Elder Wuhen was a shrewd old fox. His Heaven and Earth Oath had indeed been a clever trick — his words had been loaded with numerous contingencies and loopholes.
What he hadn't expected was for
This left Elder Wuhen deeply startled, momentarily at a loss for words.
By now, Elder Wuhen had come to a sober realization: this Jiang Chen could absolutely not be treated as an ordinary talented disciple.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Jiang Chen was only at the fifth level of the Origin Realm — he was a formidable opponent through and through.
If Elder Wuhen himself hadn't been present,
"Jiang Chen, I admit I underestimated your strength. Killing someone is no more than a nod of the head — it's simple enough. So tell me, what will it take for you to let Wei Qing go?"
Elder Wuhen changed his face with startling speed. After Jiang Chen had torn apart his plan, rather than showing any shame, he threw away all pretense entirely and began bargaining with Jiang Chen, adopting the posture of someone ready to bow his head and concede.
But the more he acted this way, the more on guard Jiang Chen became.
The people of the Carefree Sect could bend and stretch as needed — arrogant when arrogance served them, patient when patience was called for. Such people were the most dangerous opponents.
"Let Wei Qing go?"
Jiang Chen scoffed: "When you laid that ambush to scheme against me, did you ever consider letting me off the hook? Now that he's in my hands, you want me to release him?"
Elder Wuhen's tone was flat and indifferent, his eyes circling Jiang Chen like those of a venomous serpent: "If you won't let him go, do you dare actually kill him? If you do, I will certainly kill you. At merely the fifth level of the Origin Realm, surely you're not naive enough to think you can survive a single thunderous strike from me?"
Jiang Chen admitted that in a straight clash of brute force, he stood absolutely no chance of victory against an Earth Saint realm expert.
But that didn't mean Jiang Chen feared Elder Wuhen.
Setting aside his trump card of
"Old fox, don't try to pull rank on me with your age. If you were really as powerful as you boast, Wei Qing wouldn't have ended up in my hands." Jiang Chen retorted without a shred of courtesy.
Elder Wuhen was clearly a man of deep composure. No matter how Jiang Chen insulted him, his expression never changed — his face was like the unfathomable depths of the ocean, revealing nothing of his inner world.
"A bit of youthful fire is a good thing, but one must also know how to read the situation. You're wasting precious time here — you'd be better off calling this whole thing off. Illusory Wave Mountain is overflowing with Spiritual Medicine — are you really going to let this golden opportunity for wealth slip through your fingers? And besides, even though I suspect you've obtained a Heaven-grade Spiritual Medicine, have you considered this: even if you killed Wei Qing, could you keep this news sealed? The moment I let it slip, you'll become a target for everyone in Illusory Wave Mountain. Even if you leave early, do you really think you can safely keep that Heaven-grade Spiritual Medicine in your possession?"
Elder Wuhen spoke in a patient, persuasive tone, the very picture of earnest concern.
Jiang Chen smiled coolly: "That's supposed to be my problem to worry about, not yours. Everything you've just said strikes me as nothing but false sympathy. By your logic, I should be begging you to keep my secret?"
"As long as you release Wei Qing, we guarantee that no fourth person will ever hear about you obtaining the Heaven-grade Spiritual Medicine," Elder Wuhen said solemnly.
Jiang Chen put on a mocking grin: "Are you planning to swear another Heaven and Earth Oath to win my trust? How are you going to twist the wording this time? How will you find the loopholes? 'No fourth person' — you could tell a whole crowd at once. It's not just the fourth person, but the fifth, the sixth, the seventh. You'd still have plenty of room to wriggle through, wouldn't you?"
This Elder Wuhen was absolutely brimming with scheming — every word out of his mouth was loaded with hidden contingencies.
Fortunately, Jiang Chen had long been on guard against people like this. So no matter what Elder Wuhen said, he would never believe any of it.
Elder Wuhen's heart lurched. In that moment, he almost had the illusion that he wasn't dealing with a young man at all — he was dealing with an old fox.
He had so many contingencies lined up, yet not a single one of them could get past this brat.
But this time, Elder Wuhen didn't argue back. Instead, he smiled faintly. "Jiang Chen, since you don't trust this old man, then this old man sees no point in defending himself. Tell me how you want the oath worded — you decide. That should be acceptable, yes?"
All Elder Wuhen wanted right now was to stall for time. He had already secretly sent out a voice transmission talisman, notifying another elder from his sect.
Once that elder arrived, the two of them could close in together — one in the open, one in the shadows — and eliminating Jiang Chen would be as easy as flipping a hand.
At this point, no matter what demands Jiang Chen made, Elder Wuhen wouldn't refuse a single one. All he needed was to keep Jiang Chen's guard down.
His companion would arrive within half a day at the fastest, one day at the latest.
A Heaven-grade Spiritual Medicine — Elder Wuhen was dead set on obtaining it. If this Jiang Chen actually escaped from the Illusory Wave Mountains, the chances of ever catching him again would be essentially zero.
Therefore, Elder Wuhen would spare no cost to keep Jiang Chen here.
If necessary, he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice Wei Qing either. It was just that things hadn't reached that point yet, and he didn't want to gamble with Wei Qing's life.
After all, if Wei Qing died, it would be difficult to explain when he returned.
Unless there was truly no other option, he wouldn't take that step. For the sake of a Heaven-grade Spiritual Medicine, he believed that even if Wei Qing were sacrificed, as long as the Heaven-grade Spiritual Medicine was secured, he could still justify it back home.
Wei Qing was outstanding, but he was merely a genius. The Celestial Joy Sect had several others just as talented as Wei Qing.
Moreover, although Wei Qing's talent in the dao of poison was exceptional, his aptitude in the martial dao was not truly top-tier. This was Wei Qing's Achilles' heel.