Wait a minute, where is my master?

The night was deep and tranquil, with not a sound to be heard.

Inside Gusu City, on East Market Street, was the old residence of the Zheng family.

Hall Master Zou Xia stood there, staring blankly at the spot.

"Where has that huge formation gone?"

"And what on earth is this fountain?"

...

Originally, the two hall masters had been "gathering" disciples quite successfully outside the city, when suddenly Hall Master Zou's movements came to a halt, and then he flew straight toward the direction of Gusu City without even taking the disciples he had "gathered".

Not understanding why, Hall Master Xia could only take the "gathered" disciples and follow behind.

It wasn't until they got near Gusu City that Hall Master Zou with the dark complexion had to descend, intending to enter the city through a secret passage.

It was only then that he was caught up by Hall Master Xia.

After questioning, she learned that something had happened to the formation in the city and that the Third Elder had also sent a Communication Jade Scroll.

Ordering him to report back immediately, what exactly had gone wrong with the plans inside Gusu City.

Then, the two entered the residence and the first thing they saw was this bubbling fountain.

"Snap out of it, let's quickly check how Transformation Pond is doing in the secret chamber below!"

Hall Master Xia was the first to come to her senses and headed straight for the basement.

"Right, the formation here is broken. If it coincides with the City Protection Array's routine inspection at dawn each day, it will certainly be exposed," Hall Master Zou was reminded and also hurried toward the basement.

"Phew, thank goodness, the resentment in the Transformation Pond is still there," Hall Master Xia sighed in relief.

Even though the formation was gone, the resentment that they had collected over decades was still there, but it had already shown signs of starting to disperse.

If they had returned any later, it might have been detected by others.

"If the resentment is still there, the plan can proceed. But we can't stay here any longer, let's switch to an alternate location," she said.

Those from the Demon Sect are always as cautious as rabbits with three burrows.

Besides this old residence of the Zheng family, they had several other backup locations.

"For safety's sake, let's first transfer the Transformation Pond and this resentment two hundred li away to Wild Wolf Ridge," Hall Master Xia suggested.

Hall Master Zou nodded in agreement, thinking the proposal was good.

With the city's situation unknown, it was better to stay farther away from Gusu City for the time being.

They could return once they had used their contacts within the city to learn the truth of the matter.

Just as the two were about to start the transfer.

The resentment within the Transformation Pond suddenly began to churn.

A tiny Taotie took form.

"You've finally returned," the Taotie said weakly.

"It's the Evil Spirit from the formation,"

Hall Master Zou stopped Hall Master Xia, who was beside him and ready to take action.

He was in charge of monitoring the operation of this formation on usual days and was familiar with the evil spirits within it.

"What exactly happened?"

Hall Master Zou, although responsible for monitoring the formation, did not have much authority over it. At most, he could just sense whether the formation was operating normally, who had entered, and their level of cultivation and so forth. The main power of the big formation still relied on these evil spirits within it. Moreover, in his perception, the formation vanished in an instant.

Even if a cultivator skilled in formations came to break it, it couldn't be that fast!

"It was a young Taoist…"

The Taotie Evil Spirit's ability to hold on for so long was also thanks to the drop of Essence Blood it assimilated.

Otherwise, the seven evil spirits and the formation would prosper or suffer together.

It explained the events that occurred as best it could to the two before it.

Before the Taotie Evil Spirit dissipated, it spoke with a hint of resentment, "You must notify the master and avenge us!"

After speaking, the Taotie Evil Spirit returned to the cycle of heaven and earth.

A young watchman, aquatic and terrestrial demons, and a seemingly ordinary Taoist who astonished with his power.

Moreover, the Arrogant Evil Spirit had already reached the Divinity Transformation Realm. Though as an evil spirit, it might not be as strong as a regular Cultivator who underwent the Heavenly Tribulation and cultivated to the Divinity Transformation Realm.

But its strength was not negligible.

After hearing Taotie's account, the two hall masters not only failed to understand the situation but became even more confused.

They decided to move the Transformation Pond to Wild Wolf Ridge and then promptly report back to the Third Elder.

It seemed that things had already spiraled out of their control.

...

...

The bright moon was high in the sky, its silvery glow sprinkling down.

In front of the gate of Xuanxu Temple.

Jin Xu and Little White were sitting in front of the temple gate, enjoying the cool of the night, surrounded by several wild wolves that were Little White's newly acquired underlings.

As soon as Yu Yaoer returned, she headed straight for the kitchen, just as Jin Xu had to drink water before bed—it was all a matter of habit.

Both the little Taoist and Xu Qian declined Magistrate Song's invitation.

Xu Qian did so because the formation at the old Zheng family residence had been breached, and he needed to quickly report back to his superiors in hopes that this time he would be able to successfully advance to Sixth-Grade.

The little Taoist, however, simply wasn't in the mood.

Having grown up as an orphan in a welfare home, he remembered the way the old dean looked at him before leaving when he saw Magistrate Song gaze at his child.

For a moment, the bounty seemed unimportant.

So, he refused the invitation.

He took Little White and Yu Yaoer and returned to the temple.

Jin Xu, looking up at the round moon, put his hands behind his head, pillowing them on the temple gate's threshold, and asked while chewing on a wild grass,

"Little White, do you have parents?"

"..."

Little White felt like the temple master was cursing her.

The little Taoist also realized he had misspoken, quickly correcting himself, "Cough, what I mean is, Little White, are your parents good to you?"

Hearing this, Little White paused to consider before bending down to pick up a small stone from the ground and said,

"They're quite good, I suppose. My father is the clan chief, and he often has to be busy with clan affairs, so we don't communicate much."

"But my mother is very good to me; she taught me how to hunt, made clothes for me, and the way I roast meat is a skill I learned from her." As Little White spoke, she aimed the small stone at a large tree several dozen meters away.

A cicada was incessantly chirping there, and she was aiming to knock it down.

That's when Jin Xu found out that Little White's father was actually the clan chief.

"Must be nice."

The little Taoist responded softly, though it was unclear what he was thinking about.

With a thunderous crash, the large tree tens of meters away snapped, startling the wild wolves lying around into alertness.

Upon realizing the commotion was caused by their own boss, they all lay back down.

Little White didn't hit the cicada, but she managed to break the tree on which the cicada was perched.

The chirping stopped for a brief moment before resuming.

Little White, with a ferocious momentum, charged towards the direction of the cicada's chirping; she planned to catch the cicada and give it to Little Yu as an ingredient!

Jin Xu found that his emotions had been quite unstable lately, perhaps due to the fear of the unknown after arriving in this world.

He had thought the master he believed he could trust was actually the one who had lured him here.

As he was contemplating, Little White came back, holding a cicada as big as a finger.

"Temple master."

The little Taoist was immersed in his own thoughts.

"Temple master."

Jin Xu looked up, thinking Little White wanted to show off the cicada she caught.

"Temple master, there's a light coming from your waist!"

Little White said with a look of astonishment, squeezing tightly on the cicada, which then fell silent.

Hmm? The little Taoist spat out the weed, rose from the ground, and patting his waist, he produced a jade token.

This was the Communication Jade Token that Tianxing Taoist had left him!

On the outside, he appeared calm, but inside he was experiencing raging waves of emotion.

He had thought the token was broken, but he had kept it on his person, clinging to a faint glimmer of hope.

Jin Xu, thrilled, infused spiritual power into it, and a voice that was both unfamiliar and familiar emanated from it.

"In a year%*note&*&…;*me&p;...￥return"

After hearing the intermittent voice, the little Taoist frowned at the jade token in his hand.

This thing was really still broken, wasn't it?