Wait a minute, where is my master?

The sound came abruptly.

The three who were intending to continue upward stopped in their tracks.

Jin Xu momentarily halted his action of spreading his Spiritual Sense towards the mountain peak and turned around to check.

He spotted a creature with a green head and a white body, resembling a monkey, standing on the mountain path. Its Eyes of Golden Flame scrutinized them with a probing look.

"Great Saint!? No, the Great Saint's fur isn't this ugly."

The little Taoist almost thought he'd seen Sun Wukong, but then he quickly realized that this was probably just a monkey-type demon.

"Uncle Wu, what are you doing here!"

As he pondered, Yu Yaoer's voice, tinged with a bit of surprise, rang in his ears.

Then, he received an introduction through his demon pet's telepathy.

"Young Master, this is the Island Master of Youren Island, named Wu Youren. Grandma said his original form was a Water Monkey who achieved enlightenment. I used to play on this island often, and Uncle Wu took good care of me and especially 'liked' the meals I cooked."

"Wu Youren? Likes the meals you cook? Infinite little... Water Monkey... assess the net…"

So much odd information flitted through Jin Xu's mind that he was momentarily unsure which point to critique first.

Meanwhile, the Island Master began to explain as he approached with large strides.

"Elder Wu was just idly supervising the island when I happened to see Yaoyao bringing friends to the dock. I thought to go over and see, but I was a step late. When I heard you were heading this way, I guessed you must be coming to soak in the Ice Spring on the mountain, so I followed."

Wu Youren certainly couldn't admit that he had felt an unsettling stir in his mind and then discovered that Yu Yaoer had arrived.

So, he made up a reason about supervising the island.

"Uncle Wu, aren't you usually busy honing your martial skills and drinking heavily? How do you still have leisure to supervise the whole island?"

Little Fish Demon instinctively responded.

An awkward expression flashed across Wu Youren's face, but it was hidden by his fur.

He was about to make up something else when Yu Yaoer didn't pursue it further but instead began introducing her companions.

Apparently, Uncle Wu had seemed to show up immediately every time she came to Youren Island after first tasting her cooking. Little Fish Demon had already gotten used to it.

"Uncle Wu, this is Little White, my good friend and colleague I met while traveling through the lands of Nine Provinces.

This is my master, named Jin Xu; he is also the master of both Little White and myself."

Yu Yaoer casually pointed at the two men beside her as she introduced them.

"Oh, I am Wu Youren, the... wait! Yaoyao, you said this little Taoist is your what!?"

Wu Youren was just exchanging pleasantries when he suddenly paused, somewhat in doubt if he had misheard.

"I said he's our master, both Little White and I are his demon servants."

Yu Yaoer blinked her eyes earnestly and repeated it, completely unaware of where her statement might have caused an issue.

"..."

The atmosphere among the four became somewhat silent.

A gust of mountain wind blew past, lifting fragments of withered yellow leaves.

The little Taoist felt this might be a good moment to explain something, as the Water Monkey Uncle seemed to have misunderstood something.

But before he could open his mouth,

Wu Youren quickly moved in front of Yu Yaoer.

He spoke in a tone that everyone could hear but was clearly meant as a whisper, saying to Little Fish Demon,

"Yaoyao, does your grandma know about this!? This little Taoist indeed looks extraordinary, even by Shui Clan's standards of beauty. But he has no Spiritual Power fluctuations on him. If you sign a servant contract with him, when he dies in a hundred years, you will also perish!

And even if he did have cultivation, being a Shui Clan princess, how could you casually acknowledge a human cultivator as your master."

The Island Master spoke, reaching out with his furry large hand and grabbing Yu Yaoer's wrist, seemingly about to do something.

But after he used his Spiritual Power to probe through Little Fish Demon's Dantian and Sea of Consciousness, he was surprised to discover,

"Huh!?

There is no master-servant mark inside of you.

Then you mentioned a master...

Hiss!

Yaoyao, have you picked up bad habits in the uplands of the Nine Provinces?!"

Uncle Water Monkey had a crude and hot-tempered personality. As emotions flared, he lacked any filter in his speech. After saying this, his fur bristled, and from his collapsed nostrils, two jets of white vapor shot out as he turned his head and glared furiously at the young Taoist beside him.

"Uh... Water, Uncle Wu, you've misunderstood. Little Yu and I..."

Jin Xu looked utterly dumbfounded, trying to open his mouth to clear his own name.

However, a loud blast suddenly resounded from the mountaintop, drowning out the words he was about to speak.

At this moment, Yu Yaoer, although not understanding what Uncle Wu had misunderstood, seeing his angry demeanor, she also began to explain.

"Uncle Wu, you've misunderstood, the young master is just my master."

"You shut up."

Wu Youren, seeing the transformed Little Fish Demon still speaking for the young Taoist, felt a heartache as if his own vegetables had been ravaged by a pig, being childless as he was.

His furry large hand waved forward furiously, attempting to capture Jin Xu. However, worried about severely injuring the young Taoist if he used his full strength, Wu Youren only used minimal force.

Yet even this minimal force failed to touch Jin Xu by even a hair's breadth.

When his furry large hands reached near the Taoist robe of the young Taoist, he suddenly felt a restraining force.

Lord Wu turned his head and saw Yu Yaoer using streams of water to bind his arms.

"Yaoyao, you..."

Uncle Water Monkey felt a weariness wash over him.

At the same time, another blast came from the mountaintop, accompanied by the distant sound of a woman's cry for help.

This sudden event gave the befuddled Wu Youren a temporary reprieve.

He turned his head to Yu Yaoer and said,

"Wait here. I'm going to check out what's happening on the top of the mountain. The noise from the explosion suggests it was someone in the Void Refinement Realm. Don't crowd over there; in case something serious happens, Elder Wu can't attend to you all."

Having said this, Lord Wu pulled a dark iron long stick from his ears, and flew towards the source of the explosion.

Before leaving, he glared again at the young Taoist.

His Eyes of Golden Flame brimming with an expression of 'You better not leave, wait for me to return.'

Jin Xu: "Tired.avi"

...

At this moment on the mountaintop.

Having endured three corpse explosions and two treasure explosions, Yao Qinxiao was currently kneeling on the ground with one knee.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, his blue robe was tattered, and by his feet, four broken wolf-hair jade brushes lay scattered.

At present, only the initial purple brush continued to leisurely circle around him for protection.

Clearly, the recent explosions had caused him significant injuries.

The average-looking man he had been fighting was now in a ragged state, with weak fluctuations of spiritual power, apparently not faring well either.

"How about it, injuring him to this extent should be enough, right? What about the poison within me?"

The eldest of the Four Ghosts, no longer posing but jogging towards the Third Elder while crying out for help, conveyed this through a psychic message.

"Not bad, go down to the city below the mountain and wait. Once I have done a good deed, I will give you the antidote," Yan Meishan communicated coldly beneath her worried and fearful expression.

The average-looking man was silent for a moment but eventually chose to believe her.

He crushed the last protective talisman, turned, and dived into the bushes nearby.

Then...

He collided head-on with a monkey holding a dark iron staff.