Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible-Chapter 173: Big Plans

"Hmph, I get it. I get what you’re trying to do. You want to control me by figuring out my emotional triggers, aren’t you?" Tun Shi Tian suddenly announced while their bickering was ongoing in full intensity.

"...." Han Xuhan wanted to explain to the cute little minion that he was overestimating his importance in his master’s eyes. But he knew that the owl was too delusional to believe such an explanation.

"Stinky brat, you’re a millennium too young to fool me! I, Tun Shi Tian, am a born genius. You think your schemes can sneak past my radar?"

"A genius? Well, you better start earning your keep, little birdie. You’re occupying a house built by me. So how about you use your genius mind to find a way to pay the rent for your housing?"

"...."

This time, it was Tun Shi Tian’s turn to fall silent. The reaction gave Han Xuhan immense satisfaction.

He had never thought he’d come to appreciate Crimson Snow Sect’s oppressive residential policy. ’Recruiting’ someone without their consent and forcing them to pay rent for their stay—such shameless tactics were actually so pleasurable to inflict upon others!

"I am the landlord here, Little Tian. Better not take that tone with me or I’ll create a dog for my next project and let it chew on you all day long."

The owl, having just calmed down, lost its cool again. It was that easy.

"Dream on, you hateful scum! By that time, I’ll become much more powerful compared to my current form. My talent for cultivation surpasses yours by thousands of li!"

"True, true. But have you considered how far your monstrous talent can take you when I, your master, control everything that you do? Do you think you can cultivate if I don’t want you to?

"Where are you going to get Mystic Art manuals?

"Who’s going to dig artificial meridians on your bones?"

"Where are you going to get the resources needed to cultivate?

"Even if that empty head of yours hides some fragmented memories of cultivation, none of them will come to fruition if I keep you locked up inside my spiritual world!"

Han Xuhan laughed maliciously. If his body was present here, he’d be curling his hands up in the air, head thrown back, striking the classic villainous laughter pose.

"....Ahaha, I was just kidding, master. I’m very grateful that I have a master as benevolent as you, who even offers us worthless minions separate living spaces for free! Who else can boast of such incredible feat?"

With an exhausted tone, Tun Shi Tian admitted defeat and flew into a corner of the tower, sulking by himself.

Han Xuhan had figured out his second minion’s true character by now. The owl was even more greedy compared to Zhanxian, and a million times more ambitious and impulsive. As long as Han Xuhan kept a tight leash on him and didn’t let his rebellious streak go unchecked for too long, he would stay in line.

"Master, do you feel my part of the foundation tower affecting your original foundation in any way?" Zhanxian asked nervously.

"Nothing feels out of place here," Han Xuhan said after a few more deep probes into sensing the vague spiritual connection between his mind and the tower.

Floating off outside, he took in the scene in front of him again. Zhanxian’s new room stuck out like a sore thumb from the original design of his foundation tower. His worries set aside, Han Xuhan couldn’t help but feel curious to see what sort of abomination the tower would end up as if he cultivated till the peak of the Skeleton Monarch Technique.

From Kong Ye’s teachings, he had learned that a foundation tower typically expanded horizontally when the cultivator mastered different Mystic Arts. But he, Han Xuhan, had accomplished a horizontal explanation without following that route!

If, in the future, he built an army of Skelton soldiers, would his spiritual world host a massive barrack? How massive could a foundation tower grow horizontally?

This was going to be quite fun to test out if it didn’t backfire on him somehow.

Retracting his consciousness from the spiritual world, he broke out of meditation and summoned Zhanxian and Tun Shi Tian. From here on, both of the skeletons were going to cultivate together with him. He needed to turn them into proper meatshield- no, boneshields...

Zhanxian had just made his breakthrough past the first layer of the artificial meridian creation system. Now that he could channel qi by himself easily without Han Xuhan’s supervision, the skeleton soldier was ready for a proper, registered Mystic Art.

Tun Shi Tian didn’t have the grooves across his body yet. Han Xuhan was going to take a shortcut with the owl, designing the bare minimum artificial meridians using its hollow bones. It’d restrict the owl from cultivating any powerful Mystic Art in secret.

He also had to start working on building his third skeleton soldier. As for which creature he was going to choose...

Able to thrive in many types of habitats, known widely for being one of the most venomous species of snakes, and small enough to sneak around easily; these three advantages of a rattlesnake would be terrifying when mixed with human intelligence and cultivation resources.

Hence, Han Xuhan’s choice had been made just this morning.

After observing Zhanxian and Tun Shi Tian, Han Xuhan had become sure that all summoned creatures retained their species-specific abilities. Right now, he had a human skeleton to act as his body double under a mask and a spy flying in the sky to keep a tight lookout.

A hidden, living weapon that could hide in his sleeves or scout underwater was the best choice for now. He had to be prepared for every type of environment!

"That’s another task I’ve covered so far..." he muttered as he ticked out a line from the list in his hands. Then, after a few moments of consideration, he wrote down a new objective underneath.

1. Begin cultivating the Martial Path and Study Monasticism: In Progress

2. Turn both minions into legitimate cultivators: In Progress

3. Start working on the third minion:

4. Pay Xuanyuan Zhou’s lecture fee: Done

5. Learn the technique to transfer resources between the Crimson Snow Sect and the Holy Land of Laws:

6. Complete the first transaction with Qian Yun:

7. Make the minions cultivate the ’Spiritual Bone Art’:

8. Discuss the foundation tower anomaly with Elder Kong Ye:

The list went on and on. To give himself a moral boost of sorts and keep his current goals in sight, he carried the list everywhere and constantly added, retracted, or rectified the details.

These days, too many things were happening at once, distracting him from his goals constantly. The list did wonders to keep his nerves under control.

The fifth goal, to learn the technique that would allow him to transfer resources to the Holy Land of Laws, was also near completion.

So far, he had been summoned to that strange macrocosm of consciousnesses twice. Qian Yun had almost thrown a fit when Han Xuhan had revealed that he had confessed everything to Xuan Zi.

But the indication that the sect master was interested in a partnership between their sects had calmed him down instantly.

Tonight, he said, they’d meet in that realm for the third time, and Han Xuhan would learn how to transfer material objects between the two worlds.

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