Wait a minute, where is my master?

Tears fell onto the bluestone slab, shattering into countless fragments.

Similar to the heart of the Great Elder of the Demon Sect at that moment.

Having shed that single tear, he fell silent for a moment, seemingly gathering his emotions.

Then, he began speaking to the ink jade-colored puppet once more.

"Demon Lord, the Four Elders are dead. The plan to plunder the fate of the Great Xia dynasty has failed. Second Elder Shen Zhi is also dead, and the plan to seize the small world foundation in Qing State has equally failed.

"Even the sudden purging of demons initiative has nearly wiped out our sect's mid and lower ranks. The cultivators of our sect, once feared by all, have now become mere Essence Cleansing and Marrow Stripping Pills!

"However, Demon Lord, even as things have progressed to this point, I, Little Yin, have not lost heart. What are two failed plans?

"I still have three plans left.

"So what if nine out of ten of our followers are dead?

"We'll just recruit more.

"Even if that little Taoist opposes our Demon Sect at every turn, I can endure it.

"At worst, we wait until he ascends. After all, we have survived a thousand years in hiding.

"But, Demon Lord, I don't know if our sect has inadvertently cursed ourselves or has indeed been deliberately targeted by the laws of Heavenly Dao. Even though I had already ordered the sect into hiding, the Third Elder's Life Lamp unexpectedly extinguished a few days ago.

"Moreover, at the same time, our chosen ally, that mad woman from the White Emperor Pavilion, upon hearing that our sect planned to go into hiding, actually chose to directly attempt to break the seal of the Nine Provinces Sea Eye!

"Because of this mad woman, because of this mad woman..."

The Great Elder of the Demon Sect repeated the sentence twice, seemingly out of frustration, and with a wave of his hand, he smashed a nearby pavilion to pieces.

The Ancestor of the White Emperor Pavilion, after failing to break the seal of the Nine Provinces Sea Eye, led to an investigation of her sect, which revealed our sect's member who was stationed there.

And that person, in order not to be captured by the Righteous Path cultivators, chose to sacrifice his life to cause injury, ultimately dying.

In truth, his death was just another. After so many deaths in our sect, the loss of one more was not particularly concerning to the Great Elder.

But what caused trouble was that this person was the partner of Granny Meng.

Previously, the former had secretly contacted an assassin from Jingyu Building to seek out the little Taoist's whereabouts and to kill him using a special method. However, this was stopped by the intervention of the Great Elder of the Demon Sect.

But now, upon learning of her partner's demise, Granny Meng could no longer hide in this deep underground palace. She fiercely took the large urn and stormed out.

By the time the Great Elder himself came here in real form, everything was already too late.

"Demon Lord, even if three paths to breaking the seal have encountered obstacles, I, Little Yin, still have two fallback options. But the grand medicine that Granny Meng brewed in that urn, I will never again be able to gather the ingredients.

Many of them were legacies left by you during your time. But now..."

While speaking, he walked to the place where Granny Meng usually brewed her potions. After pausing for a moment, he continued.

"Now, without that great medicine that could have instantly restored most of your power, even if I managed to rescue you, it wouldn't be long before you'd be sealed away again.

So, Demon Lord..."

The Great Elder hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly felt a burning sensation in his palm. The ink jade puppet in his hand emitted a faint golden light.

——————

Above the East Sea.

Xuanxu Temple, by the door.

The little Taoist, entirely complacent, was seated cross-legged within the doorway, holding an ink jade-colored fishing rod. It appeared that he was fishing.

He gazed at the dark blue sea below and the occasional cloud drifting by.

His heart couldn't help but recall the first time he opened the temple doors, only to find it was situated in the sky.

"Sigh, who knows how my master is doing now. I've been fishing for so long, yet I haven't felt that pulling sensation that the Old Dean mentioned before.

"Was Master actually pulled into a small world?"

After a moment of reminiscence, Jin Xu sighed to himself again.

While speaking, he swiftly lifted his wrist, and a black insect was deftly caught by the fish hook—it was the Insect Queen from the Qingmu Secret Realm earlier.

Little Black was momentarily bewildered after being fished up.

Then, it skillfully detached itself from the fish hook and scurried toward the back yard of the temple.

This was an experienced being fished out.

The young Taoist was not surprised to see Little Black being fished up. Since he knew that his fishing rod did not fish for things out of thin air, but for things with owners, he usually only visualized the two women in the temple and this mute insect during his contemplation.

After all, Jin Xu wasn't actually trying to fish for anything; he just wanted to trigger the situation mentioned by the Old Dean.

He skillfully infused Spiritual Power into the fishing rod in his hand, then skillfully tossed the fishing line and hook down toward the sea below.

This time, the young Taoist visualized...

Still the same Little Black that had just been fished up.

However, just as he cast the hook, he suddenly felt something and hurriedly stopped infusing Spiritual Power into his hand.

Then he reached into his storage magic treasure and took out a Communication Jade Token.

"The person who commissioned Jingyu Building to investigate your whereabouts has shown up, currently outside Shangjing City; appears to be a kind-looking old man, but disguising is not ruled out.

"His subordinates' cultivation is too low, and it's not suitable for me to show up directly, so his exact cultivation level is hard to confirm, should be somewhere between Crossing Tribulation and Refining Void.

"—Nalan Yuandao."

Seeing the message in the jade token, the young Taoist raised an eyebrow, pondered for a moment, and sent a reply.

"Thank you for the information. I am in the East Sea, dealing with some trivial matters, will probably return in half a month. You may convey this message to her, Nalan.

"If the person cannot wait, they could also come to Sae Island."

A moment after the message was sent, Nalan Yuandao replied.

"Received. If there are any changes, I will keep you informed in a timely manner."

Seeing this, the young Taoist showed a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth and placed the Communication Jade Token back into the orb.

"Tsk, this person has finally shown up, but the other party looks like a kindly old granny... Hiss, it's not another one of my master's suitors, right?"

As he spoke, he drew a sharp breath.

He then reinfused Spiritual Power into his fishing rod and resumed fishing.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick had passed.

Xuanxu Temple had already flown near Sae Island.

Just then, he felt a tug on his fishing rod.

Jin Xu, seeing no change in the space around him, displayed a subtle look of disappointment on his face, then vigorously lifted the rod, intending to fish up Little Black for the twelfth time.

"Little Yu, Little White, we're here; get ready... Eh, Little White, why is your weapon here?"

As he pulled up the rod, he found not only Little Black on the hook this time but also Little White's unnamed weapon—the shattered Late-year Cold Iron Pill Furnace.

Upon hearing the shout, Little White ran out from the backyard of the temple and seeing the disjointed legs of the furnace on the ground, she darted over and picked it up cherishably.

"Hehe, I was just playing with Little Black. I saw the fish hook suddenly appear and subconsciously hit it, and then..."

Little White chuckled stupidly and began to explain.

Jin Xu helplessly touched his nose and then said.

"Alright, no more playing. Hurry up and call your sister Little Yu over; we are getting ready to land on the island."