Junior sister, I really need to control you.

Xuanzhen Peak, the place with the greatest spiritual eye.

Five cultivators dressed in gray-yellow Taoist robes were casting spells around a spirit-gathering formation and systematically adding materials to repair the worn parts of the formation.

The five people consisted of three men and two women, all of whom appeared to be around thirty or forty years old. When they cast spells, their auras were deep and powerful, and their palms were filled with a rich yellow aura.

A somewhat alluring woman cast a spell while glancing at the male cultivator next to her, and spoke in a coquettish voice.

"Senior Brother Yang, after this magic array is maintained, can we stay and play around on Xuanzhen Peak instead of going back?"

"The spiritual energy of Xuanzhen Peak far surpasses that of my Huanghe Peak; it's truly a place of beautiful mountains and clear waters. After we finish repairing this formation, why don't we go sightseeing and enjoy the scenery?"

The man called Senior Brother Yang appeared to be the oldest of the five, over forty years old, and spoke in a deep voice as he reprimanded the alluring female cultivator.

"Junior Sister Mei, this is Xuanzhen Peak, not our own Huanghe Peak, where you can act as you please! Hurry up and get to work, then head back immediately!"

"Oh dear, Senior Brother Liu~" The alluring female cultivator wasn't annoyed by the reprimand, and her tone became even more tactful. "There's only a cripple and a mere junior cultivator left at Xuanzhen Temple. Are you afraid of being discovered? They haven't patrolled the mountain for over a decade, have they?"

"Junior Sister Mei is right," a male cultivator with a sinister face said. "Xuanzhen Peak is probably safer than the meditation rooms in the sect."

"Don't even mention not encountering anyone from Xuanzhen Temple. Even if we did, so what? He's just a greenhorn who's only been cultivating for a little over ten years. We can easily manipulate him."

The other two also spoke up.

"Exactly! There's no need to take Xuanzhen Temple seriously at all. The temple is only secretly building the Spirit Gathering Array to save face. Otherwise, even if they just snatched the Spirit Eye, would Xuanzhen Temple dare to object?"

"If the higher-ups really had even the slightest fear of Xuanzhen Temple, would they have allowed us to come here in our own Taoist robes to maintain the magic array? They should at least have required us to change our clothes before coming, right?"

"Hmph... If you ask me, we've already been extremely merciful all these years, only secretly collecting spiritual essence from Xuanzhen Peak!"

"If they don't know what's good for them, we can easily seize their Taoist temple!"

"Junior brothers and sisters, watch your words!" Senior Brother Yang scolded. "Don't forget how strict the rules of the Zhengyang lineage are! Stealing spiritual essence can be a big deal or a small deal. Xuanzhen Temple is already in decline, so there is not much risk involved."

"But if we forcibly seize Xuanzhen Temple... once the Dharma lineage finds out, the consequences will be far greater than what Huanghe Temple can bear!"

The sinister-looking male cultivator looked unconvinced and was about to open his mouth to refute.

A cold but thunderous voice descended from the sky.

"How strange! It turns out that the people of Huanghe Temple are aware of the strict precepts of the Zhengyang lineage?"

"Seeing you all chatting and laughing here, treating the spiritual eye of my Xuanzhen Peak as your own private well, I thought your Huanghe Temple had no idea that the Zhengyang lineage had precepts!"

When the sound came, the five people were only stunned for a moment before they immediately withdrew from the area around the formation, changed their positions, and vaguely formed a formation to fight against the enemy.

They may not be true array masters, but since they are here to maintain the array, they must understand some principles of array formation.

A square jade chessboard, about ten feet in size, slowly descended, carrying four people.

Upon seeing the chessboard, all five of them were momentarily stunned, then suddenly tensed up.

The superior magical artifacts only aroused Li Yinsheng's envy.

However, in the eyes of these five people, they were a great threat.

The five of them were only true disciples or direct disciples at Huanghe Temple. Only Senior Brother Yang had a high-grade magic weapon. How could they not be afraid when they saw someone descending from the sky with a high-grade magic weapon?

In particular, on this superior magical artifact, there are three people who are all wearing Taoist robes from the Jade Altar Temple!

Yutan Temple ranks among the top in the Zhengyang lineage, while Huanghe Temple is the opposite, consistently ranking at the bottom.

It is said that the Taoist masters in Yutan Temple are so accomplished that a Taoist master will open an altar to preach every three or four years.

There is only one true master at Huanghe Temple, and he has been in seclusion for nearly twenty years.

Although everyone is a disciple of a Taoist temple, the disciples of Yutan Temple and Huanghe Temple are clearly not on the same level.

The chessboard was set down, and Li Yinsheng, Meng Yu, and her fellow students stepped off the chessboard.

Senior Brother Yang, who was in the lead, immediately recognized Li Yinsheng. His eyes showed not only surprise but also deep doubt.

Their Huanghe Temple is located not far from Xuanzhen Temple, making it the closest Taoist temple to Xuanzhen Temple.

Moreover, they had stolen a lot of spiritual energy over the years, so they had naturally done their homework on Xuanzhen Temple in advance and were quite familiar with Li Yinsheng.

But when Senior Brother Yang saw Li Yinsheng, he felt extremely puzzled.

When did this reclusive and unremarkable abbot of Xuanzhen Temple board the big ship of Yutan Temple?

He looked at Meng Yu, feeling even more uneasy.

A female cultivator who can wield a high-grade magic weapon, and is so young, is by no means an ordinary person in the Jade Altar Temple!

"Junior Brother Li Yinsheng of Xuanzhen Temple?" Senior Brother Yang made a defensive hand seal, ready to take out a magical artifact from his storage bag at any moment. "You seem to have some misunderstanding about us?"

"A misunderstanding?" Li Yinsheng glanced at the formation. "A misunderstanding that Huanghe Temple used the Spirit Gathering Formation to steal the spiritual essence of Xuanzhen Peak?"

"Boy, with so much spiritual energy, your Xuanzhen Temple doesn't really need much anyway. Instead of wasting it all, why not help out your neighbors?" the sinister male cultivator sneered.

Before Li Yinsheng could answer, Meng Yu, standing beside him, turned cold, stepped forward, and rebuked him without any politeness: "Shameless!"

The sinister-looking male cultivator's face hardened, and he wanted to retort, but he held back.

He dared to provoke Li Yinsheng because he was certain that Li Yinsheng could not defeat any of them.

However, the female cultivator from Yutan Temple in front of him, who was holding a high-grade magic weapon, was clearly someone he couldn't afford to offend.

"Fellow Daoist, are you a master from the Jade Altar Temple?" Senior Brother Yang stepped forward and cupped his hands to Meng Yu. "This matter is a conflict between the Yellow Crane Temple and the Xuanzhen Temple, and has nothing to do with the Jade Altar Temple."

"Yutan Temple has a long-standing reputation. If word were to spread that its disciples were forcibly interfering in the private affairs of other Taoist temples, wouldn't that damage Yutan Temple's reputation?"

His tone was relatively polite, but the threat in his words was undisguised.

Although he dared not openly break ties with the people of Yutan Temple, he could at least use the temple's reputation as leverage to make them hesitant to act rashly.

But Meng Yu wasn't fooled at all, and simply asked indifferently, "What impact could it possibly have?"

"So, you insist on meddling in this matter?"

Senior Brother Yang's face darkened, and he took out a magic sword from his Qiankun bag. The blade glowed with a blue light, and its sharpness was dazzling just by looking at it.

The grass around him was instantly reduced to countless tiny grains of rice by the shimmering blue sword light.

"Would you like to test the sharpness of my magic sword?!"

With a gentle wave of his hand, Meng Yu caused the jade chessboard to stand in the air, radiating brilliant light that rivaled the azure sword light, showing no sign of being outdone.

Senior Brother Yang felt a chill run down his spine.

Damn it! I should have known better than to say such harsh things!

This female cultivator not only possesses a high-grade magic weapon, but her cultivation level is also quite impressive.

Although he believed he was slightly better in terms of cultivation, the other party was so young that his background in the Jade Altar Temple must be extraordinary.

If they were to actually fight and she were accidentally injured, and the Jade Altar Temple came looking for trouble with the Yellow Crane Temple, the Yellow Crane Temple might not be willing to protect her.

Seeing their leader make a move, the other four people from Huanghe Temple took out their magical artifacts and stared at Li Yinsheng and his companions with unfriendly expressions.

The male cultivator from Yutan Temple looked a little pale and whispered to his junior sister beside him, "Junior sister, I think those people are all quite powerful."

"The leader, relying on his longer cultivation time, should be slightly stronger than Senior Sister. The remaining four... should be about the same as us, but they outnumber us."

"Do you think it's worth it for my senior to stand up for a customer here?"

The female cultivator, who was called "Junior Sister," glared at him, not bothering to lower her voice at all.

"Senior brother, don't embarrass yourselves! A bunch of thieves who steal spiritual essence, what dare they do to the people of our Jade Altar Temple? If they want to fight, then fight! Let them see the power of the Jade Altar Temple's formation!"

Standing before the crowd at Huangheguan, Senior Brother Yang's expression grew even more unpleasant.

The other party is right. Although they have the advantage in terms of numbers and cultivation, they really don't dare to do anything to the people of Yutan Temple.

Moreover, he never expected that one day he would have to fight against the people of Yutan Temple!

The sudden appearance of Li Yinsheng, who usually kept to himself, during the routine maintenance of the spirit-gathering array was already beyond his expectations.

When Li Yinsheng appeared, he was accompanied by people from the Yutan Temple, which was beyond his expectations.

The fact that the people from Yutan Temple were willing to fight against them for Li Yinsheng and Xuanzhen Temple was beyond his comprehension!

The worst part is that he can't leave yet.

If he leaves, and the formation is dismantled by Li Yinsheng and the people of Yutan Temple, he won't be able to explain it to the temple.

This spirit-gathering array is no ordinary one; the material cost alone was close to 100,000 talismans! And that doesn't even include the annual maintenance costs!

But Yang Shixiong wasn't the only one who didn't expect things to turn out this way; Li Yinsheng did too.

So this Fellow Daoist Meng is actually a kind-hearted person who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside and always ready to help others!

Before the person from Huanghe Temple could even speak, Fellow Daoist Meng retorted with a single provocation.

Then, after only a few words, the situation quickly escalated into a tense standoff between Yutan Temple and Huanghe Temple!

He didn't even have a chance to interrupt during that time.

However, no matter what, he couldn't really let the people from Yutan Temple do it for him; he wasn't that shameless.

Besides, even if he were thick-skinned enough, it would be a waste of time to let the three fellow Daoists from Yutan Temple take action.

"Fellow Daoist Meng, I appreciate your kindness." Li Yinsheng gently patted Meng Yu's shoulder. "Please put down your magic weapon."

Meng Yu paused after being lightly patted on the shoulder, looked at Li Yinsheng, and seemed to ask him, "Are you sure?"

Li Yinsheng nodded: "This matter is indeed a conflict between Huanghe Temple and Xuanzhen Temple, and it should be handled by me personally. There's no need to trouble Fellow Daoist Meng, and your junior brothers and sisters."

Meng Yu hesitated for a moment, then lowered the jade chessboard, but did not retrieve it; it simply hung beside him.

Li Yinsheng stepped forward and stood in front of the crowd at Huangheguan.

Senior Brother Yang secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, the people at Xuanzhen Temple are sensible and understand the bigger picture, knowing when to back down; otherwise, they would have been in a real predicament today.

Since this person is sensible, he doesn't mind giving him a way out and softening the atmosphere.

"This Junior Brother Li from Xuanzhen Temple," Senior Brother Yang said with a smile, "you see, there must be some misunderstanding between us..."

Li Yinsheng interrupted the other party without any politeness. Having just experienced the inexplicable change, he had lost his patience, and his voice immediately turned cold.

"The evidence that these individuals stole the spiritual essence of Xuanzhen Peak is irrefutable. There is no need for sophistry or further explanation."

"If you do not wish to suffer physical pain for no reason, please hand over your Qiankun bags, seal your cultivation, bind your hands, and come back to Xuanzhen Temple with me."

"Of course, one of them can go back to Huanghe Temple and tell the elders in your temple to come to my Xuanzhen Temple to apologize and redeem the people, bringing compensation for the theft of spiritual energy over the years."

Senior Brother Yang was stunned. He exchanged glances with the four people behind him, looking at each other blankly.

This young junior from Xuanzhen Temple was perfectly normal just now, so why did he suddenly go crazy?