Zhang Yang was furious. This group of bastards inexplicably came to encircle and kill him, and now they thought they could just let it go after he counterattacked?

He immediately activated the Immortal Refining Cauldron, ready to suppress them forcefully.

Zhou Hao and the others' faces changed drastically. They never expected Zhang Yang to be so wild and unruly.

He was startled and quickly shouted, "We are from the Wanling Sect. You've already offended the Langya Sacred Ground, and if you offend our Wanling Sect too, your Azurecloud Sect might face annihilation."

"Wanling Sect?" Zhang Yang turned to look at Situ Mingyue.

Over the years, his knowledge of the world was too limited, and the little he knew was inadvertently revealed by Qingyunzi and the others.

For instance, he had never heard of the Wanling Sect.

Situ Mingyue's expression changed, and she said seriously, "The Wanling Sect is also a top-tier sect, stronger than the Langya Sacred Ground."

Zhou Hao snorted coldly, "Our Wanling Sect is stronger than the Langya Sacred Ground because we have late-stage Tribulation Crossing ancestors, who are among the top experts in the world. Your Azurecloud Sect at most has Dao Integration Stage cultivators, while we have many. If you dare to provoke us, just a few Dao Integration Stage cultivators can take down your Azurecloud Sect. So, I advise you not to court disaster."

"Senior Brother, we really need to handle this carefully!" Jiang Zhiqiu felt a bit apprehensive and advised.

Zhang Yang frowned and looked at Zhou Hao, "Your Wanling Sect is so impressive, yet you shamelessly come to join our secret realm?"

Zhou Hao was infuriated and shouted, "Do you think I wanted to? If it weren't for the sect's ancestor wanting to investigate your secret realm, I wouldn't bother coming to such a poor place!"

Speaking of this, he felt wronged!

They hadn't found anything in their investigation and even got beaten up!

Zhang Yang was momentarily stunned. Was there something wrong with Azurecloud Sect's secret realm? What were these people investigating?

He also felt that the Wanling Sect was indeed powerful, and Azurecloud Sect might not currently match up. However, letting things go after being attacked was not his style.

He said coldly, "I'll say it again, hand over your spatial rings and leave all your magical treasures. Seal your Golden Cores. If I have to make a move, I can't guarantee your bodies will remain intact. I'll count to three, and if you don't follow my instructions, I'll take action! One!"

"Does your Azurecloud Sect really want to cause trouble?" Zhou Hao was incredulous.

"Two!"

"You are simply unreasonable, utterly foolish! When disaster strikes, you'll all regret it!"

"Three!"

"Don't act, we surrender!"

Seeing the Immortal Refining Cauldron really enlarging and pressing down with terrifying pressure, Zhou Hao and the others dared not hold out.

One by one, they painfully threw out their spatial rings and magical treasures, then sealed their dantians and surrendered.

"Ungrateful!" Zhang Yang snorted coldly, adding another layer of restriction on their dantians, "I have no grudge against you, yet you brought people to encircle and kill me and even tried to use your sect to threaten me? I want to see if your Wanling Sect has any shame."

How could the Wanling Sect possibly send Dao Integration Stage experts over a few disciples?

He really didn't believe the Wanling Sect could be so shameless.

After capturing Zhou Hao and the others, Zhang Yang turned to Jiang Zhiqiu and instructed, "Escort them to the spiritual lake and wait for me there, but don't get too close. Then, just guard them there. Once I capture everyone, we'll deal with them together."

Jiang Zhiqiu felt a chill in his heart. He knew that Senior Brother intended to use these people as bait.

He had thought that as a rogue cultivator, he was ruthless enough, but this Senior Brother seemed even more terrifying.

Thinking of the taste of Rainbow Fish, he eagerly escorted Zhou Hao and the others to the lake.

After watching Jiang Zhiqiu leave, Zhang Yang instructed Situ Mingyue, "Collect these spatial rings, and let's find the next group."

Situ Mingyue was also seeing this side of Zhang Yang for the first time, and she was a bit surprised.

She had thought that founding the Bluemoon Trading Guild and the Azurecloud Guesthouse was his true nature, but she hadn't expected such decisiveness in killing.

In the following days, Zhang Yang captured all those Golden Core Realm cultivators who had attacked them, a total of twelve.

Among them, a few had helped the Langya Sacred Ground to attack Situ Mingyue.

Out of these twelve, eight hadn't signed a life-and-death agreement.

"You are lucky, your lives are spared!" Zhang Yang said calmly to Zhou Hao and the other eight, "I hope you remember me from today on. My name is Zhang Yang, Zhang as in arrogant, Yang as in domineering. Think carefully before becoming my enemy in the future."

After saying this, he straightforwardly threw the four who had signed the life-and-death agreement into the lake.

With their dantians sealed, Golden Core cultivators were just ordinary people.

The four Golden Core cultivators struggled a bit in the spiritual lake before sinking.

Zhou Hao and the others turned pale, never imagining that as Golden Core cultivators, they would be drowned alive.

At this moment, Zhang Yang had risen to the level of a demon king in their hearts!

Especially when they saw the four Golden Core cultivators not yet submerged before being swallowed by several huge creatures from the lake, their fear reached its peak, and their previous arrogance vanished.

"You eight, sit quietly by the lake, and no one is allowed to move. In the coming days, just wait silently for the secret realm to open." Zhang Yang instructed the four Golden Core cultivators.

Then, he, Jiang Zhiqiu, and Situ Mingyue hid.

Situ Mingyue, who hadn't seen this scene before, asked, "Senior Brother, why are we hiding?"

"Fishing!" Zhang Yang looked at the lake without blinking, "There are Rainbow Fish in here, and they like to eat cultivators... I managed to catch two with great difficulty, let's see if we can catch another one."

Situ Mingyue widened her eyes at Zhang Yang, thinking this Senior Brother was truly a devil!

However, remembering how this group had cooperated with Tan Yaoguang to attack her, she thought using Tan Yaoguang as bait would be even more fitting.

Qingyunzi, who had been watching all of Zhang Yang's actions, shook his head repeatedly, "No wonder I took this brat as a disciple back then, he really suits my temperament! Our Azurecloud Sect should have a disciple like this to hold the fort."

His gaze turned cold as he looked down the mountain.

Wanling Sect, Langya Sacred Ground... not only did they lure away Azurecloud Sect's disciples, but now they were investigating their secret realm?

Once this secret realm event was over and Azurecloud Sect's affairs were settled, he would have to go out and make his presence known.

He would let the world know that although Azurecloud Sect had few disciples, it was...

In the depths of the spiritual lake, red shadows darted about, their fierce eyes constantly eyeing the fragrant... people on the shore!

They had already lost two brothers and couldn't fall for it again.

But they couldn't resist the temptation.

Especially seeing those eight... people sitting there motionless, they were both angry and tempted, clearly being used as bait!

The red shadows were restless but didn't act.

And Zhang Yang, seeing the time for the secret realm's closure approaching, felt a bit frustrated.

These Rainbow Fish didn't seem stupid; they weren't taking the bait?

Suddenly, the spiritual lake surged with waves, red shadows rising and falling with increasing ferocity.

The Rainbow Fish appeared!

But this time, it wasn't just one or two, but dozens!

The leader, like a colorful dolphin, with fierce eyes, led dozens of Rainbow Fish, creating waves as they rushed towards the people on the shore.

"Holy crap!" Zhang Yang was dumbfounded.

He wanted to fish, but this many at once!

"Senior Brother, quick, they're coming! So many!" Situ Mingyue excitedly pointed at the lake.

"You silly girl, run!" Zhang Yang was speechless, grabbing Situ Mingyue and turning to flee.

A single Rainbow Fish could contend with a Golden Core Realm cultivator, and with so many Rainbow Fish, especially such a large one, staying would be courting death!