Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible-Chapter 188: Beaten In Scheming

"You’re simply making baseless accusations at this point. Just because you want a share of the resources, you’re making up lies like seeing me steal from the crates!"

Han Xuhan had some experience with the art of guilty negotiations. In this deal, neither side was innocent. He was technically a thief, and Chen Yan was a blackmailer.

But openly admitting either guilty act would be a big mistake. What if someone here was carrying an apparatus capable of recording voices and images?

This was why Chen Yan kept insisting that he wanted to "borrow" from Han Xuhan. In tandem, Han Xuhan had to insist on his own innocence against all accusations.

"Hahaha! Baseless accusations? Making up lies?" Chen Yan shared another laugh with his coterie. Then turning back to him, he pointed at several members of his group.

"Him, him, and her, they all saw you do it, junior brother. If I file a complaint over this to the Sect’s authorities, it won’t be just my testimony against yours. Who do you think would win that contest?"

Han Xuhan scanned those three faces for the second time. All three were junior disciples from his generation. He had casually interacted with them many times in the past, not knowing that they were scheming together to stab him in the back like this.

He even suspected that these guys were the ones who had snitched about the whole matter to Chen Yan, hoping to earn some rewards and gain the senior disciple’s favor.

"Taking this to the Sect authorities won’t benefit you either," Han Xuhan finally said in a measured tone.

"Believe it or not, the sect authorities wouldn’t remove me from my position as the intermediary. Without me, there won’t be any transfer of resources between that party and our sect!"

The confidence in his voice this time was genuine because he was telling the truth. Xuan Zi wouldn’t even dare to punish him harshly as long as the deal with the Holy Land was useful to him in any way.

The worst the sect master could do was to strictly regulate the materials being redeemed out of the treasury and transferred to the Holy Land. And such a safety net would only destroy Chen Yan’s plans to steal a share from the crates.

Han Xuhan finally began to feel like he had gained the upper hand in the negotiation. He had neutralized the threat presented by Chen Yan. Now concluding it depended on whether Chen Yan believed his claim or not.

However, looking at Chen Yan’s placid, smiling face, Han Xuhan could not feel a sense of victory.

"Junior brother Xuhan, you’re not bad at playing risky games. At your age, such a scheming heart is a rare treasure. You understand that I wouldn’t dare to complain, no matter how much proof I have.

"You’ve sensed my desperation for the resources. And by using it against me, you’re leaving me with no choice..."

Han Xuhan’s instincts began to scream that things were going to turn in a violent direction at any second now. With his instrument of blackmail rendered useless, what other move could Chen Yan execute, except to threaten Han Xuhan with force?

But contrary to his assumption, Chen Yan only walked a couple of steps closer and leaned in to speak in a hushed tone, as if he was afraid of being heard by any eavesdroppers.

"I have a few friends who work in the Archives. From them, I recently came to learn that a new Mystic Art has been added to the sect’s collections. Can you guess what its title is?"

The hair on Han Xuhan’s neck stood up instantly, heart skipping a beat. He could guess where this new conversation was headed...

He had made a terrible mistake by underestimating the depth of his opponent’s plan. Chen Yan’s blackmail material wasn’t ordinary. This guy had come prepared to win this with a hundred percent certainty!

"Hmm, not so willing to run your mouth this time, are you? No matter, no matter. I can make you talk," Chen Yan continued to whisper, his simple grin turning a bit malicious.

"Let me tell you a story, junior brother Xuhan. The main character of this story is you, actually!

"You and two of your friends came back from a harrowing expedition outside the sect a month ago. You claimed that you had journeyed into a hidden world fragment, where you discovered the remnants of a powerful sect.

"Unfortunately for your group, there were other unfriendly forces, perhaps even demonic cultivators, competing for the bounty. There was even a trap at the deepest point, from where you barely escaped with your lives.

"However, you didn’t return to the sect empty handed. Somehow, one of you managed to grab a legacy Mystic Art exclusive to that fallen sect. You sold this Mystic Art to our sect to recoup your losses and hoped to make some profit off it.

"However, reality is harsh. Just because the Sect advertised your manual for a few days, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’d be earning a share of the sale profits. After all, there is no guarantee of sales.

"Most disciples purchase Mystic Arts and Martial Art manuals based on the recommendation of their Elders and senior disciples of their mountain peak. Most of them have already bought a technique or two within the first few weeks of entering the sect.

"So why would they bother to buy a new Mystic Art? Even if they needed to, how would they dare to buy a Mystic Art that their Elders and seniors are unfamiliar with?"

"So, blinded by your greed for money, you decided to manipulate the entire outer court, all the disciples of your generation, into buying your Mystic Art; an art that any rational disciple of our sect would be suspicious towards, considering its origin.

"The plan you created and executed to achieve this goal, I have to say, is nearly flawless on paper. Since your Mystic Art was unfamiliar to everyone, you would build familiarity. Since the customers lacked a probable cause to purchase the manual, you’d give them that cause.

"You generated rumors, created anonymous identities, and staged an act claiming that disciples from MY generation have arranged a challenge for the junior generation.

"You even bribed some senior disciples to help you set up the scheme. Some of them fueled the rumors and misguided their juniors, some of them praised your Mystic Art till their tongues turned sore, and some of them even helped you impress the disciples attending these lectures with flashy tricks and grandiose-sounding speeches.

"Your simple-hearted peers took your bait without suspecting that they were being hooked on a long-term scheme. They’d get to taste some benefits for free, and these benefits would build a foundation inside them that would eventually force them to buy your Mystic Art."

The disciples standing behind Chen Yan all wore identical looks of righteous indignation, as if they’d already been duped into spending the money for the manual. Han Xuhan could now see why they dared to show their faces openly, not fearing any retaliation from his side.

The victim mentality had united them into a righteous force in their eyes. They didn’t think having a senior disciple blackmail and extort Han Xuhan on their behalf was wrong in the slightest. They saw it as payback, a fitting punishment for someone who had ’almost’ scammed them.

"You knew that the sect would not bother to oppose your dirty little scheme. The ultimate and biggest profiteer from its success would be the sect itself, after all..." Chen Yan continued his analysis lazily.

Han Xuhan couldn’t find a flaw in this new move. The analysis was so accurate that it felt like Chen Yan had traveled backwards in time to eavesdrop on the conversation between Han Xuhan and Mu Ran five weeks ago, when this scheme had been formulated for the first time.

So Han Xuhan decided to relent. If he didn’t, Chen Yan might just go all out to tank the business centered around the Force-type Law Manual, turning the thousands of spirit stones that he had invested into the scheme into a loss.

"Resources worth five hundred spirit stones in total... Alright, I can manage that. But not in one go. I’ll have to save up from five or six different-"

"Don’t play stupid, junior brother Xuhan. Resources worth that little... I can buy myself. I’m talking about 500 spirit stones for every load you take out of the treasury. After a couple of months, the total value should be around four to five thousand spirit stones."

Han Xuhan chewed on his tongue silently for a while, resisting the urge to punch a hole into this senior disciple’s torso. But he really didn’t have the ability.

His gaze flickered at the surrounding area. The foot of the mountain was almost devoid of disciples at this point, as the night was approaching and the fog was turning denser.

Even if a fight broke out, he wouldn’t have anyone to back him up, unlike Chen Yan who had come with a whole crew.

"....You’re being quite unreasonable here, senior Brother Chen Yan. To snuggle out that much material per load is entirely unrealistic. I can’t get away with it."

"You can if you give up on your own share. Just add the materials you used to take out for your own use. No one will notice a thing since they didn’t until today."

This chapter is updat𝙚d by f(r)eew𝒆bn(o)vel.com