"Thank you, Junior Brother Lin Chen, for your righteous intervention!"
Gong Xinghui and Bi Futian, hearing what Lin Chen had said, immediately smiled joyfully and thanked Lin Chen with a fist salute.
"You’re too kind, Senior Brothers. It is our duty as disciples of the Jade Cauldron Sect to stop the Black Cloud Sect, so there’s no need for thanks. Besides, I was concerned earlier that those guys from the Black Cloud Sect are good at conspiracies and tricks, and I feared for everyone’s safety. But seeing that none of you are backing down, what do I have to fear?"
Lin Chen spoke indifferently, neatly circling back to justify why he had planned not to take action initially.
Truthfully, he didn’t care that much about the safety of the sect. He had only joined the Jade Cauldron Sect half a year ago. Besides Yang Yuemin and Xu Lianyu, he didn’t feel any warmth or enthusiasm from the sect, especially since the members of the Law Enforcement Hall even sent him to the Lava Cave.
At this moment, Xu Lianyu looked at Lin Chen with shining eyes, her face full of emotion.
She knew that Lin Chen had made this decision because he saw that she was in a difficult position.
If Xu Lianyu hadn’t been there, Lin Chen definitely wouldn’t have decided to stop the Black Cloud Sect’s conspiracy.
Xu Lianyu was very clear that Lin Chen was different from other disciples who had grown up in the Jade Cauldron Sect. He had only been there for half a year and didn’t feel like it was his home.
After Lin Chen joined Jade Bird Peak, except for Xu Lianyu sometimes guiding him in his cultivation when she was free, he mostly studied on his own. Their master only provided him with some elixirs, but those benefits were what a True Disciple deserved.
Looking at it now, Lin Chen was not only a Formation Master but also likely an Alchemist. Whether it was Talisman Inscriptions or elixirs, Lin Chen was in no shortage of them.
So overall, the sect had given little help to Lin Chen. In contrast, he had repeatedly made significant contributions to the sect.
Before he had even become a formal disciple, he had by chance thwarted the Black Cloud Sect’s plot to plant a spy within their ranks. Later, he killed a shape-shifting magical beast. Now, within the secret realm, he had repeatedly repelled the martial artists of the Black Cloud Sect and rescued the sect’s disciples.
Frankly, Xu Lianyu wanted to thank Lin Chen herself, but she knew that he wasn’t seeking thanks or trying to repay the sect for his actions.
After exchanging pleasantries with everyone, Lin Chen then made another decision – they must first leave this place and find somewhere to heal and completely restore everyone to peak condition.
To stop the Black Cloud Sect from collecting Yin Sha Qi, a fierce battle was inevitable. They also needed to replenish supplies like healing pills, elixirs to restore Spiritual Power, and various life-saving and offensive Talisman Inscriptions.
Lin Chen had some of these things, but agreeing to join everyone to stop the Black Cloud Sect wasn’t about supplying them. They needed to provide for themselves.
The group searched the belongings of the fallen martial artists, finding that those from the Black Cloud Sect were generally wealthier. Their possessions, whether Spirit Stones, elixirs, or Talisman Inscriptions and other Cultivation Resources, far surpassed their own, which logically explained why their combat strength was stronger.
In addition, they found some magic treasures on the Black Cloud Sect Disciples.
Well, most of the magic treasures they found on the Black Cloud Sect disciples were Mid-Grade Spirit Level, and they immediately replaced their lower-grade spirit level treasures with the new ones, significantly boosting their combat strength.
After clearing the battlefield, a thought arose in everyone’s mind: the more Black Cloud Sect disciples they killed, the more treasures they could obtain; to them, those disciples seemed like fat sheep ready for the taking.
This motivation far surpassed any sense of duty to the sect or the desire to thwart the Black Cloud Sect’s conspiracy.
Once all preparations were complete, the group set out towards the direction in which the Black Cloud Sect disciples had departed.
This time, the disciples from the Jade Cauldron Sect numbered over forty. Although their number was not large, each one was an elite of the sect, and apart from a few exceptions, the rest were at the Ninth Layer of Spirit Gathering Realm.
On the way, Gong Xinghui and Bi Futian shared their plan upon entering the secret realm with Lin Chen.
It turned out that these stronger elite disciples were divided into several teams, leading their own groups in separate operations.
They were responsible for stopping the Black Cloud Sect disciples from gathering Yin Sha Qi. Others were in charge of intelligence and terrain surveys, informing them in advance of the Black Cloud Sect disciples’ movements.
After hearing the two men’s explanation, Lin Chen felt an internal stir. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novel-fire.net
Their plan seemed perfect, but there was something they hadn’t considered, or rather, something they wouldn’t think about at all.
That was the fact that the weaker disciples in their plan were merely pawns, or to put it bluntly, cannon fodder. In the merciless world of martial artists where strength is paramount, that is the reality.
After hearing about the plan, Lin Chen sighed inwardly, but he didn’t dislike their strategy.
In the path of cultivation, one contends with the heavens and risks one’s life. Success brings sweet rewards and ascension, but failure leads to death and disappearance.
As Lin Chen empathized with others, he also reflected on his own situation. Could it be that they had already become mere pawns in someone else’s game during this expedition to the Mire Dragon Marsh Secret Realm?
Upon Lin Chen’s inquiry, Gong Xinghui and Bi Futian told him that they could contact the other elite disciples who had entered the secret realm, and there were quite a few of them—over thirty.
Indeed, these were more than thirty elite disciples, each leading a small team, with at least thirty to forty people, and some even reaching a hundred.
If they could gather all these elite disciples, it would form a massive force. Although many were not very advanced in cultivation, their numbers were an advantage, and the Black Cloud Sect might not consist entirely of experts either.
However, not long after, anxiety appeared on the faces of Gong Xinghui and Bi Futian.
After attempting to contact them, except for Li Chu and Leng Dong, who were already with them, the rest were out of touch, with none responding to their messages.
This likely meant that the rest were in a dire situation. They were the elite who had entered the realm, all at the Ninth Layer of the Spirit Gathering Realm.
If even they had not survived, other disciples with less strength surely would not have been spared.