Sure enough, Xu Gang laughed heartily: "How about this—you Daoist Gaoqi types wait here, and we'll go in first to scout. Once we find the Xiaoyao Sect people, you can follow in behind."
"That works for me. Daoist Gaoqi is the most principled of us all, so him waiting here is the best arrangement." Feng Wanjian chimed in with immediate agreement.
Mu Gaoqi's cautious nature didn't make him stupid. Xu Gang and Feng Wanjian were playing a neat little duet, and Mu Gaoqi could hear it perfectly well—they were trying to cut him out!
Even so, his lips trembled twice, but he didn't push back. Like a wronged little wife, he flushed red and fell silent.
Jiang Chen could see it now—every one of these people had their own ulterior motives. They clearly didn't consider Mu Gaoqi an ally at all.
Now that Mu Gaoqi had already handed over his pills, his value was essentially spent.
The way things stood, these four sect people were deliberately—or perhaps not so deliberately—working to exclude Mu Gaoqi.
Jiang Chen kept his expression neutral, following behind Mu Gaoqi. He decided to wait and see. If these people truly intended to shut Mu Gaoqi out, Jiang Chen certainly wouldn't let that fly.
The five groups, ten people in total, made their way deep into the stone forest. After about a quarter of an hour, they passed through a narrow gap between stone walls and arrived before a dark cave entrance.
Mu Gaoqi and Jiang Chen walked at the very back. Just as Mu Gaoqi was about to step through, a figure in golden robes suddenly blocked the path ahead.
It was Feng Wanjian.
"Daoist Gaoqi, we agreed—you'd wait outside for the Xiaoyao Sect friends. I think you'd better not go in just yet." Feng Wanjian's tone was casual but steeped in arrogance.
Mu Gaoqi stammered, "We should all go in and come out together. If anyone's waiting, we should all wait."
Feng Wanjian's face twisted with mockery and he burst into laughter: "Only you suggested waiting, so naturally you should be the one to do it. Everyone agrees, right?"
The other three groups all laughed and voiced their agreement.
One fewer group meant one fewer competitor. When they found the Spirit Spring, there'd be more to go around. Clearly, Mu Gaoqi was the weakest link—cutting him out required zero effort.
Besides, Mu Gaoqi's main contribution had been the pills. Now that they had the pills, there was no use for him inside. He'd just be deadweight, unable to help with anything.
"See? You waiting here is what everyone wants."
Feng Wanjian shrugged, then dragged his foot across the hard stone ground, carving a long, deep furrow.
His voice turned cold: "Wait behind this line. Don't cross it. Take one step over, and don't blame me for being discourteous."
Even Mu Gaoqi, with all his forbearance, was starting to get angry.
But his strength was weak, and he'd long been accustomed to keeping his head down. Even furious, he didn't know what to do. He just stood there, red-faced, choking on his indignation.
"Feng... you're going too far!" Mu Gaoqi finally managed after a long pause.
Feng Wanjian laughed heartily: "Haha, this is what everyone thinks. Who told you to run your mouth?"
Jiang Chen, without so much as a change in expression, suddenly walked forward past Mu Gaoqi. His gaze was calm as he stared at Feng Wanjian and asked in an unhurried tone: "So you're planning to burn the bridge after crossing it—cutting our Danqian Palace out?"
Feng Wanjian had never taken Jiang Chen seriously. Since the moment Jiang Chen had appeared, he hadn't said a single word or expressed any opinion. Moreover, judging from his cultivation, he was only at the second stage of Yuan Realm.
Given Mu Gaoqi's pathetic networking skills, he probably couldn't have recruited anyone worth worrying about. So everyone had tacitly agreed to simply ignore Jiang Chen.
Feng Wanjian was no exception.
Seeing Jiang Chen speak up, Feng Wanjian sneered and glanced at him dismissively: "And who are you? Do you even have the right to speak here?"
Jiang Chen said nothing. He took one step forward, raised a foot, and casually wiped it across the furrow.
The deep groove was immediately smoothed flat.
"You're courting death!" Feng Wanjian exploded with rage at the sight. He had drawn that line, and this fellow dared to erase it?
This was nothing short of a direct provocation aimed squarely at Feng Wanjian himself.
He threw a punch straight at Jiang Chen's chest.
But before the fist could even get close, Feng Wanjian suddenly felt his wrist go numb.
The next instant, his wrist was locked in Jiang Chen's grip. With a casual pull, jerk, and flip, Feng Wanjian's body went sailing through the air like a kite with its string cut, flying over a dozen meters before slamming hard into a large tree.
Boom!
The fall wouldn't kill anyone, but for a Yuan Realm powerhouse, being tossed aside like that was a total loss of face.
Jiang Chen walked over as if nothing had happened.
"Does anyone else have an objection?" Jiang Chen's deep gaze swept across the group, taking in each person's face one by one.
Feng Wanjian was a disciple of the Holy Sword Palace—when it came to hand-to-hand combat, he was admittedly not as skilled as with the sword, but being thrown aside so effortlessly was still shocking.
The atmosphere grew tense.
Everyone's gaze involuntarily drifted to Yue Pan—the only Earth Yuan Realm martial artist present.
Yue Pan met Jiang Chen's gaze, then suddenly burst into hearty laughter: "You've been hiding your strength remarkably well—playing the pig to eat the tiger. I, Yue Pan, am truly impressed."