Extra's Strategy: Cultivate Protagonists, Become Invincible
Chapter 77: Salvation Is In Plain Sight

Chapter 77: Salvation Is In Plain Sight

Han Xuhan was hoping that his system would light up with a new Quest as soon as he signed the deal with Qian Yun. But it seemed like Qian Yun was a character at the same tier as Xiao Wu, or even lower than that in the story.

His system remained unresponsive even after Qian Yun painted him a detailed picture.

"As you can see, the walls of this spherical arena are filled with texts. These texts are both like a shackle and a key.

"As long as you can decipher a certain part of the texts, there is a possibility to discover a way to leave this stage and progress further in the foggy area. At least, to my knowledge, that’s how it works.

"I assume that your friend has some rudimentary knowledge regarding how to decipher the texts. I didn’t really observe him for long. But from what I saw, he immediately focused on those texts on the walls here after entering, as if he knew what to do beforehand.

"Unlike the rest of us who tried to get a good look at all the texts in the stadium to see if we can find anything familiar, he didn’t move from the place he had appeared at the beginning.

"About fifteen minutes later, he wrote down something on the floor using a spear-blade. As soon as he finished writing, a red light appeared around him and your friend disappeared, presumably transported into the next stage of this inheritance ground."

Qian Yun finished his explanation and fell silent, staring at Han Xuhan’s face for some kind of reaction. Han Xuhan didn’t know what to make of the information he had just been given.

This whole thing sounded a little more complicated than he had assumed. So he asked the most important question at the moment.

"What about the poison that entered our body? Why can’t I feel it inside me anymore?"

Qian Yun answered after a brief pause.

"The poison is only active when you are outside the balls of light strewn across the foggy region. In the arena where we are standing right now, the poison has been suppressed and eliminated. This way, each orb acts like a lifeline inside the poisonous fog.

"The longer you stay outside, the more poison your body and spirit will absorb, and the more twisted your ending would be. Unless you have crossed the Soul Reformation realm, it might not be possible to survive once the intake crosses a certain limit.

"But a higher cultivation level does guarantee a longer period of survival, especially if you have high accomplishments in the Martial Path which strengthens the body."

Han Xuhan sighed. Life really wasn’t easy when you had a low cultivation. He had to hurry and catch up with Mu Ran, both literally and figuratively.

"Where’s the spot on the floor where my friend wrote before leaving?" He finally asked after considering the clues at hand for a few moments.

"There." Qian pointed at a corner of the stadium where the number of people observing the texts was particularly high.

"They all think they can glean something from the words your friend wrote down to create his escape path. I’ve seen it too. It’s useless.

"The words he engraved on the ground bear a similar structure to the words on the walls. Both seemed to be the same language. And none of us here know what language it is."

Han Xuhan nodded at the cyan-robed young man and walked over to that corner. A conspicuous circle filled with texts had been carved into the ground in that spot, using the spearhead.

Alongside the rest of the observers, Han Xuhan tried his best to decipher what was written in there.

He understood nothing.

The engraved words on the walls and the ones written by Mu Ran looked the same. It didn’t even look like a formal script, but rather a complicated, highly technical calligraphy using countless variations of compound strokes, geometrical shapes, and sometimes even three-dimensional helical structures.

Scratching the back of his head in utter confusion, Han Xuhan turned to look at Qian Yun and saw him staring back at him, clearly hoping that he would be able to copy Mu Ran’s record.

Trying to decipher the texts was pointless when he had no idea what language it even was. Feeling slightly anxious, he started mentally going over all the resources and tricks in his hands to see if anything could be applied in this situation.

Oh well, there indeed were a couple of stones he could throw in the dark as tests.

Han Xuhan walked over to one of the less populated spots of the stadium and concentrated on running a qi cycle inside his meridians. It didn’t take him long to complete the summoning cycle of the Skeleton Monarch Manual.

About ten seconds later, Zhanxian popped out from his back like a ghost and landed on the ground lightly.

A few cultivators had been observing him warily from a distance. They tensed up for a brief moment before discovering that the skeleton’s aura barely surpassed a mortal.

"Hey, Zhanxian, examine the texts here and see if you find anything familiar." Han Xuhan prodded the skeleton toward the wall and closely observed its reaction, not that there was much to read from its bony face and empty eye sockets.

After a few seconds, Zhanxian said, "No, I don’t."

Han Xuhan didn’t even get the time to feel disappointed, because Zhanxian added in an anxious tone,

"Can I go back inside now? Those guys over there are giving me nasty looks. It’s making me uncomfortable."

Han Xuhan had no plans to summon Zhanxian back into his spiritual world for now. Due to his inexperience, it always took a while to complete the summoning. If things went toward a more... violent direction inside the stadium, he would need all his trump cards primed.

After all, not all cultivators were exactly reasonable, honest, and peaceful people like he was. So he patted Zhanxian’s head calmly and gave him some advice.

"If their gazes are making you uncomfortable, Zhanxian, it means you have some insecurities. All living creatures with wisdom suffer from such insecurities.

"But you are neither a living creature, nor do you have any wisdom in that skull of yours. So why are you suffering? As an undead, you should be ashamed of yourself!"