Wait a minute, where is my master?

"Jin Taoist, if there's something you wish to say, feel free to speak."

The Immortal Palace Ancestor snapped back to reality, glancing toward Jin Xu while eagerly reaching for the Origin Box on the table.

"I encountered the Demon Lord in the Demon Realm."

The young Taoist frowned as he spoke.

"Hmm!?"

Master Chi's hand, which was mid-air, suddenly trembled, and he no longer cared about the Origin Box on the desk. Instead, he instantly looked up at Jin Xu.

Behind him, the disciple who had remained silent all this while also showed a stunned expression on his face.

"Jin Taoist, are you certain?

"After the war between immortals and demons a thousand years ago, the Demon Lord has always been sealed in the forbidden land behind the mountain of our Kunlun Immortal Palace."

The Immortal Palace Ancestor said, then turned to instruct the disciple behind him.

"Shuo'er, quickly contact the sect elders and have them check whether the seal in the forbidden land has been damaged."

Although Master Chi felt extremely astonished that the young Taoist had encountered the Demon Lord in the Demon Realm,

after all, the person in front of him was Jin Xu.

So... he decisively began to doubt the seal of his own family.

"Yes, Master."

The Kunlun Immortal Palace Master responded, taking out a communication Jade Talisman and began contacting the elders who stayed behind in the sect.

Meanwhile, the young Taoist began to recount to Master Chi what exactly he had experienced in the Demon Realm in less than a day's time.

After half an incense stick's time had passed,

Jin Xu had recounted the story of how he had discovered the Demon Lord attacking the Origin of the Demon Realm, wishing to refine the living creatures and return to the Nine Provinces Realm.

During this process, Master Chi's expression changed several times.

"Jin Taoist, you said you directly purified the Demon Lord from the Origin of the Demon Realm!?"

The Immortal Palace Ancestor said, picking up the Origin Box from the table. After extending his Spiritual Sense into it, he found that the blue substance within was indeed emitting a rich aura characteristic of the world's Origin.

It was untainted by anything else.

Upon hearing this, Jin Xu nodded and was somewhat puzzled as to why the other party felt the need to confirm again.

"Jin Taoist, do you know why we, the Righteous Path Cultivators, captured the Demon Lord after expending countless efforts and energies, but chose not to kill him?"

Master Chi said, placing down the Origin Box. Without waiting for the young Taoist to speak, he answered his own question.

"That Demon Lord somehow acquired a bizarre heritage and managed to cultivate a trace of the Undying Tao Principle in the Lower Realm with a mortal body that had not undergone transformation. This meant that no matter how many times we killed him using any method, as long as the trace of the Tao Principle wasn't obliterated, he would slowly recover.

"Therefore, out of desperation, we came up with the last resort to seal him beneath the Kunlun Immortal Palace, hoping to use the mighty force of time to gradually grind him to death.

"But Jin Taoist, you say you could directly erase him, this..."

The Immortal Palace Ancestor said this, a trace of excitement unavoidably surged in his heart.

He knew that the young Taoist had extraordinary cultivation, with strength far exceeding the limits of the Lower Realm. But the idea that the other party could even contend against the Tao Principle was genuinely beyond his expectations.

After all, even in the Upper Realm, those capable of cultivating the Tao Principle were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

"Right, Jin Taoist, you mentioned that it wasn't you who recognized the aura of the Demon Lord, but a Bronze Gate that pointed it out to you. Could I possibly take a look at it?"

The Ancestor of the Immortal Palace calmed his unsettled heart, silently repeating to himself several times, "Whatever happens to the little Taoist is normal," before finally speaking up.

Jin Xu, upon hearing this, didn't dally and casually retrieved Elder Qin from his storage magical treasure.

"Senior Chi, this is the Bronze Gate. It once served as the main gate for the Demon Sect, so it's particularly sensitive to the aura of the Demon Lord."

The little Taoist said, reaching out to pat the doorframe of Elder Qin, briefly introducing Senior Chi's identity, and then gesturing for the other party to speak.

However, the normally talkative Bronze Gate visibly shuddered when it heard about the identity of the Ancestor of the Immortal Palace.

Then, it froze in place.

Seeing the gate's reaction, Jin Xu was momentarily baffled.

Meanwhile, the Ancestor of the Immortal Palace, standing behind his desk, first showed a trace of surprise when he saw the Bronze Gate. After observing its behavior, he seemed to realize something, a smile appearing on his lips as he spoke with a note of nostalgia.

"I never expected that this gate would end up in your hands, Jin Taoist. After the Demon Lord was sealed, I was genuinely worried that this gate would fall into the hands of the Cultivation World, stirring up trouble once again, so I searched for it thoroughly."

"You recognize this object, Senior Chi?"

The little Taoist looked at the rigid Elder Qin, then at Senior Chi, and asked with curiosity.

"More than recognize it, it was me who buried it in Changbai Mountain back in the day, only for the Demon Lord to later break the seal and dig it out.

"When this gate first appeared in the world, it caused quite a stir among the Cultivators and their sects. A saying was once popular in the Nine Provinces Cultivation World, 'He who obtains this gate, shall enjoy a thousand years of fortune.'

"However, most people thought that acquiring this gate would magically bring about great destiny and luck. In fact, this gate was nothing more than an ancient artifact with an innate ability to seek good fortune and avoid disaster. Those it chose to follow already had good fate and fortune, it wasn't because of the gate that their lives improved.

"Seeing the Nine Provinces Immortal World so restless over this thing, I decided to bury it in the mountain."

As Senior Chi spoke, he stepped out from behind his desk and, with a touch of melancholy, he patted the Bronze Gate and continued.

"Time flies. When I buried this gate, it didn't possess spiritual intelligence yet.

"Nevertheless, now that it has fallen into your hands, Jin Taoist, I feel relieved."

The little Taoist keenly noticed that right after Senior Chi said those words, the stiffness on Elder Qin dissipated completely. On its two door panels, an extremely obsequious expression immediately appeared.

"Long time no see, Master Chi, your grace is even more magnificent than in the past. Your cultivation... your attire..."

Hearing that it was not going to be buried in the mountain again, the Bronze Gate began to speak rapidly.

"Stop, I was the Master when I sealed you, but not anymore."

The Bronze Gate, having failed to flatter, instantly fell silent and stiff once more.

At the same time, it regretted its decision to try to leave Xuanxu Temple and confront the Ten-thousand-year-old Heart Calming Willow even more.

"I was blessed with the talent to attract good fortune and repel calamity, so why did I blindly think to run away at that time! Although the Elder Liu is still dormant, and the temple master is too occupied with other matters to question what happened back then.

"But what if it comes up in the future! No, I need to find a way to leave a good impression on the temple master before the matter gets out."

After a moment of inner turmoil, the Bronze Gate made up its mind.

Meanwhile, the little Taoist and Senior Chi were listening to the news from the Master of the Kunlun Immortal Palace, gathered from the sect.

"Master, Senior Jin. The Great Elder of the Immortal Palace personally visited the sealed area in the forbidden land, and the seal is intact.

"And the Demon Lord is still within that seal."