"Senior Brother Lin, rest assured, we have a clear understanding. If we find any treasures, you will have the first pick, and the rest will be distributed based on everyone’s contribution to the team’s effort. What do you think, Senior Brother Lin?"
Zhao Ming was very sensible. After witnessing Lin Chen’s formidable cultivation, he knew that sticking close to Lin Chen would only bring benefits, and getting fewer shares of the treasures was worth it.
The other disciples from the Taixuan Sect all nodded in agreement, fully endorsing Zhao Ming’s decision.
"Since that’s settled, then let’s move forward together. In return, I will alert you to any dangers," Lin Chen said indifferently.
This statement immediately brought happy expressions to everyone’s faces. With Lin Chen’s promise, they felt much more at ease. Here, everyone’s range for Divine Sense did not exceed a hundred meters, rendering it virtually useless.
Their earlier discovery of the Fiery Rainbow Flower was purely by chance. If they had noticed the people from the Black Cloud Sect earlier, they wouldn’t have approached to harvest it directly. Instead, they would have chosen to lie in ambush, catching the Black Cloud Sect unawares.
But now such talk was useless; no one dared to entertain thoughts against Lin Chen.
With a unanimous decision, they continued their journey. This update ıs available on novel⚑fire.net
Having witnessed the piercing vines in the forest attack a disciple of the Black Cloud Sect, they were very cautious and careful, not moving quickly.
Along the way, they encountered several Magical Beasts with not weak cultivations, but managed to avoid them with Lin Chen’s reminders.
After spending an hour together, they felt that Lin Chen was even more powerful than they had imagined because he alerted them to the Magical Beasts they encountered, which they themselves could not detect with their Divine Sense. Lin Chen, however, managed to do so.
What they didn’t know was that Lin Chen’s Divine Sense didn’t actually have much more range than theirs. It was only because he had Spiritual Bees scouting around, serving as his eyes, that he could detect the Magical Beasts early.
After two more hours of travel, they came across two more groups of people in the forest.
One group was also from the Taixuan Sect, though fewer in number than Zhao Ming’s party with only six people, led by a man in grey with long hair.
"Senior Brother Song, this is wonderful, meeting you here. Let’s journey together," Zhao Ming said immediately upon seeing the other party, proposing that they team up.
Having experienced Lin Chen’s abilities on the way, which allowed them to avoid many dangers from Magical Beasts, Zhao Ming, being from the same sect, naturally had good intentions and wanted Song Jingshi to receive the same help as they did.
Song Jingshi, seeing Zhao Ming’s politeness and considering that Zhao Ming and his group outnumbered them, agreed, secretly thinking that if they encountered danger, he had others to shield him as cannon fodder.
The other group, after introducing themselves, turned out to be from the Jade Cauldron Sect like Lin Chen, consisting of just four people, three men and one woman.
Lin Chen didn’t really like to socialize. He hadn’t been with the Jade Cauldron Sect for long and only truly knew a few people like those from Jade Bird Peak and Wang Yilin, so he didn’t take the initiative to reveal his identity and talk with the four disciples from his sect.
After teaming up with the others, they resumed their journey. As they progressed, Song Jingshi grew increasingly upset.
He noticed that Zhao Ming and his group seemed to defer to the opinions of the member of their team with the Eighth Level of Spirit Gathering Realm cultivation in everything they did.
Even their words and actions were cautious, treating him as if he were an elder, though Lin Chen was not from their Taixuan Sect. This bothered Song Jingshi greatly; he felt Zhao Ming and the others were losing face for their sect.
At that moment, they reached a small mountain path shrouded in thick fog. Zhao Ming and his group stopped again to ask Lin Chen for his opinion.
Whether to take a detour or to continue along the path, Lin Chen’s answer was not to worry, as there was no danger ahead, and they could proceed. This instantly ignited the fury within Song Jingshi.
"Enough already! Isn’t every one of you stronger in cultivation than this weakling of the Eighth Layer Spirit Gathering? Can’t you have your own opinions? You only move forward when he says so? What? Is he blessed with foresight or is his Divine Sense capable of detecting the direction in these ruins?"
"Everyone’s Divine Sense is affected; I do not believe that his, a mere Eight Layers Cultivation weakling’s Divine Sense, is stronger than mine, a Second Layer of the Melding Earth Realm."
Song Jingshi raged, clearly upset that Zhao Ming did not consult him about which way to go and instead asked Lin Chen, a stranger.
"Although you agreed for him to join our group, the arrangements I made with you earlier do not include them," Lin Chen said indifferently, looking at Song Jingshi and the others while addressing Zhao Ming. His words implicitly suggested that should they find any treasures, he would still have the priority to pick and would not consider Song Jingshi and his group for any share of the remaining loot. If Zhao Ming and his group wanted to divide it, it would be calculated among them.
After all, Lin Chen had played a significant role all this while, averting collisions with powerful Magical Beasts seven or eight times unbeknownst to them. Had they encountered the beasts, with their level of strength, only a few of them might have survived.
Yet, these people had not been of the slightest use to Lin Chen.
Regardless, not a word of thanks came from Song Jingshi and his group, who spoke rudely and disparaged Lin Chen. He was simply being generous by not taking the matter to heart.
Hearing Song Jingshi’s words, Zhao Ming and the others frowned slightly. The image of Lin Chen’s formidable strength in dispatching the Black Cloud Sect disciple was still fresh in their minds, and they certainly didn’t want to offend Lin Chen.
"Senior Brother Song, if you trust me, please believe in Senior Brother Lin’s words. His Divine Sense indeed can detect the surroundings," Zhao Ming said, stepping up to speak for Lin Chen and to remind Song Jingshi.
If Song Jingshi continued making foolish comments to offend Lin Chen and anger him, Zhao Ming wouldn’t be able to protect him.
As Song Jingshi was about to retort after hearing Zhao Ming’s words, he saw Lin Chen suddenly raise his hand and point ahead.
"There’s movement ahead; for some reason, there’s a surge of powerful energy. It could possibly be something containing a strong Spiritual Power, perhaps even a treasure," Lin Chen said.