"I'll take it as a yes!"

Chen Chen secretly decided.

According to Yu Qiong's words, he was laden with sins, and he had to have great merit to offset it.

The merit would be given to him only after he had settled the matter between the two races.

Saving a few people occasionally wouldn't help at all.

Of course, if there was another person with the Adversity-Overcoming Seal, Chen Chen would be able to offset the sins if he killed that person.

However, about the odds of the appearance of the Adversity-Overcoming Seal, Chen Chen would probably have to kill himself because no one else would appear.

"I just took some treasures, why should I do that?"

Chen Chen sighed.

In the future, he would not use the system to search for treasures but would instead, use the system to search for loyal subordinates.

He would then send his subordinates to go search for some treasures. That would be more appropriate.

...

After returning to the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan, Chen Chen began to study alchemy.

In the past month or so, he had deduced a few more Ancient Pill Formulas and learned to refine two kinds of elixirs. Even Yu Qiong had praised him many times.

At noon, Chen Chen suddenly received a divine sense transmission from Yu Qiong.

She asked all the disciples, including him, to go to her place.

Chen Chen didn't have anything else to do anyway. Hence, his body flashed, and he had already arrived in Yu Qiong's courtyard in the blink of an eye.

Compared to more than a month ago, Yu Qiong seemed to have become much prettier. According to Chen Chen's aesthetic standards, Yu Qiong would now be a 5 or 6/10 if Xia Xishuang was a 10/10.

However, Yu Qiong was obviously not in a good mood, as she was frowning and thinking about something quietly without saying anything to Chen Chen.

Not long after, the other eight disciples of Yu Qiong arrived, and she finally spoke up.

"I'm sure all of you know that the islands of the Boundless Sea are an important source of raw materials for the elixirs of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan. However, just yesterday, our cultivators were robbed and killed while on their way to deliver elixirs to the cultivators at the Boundless Sea."

At this point, Yu Qiong paused for a moment.

Chen Chen's Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters began expressing their anger.

'Someone actually had the audacity to kill the cultivators of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan. How brazen!'

During non-war times, even if an errand boy of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan went out to deliver elixirs, no one would dare to harm him.

The consequences of offending an alchemist were unimaginable, and it indeed wouldn't be worth it to take such a huge risk just for some elixirs.

Yet, an expert had now been killed.

"This is indeed a mistake of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan. We have to give those 1,000 elixirs sooner or later. The other alchemists in the sect aren't free at the moment, so you'll have to take over this task."

Yu Qiong said indifferently.

The eight honest people immediately agreed and profusely expressed that they would be able to complete the task in a short time.

After the eight people left, Yu Qiong looked at Chen Chen, who had not moved much and smiled. "You've become much more stable and reliable after a month of practicing alchemy."

Chen Chen answered calmly, "Master, you must be joking. In fact, I have always been very calm, you just didn't notice."

Yu Qiong did not dwell on this issue and instead said, "Recently, the ship owners of the Boundless Sea gradually formed some kind of an alliance and purchased a large number of elixirs we refined under the alliance's name. They also tried to bargain for lower prices."

"Since the volume of their purchase is indeed quite large, the efficiency of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan will improve greatly, as we're selling these in bulk to them, and we can also save a lot of manpower. Hence, a few Uncle-Masters have agreed to their request."

"Yet, those 1,000 elixirs that were robbed yesterday belonged to the first batch of elixirs to be delivered to the merchant alliance. Do you think this matter is related to the merchant alliance?"

Chen Chen pondered for a moment and shook his head.

He said, "It shouldn't be related to them. Those ship owners have set up a merchant alliance, so they must have a long-term plan, and it's impossible for them to offend the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan, just for a thousand elixirs. In my opinion, it's more likely than not, that the establishment of this merchant alliance has harmed the interests of certain people, and those people have decided to kill the disciples of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan in order to destroy the merchant alliance's channel of obtaining elixirs."

Yu Qiong rubbed her forehead and seemed a little annoyed.

"If not for the current shortage of manpower, I wouldn't let these nobodies act in such an unruly manner. I'd definitely put them in their place."

Seeing that Yu Qiong's peaceful state of mind had vaguely started to change, Chen Chen felt a little sympathetic.

Now that the Void Refinement realm experts of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan were all fighting on the battlefield, Yu Qiong had to see to the matters of the entire Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan.

Now that such worrisome trouble had happened, she obviously couldn't help but be frustrated.

With that in mind, Chen Chen said softly, "Master, why don't I go to the Boundless Sea again? The Boundless Sea has provided so many raw materials for the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan, and I'm afraid that any losses would affect the front line."

Yu Qiong's anxiety vanished after hearing his words, and instead, there was a playful expression on her face.

"What? You're willing to go? Aren't you afraid of letting others see that mark on your body?"

Chen Chen shook his head with a rather subdued expression.

"Master, there are no Void Refinement realm cultivators in the Boundless Sea, what should I be afraid of? Besides, it's only my duty to take share on the burden of my Master."

Yu Qiong said with a heartened smile, "Good that you know. We do have to go to the Boundless Sea, and you're the only person I want to send."

"When you go there, the first thing to do is, of course, to investigate clearly who harmed the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan members."

"Secondly, investigate the background of that merchant alliance. To be honest, if it were not for the special circumstances today, I would never allow such a force to emerge in the Boundless Sea. The Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan will thrive only when the Boundless Sea is free."

Hearing Yu Qiong's words, Chen Chen pretended to be serious and nodded.

The real lifeblood of the Boundless Sea lays in those giant boats, not in the elixirs.

Therefore, the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan could trade with the Boundless Sea but not control it.

Once there was a dominant force that united all the powers at sea, they would be qualified to bargain with the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan, and that would indeed be harming the interests of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan.

Of course, the premise of all of these was that the merchant alliance was not controlled by someone.

Thinking of this, Chen Chen secretly smiled.

When the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan and the Boundless Sea are under his control, there would only be an integration of resources and growth.

"Master, when do I leave?"

Chen Chen asked respectfully.

"The sooner the better, but I don't have anyone to escort you."

"Don't worry, I have recruited quite a few followers during this time, I'll just take them with me."

Hearing the word followers, Yu Qiong looked at Chen Chen and said seriously, "Followers are not objects that you can just collect. Of course, I know you have a good sense of judgment and can read people well. However, failure is inevitable. It's better that you test them carefully. Otherwise, I'm afraid you will face a backfire one day."

"I understand." Chen Chen agreed.

Yu Qiong was doing it for his own good. He knew that some logic may not apply.

Just with the accuracy of the system... he would never fail.

"Forget it, rest for half a day before setting off. Remember, don't try to take anything from the Boundless Sea!"

"I understand!"

Chen Chen had a serious attitude and a solemn expression. However, he soon laughed and turned around to leave.

Looking at Chen Chen's back, Yu Qiong shook his head and eventually smiled too.

'Chen Chen may not be a good person, but he's very competent.'

...

After leaving Yu Qiong's courtyard, Chen Chen took out a communication token.

"Nan Pinghai, what's going on? Who killed a disciple of the Jade Tripod Alchemy Clan?"

Soon, he got a reply.

"Lord...the person who attacked is extremely ruthless, your disciples might have died terribly. I couldn't determine which force he's from, but judging from the remaining aura, it should be an Essence Soul realm diabolic cultivator..."

"Diabolic cultivator? Does it have something to do with the secret force?"

"I don't know, but during this time, that mysterious force has been keeping a low profile."

"I know. I will personally make a trip to the Boundless Sea in a few days."

After saying these words, Chen Chen put away the communication token with a cold expression.

In the past, he had been relatively gentle and would take the softer approach because he was kind-hearted by nature.

However, now that he was pressed for time, he had to take some intimidating measures.

Hence, regardless of who it was, anyone who stood in his way will have to pay the price of doing so.