Wait a minute, where is my master?

When Jin Xu heard Manager Zhang say this, a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

"An invitation from Yixiang Building?"

He muttered softly to himself as he took the invitation and looked at it closely.

He discovered that the content was roughly as follows.

Tomorrow the madam wants to visit your mansion in person, asking you to taste the most authentic "Yixiang Twin Marvels."

"Why make it so formal."

The young Taoist, somewhat puzzled, stored the invitation in his storage ring.

Standing by, Manager Zhang respectfully asked,

"Royal Uncle, the waiter from Yixiang Building is still waiting outside the main gate, what do you think..."

"I have time, tell him to inform the madam she can come over anytime. Oh, and if it's convenient, ask her to prepare an extra portion of food since we have a guest at the mansion."

"Yes, I will let her know right away."

Manager Zhang replied and scurried away.

Meanwhile, Jin Xu continued to discuss with Little White, trying to see if it was possible to build "Emperor Bai's Cold River" within their clan's territory.

...

...

The night quietly passed.

The next day, when the sun was three poles high, in the back courtyard of Yixiang Building.

Outside Granny Meng's room.

The madam, with heavy makeup on her face but still unable to hide her haggard look, stood by the window and spoke softly,

"Granny, I'm leaving now."

"Hehe, go ahead, be careful on the road. Don't spill the soup. Oh, and that small bowl of soup, you didn't forget to put it in the lunchbox, did you?"

Since Granny Meng had nearly exhausted herself to death that day, she managed to cook only one and a half bowls of soup from that pot of water.

Thus, last night, she pretended to be busy in the kitchen for a while, then brought out two bowls of soup, one full and one half-full, and told the madam that these came from the same pot and could be brought to the benefactor tomorrow.

"Don't worry, Granny. I personally packed the benefactor's lunchbox, and I will watch it closely on the way; there definitely won't be any errors.

"As for that small bowl of soup..."

The madam's voice choked slightly as she spoke this.

Through the window, she heard Granny Meng's raspy and wheezing voice, and the scenes from the previous day beside the vine chair under the tree suddenly came to mind, causing the sadness she had barely suppressed to surge up again.

"What happened to that small bowl of soup?"

Inside the room, Granny Meng, who had been lying down, suddenly sat up straight when she heard the pause in the conversation.

No wonder she was nervous; after all, at this moment, this plan to "restore" the young Taoist was nearly complete.

However, her tone of voice remained normal as she spoke.

"The two bowls of soup wouldn't fit well in the lunchbox, so I found a larger jar and poured both bowls into it."

The madam calmed herself and responded to the room.

However, after she said this, Granny Meng did not respond.

An eerie silence fell over the room.

"Granny?"

"Ah, oh, it's fine, it's quite good to put it in the jar," Granny Meng replied dryly from inside the room.

The madam outside, affected by her sadness, failed to notice anything unusual.

She sniffled, squinted at the sun, and spoke softly to the window,

"Granny, it's getting late. You rest well, I'll go deliver the soup to the benefactor and come back soon."

"Good, go on."

Granny Meng subconsciously responded, and the room fell into silence once again.

The proprietress walked to the tree and took an expensive-looking white jade food box from the maid, instructed her to take good care of Granny Meng, and then turned to walk toward the courtyard gate.

By then, a servant had already prepared the carriage outside the gate. Nearby, three maids, each holding an exquisite sandalwood food box, had been waiting for some time.

Of course, only the "Yixiang Double Marvel" in the jade box was personally prepared by the proprietress and Granny Meng.

The "Yixiang Double Marvel" held by the three maids included dumplings also made by the proprietress, but the soup was concocted using a soup paste previously prepared by Granny Meng.

"Let's go, to the duke's mansion," she said.

With the help of a maid, the proprietress got into the carriage and commanded from inside.

The coachman received the order, shouted loudly, and lightly whipped the horse on the rump.

The carriage slowly moved along with the bustling crowd on the street.

However, in a place unseen by the proprietress,

Granny Meng also mysteriously disappeared from the room in the backyard of Yixiang Building.

...

...

Royal venue, dining hall.

Due to the visit card from the previous day, Jin Xu had specifically invited everyone from the mansion early.

Thus, seven people were seated around the round table at that time.

Strictly speaking, three of them were animals.

At the moment, Senior Chi, seated to the left of Jin Xu, was quietly discussing something with him, a matter no longer about the recent common topic of "You can have him do anything."

This was not because the Ancestor of the Immortal Palace had given up on sending Fatty Zhao to Jin Xu.

It was rather that he was still angry today and temporarily did not wish to fight for this opportunity for his descendants.

...

The previous day, the little Taoist had summoned the husky to discuss constructing the "Baidi Cold River" at their clan's site. Fatty Zhao and the orange cat had also come along, each carrying a piece of crispy pork belly, kindly shared by either of the girls.

At the time, Jin Xu hadn't paid much attention, his mind fully focused on communicating with Little White.

Once he had confirmed, with Little White patting its lean chest and guaranteeing, that the Snow Wolf Clan definitely would not reject such a manna from heaven, he heard a sharp slap, a child's cry, and the orange cat's howl coming from the other side of the hall.

The little Taoist's first reaction was to think Fatty Zhao had slapped himself again.

But upon closer inspection, he saw that it was Senior Chi who had slapped someone.

After asking the bystanders, Yu Yaoer and Zhao Dabao,

He came to know that the two women had heard about the source of the crispy pork belly from Fatty Zhao and idly told him, arousing his curiosity. Then, driven by curiosity, he secretly inquired from his ancestor if it were true...

Then, he got slapped.

...

"Jin Taoist, the crafting of the origin box will take about a month, and I have already instructed my disciples to expedite its crafting.

"When you go to various small worlds, upon finding the Origin, you just need to place it inside and bring it back to the Nine Provinces Realm, integrate it into the Heavenly Dao Origin of this world, and the small worlds will gradually return.

"However, the return of these small worlds also takes time, so if you want to complete this before the arrival of the cosmic tide, it is best to finish within three months.

"At the very latest, it should not exceed four months, otherwise there will not be enough time," Senior Chi reiterated the time limits for pulling the small worlds back, making sure Jin Xu understood, especially since he intended to visit the Snow Wolf Clan in the Demon Realm to construct the "Baidi Cold River."

Jin Xu, naturally, understood his meaning.

"Do not worry, Senior Chi, since Brother Zhao's timing is flexible, I'll pull all the small worlds back first before constructing the land that produces the Taiyin Essence," he replied softly.

The two conversed quietly.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps arose from outside the hall.