Jiang Chen sneered inwardly. These two fools still wanted to play dirty on him at a time like this?
"Brother Jun, don't worry. This Lin Hai dares to offend our Danqian Palace — let me deal with him first!" Jiang Chen said with false sincerity.
Lin Hai's expression turned frantic upon hearing this. After his battle with Jun Mobai, his strength had been drained to its absolute limit. He was a spent arrow.
If it were some other ordinary genius, he might have managed, but the one who'd shown up was Jiang Chen — a terrifyingly talented fighter who had even forced Xiang Qin to bow his head and admit defeat.
Never mind that Lin Hai was currently running on fumes; even at his peak, he might not have been able to beat Jiang Chen.
His face changed dramatically. "Junior Brother Jiang Chen, our two sects have always stood together. My quarrel with Brother Jun was nothing more than a spat — it was never a life-or-death struggle!"
Jiang Chen deliberately darkened his expression. "This palace must contain a powerful inheritance. Rather than let you get a share, I'd rather have it belong to Danqian Palace alone."
Lin Hai hastily replied, "Junior Brother Jiang Chen, if you don't want me to share in the spoils, then I won't. That's fine!"
"No good. What if you go running your mouth after you get out? That could ruin everything," Jiang Chen said firmly, waving his hand.
Jun Mobai, standing off to the side, was growing anxious. If Lin Hai were killed, he'd be all alone, and his guilt would only deepen. If Jiang Chen saw through his disguise, he'd have even less leverage to fight back.
Moreover, if he just stood by and let Jiang Chen deal with Lin Hai, the latter might fly into a rage and spill the truth, dragging Jun Mobai down with him.
At that thought, Jun Mobai quickly spoke up. "Junior Brother Jiang Chen, since Lin Hai says so, I think we shouldn't push this too far. After all, Danqian Palace and the Beiming Sect have always been on good terms. If the Beiming Sect found out we killed their number one genius, I'm afraid relations between our two sects would plummet overnight. When that happens, our enemies won't just be the Holy Sword Palace — we'd gain the Beiming Sect as well…"
Under normal circumstances, these words would have been perfectly reasonable. But right now, Jiang Chen nearly laughed out loud hearing them. One of these fellows was a disciple of the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect, and the other was a disciple of the Indestructible Heavenly Capital.
And they were still trying to con him!
Jiang Chen put on a show of deliberation, pretending to think it over for a moment before speaking. "In that case, let me help treat Brother Jun's wounds first. I have a healing pill here — Brother Jun should take it."
He flicked a pill toward Jun Mobai.
Jun Mobai was a disciple of the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect, and suspicion ran deep in his nature. After receiving Jiang Chen's pill, he simply held it in his hand, unsure whether to take it or leave it.
Clearly, he harbored his own doubts about Jiang Chen. On one hand, he worried that Jiang Chen had already seen through their identities. On the other, even if he hadn't, there was always the possibility that upon seeing the palace's inheritance, Jiang Chen might decide to keep it all for himself — and dispose of the two of them in the process.
Jiang Chen noticed Jun Mobai's hesitation. "Brother Jun, you don't trust me?"
Jun Mobai was momentarily speechless. Not trust Jiang Chen? Did he dare say that outright? Once Jiang Chen sensed that he was being distrusted, the man might turn on him in the blink of an eye.
He forced a broad smile. "It's not that I don't trust you, Junior Brother. It's just that I recently took a healing pill already. The medicine is precious, and there's no need to waste it. I'll hold onto this one and take it later."
Jiang Chen's expression sank. "So you still don't trust me!"
"Junior Brother, we're fellow sect members — what's there to trust or not trust? If I can't trust you, should I trust Lin Hai of the Beiming Sect instead? Here in the Myriad Forms Extreme Realm, we fellow disciples should be supporting each other."
Jiang Chen nodded. "If that's the case, then keep the pill. Let me help you up."
He stepped forward and reached out to help Jun Mobai to his feet. Jun Mobai took a quiet, steadying breath, knowing this was his one and only chance.
If he missed this opportunity, there would be no other.
Killing intent surged beneath the surface. Jun Mobai had already gathered his power for a decisive strike, waiting for Jiang Chen to draw close and let his guard down, at which point he would deliver a fatal blow.
Just as Jiang Chen was about to touch him, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, a half-amused, half-knowing glint flickering in his eyes.
"Brother Jun, there's one more question…"
"What is it?" Jun Mobai asked, surprised.
"I encountered several people back at Illusory Wave Mountain. One of them seemed to be Cao Jin, a true disciple of the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect. There was also a fat man and an alchemy king."
"Illusory Wave Mountain? A disciple of the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect?" Jun Mobai's heart trembled. "Junior Brother Jiang Chen, why didn't you mention this before?"
Jiang Chen scratched his head. "I didn't want those sect people asking questions back and forth at the time, so I left that information out."
"You haven't made a mistake, have you? Not just anyone can get into Illusory Wave Mountain. Even a disciple of the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect wouldn't necessarily be able to walk right in."
Jiang Chen smiled. "Then maybe I was mistaken. But I did confiscate something from that person."
"What?" Jun Mobai asked with curiosity.
Jiang Chen casually pulled out Cao Jin's Moonbreaker Cone.
The moment that Moonbreaker Cone appeared, Jun Mobai's heart lurched violently. Even as an infiltrator, he was no stranger to the affairs of the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect.
What's more, Cao Jin had once stormed Danqian Palace and used this very Moonbreaker Cone to attack the sect's mountain-guarding grand formation.
Jun Mobai had not gone to Illusory Wave Mountain himself — he had remained inside Danqian Palace, so he was intimately familiar with this object, and even more so with Cao Jin.