Zou Ping, who had been standing guard by the side, quickly asked, "Master, have you found that lunatic?"

The True Man of Earth Fire, Zhang Ling, said coldly, "Yes!"

Zou Ping's face flushed with anger as she pressed, "Who is it! Who dares to be so insolent and arrogant?"

Zhang Ling’s voice was chilling, "I wondered who would dare to be so presumptuous as to strike Dragon Tiger Mountain with lightning! Unexpectedly, this person I was tracking led me in a roundabout way, finally back to Mount Gezao!"

Zou Ping gasped, "The Outer Elixir School? The Gezao Sect? No way!"

Zhang Ling sneered, "What's impossible about that? The Gezao Sect has always been at odds with us. They fiercely compete with our sect in business. Not long ago, the Human Essence Golden Elixir appeared, and someone from our sect went to seize it. It's natural that Wan Zhenyuan harbors resentment. Hmph, I just didn't expect Wan Zhenyuan to resort to such despicable means now, doing such a shameless thing!"

Zou Ping said hatefully, "Are we just going to swallow this insult?"

Zhang Ling stood up and laughed heartily, "A mere Gezao Sect dares to bully us? Hmph, Wan Zhenyuan is truly tired of living! Come, let's go demand an explanation!"

Zou Ping initially looked pleased, but quickly hesitated. She asked, "Master, the Gezao Sect is a major school of the Outer Elixir faction, after all. Going to their door like this... perhaps it's not entirely appropriate? Should we first inform the Sect Master?"

Zhang Ling glanced at Zou Ping: "What? Does the Zhengyi Sect need the Sect Master to handle every little thing? Can't my status as the Sect Master's sister make decisions? If Wan Zhenyuan dares to cause trouble at our Dragon Tiger Mountain, why can't we go to their Mount Gezao? One word: are you coming or not? If not, I'll go alone!"

With that, she snorted coldly, and her figure instantly transformed into a streak of azure light and departed.

Zou Ping was stunned for a moment, then grit her teeth, stamped her foot, and followed after her.

On Mount Gezao, Li Yundong and the others were utterly dumbfounded by Yan Fang's sudden appearance. Li Yundong wrote on Zi Yuan's back: "Was that the liu e sword that just sneak-attacked the Six Jia Yang Spirit Talisman?"

Zi Yuan turned back to look at Li Yundong, nodded slightly, and transmitted her voice, "Yes!"

Li Yundong wrote again: "Why not seize the sword, capture Yan Fang, and force out the whereabouts of Ao Wushuang?"

Zi Yuan immediately stated firmly, "No. The situation is unclear right now; we cannot act rashly."

As if to prove Zi Yuan right, Yan Fang looked down from above at the side hall of the Gezao Sect, coldly laughing, "Wan Zhenyuan, when did you learn to use words to provoke people?"

Soon, a figure flew out from the side hall, dressed in a Taoist robe, wearing a Taoist crown, holding a whisk in his left hand and supporting a carpenter's square in his right. Li Yundong looked up and saw that this man was about 1.7 meters tall, sported a goatee, had deep-set eyes and a high nose, suggesting some foreign lineage. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be around forty years old.

Li Yundong inwardly marveled: Could this fellow who looked like a mixed-race individual be the Sect Master of the Outer Elixir School, the Gezao Sect, Wan Zhenyuan?

Indeed, the middle-aged man scrutinized Yan Fang with sharp eyes and spoke, "Yan Fang? You really aren't dead. I didn't expect the rumors in the outside world to be true! I assume the joint attack by the various sects on the Fox Zen Gate was also your doing?"

Yan Fang snorted coldly, "So what if it was?"

Wan Zhenyuan smiled slightly, cupped his hands, and said, "True Master Yan, impressive skill. I, Wan, admire you!"

Yan Fang snorted with extreme arrogance, lifting her nostrils skyward.

Seeing her so arrogant on his own ground, Wan Zhenyuan felt a surge of displeasure in his heart, and he asked in a deep voice, "I just don't know why True Master Yan deigns to visit so late? What business brings you here?"

Yan Fang glanced around intentionally or unintentionally. The liu e sword in her hand let out a clear dragon's roar. She sneered, "I've come today to catch a few rats."

Wan Zhenyuan was secretly furious. He frowned and shouted, "True Master Yan, I respected you for enduring humiliation for nine years to seek revenge, so I gave you some leeway. Don't push your luck too far and become excessively brazen!"

Yan Fang threw her head back and laughed maniacally, "So what if I'm brazen, and so what if I'm not? This Mount Gezao of yours, I can come and go as I please. What can you do to me!"

Wan Zhenyuan's face turned pale with anger, and he roared, "Yan Fang, you are going too far! Today, I will ensure you cannot leave!"

Yan Fang said with a face full of mockery, "Hmph, with just you? Don't joke. You probably don't even know how many rats have already arrived on your mountain, do you?"

Saying that, Yan Fang pointed her sword directly at the location where Li Yundong and the others were hiding, and shouted sternly, "You scurrying vermin, come out yourselves! Must I use my Three-Foot Green Peak to chop off your heads again!"

This statement ignited fury in Su Chan, and her body was about to spring out, but Li Yundong suddenly calmed down. He grabbed Su Chan and waved his hand to signal her. Zi Yuan also nodded approvingly at Li Yundong and transmitted her voice, "Don't be agitated. Yan Fang doesn't necessarily know where we are."

Just as her voice fell, a figure suddenly jumped up from outside the wall behind them. This person stood on the yellow glazed tiles of the wall, cupped his hands, and said, "True Master Yan has sharp eyes; I am truly impressed!"

Su Chan was startled and looked up. Li Yundong and Zi Yuan also turned their heads to look up. They saw that this person was short and fat—it was Deng Qiang of the Penglai Sect, who had participated in the siege of the Fox Zen Gate before!

When Yan Fang saw him, she immediately frowned, "Why is it you?"

Deng Qiang grinned slyly and reached out to touch his head, which bore several burned scar marks from previous burns. He said, "Why shouldn't it be me? Is there someone else?"

Yan Fang said solemnly, "I wasn't talking about you!"

Deng Qiang slapped his forehead and exclaimed loudly, "Oh, alas, I've been fooled, falling for your bluff! Sigh, I'm truly a wretched fool!"

Saying that, he turned around and shouted loudly behind him, "Hey, friends hiding there, hurry up and show yourselves! I've already exposed myself, you have no reason to keep hiding, right?"

But as soon as he shouted, the sound carried far away, met only by the sound of crickets responding to his voice.

Deng Qiang turned back and said with a sly grin, "True Master Yan, look, no one is here!"

Yan Fang sneered, "No one? Hmph, are the ones hiding ghosts? Come out, stop hiding! It won't look good if I force you out!"

With that, she flicked her wrist, and the liu e sword in her hand flew into the air, humming. One sword transformed into two, two into four, and in a short time, it turned into countless sharp blades hanging in the air, poised for action, humming and emitting a clanging sword song—the display was terrifyingly imposing.

Deng Qiang also turned around and howled again, "Damn it, why are you hiding? Do you only plan to show yourselves when you are pierced by ten thousand swords?"

As soon as he finished speaking, another figure suddenly jumped up from the wall not far away. Li Yundong and the others focused their gaze and saw that this person was slender, with robust limbs, and his two sword-like eyebrows slanted sharply towards his temples—it was the Jade-Faced Golden Monkey, Du Fei!

Du Fei stood on the wall, cupped his hands, and said coolly, "True Master Yan is indeed domineering, actually forcing people out with the Ten Thousand Sword Array!"

When Deng Qiang saw him, he immediately burst out laughing, "Yo, True Master Du, what a coincidence! How did you get here too?"

Li Yundong, Su Chan, and Zi Yuan, hiding in the corner of the wall, were similarly dumbfounded, thinking inwardly: Yes, why is this fellow here too?

Du Fei found Deng Qiang's smirking demeanor quite disagreeable. He snorted, ignoring Deng Qiang, and cupped his hands towards Wan Zhenyuan, "Du Fei of the Quanzhen Dragon Gate Sect, greetings to Sect Master Wan!"

Wan Zhenyuan watched as one person after another jumped out from outside the courtyard walls of his own Gezao Sect, without him noticing at all. His expression was very grim. He forced a smile, cupped his hands, and said through gritted teeth, "Why would True Master Du grace us with a visit so late?"

Although Du Fei was straightforward and not skilled at social graces or beating around the bush, he wasn't a fool. He didn't immediately state his purpose. Instead, he turned to look at Yan Fang: "True Master Yan, why have you come here?"

Yan Fang hadn't expected that after forcing out two people with her previous attempts, she had actually summoned two unrelated parties—truly a case of 'one door closes, another opens.' She frowned and said coldly, "Do I need to explain my business to you? True Master Du, did you come alone?"

Du Fei snorted, "Of course! Do you think I have an accomplice?"

Yan Fang laughed loudly, "You'll have to ask yourself!" Then, she suddenly took a deep breath, and her voice boomed like thunder from her tongue—a fierce shout: "All of you, show yourselves!"

This great shout carried the power of the orthodox Xuanmen arts, shaking the surrounding mountains, echoing through the valleys, and making the very earth tremble!

Li Yundong, with his profound cultivation and deep foundation, could naturally withstand it, but he knew Su Chan certainly could not. He immediately covered her ears with his hand. Deng Qiang, standing on the wall above their heads behind them, was instantly jolted and tumbled down the wall with a cry of pain. Du Fei's body also trembled, his face abruptly shifting from normal to crimson-gold, and then back to normal.

Wan Zhenyuan’s body, floating in the air, also shook slightly. He said with a cold expression, "Yan Fang, you are too insolent! This is the ancestral ground of my Gezao Sect! It is not your place to shout so loudly!"

Yan Fang sneered, "The majestic ancestral ground of the Gezao Sect is like a vegetable garden; you don't even know how many people have arrived, Sect Master. How ridiculous!"

No sooner had she finished speaking than figures began jumping up one after another onto the surrounding walls. Each of them wore grim expressions; some rubbed their chests, while others cupped their hands in greeting and announced their sects.

"I am Zhang Hongcheng of the Jinshan Sect!"

"I am Chen Anji of the Donghua Sect. Greetings to Sect Master Wan and True Master Yan."

"True Master Yan, Sect Master Wan, I am Ning Shouke of the Yuyang Sect."

Li Yundong, Su Chan, and Zi Yuan watched wide-eyed and dumbfounded as cultivator after cultivator jumped out from behind the walls. Li Yundong thought to himself: Good heavens, how many people are hiding outside the Gezao Sect? I thought only we were sneaking into Mount Gezao tonight—I didn't realize there were so many companions!

There were about a dozen of these people. The last one, an old man with a youthful face despite his white hair, jumped onto the wall while holding the hand of a beautiful young woman. He smiled cheerfully at everyone around and said, "I am Zheng Yuan of the Yin-Yang Sect from Mount Wuhua. This is my young disciple, Lü Fengping."

When Li Yundong saw him, his brow immediately furrowed, and a murderous glint flashed in his eyes, especially when he saw Ding Nan standing nearby—his frown deepened even more. He thought to himself: Is Ding Nan determined to walk further and further down this path of no return?

Su Chan also widened her eyes when she saw Zheng Yuan. She reached out and tugged Li Yundong's arm, then wrote in his palm: "It's that great enemy, Zheng Yuan. What should we do?"