Should he kill him?

Doing that would immediately turn the protagonist tied to Shen Xin into a mortal enemy—someone he hadn't even met yet. Once that happened, there would be no room left for tricks or slow manipulation. Any chance of deceiving him, lowering his guard, and wearing him down over time would be gone.

But Shen Xin already saw him as an enemy.

So how was he supposed to gain his trust now?

By this point, Shen Xin was already flying in his direction. Jiang Chen felt a strand of divine sense sweep over him.

He's noticed me, Jiang Chen realized. His expression didn't change at all.

What Shen Xin didn't know was that the moment his divine sense moved, Jiang Chen had sensed him as well.

Shen Xin was using a powerful concealment technique—the Heavenly Rhythm Subduing Heart Art. Under normal circumstances, anyone below the Void Tribulation realm would have had no chance of detecting him.

Unfortunately for him, Jiang Chen had already stepped into the Void Tribulation realm.

He's hiding himself, Jiang Chen thought, rubbing his chin. Is he trying to ambush me, or does he have something else in mind?

As the thought crossed his mind, his actions never slowed. The massive city beneath his feet continued to shrink, piece by piece, as it was drawn into the Immortal Martial Mustard Seed.

Shen Xin saw everything.

What? He's… storing the entire city in a storage artifact? The realization left him stunned.

So he isn't destroying the cities at all. He's taking them with him.

That means Jiang Chen either has a storage artifact with absurd space… or something even more special, like a cave heaven.

His gaze sharpened.

It has to be a cave heaven. Otherwise, there's no way it could hold living people.

But that only raised more questions.

Why would he do this? And how does he even possess a cave heaven this vast?

Jiang Chen had already swept through countless major forces on Prosperous Stone Immortal Star, taking their people along with him.

What exactly is he planning to do with all of them?

Shen Xin continued watching from the shadows, his thoughts tangled in growing confusion.

Suddenly, a flash of insight hit him.

Jiang Chen is working with the demons. He's already wiped out all the top powerhouses of Prosperous Stone Immortal Star.

That makes the chances of him belonging to a demon faction extremely high.

And now he's going around looting entire sects and cities—more importantly, taking huge numbers of living cultivators with him.

Shen Xin's eyes narrowed.

What are living cultivators to demons? Resources. Slaves. Fuel for cultivation.

That explains it…

He hasn't rushed to open a spatial channel, and he hasn't taken control of the interstellar teleportation array either. Instead, he's been gathering people.

Is it because he's afraid the arriving demon army would cut into his spoils?

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became.

That's it. This has to be the truth.

Demonic cultivators have always been ruthless and selfish, caring only about their own gains and nothing else. This kind of behavior fits them perfectly.

As for that massive cave heaven…

He either seized the cave heaven blessed lands of the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace and the Purple Crest Immortal Sect and can open their entrances whenever he wants.

Or it's a personal cave heaven bestowed by some great demon. Given its scale, that would be a perfectly normal reward from a Demon Lord.

The more Shen Xin thought about it, the more convinced he became. Any lingering doubt vanished, replaced by boiling anger and contempt.

His breathing quickened. His eyes turned bloodshot, glowing with fury.

Scum.

Betraying humanity. Rounding up human cultivators to sell as slaves to demons, even turning them into cultivation materials…

Absolutely vile.

Today, I'll kill you, he swore inwardly, blind to the fact that something was already going wrong.

Of course, he had no way of knowing about the existence of Heavenly Fate.

Meanwhile, Jiang Chen noticed the change in Shen Xin.

He's angry? Is he planning to kill me in a fit of rage?

He was calm before. Steady. And now he's suddenly like this.

Jiang Chen's lips curved faintly.

Looks like Heavenly Fate is at work. Pushing him into conflict with me, the villain… and turning it into a feud with the protagonist behind him.

So… should I kill him or not?

He hovered in the sky, unhurried, a trace of hesitation passing through his thoughts.

Behind him, Shen Xin had already finished his so-called stealthy approach.

Not yet, Jiang Chen decided. If I can trick him into trusting me more, that would be far more useful.

With that thought, he casually took a step forward.

Swoosh!

A black saber tore through the air, stabbing straight through the space where Jiang Chen had been a heartbeat earlier.

Shen Xin's strike missed, and his expression shifted.

What? I missed?

This Jiang Chen really isn't easy to deal with.

He pulled his saber back at once and stayed hidden, suppressing his presence even further.

At that moment, Jiang Chen, still floating in the air, slowly turned around. His gaze landed precisely on the spot where Shen Xin was concealed.

"Come out, Shen Xin," he said calmly. "I noticed you a long time ago."

Shen Xin's heart jolted.

"How is that possible?" He stepped out from concealment, staring at Jiang Chen with a wary look. "You saw through my position… and you even know my name?"

Since his concealment had already failed, there was no point in hiding anymore.

"In terms of hiding yourself, you're still too green," Jiang Chen said lightly. "As for your name, I don't just know that. I also know you're connected to a very special existence."

He paused, then smiled faintly.

"By the way, where is he now? And how is he doing?"

Every word was casual, as if he already knew far more than he let on.

Jiang Chen was deliberately fishing for information.

And the very special existence he mentioned was, of course, the protagonist behind Shen Xin.

How could a protagonist not be special? Describing him that way was almost always safe.

Of course, Jiang Chen had no idea whether Shen Xin had ever met the protagonist. This was more like casting a net at random—if he caught anything useful, it would be a pleasant surprise.

But the moment Shen Xin heard those words, his shock deepened.

He did know a special being.

His master—Qin Ran.

Someone who always appeared to be in the Physical Body realm, yet could grasp any cultivation method at a glance. Someone who possessed countless divine techniques, miraculous arts, divine weapons, rare pills, spiritual herbs, and even immortal plants. Powerful, mysterious, and impossible to see through.

How does he know about this? Shen Xin's mind raced. Has he met my master before? And me as well? Is that why he knows my name… and knows someone like my master exists?

Yet the more he thought about it, the more confused he became.

Ever since Qin Ran had taken him in as a disciple, they had lived in seclusion, hidden deep in remote mountains. They had never crossed paths with outsiders.

It wasn't until Shen Xin broke through to the Transcendence realm that Qin Ran forcibly sent him out to travel, forbidding him from returning. From then on, they could only stay in touch occasionally through a transmission jade token.

Unless…

He knows my master… and learned about me from him?

The thought settled in his mind, and the more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed.

Shen Xin looked at Jiang Chen again, suspicion clear in his eyes. His expression turned serious as he asked,

"You… you know my master?"