Confrontation

Lin Chen did not pay much attention to this. Such strength might be considered formidable in Flame City, but it posed no threat to him.

"Hehe..."

"Gang Leader Yue Shan, you cannot put it that way. I had intended to enter properly today, but your Blood Wolf Gang's guards were too ill-mannered. Otherwise, I would not have bothered teaching them a lesson, much less used this method to draw you out."

"As for my identity, there is no harm in telling you today."

"Lin Chen of the Lin Clan."

Lin Chen met Yue Shan's gaze, let out a cold laugh, and spoke slowly.

"At such a young age, he possesses such Spiritual Power..."

"It seems his identity as a member of the Lin Clan is not false..."

Yue Shan's cold gaze swept over Lin Chen. As he sensed Spiritual Power that was no weaker than that of a Four Symbol Master, his pupils constricted, and his expression instantly turned frighteningly grim.

Without question, Yue Shan had now been placed in a difficult position.

In the Great Yan Dynasty, the consequences of offending someone from the Lin Clan were not something ordinary people could bear. Although Yue Shan possessed some strength, Lin Chen could not represent the Lin Clan.

Yet someone who possessed such strength at this age would certainly be no ordinary figure even within the Lin Clan.

That was Yue Shan's current line of thinking. However, it was clearly impossible for him to lower his banner and completely submit merely because Lin Chen was from the Lin Clan.

"No wonder... so you are a genius of the Lin Clan."

"However, while the Blood Wolf Gang cannot afford to provoke the Lin Clan, if you do not give us an explanation for your actions today, how will the Blood Wolf Gang maintain its footing in Flame City in the future?"

Yue Shan shouted coldly at Lin Chen, showing neither humility nor weakness because of Lin Chen's identity.

Although the Lin Clan was powerful, it was not without hostile forces in the Great Yan Dynasty. Its influence had not yet reached Flame City, and Yue Shan knew this much.

Therefore, no fear showed on Yue Shan's rugged face. The gaze he fixed upon Lin Chen remained as fierce and hostile as before.

"An explanation? Gang Leader Yue, I did not come here to give you any explanation..."

"Gang Leader Yue, I heard that you obtained an Ice Fire Snake Scale Fruit in the eastern mountains of Flame City not long ago. Is that true?"

Lin Chen shook his head, then fixed his eyes tightly on Yue Shan. After a brief pause, he asked in a contemplative tone.

Upon hearing this, Yue Shan's heart tightened, and his mind involuntarily tensed. For a moment, he could not spare any thought for anything else.

His acquisition of the Ice Fire Snake Scale Fruit was no secret in Flame City.

"That is indeed true. What do you mean by this?"

Although Lin Chen was young, Yue Shan already regarded him as an expert on the same level as himself. Thus, he did not dare underestimate Lin Chen in the slightest.

Faced with Yue Shan's cold question, Lin Chen remained unhurried. After his gaze lingered on several people who had rushed over from the surrounding area, he glanced at Yue Shan and answered calmly.

"Gang Leader Yue Shan, the Ice Fire Snake Scale Fruit is useless to someone at the peak of the Core Formation Realm. If you are willing to trade it to me, I can compensate you with something of equal value."

"I can even offer some compensation for the Blood Wolf Gang's entrance today. What do you think, Gang Leader Yue Shan?"

After hearing Lin Chen's words, a faint trace of disdain appeared at the corners of Yue Shan's stern lips.

It was not that Yue Shan did not believe what Lin Chen had said. He simply did not wish to compromise with a youth like Lin Chen and leave behind a humiliating stain upon his reputation.

So-called pride and dignity were sometimes indeed important, but one could also pay a painful price for them.

Human nature was both complex and simple, ever-changing and unpredictable. Sometimes, it came down to a single thought, and the difference between that thought could be the difference between survival and destruction.

"Although the Ice Fire Snake Scale Fruit is effective only for those below the Core Formation Realm, it can rapidly help one break through to the Lesser Core Formation Realm. It is extremely useful to members of my gang."

"Though my son's talent cannot compare to yours, it is still rather good. I had planned to preserve this fruit for him to consume in the future, and I do not intend to trade it away now."

Yue Shan did not even need to think before directly rejecting Lin Chen's proposal, though he subsequently added a condition.

"If you truly have sincerity, then bring one hundred thousand Pure Yuan Pills. Then the matter of your forcing your way into the Blood Wolf Gang can be overlooked, and I will hand the Ice Fire Snake Scale Fruit over to you."

As he spoke, a faint smile appeared on Yue Shan's rugged face. In the gaze his cold eyes cast toward Lin Chen, there was also a trace of greed that should not have been there.

The Four Great Clans of the Great Yan Dynasty were enormously wealthy, so Yue Shan was somewhat tempted by Lin Chen's proposal for an exchange.

Yet to Lin Chen, Yue Shan's expression seemed strangely sinister.

"One hundred thousand Pure Yuan Pills? Gang Leader Yue Shan, that is quite an appetite you have. Do you know that one hundred thousand Pure Yuan Pills could buy a decent High-grade Spirit Treasure in the Great Yan Dynasty? It could even allow several hundred Heavenly Origin Realm practitioners to cultivate to the Lesser Core Formation Realm."

Lin Chen gave a cold laugh. The gaze he directed at Yue Shan gradually gained a few more traces of mockery and chill.

Yue Shan was no different from what Lin Chen had imagined. He had failed Lin Chen's test, giving Lin Chen all the more reason to act.

Lin Chen was not surprised by Yue Shan's outrageous demand. Unlike Lei Bao of Qingyang Town, Yue Shan was a man of both strength and ambition. Only after settling matters with their fists would he yield.

And even Yue Shan's submission would merely be helpless forbearance. Once he found an opportunity, he would certainly launch a fatal attack against anyone who had humiliated him.

Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a snake.

For ruthless and violent people like Yue Shan, pride and dignity mattered more than many things. Their hearts could not endure even the slightest grievance.

In Flame City, it was not that those at the peak of the Core Formation Realm could simply reign supreme. Rather, people like Yue Shan did not wish to leave Flame City and lower themselves elsewhere.

And was that not precisely why countless people throughout Tianxuan Continent, and even the Great Thousand World, were immersed in the dream of becoming local tyrants?