Wait a minute, where is my master?

Above the scene.

A large group of cultivators, consisting of mountains, rocks, and foliage, gathered, among them a few humans and members of the Demon Clan, seemingly discussing something.

The leader was a fair-skinned man with streams of water circling around his shoulders.

"Is that... the eldest disciple of Elder Bailin, Nan Wubo?"

Upon seeing this scene, the Old Dean of the Immortal Palace spoke with some uncertainty.

"Elder Bailin, his disciple?"

Jin Xu asked with some confusion.

Moments later, while he delayed his speech, the Heavenly Dao rules of the Nine Provinces Realm, which hadn't paused the scene, took interest in the young Taoist's focus and stopped the constantly changing scene, reversing it back.

The Old Dean noticed this very obvious preferential treatment and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his eye.

He then explained to Jin Xu.

"Elder Bailin, the first acknowledged person in Cultivation World of Ling State and also an extremely rare Loose Cultivator in the Nine Provinces Realm who has reached the Tribulation Crossing Realm. It is said he achieved enlightenment through a Hundred Treasure Stone, his life filled with mysterious experiences, and he was amicable and fair by nature.

"Initially, the cultivators within the borders of Ling State, they all respected him greatly."

Upon hearing this, a flicker of doubt flashed in Jin Xu's eyes.

"Such a senior, how come I've never heard about him within the Nine Provinces, could it be..."

"Yes, Elder Bailin has passed away.

"He burned his Divine Soul and Essence Blood in order to delay the Demon Lord a bit longer. When your master and I arrived, Elder Bailin was already utterly exhausted."

As he spoke, the Dean's expression turned somewhat somber and he sighed before continuing.

"Originally, he had three disciples. The second disciple perished at the hands of Shen Zhi during the subsequent annihilation of the Demon Sect, and the third disciple now serves as an elder in Pan Shi Valley, leading a stable and peaceful life.

"As for the eldest disciple, I had people search for him, but at that time the Demon Sect was powerful and the battle was terribly fierce, so ultimately, we were unable to find any trace of him.

"It is unexpected that he left along with the shattered Ling State. So it stands to reason that the prohibition of the Seventy-two Spirit Springs still exists, after all, when the prohibition was set, he knew the methods to activate and deactivate it from the Righteous Path side."

Listening to this explanation, Jin Xu gained a deeper understanding of how devastating the battle between immortals and demons a thousand years ago was.

The term 'battle between immortals and demons' might take just a moment to write on paper and be quickly glanced over by the reader.

But many cultivators and living beings truly shed innumerable tears and blood for it, ultimately bringing peace to the Nine Provinces.

Moreover, he somewhat understood the characters of the seniors like Dean and the Old Dean; Elder Bailin died for the Righteous Path, so his disciples were definitely taken care of to some extent.

Yet even so, of the three disciples, only one survived.

This goes to show that the severity of that celestial-demonic war a thousand years ago truly exceeded ordinary imagination.

The two sighed and exchanged a few more words.

Then Jin Xu spoke to the pale golden orb and said, "Continue."

The scene within the pale golden mist then flowed slowly again, as if voice-controlled.

After Elder Bailin's eldest disciple became the leader of the cultivators in the Spirit Realm, he indeed managed to fend off many surprise attacks from sudden space rifts.

They even seized some of the seemingly primitive arrows and spears.

And the frequency of the space rifts began to slow down.

But the good times did not last long.

As the scene shifted, one day, Nan Wubo stood atop an elevated rock, vocally addressing numerous cultivators below him.

Suddenly...

They took up the seized weapons and the many remaining resources of the Spirit Realm and charged directly into a suddenly appearing space rift.

They never came out again!

Seeing the actions of those cultivators in the scene, Jin Xu's gaze clearly showed confusion.

He turned his head to look at the Dean, realizing that his expression was similar to his own, equally puzzled by Nan Wubo's actions.

"Although I don't know whose attacked from within that space rift, looking at the scene, everything was moving in a positive direction. The erroneous appearances of the space rifts were also visibly decreasing, so why would they think of charging into the space rift like that?"

"Could there be some unseen threat forcing them in the shadows, making them make such a desperate decision?"

"Unfortunately, this mist only shows images. If there were sound, and we could hear what they were saying, we might be able to analyze the abnormal behavior of the cultivators from the Spirit Realm."

The young Taoist pondered this in his mind for a moment before speaking to the pale golden orb.

"May I ask, can sound be added to this image?"

Upon hearing this, the Ancestor of the Immortal Palace also shifted his gaze to the Heavenly Dao rules of the Nine Provinces Realm.

"Not... possible."

With a strange fluctuation, two words appeared in the minds of both individuals.

Jin Xu heard this response and his face showed no significant disappointment; he immediately asked another question.

"Then, what is the relationship of this demonstrated image with the unusually active origin of the Spirit Realm?"

"Three times."

This time, although the strange fluctuation appeared, the words only appeared in the mind of the young Taoist.

"What?"

These two words made Jin Xu startle, prompting him to ask out loud.

Seeing that he received no communication, the Ancestor of the Immortal Palace glanced between the orb and the young Taoist, instantly understanding that the two were excluding him.

They started a private conversation!!

"Magic."

The two words emerged again in the mind of Jin Xu.

He was slightly startled at first, but then he realized what the Heavenly Dao rules of the Nine Provinces Realm meant.

A peculiar expression appeared on his face.

Then his lips parted slightly, and he resolutely uttered two words.

"Cannot."

The pale golden orb, upon hearing this response, seemed to fall silent for a moment, and then emitted strange fluctuations.

"Two times."

Upon hearing this reply, Jin Xu's expression turned from perplexed to a wry smile.

Who knew that Heavenly Dao rules could bargain?

He felt somewhat headache-inducing and raised his hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, then firmly shook his head and said.

"Not even once, there is nothing filthy inside you like in the origin of the Demon Realm."

The pale golden orb noticeably dimmed upon hearing such a resolute response.

A few moments passed.

Just as the Ancestor was about to burst with curiosity and ask 'what exactly are you two discussing behind my back,'

The Heavenly Dao rules finally resigned themselves, began emitting strange fluctuations continuously, and explained to the two men in the courtyard why the cultivators had acted that way.

And why the behavior and activity of the Spirit Realm origin were so abnormal.

An hour later.

The pale golden orb finished explaining.

While Jin Xu looked at the continuously shifting and changing pale golden mist and said,

"So, the actual intent behind that action of the Spirit Realm origin was to protect us?"

He had just finished speaking and was about to continue,

But his vision was suddenly drawn to a figure that abruptly appeared in the misty image of the pale golden mist.

"The seventy-two Spirit Springs were also drained by the Spirit Realm origin, It... Master!!?"