Wait a minute, where is my master?

The young Taoist and the large husky before him made eye contact for a moment.

Then he silently turned his head to the left.

For some reason,

Jin Xu always felt that if he locked eyes with Little White any longer, the husky would start pointing at him.

"We can talk about this later. I've already put the Origin of the Demon Realm into the Origin Box, but the most pressing matter now is to quickly return to the Nine Provinces Realm," he said.

He probably knew what Little White was thinking. Although the living creatures in the territory of the Purple Spirit Elephant Clan had all suffered at the hands of the Demon Lord, their kin were still at the West Pole Peak.

Just taking them to the Xuanxu Temple without any clear reasoning seemed somewhat inappropriate.

"All right, temple master," the husky responded pitifully in resignation, her spiritual power surging as she instantly changed back into her humanoid form with short hair and beast ears.

She knew how to prioritize. Naturally, she wouldn't obsess over this matter and bother her temple master.

Seeing this, Jin Xu was about to envelop everyone in spiritual power to quickly return to the entrance of the spatial passage in the Burial Grounds when the golden spiritual power just began to spread from the soles of his feet.

His Spiritual Sense, which he hadn't withdrawn yet, suddenly picked up Little White's telepathic message, who still hadn't given up on the idea of "bringing the elephant back to the temple."

...

"Little Zi, don't worry, I will definitely try my best to persuade the temple master to take you back to the Taoist temple," Little White telepathically comforted the Little Purple Spirit Elephant before starting to seek assistance.

"Little Yu, could you also persuade him for me once the temple master is done with his important matters?"

Yu Yaoer replied with a hint more rationality.

"Little White, there are still many members of the Purple Spirit Elephant Clan on West Pole Peak, it's not appropriate to just bring him back to the Taoist temple. And why are you so persistent..."

"Little Yu, if Little Zi comes back with us to the Xuanxu Temple, there will be one more person for you to try your cooking creations!"

Yu Yaoer was cut off mid-sentence by the husky's potent persuasive offer.

"Hmm... I'll think about it."

Little Fish Demon's stance wavered as she entered a struggle.

...

Jin Xu listened to the telepathic conversation silently, his curiosity piqued by Little White's persistence.

But it was clear that this could also be asked on the way.

So he continued to extend the golden spiritual power he had paused, enveloping the two women and the elephant, and after performing an escape technique towards the direction of the spatial passage,

He then telepathically addressed the husky leaning against the Little Purple Spirit Elephant.

"Little White, why do you want to bring her back to the Taoist temple?

"There are still many of her kin atop West Pole Peak.

"And normally, those who were lured there are the elite of their clans, so Little Zi's safety shouldn't be a concern for the moment."

Little White, who had been gently patting Little Zi's ears, paused for a moment upon hearing the message.

There's a saying, it's not that you're afraid of being rejected, it's that you fear lack of interest.

If the temple master was curious about the matter now, it meant that there was a chance of bringing Little Zi back to the Taoist temple!

She quickly organized her thoughts in her wise brain, inhaled through her nose, and replied,

"Temple master, I'm not worried about her safety. Some clans in the Demon Realm have a natural disposition of cold-blooded selfishness, but the Purple Spirit Elephant Clan does not belong to that type.

"Otherwise, their clan wouldn't have such a long-inherited ancestral burial grounds."

"I was thinking of bringing her back to our Taoist temple..."

Just as Little White was about to continue, a mournful howl suddenly erupted beside her, cutting off her prepared words.

"Aaaoo!"

Inside the Spiritual Power Shield, Little Purple Spirit Elephant, who had been silent all this time, started to swing its trunk restlessly, its body trembling slightly, and its small eyes fixated on the area right below the Golden Spiritual Power Shield.

Since the spot where everyone had met wasn't far from the space channel,

in that brief moment, they had already flown back to the place where the little Taoist and the Demon Lord's Divine Soul Fragment had communicated.

Right below everyone's feet now, apart from the space channel enveloped layer by layer and the large pit created earlier by the Divine Soul Fragment,

the abandoned flesh, which had been discarded by the Divine Soul Fragment and dropped to the ground like a lump of mud, lay conspicuously in the pit.

"Little White, what's wrong with her?" asked Jin Xu as he descended to the ground with the others and inquired.

"Temple Master, that howl just now meant... 'Father'," explained Little White, with a trace of hesitation.

The little Taoist paused, taken aback.

Following the gaze of the Little Purple Spirit Elephant, he looked down at the body on the ground, so mutilated it resembled a tattered rag doll.

"...Temple Master, a Purple Spirit Elephant like Little Zi would certainly receive special care within the Purple Spirit Elephant Clan, but it's also destined not to receive much of it.

"A Demon Clan member like her, who hasn't shape-shifted and has already lost both parents, will have a tough path in the Demon Realm, even with the protection of her clan.

"Of course, a Demon Clan member with her tragic background might have emerged every few days in the old Demon Realm. But since we've encountered her, and her experience is indeed too wretched."

"That's why I had the idea of taking her in as a junior disciple and bringing her back to our Taoist temple," said Little White, continuing to speak with a somewhat somber tone, as she stepped towards Little Purple Spirit Elephant who had rushed towards its father's broken body as soon as the Golden Spiritual Power Shield dissipated.

Little Purple Spirit Elephant had run about ten feet away in an instant but stopped hesitantly just short of its father's remains, as if afraid to come closer.

"Young Master, Little Zi told us before that she saw with her own eyes her father turn her mother into nothing but bones," Yu Yaoer said, her tone low and muffled after glancing at the remains on the ground.

Upon hearing this, Jin Xu's eyes, already filled with astonishment, narrowed slightly.

Although he wasn't fully aware of the details, a bit of thought made him understand.

It must have been the Origin of the Demon Realm, which had been invaded by the Demon Lord, that possessed Little Purple Spirit Elephant's father's body, then – wearing that appearance – massacred the whole Purple Spirit Elephant Clan.

Thinking back to how the opposite party had repeatedly tried to attack Little Purple Spirit Elephant, a flicker of anger crossed the little Taoist's mind.

"To simply purify it seems like letting him off too easily," he muttered to himself, then after a brief contemplation, he communicated to Little White.

"After this matter is resolved, I will ask Little Zi whether she wishes to come to our Xuanxu Temple. She is probably in a state of sorrow and rage right now. You must not say too much.

"First, help her bury her father's bones."

Little White's eyes lit up the moment she received Jin Xu's promise, but as she turned to look at the mangled remains on the ground and the fear and sadness in Little Purple Spirit Elephant's eyes beside her, her excitement quickly faded away.

"Alright, I understand, Temple Master," she replied.

Afterward, they assisted Little Purple Spirit Elephant in burying her father's remains in these ancestral burial grounds.