Chapter 875: Scouting for Information
This was a rather unexpected discovery. Jiang Chen had already burned his bridges with Pillfire City. Whether it was Emperor Pillzenith or Pill King Ji Lang, both of them hated him to the core. It wasn’t just because he had caused the Pillfire City to lose the Longevity Pill, but also because Jiang Chen had shattered Ji Lang’s undefeatable legend. He had slapped Pillfire City’s face and shaken the foundations of the faction’s rule of pill dao. To Pillfire City, this was completely unacceptable. Hence, when Jiang Chen heard that this Lin Yanyu was on bad terms with Pillfire City, his interest in the boy grew even deeper.
However, for now, Jiang Chen kept his silence about these matters. Lin Yanyu didn’t spot anything strange about Jiang Chen. Clearly, when he thought of his father, his emotions became a little heated. He seemed to finally remember his manners as he flushed with embarrassment. “Daoist Huang, I’m sorry. I forgot myself there.”
“Don’t worry. It’s normal to be emotional when thinking about your family.” Jiang Chen paused slightly before asking off-handedly, “If Pillfire City is so invincible, there must be plenty of pill dao geniuses there, no? I wonder if you know how many pill dao geniuses with innate constitutions there are in Pillfire City?”
Lin Yanyu laughed wryly as he replied, “Spirit constitutions are incredibly rare. That kind of genius might appear once in a hundred thousand people. Although they exist in Pillfire City, there aren’t many of them. Daoist Huang, why are you suddenly asking about this?” Lin Yanyu thought this was somewhat strange. “Can it be that you want to meet some pill dao geniuses?”
Jiang Chen nodded his head. “I have a friend who’s contracted a severe illness. Apparently, only pill kings with an innate wood constitution of high order have a slight chance of saving him. But, it’s really not easy to find anyone with such an innate constitution.”
“Innate wood constitution of high order?” Lin Yanyu was startled. Still, he couldn’t help but nod. “Amongst the high-order constitutions, wood and gold are the hardest to find. Fire constitutions are much more common. However, those who can truly attain a first-class fire constitution of high order are also existences as rare as phoenix feathers and dragon scales.”
“Daoist Lin, you’re very experienced with Pillfire City. Do you happen to know any geniuses with an innate wood constitution of high order?”
Lin Yanyu subconsciously shook his head. However, he seemed to immediately think of something as his eyes lit up. He spoke up, “I don’t know anyone with an innate wood constitution of high order, but back when I was in Pillfire City, I heard some news regarding that constitution.”
“Oh? Tell me more,” Jiang Chen’s eyes also glittered with interest. His questions about the innate wood constitution were naturally to scout out news regarding Mu Gaoqi. As for his supposedly ill friend who apparently needed healing, that was just a front.
Lin Yanyu struggled to recall the specifics for a moment before he replied, “I was really cautious during my time in Pillfire City so my network isn’t that big. I only heard someone say that some huge power in Pillfire City bought a bunch of slaves and there was actually someone with a higher order innate wood constitution amongst them. This news caused quite a stir in Pillfire City’s gossip mill.”
“Something like that actually happened?” Jiang Chen’s face was a mask of shock, but waves of great emotion had begun to roil in his heart. This piece of news definitely referred to Mu Gaoqi. There was no doubt about it. Who would have thought that he’d actually unexpectedly hear about Mu Gaoqi in a place like this?
Lin Yanyu sighed, “The world is wide and full of extraordinary mysteries. That influential power definitely has some great luck. Still, too much good luck isn’t necessarily a good thing. If our Lin family hadn’t discovered those hereditary pill recipes, we might have not been wiped out.”
Jiang Chen wasn’t in the mood to listen to Lin Yanyu talk about his family. Instead, he asked, “Just what influential power has such good luck?”
Lin Yanyu replied, “One of Pillfire City’s secret societies. They’re called the Star Harvesters. They’re one of the top powers in Pillfire City.”
“Star Harvesters?” Jiang Chen silently mulled over this name.
“Daoist Huang, you can’t be thinking of going to the Star Harvesters for medical help?” Lin Yanyu asked.
“Is there some sort of problem?”
“It’s immensely difficult. Pillfire City really looks down on external powers. An ordinary person will have to pay a lofty price to ask anything of the citizens of Pillfire City,” Lin Yanyu didn’t conceal anything.
Now that he knew the name of the Star Harvesters, Jiang Chen’s heart had become more tranquil. No matter what, he couldn’t just abandon Mu Gaoqi like that. Wandering around as someone’s slave would be an immense waste of his innate wood constitution of high order. “So how’re they going to use a slave like him?” Jiang Chen wondered out of curiosity.
“It’s difficult to say,” Lin Yanyu thought for a moment. “Pillfire City won’t educate a slave like him of unclear origins. Well, perhaps they’ll groom him into a puppet pill king who specializes in pill refinement. But they won’t give him very many positions, nor will they impart much knowledge to him.”
“Isn’t an innate wood constitution of high order extremely rare?” Jiang Chen frowned.
“It is indeed rare. To the extent that it’s said that there has been none in the history of Pillfire City. But the world of pill dao is more mindful of the issue of inheritance than the world of martial dao. They care a lot about your background and origin. If a genius comes from an uncertain origin, they’d rather lose him than take the risk of passing their legacy to him. Many incidents have occurred in the past where enemy factions dispatch their geniuses to infiltrate other sects and steal their legacies. This kind of thing has happened too many times, so the pill dao world has become extremely guarded. Do you know why my father never received Emperor Pillzenith’s favor back then, and why that Pill King Ji Lang somehow managed to get promoted?”
“Why?” Jiang Chen seemed to have thought of something.
“Simple. It’s because my family is not in the emperor’s line of descent while Pill King Ji Lang is descended directly from the emperor. Although my ancestors were all from Pillfire City, my family often drifted outside the city and established many branch families throughout the human domain. Hence, in terms of background, my family wasn’t as unconditionally reliable as Pill King Ji Lang was,” Lin Yanyu gazed at Jiang Chen with a pained smile. “It’s cruel, isn’t it? Everything about Pillfire City is this cruel.”
Jiang Chen saw that every time Lin Yanyu brought up Pill King Ji Lang, the boy would be seized by some kind of inexplicable hatred. Suddenly, an epiphany occurred to him. “Then, that Pill King Ji Lang wouldn’t happen to be the culprit behind your family’s downfall, would he?”
Lin Yanyu looked slightly taken aback as he stared at Jiang Chen with a hint of surprise. It seemed that even he had been startled by Jiang Chen’s guess. This was clearly the reaction of someone who’d had his thoughts laid out in front of him. “Ugh, Daoist Huang, I’ve really lost control today. I’ve always bore this hatred in my heart without showing it to anyone. I didn’t expect that you’d see through me.” Lin Yanyu’s expression abruptly cooled as he fumed with gritted teeth, “There is only one explanation for the downfall of my Lin family. The root cause wasPill King Ji Lang’s fear of my father’s talent and the threat my father would pose to his future reputation! How could he let an outsider sleep beside his bed? I guess my family is also to blame for discovering this too late. By the time we could react, we were already finished.”
“A mountain cannot be dominated by two tigers,” Jiang Chen also lamented. The father of this Lin Yanyu was comparable in talent to Ji Lang and had even defeated Ji Lang before. This was definitely unacceptable to the future successor of Pillfire City. Every absolute authority always had a small flaw. It was just like a thorn hidden beneath an emperor’s throne, constantly poking at his buttocks. This kind of feeling was naturally unpleasant.
The two chatted for a while longer. Jiang asked a few more questions about Pillfire City but didn’t ask anything excessive lest Lin Yanyu become suspicious. Although Lin Yanyu also sought revenge on Ji Lang, Jiang Chen didn’t want the other to find out his identity this soon.
Just as they were conversing, a flock of wandering cultivators hurried one after another to their location from every direction. The number of people hurrying to them continued to rise exponentially. When Jiang Chen had first arrived, there were only a few hundred people. After a few hours had passed, that number had already ballooned to over a thousand. From his position, he could see at least a few thousand people waiting for the opening of that gap. This was definitely a bit too many people.
The increase in number of people signalled an increase in his number of conflicts. As latecomers continued to take a fancy to this particular territory, countless struggles erupted. Nonetheless, these disputes were of no concern to Jiang Chen. The moment he’d arrived, he had battled the Ghost Cave Five and then the Six Wolves of Sparrow Mountain. His grisly reputation had already spread. Moreover, any discerning person would likely dismiss the spot he was standing on. Conversely, upon seeing that Jiang Chen was not chasing him away, Lin Yanyu sat down in the former’s territory instead of leaving.
When he saw Jiang Chen’s calm and collected appearance, Lin Yanyu’s thoughts were also a little complicated. This Daoist Huang looked so tyrannical but after they’d spoken, Lin Yanyu could vaguely feel that he wasn’t that sort of muscle-headed fool. However, if this Daoist Huang truly possessed insight, he should be able to see what the problem with this territory was. Not to mention that Lin Yanyu had already warned him.
At that moment, Lin Yanyu’s was feeling extremely conflicted. When he saw that even the Wolves of Sparrow Mountain feared Jiang Chen, he very much wanted to walk the same path as Jiang Chen. Internally, he had already vaguely considered himself to be Jiang Chen’s partner. If it was like that, then he naturally wanted to give Jiang Chen some advice. But when he gazed at Jiang Chen’s aloof exterior, he felt somewhat uncertain. “Daoist Huang, this territory directly faces the gap. Everyone will be vying for this spot. It’s really dangerous. If you’ll listen to me…”
Jiang Chen chuckled, “I think this is a pretty good spot.”
In Jiang Chen’s smile, Lin Yanyu could see that the other had a card up his sleeve. He was momentarily speechless and spoke again after a brief moment. “Has Daoist Huang observed anything about that alliance?”
Jiang Chen nodded. “The atmosphere is a little strange. We will act with discretion.”
Jiang Chen had realized that this Lin Yanyu hoped to rely on him and for the two of them to be tied together. Perhaps to Lin Yanyu, his strength was enough to carry the boy through this ordeal? If it was anyone else, Jiang Chen would definitely have refused. However, this Lin Yanyu came from Pillfire City. His origins were rather unique. Moreover, he held a grudge against Ji Lang. Jiang Chen was a little intrigued by this person. As the two of them spoke, Jiang Chen’s expression suddenly darkened. He quickly stood up and walked towards his right.
There was a short, hunchbacked old man taking some unknown action in the direction he was looking in. “Friend, have you wandered into the wrong place?” This was his territory. Naturally, Jiang Chen would not allow anyone to misbehave in his territory. What was more, his intuition was telling him that whatever this hunchbacked old man was doing, it wasn’t anything good.