Lin Yanyu harbored a bone-deep hatred toward Pill Fire City. Simply because his family had inadvertently come into possession of an ancestral heaven-grade pill recipe passed down through generations, they had been struck by a catastrophic calamity.
All of that enmity was, naturally, impossible to erase from Lin Yanyu's heart.
The seed of hatred sown in his childhood had been burning for so many years now. One could well imagine how fiercely the flames of vengeance raged.
"How do you think we should dig into this reasonably?" Jiang Chen smiled, partly with the intention of testing Lin Yanyu.
Lin Yanyu pondered for a moment before sighing. "The most satisfying way to dig would be for Master to reveal his identity openly and march straight into Pill Fire City to challenge them head-on. That method is the most direct and domineering. However, this disciple feels that while such an approach would certainly be cathartic and certainly look impressive, the risk is far too great. Pill Fire City stops at nothing. If Master were to challenge them in that manner, it would be extremely difficult to extricate yourself afterward. Unless…"
"Unless what?" Jiang Chen asked with an amused smile.
"Unless His Majesty the Peacock Emperor personally accompanied you. With the Peacock Emperor backing you up, even Pill Fire City wouldn't be able to do a thing."
Jiang Chen shook his head. "His Majesty has countless affairs to attend to and far more important matters to handle. He naturally cannot tag along with me to do something so childish."
Challenging a rival establishment and smashing up their turf was absolutely the most satisfying approach, but it was also the quickest way to make enemies. If Jiang Chen were all on his own, it wouldn't really matter.
However, this trip was meant to rescue Mu Gaoqi from his suffering, and using the method of smashing up their turf would undoubtedly bring nothing but trouble upon himself.
Therefore, Jiang Chen would certainly not choose this approach.
Lin Yanyu nodded and continued, "I also feel this method is inappropriate. If brute force won't work, then we'll have to outsmart them. And if we're going to outsmart them — Master, you have so many tricks up your sleeve. Once we arrive at Pill Fire City, we can play it by ear. I believe the chances of success would be quite high."
"Mm, play it by ear — those four words say it all. But before that, I need to ask you about some things regarding Pill Fire City."
Lin Yanyu said, "When it comes to Pill Fire City, I'm the most knowledgeable there is."
On this point, Jiang Chen didn't doubt that Lin Yanyu was exaggerating or bragging. Setting aside the fact that Lin Yanyu himself came from one of Pill Fire City's traditional powerhouse families — Even if he hadn't been born into such a family, given his deep-seated hatred for Pill Fire City, he would surely have done everything in his power to gather every scrap of intelligence about it.
Therefore, turning to Lin Yanyu for information about Pill Fire City was actually a very wise choice.
Sure enough, Lin Yanyu's knowledge of Pill Fire City was remarkably extensive and detailed. He spoke at great length about the city's power structure, its key figures, and some of the more formidable factions, laying it all out in a thorough and well-organized manner.
Lin Yanyu's family had once been a truly remarkable existence in Pill Fire City — comparable to a ninth-tier noble house like the Wei family.
The Lin family was an apex force in Pill Fire City.
Only the Emperor-level powers or great clan-level forces exceeded them.
However, the great clans in Pill Fire City were more widely distributed. Therefore, the Lin family's renown and depth of resources in Pill Fire City were actually higher and deeper than the Wei family's in the Glazed Prince City.
"First, tell me about the force that bought that Innate Wood Spirit Body. What tier are they?" Jiang Chen was more concerned with the specific details.
"That force... is called the Plucking Stars Gang. They are absolutely considered a first-tier force in Pill Fire City. Even back in my Lin family's time, we would not have easily offended the Plucking Stars Gang. While the Plucking Stars Gang's foundational resources might not necessarily surpass my Lin family's, their strength and influence in Pill Fire City could very well be above ours."
"Oh? So what exactly is this Plucking Stars Gang?"
"The Plucking Stars Gang is a gang, which is quite similar in meaning to a sect. However, their organization is looser than a sect's, and their members are more varied. At the same time, the scope of their actions is definitely more unscrupulous than a sect's. It's said they've committed no shortage of heinous deeds."
A gang and a sect were similar in nature, but a gang's structure wasn't as rigid as a sect's. A sect often had a core legacy power.
Most sect members revolved around this core legacy. A gang was different. Gang members didn't necessarily share a legacy bond. Their relationships were more "jianghu" in style, emphasizing camaraderie and the maintenance of mutual benefit.
The existence of gangs mostly flew the banner of "camaraderie" while engaging in the sharing or even carving up of profits.
Generally speaking, gang members shared common interests.
It was precisely this bond of mutual interest that held a gang tightly together. Many times, in pursuit of shared gains, a gang's forces could actually unleash a fighting power even more formidable than that of a sect.
Of course, the scheming and infighting found within sects existed inside gangs as well.
However, all things considered, dealing with a gang was more convenient than dealing with a sect. Many sect members looked down on everyone else from on high—they were often oblivious to worldly matters and extremely difficult to approach.
Gang members were different. They had been grinding away in the secular world all their lives. They knew the ins and outs of human relations like the back of their hand, and they were equally shrewd when it came to the ways of the marketplace.
Between the two sides, it was even possible to lay everything out on the table and negotiate freely.
In fact, if you had enough money, you could buy a genius right out of a gang.
But try to buy a sect's genius with money, and people would think you had lost your mind.