Wait a minute, where is my master?

After sending off An Laoxiang and others, Jin Xu placed the large water tank filled with incense sticks in the front courtyard, convenient for offering incense to the ancestral masters.

The little Taoist also figured it out, although An Laoxiang and his group didn't give him the "generous gift" he wanted.

But where is this place? It's a Taoist temple.

And who am I? A Taoist.

A prayer incense stick as thick as a finger, isn't it reasonable to sell it to the incense-buying guests for 500 copper coins?

This large water tank full of prayer incense sticks didn't cost me anything.

Pure profit!

"Besides, once the incense is sold out, I'll have my own capital, and I can go to the town to stock up and come back to sell," Jin Xu reasoned joyously.

He decided to treat himself to a good meal the next day in celebration, then start working for himself.

...

...

The next day at noon, in the Taoist temple's kitchen

Jin Xu and Yu Yaoer stood in front of the stove, wide-eyed staring at each other.

The ingredients were there, but where was the cook?

He wouldn't dare eat anything cooked by Yu Yaoer, as for Jin Xu's own cooking skills

emmmm...

Let's just say it was slightly better than Yu Yaoer's.

The two had been standing there for half the day already.

"Young Master, why don't you let me cook~" Yu Yaoer said, looking pitiful as she clung to Jin Xu's arm and shook it.

"No."

Jin Xu coldly refused.

These are top-quality natural green ingredients, I can't let food go to waste.

"Temple Master, Sister Little Fish, what's going on here?"

Little White, who had just woken up beside the well, smelled the temple master and Yu Yaoer in the kitchen.

Curious, she poked her head in to see what the two were up to.

After a few days together, Little White was no longer as reserved as when she first "transferred over" and had gradually unleashed her Husky nature. She also got along pretty well with the Little Fish Demon, often hiding in the kitchen with her when Jin Xu was cultivating, working on who knows what.

Jin Xu, looking at the dog head peeking through the kitchen door, inquired, "Little White, can you cook?"

Little White had no idea she had become Xuanxu Temple's last hope.

"No,"

The hope shattered remarkably hastily.

"I can only barbecue."

Hope rekindled,

Barbecue was good enough, Jin Xu wasn't set on having a meal; he was just having a craving.

"Right, Young Master, Little White's barbecuing skills are really good, just slightly worse than mine."

Encouraged by Yu Yaoer's affirmation, Jin Xu began to doubt it, but he decided to give it a try nonetheless.

After all, it's free. What if it's good?

A man, a woman, and a dog set up a simple barbecue grill in the backyard, and Jin Xu even specifically broke off a large tree to drag back as firewood.

Then Little White told him that he must use dead branches.

After going out to pick up some dead branches, Jin Xu and Little White began to get busy.

"Right, Little Fish, how do you know the meat Little White barbecued is tasty?" Jin Xu asked Yu Yaoer, who was eager to try, without stopping his hands.

Neither of them had dared to let her participate in any step.

Jin Xu was afraid of wasting food, and it seemed like Little White had been victimized before.

"I've eaten it before. When I was in the kitchen developing new recipes, Little White came in saying she wanted to eat, and then she frothed at the mouth after eating. Once she woke up, she insisted on showing me her skills; indeed, it was pretty tasty."

"You two ate behind my back?"

Yu Yaoer pretended not to hear Jin Xu's question and picked up a leg of lamb before her.

"Young Master, look at this leg of lamb, it's really lamb-ish hey!"

She tried to change the subject.

"Put it down. When was this?"

"When... when you were cultivating, Young Master."

Seeing she couldn't deflect the topic, Yu Yaoer started to become cautious.

"Remember to call me the next time you eat something."

Jin Xu said calmly, adding another sentence.

"Except for the food you make."

"Oh."

She glanced over at Little White, who was busy seasoning the food.

"Hmm, this is a cook, can't leave her out."

Two quarters later, everything was ready except for starting the fire.

"Hold on a moment."

Jin Xu stopped Little White, who was about to start a fire, because he wanted to try out the results of his cultivation from last night.

Stretching out his index and middle fingers, a faint golden spiritual power flowed, and a barely detectable trace of a golden Thunder Arc appeared on both fingers. After twenty strenuous practices last night, he could now freely control the intensity of the Hand Palm Thunder.

Leaning close to the dry branches, a faint crackling sound was heard, and a flame sparked to life.

Jin Xu's calm gaze rested on his two fingers, his lips curving slightly upward in a small, triumphant smile; the experiment was a success.

....

The barbecue lasted from noon until evening.

"Burp~ Little White, grill me another leg of lamb," said the Little Fish Demon, lying on the ground in a golden red gown, patting her slightly bulging belly.

"Sister Little Yu, you've already eaten all the lamb legs," said a Husky lying beside the barbecue stand.

"......."

"You two just wait, I'll go check what's left in the jars and grill everything," said Jin Xu, the contented little Taoist, as he stood up from the ground.

He was exceedingly satisfied with this Xuanxu Temple BBQ.

It was just that he had somewhat underestimated the appetites of the three of them.

"I thought the 'Da An Village Special Supply of Pure Natural Fresh Ingredients' would last a while, but they're already gone," Jin Xu thought, standing in front of two empty large jars.

Hearing the jars were empty, Yu Yaoer went back to sleep in the well, while Little White lay down beside the well.

Jin Xu had also tried persuading her, with so many vacant rooms available, to pick one.

Little White refused, saying she liked the feeling of the moonlight shining down on her while she slept.

The little Taoist asked her, "What about when it's cloudy?"

Little White ignored him.

...

After cleaning up the aftermath in the yard, Jin Xu returned to his room.

He walked to his bed and pulled out that rod... as dark as ink, toying with it in his hand.

"Should I try fishing for my master again?" he wondered, his face a picture of indecision.

"Forget it, in case another unexpected problem arises."

In the end, Jin Xu abandoned the idea.

He thought it better to slowly roam the Little Platform Mountain, dispensing justice, making friends, and finding someone more reliable.

He also needed to steer clear of the ancient founders of those two major Immortal Sects.

...

...

Meanwhile.

Qingmu Academy, Gentleman Building

"Teacher, how is your injury?" asked a square-faced middle-aged scholar, concerned about the old man sitting before him.

"Cough, cough, it won't kill me, but recovery will be difficult," said the old man, sitting cross-legged on the bed, coughing as he spoke.

"Shall I ask the current Medicine King of Medicine King Valley to examine you?"

The square-faced middle-aged scholar was Qingyun, the current dean of Qingmu Academy.

The coughing elder before him was the same Old Dean who had "thought to kill" Jin Xu the other day.

"Wouldn't that just... cough cough... confirm the rumor of my... cough cough... injury?"

"My apologies, Teacher. It's my concern that's making me flustered," Qingyun replied.

Despite being the current dean of the academy, Qingyun remained utterly respectful in front of his teacher.

"Wait a few more months, cough cough... cough, when the Qingmu Secret Realm opens, send a disciple with my token to seek a bottle of Wood Spirit Liquid, cough... cough, and that should do it," said the elder.

"Qingyun will definitely make the arrangements," he promised and then hesitated before asking,

"Teacher, what exactly happened that day...?"

Qingyun hesitated, feeling the shame of their sacred grounds being breached, their grand formation broken, and their ancestor beaten, all by an outsider.

Yet he couldn't fathom who possessed such power,

unless the entire Kunlun Immortal Palace had moved against them.

The Old Dean sighed at the sight of his disciple's demeanor. He knew that although Qingyun was always polite on the surface, he possessed a strong pride.

This great humiliation was tough to swallow, and knowing that he wouldn't be investigating it himself, Qingyun was bound to harbor some resentment.

But thinking of the Golden Thunderbolt, the Old Dean figured it was better for Qingmu Academy to keep the same dean and live with that resentment, rather than be struck by lightning.

Besides, that old Taoist Tianxing hadn't responded to the Communication Jade Token either.

All of them,

were once comrades-in-arms on the battlefield.