Chapter 271: A Good Opportunity to Con Someone
Jiang Chen completely ignored whatever deal Zhou Yi and Iron Dazhi were striking beneath him. His only thought now was to send both of them on their way.
His arrows were about to be loosed with that thought.
A soft call sounded in the air at this moment, “Jiang Chen, hold!”
This voice rumbled and spread through the air like an enormous drum or great bell.
Hmm?
Jiang Chen’s ears twitched as the God’s Eye looked into the distance, he saw a green light shoot out of the empty air and the Lesser Dragon appeared, carrying Ye Chonglou.
If it’d been anyone else, even the king of the Skylaurel Kingdom, Jiang Chen wouldn’t have even creased his brow when landing a killing blow.
Ye Chonglou was the only exception.
Jiang Chen could deny face to anyone within the kingdom, but he had to show the old tutor some face.
He clasped his fingers on the bowstring and he didn’t fire the arrows, but he didn’t put the arrows away either.
The Swordbird army beneath him also held their positions and didn’t relax their guard.
“Lordmaster, what are you doing here?” Jiang Chen hadn’t known that the old tutor had hurried from the sect. He thought that the old man had come from his manor.
The old tutor smiled wryly, “I heard from sources within the sect that the Iron family secretly sent people to the capital to cause some trouble when I wasn’t here. I guessed that they might be coming for you and so I hastened back. I hadn’t thought… ”
The old tutor was also greatly shocked. He’d hurried back because he’d been afraid that something would happen to Jiang Chen.
What hadn’t occurred to him was that nothing would be wrong with Jiang Chen, he wasn’t even in any danger.
The ones that were actually in danger was the so-called genius of the sect, Iron Dazhi!
The old tutor almost didn’t believe his eyes when he saw the scene playing out in front of him.
He knew that Jiang Chen was strong and possessed great potential. But once he truly saw Jiang Chen’s methods, he realized that he’d still underestimated this young man.
Even though he’d given this young man high praise before, it was still an underestimation in the end.
An earth spirit realm genius at the fifth level, a fourth level spirit realm, and a bunch of spirit realm disciples had been forced into desperate circumstances in front of the Jiang manor doors and they could be annihilated at any time!
If he hadn’t seen this with his own eyes, the old tutor would’ve never believed it.
However, seeing was believing.
He suppressed the great waves of shock in his heart and he arrived at the top of the formation. His gaze was remote as he looked at Iron Dazhi and Zhou Yi, trapped like animals within the formation.
Zhou Yi’s face was bitter as he called out weakly, “Lordmaster Ye… ”
“Tsk tsk. And here I thought you sect disciples all had your eyes on the top of your heads and thought nothing of an old man like me. You know of me?”
Zhou Yi knew that the old tutor was being contrary and he said with an even uglier expression, “The honored tutor’s great reputation is known within and outside the sect like thunder piercing our ears.”
“Is that so?” The old tutor snorted slightly. “Thunder piercing your ears? I think not! This old man has once said that I view Jiang Chen as a nephew. Whoever moves against him is acting against me. I’ll bet you didn’t pay any heed to those words at all and treated them like breeze past your ears?”
“We wouldn’t dare… wouldn’t dare at all!” Zhou Yi laughed dryly. “We’ve come to investigate the death of the head of the Northern Palace. We didn’t think that a conflict would arise to this point.”
“So that means I’m faulting you unnecessarily?” The old tutor’s tone grew cold.
“No no, when it comes down to it, we were in the wrong as well. We were too impulsive and we didn’t communicate properly with Jiang Chen.” One had to lower their heads when they were beneath someone else’s roof.
“Coward!” Ye Chonglou’s eyes suddenly widened as he hectored, “How could the vaunted Precious Tree Sect have produced such a coward as you? Do you think I’m senile?! Speaking lies with your eyes wide open? Investigating the death of the Northern Palace head? What a righteous excuse. Don’t think that I don’t know that you made use of the gap in which I visited the sect to come to the capital. You just hadn’t thought that your training was inferior to Jiang Chen’s and you smashed your foot with your own rock.”
Zhou Yi was speechless.
He knew that if he argued any further now, he would only be irritating Ye Chonglou.
He’d been afraid of Ye Chonglou’s appearing before, but now, he faintly felt that perhaps the tutor’s appearance wasn’t a bad thing.
They’d been afraid before because they felt that they were sure to win and so, they wanted to make it a quick battle, avoiding Ye Chonglou’s attentions.
Now that Ye Chonglou had appeared, he felt that there may be a trace of hope in an otherwise hopeless situation instead.
If Ye Chonglou hadn’t told Jiang Chen to stay his hand just now, that arrow would’ve flown and then he and Iron Dazhi would already be dead corpses at the scene.
“Lordmaster, these bastards have no respect for anyone! If we don’t take them down a notch, they’ll become even more arrogant!”
Jiang Chen’s body shot over, the killing intent on his face was completely unabated.
Zhou Yi shivered. He truly was afraid of Jiang Chen at this moment. He was even more afraid that the old tutor would wash his hands of this matter and he would encourage Jiang Chen to destroy them.
“Jiang Chen, it’s easy enough to kill them, but there are too many characters like them in the sects. You wouldn’t be able to kill all of them.”
Ye Chonglou suddenly used his consciousness to carry his words to Jiang Chen, “And now that the great selection is nigh, you’d make the esteemed elder Iron Long of the Precious Tree Sect take action himself if you killed them. I’m not afraid of him, but if you kill his grandson, he will undoubtedly use all the power available to him to suppress you. He may even lay various traps for you in the great selection, making it impossible for you to guard against him!”
Jiang Chen’s brow arched as he responded in the same way, “If I don’t kill Iron Dazhi, the Iron family will still not let me off the hook. That Iron Dazhi possess a scorpion’s mindset. It would be letting the tiger return to the mountain if I let him go.”
“Haha, Jiang Chen, Iron Dazhi and Iron Cai will certainly make trouble for you if you let him go, but at least Iron Long won’t be alarmed. Iron Can and Iron Dazhi have limited power, and they won’t have much authority if they try to set traps for you in the great selection.”
The old tutor privately persuaded him, “Of course, the rise of a genius shouldn’t be hampered by any sort of suppression. You should kill when you should, this is the true meaning of martial dao. However, this old man feels that it would be a prime opportunity if you didn’t kill them.”
“Opportunity?” Jiang Chen started.
“Yes, opportunity. The best opportunity to con a good sum from the Iron family!” The old tutor revealed a trace of a sly smile.
Con?
Jiang Chen’s thoughts raced as he immediately understood the old tutor’s meaning.
A trace of a smile also appeared at Jiang Chen’s lips at that moment. Conning them! That was a good suggestion.
He had been fretting over the sources of his spirit medicine ingredients lately.
Although Iron Dazhi and Zhou Yi were earth spirit realm practitioenrs, with Jiang Chen’s current level of training, he didn’t need to fear their revenge at all in any situations.
He could kill them whenever he wanted to.
If they dared take revenge during the great selection, Jiang Chen had a lot of methods a-plenty to destroy them.
If he killed them now, he’d be satisfied alright, but apart from furiously obtaining revenge, there didn’t seem to be any other gains to this.
Jiang Chen was a practical man. He was indeed tempted when he heard the lordmaster’s suggestion.
That’s right, why not make use of this opportunity to thoroughly swindle the Iron family?
These guys were in his hands, he had more than enough ability to barter with the Iron family with the old tutor at his back. Not to mention, he had sixteen law enforcement disciples on the ground beneath him.
All of them had been injured, but they weren’t not dead.
Since they were still alive, he could ransom all of them.
“Jiang Chen, Iron Long is the first of the esteemed elders, and the Iron family is one of the two largest families in the sect. Their history is illustrious and their foundations are rich, they’ll have a lot of treasure. Don’t be too polite, ask for a king’s ransom. You hold their people hostage and so it’s the Iron family who will be anxious. You’re also in the right this time. Don’t let them go if the family doesn’t agree to your terms. The sect head will also have an excuse to make trouble for the Iron family if this travels up the chain to him.”
The old tutor detailed out the plan of attack in their surreptitious conversation.
Jiang Chen knew a little bit about the internal schemes of the sect, and he knew that the inside of the sect wasn’t quite as unified as it seemed. The two great families, the Xie and the Iron family, had always been covertly and openly fighting each other, controlling almost all of the sect’s resources.
As one of the two great families, the Iron family possessed rich resources and he’d surely be able to swindle a great deal out of them.
“Honored tutor, what place does this Iron Dazhi occupy in Iron Long’s heart?” Jiang Chen asked.
“The direct grandson with extraordinary potential, what do you think his place is? He’s being cultivated on the level of a Iron family’s true disciple!”
A personal disciple was already quite something.
If one was a true disciple, then he would be raised as the heir apparent. Even though there could be more than one, when one made it as a true disciple, he would be one of the most valued pawns.
Jiang Chen knew what to do when he heard these words.
“Alright.” Jiang Chen nodded and called out. “Iron Dazhi, if it wasn’t for the lordmaster’s benevolent heart today, you’d be hard pressed to escape certain death!”
Iron Dazhi’s face was ashen. He never thought that he’d suffer such great humiliation today. He hadn’t died not because those from the sect had come to rescue him, it was because Ye Chonglou had begged for mercy on his behalf!
One had to know that Ye Chonglou was one of the Iron family’s most hated characters!
Snorting, Iron Dazhi laughed coldly in his heart. Ye Chonglou is still afraid of my grandfather, Iron Long. Otherwise, why would he have begged for mercy on my behalf?
He’s afraid of getting caught and blamed for this!
Iron Dazhi smiled coldly when his thoughts travelled here, “Jiang Chen, don’t you put on the ugly face of a victor. It’s not yet determined who’s a victor!”
This fellow was absolutely a cooked duck, a sharp tongue was the only thing tough about him now. He wanted to talk tough after seeing Jiang Chen’s attitude seeming to soften and regain his pride.
Zhou Yi’s face changed when he heard those words. Iron Dazhi you dumb f*ck! Why are you trying to regain face at a time like this?
Indeed, Jiang Chen’s face grew cold and he started laughing coldly. “Not yet determined? Since that is the case, let’s keep fighting until one of us is the only one alive!”
Zhou Yi hastened to call out, “Jiang Chen, we’ve already said that this is a misunderstanding. Let’s not continue fighting?”
Iron Dazhi may have a tough lip, but he wasn’t an idiot. When he saw that Jiang Chen’s attitude hadn’t actually seemed to soften, he didn’t dare speak those useless tough words anymore.
“Misunderstanding?” Jiang Chen smiled faintly. “Zhou Yi, do you think that you can happily gloss things over with just the use of ‘misunderstanding’?”
“Then, what do you want to do?” Zhou Yi’s heart sank. Did Jiang Chen want to keep on fighting?
“You can evade death, but you’ll have to suffer in the future! I’m not a merciless person, but to release you unscathed today, what of my reputation then? You can leave, but you have to pay your ransom!”
“Ransom?” Zhou Yi started. “Jiang Chen, what do you mean by that?”
“You don’t understand?” Jiang Chen’s face chilled. “I don’t care if you really don’t understand or you’re pretending not to understand. I’ll say it one more time. Cough up the ransom if you want to leave. If the items aren’t here within 24 hours, I’ll start killing one person every fifteen minutes until they’re all dead!”
To kill one person every fifteen minutes means that all 18 of them would be dead in four hours!
Zhou Yi panicked. Even the overweeningly arrogant Iron Dazhi’s face darkened with horror.