"Who are you people? Let me go."
At the back door of the temple, the abbot, held captive by the leading Sakura country evil sorcerer, asked furiously.
"Old man, behave yourself. You'll understand our intentions once we leave here," the leader commanded, pressing down on the abbot's shoulder with one hand and holding a knife to his neck with the other, pulling him along.
At this moment, Li Yang was still waiting at the back door exit. He suddenly heard the conversation and footsteps, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He poked his head out and saw the group retreating towards the back door.
"Perfect timing!" Li Yang feared they wouldn't come. As long as they arrived here, none of them would escape his grasp.
Li Yang clasped his palms together, chanted a spell, drew a circle on the ground with his finger, and then leaped high, easily landing on the rooftop of the building. He crouched in the high position, quietly awaiting their arrival.
Several evil sorcerers, completely unaware they were walking into Li Yang's trap, were led by the abbot into the circle. Li Yang's lips curved slightly as he swiftly released his true qi in mid-air.
Instantly, the circles around everyone ignited, trapping them firmly within a fire formation. Li Yang had just absorbed the true qi from the thirteen protectors of the Ma family and was eager to witness the power of their fused true qi with his own.
Circles of flames blazed around the evil sorcerers, the fire growing larger, causing them all to panic.
"Where did this fire come from? We need to break out quickly, or we'll all die here!" The leader covered his mouth and nose, sensing a thick smoke billowing from the flames. If they were trapped any longer, the oxygen would run out.
Seeing the dire situation, his subordinates immediately acted, rushing towards the outside together. However, as they charged towards the flames, the fire suddenly repelled them, pushing them all back.
One subordinate, realizing the gravity of the situation, exclaimed in panic, "Boss, this doesn't seem like ordinary fire. There's a true qi protective formation all around. We can't break through."
"A fire formation? It seems someone wants to trap us here to die. Brothers, listen up! Quickly unleash the Soul-Breaking Formation and use its yin energy to extinguish this fire," the leader commanded his subordinates after a moment of thought.
The next second, everyone simultaneously unleashed their techniques. They sat cross-legged on the ground, palms resting on their knees, and faint streams of black light rose from their dantian. As they projected the light along their arms, it automatically converged into a massive skull, which instantly opened its maw and lunged in one direction.
*Boom!*
As the skull approached the flames, the surrounding fire raged, as if all the flames had converged into one, confronting the skull. Li Yang, standing on the rooftop, controlled the flames with his fingers. The flames gradually formed a fire dragon. With a push of his palm, the dragon let out a roar and instantly devoured the skull.
*Puff!*
All the evil sorcerers spat blood, injured by Li Yang's true qi.
At this moment, a golden light flashed down from mid-air, and in the blink of an eye, the abbot was rescued from the crowd. The leader felt a gust of cool wind blow past him. By the time he realized the abbot beside him had vanished, he knew someone had rescued him.
Moments later, the surrounding flames disappeared. The leader looked around but saw no one. He had no idea who had rescued the abbot. Li Yang did not reveal himself directly, as he was concerned they might recognize him. These individuals were subordinates of Zao Ri Feng Chun, and in Zao Ri Feng Chun's eyes, Li Yang was still one of his own. He would not be foolish enough to reveal his identity at such a time. He still intended to use Zao Ri Feng Chun to obtain the plans and secrets of the Longtian Society.
"Abbot, are you alright?" After escaping the great fire with the abbot, Li Yang quickly brought him to a forest outside the temple and set him down, asking.
"Benefactor, you are..." The abbot looked at Li Yang in surprise. He hadn't even sensed Li Yang's move, as if he had been whisked away by the wind.
Li Yang smiled and introduced himself, "My name is Li Yang. I came here specifically to save you. I learned that a group of Sakura country evil sorcerers intended to harm you, so I came to rescue you."
"They are all from Sakura country?" The abbot looked shocked but quickly showed confusion, asking, "I have never dealt with them. Why would they come looking for me?"
"Abbot, you may not know, but China is in turmoil recently over a treasure. These Sakura country people have come to China to obtain seven treasure maps to find the treasure. From what I understand, one of these treasure maps is at your Dengfeng Temple. Do you know of its existence?"
"Treasure map?" The abbot looked bewildered and shook his head, saying, "I have never heard that our Dengfeng Temple possesses any treasure maps. This must be a misunderstanding."
"Do you truly not know?" Li Yang saw his earnest expression and didn't think he was lying. But if he truly didn't know, where could the treasure map be?
"I truly do not know. Benefactor, where did you hear that Dengfeng Temple has a treasure map? This is simply slander," the abbot said indignantly. If not for this rumor, Dengfeng Temple would not have experienced such bloodshed on this important day of sacrifice. This was utter disrespect to the Buddha.
Li Yang's expression turned solemn, and he stated directly, "The person who gave me this information would not be slandering, and those Sakura country evil sorcerers obtained this information through a different channel than mine. Since more than one person has said it, it means this matter is not baseless."
"Benefactor, are you perhaps suspecting me of lying?" the abbot asked gravely.
"That's not what I mean. I mean that you, Abbot, might also have been kept in the dark, unaware of the treasure map, so as to better protect its safety," Li Yang explained to the abbot after careful consideration. "Abbot, think carefully. When you took over as abbot, did the previous abbot entrust you with any important matters?"
"Benefactor, this is a secret of our Dengfeng Temple, and outsiders are not privy to it," the abbot said to Li Yang with great seriousness. "Although you have saved my life, you are not a high monk of our Dengfeng Temple, so I cannot reveal Dengfeng Temple's secrets to you. I can be certain that our Dengfeng Temple absolutely does not possess the treasure map you mentioned."