thus, the Taoist left a communication jade pendant for Zhao Qian to give to Zhao Dabao, indicating that if Zhao Dabao returned one day, or if he ran into any trouble, he could contact him using the pendant.

Jin Xu returned to Xuanxu Temple.

The two women were already prepared and standing outside the temple gate.

Little White, with nothing else to do, began admonishing her younger brothers for the eleventh time to cultivate diligently and not to harm the innocent.

Seeing the Taoist fly back, she quickly revealed her true form.

In an instant, a gigantic Snow Wolf appeared on the open ground in front of the temple, and the newly trained wolf and dog demons in the surroundings looked at her with admiration in their eyes.

Jin Xu saw this, smiled slightly, formed a hand seal, waved his Taoist robe, and tucked Xuanxu Temple into his sleeve. Then he took out a black, faceless mask from his storage magic artifact and put it on. Only then did he gently leap onto Husky's back.

Yu Yaoer, waiting for her master to get on, also jumped onto the wolf's back.

"Let's go."

The direction had already been set for Little White, so as soon as Jin Xu finished speaking, Husky shot out like a white arrow.

In just a moment, the little brothers still on Little Platform Mountain could no longer see their big brother's silhouette.

Among the group of wolf and dog demons, those with higher spiritual intelligence knew that their big boss and great boss were heading far away and spontaneously raised their front paws, waving goodbye.

Those whose spiritual intelligence had not yet awakened simply thought their big boss and great boss were going hunting again and howled upwards, cheering them on their journey.

The saddest were those whose spiritual intelligence was partially awakened; they thought they had been abandoned by their big boss and great boss and were silently wiping away their tears with their raised front paws.

...

An hour later, at the foot of Little Platform Mountain.

The owner of Immortal Robe Pavilion and her best friend wearing a flower bell appeared, bringing quite a few items with them.

The two had discussed it privately and concluded that a visit to see Taoist Jin Xu three days later wouldn't seem abrupt.

So, they appeared at Little Platform Mountain again today.

Before leaving home, they had carefully applied makeup and changed into their favorite outfits.

At the foot of the mountain, the two women landed their Flying Artifact, adjusted their facial expressions, and ascended the mountain beautifully.

Unfortunately, while they had considered a visit every three days not to be abrupt, they hadn't counted on Jin Xu, who had already taken his house with him, to clear his mind.