Wait a minute, where is my master?

Little White spoke with a hint of emotion and helplessness.

She then sat cross-legged directly above the golden spiritual power and began to explain to Jin Xu why she knew about the willow catkins.

"Originally, the Snow Wolf Clan lived in an extremely cold area. If nothing unexpected had happened, I wouldn't have come across willow catkins, which are extremely unfriendly to my clan, before I left for training as an adult!

"But my mother loved willow trees, and my father was a romantic. To make the willow trees grow in the freezing cold, he specifically visited the Wood Bear Clan in the Demon Realm, offering a cartload of cod as a price.

"He successfully cultivated a willow tree that could withstand the extreme cold!

"From then on, the gap in our territory where there were no willow catkins was personally filled by my parents! You should know, back when I was just born and my cultivation was still low, every spring, those willow catkins filling the air everywhere... Achoo!"

As Husky spoke, her face showed an expression of profound distress, and then, perhaps reminded of her childhood traumas, she suddenly sneezed.

After listening to the story, Jin Xu remained silent for a long while, then spoke softly.

"...Your uncle and aunt's love is indeed enviable."

...

...

The group soon arrived at the center of the Gobi desert.

Within the dense, sky-obscuring, gigantic willow forest, the doors of Xuanxu Temple stood open.

Several thick roots, like coiled dragons, spread out from the entrance of the temple, deeply embedding themselves into the soil in front of the temple door.

Jin Xu knew that these robust roots were the originators of this eight-thousand-mile Serenity Willow Forest.

However, at this moment...

As the group of Taoists cautiously stepped into the entrance of Xuanxu Temple, the slight airflow stirred up by their movement shattered those roots into pieces.

Clearly, the object was now just an empty shell.

"Senior Taoist, Guan Ling isn't harmed, right?"

Noticing the shattered roots, the Old Dean, who had been silent up until then, finally spoke up.

"Don't worry, Senior Yan, although Senior Guan Ling is somewhat languid now, he is generally fine. These roots must have been voluntarily severed by him."

Indeed, when the group entered the back courtyard of the temple, they found that the roots had already detached from the base of the ten-thousand-year-old Heart Calming Willow.

"Senior Guan Ling?"

Jin Xu softly called out as he walked over to the stone table, his eyes emitting a faint silvery light.

However, the ten-thousand-year-old Heart Calming Willow did not react to their arrival. The branches of the willow gently swayed as if blown by the wind, appearing extremely comfortable and pleasant.

"Senior Taoist, is this...?"

"He is probably just overly exhausted and has temporarily fallen asleep."

After observing with his Spiritual Eyes for a moment, and ensuring there was nothing wrong internally, Jin Xu concluded.

Upon hearing this, the Old Dean nodded and said,

"Since Senior Taoist, you've also come to this conclusion, it seems my sense was not wrong."

Having previously experienced the withering of the Big Willow Tree, which he could not discern was a case of collapsing before rebuilding, Yan Chu had recently started to doubt his own investigative abilities.

"I was thinking of asking Guan Ling to check on the condition of Senior Tianxing quickly.

"But it's no wonder he fell straight to sleep, considering the eight-thousand-mile Serenity Willow..."

The Old Dean's voice carried a hint of emotion, and he suddenly found he could not bear to look directly at the ten-thousand-year-old Heart Calming Willow in front of him.

"Cough, the matter of sensing the master's condition, let's discuss it when we return to Shangjing City. The items for energy restoration have been prepared there. By then, Senior Guan Ling should be able to wake up faster,"

Jin Xu coughed lightly, obviously not wanting to linger too long in this willow forest that spanned eight thousand miles.

After saying this, he directly activated the spell of Xuanxu Temple and controlled the mobile Taoist temple to fly back towards the direction of Shangjing City.

On the way.

"By the way, Senior Chi, here is the Glazed Book Page back to you, thanks for the generosity of lending it."

While Jin Xu and the two women were cleaning up the fallen withered branches and decayed bark in the courtyard, he found the now dimmed Glazed Book Page hidden under a pile of branches.

He hurriedly picked it up and returned it to Yan Chu.

"Little Taoist, you are being too polite, it makes us strangers, your master is also an old friend of mine. I can… No, wait!!!"

The old dean pretended to be angry as he took the Glazed Book Page handed over by Jin Xu.

As he spoke, he subconsciously tried to check with his Spiritual Sense whether this treasure was damaged and how much power it still retained.

The outcome of not checking would have been fine, but this check...

Just as the spiritual power was infused into the Glazed Book Page, a burst of colorful light whooshed up, transferring from the old dean's hand towards his forehead.

Almost without any time to react, Yan Chu felt a strange sensation rising from the bottom of his heart, causing him to exclaim, 'No, wait!!'

Seeing this sudden situation, and the mingling expressions of shock and stealth on Yan Chu's face, Jin Xu did not hesitate to cast the "Body Purification Skill" on him.

"Hiss!!!"

Hit by the purification, the old dean couldn't help but gasp coldly.

Immediately after, he was delighted to find that the odd feeling in his heart had disappeared.

"Little Taoist, there's something wrong with this Glazed Book Page!"

Having regained his composure, Yan Chu hurriedly threw the book page far away, embedding it slantingly into the nearby ground.

Hearing this, Jin Xu, whose eyes had just cleared of silver light, observed the old dean for a moment to see he was unharmed, then turned his gaze back to the Glazed Book Page on the ground.

"Senior Yan, what happened just now? And has this book page undergone any changes?"

"Cough... This treasure originally has the effect of concentrating the mind and combating inner demons. But when I just slightly used my spiritual power to test it, that burst of rainbow light... it seemed... it seemed vaguely similar to the side effects of the pill that Daoist Liu just took,"

The old dean said, his eyes showing intense embarrassment.

Hearing Yan Chu's cryptic explanation, the young Taoist paused for a moment, then it dawned on him that the Glazed Book Page inserted in the ground seemed to have the same side effects as the 'Strengthening Pill' he had concocted.

"How could this happen?"

He stepped forward with a tone of confusion, covered his hand with golden spiritual power, and picked up the Glazed Book Page, noting that the artifact seemed to have undergone some slight changes from before.

While it still looked like a seven-colored glazed glass, the page had previously exuded a comforting presence and had been regarded with utmost seriousness.

But now...

The stream of rainbow light on it somehow felt unserious.

"Did Senior Guan Ling do something to this treasure?"

Jin Xu, scratching his head in perplexity, then glanced at the Serenity Willow that was still slumbering nearby.

And just within that brief moment.

Xuanxu Temple had already reached the outskirts of Shangjing City.