Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible-Chapter 191: The Frost Pill Mountain

Before Xiao Wu left, he repeatedly pressed Han Xuhan for the real story behind his attack. Much to his disappointment, Han Xuhan refused to go into the details.

It wasn’t because he had taken Xuanyuan Zhou’s fiery motivation seriously. He just didn’t want to explain the motive behind the attack.

Xiao Wu had no idea about the business scheme he was running. He even attended Xuanyuan Zhou’s lectures regularly, thinking he was getting the guidance of a badass senior disciple.

Besides, Han Xuhan already had a plan to deal with those pesky flies from the Starheart Mountain Peak. There was no need to involve others in the plan. He could execute it all by himself.

Lying in bed that night, he spent his time ironing out the details of his new lesson—an exclusive lesson that only those four would be taught in private.

He didn’t want to be too harsh on some kids who had made a mistake out of jealousy and a misguided sense of righteousness. He was only going to break their spirits and put them back on the correct path.

As for senior Brother Chen Yan... Hehehe.

Han Xuhan had no intention of showing such mercy to this guy. Chen Yan was a grown young man who would soon venture out of the sect, and integrate into society.

If Chen Yan was allowed to keep this mindset of a corrupt disciplinarian, using his strength and influence to extort those inferior to him, it’d be a disservice to society.

Moreover, Han Xuhan, as a reformed filial disciple of the Crimson Snow Sect, could not allow his sect’s reputation to be tarnished on account of one rotten disciple. Senior Brother Chen Yan had to be taught about the harshness of the world of cultivation in an effective way.

The next morning, Han Xuhan purchased the expensive special medicine recommended by the healer. The injuries that were supposed to take one week to heal fully disappeared in four hours.

Han Xuhan tested out his mobility inside the cabin at noon and realized that unless he put some strain on his body through martial moves, he wouldn’t even feel the injuries. The healer told him that he could execute martial moves with no issues by the end of the day. That’s how effective the special medicine was.

When Han Xuhan left the medicine pavilion that afternoon, he wore the smile of a satisfied customer. The healer Elder saw him off with an equally satisfied smile because of the commission he had earned through the recommendation of expensive treatment procedures.

Instead of heading back to his hut, Han Xuhan took a detour to the Frost Pill Mountain Peak, where he had a duty to take care of from today. Senior Sister’s instructions were quite clear in this matter.

The Frost Pill Mountain Peak was one of the more unique parts of the Crimson Snow Sect. Usually, the disciples from other mountains weren’t allowed to venture past the gateway at the foot of this mountain.

The peripheral area was under constant patrol, and it was said that some elaborate array formations were planted as a last layer of defense against thieves and miscreants.

Added to these typical protective mechanisms was a recent element—the fog. Han Xuhan had gotten to know its true nature from Brother Xiao Po, his friend in the Treasury. Most disciples in the outer court had no idea that the source of the fog pervading the air of their Sect was right there!

Sure enough, when Han Xuhan came close enough to the foot of the Frost Pill Mountain, he could sense the increase in the density of the fog around him. It almost felt like he had traveled two months back in time, when he had first arrived in the sect and found himself unable to see beyond a dozen meters in any direction.

These obstacles didn’t prevent Han Xuhan from going in once he introduced himself as the representative of the Salted Fish Mountain Peak, although the name did earn him a second look, not the impressed sort of look, of course.

Ignoring the disdainful gazes, Han Xuhan relished this opportunity to take a peek into what secrets lay behind the gateway.

Making pills was considered one of the most important secondary skills a cultivator could pursue in his lifetime. It could even contest for the number one position in terms of popularity.

Among the three paths of cultivation, the Martial path was almost impossible to tread without pills and medicines. The Mystic Path wasn’t so heavily reliant on it, but this path was prone to bizarre accidents during cultivation and application, which made most practitioners seek out pill makers routinely.

As for the Monastic path, the only time the practitioner needed pills was when they needed ’inspiration’, which, based on the records Han Xuhan had gone through in the Archives, seemed to be a polite way of saying ’drug overdose.’

As someone who had just benefitted massively from an expensive pill this very morning, Han Xuhan was naturally curious to know how these magical little things were being produced in his sect. In the novels he used to read, the set-up for pill-maker sects was always too damn generic and uninspired.

So it came as a shock to him when he walked a few minutes uphill and discovered a group of disciples making pills for the first time in his life.

Instead of big cauldrons, what occupied the flat clearing by the side of the road were a dozen identical instruments. The basic structure was made up of cylindrical metal pipes, coiled repeatedly on top of each other until they formed a spherical layout with plenty of space for materials to be thrown in and taken out.

The body of these metal pipes was covered by a layer of arrays, and there was an opening after every meter, from which flames of various colors were spewing out in a hypnotic pattern, all targeting the materials floating at the center of the spherical structure.

The multicolored storm of flames seemed to have similarly varied effects on the floating materials. Some flames burnt the materials black, some revitalized them until they looked like the freshest harvest.

Some flames passed through the materials without any apparent effect, and some flames were like living snakes, wrapping up the materials and shielding them from other flames while cooking them inside their own coiled body.

Of course, flames weren’t the only alchemic medium being used there. Blocks of ice, seawater, strangely colored soil, powdered wood, and many more items that Han Xuhan could not recognize were being used as catalysts and mediums.

Rows and rows of carts and special carriers for alchemic materials had been placed near these ’cauldrons’. The large group of disciples working there seemed to be fighting for their lives, exchanging, grabbing, leaping, throwing, and yelling at each other over these materials.

An incredibly dense flux of qi, earthly energy, and heavenly aura enveloped the small clearing like a curtain separating two worlds. The scene was so chaotic that Han Xuhan lost track of his time, standing rooted on the side of the road with an open mouth.

A rough hand, pressing down insistently on his left shoulder, brought Han Xuhan out of the reverie. Turning around, he discovered a slightly older-looking female disciple scrutinizing his chest intensely.

Hm? Why are the roles reversed?

Han Xuhan looked down and realized that she was staring at the insignia of the Salted Fish Mountain Peak sewn on his robe. When he looked back up, he noticed the ever-familiar disdain appearing in her eyes alongside a hint of anger.

"Late!"

"What?"

"You’re half a day late on your very first day as a mountain representative! You were supposed to report here at dawn. Why did sister Hua end up recommending you as her replacement? Did you bribe her or something?"

Han Xuhan tried to defend himself. "I had an accident and was admitted to the infirmary. I got released just half an hour ago. I came to report as quickly as I could!"

Appearing suspicious, she leaned in towards him a bit and took a deep sniff. This was already a bit peculiar, but when she let out a loud, throaty moan, Han Xuhan felt butterflies in his guts.

Had he encountered a pervert? A female pervert? A beautiful and mature senior sister who had a thing for younger man?

"Mm-hmm, smells like you’re not lying. The scent of a Leafless Redmoon flower on you is too strong! You must have taken some high quality medicine in the last six hours!"

Her remark shattered Han Xuhan’s dream of bagging a senior sister. So he had been overthinking it... Damn it!

"Come on, then. Outsiders aren’t allowed to watch these rookies making low level pills. You might learn a secret technique or two and leak it to undesirable people. I know it sounds a bit harsh, but rules are rules."

Grabbing his sleeve authoritatively, she dragged Han Xuhan further uphill.

"Take your fog movement report and run back to your mountain peak as quickly as you can. Who knows, somebody there might already have run into trouble with the fog becoming so unpredictable."

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