A couple of days later, Han Xuhan went to the Treasury Pavilion again with a list of cultivation materials. Elder Shen held the purple medallion absentmindedly and ordered a few workers to collect the items.

Seeing that everything was going smoothly, Han Xuhan instructed Xiao Po to guide the workers to his hut. Then he went to the Sect's kitchens to buy several barrels of food.

While he was heading back to the Salted Fish Mountain Peak, he discovered a familiar silhouette tailing him from some distance. There was no way he'd forget Brother Jiang so soon. He was the first to strike him that day.

Han Xuhan had made some casual inquiries and dug up what he needed to know about this fellow disciple of his. Jiang Chen, peak fourth layer Mystic Artist, peak second phase martial artist; he was not an exceptional talent in the outer court, but he wasn't utterly mediocre either.

"So Senior Brother Chen Yan didn't lie when he said that he had informants working in the Treasury. He was alerted quickly enough to send in a spy," Han Xuhan mused to himself.

Then his face broke into a smile. If Jiang Chen saw the malice in that smile, he'd probably think twice before following Han Xuhan. Unfortunately, he was too far away to see it.

Han Xuhan pretended not to notice him as he went about his routine. He got back to his hut, and gave Tun Shi Tian some instructions and a pouch.

After the owl flew away, he waited for all the supplies to be escorted in by the workers from the Treasury and the Kitchen, and then started reconstructing the anchoring law fragment for the Displacement Technique.

After making sure that no one was nearby to notice his intrusion, Jiang Chen leaped over the wooden fence behind Han Xuhan's hut, landing in the backyard where Han Xuhan was about to initiate the transfer of materials.

"Brother Yan sends his regards," he said authoritatively, pointing at the crates at the center of the formation of law letters.

"Where are the things he asked for? Remember, the penalty has to be a minimum of 500 spirit stones in value."

Han Xuhan nodded. "Wait for me to finish up the procedures. I'll hand over the cut he asked for."

Jiang Chen looked displeased. "Why do I have to wait? Do you want me to get caught meddling in these resource transfers? Just tell me where Brother Yan's stuff is."

Han Xuhan was about to respond, but Jiang Chen vehemently added as an afterthought, "And why are you calling it a cut? It's not as if Senior Brother Yan is a gangster extorting money from you. This is a penalty you absolutely deserve!"

The words seemed to have been spoken to enforce his own belief rather than correcting Han Xuhan's mistake.

"...I'm in the middle of the procedures. I can't move now," Han Xuhan said dryly.

"You can't fool me." Jiang Chen sneered. "I've seen you perform the transfer procedures before. The qi movement required to activate that formation under the crates hasn't been started yet-"

His voice got caught in his throat as he felt a pulse of qi in the air. Han Xuhan had started injecting qi into the formation right when he was about to point it out...

Furious, Jiang Chen was tempted to kick some humility into this lowlife in front of him, but he hesitated.

He understood that the teleportation of these materials was part of the sect's business. If he interrupted the procedure in any way, it might invite trouble.

Thinking this, Jiang Chen's eyes brightened. He had figured out what this scammer was trying to do!

"Want to goad me into interfering with the transfer, do you? Heh! I didn't grow up feeding on grass. I can see through such amateurish schemes in one glance..."

Feeling smug and vengeful at the same time, Jiang Chen waited impatiently for the teleportation to conclude. His eyes flickered across the large crates, sensing the rich aroma of medicines, nourishments, and alchemic supplements that could assist cultivation.

The temptation to snatch a handful was truly hard to suppress.

"No, no, no. I must not," he muttered to himself, stroking the righteous fire in his heart.

"I'm not a scammer, nor some corrupt middleman like him. It'd be a grave moral wrong to rob what belongs to the sect..."

It was a good thing that Han Xuhan was too deep in his spiritual world to hear those whispers. If he did, he'd probably mess up the execution of the technique from holding in his laughter.

Soon, the crates, surrounded by the law letters in the ground, began to float in the air, enveloped by a red glow. Inside his spawn point in the artificial realm of laws, Han Xuhan continued to assist with the rest of the exchange.

"Brother Yun, do you remember the request I made a couple of nights ago?" He said suddenly.

"Which request? The one about extending the operation of the Displacement Technique?"

"Yes. Let's give it a shot today, shall we?"

"You already prepared the setup on your side?" Qian Yun asked curiously. Han Xuhan had given him some ridiculous excuse about teaching some little brats a lesson. He couldn't believe that someone would go so far over minor squabbles.

"I did. All you have to do is change the current anchoring formation and look for the new anchoring code. Then transfer what's on that side to yours, and then again transfer it back to my place."

It wasn't a complicated process. But it consumed quite a bit of power, for which Han Xuhan was ready to compensate him. So Qian Yun followed the instructions without any complaints.

After some time, Han Xuhan left the artificial realm of laws and broke out of his meditation. Jiang Chen was impatiently pacing around the formation, muttering threats and righteous proclamations under his breath. Seeing Han Xuhan open his eyes, he almost stepped inside the formation from excitement.

"Done? Great! Now show me where you've hidden Senior Brother Yan's stuff. And don't you dare pull any tricks... Or else!"

He shook his large, calloused fist in Han Xuhan's face a few times to get the point across.

"Don't forget the beating you got for being a smartass that day. Although I took mercy on you back then, I won't stand on ceremony if you mess with Brother Yan's business! Don't act out of line!"

His face unreadable, Han Xuhan nodded slowly. "That punch of yours... How could I forget it?"

Jiang Chen looked immensely satisfied as Han Xuhan went inside hit hut to retrieve Chen Yan's cut of the resources. He returned with a small pouch, which made Jiang Chen frown in suspicion.

"What's in this pouch that could be worth over 500 spirit stones? Are you trying to trick me?"

Han Xuhan smiled thinly and loosened the knot on the pouch to give Jiang Chen a glimpse of the contents inside. Seeing the shimmering red powder that exuded a faint warmth even from the distance, Jiang Chen's pupils shrank.

"Martial Phase Breakthrough medicine... High Grade... Coincidence..."

Han Xuhan held back his smile. This was anything but a coincidence. He knew that Jiang Chen had encountered a bottleneck in his mystic art cultivation. He was hoping to compensate for the slow growth in that aspect with his martial cultivation, which was also at the peak of a phase.

If Jiang Chen were a protagonist of a cultivation novel, this would be one of his numerous chance encounters, conveniently set up by the author to help him overcome a hurdle that would otherwise take months to cross.

And this medicine was going straight into Brother Chen Yan's pockets. Jiang Chen was under the duty to ensure it. How could he not feel shocked?

The temptations he had subdued earlier rose once more inside his pounding heart like a tidal wave.

He didn't even need this much. Just a few pinches of the powder would be enough for an attempt....

Jiang Chen closed and opened his eyes a few times and took some deep breaths. He tore his gaze away from the pouch and gave Han Xuhan a scorching glare, filled with hatred.

"You really are an incorrigible bastard. You're trying to tempt me hoping it would divide my interests from Brother Yan's instructions."

There was a resolute look in his eyes as he extended his hand to take it from Han Xuhan.

"But I won't let you succeed. I'm a righteous person, unlike you. Not a single pinch of that powder will be moved out of the pouch before it is safely placed in Brother Yan's hands."

Han Xuhan laughed without restraint this time.

"What are you saying, Brother Chen? I think you're misunderstanding my intentions. How could I craft such a heartless scheme against someone as simple-minded as you?"

"Trying to goad me? Heh, keep trying."

Jiang Chen tried to grab the pouch, only to see Han Xuhan jump back a few meters and place it on the ground behind him. His countenance turned ugly, sensing another scheme.

"What do you mean by this?"

"Not much," Han Xuhan replied, stretching his hands and feet for exercise.

"You said you could beat me up anytime I acted out of the line, right? Let's play a game. If you can beat me up today, you can take this pouch back to Chen Yan."