About a quarter of an hour later, the people who had supposedly gone to the heavy prison to fetch the prisoner still hadn't sent back any word. Long Xiaoxuan was the first to lose his patience.
"Hey, Ke, this young master doesn't have that kind of patience. Give you another half-quarter. If you haven't brought anyone by then, don't blame us for getting unpleasant."
Elder Ke maintained that same cryptic smile, chuckling. "Relax, they'll definitely come. On that point, this old man can guarantee it."
Long Xiaoxuan snorted but said nothing more. From his expression, though, it was clear he was secretly hoping the prisoner wouldn't arrive — that way he'd get a proper fight.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and the group sent to the heavy prison finally returned. They whispered a few coded words into Elder Ke's ear.
Jiang Chen heard every syllable clearly, but he had no idea what the code meant.
"Where is he?" Jiang Chen asked, his voice low.
Elder Ke burst into hearty laughter. "Apologies, but the person is no longer in our custody. If you want to ask about him, go ask the Moon God Sect."
"You're playing me?" Jiang Chen, remarkably, did not lose his temper. He asked in a perfectly calm tone.
Elder Ke laughed without restraint. "That's right — I am playing you! Who do you think you are? You beat people up right outside our Falling Sky Society's door, and then you have the audacity to come talk trade with me?"
Liu Zhen's face turned green as the realization hit him. So Elder Ke had been about to explode in rage earlier, only to suddenly change his tune the moment he spotted Liu Zhen — because he wanted to swindle those five hundred million Saint Spirit Stones right out of his hands first?
Jiang Chen nodded lightly and glanced at Liu Zhen. "Liu Zhen, there's nothing more for you here. Step aside for now."
Liu Zhen stammered, staring at Jiang Chen in shock. He was clearly still agonizing over his five hundred million Saint Spirit Stones.
"Rest easy. Whatever he swallowed, I guarantee every last bit will be coughed back up — returned to you exactly as it was. As long as your companion is still alive, I'll make sure they hand him back too!"
Jiang Chen was not just boasting.
At least, that was how it seemed to Elder Ke — who clearly found this the biggest joke he had ever heard.
"Kid, I think you've gone mad. The Falling Sky Society has never had a habit of spitting out anything it's swallowed! Besides, that accomplice of his violated our rules. He deserved to die! Forget five hundred million Saint Spirit Stones — even a billion, two billion, wouldn't be enough to buy off his crime!" Elder Ke declared smugly.
"Elder Ke, I don't know where you get all that confidence, but there's something I should mention. I actually knew from the start you wouldn't hand anyone over. That five hundred million was just something I deliberately let him give you." Jiang Chen smiled faintly.
Elder Ke froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. "Kid, you think I'll believe that just because you say so? You're only saying that to make yourself feel better! Hahaha…"
Jiang Chen regarded Elder Ke with the look one might give an idiot. "If you hadn't embezzled our spirit stones, how would we have found a proper excuse to turn hostile?"
The moment these words came out, forget Elder Ke — even the Peerless Great Emperor was momentarily stunned, and Long Xiaoxuan stared at Jiang Chen with open astonishment.
They could all see it now. This guy really hadn't been joking.
Long Xiaoxuan couldn't help but laugh. "Ah, so that's why you were suddenly in such a good mood. Turns out you're even more scheming than I am."
Long Xiaoxuan's way of picking fights was far too crude. Jiang Chen's method, by contrast, carried far more technical sophistication. When you're looking to cause trouble, having a legitimate pretext is incredibly important.
No matter how big things blew up afterward, the party with the excuse would always hold the advantage.
Elder Ke's triumphant expression froze in an instant. He realized he had actually been outmaneuvered.
Even though Elder Ke believed the Falling Sky Society wouldn't care one bit about this sort of scheming, the fact that he had been beaten at his own game was deeply embarrassing.
Elder Ke flew into a rage. "Get them! Destroy them!"
Jiang Chen chuckled. "Brother Mo, it's not that we're bullying anyone — they're the ones bullying us."
The Peerless Great Emperor was never one for a mild temper to begin with. Seeing the Falling Sky Society behave so shamelessly — unjustly detaining Liu Zhen's companion, taking the ransom and still refusing to release him — only stoked his fury.
Most importantly, the Peerless Great Emperor was now essentially following Jiang Chen's lead.
If Jiang Chen said it was time to blow things up, then the bigger the better.
If the Peerless Great Emperor were to unleash his full power, there would be virtually no room for Jiang Chen or Long Xiaoxuan to contribute. But this time the Peerless Great Emperor was remarkably restrained, merely locking his gaze calmly onto Elder Ke.
As for everyone else, he didn't even glance their way.
Because he could tell that against Long Xiaoxuan and Jiang Chen, the others wouldn't stand a chance — even if they attacked as a group.
Both Jiang Chen and Long Xiaoxuan were monstrous geniuses capable of challenging opponents far above their own level.
Elder Ke had initially felt assured of victory, but suddenly a shiver ran through his entire body. When he realized that a single look from the Peerless Great Emperor had pinned him in place, unable to move, he panicked completely.
It wasn't that the look was some kind of immobilizing spell — it was that the unfathomable power contained within that gaze nearly shattered his spiritual consciousness on the spot.