Three more days passed, and as Qiongxiao watched Chentang Pass recede further and further away from them, she could no longer suppress the smile in her heart:

"Fellow Daoist Shen Gongbao, the Chen Tang Pass you mentioned doesn't seem to be this way, does it?"

The straight-line distance between Chentang Pass and Skull Mountain is about 2,500 li. At their current speed, it would only take them about a day to travel there. This wasn't noticeable when the distance was far before, but now that Shen Gongbao and his companion are getting closer to Skull Mountain, the distance between them and Chentang Pass is naturally getting farther and farther.

From the moment he chose to take Qiongxiao with him to Skull Mountain, Shen Gongbao knew that his itinerary would inevitably be revealed to her. Seeing Qiongxiao speak, Shen Gongbao smiled apologetically and frankly said:

"Fellow Daoist Qiongxiao, I truly did not intend to conceal it. My identity was somewhat special before, which is why I did not tell you the truth!"

In recent days, Qiongxiao had learned a great deal from Shen Gongbao about his experiences in the Jade Void Palace and how he was expelled from the Chan Sect by the Primordial Heavenly Venerable. When Shen Gongbao said this, Qiongxiao immediately spoke up for him:

“Master Yuanshi is getting senile. Even if his divination was flawed and he didn’t foresee that you and Jiang Ziya were both destined to be among the gods, since he has already taken you under his wing, he should have taught you properly. How can he allow other disciples to bully you like this? Shen Gongbao, don’t worry, the Chan Sect doesn’t want you. After this matter is settled, you can come back to the Jie Sect with me. I will have my master personally take you under my Jie Sect. You will be ten thousand times better off than you are in the Chan Sect!”

"By the way, since it's not Chentang Pass, where is your actual destination this time?"

Qiongxiao smiled and continued to ask, to be honest, she was also quite curious about Shen Gongbao's destination.

According to the current itinerary, they should arrive at Skull Mountain around tomorrow. Having reached this point, Shen Gongbao was no longer bothered to hide it and said directly:

"Actually, you should know where I'm going. It's Skull Mountain, where your disciple Shiji Niangniang resides."

"What?"

"You're going to Skull Mountain?"

Upon hearing this answer, Qiongxiao was immediately taken aback.

His expression instantly turned strange, and he secretly pondered:

"If Shen Gongbao knew that I was going to Skull Mountain, I wonder what his reaction would be?"

Just then, Shen Gongbao's expression turned serious, and he whispered to Qiongxiao beside him:

"Someone's coming!"

"Um?"

Qiongxiao's expression immediately tightened. Having been ambushed before, she was now wary of sudden appearances from cultivators, like someone who had been bitten once and was now afraid of ropes for ten years.

Holding the flying sword tightly in her hand, Qiongxiao cautiously looked in the direction Shen Gongbao was pointing.

A moment later, the sound of flapping wings came from the sky. When she saw who it was, Qiongxiao's tense nerves finally relaxed completely.

"They are not heretical cultivators, but fellow disciples of the Chan Sect!"

Accompanied by Qiongxiao's voice, nearly ten disciples of Yuxu Palace descended from the cranes one after another.

When their gazes fell upon Shen Gongbao, both Huang Tianhua and the other disciples of the Chan Sect showed a hint of joy on their faces.

Huang Tianhua stepped forward first, bowed respectfully to Shen Gongbao, and said:

“Disciple Huang Tianhua is hereby ordered by Grand Master Uncle to invite Uncle Shen Gongbao back to Yuxu Palace. Grand Master Uncle has important matters to discuss with Uncle Shen Gongbao.”

Upon hearing this, Qiongxiao was overjoyed and tugged at Shen Gongbao's sleeve, laughing happily:

"Shen Gongbao, did you hear that? Your senior brother has sent someone to take you back."

"They must have realized their mistake and want to take you back as a disciple of the Chan Sect. This time you can finally hold your head high."

Having said that, Qiongxiao turned her gaze to Huang Tianhua and the others, raising an eyebrow:

"Your Chan Sect is truly unreasonable this time, expelling Shen Gongbao from the sect for no reason. Fortunately, you have finally realized your mistake. When you return, remember to tell Wuliang Immortal Elder for me that if there is a next time, I, Qiongxiao, will personally go to Yuxu Palace to seek justice for Shen Gongbao."

Upon hearing this, Huang Tianhua also respectfully bowed to Qiongxiao:

"So it's Uncle Qiongxiao of the Jie Sect. I was rude. Please forgive me, Uncle Qiongxiao. I will personally convey your words to my eldest master. By the way..."

Huang Tianhua looked at Qiongxiao with a hint of concern in his eyes:

"Has my martial uncle been seriously injured? I sense that his aura is somewhat unstable. Is there anything I can do to help him?"

Qiongxiao waved her hand dismissively:

"It's nothing serious. It's just that when your Uncle Shen Gongbao and I were fighting with some evil cultivators, we were ambushed by them. Our spiritual treasures were contaminated, and we were also affected. We'll recover in a few days."

Having said that, Qiongxiao's expression turned serious again:

"I'll say it again: after Shen Gongbao returns to Yuxu Palace this time, you second and third generation disciples of the Chan Sect must not let him suffer any more grievances, or I, Qiongxiao, will not forgive you."

After saying that, Qiongxiao looked at Shen Gongbao with a smug expression, almost as if she wanted to say to him, "I did a good job, right? Come and praise me!"

Shen Gongbao ignored the smug Qiongxiao and instead slowly swept his gaze over Huang Tianhua and the others, his expression growing increasingly grim.

Huang Tianhua is a disciple of Qingxu Daode Zhenjun. Unless there are special circumstances, Wuliang Xianweng would not bypass Qingxu Daode Zhenjun to entrust the task to Huang Tianhua.

More importantly, among the disciples of Yuxu Palace after Huang Tian's transformation, Shen Gongbao actually sensed the aura of a Golden Immortal.

There could never be such a being among the third-generation disciples of the Chan Sect. The only explanation for the appearance of a Golden Immortal cultivator after Huang Tian's incarnation is...

Without hesitation, Shen Gongbao pulled Qiongxiao directly behind him.

"Shen Gongbao, what are you doing?"

Qiongxiao was still unclear about what had happened, but seeing Shen Gongbao's actions, Huang Tianhua sighed heavily:

"Uncle Shen, why are you doing this? Wouldn't it be better to just come back to Jade Void Palace with us?"

Yunwu rolled his eyes.

"Huang Tianhua, I told you long ago that this was unnecessary and a waste of our time."

Having said that, Yunwu turned his gaze to Shen Gongbao, his eyes filled with greed:

"Shen Gongbao, do you not know that your life is worth a hundred Heavenly Origin Divine Pills? If you don't want to die a horrible death, I advise you to surrender obediently."

"What exactly is going on?"

Looking at the group of Chan Sect disciples who had suddenly turned hostile, Qiongxiao's face was filled with disbelief:

"Huang Tianhua, weren't you ordered by Wuliang Xianweng to invite Shen Gongbao back to Yuxu Palace and intend to recruit him back into the Chan Sect? Why are you suddenly taking action again?"

"How dare this beast with its fur and horns dream of returning to Jade Void Palace?"

Yunwu sneered:

"You wish! Get started!"

As Yun Wu's voice fell, the two Golden Immortal cultivators behind him moved first.