The surgery took nearly two hours before the red light outside the operating room finally extinguished. Qu Meilan stood up, and upon seeing Zhang Yang emerge, she was overcome with emotion!

Emerging from the operating theater, Zhang Yang noticed Qu Meilan waiting outside and was momentarily startled, immediately inquiring, "Why are you here? Did something happen?"

Qu Meilan promptly recounted everything Yan Yefei had told her that morning. By the time Zhang Yang finished listening, his brow was tightly furrowed.

At that moment, Yan Liangfei also stepped out of the operating room, utterly exhausted. It was clear that the nearly two-hour surgery had drained him significantly. When he saw Qu Meilan, he also asked in surprise, "Senior Sister, why have you come all the way here?"

Since Yan Liangfei was now Zhang Yang's disciple, and Qu Meilan was Zhang Yang's first disciple, it was perfectly natural for Yan Liangfei to address Qu Meilan as Senior Sister.

"Don't tell Yan Liangfei what happened; I'll handle it myself!"

Just as Qu Meilan was about to speak, Zhang Yang sent a sound transmission directly into her ear, causing her to immediately fall silent.

"It's nothing; Qu Meilan was just worried because we left in such a rush this morning, so she came to check on us."

Zhang Yang frowned, then turned to Yan Liangfei and said, "However, I have something pressing I must attend to right now. You can explain things to Dean Guo and the others later."

With that, Zhang Yang vanished in a gust of wind, gone in the blink of an eye.

"Senior Sister, what actually happened that made Master leave in such a hurry?"

Yan Liangfei looked questioningly at Qu Meilan, unable to fathom the urgency of Zhang Yang's departure.

"It's nothing. Didn't Master just say? I was just worried because you all left so quickly this morning, so I came to check," Qu Meilan offered with an awkward smile to Yan Liangfei. Since Zhang Yang had forbidden her from revealing the truth, she naturally dared not speak.

Outside the hospital, Zhang Yang found Zhuifeng surrounded by a large crowd, pointing and murmuring, on the verge of escalating into a confrontation. He immediately walked over.

Seeing Zhang Yang approach, Zhuifeng's anger finally subsided. As a proud Spirit Beast, being gawked at by these bystanders was already irritating enough; being pointed at only exacerbated it.

Mounting Zhuifeng, Zhang Yang first returned to the villa to retrieve the Han Quan Sword and also packed the box containing the Muramasa demon blade. Then, he and the three great Spirit Beasts immediately left the villa and headed straight for Yanming Mountain, completely unmasking his aura along the way.

This was, in fact, Zhang Yang's way of notifying Elder Zhang Pinglu and Huang Longshi of the National Security Bureau. Both were Great Perfection cultivators and could not possibly miss Zhang Yang's aura.

Based on what Qu Meilan had relayed, Zhang Yang had already concluded that the kidnapping of the two Yan family elders was surely connected to those who escaped from Japan.

Huang Longshi had already informed him that a Japanese Great Perfection cultivator had infiltrated Huaxia, meaning that he—the intruder—dared not enter Changjing and intended to lure him out of the city. However, even if the confrontation was outside Changjing, Zhang Yang would not harbor the slightest fear!

Riding Zhuifeng, the moment he entered the vicinity of Yanming Mountain, Zhang Yang immediately sensed the difference.

In the past, Yanming Mountain had been a place brimming with spiritual energy, pristine mountains, and clear waters. But now, Zhang Yang distinctly felt as if the entire mountain had been encased in a dome, locking the surrounding Heaven and Earth energy in place.

"You are Zhang Yang?"

Just as Zhang Yang frowned and looked around, a voice suddenly echoed from all directions. The pronunciation of the rudimentary Chinese was stiff and awkward, clearly indicating the speaker had not yet mastered the language.

Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes. If the person hadn't spoken, he wouldn't have been able to locate their aura for a while, but once the voice came, he could immediately judge the speaker's location based on the leaked energy signature.

Zhang Yang couldn't be bothered to reply. He simply patted Zhuifeng. The beast let out a long cry, spread its hooves, and bolted toward the back of Yanming Mountain! The leaked energy signature was emanating from the deep recesses of the rear hills!

The deeper they went into the back mountain, the tighter Zhang Yang's brow furrowed. He finally understood the strange feeling he had upon arriving at Yanming Mountain; an array had been laid out here. However, the technique used to deploy this array was completely different from Chinese formations, which was why Zhang Yang hadn't recognized it immediately.

At the edge of this array, every so often, several corpses lay prone, arranged in a remarkably regular pattern.

"Truly Great Perfection!"

At this moment, within the forest, the voice sounded again. This time, anyone could detect the deep envy in the speaker’s tone.

"Hiding your head and tail, you coward!"

Zhang Yang snorted disdainfully in response, but the speed of Zhuifeng beneath him did not slacken in the slightest. The speaker's second statement finally allowed Zhang Yang to pinpoint his location. Now, only a few quick flashes, and Zhuifeng would reach the man!

Zhuifeng leaped out from the trees, and a clearing finally appeared ahead, containing a patch of ruins.

Zhang Yang was intimately familiar with this place. It was where he had brought Yan Liangfei to confront the Jiang family when they occupied the former Wang family villa. Later, Zhang Yang had reduced the place to ashes with fire. In short, Zhang Yang knew this spot too well.

In the ruins, a man knelt, his back to Zhang Yang, his spine ramrod straight. A black Japanese sword was plunged into the rubble beside him. This was the man who had been sending messages to Zhang Yang.

"Hand over my people, and I might consider leaving you a complete corpse!"

Zhang Yang narrowed his eyes. White mist was already beginning to condense beneath his feet, and the Heaven and Earth energy started gathering around him. He looked at the man, his tone ice-cold.

On his way here, Zhang Yang had already sensed quite a few people nearby, including four whose auras felt incredibly familiar: Yan Liangfei’s grandmother and mother, as well as the rashly intruding couple, Yan Yefei and Li Juan.

As for the person currently kneeling amidst the ruins, whether he was the Japanese Great Perfection cultivator who had infiltrated Huaxia or not, meant nothing to Zhang Yang. In his eyes, the man was already dead!

In the end, Zhang Yang had come alone. The other two Great Perfection cultivators in Changjing had not appeared at Yanming Mountain, which made Ikezaki Dōjun breathe a long sigh of relief.

Ikezaki Dōjun stood up and turned to face Zhang Yang. Yet, the moment his eyes landed on Zhang Yang, his eyelids involuntarily twitched.

The feeling Zhang Yang gave him was truly terrifying!

Ikezaki Dōjun looked at Zhang Yang without hiding the envy and jealousy in his eyes. The strength Zhang Yang displayed, and his masterful control over the surrounding energy, were enough to move Ikezaki Dōjun. Especially considering his age—just in his early twenties. Every Great Perfection cultivator had a lifespan of at least a thousand years; who could predict what heights this young man would reach in the future!

"Bring them out."

Ikezaki forcibly suppressed his killing intent and suddenly commanded. From the woods behind Zhang Yang, several men in black instantly emerged, pushing two women whose mouths had been gagged. These two were precisely the Yan family elder and Tang Xiaolan.

"Return my Muramasa demon blade, and I will return these two to you!"

Ikezaki's gaze had shifted to the box Zhang Yang brought, from which he could sense the faint aura of the Muramasa.

"You captured two of mine as well; return them all, and I'll give you back this worthless blade!" Zhang Yang said calmly. The only reason he hadn't engaged in combat yet was the fear of harming the hostages in their custody. Once the hostages were safe, Zhang Yang could fight without reservation.

"Hahaha!"

Ikezaki Dōjun laughed heartily. Capturing the Yan family elder was intended to draw Zhang Yang out step by step. He hadn't expected that while his subordinates failed to lure Yan Liangfei, they successfully seized the weakest ones, Yan Yefei and Li Juan. Now, it seemed the outcome was even better!

"First, we return these two to you, and you give us back the Muramasa. We will return the other two shortly!" He truly cared little for the lives of these two ordinary people. As soon as he finished speaking, the black-clad man controlling the Yan family elder and Tang Xiaolan immediately shoved the two women toward Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang used internal energy to support the two women, letting the unconscious Yan family elder and Tang Xiaolan rest on the ground. Zhuifeng immediately trotted over and stood guard beside them. Zhuifeng shared a telepathic link with Zhang Yang and knew his master needed protection for them, so it immediately positioned itself there, glaring watchfully at the men in black surrounding them.

"You think I care about this worthless blade? Here, take it back!"

Zhang Yang lightly rose onto his toes and kicked the box containing the Muramasa demon blade and the White Flame Demonic Ginseng toward the men in black. The moment they accepted the box, expressions of excitement flashed across their faces. They retreated dozens of paces, stopping only once they were a safe distance from Zhang Yang.

Ikezaki Dōjun seemed surprised by how reluctantly Zhang Yang returned the sword. He frowned slightly, a sudden realization hitting him, and he roared, "Don't open it!"

But it was too late. The men in black who took the box couldn't wait and tore open the sealed container. The instant they did, a plume of red smoke erupted from the box, and several men in black inhaled it before they could react.

Instantly, their faces swelled crimson, blood vessels burst across their eyes, and with a scream, they collapsed onto the ground! The Muramasa demon blade, having lost its enchanting red glow, fell out of the box. Simultaneously, the White Flame Demonic Ginseng, which had also turned red, tumbled out.

"Baka!"

Ikezaki Dōjun roared in fury. He vanished from the ruins in a flash, reappearing among the group of black-clad men! However, he paid no heed to the lives of those subordinates; instead, he immediately snatched up the Muramasa, now stripped of its demonic glow, his eyes wide as he meticulously examined the demon blade, inch by inch, from tip to hilt!

The Muramasa demon blade at this moment was no longer the Muramasa demon blade it once was!