Xuhan opened his eyes and found himself staring at the wooden ceiling of his hut . The dark surroudings and the vague moonlight coming through the window assured him that it was nighttime . Checking himself all over a couple of times , he found no evidence of the fact that he had just travelled to a faraway realm of disembodied beings as one of its newly recruited inhabitants .

　　"The way everything is developing almost makes me feel like a real protagonist myself . Getting dragged into conflicts that have nothing to do with me , escaping super experts by the nick of a hair , constantly finding myself inside secret realms full of mysteries...I even got a bit of a feud with the heavens . What else do I have to go through in the future ?"

　　Recalling all those generic novels in earth , Xuhan shivered in terror . The regular bloodbaths , the genocides , the masochistic cultivation techniques , the constant appearances of enemies with higher level cultivation base...

　　It all boiled down to nothing but a terrible life full of misery and pain . Why would anyone voluntarily go through that shit when there were more peaceful options ?

　　In retrospect , most of those protagonists had something to fight for , something along the lines of jade beauty number 69 getting caught by his enemy or parents` lives under threats etcetra . But to Xuhan , weaknesses like these did not exist...

　　"Wait a damn minute , didn`t I grow up in an orphanage ?"

　　Han Xuhan bolted out of his sheets and sat on the edge of the bed with a frown on his face .

　　"How could I have forgotten such a key detail ? Now that I think about it , after recalling my previous life`s memories , my attachment to this world has reduced a lot . But still , I should have thought of this earlier . I never even went to visit them afterwards . Why didn`t I even miss them ?"

　　For the first time ever , Xuhan started doubting his own reincarnation process . Before this , he had assumed that his own personality hadn`t changed by much after regaining his memories , and that the small change had come as a mutual realization between his two selves rather than a direct suppression from one side .

　　"Now that I think about it , my memories of the orphanage feels rather fuzzy..."

　　Han Xuhan found himself getting a headache over contemplating so many of his problems at once . Looking at the dark surroundings inside his hut , he lay back on his bed and closed his eyes , forcing himself to get a good round of sleep . He had a busy day ahead , and he needed the rest .

　　......... .......... ...........

　　"The sect master summons you in ," the older disciple managing sect master Xuan Zi`s residence said to Xuhan after keeping him waiting for an entire hour .

　　It wasn`t his first visit there . Xuhan navigated his way through the large building with ease , constantly replaying his planned scenarios in his mind .

　　After a lot of thinking , Xuhan had decided to change his current lifestyle this morning . For one thing , he had to make sure he wouldn`t end up being a protagonist type guy .

　　It was one of the reasons why he had decided to meet Xuan Zi today . He was going to come clean to the old man about everything , just the opposite of what every xianxia protagonist would do .

　　Keeping secrets ? Making shady deals with shady cultivators ? Getting dragged into mysterious realms unsupervised ?

　　No , thank you . Han Xuhan would not accept these shitty subplot bombs being thrown toward his direction that easily .

　　Xuhan found Xuan Zi quickly . The old man was , as usual , sitting in a lotus position , seemingly in the middle of a cultivation session .

　　"Greetings , sect master . I have an issue to report ."

　　Arching an eybrow upward , Xuan Zi gestured at him to sit down . Xuhan promptly followed .

　　"Explain ."

　　"I hope you remember the law seal in my dao base , master Zi . I asked your help in dealing with it ."

　　"Sure , I do . Did something happen ?"

　　Han Xuhan took a deep breath .

　　"Yes . Last night , someone with an unanimous identity summoned part of me over to a secret realm unique to the Holy Land of Laws . Then he forced me to make a deal with him ."

　　The whole time he spoke , Xuhan kept his eyes glued to Xuan Zi`s face , and saw absolutely no surprise or anger appear over his placid expression .

　　"Continue ." Seeing him silent , Xuan Zi urged him on patiently . If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

　　"...Wait , You knew ?" Xuhan asked slowly , a sense of dread and disbelief colouring his tone .

　　"Not exactly , but I expected it to happen . I`m more surprised that it happened this late . I was originally starting to think you were hiding the issue and working for them already ."

　　The scenarios in Xuhan`s mind crashed apart , never having expected something like this .

　　"But...You told me that the seal is harmless- Ah , of course ."

　　Seeing Xuhan cool down instantly rather than throwing a fit , Xuan Zi smiled approvingly .

　　"Good . I like smart children . You`ve realized the crux of the issue ?"

　　Xuhan nodded , his lips pressed into a thin line . For a long time , both disciple and master stared at each other coolly .

　　"You wanted me to be your...spy ? A middleman ? A bridge that connects you to whoever is in charge of the Holy Land ?" Xuhan broke the silence and said , watching Xuan Zi with narrowed eyes .

　　"Something like that , yes . The seal cannot directly harm you , but the cultivator in charge of its control certainly can torture you if you refuse to cooperate . But rest assured , whoever is in charge of the holy land , they can`t do the latter part either right now . Otherwise I wouldn`t have taken this path ."

　　"Why not ?" Xuhan asked , not feeling particularly assured .

　　"Hmm , I suppose you`re still too inexperienced to figure it out yourself . The holy land of laws has been deserted for many years , yes ?

　　As a makeshift jail , it shouldn`t have many exits to the main world either , right ?

　　And its devastated lands aren`t suitable to grow decent cultivation resources , remember ?

　　Then , how would a cultivator , regardless of their power level , run a gigantic mechanism that can effectively control someone in the main world ? Have you thought about it ? By now , you should have heard of power conversion theories . One rule that you always have to keep in mind that , there are never enough resources for cultivators .

　　And a mechanism like that seal should involve at least multiple incredibly powerful formations , magical instruments that can establish cross-realm connection , tracking devices that could drain a normal sect in days if kept activated for long...Elder Long Xie from the Snow Thread mountain peak could go on for hours if you ask him the details .

　　How is a mechanism like that supposed to run without any resources ? Even if the Holy Land had all of their resources intact after all these years , they`d still have drained their stock dry with a handful of stunts like last night . Mechanisms like that are only intimidating when you`re within their reach ."

　　Han Xuhan finally realized why brother BB had been so cooperative last night . Seeing him looking less anxious , Xuan Zi leaned back into a more relaxed posture ."Now why don`t you tell me about this deal you signed with the other party ?"

　　Han Xuhan finally got back his footing in the conversation and organized his thoughts before speaking .

　　"He wanted me to supply him with cultivation resources . In return , he`d supply me with various type of cultivation techniques related to law manipulation , training methods , information about higher level worlds ."

　　Xuan Zi started laughing , startling Xuhan . For quite a while Xuan Zi`s laughter continued . But looking at his face , Xuhan couldn`t detect any signs of mirth . The laugh looked more like an anger inducing realization .

　　"So he`s that desperate ?" Xuan Zi growled absent mindedly ."Did he tell you how to supply the resources to him ? Do you need to go to the Holy Land yourself to do it ? And how much resources does he need ?"

　　"Apparently , there is a spell that can only be used by the disciples of the Holy Land , which , using the law seal in my dao base and the seperate realm he summoned me to , can transfer the resources over to him ," Xuhan answered nervously . The sect master was starting to appear rather unhinged to him .

　　"As for the quantity , he needs at least enough to satiate fifteen disciples at the late stages of the physique transformation realm ."

　　Han Xuhan lied for the first time since entering the sect master`s residence . Brother BB only had ten underlings at the moment , the poor cultivators who had been possessed by his soul shards during their venture in the Holy Land . Except...

　　Who told the sect master to use Xuhan as a bait ? Who told the sect master to let him come under the threat of tortures ? Since he was being used by Xuan Zi , he would at least make the risk worth it .

　　Resources for five extra people was enough to keep his own cultivation speed on par with regular disciples of the sect , or even higher . Coupled with his fat money bag , Xuhan was going to leave even the most talented , hardworking disciples in the dust .

　　"Fifteen people at the late stages of physique transformation realm ? I thought his cultivation was- ah , never mind . This is a good deal . You could probably pressure them into giving away far more precious things compared to some measly resources . Do your own part carefully , disciple Xuhan . This is a heaven sent opportunity for you , and for the sect . Much responsibility lies on your shoulders now that you`ve accepted his offer ."

　　Xuan Zi took out a blood red medallion from his pockets and handed it to Xuhan .

　　"This is something few members of this sect possess . Everytime you need to supply him with resources , take this medallion and visit elder Shen . He is in charge of the resource management of the sect . Take the resources you need from him and do your job ."

　　For some reason , Xuhan felt that his little lie has been exposed . But he was never the bashful sort to begin with . He was pretty sure that the sect master wouldn`t call him out for that at this point even if he knew . What would it achieve ?

　　With an honest and solemn look on his face , he respectfully took the medallion from the elder and said ,

　　"Is there anything in particular I should demand from the other party during out first exchange , master Zi ?"

　　Xuan Zi thoughtfully looked at Xuhan for a second .

　　"Ask him to hand over the blueprint of one of their hidden realms . He`ll definitely refuse at first . Keep pressuring him using the carrot and stick method . Dangle the resources on his face a few times and vaguely mention that he doesn`t have as much time as he thinks . He`ll cave in . I have enough trust on your capability to pull this off . Go now , shoo ."

　　Xuhan walked out of the sect master`s residence with a complicated expression .

　　"Do I have such a reliable aura ? Is being too competent a crime these days ? Why did he choose me , the weakest disciple of this generation , to be his middleman ? It definitely isn`t as simple as a sheer coincidence . He was controlling the flow of events behind this the whole time . And he definitely wants something very precious from the Holy Land of laws . What could it be...?"

　　In the back of his mind , a single realization suddenly registered .

　　"Wait a damn minute , I went in there to get out of the deal and reduce my chances of becoming a protagonist... How did I get myself into an even deeper mess despite doing the opposite of what any protagonist would do ?"