After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu paused slightly, feeling that Yan Zhichun was talking about something fantastical.

“‘Heaven’s Mouth’ helping the ‘Extreme Path’ clear obstacles…?” He smiled and frowned. “Do you know what you’re saying? From a certain perspective, we’re in a long-term adversarial relationship.”

“‘Heaven’s Mouth’ and the ‘Extreme Path’ are adversaries, but are you and I adversaries?” Yan Zhichun asked with an unconcerned expression.

“That’s an interesting question,” Chu Tianqiu nodded. “Many CEOs of rival companies are like this—their subordinates fight fiercely, but the upper management sits together drinking tea and chatting from time to time.”

“That’s exactly what I want to say,” Yan Zhichun said. “Even though ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ and the ‘Extreme Path’ have been fighting for so many years, it doesn’t prevent us from having a common goal, right? Even if the people below can’t see through this layer, you should be able to.”

“So what?”

“The ‘Extreme Path’ needs your help,” Yan Zhichun said. “I always have an ominous premonition, so I can only gather another wave of reinforcements.”

“Reinforcements…? But you still can’t say what kind of help it is. You only say it’s a ‘thorny problem,'” Chu Tianqiu replied. “What if you’re tricking me? What if you get the few remaining members of ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ killed?”

“I really have no way to explain it clearly, but not because I want to hide it from you,” Yan Zhichun said. “I’m worried that the walls have ears here. There are too many people who shouldn’t hear this news.”

After hearing this, Chu Tianqiu turned his head to look at Chen Junnan beside him, then looked up at the Earth-Dragon and Qinglong above. Naturally, he knew this wasn’t the place to talk.

But if the other party didn’t say what needed to be done, how could he judge whether this transaction was fair?

“All I can say is…” Yan Zhichun seemed to see through Chu Tianqiu’s doubts and added, “This task is extremely dangerous. Once accepted, it might lead the entire ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ to death. I won’t deceive you. That’s all I can say. The rest is for you to consider.”

Chen Junnan on the side frowned after hearing this and said: “Aren’t you making things difficult for Chu Tianqiu…?”

Chu Tianqiu naturally understood what Yan Zhichun meant. She couldn’t reveal the content of the task, but she made the danger clear with one sentence.

If he agreed now, then the entire “Heaven’s Mouth” would die. If he didn’t agree, then Yan Zhichun would keep both the “marshal” and “cannon” characters for herself, and the current team might be completely wiped out.

After a few seconds, Chu Tianqiu slowly revealed a smile: “Yan Zhichun, you might not understand who I am now…”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve personally sent ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ to hell several times already,” he said softly. “After experiencing two ‘Heaven-level Moments,’ it has now become the last sanctuary they can remember in their hearts. Making them go to their deaths again now will have an unprecedented effect.”

“You… truly cannot bear the title of ‘King of Good People,'” Yan Zhichun said. “So I wasn’t wrong about you.”

“It doesn’t matter. So the deal is done,” Chu Tianqiu said. “You give me the ‘characters,’ and I’ll have ‘Heaven’s Mouth’ go crazy with you.”

“Hard to say who’s crazier,” Yan Zhichun extended her hand forward, revealing a pile of small metal “characters” in her hand.

“Stone” (石), “Marshal” (帥), “Cloth” (巾).

Chu Tianqiu thoughtfully took the “characters” and said with an indifferent expression: “Yan Zhichun, you may not have realized yet that whether it’s ‘marshal’ or ‘stone,’ neither can play much of a role in this game.”

“That’s not my concern,” Yan Zhichun said. “Everyone has their own responsibilities in this game. We’re responsible for retrieving the ‘characters,’ and you’re responsible for using the retrieved ‘characters’ to beat Qi Xia.”

At this moment, Chen Junnan looked up at the screen in front of Chu Tianqiu, then frowned after a moment.

“What is it?” Chu Tianqiu turned to look at Chen Junnan. “Why have you been staring at the screen?”

“It’s nothing…” Chen Junnan sighed and said lightly, “Can we really win?”

“I’m still calculating,” Chu Tianqiu said. “Currently, I’ve calculated that the total number of ‘characters’ that can be formed exceeds thirty-five, but half of them can’t be read.”

After hearing this, Chen Junnan paused again: “Why not have everyone gather here, hand over all the ‘characters,’ and you try them one by one?”

“If we did that, the ‘front line’ would be breached,” Chu Tianqiu said. “Qi Xia should be using the same tactics as me. Once no one is holding back the enemy on the front line, they’ll all come to our ‘Preparation Area.'”

“What’s wrong with them coming to our ‘Preparation Area’…?”

Chu Tianqiu didn’t speak. He just picked up the “characters” in his hand and scored three points on the screen.

“Marshal” (帥), “Cloth” (巾), “Stone” (石).

Unfortunately, in Chu Tianqiu’s view, these three “characters” could no longer form any other possibilities.

After completing the combination, he lowered his head, thought for a while, took out “cloth” (巾) separately, and turned back to hand it to Chen Junnan.

“Without a ‘character,’ you can’t move. We still need you,” Chu Tianqiu said.

“A single ‘cloth’… can that even be considered a ‘character’?”

“It counts,” Chu Tianqiu said. “Go. No matter who you failed with last time, remember to change targets this time.”

“What if I keep failing…?” Chen Junnan asked again.

“That can also cause tremendous psychological pressure on the opponent,” Chu Tianqiu said. “As long as they start not believing in the real Chen Junnan, you’ve succeeded.”

“Alright…” Chen Junnan reached out to take the “cloth,” seemingly pondering something.

“Go,” Chu Tianqiu said. “Time is passing. Don’t delay.”

“But that screen…” Chen Junnan said.

“I’ll handle matters related to ‘characters,'” Chu Tianqiu said with a smile again. “You go do your own thing well.”

“Alright…”

Chen Junnan stuffed the “cloth” into his pocket. He opened his mouth as if wanting to say something else, but still sighed and turned to leave.

After he left, Chu Tianqiu and Yan Zhichun beside him fell into a long silence.

“Is there a problem…?” Yan Zhichun asked. “You don’t look quite right.”

“This is too absurd,” Chu Tianqiu suddenly revealed a strange smile and said in a low voice. “This is truly too absurd… I finally understand why Qi Xia arranged for Xu Liunian to be on my team.”

“What…?” Yan Zhichun was stunned. “That ‘Transformation’ was chosen for you by Qi Xia?”

“Well, this is great,” Chu Tianqiu said. “‘Transformation’ versus ‘Counter-Transformation’… before we can disrupt the opponent’s tactics, their people have already arrived at our ‘Preparation Area.'”

After hearing this, Yan Zhichun’s eyes slowly widened: “You’re saying… that person just now wasn’t a ‘Transformation’ at all?! He was Chen Junnan himself?!”