Jiang Chen didn't take Cao Jin's words as a compliment. He knew very well what terrifying killing intent lay behind them.
Moreover, this was an opponent who posed a genuine threat to his life—the most formidable foe Jiang Chen had encountered since his rebirth.
If he could eliminate this opponent today, he would have earned the right to venture into the Eight Domains and search for his father, Jiang Feng.
Though he had spent even less time with his father in this life, the love he felt from him was no different from what he remembered. On top of that, he had inherited some of this life's Jiang Chen's memories and emotions—so while his feelings for Jiang Feng might not run quite as deep as those he'd had for the Heavenly Emperor in his previous life, they weren't far off.
Jiang Chen narrowed his eyes to slits, fixing his gaze on Cao Jin, a chill settling in his heart.
Cao Jin truly deserved his reputation as one of the Nine Suns Heavenly Sect's foremost geniuses. His bearing was utterly unlike those top prodigies of the Myriad Phenomena Region.
He seemed arrogant, seemed brash—yet he never once lost his composure. Even facing someone like Jiang Chen, who was clearly his inferior, this Cao fellow remained fully focused and battle-ready, leaving Jiang Chen not a single opening to exploit.
It was the posture of a lion using its full strength against a rabbit.
An opponent who never underestimated his enemy was precisely the kind Jiang Chen feared most.
If Cao Jin had been the type to rest on his laurels and look down on him, Jiang Chen would always have had a gap to exploit. But an opponent who showed him no contempt at all forced Jiang Chen to summon every ounce of his attention.
"State your name, Cao. I, Jiang Chen, don't kill anonymous nobodies." Jiang Chen probed with his words.
Cao Jin smiled coldly. "No need for your clumsy goading. My name is Cao Jin—one of the Ten True Inheritors of the Nine Suns Heavenly Sect. Before coming here, I paid a visit to the Dan Qian Palace and ransacked the place. Their Palace Master Dan Chi, their Elder Yun Nie—none of them could withstand a single blow. Jiang Chen, I do hope you won't disappoint me."
What?
Jiang Chen's heart lurched at the words, his stare locking onto Cao Jin. But he quickly composed himself, the corner of his mouth twitching into a faint smile. "Cao Jin, spare me the theatrics. If you'd really gone to the Dan Qian Palace and looted it, you'd know I'd already handed over all the Heaven-grade and Earth-grade spiritual medicines to the sect. Would you still have come here?"
Sure enough, as soon as this probing remark left Jiang Chen's lips, Cao Jin's expression cooled slightly.
"You gave them all to the sect?"
Seeing this reaction, Jiang Chen knew he'd caught the man off guard. He smiled. "Playing it clever, I see—but it looks like even if you did make it to the Dan Qian Palace, you didn't walk away with much."
And he'd hit the mark. At Jiang Chen's words, Cao Jin's face darkened further.
The trip to the Dan Qian Palace had been nothing short of a humiliation for Cao Jin.
Still, Cao Jin's ability to recover was remarkable. He let out a cold laugh. "Jiang Chen, no matter what you say, you cannot escape death today. Those spiritual medicines can be wherever they like—today, you will die, without a doubt."
Jiang Chen smiled leisurely. "Oh? Then come and kill me."
With that, he activated his Heavenly Cicada Wings and transformed into a streak of golden light, charging straight toward the island at the lake's center.
Cao Jin saw what Jiang Chen was doing—he intended to use the terrain to his advantage. He also knew that the Mind-Bewitching Miasma lurked on the island.
But at this point, would Cao Jin hesitate?
He swallowed the pill Shi Zhen had prepared for him earlier, activated every layer of his defenses, and flew toward the island at full speed.
He was dead set on killing Jiang Chen this time.
The two landed on the island, one shortly after the other.
"Running no more?" As Jiang Chen stopped in his tracks, Cao Jin descended from his cloud, hovering several hundred meters away before gradually slowing.
"Why would I run?" Jiang Chen replied with a faint smile.
"Ha ha ha ha…" Cao Jin couldn't help but laugh aloud. "Why would you run? Tell me—do you even have a reason not to?"
"I do," Jiang Chen nodded calmly. "This is my territory. Invade my territory, and there is only death."
Had Cao Jin not already learned of Jiang Chen's strength and witnessed his methods, he might have been taken aback by this. But having thoroughly assessed Jiang Chen's capabilities, he was now brimming with confidence.
His earlier frustration had stemmed from the fact that Jiang Chen had been operating from the shadows while they were exposed—every step restricted, every move anticipated. Now that Jiang Chen had been forced into the open, there was no reason whatsoever for Cao Jin to fear him.
Moreover, the formations Jiang Chen had set up using formation discs posed no real threat to Cao Jin at all.
If there was anything Cao Jin was worried about now, it wasn't Jiang Chen—it was the question of getting out. The only reason he'd been able to enter was by using the Trinity Formation-Breaking Technique to pry open a crack. With both Wu Heng and Shi Zhen having fallen, his biggest concern was how to leave.
But once he killed Jiang Chen and claimed all his prized possessions, what did it matter if he stayed trapped in here for ten or even eight years cultivating?
The priority was eliminating Jiang Chen.
"Jiang Chen, if you think the Mind-Bewitching Miasma on this island can deal with me, you're far too naive." Cao Jin guessed that Jiang Chen had lured him here specifically to use the miasma as his trump card.
He'd tested it moments ago and found that the anti-toxin pills Shi Zhen had provided were quite effective. Combined with his full-body defenses, they repelled the miasma's encroachment to a significant degree.
By calling out the miasma outright, he clearly intended to crush Jiang Chen's morale.