Wait a minute, where is my master?

He was lured here.

What he thought was an accidental time travel was orchestrated.

He wanted to know the truth, but "the truth" was also lost.

Jin Xu was seriously considering.

Whether to hit the Big Willow Tree in front of him with a "Hand Palm Thunder," this Guardian Spirit seemed serious and stern on the surface, but it definitely fell asleep early because of embarrassment.

"Forget it, I should find another bottle of Ten-thousand-year-old Soul Nourishing Liquid," Jin Xu lowered his raised right hand and murmured to himself.

Even if it was Tianxing the Taoist who lured him here, his master didn't harm or hurt him after all.

He led him onto the immortal path, taught him cultivation skills, and even... left him a flying property—the Xuanxu Temple.

He went straight from an almost-college student to a societal member with a house (temple) and a job (Taoist).

He skipped thirty years of struggling in life.

The little Taoist was trying very hard to convince himself to accept this.

"But goddammit, shouldn't he have asked for my consent before fishing me out?!"

Self-persuasion failed.

Jin Xu felt that he desperately needed to release a... "Hand Palm Thunder" to express the indescribable feelings in his heart.

He turned to look at Little White, who was still chasing its tail in circles.

Hmm, can't blow up one's own dog.

He turned and walked into the main hall, looking at the ancestral statue and the offering table.

Hmm, can't blow up one's own ancestors and property either.

He decided not to sit in the main hall today and to go out for a walk instead.

Just as he was about to step out to the front courtyard, he suddenly heard a familiar voice near the temple's gate.

"Taoist, I have clues about the Demon Sect!"

What a timely pillow for a sleepy head.

Xu Qian, with a long sword hanging from his waist and dressed in dark official clothes, crossed the threshold and entered the main hall.

"Taoist, let me tell you, I... uh, Taoist, why do you look so bad?"

Switch places and know you're the "fish" that got hooked, and your complexion wouldn't look good either.

Jin Xu replied perfunctorily and gestured for him to continue.

"It's nothing, keep talking, what clue have you got?"

"I have clues about the Demon Sect!" Xu Qian was extremely excited, for the current Demon Sect clues represented the ladder to his position as a Sixth-Grade night watchman.

The little Taoist looked at the Seventh-Grade night watchman pacing back and forth in excitement before him.

Hmm, although this person isn't very strong, he has a good heart, so can't be blown up either.

Xu Qian, oblivious that his goodness had just saved his life, continued: "Taoist, do you remember the expert from Da An Village? Not you; the one who visited before you. The clue came from one of his disciples."

...

That day, Xu Qian bid farewell to the little Taoist Jin Xu and returned to Gusu City to start investigating clues about the Demon Sect and the Transformation Fruit.

As a result, he gathered a heap of intelligence, but it was of no use.

He himself was clueless.

He was just a brute who entered the path of cultivation through martial arts, not adept at using his brain. Otherwise, he wouldn't remain a Seventh-Grade night watchman even after reaching the Golden Core Realm.

But a fool has a fool's ways. Once, while visiting a brothel, he noticed that some courtesans set conditions for selecting their patrons, such as not accepting those who were old, or ugly, or not famous.

That way, they could filter out young and handsome patrons with big reputations.

If a patron offered a hundred taels of gold, then all the above conditions were ignored.

Xu Qian figured he could do the same with the information about the Transformation Fruit to set screening conditions for the clues.

According to the night watchman's records, there were two uses for the Transformation Fruit.

One, consumption—anyone below the Golden Core Realm, be they cultivators, spirits or ordinary mortals, could break through to the Golden Core Realm in a very short time by eating one fruit, they might reach Golden Core Perfect by eating two, and three could induce a Fake Nascent Soul, but certain death would follow after a while. The downside was that consumers would undergo drastic personality changes, with amplified desires and loss of sanity.

Two, by a special method, implanting it into non-sentient animals and plants would let them reach the Fake Golden Core Realm and be controlled by the one who implanted it. The downside was that the fauna and flora needed a long time to absorb the Transformation Fruit.

And no matter whether consumed or implanted, the person's cultivation level would not progress afterward.

Life and death would also be under the control of the Transformation Mother Tree, this evil treasure.

After reviewing the files, Xu Qian instructed the runners to issue the orders.

From now on, anyone whose cultivation suddenly surged, whose temperament changed drastically, or whose domestic animals and plants suddenly became spirits should report to him, and Mr. Xu would reward them handsomely!

Sure enough, he soon encountered a case when a small Taoist priest came forward, claiming that his younger apprentice brother had undergone a drastic change in character and a surge in cultivation.

...

Outside Gusu City lies Qian Deng Town, with its Qianyuan Temple.

The temple master was the "expert" who had exorcised demons in Da An Village and had not returned home ever since.

In Qianyuan Temple, there was a small Taoist priest who reported his younger apprentice brother the day before. He said that ever since his master went out to exorcise demons and was killed, his brother had changed completely.

The docile and even somewhat compliant younger apprentice brother.

He was now "occupying" the master's daughter, and the two of them stayed in the room all day, no one knew what they were up to!

The small Taoist priest couldn't stand it and tried to play the hero to save the damsel in distress, but when he, who used to easily overpower his younger apprentice brother, was beaten and thrown out of the temple gates.

The disheartened small Taoist priest walked on the street and happened upon the notices distributed by the watchmen. Upon closer inspection, he realized the contents described his younger apprentice brother to a tee!

He promptly reported it.

Xu Qian excitedly shared the source of the clue with Jin Xu, emphasizing his own cleverness. He had even come up with a strategy to investigate the Demon Sect while strolling through a place of fireworks.

After listening, the small Taoist priest felt something was amiss.

But he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"So you came to me because you want me to accompany you to Qian Deng Town?"

"You're so wise, little Taoist!" Xu Qian flattered, now a bit sharper, he knew to suck up first rather than barrel in directly.

For once, Jin Xu didn't start with discussing the reward and instead hurried Xu Qian to lead the way.

As the two approached the temple gate, they saw Yu Yaoer entering, holding a bunch of unidentified herbs.

Only then did the small Taoist priest remember that the fish had just been tossed out over the walls by the Guardian Spirit of Xuanxu Temple.

When Yu Yaoer heard that Jin Xu and Xu Qian were going to Qian Deng Town for business, she declared she would join them.

And so, the three set off.

...

It was well past dawn when they walked on a small road outside Qian Deng Town.

A flying artifact shaped like a large saber landed slowly.

Originally, Jin Xu had intended for Yu Yaoer to use the Flying Escape Skill to bring them over, as it would be faster.

He was impatient to unleash the "Hand Palm Thunder."

But Xu Qian was concerned it might cause panic among the townsfolk, so they both had to slum it and travel via the standard-issue Flying Artifact that the watchmen had distributed.

The townsfolk occasionally saw the standard-issue Magic Artifacts of the watchmen, so it wouldn't be too frightening.

The trio descended from the artifact and walked to the entrance of Qian Deng Town.

The town was small but brimming with the hustle and bustle of life.

The peddlers' cries as they roved the streets and alleys, the hawking of vendors beside the streets, and the sounds of frying and cooking from the back kitchens of restaurants.

These dissipated some of the indescribable emotion in Jin Xu's heart.

As he was appreciating how comforting this touch of mundane life was,

suddenly, a large black dog burst out from an alley, followed by ten or so stray dogs of various sizes.

They blocked the path ahead of the three travelers.

The stray dogs lined up neatly in three rows, then lifted their heads and opened their mouths.

"Woof woof~"

"Wooo~"

The barking startled Xu Qian.

And it made Jin Xu pause in surprise as well.

Wasn't this the big black dog from yesterday?

Why was it here welcoming them in formation!

Could it be that a day's training had been so effective?