Lin Yanyu's competence in handling matters was indeed impressive.
Even though he had only been back in Danhuo City for just over half a month, the intelligence he had gathered was remarkably thorough. After his introduction, Jiang Chen had a rough idea of the situation.
"Young Master, the Star-Picking Gang is aware that all parties are watching the slave with the innate wood spirit body. Therefore, they are guarding him very well, and he remains very mysterious. Few people in all of Danhuo City have actually seen this slave with the innate wood spirit body."
"Thus, seizing him by force is extremely difficult, with virtually no chance of success."
"As for purchasing him... looking at the Star-Picking Gang's attitude of treating him as a rare commodity to be held for a high price, that possibility also seems slim."
"Treated as a rare commodity?" Jiang Chen smiled. "If they're treating him as a rare commodity, that means purchase is still possible. Rare commodity is just a commodity. It shows they still view this wood spirit body talent as merchandise. It's just that they are waiting to sell him to the highest bidder."
The Star-Picking Gang, after all, was just a gang, not a sect.
Gangs prioritized profit. Their hype was merely to drive up the price, waiting to sell at the right moment.
Put bluntly, they wanted to create sky-high demand and then flip him.
Although Jiang Chen didn't know the Star-Picking Gang well, the various details Lin Yanyu had investigated clearly showed that the gang was definitely hyping up and speculating.
However, Jiang Chen also knew the Star-Picking Gang was being very successful in this. By driving up the price and drawing attention from all sides, forces that truly valued talent would naturally compete fiercely.
The fiercer the competition, the greater the profit for the Star-Picking Gang.
"Young Master, you mean... we can make a move to purchase him?" Lin Yanyu asked in surprise.
Jiang Chen smiled but shook his head. "We won't be purchasing. In terms of wealth, I'm not afraid to compete, but this is Danhuo City. It's unwise to flaunt one's riches. Furthermore, even if I win a bidding war, whether I could openly take the innate wood spirit body out of Danhuo City is still uncertain."
The vast Danhuo City would absolutely not permit an outsider to take away a pill dao genius from their city.
Even with limitless wealth, one couldn't simply buy and walk away with a pill dao genius from Danhuo City.
Although Mu Gaoqi actually had no connection to Danhuo City, since the Star-Picking Gang had bought him, the city would dominantly claim him as their own genius.
Even if this genius was just a slave, they would never allow outsiders to lay a hand on him.
This was Danhuo City's usual style of operation. They would absolutely not allow any factor that could undermine their solitary dominance. Whenever something appeared, they would obstruct it and try every means to destroy it.
Just like the Ten Thousand Beast Pill back then—they had tried every method to take it for themselves. When that failed, they even went to Glazed Tile City to provoke the Peacock Sacred Mountain.
Another example was Lin Yanyu's family, who had accidentally discovered an ancient pill recipe. Once the news leaked, it didn't bring glory to the Lin family but instead pushed them into the abyss of complete destruction.
There was only one reason: someone more powerful in Danhuo City had taken a fancy to the Lin family's ancient pill recipe.
Danhuo City operated by only one rule: all benefits must serve the supreme interests of Danhuo City.
Those who represented the supreme interests of Danhuo City were naturally the top forces. Like the Pill Emperor, a supreme figure.
"Yanyu, is there any way to get close to this Star-Picking Gang?"
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Chen asked.
"That's actually simple. The Star-Picking Gang has many pill shops in Danhuo City. The largest one is called Stardust Hall, which deals exclusively in high-end pill business. It's considered a very high-end establishment in Danhuo City. Recently, many of the pill products from that innate wood spirit body pill genius have appeared in Stardust Hall. It's probably a deliberate display by the Star-Picking Gang."
"Oh? Where is this Stardust Hall?" Jiang Chen asked with curiosity.
Lin Yanyu took out a map. "Young Master, this is a map of Danhuo City. Stardust Hall's location is quite prominent and easy to find. The Star-Picking Gang's headquarters is also nearby. In that area, the Star-Picking Gang holds significant influence. They are different from other forces. Other forces mostly handle family businesses. The Star-Picking Gang deals heavily with independent cultivators and other gangs. Therefore, their business scale is very large."
The Star-Picking Gang's status, compared to the Wei family's position in Glazed Tile City, was naturally slightly higher, but at most it was equivalent to an ordinary great clan in Glazed Tile City.
It could be considered first-class, but definitely not among the very top tier.
Just like in Glazed Tile City, the emperor-level forces in Danhuo City rarely involved themselves in worldly disputes. However, the emperor-level forces in Danhuo City interfered more with the secular world than their counterparts in Glazed Tile City.
Most importantly, the emperor-level forces in Danhuo City maintained a stricter control over secular matters.
Jiang Chen took the map and told Lin Yanyu, "Yanyu, continue your investigation. I'm going to Stardust Hall."
Jiang Chen memorized the map of Danhuo City's main city, and upon leaving, he oriented himself and pinpointed the location of the Star-Picking Gang's headquarters.
Two quarters of an hour later, Jiang Chen arrived at Stardust Hall.
Entering Stardust Hall, Jiang Chen immediately sensed rich auras of spiritual medicine assaulting his nostrils. The medicinal scents were incredibly potent, allowing anyone who entered to instantly realize the exceptional quality of the pills sold here.
The specifications of Stardust Hall were obviously extremely high. Counters were arranged in orderly, intricate patterns. The counters were made from a superior transparent crystalline material, giving them a very high-end appearance.
Various spiritual medicines, categorized by different grades, were also arranged in perfect order.