Wait a minute, where is my master?

"Spirit Stone?"

The young Taoist looked at his demon pet, puzzled.

In the Taoist temple, the Spiritual Liquid was always free for the two girls to use. The yellow and white items seized from the cave of the Demon King in Qing State, and the many Spirit Stones given by Zhao Dabao along with the storage magic tool, were all managed by Yu Yaoer.

Jin Xu himself only kept about ten thousand pieces for pocket money.

Why was he now being asked for Spirit Stones?

"Little Yu, you're not thinking of using these Spirit Stones to make soup, are you?"

He had barely gotten halfway through his sentence when the young Taoist suddenly realized something.

"Young Master, what are you thinking!"

Yu Yaoer pouted her oily little mouth and shook her head to deny it.

"Phew, that's a relief."

When he saw the Little Fish Demon deny it, Jin Xu breathed a sigh of relief and was about to reach into the storage magic tool to get some Spirit Stones. But as soon as his hand touched the Mystic Treasure Pearl, he heard Yu Yaoer seriously say,

"I just plan to add these Spirit Stones to the pot when frying, stir-frying, sautéing, braising, boiling, or stewing in the future."

The young Taoist's hand stopped instantly, and his mind pondered.

"The culinary skills of Little Yu are already..."

"Compared with the scent emitted by Little Hong..."

Seeing Jin Xu stop right at the threshold, Yu Yaoer couldn't help but reach out, leaving her half-eaten bun behind, as she wrapped her arms around him and cooed, "Young Master, please give it to me. I promise, from now on, I will discipline Little White well for you."

The young Taoist stared at his own arm, involuntarily furrowing his brows.

He noticed that Yu Yaoer's bun had smeared his Taoist robe.

However, before he could say anything, he suddenly sensed a murderous aura rising beside him.

Jin Xu turned his head and saw Xia Yunzhao with her phoenix eyes wide open, intently staring at the arm that was being hugged, chewing on her bun fiercely in the midst of it all.

"Does Miss Yunzhao also dislike getting grease stains on her clothes? But isn't this reaction a bit too intense?"

The young Taoist was somewhat puzzled.

At the same time, he gently exerted some force on his arm and with a slight pull, he extracted it from his demon pet's embrace.

He successfully freed himself from Yu Yaoer's bun.

Jin Xu looked at the grease stain on his robe from the bun's juice and applied the Body Purification Skill.

After that, he calmly took out about a dozen Spirit Stones from his storage magic tool and handed them to Yu Yaoer, who looked ready to pounce again.

By now, the young Taoist had made up his mind; he definitely would not eat the food Yu Yaoer cooked anyway, so being backstabbed with the whole "smells good but tastes bad" situation wasn't his concern.

And if he didn't give her the Spirit Stones now, who knows what kind of trouble she might stir up.

So, these dozen or so Spirit Stones imbued with Little Hong's fragrance, he'd consider them payment for some peace and quiet.

"Wow, thank you, Young Master!"

Seeing the dozen "top-grade ingredients" handed over by the young Taoist, Yu Yaoer cheered happily and stood up, intending to find a kitchen to practice.

"You get back here!"

Jin Xu grabbed the overexcited Yu Yaoer and pushed her back into her seat.

"Ah, you've given me the Spirit Stones, what else is there, Young Master?"

The Little Fish Demon blinked her eyes innocently, full of impatience.

"What about the method to verify the potency of the Strengthening Pills!?"

Seeing Yu Yaoer's expression, Jin Xu tapped her on the head, feeling a toothache coming on.

How could a girl with such an extraordinary talent for Alchemy be so infatuated with cooking—a path completely "erroneous" for her!

"Oh, Young Master, you're talking about that. I almost forgot.

My grandmother used to test the potency of her pills on people from the Shui Clan who had committed grave sins. But then, as she tested more and more, she found there weren't enough bad people in the Shui Clan.

As a result, my grandmother decided to travel and find a solution.

She also gave those bad people in the Shui Clan some room to grow.

When she returned, my grandmother brought back a Visualization Chart with one corner missing, saying it contained a unique magic. If she could successfully comprehend it, she could directly perceive the essence of the Pill."

"Young Master, if you can penetrate the magic on that visualization chart, you should have the chance to clarify the medicinal properties of the seven Strengthening Pills."

"Anyway, we are going to the seas to send Little Hong home. We will pass by my home on the way, so we can make a trip there."

Yu Yaoer rubbed her head that had just made a crisp sound and began to explain word by word to Jin Xu.

"It might be convenient, but has your grandmother managed to comprehend the peculiar magic depicted on that visualization chart?"

Upon hearing the word 'incomplete,' the little Taoist felt a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

And Little Yu's answer was indeed as he had expected.

"Hmm... my grandmother, she probably managed to comprehend half of it, I guess."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It means that if this Pill has only one type of medicinal property, or no side effects, then it would be fine. But if it possesses two or more types of medicinal properties, then the magic grandma has comprehended can only identify one.

Cough, so later on, she still chose to test the pills on extremely evil people. When there weren't enough bad people in the Shui Clan, grandma would even go to the overseas islands to act heroically."

Little Yu said this with an embarrassed expression on her face, but she quickly perked up and said to Jin Xu with conviction,

"But if you, Young Master, were to try to comprehend it, I believe you would definitely be successful!"

The astonishing speed at which Jin Xu cultivated magic had given Yu Yaoer a tremendous shock.

This led her to have the utmost confidence in the little Taoist's talent for magic.

After all, one who could conjure a spectacular scene like a celestial fire burning a city from the basic Alchemy technique "Fire Condensing Skill" – why wouldn't you trust his innate gift for magic?

But after listening to Yu Yaoer's encouragement, Jin Xu fell silent.

He knew that his demon pet's words of encouragement had no other meaning, and she wasn't really one to think too deeply, but still...

"Hiss, why does it feel like Little Yu is cheering on a CPU when she says that?"

...

Overseas.

On the docks of a medium-sized island about two thousand and five hundred nautical miles from the mainland,

the Third Elder of the Demon Sect, Yan Meishan, who was masked and wearing a simple disguise, stepped off a huge magical treasure ship amidst the bustling crowd.

She had just stood on the dock for a moment when she was approached by a runner employed by the island's merchants seeking customers.

Yan Meishan waved her hand to refuse.

After roughly discerning the direction, she made her way through the crowded crowd and passed the large group of low-level Cultivators hawking their wares outside the docks.

She headed toward a small hillock outside the town on the island.

There was the place she and the disciple from Qingmu Academy had arranged to meet.

Meanwhile, two burly men with full beards were conspiring in hushed tones behind her.

"Old Liu, would you believe it, just by looking at this woman's backside, she must also be a beauty in disguise?"

"Stop it, Old Liu, although she's wearing a veil over her face, I secretly checked with my Spiritual Sense. Beneath that scarf is just the face of an ordinary person."

"You don't get it, Old Three, she's definitely disguised herself to avoid trouble while out and about."

"Bah, I've had my fill of..."

Just as the man known as Old Three was about to retort, a pair of arms landed on their shoulders.

"What are you two dawdling around here on the docks for?"

A tall, thin man suddenly appeared behind them.

"Second Brother."

"Second Brother."

The two bearded burly men respectfully called out and then shared their debate with him.

After listening, the tall, thin man snorted through his nose with contempt.

"What a waste of time to argue here. Since Big Brother hasn't woken up yet, why don't we just follow her and see for ourselves?

If she's really a disguised beauty, then I, your Second Brother, might also partake in the fun."

As he said this, the tall, thin man suddenly let out a lewd laugh.