The reason Jiang Chen had sent his companions south was that the group coming from that direction was relatively weaker in terms of presence, with no fierce half-step Spirit Realm expert like Senior Brother Yi leading them.
Going south might be their only sliver of a chance.
Where exactly south would take them, and whether they might stumble into someone else's forbidden territory, was something Jiang Chen couldn't afford to worry about at this point.
Fortunately, his people were well-trained. The moment they heard Jiang Chen's call, they didn't hesitate — they immediately soared off toward the south.
Jiang Chen pushed his Wind-listening Ear to its peak state, listening in every direction. Information from all sides continuously funneled into his mind through his ears.
Including Senior Brother Yi's group, there were a total of five parties closing in.
One from the east, one from the west, one from the northeast, and one from the northwest.
The fifth group was approaching from the south and would soon collide head-on with Gouyu and the others.
Of these five groups, the southern one was the weakest. The strongest individual among them was roughly on par with Gouyu at best — nothing to be feared.
Jiang Chen's only hope now was that Gouyu and the others could break through the southern group's blockade. Once they punched through, they would escape the encirclement and leave the Qianlan Northern Palace's territory.
Of course, among these five groups, the one led by Senior Brother Yi coming from the east had already lost virtually all combat effectiveness.
As the Golden-Winged Sword Birds repositioned, Jiang Chen suddenly halted. The spot he had chosen was the result of careful calculation — it sat at a relatively central position.
By holding this location, any group that wanted to pass through would have to go through him first.
As long as he could pin them down for a while and give Gouyu and the others time to break out, these people would find it far from easy to catch up with the Sword Birds' explosive short-range speed.
Still, Jiang Chen felt a twinge of regret. If he had known it would come to this, he should have sent Ye Rong to have someone meet them at the border.
He had refused Ye Rong's suggestion because he wanted to observe and learn about the customs of the Tiangui Kingdom on his own.
Moreover, he had figured that as long as he didn't stir up trouble, there would be no need for an escort.
Who could have guessed that the martial culture in the Tiangui Kingdom was even more brutal than in the Eastern Kingdom — people would kill you and rob you at the drop of a hat.
"If I had known this, I should have dropped the low profile altogether! I could have brought a thousand Golden-Winged Sword Birds and simply steamrolled these bandits!" Jiang Chen muttered in frustration.
But he also knew this was nothing more than wishful thinking. Bringing a thousand Sword Birds would create far too conspicuous a spectacle.
It might invite even greater trouble and draw experts far more powerful than the lot currently surrounding him.
In just a few moments, the various groups arrived. Seeing Jiang Chen sitting alone on his mount, hovering in the open sky, they all looked somewhat puzzled.
What was going on? This kid wasn't running, wasn't fleeing? He was putting on an air of facing a crowd of enemies single-handedly? Could it be that he actually intended to take on all four groups by himself?
At that moment, Senior Brother Yi had switched to a new mount and was staring at Jiang Chen with sinister eyes, his gaze dripping with killing intent.
But he knew that on his own, he, Yi, couldn't kill this young man who possessed a fourth-refinement spirit weapon.
"Yi Qiansui, what's this kid's background? Have you figured anything out?" asked a narrow-eyed young man from another group with a cold smirk.
"Hmph, what background? Why don't you ask him yourself?" Yi Qiansui snapped. Failing to gain any advantage in front of Jiang Chen had made him lose a great deal of face.
"Tsk, tsk. You're supposed to be a half-step Spirit Realm cultivator, and yet you ended up in such a sorry state. You're really embarrassing the rest of us half-step Spirit Realm folks," the narrow-eyed youth mocked.
"Oh, you're so capable? Go try it yourself, then!" Yi Qiansui sneered.
The leaders of these four groups were all half-step Spirit Realm experts, and none of them was significantly stronger than the others. Since Yi Qiansui had already been bested by Jiang Chen, he wouldn't mind letting the others have a go.
For all he knew, these fools might be caught off guard and end up looking even worse than he had!
"Fine, I'll try. You think I'm like you — a useless waste?" The narrow-eyed young man urged his mount forward with a swagger.
Those eerie, triangular eyes sized up Jiang Chen like a venomous snake.
"Kid, I'm almost impressed by your nerve. But drop the act — in front of us Spirit Realm cultivators, there's no point playing tough. What's pulsing through your body is True Qi. It's not even in the same league as our spirit energy."
"Another one who can only run his mouth?" Jiang Chen scoffed coldly.
"Oh? Kid, you've got some attitude, don't you! Could it be that a mere True Qi Realm martial artist thinks he can pull off some kind of one-man-stands-against-ten-thousand charade?" The narrow-eyed youth toyed with Jiang Chen as if teasing prey.
However, his bluster wasn't pure posturing. He was trying to gauge Jiang Chen's reactions through conversation, probing for weaknesses with subtle jabs.
After this exchange, the narrow-eyed youth dropped his earlier contempt. A chill crept through his heart. No wonder even Yi Qiansui had been made to suffer a setback.
This kid, facing four half-step Spirit Realm cultivators, hadn't shown the slightest emotional fluctuation.
Ordinarily, a True Qi Realm expert would instinctively feel some panic, some fear, or even an uncontrollable urge to flee when confronted with Spirit Realm cultivators.
But the narrow-eyed youth couldn't detect even a hint of that in Jiang Chen.
"This kid has definitely trained his mental fortitude. Otherwise, there's no way he could be this composed." The thought had barely crossed his mind when a sword materialized in his hand.
"Friends, I'll play with him. We have a deal — if I take this kid down, everything on him is mine!" The narrow-eyed youth declared with an overbearing tone.
"In your dreams!" the other three half-step Spirit Realm experts shouted in unison.
The narrow-eyed youth flew into a rage: "I'm going in first, and you lot want to reap the rewards?"