Jiang Chen hadn't been dismissive when Miss Keke came representing the Star Plucking Society. At the very least, it showed that the Society took him seriously as a potential client.
Regardless of whatever hidden agenda the Star Plucking Society might harbor, as long as they remained interested in him, Jiang Chen felt the game was still worth playing.
After seeing Miss Keke off, Jiang Chen wasn't in a hurry. He knew that since the Star Plucking Society valued Mu Gaoqi so highly, whatever his next move might be, he would need to plan ahead and act only once the plan was set.
If he was going to strike, it had to be a single, decisive blow.
Otherwise, one misstep would ruin everything and put the Star Plucking Society on guard.
That was why Jiang Chen hadn't refused to negotiate with Miss Keke — his stance was ambiguous but not outright rejection, keeping things in a state of limbo.
On the other hand, Jiang Chen intended to follow Lin Yanyu's advice and infiltrate the Star Plucking Society from within.
Penetrating a gang like the Star Plucking Society was no easy task. But in this world, there was no wall without a crack and no fortress that couldn't be breached.
Even the most tightly organized sects had been infiltrated by moles. Back in the Myriad Domains, for instance, each of the six great sects had spies planted inside them. The Three Star Sect had even been nothing more than a puppet sect propped up by the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect.
So infiltrating a gang like the Star Plucking Society was certainly possible. But possibility alone wasn't enough — a meticulous plan was required.
A rescue operation, once exposed, would never get a second chance.
Jiang Chen had Lin Yanyu leverage his local connections to continue gathering intelligence on the Star Plucking Society.
However, three or four days later, Jiang Chen received some unexpected news.
"Master, I just learned through underground channels that the Star Plucking Society plans to publicly auction off Master Mu after the Bounty Arena."
The intelligence Lin Yanyu brought back was startling, and it caught Jiang Chen completely off guard.
The Star Plucking Society had finally shown its true colors — revealing its greedy face for all to see. Auctioning off an alchemy genius like a piece of merchandise was, for any major organization, an extremely shameful thing to do.
"Hmph, so the Star Plucking Society really would rather have money than save face," Jiang Chen remarked with a note of sarcasm.
Lin Yanyu, however, held a different view. "Master, actually, from what I've observed, it's not that the Society is truly that desperate to possess talent. If you look at it from a long-term perspective, cultivating Master Mu and allowing him to reach his full potential would undoubtedly yield far greater value."
There was real logic in those words. At this stage, auctioning Mu Gaoqi was certainly not at peak value, nor could it maximize returns.
For the Star Plucking Society, this was unquestionably not a smart business decision. Jiang Chen had always assumed they were simply impatient — unwilling to play the long game and content to make a quick profit.
"Yanyu, the way you put it — is there some other reason behind this?"
"Master, the situation in Pill Fire City is quite different from Liuli Royal City. In Liuli Royal City, the order of things is relatively more regulated. The various factions compete with each other, and there are certainly all manner of scheming and feuds, but by and large, people still observe the rules. Pill Fire City is different. It's more pragmatic, more primal. The law of the jungle rules here — the strong devour the weak."
Lin Yanyu's voice grew bitter as he continued. "My family's fate is proof enough. Sometimes, suddenly coming into possession of something valuable isn't necessarily a blessing. An innocent man is guilty when he possesses a treasure beyond his power to protect. If my Lin family hadn't discovered that ancient alchemy recipe, and if my father's alchemical talent hadn't put certain people on edge, my family would never have suffered catastrophic ruin out of nowhere."
Lin Yanyu's tone was laced with resentment. Clearly, this painful episode in his past had filled him with deep dissatisfaction toward Pill Fire City's rules.
"Are you saying that by possessing Master Mu, the Star Plucking Society has already attracted unwanted pressure?" Jiang Chen asked, his expression shifting.
"I can't say for certain, but based on my assessment of the recent situation in Pill Fire City, it's very likely," Lin Yanyu analyzed calmly. "The Star Plucking Society is definitely a first-rate force in Pill Fire City, but they're not quite a top-tier power, let alone a supreme one. It seems Master Mu's alchemical talent has exceeded what the Society can realistically protect. The general consensus in Pill Fire City now is that the Star Plucking Society is no longer worthy of possessing Master Mu."
The tale of a man destroyed by the treasure he carries was an old story in this world — one that played out every single day.
Take the Myriad Domains, for example. They hadn't even been guilty of hoarding treasure. Merely because the Imperishable Heavenly Capital and the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect suspected that Emperor Flying Feather's ancient Heavenly Throne Legacy had been lost somewhere in the Myriad Domains, they had spared no effort in scheming there — going so far as to launch a full invasion and bring catastrophic ruin upon the entire region.
When a weak faction possessed treasures far beyond its strength to protect, the inevitable consequence was annihilation.
So Jiang Chen could understand the pressure the Star Plucking Society was facing.
Mu Gaoqi might not be the rarest wood-attribute alchemy genius in all of history, but he was certainly an exceedingly uncommon find.
Calling him a once-in-a-millennium talent was no exaggeration.
Innate constitutions weren't nonexistent. In the Upper Eight Domains, while they weren't common, they did exist. Every first-rank sect had a handful at most.
But an Innate Wood Spirit Body was far rarer.
And one that reached superior-grade quality was truly as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.