Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible-Chapter 232: Han Xuhan Eats A Loss!

Han Xuhan pondered for a long time before coming to a firm conclusion.

Whoever the creator of this technique might have been, there was no way they could’ve foreseen this particular situation;

where a cultivator summons souls from an unknown realm and stuffs them into undead vessels, and then finds a banned, unorthodox, ’unregistered’ Mystic Art to make these beings cultivate.

Then he strengthens their foundations to the point that they become partial owners of his own foundation tower, and then uses the intermixed spiritual authority to abuse the hidden benefits of this Mystic Art.

What Han Xuhan was doing right now was a more roundabout version of letting multiple non-registered users log in through a single ID to access members-only resources.

Moreover, these users shared the same login ’device’ and planned to upload their learnings into the same ’skill-tree’, ensuring that nearly every nook and cranny of the Mystic Art would be explored and comprehended.

In a way, he was practically cheating. But the examiners surely wouldn’t be able to tell, let alone predict that someone could cheat in such a manner.

So what did he have to fear? Messing up his foundation tower? Hahaha!

At this point, messing it up was his specialty. He had almost begun anticipating what new outrageous change he could bring to it, changes that no orthodox cultivator could ever comprehend, let alone explain.

In this brutal world of cultivation, if you cannot be the strongest, you can only live well by becoming the most unpredictable, incomprehensible, and monstrous entity.

After successfully gaslighting himself like this, spreading the same psychological damage to his minions wasn’t difficult. He was quite adept at it.

Thus, that very night, Zhanxian and Tun Shi Tian began their journey towards the first layer of the False Remembrance Illusion Art, whilst Han Xuhan used their unique insights of the Mystic Art to bolster his own momentum towards the second layer.

He could almost envision a day in the distant future, where he would lead an army of skeleton soldiers into battle, casting innumerable layers of illusions and false ideas on his enemies, distorting their grasp on the fabrics of reality itself, destroying their sanity and soul before his fists tasted blood.

While he was daydreaming, he suddenly felt a disturbance tearing his consciousness out of his foundation tower.

Had something happened in the real world while he was absorbed in cultivation?

Sure enough, the disturbance was caused by signals sent from his physical body, which was now being forcefully pushed down on the floor, while somebody shouted in his ears, "Stop meditating! You’re under arrest!"

For a ridiculous moment, Han Xuhan thought he had transmigrated back to Earth. But as his eyes began to work in the dim light, he realized that he was still inside his familiar hut.

There were, however, some unfamiliar presences gracing it as well.

"What’s going on? Who’s arresting me?"

"We’ve been dispatched as an investigation commission by the Disciplinary Committee of the Crimson Snow Sect."

The speaker was the one holding him down. Judging by his unfamiliar, older voice, Han Xuhan understood that he was dealing with a team of senior disciples.

He became furious the moment the realization set in. Where did this bullshit jump out from?

"What are the charges against me? Was I breathing wrong during meditation?"

"You’re being investigated for embezzlement of resources, hoarding, and market manipulation. We also have orders to investigate you based on some secret accusations."

"...What accusations are those?!"

"Secret accusations."

"That’s unlawful! That’s against human rights! You have to let me know-"

"What are human rights?" The speaker asked, sounding genuinely curious.

Han Xuhan was speechless.

Accusations of embezzlement, hoarding, and market manipulation, he could understand. After all, his hut was stacked full with all kinds of precious resources and cultivation materials from the sect’s treasury.

Part of it was the commission he had collected for himself during the resource transfers between the Crimson Snow Sect and the Holy Land of Laws. The rest were purchased with his own money.

To the ordinary outer court disciples of the sect, the converted value of those materials was bound to be outrageously high. Anyone out of the loop could raise the questions.

But the higher-ups of the sect were definitely aware that he was the middleman in the resource transfer deal. Why the hell would the disciplinary authority approve an investigation commission against him?

And what the hell were those secret accusations?

"...Who was the complainant? Is that a secret too?"

"You’ll know if we deem it necessary for investigation."

Gnashing his teeth, Han Xuhan responded, "I think I’ll take a wild guess. Let me know if I hit the mark. Does the complainant’s name have the surname ’Chen’ in it?"

Senior Brother Chen Yan, an influential figure of the disciplinary body of the sect, was likely behind this farce. Only that could explain why an investment commission against Han Xuhan would get approved.

Perhaps the Elder in charge wasn’t even aware that a team had been dispatched to arrest him. All the requirements had been handled behind doors, with lightning-quick efficiency.

A moment of awkward silence hung in the air after he named the perpetrator. But the Senior disciples were quite professional. They vehemently denied that Chen Yan was their informant.

Han Xuhan was escorted out of the hut while the rest of the team began to sort through the resources piled up inside.

Crate after crate was brought out and labelled as confiscated items. The more materials they uncovered, the higher their conviction rose.

"Look at that! And you dare deny the accusations? Our entire team could pool together their income and still fail to purchase a tenth of what we’ve discovered so far."

Han Xuhan gave his captor a disdainful look.

"Don’t take this the wrong way, senior, but you sound quite pathetic when you show off your poverty like that."

The older disciple sneered. "All of these are proceeds gotten through crimes. Do you think you can afford to act so arrogant and show off right now?"

"What are you saying, Senior Brother? I haven’t even started showing off yet," Han Xuhan replied, increasing the disdain in his demeanor by tenfold.

"Tell your team to open up the locked boxes under my bed. The materials you’ve confiscated so far are the cheapest stuff in my collection. You’d probably not even recognise the rest. I’d have to go over and help you label them one by one."

Flabbergasted, the senior disciple asked, "Aren’t you planning to hide anything?"

Han Xuhan laughed dryly, offering no response.

On the horizon, a golden red slice of the sun was beginning to show. What could he keep hidden in the dark when the light was targeting him so openly?

When the heavily protected portions of his collection were brought outside, Han Xuhan’s words proved to be true. The older disciples couldn’t recognise many items.

Fortunately for them, someone had been thoughtful enough to carry a copy of the record book from the Sect’s treasury. Resorting to it, they managed to evade the shame of taking Han Xuhan’s help in identifying all the materials.

"If that is all, shall we go?" He said impatiently after the last crate was labelled.

The older disciples looked amused.

"I’ve never seen a suspect as cooperative as you. You’re more eager than us!"

"Maybe he still has a secret stockpile somewhere. Shall we keep searching?"

"Do you understand that you’re about to be placed under constant surveillance and detention? Before the authorities decide what your punishment is going to be, it’s not going to be easy for you."

Unperturbed, Han Xuhan said, "Are you saying it’s going to be easy for me afterwards?"

The team of investigators broke out in raucous laughter. Having successfully completed their mission, they were in a pretty good mood. His lighthearted jokes were merely icing on the cake.

Soon, he was taken to an unfamiliar mountain in one of the restricted areas of the sect. The nameplate of the building showed: Temporary Detention Pavilion.

As it was early in the morning, almost nobody saw them on the way. That made him thankful for their timing.

If the news got out that he had actually been arrested by the disciplinary committee, he could kiss his big business plans goodbye.

Then again, it made sense that they’d conduct the on-site investigation at such a time. Senior Brother Chen Yan didn’t want his golden goose to suffer a massive loss of prospective income either.

He must have given the team strict instructions to keep everything under wraps.

But what did he actually hope to accomplish with this sudden and aggressive move? It couldn’t be something as simple as a humiliation tactic...

He got his answer unexpectedly quick, when Chen Yan himself strode into the Temporary Detention Pavilion, carrying a stack of documents.

"These are the receipts we’ve managed to collect from the Treasury. Han Xuhan, the suspect, has been in charge of some large-scale transfers of precious materials.

If we can match the transfer dates and items that were supposed to be teleported away, and check the confiscated items, I have no doubts that we’ll uncover exactly how much he has embezzled from every instance of transfer!"

Right at that moment, Han Xuhan finally understood the entirety of Chen Yan’s scheme.

It was simple, direct, and brutal, much different from how he himself planned things. But he had to admit... He had lost this round.

From the beginning, Chen Yan knew that the investigation would go nowhere.

The moment the Elders in charge learned of his arrest, the charges against him were going to be dropped. Sect Master Zi himself would shield Han Xuhan.

The outcome was inevitable. Han Xuhan was going to return to his hut with all of his precious possessions intact.

That left only two possibilities as to why Chen Yan would still take such risks to seize Han Xuhan and his collection of materials.

Firstly, he wanted to give Han Xuhan a proper taste of exactly what he was capable of. He wanted to relay the message that all of his attempts so far were just tentative probes, meant to be powerless, fated to fail.

From the beginning, he hadn’t harbored much hope of his junior disciples getting the job done. From here on, he was going to play the game seriously.

And secondly, with this simple move, Chen Yan could get the exact estimate of how much wool his fat sheep was hiding.

In the future, instead of blindly negotiating with him during the transfer of resources, Chen Yan could place his exact demand anytime, anywhere!