Mu Gaoqi clearly didn't want to say too much regarding Yan Hongtu, only reminding Jiang Chen not to offend Yan Hongtu — it would be best to go and show some deference.
Mu Gaoqi was even willing to pay out of his own pocket to make the trouble go away.
"Brother Jiang Chen, if you feel you can't save face, or don't want to spend money, I can gather some more pills. Just go through the motions and humor him. Put the matter to rest. Once he's gotten something out of you, he won't have the nerve to come after you again anytime soon."
Mu Gaoqi had a cautious personality. His way of handling things was inherently meek. He'd rather pay to smooth things over than put up even a modicum of resistance.
Jiang Chen didn't look down on Mu Gaoqi. He understood that Mu Gaoqi had no backing in the Dan Qian Palace, and his martial arts talent wasn't the kind that marked him as a favored prodigy. Someone scraping by in the cracks between factions — their survival philosophy was inevitably cautious and humble.
That wasn't Mu Gaoqi's fault.
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Mu Gaoqi took his leave. Before departing, he urged Jiang Chen again and again not to clash head-on with Yan Hongtu.
Jiang Chen simply smiled it off. "Rest assured, Friend Gaoqi. The matter we agreed on won't be delayed."
Jiang Chen never went out of his way to provoke anyone, but neither did he go out of his way to curry favor.
If Yan Hongtu wanted to be friends, fine — Jiang Chen would naturally treat him as a friend.
If Yan Hongtu wanted to trample on him, Jiang Chen would absolutely not cave.
Just as Saint Dan Chi had said, surviving within a sect meant competition was inevitable, and internal strife within the sect could never be avoided.
The martial world was a place where the strong devoured the weak.
Yan Hongtu had no grudge against Jiang Chen. He simply wanted to suppress Jiang Chen to bolster his own prestige and cement his position of control over the Lingyun Region.
But Jiang Chen wasn't buying it.
On the path of martial cultivation, it wasn't that you couldn't take a step back — it was whether taking a step back was necessary.
"This Mu Gaoqi isn't a bad person. He's just a bit soft in temperament. Scraping by in the cracks isn't impossible, but for someone who aspires to reach the peak of martial cultivation, his character still lacks a certain sharpness and edge."
Jiang Chen's impression of Mu Gaoqi wasn't bad. He turned the pills Mu Gaoqi had given him over in his hands.
Pills didn't hold much appeal for Jiang Chen.
However, Mu Gaoqi's reputation as the "Wooden Immortal" of alchemy was well-earned.
The quality of these pills was unparalleled across the entire Sixteen Kingdoms Alliance.
The Spirit Solidification Pills in particular — Mu Gaoqi had gifted a full thirty or forty of them.
"This Mu Gaoqi certainly isn't stingy." Spirit Solidification Pills weren't of much use to Jiang Chen at the Yuan Realm, but for Spirit Realm martial artists, they were enormously beneficial.
Mu Gaoqi had claimed these Spirit Solidification Pills were comparable to Crimson Dawn Fruit. Even if that was a slight exaggeration, it wasn't far off.
Jiang Chen called out Gouyu and the others, distributing four pills to each.
With about seven or eight remaining, he planned to give four to Tang Hong and one apiece to the others.
Although Jiang Chen had no close relationship with those people, they were all from the Treasure Tree Sect, after all. They were in the same boat. Giving each of them a pill was a gesture of goodwill.
As for the Essence Cultivation Pills, there were only five. Jiang Chen held them in his palm and examined them for a moment. He knew that pills of this quality offered some benefit to him, but given his standards, he wasn't particularly satisfied with their quality.
He kept two and planned to give all the rest to Ye Chonglou.
The old man had broken through to the Yuan Realm. Although he hadn't fully exhausted his potential, his room for improvement could no longer compare to a young person's.
These Essence Cultivation Pills might be better suited for Ye Chonglou.
As for the Seven Star Gathering Origin Pills, which restored vital energy, they were quite a rare find for Jiang Chen.
He had refined pills in this category before. The Blue Sea Pills he'd created in the Eastern Kingdom were still selling like hotcakes across the Sixteen Kingdoms Alliance.
But those Blue Sea Pills only worked within the True Qi Realm. Their effectiveness after entering the Spirit Realm dropped off sharply.
Once one entered the Yuan Realm, Blue Sea Pills were far from sufficient.
"Seven Star Gathering Origin Pills? Restoring energy and gathering qi... It seems that once I've settled into the Dan Qian Palace, I'll need to follow local customs and pay proper attention to the field of alchemy."
The Dan Qian Palace was a sect founded on the art of pill refining.
Within this sect, if you couldn't refine pills, you weren't a qualifying disciple.
And when it came to alchemy, the reason Jiang Chen hadn't devoted time to it over the past two years was simply a matter of having other priorities. If one truly spoke of potential in this area, on the entire Divine Abyss Continent, there was no one with greater promise than Jiang Chen.
In his previous life, Jiang Chen had been an alchemist master renowned across the Myriad Heavens Planes.
After sorting the pills, Jiang Chen called for Gouyu.
"Gouyu, go find Grand Tutor Ye. Bring these pills to him."
Jiang Chen would relay the allocation details to Ye Chonglou via a voice transmission talisman — there was no need for detailed instructions.
Once the pills were distributed, Wen Ziqi stepped forward.
"Young Master, the spiritual medicine you gave last time has run out. The Silver Moon Demon Apes have enormous appetites now — they're eating through everything."
The two Silver Moon Demon Apes, which Wen Ziqi raised separately, were a testament to her dedication.
But as time passed, the Silver Moon Demon Apes had entered a period of rapid growth, and their appetites had begun to surge. This was actually a sign that they were developing at extraordinary speed.
That was a good thing, but the sheer volume the Silver Moon Demon Apes consumed represented no small expense for Jiang Chen.