Wait a minute, where is my master?

"Your Majesty, Little Taoist... how come you've returned so quickly?"

Kui Lei stepped forward to greet everyone and then cast an inquiring look at Xia Yunzhao.

However, the Empress of Great Xia, who had been subjected to the shock of a day changing every hour, simply ignored her look and silently stood there with her head bowed.

"Oh, the trip went quite smoothly, the Origin of the Spirit Realm somehow came knocking on our door."

Jin Xu laughed in response, then added.

"You all chat, I need to hurry and find Senior Chi."

With these words, he hastened out towards the martial arts field exit.

After briefly exchanging pleasantries with the sovereign and her minister, Yu Yaoer also hurriedly took her leave, leading the Little Purple Spirit Elephant straight to the kitchen. On the return journey, she had specifically entrusted her young master with gathering some rocks from the Spirit Realm.

She was now planning to experiment with some new recipes.

As for why she took Little Purple Spirit,

It was, of course, because Little White was not there, and the task of tasting the new dishes now fell to Little Purple Spirit Elephant, the newest addition to the Taoist temple!

The bystanders in the martial arts field left.

Kui Lei suppressed her curiosity and then asked Xia Yunzhao,

"Your Majesty, what exactly happened in the Spirit Realm..."

Before she could finish, Commander Kui's words were cut off by the Empress.

"If I tell you all about what happened, can we not count this time and I go to another small world with Mr. Jin again?"

"No, Your Majesty, you previously promised that after returning from this small world, you would deal with government affairs properly and take the time to advance your cultivation to the Tribulation Crossing Realm."

Although curious, Kui Lei was clear about prioritizing important matters and thus firmly and coldly rejected Xia Yunzhao's suggestion.

"...Then you better not ask."

Xia Yunzhao responded with a displeased face, her lips involuntarily pouting slightly before she quickly reined them in.

Seeing this, Commander Kui sighed softly in her heart.

She had watched Xia Yunzhao grow up and knew that the other would only make this gesture when extremely sad and aggrieved, so she couldn't help softening her tone a bit.

"Your Majesty, some things are better said than kept inside."

"If I say it, Sister Kui, will you..."

"No."

Kui Lei was not willing to compromise on matters of principle.

And Emperor Yunzhao couldn't break her promise to Commander Kui, who was both a teacher and a friend, and also typically her right-hand person.

So, she could only stomp her foot in frustration and, after huffing, called out her flying artifact and flew towards the imperial city.

Seeing her Emperor in such a state, Kui Lei managed a wry smile on her face, shook her head, and then immediately followed after.

Above the clouds,

A few moments later, Xia Yunzhao's voice echoed faintly, filled with indignation.

"Sister Kui, let me tell you, I knew Mr. Jin was quick, but I didn't expect him to be that quick!!! Let me tell you..."

——————

——————

Unaware of his own speed, Jin Xu had by now reached the courtyard where the study was located.

Upon entering the yard, he found the door ajar.

And having just returned to this place not long ago, the elder from the Immortal Palace who was about to continue perfecting the formation with his disciple was taken aback when he saw him.

"Jin Taoist, you have returned so quickly this time?"

Senior Chi spoke, while instructing the disciple next to him to carry on perfecting on his own, and then stepped out toward the outside of the study.

"Well, it's quite coincidental. I originally thought it would take quite some effort. But for some reason, the Origin of the Spirit Realm just came knocking on my door."

Jin Xu said while taking out the origin box from the storage bracelet, then added.

"Right, Senior Chi. The situation in the Spirit Realm seems to be a bit different from the information you provided me. There were indeed many magic prohibitions left behind, and on my way, I even encountered quite a few of the Confucian methods.

"However, the Seventy-two Spirit Springs, which were once sealed by you, have completely dried up.

"And before I came back, I used my Spiritual Sense to survey the entire realm, and saw not a single living creature."

The elder from the Immortal Palace approached the young Taoist and was immediately drawn by the latter half of his words, not even asking how the Origin of the Spirit Realm had come knocking on the door.

He expressed his confusion.

"The drying up of the Spirit Springs might be due to disturbances when Ling State split from the Nine Provinces, so the possibility of such a situation occurring is not out of the question.

"But to have no living creatures at all... Jin Taoist, are you certain?

"You must understand, the cultivators of the Ling State are mostly of the mountains, stones, trees, and woods, and in some respects, they possess certain advantages in adaptability over the Demon Clan in the Demon Realm."

"Even if Ling State's environment is extremely harsh, there should still be living creatures. Young Taoist, are you sure your Spiritual Sense covered the entire Spirit Realm?"

"I can confirm this. I even searched the underground waters, and indeed, there was not a single living creature alive."

Jin Xu nodded earnestly and passed the origin box to the other party.

"This is peculiar. Even though Ling State was the main battlefield of the war between immortals and demons, there were still surviving creatures..."

The elder from the Immortal Palace took the origin box with an even more puzzled expression on his face.

Clearly, he was also not sure what exactly had happened to the Spirit Realm.

The other small worlds might be explainable; over a thousand years, there would always be times when space was weak, leading adventurers to explore them, or unfortunate people from small worlds who drifted into the Nine Provinces by chance.

But the Spirit Realm, barely a decade after the war between immortals and demons, saw the external space solidify to an incredible extent, making it impossible for cultivators below the Mahayana Realm to break through.

At that time, the surviving high-level cultivators in the Nine Provinces were all injured, so naturally, no one would rashly venture into a shattered small world to explore.

After these high-level cultivators had recovered from their injuries, a gaunt old man from Pan Shi Valley, desiring one of those Seventy-two Spirit Springs, once had the thought of visiting the Spirit Realm.

However, he discovered that even he, with his Mahayana Realm cultivation, could not break through the space outside the small world.

Later, after the gaunt old man found a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure that could replace the Spirit Spring, he gave up any thought of exploring the Spirit Realm.

Senior Chi briefly recounted this past to Jin Xu.

Then, as he had been doing, he lightly moved his hand over the origin box, and with a click, a blue-brown substance the size of a palm, constrained by golden spiritual power, appeared before his eyes.

"Jin Taoist, what is this?"

"Oh right, I still forgot to mention to you, Senior. The Origin of this Spirit Realm seems to have a very strong aggressiveness.

"Earlier I said it came knocking on my door... "

The young Taoist gently recounted the appearance of the blue-brown substance and the subsequent behavior of the other party, seemingly always trying to drag something away, to the elder from the Immortal Palace.

Afterward, with a deep sense of incomprehension in their eyes, the two discussed for a while.

They reached a unanimous decision.

It was still best to set up a dais and summon the Heavenly Dao rules of the Nine Provinces Realm.

The entity that absorbed the Origin of the Spirit Realm might be able to give an explanation for the peculiar behavior of this object.