Chapter 543

"Young Master!"

Hearing this "title" once again, Lin Chen's eyes narrowed slightly.

Could it be that Young Master Dongfang again?

"May I ask, which Young Master are you referring to?"

"Young Master Dongfang!"

Even just uttering the surname of Young Master Dongfang, Yun Ye's tone carried a sense of reverence.

It really was that Young Master Dongfang!

Lin Chen had not expected this Young Master Dongfang's reach to be so long; he had just been at the alchemy competition, and now he was already meddling in the internal affairs of the Moon Soul Tribe.

It seemed likely that others had also defected to this Young Master Dongfang.

Lin Chen could understand it, though; the status of Young Master Dongfang's father was too high, representing the great trend of the future of the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao. The so-called "wise man submits to circumstances"—defecting to this Young Master Dongfang to plan one's future was not necessarily wrong.

"It seems you are also aware of Young Master Dongfang's status. Since that is the case, there is no need for me to say more. Once we leave the Thousand-Fold Secret Realm, you can come with me to meet Young Master Dongfang."

From Lin Chen's expression, Yun Ye judged that Lin Chen must have heard of Young Master Dongfang's name. That made things easy; he assumed Lin Chen would know how to choose.

The status of the Moon Soul Tribe's princess was vastly inferior to that of Young Master Dongfang, not to mention she was a princess without any real power.

"And what about this treasure of the Moon Soul Tribe?" Lin Chen asked.

"Naturally, it will be taken and handed over to Young Master Dongfang."

Yun Ye smiled faintly. The agreement between the new Moon Soul Tribe leader and the Young Master was to hand the treasure over to him. Once the Young Master possessed the Moon Soul Tribe's supreme treasure, the life and death of the entire tribe would be in his hands.

Controlling an ancient remnant tribe would be a massive boost to the Young Master's prestige. Once other factions learned of this, they would know how to choose between the Yan Yan Yan Huang Chao and the Young Master.

The great trend could not be stopped; rather than delaying, it was better to defect.

"I understand."

Lin Chen nodded. The man before him was a Fourth-Stage Martial Practitioner. The Moon Soul Tribe's treasure was currently in the process of manifesting, and Lin Chen feared that if he fought, the aftermath of the battle would destroy the treasure. He decided to play along for now.

As for defecting to that Young Master Dongfang, that was not something he would consider.

He was a heaven-gifted disciple of the Profound Heaven Sect. Whether it was his master, the Sect Master, or even his grand-uncle-master, all had placed high hopes in him. How could he betray his sect?

Furthermore, he did not like that Young Master Dongfang's style of conduct.

But most importantly, he had given his word to Yin Yue; he could not go back on it.

A quarter of an hour later, the blurry light mass on the circular altar finally became clear, and a silver crown engraved with a bright moon slowly emerged.

Seeing the crown appear, a smile broke out on Yun Ye's face. Handing this Moon Soul Tribe supreme treasure to the Young Master would count as completing the task assigned by him, and he would surely receive a reward.

However, just as Yun Ye lifted his foot to walk toward the altar, Lin Chen was a step faster. His figure turned into a rainbow light, appearing directly on the altar, and the silver crown was instantly stored into his storage box.

Seeing Lin Chen's action, Yun Ye paused, but he did not stop him, only saying coldly, "What do you think you're doing?"

He did not stop him because he did not fear that Lin Chen would run off with the crown; with him right there, Lin Chen had nowhere to escape.

"Entrusted by others, loyal to the task."

Lin Chen looked at Yun Ye. "I am a person who does not like to go back on promises made to others."

Yun Ye's face turned cold. "Do you think that by obtaining this Moon Soul Tribe treasure, you can leave safely?"

"I have to try."

As the four words "I have to try" fell, like cold iron dropping into ice, they completely ignited the killing intent Yun Ye had been suppressing.

"Seeking death!"

Yun Ye's voice was bone-chilling. A majestic pressure belonging to a Fourth-Stage Martial Practitioner erupted from his body. Invisible air waves expanded from him as the center, and countless cloud-energy chains condensed in the air, emitting piercing shrieks as they coiled toward Lin Chen from all directions!

He wanted to let Lin Chen know the gap between a Fourth-Stage and a Third-Stage Martial Practitioner.

It was not just pressure, but a crushing of the spiritual sense.

His spiritual sense now transformed into two rotating nebular vortices. A vast, majestic, and solid mental shock, ignoring spatial distance, crashed toward Lin Chen!

A higher rank targeting a lower rank often required no physical action; just pressure and spiritual sense were enough to cause the opponent's spiritual sense to tremble and suffer heavy damage.

But to Yun Ye's surprise, his spiritual sense crashed into Lin Chen like a stone sinking into the sea, disappearing without a trace.

"Your spiritual sense?"

A look of gravity flashed across Yun Ye's eyes. He then said, "No wonder you dared to resist; it turns out your spiritual sense is unusual."

The fact that his spiritual sense could not cause harm to Lin Chen meant that Lin Chen's spiritual sense had also reached the strength of the Fourth Stage. He assumed this was the source of Lin Chen's confidence to resist him.

But the difference between the Fourth Stage and the Third Stage was not just spiritual sense, but also the innate power within the body.

Yun Ye's figure suddenly vanished, and in the next instant, he appeared ghost-like beside Lin Chen.

He pointed a finger into the void. The fingertip seemed to condense a violent nebula, carrying terrifying sharpness capable of tearing through space and heavy power capable of crushing mountains, heading straight for Lin Chen's heart!

Lin Chen's pupils shrank sharply. He pushed the Immortal Art to its limit, and the four fused innate fires erupted simultaneously!

"Roar—!"