Dao of Submission — Principle Thirteen
The true strength of a team is not having everyone watch you.
It is allowing every person to shine in their own place—especially those you once believed could only remain in the shadows.
Seven days later.
Just before the end of the Tiger Hour.
The sky was still dark blue, like an inkstone that had never been fully washed clean.
But the square before the Red Dust Pavilion's mountain gate was already packed with people.
A sea of figures filled the plaza.
Breathing.
Whispers.
The faint clinking of weapons.
All of it mixed together in the cold air before dawn.
On the left, one hundred and twenty cultivators dressed in crimson robes.
The team heading to the Infernal Core.
On the right, another one hundred and twenty dressed in icy blue.
The expedition bound for the Frozen Illusion Realm.
The two groups stood apart with absolute clarity.
Like a red-and-blue wound split open across the earth.
Jiang Muchen stood within the Infernal Core's outer-disciple formation.
Wang Duobao stood beside him.
So did Lu Hanshan.
The three of them wore washed-out gray outer-sect robes.
Among a crowd of blazing crimson uniforms, they looked like three lumps of coal tossed into a furnace.
They stood out painfully.
Many inner disciples glanced toward them.
Those gazes carried all kinds of meanings.
Curiosity.
Disdain.
Mockery.
And naked hostility.
The whispers began.
"See that one? That's Jiang Muchen."
"Qi Refining Fourth Layer and he dares enter the Infernal Core?"
"He's dead for sure."
"I heard Senior Brother Chen only gave him a slot because of Elder Murong."
"Hah. A useless parasite climbing through a woman's favor."
"He won't survive his first day inside."
The murmurs floated through the thin morning mist.
Wang Duobao's round face flushed a deep purple.
Lu Hanshan's hand tightened around his blade until the veins in his arm bulged.
Only Jiang Muchen remained calm.
His gaze passed over the crowd.
Toward the platform ahead.
Two people stood there.
On the left—
Chen Xuanfeng.
His crimson robes looked like living flames.
Hands behind his back.
When his gaze swept across the crowd, it paused on Jiang Muchen for half a breath.
Then he gave the faintest nod.
On the right—
Leng Yue.
Dressed in pure white.
Her long hair was loosely pinned with an icy hairpin.
A pale blue sword hung at her waist.
The sheath was engraved with delicate frost patterns.
She stood there like a statue carved from ice.
Even the air around her felt colder.
Jiang Muchen studied her carefully.
Late Foundation Establishment.
The same level as Murong Xueli.
But their presence was completely different.
Murong Xueli's coldness was proud.
Like eternal ice on a mountaintop.
Leng Yue's coldness was indifferent.
Like water that had sunk to the bottom of a thousand-year-old lake.
Murong rejected others.
Leng Yue simply didn't consider anyone worth noticing.
"The time has come."
Chen Xuanfeng spoke.
His voice wasn't loud.
But it rolled across the plaza like thunder.
All whispers vanished instantly.
"The Infernal Core is an earthfire secret realm."
"Three iron rules."
"First—no leaving the team without permission."
"Second—no killing fellow disciples."
"Third—thirty percent of all resources go to the expedition."
"The remaining seventy percent belongs to the individual."
He paused.
His gaze cut across the crowd like blades.
"Anyone who breaks these rules…"
"…will be expelled from the realm."
"…and their cultivation abolished."
The final words fell slowly.
Each one like an ice spike driven into stone.
Silence swallowed the plaza.
"Outer disciples will follow inner disciples."
Chen Xuanfeng raised his hand.
"Divide according to the list."
Ten inner disciples stepped forward.
Each approached a group of six outer disciples.
The man assigned to Jiang Muchen's group was tall and thin.
His skin was sickly yellow.
His eyes drooped at the corners.
His lips were narrow.
A pair of short crimson daggers hung at his waist.
Their tips glimmered faint blue.
Poison.
"My name is Li Yan."
His voice was hoarse.
Like sandpaper scraping metal.
"You three."
"Stay close."
"If you fall behind…"
"I won't come back for you."
His eyes fixed on Jiang Muchen.
Cold.
Venomous.
Like a snake.
Wang Duobao whispered without moving his lips.
"Brother Chen… that guy's one of Xiao Chen's loyal dogs."
"He cultivates Poisonfire Sting techniques."
"They say he's killed at least five fellow disciples."
Jiang Muchen nodded quietly.
He said nothing.
Meanwhile, Leng Yue was giving instructions to the Frozen Illusion Realm team.
The rules were similar.
Except the resource share was twenty percent instead of thirty.
That tiny difference made many outer disciples visibly brighten.
Senior Sister Leng seemed more generous.
During the grouping process, her gaze lingered briefly on Shen Lingxue.
"You cultivate a Frost technique?" she asked calmly.
"Yes."
Shen Lingxue bowed.
"You're already Foundation Establishment?"
Leng Yue raised an eyebrow slightly.
"An outer disciple reaching that level… rare."
"I only broke through recently."
Leng Yue nodded.
But her gaze on Shen Lingxue grew deeper.
"Move out!"
Chen Xuanfeng gave the command.
Both formations began marching toward the teleportation arrays.
The Infernal Core array glowed crimson.
Its patterns resembled living flames.
The air above it warped from intense heat.
The Frozen Illusion Realm array was icy blue.
Hundreds of frost crystals were embedded into the formation.
Cold mist flowed across its surface.
As Jiang Muchen stepped onto the crimson formation—
A voice echoed inside his mind.
Chen Xuanfeng's spiritual transmission.
"Thirty miles southeast of the lava lake."
"A canyon."
"Midnight."
"If anyone interferes…"
"…kill them."
The final word fell.
The teleportation formation erupted with light.
Red swallowed the world.
Weightlessness struck.
Like falling from a thousand-meter cliff.
Twisted streams of light spun around them.
Waves of scorching heat pressed against their bodies.
Even through the formation barrier, their skin burned.
Time lost meaning.
Then—
Solid ground returned.
Jiang Muchen opened his eyes.
Hell.
That was his first thought.
The sky was dark red.
Like coagulated blood.
Several pale stars hung overhead like the eyes of corpses.
The ground was cracked.
Endless fissures spread across the earth.
Within them flowed molten lava.
Like veins exposed beneath torn flesh.
Volcanoes erupted in the distance.
Columns of smoke pierced the sky.
Lava cascaded like waterfalls.
Half the sky glowed orange.
The air itself burned.
Every breath scorched the lungs.
This was the Infernal Core.
"What are you staring at?!"
Li Yan snapped.
"Move!"
He led the six outer disciples toward the southeast.
The ground beneath them was scorching black rock.
Cracks glowed with faint red heat.
Every step produced a sizzling sound.
Wang Duobao and Lu Hanshan circulated spiritual energy to protect their feet.
Sweat evaporated instantly.
White salt stains remained on their skin.
The three disciples loyal to Xiao Chen walked easily.
Their boots were covered in fireproof talismans.
Spiritual light flickered beneath their steps.
One of them approached Jiang Muchen with a grin.
"Junior Brother Jiang."
"I heard you're… quite close with Elder Murong."
"Mind sharing your secret?"
His smile was friendly.
His eyes were not.
"Pure coincidence," Jiang Muchen replied calmly.
"Coincidence?" another disciple sneered.
"I think you just know how to wag your tail."
"Even an ice queen like Murong must like obedient dogs."
Lu Hanshan's hand moved toward his sword.
Jiang Muchen stopped him.
"Senior Brother's right," Jiang Muchen said calmly.
"I am quite good at wagging my tail."
"For example…"
"Senior Brother Chen ordered me to scout the canyon thirty miles southeast of the lava lake."
"I'm heading there right now."
"Would you three like to join?"
The three disciples froze.
That canyon had been marked on Chen Xuanfeng's map.
Extreme danger zone.
Lava beast territory.
Going there was suicide.
"You're lying!" the round-faced disciple snapped.
Jiang Muchen calmly produced a crimson command token.
The character Chen burned on its surface.
Chen Xuanfeng's aura radiated from it.
"Want me to ask him personally?"
The three men fell silent.
They dared bully Jiang Muchen.
They did not dare offend Chen Xuanfeng.
"Fine," one of them muttered.
"Just you wait."
The group continued forward.
Soon the first monsters appeared.
Fire ants the size of fists.
Flame lizards several meters long.
Flocks of fire crows screaming overhead.
Li Yan rarely fought.
He forced the outer disciples to deal with most threats.
"Training."
In truth—
It was exhaustion warfare.
Drain their spirit energy.
Drain their talismans.
Drain their stamina.
But Jiang Muchen's team moved with flawless coordination.
Lu Hanshan attacked.
His blade targeted vital points with brutal precision.
Wang Duobao supported.
His talismans disrupted enemy movement.
Jiang Muchen did not fight.
He played his jade flute.
Soft music flowed through the burning air.
The raging beasts hesitated.
For just a fraction of a second.
That hesitation was enough.
Lu Hanshan's blade finished them.
Three Qi Refining cultivators.
They slaughtered three beast waves without injury.
The three Xiao Chen disciples stared in disbelief.
That flute…
What kind of treasure was it?
"Found it in Azure Nether Valley," Jiang Muchen said casually.
"Seems to work well against fire creatures."
He did not mention the All-Spirit Resonance Technique.
Some secrets were better kept.
Two hours later—
The terrain changed.
A forest of crimson growth appeared ahead.
Not trees.
Fire Coral.
Twisted branches reaching like clawing arms.
Flame-shaped blossoms burned at their tips.
Deep within the forest—
A beast roared.
Li Yan stopped.
"Rest."
"Half an hour."
"Then we cross."
Soon they entered the coral forest.
And disaster struck.
A thunderous roar shook the earth.
A massive creature burst through the coral.
Three meters tall.
A body made of molten rock.
Lava flowing through its cracks.
Eyes burning like coals.
A Lava Behemoth.
Mid Foundation Establishment.
Li Yan's face turned pale.
"Scatter!!!"
Chaos exploded.
One disciple was crushed instantly.
Li Yan attacked.
His poisoned daggers struck the beast's eye—
CLANG.
Barely a scratch.
The beast slammed him aside.
Li Yan flew through the air coughing blood.
"...We're dead," Wang Duobao whispered.
Lu Hanshan stepped forward.
"Brother Chen."
"You run."
Jiang Muchen didn't move.
His mind flipped through the notes he memorized.
Lava beasts.
Weak to extreme cold.
Heart core beneath the third scale of the left abdomen.
Freeze it.
Three seconds of paralysis.
Jiang Muchen crushed a talisman.
Murong Xueli's Frost Soul Talisman.
The world froze.
Ice erupted.
The coral forest crystallized.
Lava solidified.
The behemoth froze in place.
"Now!"
"Left abdomen!"
Lu Hanshan moved like lightning.
His blade pierced the gap.
The beast screamed.
Moments later—
It collapsed.
Dead.
Lu Hanshan lifted a fist-sized lava core from the wound.
Silence filled the forest.
Everyone stared at Jiang Muchen like he was a monster.
A single talisman.
One command.
A Qi Refining cultivator had just orchestrated the death of a Foundation beast.
Far away—
At the edge of the coral forest.
Chen Xuanfeng stood atop a towering coral branch.
He had watched everything.
A faint smile appeared.
"Interesting."
Then he vanished into the crimson forest.
Dao of Submission — Maxim Thirteen
The real trump card is not the one hidden deepest.
It is the one revealed at the perfect moment—
so that everyone believes it was your only one.