C111 (1) : Familiar Man

"Another load of supply ? Damn, you're burning through resources at a speed to match me...almost ," Xuhan remarked thoughtfully .

"Which shouldn't be unexpected considering no one's cultivation is going to stay stagnant for a long time at our cultivation levels . Many of my ser-friends have broken through to a higher level since our last transaction . Obviously, we need more resources . The soul transformation realm isn't that far away for some of us . Wait...what do you mean by 'at a speed to match you' ?"

Brother BB's excuses were always super clean with no plotholes to be found . He maintained his claim of being the recovered Qian Yun impeccably . But that only served to make Xuhan even more wary around him .

"What are you planning to hand over this time ?" He asked, facing the tunnel in his spawn point in the realm of laws, completely ignoring the other party's question .

"Feel free to ask whatever is on the table . Cultivation manuals, valuable guidance on cultivating techniques related to laws, custom made contracts like the ones I used back during our little adventure ; do I have to go over the entire list again ?" Brother BB answered impatiently .

"Sure, I'll ask the sect master and contact you tomorrow night . Be sure to remain active at that time, brother . Last time I looked for you in an emergency, you didn't even answer," Xuhan complained .

"What emergency ?"

"I was going through our friendly interactions these days and suddenly had an epiphany, realizing that you really must be brother Qian Yun, brother BB . So I obviously wanted to come and visit you !"  Xuhan said in a flat tone .

". . . .It's fine if you don't want to tell me . As for visiting me, we can arrange that as long as you have a helper on your side who can waddle their way through the language of laws . Mind you, they'd also have to be considerably powerful to pull off the transportation of a living organism through the passage . The difficulty of the spell skyrockets depending on the object of the transportation ."

"How poweful would they have to be ?" Xuhan asked curiously . Getting his hands on a last second escape spell was far too tempting a prospect to let go of .

"They'd have to be in soul reformation realm, at the very least ."

". . . ." Suppressing his urge to cuss, Xuhan took his leave and returned back to his dao base where his consciousness was hovering inside the graffiti filled dome on the ceiling .

Brother BB had grown even more powerful than he already was . Just a month ago, the other party couldn't contact Xuhan directly without summoning him into the realm of laws . But tonight, it had happened . When he was busy observing the changes made to his dao tower due to Zhanxian's breakthrough, he had felt an alarm bell of sorts go off inside his consciousness which had guided him to the dome . By using the miniature spell carved on it, his consciousness had been transferred to his spawn point in the realm of laws where he had found the other party waiting for him .

"Regardless of your identity...you're too dangerous for me to let my guard down around you, buddy ."

Han Xuhan's consciousness floated down toward Zhanxian's room . After the minion's breakthrough, the room had been 'renovated' . The original white walls were now covered by an incredibly thin layer of blue crystalline substance . Had he not investigated it purposefully, he wouldn't have noticed this new addition .


"Master, what else has changed in this dao tower after my breakthrough ?" Zhanxian's avatar asked nervously .

"It's sturdier," Xuhan muttered as he floated around inside the room, trying to sense its existence through his mental connection with his dao foundation .
"Aaaand...it also seems to have escaped my absolute control over its existence somehow . My mental connection to this part of my dao tower has lessened by a small margin. I can sense a foreign authority here other than my own, which I assume is due to your existence, minion ."

"So if Zhanxian keeps making breakthroughs, he might be eventually able to take over this entire portion of the dao tower from you ?" Tun Shi Tian asked . The bird's question went unanswered as an awkward silence stretched among them .


"I won't do that . Pinky promise..." Zhanxian broke the silence with a half hearted white lie .


"Of course, I believe in your moral integrity, minion," Xuhan said in an earnest tone and left his dao tower swiftly .


Opening his eyes, Han Xuhan hurried out of his hut and headed toward Xuan Zi's mountain peak under the faint light of dawn . After taking care of the transaction with brother BB, he would prepare to break through to the fourth layer of physique transformation realm . It remained to be seen whether having a minion more powerful than him was akin to shooting himself in the foot . But this new threat was enough to fire Xuhan's desperation to the limit .


As he navigated his way through the mountains, he noticed an odd detail despite his preoccupied mind .

The mountains were unnaturally silent . By this time of the morning, the entire sect would usually be abuzz with various daily activities . Disciples would be rushing toward classrooms, the task administration pavilion, or the archives from every direction . But today, other than the diurnal fauna making their own racket, not much sound could be heard throughout the mountain peaks of the sect .

As rays of sunlight fell on the mountaintops, he finally noticed a few of his peers for the first time . However, none of them seemed to be out to attend classes or do any of the regular daily tasks . From where he stood, Xuhan could only see their tiny figures walking around the mountaintop with their back hunched .

By the time he had reached Xuan Zi's mountain peak, the scene repeated itself several times on various mountain peaks, confusing Xuhan even more . Deciding to investigate what was going on on his way back later, Xuhan walked up to the sect master's residence .

Standing in front of the sect master's residence, he knocked on the front door loudly .
"Disciple Xuhan sends his greetings to the sect master ."

A moment later, the door was opened by a tall man in unfamiliar attire . Xuhan craned his neck upward and was about to greet the stranger....only to realize that he knew this man .


It was Fang Xie, the man he had investigated two nights ago using the sect's network . Fang Xie....the man suspected of being behind the 'obliteration' of his orphanage .