Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible-Chapter 96: Who Dares Call Me A Demonic Cultivator When I’m Just A Humble Robber!

When Han Xuhan and Mu Ran had entered the hidden world fragment for the first time, the sunshine had told them that noontime was about to peak. Since then, more than eight hours have passed.

Within the deeper layers of the foggy region, it was impossible to tell whether the sun was still up or not. The darkness that gradually enveloped their surroundings with the progress of their exploration didn’t seem to be a mere product of the night.

The fog was becoming thicker, and harder to navigate through. The noise and aura of chaotic battles were coming from every direction. The reason wasn’t hard to guess.

On one hand, the frequency of encountering zombies had increased, the type that had been soaking in the poisonous fog for a long time. Their mutations were more extreme, their strength was higher, and their monstrous desperation for prey was only getting worse every second.

On the other hand, the number of emerald orbs was increasing the deeper they went. These mobile power banks for law fragments could not only save their lives here, but they could also be sold to the local sects for a high price, or even taken back for research.

"Boss, should we collect those emerald orbs or not? Didn’t you originally want to collect as many as possible for contingencies?" Han Xuhan asked suddenly.

Mu Ran turned to look at him with a conflicted expression. They had already collected half a dozen of these power sources. By now, most competitors who had passed the first stage were either knocked out or zombified. Those who were still actively fighting were going to be tough opponents.

Mu Ran had even fought some sinister rogue cultivators who purposefully destroyed the protective law fragments of their defeated opponents, turning them into horrifying zombies under the influence of the fog.

While he didn’t need the power sources to activate law fragments, it would be a bit risky if they left the orbs behind for the malicious competitors. Furthermore, he needed to hide the fact that he could activate laws by himself.

Now that he thought about it, why did his underling ask the question so loudly? He even put a lot of emphasis on the explanation. Could it be that he’s trying to protect my secret?

That made sense to Mu Ran. Han Xuhan claimed to have done the same thing in the stadium.

"Yeah, we should. It’s time we entered the third phase of the challenge," he said.

After a brief discussion, the group discarded their evasive plans and went straight toward the closest source of emerald light in the dark.

Until now, they had avoided confrontations. From here on, they’d be the first to attack indiscriminately. They had the resources to do so, because Xuanyuan Zhou had been recruiting every monster they ran into on the way!

Despite the tame explanation she gave for her expertise, the other three, including Han Xuhan, couldn’t quite believe that an ordinary beast-taming technique could be so oppressive.

There was a mystery afoot, definitely!

As soon as they got close enough to the nearest emerald orb to see it properly, Mu Ran and Xuanyuan Zhou exchanged a look and stopped walking. Behind them, Han Xuhan and Qian Yun got ready for shit to go down.

"This is a trap," Xuanyuan Zhou warned in a hushed tone as she knelt down and picked up an odd-looking squirrel from the ground.

Han Xuhan suddenly felt that the squirrel looked familiar.

"Wait a minute, isn’t that little thing our scout?"

It was indeed the squirrel Mu Ran had sent into the foggy region as a test subject!

It seemed to have turned into a zombie as well! They had assumed that it died a simple death right under their eyes back then!

Its front limbs had turned into a pair of thorny tentacles, and one deformed wing had grown out of its spine, straight up like a mast. The mismatched mutation was really jarring to look at.

Han Xuhan’s eyes turned toward Mu Ran, who looked rather ashamed of himself.

At least he had the heart to feel guilty over it.

"You used the squirrel to scout the area ahead in the beginning?" Xuanyuan Zhou asked Mu Ran curiously, having guessed that only he was capable of that here.

"FINE! I’M SORRY! I apologize for treating it as a guinea pig," Mu Ran gritted his teeth and spat out an apology.

"Who asked for your apology?" Xuanyuan Zhou sneered, stroking the squirrel’s head. Han Xuhan really wanted to tell her that Mu Ran had pissed on it earlier, specially on the part she was touching right now.

But then, he heard her add, "I think he looks better right now, stronger too. He was my temporary replacement for Xuhan."

"...."

Both Han Xuhan and Mu Ran suddenly became very interested in the foggy sky, trying their best not to let their gazes meet. Neither Xuanyuan Zhou, nor Qian Yun could figure out why their expressions looked so dark. But they could sense the thick tension in the air.

Qian Yun coughed loudly and broke the silence.

"Fellow cultivator Zhou, did the squirrel detect anyone with ill intentions nearby?"

Xuanyuan Zhou nodded.

"Yes, I’ve encountered this type of traps here before. Since everyone is trying their best to collect the power sources, you can actually avoid a majority of the scuffles and still reap the benefits if you’re smart enough to not run around mindlessly and simply guard the bigger orbs that attract a lot of attention.

"That way, your strength and focus will remain at the peak and you’ll never walk into another group’s ambush. Instead, you can bait and defeat the ragged cultivators who reach your power source after long, difficult battles.

"What a hateful strategy it is! Those who would ambush other hardworking cultivators like this surely must be demonic scums."

Hearing Xuanyuan Zhou’s explanation, Han Xuhan’s awkward feelings only spiked higher.

Wasn’t was the exact strategy he himself had come up with before meeting Mu Ran and Xuanyuan Zhou? It was rather embarrassing to see someone badmouthing his ’big brain strategy’.

Exactly what was so sinister about it? Hmph!

Only fools would refuse to acknowledge such genius plans. Perhaps this was the curse of being too smart.

Quiet as a corpse, he could only wallow in his narcissistic self-pity.

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