Standing in front of him was a tall and slender woman with a beautiful appearance, her temperament was gentle and soft-spoken. She had her hands crossed over her chest and spoke in a low voice, without any hint of arrogance or aggression. She said calmly: "Zheng brother, I am from a different sect and do not dare to associate with you as if we were from the same school. Although my master passed away, it was not without reason. Before he entered extinction, there were three of us, including me, who stood by his side and heard his final words. He ordered Qin, my fellow disciple, to take over as the new sect leader. This is not just something I witnessed alone, another fellow disciple also heard it. Now that our master's body has just been laid to rest and his bones are still warm, you all want to come and seize power so hastily, isn't this a bit too rushed?"

  Although her tone was calm, the words were sharp as a knife, making Zheng Shixiong's face look quite ugly. At this time, a young man standing behind him spoke up: "According to the old rules passed down by our ancestors, when an elder of the sect passes away and there is no Yuan Ying cultivator present, it is permissible for the sect leader to temporarily take their place. This is a rule that has been passed down for ten thousand years in the Jiuhua Xian Sect. Are you all thinking of changing this?"

  Behind the woman, a burst of laughter came: "You also say that it's been passed down for generations, I don't know how many years of rules, at that time which sect didn't have two or three Yuan Ying cultivators holding down the fort, it was embarrassing to come out and greet people. Now can you compare with that time? If so, then Zheng Shixiong's Tianyan Sect also doesn't have any seniors, do you want me to bring a group of people over in a couple of days to help you take some seats?"

  As he spoke, a man emerged from behind the woman. He was tall and slender, about half a head taller than the woman, who was already quite tall. His face was pale and clean, and he held a small knife in his hand, trimming his fingernails with an air of disdain on his face.

  That man angrily said: "Wang Shi'er, don't be so presumptuous!"

  The leading senior brother, Zheng Zhuang, waved his hand to stop the quarrel of his junior brothers behind him and said: "You all, I won't engage in a war of words with you. What Yuan Shidi just said is just a measure proposed by our ancestral master when he founded the sect to avoid disputes among various factions, hoping that disciples of various sects could help and love each other. It's not a big deal. However, there is a rule in our school that has been written into the Jade Book for many years without any change: whoever takes over as the head of the sect must go to the ancestral temple within a limited time, inherit the legacy, and receive the teachings of the ancestors. Qin Chuan left for a year and hasn't returned yet, not even leaving a message. If he really fell outside, then it would be 'lost trust'. According to reason, it should be decided by the remaining eight factions."

  A woman with the surname Lin smiled lightly, a hint of sarcasm at the corner of her mouth: "Mutual assistance and love? Hehe, I wonder if our ancestors' spirits are aware, seeing how you all behave today, what would they think?"

  Behind Zheng Zhong, someone shouted loudly: "Qin Chuan has gone far away to other places. Perhaps he knows that his actions are wrong and does not dare to take the position of the leader, so he can only hide. If he doesn't come back in ten or a hundred years, should we wait for ten or a hundred years?"

  The woman's face turned cold, and she said lightly: "Qin Shidi succeeded to the position, it was our master who personally stated before entering extinction, and there were also me and Wang Shidi as witnesses. In Xiaoyanzhou Daochang, he got the position by participating in the ceremony of worshiping the ancestors, even if it took ten or a hundred years, that would still be the internal affairs of the Taihua sect itself, what does it have to do with you?"

  Zheng Ting coldly smiled and said: "You may say so, but he never went to Jiuhua Mountain to pay his respects. His ascension is not legitimate. In the future, he will also be unable to represent the Taihua sect, and none of the Kunwu factions will recognize him."

  The woman coldly said: "When to pay respects, that is also the matter of my Taohua clan, no need for Tianyuan Sect to worry about it. You keep saying it's the elder's order, then please bring out one or two elders or a written decree to take a look. If not, then please leave!" After speaking, she swept her long sleeve and turned around to walk away.

  Zheng Zhong was about to speak, when one of his disciples hastily approached him from behind and whispered a few words in his ear. Zheng Zhong's face suddenly changed, and he asked in a hoarse voice: "When did this happen?"

  "That disciple said: 'About an hour ago.'"

  Zheng Zhuang said: "Where is everyone now?"

  "Disciple said: 'He has already escaped, and that younger brother of yours was also injured.'"

  "Useless thing! Something like this happens and you don't cut it off right away. Such a big matter, and you let a novice disciple get involved in it?"

  His eyebrows furrowed, "You'd better ask clearly..."

  The disciple said: "The person who came was a woman and didn't mention that man's name, but judging from the description, it should be him."

  Zheng Zhong said in a low voice, "Pass down the order, all disciples guarding various places must work together to find her. It's best to capture her and bring her back to the mountain, absolutely cannot let her enter Yingzhou!"

  His words were not yet finished, when his face suddenly showed a strange color, and he took out a jade pendant from his bag. A smile appeared on his face: "Indeed, you are a reckless guy, daring to wander around in the Hidden Dragon Marsh, even if you have a treasure to protect yourself, it's..."

  He suddenly changed his expression: "She can actually break through 'Decisive Obstruction', and rush to this place?"

  The woman who had already turned to leave suddenly stopped in her tracks, her white earlobe trembling slightly before she quickened her pace and disappeared into the distance.

  Mo Zi Chen didn't expect that Bai Jiezi's actions, which were meant to save trouble, would bring her a moderate amount of trouble. After taking out the spiritual symbol, it seemed like she had found the right path and was no longer wandering around in confusion. However, she still couldn't escape the swamp. Feeling somewhat disheartened, she sat down on a wooden stump to rest. Suddenly, an idea struck her: Yu Wei had once said that this symbol could deal with ordinary illusion arrays, but if it was a highly skilled array, it could disturb the spiritual energy's direction within the array, rendering the symbol ineffective. Just like what happened at the ancient tomb entrance earlier, where even Golden Dan period cultivators couldn't see through the obstacle. Yet she herself had unknowingly walked right in.

  Thinking of this, she was overjoyed, secretly mobilizing her spiritual energy, the jade pendant emitted a faint glow, enveloping her, and with the spiritual symbol in hand, she continued on her way.

  This time, it was indeed different from before. The scenes in front of her seemed to have become exceptionally clear, and sometimes when she was facing a thicket of bushes, she could still find a way through the gaps, she found a thick branch, cut off the leaves on top, made a wooden stick, drove away the surrounding insects, and walked slowly.

  She didn't know that this Xuanzhou sacred mountain was one of the top two sacred places within a radius of ten thousand miles, where the spiritual energy of heaven and earth converged. The protective array around the mountain would only let people wander in circles inside, and if they had no evil intentions, it would eventually escort them out. Although Zheng Zhuang's Tianyan Sect had sent someone to guard the place, they were only guarding the entrance to Xuanzhou. With her spiritual symbol in hand, she could have walked out after wasting some time. But now, by using her jade pendant as a tool, she was forcing open the gap between the arrays, completely changing direction and heading towards the inside of the array instead, going completely astray.