Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible-Chapter 144: Introspection

Han Xuhan thought the wily old sect master would try to wriggle out of the deal. But contrary to his expectations, Xuan Zi gave him a look full of approval upon hearing his proposal.

"Child, you have a great aptitude for fitting into a better society of cultivators, it seems. Not many of us can get past their inhibition regarding their personal cultivation techniques. Few would be bold enough to sell their hard-earned cultivation manual to their peers.

"I like children like you the most; kids who can see past their narrow vision, overcome the superstitions of their era, and catch the opportunities floating by! This is a commendable mindset. Keep it up! Go get the job done whenever you want to; I’ll certainly approve the application!"

Enthusiastically, he bid them goodbye and disappeared inside his palace.

A bit dumbfounded, Han Xuhan left the sect master’s mountain in a daze with Mu Ran and Xuanyuan Zhou tagging alongside him, both equally in disbelief over the exchange.

All three of them had been through way too much excitement in the last couple of days. It was time to rest and recuperate. So the three left for their own huts on different parts of the Salted Fish mountain peak.

Their lessons on cultivation were not as frequent as during the initial period, since most of them had grasped the basics. So they hadn’t missed much during their mission outside. With the small amount of free time in hand, Han Xuhan planned out what he was going to do in the next few days.

He had to visit the infirmary to get his currently weakened body examined, as well as attend a therapy session to eradicate possible mental demons. He also had to make sure Zhanxian was not freaking out in his recently redesigned foundation tower. That skeleton was really a disgrace to the undead race.

After dusting off his room and getting another couple of hours of sleep, he woke up, famished and weak in the knees. He didn’t have the heart to visit the sect’s kitchens. Fumbling around a bit, he found some old vegetables in the hut.

Using the expensive, spirit stone fueled stove in his kitchen, Han Xuhan cooked some soup and gulped the gruesome result down without hesitation, feeling content.

It was time to get down to business again. Face contemplative, he first summoned his system panels.

[ Survival System ]

[ Host Body: Unique ]

[ Survival Points: 220 (New Tokens Available For Purchase) ]

[ Current Survival Tokens:

> Silver Grade 1(1) ]

On the main panel, the data was nothing out of his expectations. The recently awarded 200 points for the Nightmare grade quest had made him eligible for two Golden Grade tokens, or four Silver Grade Tokens, or even eight Bronze Grade tokens.

On the other hand, if he saved up the points and completed half a dozen smaller quests in the future, he could accumulate 500 points in total and buy a Platinum Grade token too!

Han Xuhan already knew what the tokens could be used for, except for the Platinum token. Initially, the Bronze tokens had seemed to be the most useful for survival. However, the Silver tokens could be used multiple times in flexible manners, providing a different style of survival.

The Golden token had appeared the most useless, with its vague lore-reveal in the Holy Land; but truth be told, that lore was the biggest contributor to Han Xuhan’s escape from Zhao Weiqing’s grasp.

The story of the Holy Land’s destruction had given him insights and guesses pervasive enough to overwhelm even Zhao Weiqing, the schemer behind the whole fiasco. So the utility of the Golden Tokens could not be questioned.

This realization had made Han Xuhan reassess the value of these tokens. If the Golden Tokens were so useful for survival, what about the Platinum Tokens?

The anticipation he felt towards activating a Platinum token someday in the future... It gave his stomach butterflies even in his imagination. Would it, perhaps, provide him a way to scheme against the author himself?

Would a Platinum token let him figure out a way to escape this messed-up fictional world?

Han Xuhan was not so infatuated with cultivation that he would remain stuck inside this ’story’ if he had a way to escape back to Earth. His life there had been pretty good, much safer than any position in the world of cultivation.

Since he didn’t plan to leave the sect anytime soon, Han Xuhan decided not to buy any more tokens and save up for the Platinum Grade purchase.

On the second panel of the system, the golden book of Main Storyline Quests was closed. These quests were pretty rare, but they provided good rewards.

The situation was the opposite on the third panel, where the silver book showcased the Secondary Storyline Quests. Three pages of the book were lit up with quest data and progress bars.

[ Quest Name: Xuanyuan Zhou’s First Research Subject ]

[ Quest Description: Being favored by a child of destiny can be greatly rewarding. But attracting her interest so deeply that she attaches herself to you like a magnet may or may not be a good sign. The outcome now depends upon your choices, your performance, and how they affect her interest in you. Of course, you must aim for the best possible results. ]

[ Quest Difficulty: Hard ]

[ Quest Rewards: (1) 70 Survival Points; (2) An Unorthodox Mystic Art; (3) An opportunity to change host’s cursed Physique ]

[ Warning: Earning the 2nd and the 3rd reward will depend on host’s performance. Both are associated with highly volatile variables capable of affecting even the main storyline. Host must not let greed cloud his judgment. ]

[ Quest Progress: 11% ]

Han Xuhan had no idea how exactly he had made the quest’s progress bar reach 11%. Judging by the quest’s description, he assumed that it might be because of his exceptional performance in the Holy Land, which had made Xuanyuan Zhou a lot more interested in him than before...

"As long as the research doesn’t involve gruesome ends, I’m in. If I can change my cursed physique, reaching the peak of any Mystic Art shouldn’t be difficult for me..."

On the other hand, the same couldn’t be said for the quest centered around Xiao Wu. It was still stuck at its initial progress rate of 1%.

The third page left him a little surprised. Back in the Holy Land, his encounter with Qian Yun had resulted in a secondary storyline quest as well. He hadn’t expected it to be active even now, considering Qian Yun might as well be dead.

Could it be that there was still a possibility of completing the Quest?! Was Qian Yun not spiritually killed? What happened to Zhao Weiqing and his legion after failing to chase them down?

Han Xuhan’s curiosity was piqued.

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