The male supporting character was actually myself.

Another day passed, and the group escaped the main battlefield and arrived at a secluded place.

"Anyway, the synopsis provided by the script team is just a simple description of heading to the battlefield and discovering a secret. Let's skip that and just use the conclusion. I don't think the script team will mind the process. As long as the result isn't too bad, it's fine!" The little white cat perched on its host's shoulder and grinned mischievously. "After all, we're doing this for the protagonist's good, right?"

Jiang Chen nodded and looked at the place that was originally intended for the protagonist to exploit loopholes. It was a remote island far from the main battlefield. It was fortunate that the script team had added a setting on a whim—the uninhabited island was formed after an underwater volcanic eruption. Now that the alien invasion has spread from the seabed, the volcanic crater inside the island has cracked due to the vibrations from the underground battle, making this place a very hidden and eerie invasion location.

After all, this setting is to pave the way for the protagonist. There aren't many strange creatures gathered on the island yet, and their levels are all low. This is probably because the larger and stronger strange creatures can't pass through the volcano. Or it could simply be to make the difficulty of the protagonist leveling up and fighting monsters easier. This is the place to test his knowledge of the secrets.

“Fellow Daoist Jiang, this island has been partially corrupted by something strange. Without the purification of the Immaculate Scripture of Jade Maiden Peak, we could easily be tainted and fall into becoming strange beings ourselves. If you really have any good solutions, you should tell me now, shouldn’t you?”

“That’s right. The most troublesome problem with the supernatural is its contagiousness. Once you get infected, it’s easy to die. The lives of so many of us depend on your inside information!”

"Now that things have come to this, there's no need to hide anything anymore, right?"

"Fellow Daoist Jiang has been making such confident promises all along, why don't you set an example for everyone first?"

…………

Jiang Chen's eyes swept over the crowd, a smile appearing on his face as he said loudly, "How could I, Jiang, deceive you all? The reason why the strange can corrupt cultivators is not because of its strength, but because it possesses a special method—disturbing a pure mind!"

Indeed, what makes the eerie world even more terrifying than the demon realm is that it can detect negative emotions in cultivators and whisper in your ear to tempt you into corruption.

On the main battlefield, the disciples of Jade Maiden Peak constructed a Bright and Immaculate Magic Array, which greatly weakened the strange bewitching ability. They also had sufficient logistical support, which cost a lot of effort to achieve a draw.

In fact, as long as we can maintain a pure mind, we will be fearless of defilement and successful in everything we do!

As he spoke, he revealed the secret the protagonist had discovered in the plot, took out a calming pill, swallowed it, and jumped straight onto the rocks that had been polluted and covered in black slime. He then swung his long sword and killed a strange, slime-like creature.

Black liquid splattered all over his body, but Jiang Chen didn't care. After fighting for a while, he cleared a piece of the isolated island and rocks, and then showed everyone his results. "Look, after I took a Tranquility Pill, I won't be afraid of any strange attacks for the duration of its effects."

As long as you're careful and avoid provoking high-level monsters, you can ensure your safety!

The Tranquility Pill was one of many pills that the main system issued a mission some time ago, in which the Best Male Supporting Actor was asked to provide to the protagonist. In the mission world setting, this kind of pill is only used to assist in cultivation and has no other function.

The script team added a patch, giving it a much greater purpose, which allowed Lin Xucheng to take advantage of the situation—the storage bag he obtained contained several hundred Tranquilizing Pills, enough to arm a team to venture deep into the heart of the volcano and wreak havoc, stunning many powerful members of the Three Realms Guardian Team.

"Tranquility Pill? This thing can actually resist strange pollution?" One of the cultivators was shocked, then said dejectedly, "Even if we know, what's the use? Let alone in this vast sea, it's difficult to find a Tranquility Pill even in the nearby cities. What difference does it make whether you said it or not, Fellow Daoist Jiang?"

Lin Xucheng was taken aback upon seeing this. A Tranquilizing Pill?

I have them! I have nearly a thousand in my storage bag! Holy crap, this is a huge windfall!

I stumbled upon a storage bag for nothing, and it just so happens to contain a magic weapon to ward off the strange. With Haotian's eyes opened, I'm finally going to be able to hold my head high and have a wonderful encounter to reach a higher level!

"As long as I can seize the powerful fortune of the strange realm, it will surely help me reach the pinnacle and achieve the Dao Integration Realm."

At that time, they will use their meritorious service to smear the Free and Unfettered Sect. Who told them to be the first to stick their neck out and create such a wasteful and exhausting Three Realms Guardian Team? With profits at stake, the other sects will surely not want them to share the lion's share. Ha, when the wall falls, everyone pushes it down; they'll definitely be able to raze the Free and Unfettered Sect and wipe away their shame!

Just as Lin Xucheng was about to speak after making up his mind, he saw Jiang Liming shake his right hand, the storage ring on his index finger shining brightly. "Don't panic, everyone. Before we joined forces for this great cause, I, Jiang, had already made thorough preparations. I specially spent a lot of money to ask Liu Jiangchen, the alchemist stationed at the headquarters, to refine a batch of Tranquilizing Pills!"

"Oh? You actually prepared in advance?" Lin Xucheng raised an eyebrow, dismissing the idea of ​​contributing.

Since there are already people willing to be taken advantage of, why waste precious elixirs?

I never expected to hear news of Liu Jiangchen again in this kind of setting. He probably doesn't know that I've already slept with his old flame. Humph! Just wait, when I set foot in the Free and Unfettered Sect, I will grind you to dust!

Taking advantage of distributing the pills, Jiang Chen made all the cultivators swear an oath by their inner demons—that they owed him a favor for receiving the pills for free to kill the strange creature, and that they would definitely do their best to help him when he needed them in the future, and that they would obey his orders without question as long as they did not violate morality.

Despite being surrounded by the protagonist's halo, everyone saw Jiang Liming's performance along the way and assumed that he was just trying to take this opportunity to secure his position. Even Lin Xucheng did not suspect anything and did not object.

"How long does a calming pill last?"

"Yes, we must figure this out, otherwise we'll be doomed if we venture deep into the heartland without any medicine supplies."

"How many Tranquilizing Pills does Fellow Daoist Jiang have left?"

Soon someone realized the most crucial question: while receiving a free pill now might indeed protect against contamination, what happens after the effects wear off?

Jiang Chen looked troubled and stammered, "It's hard to estimate exactly how long a single pill can withstand the attack. The more strange and higher-level the monsters, the faster they are consumed. Originally..."

He looked at the crowd with a somewhat troubled expression. "Originally, I had gathered over a hundred people and prepared over two hundred pills so that you could each take one and save one for emergencies. But now, with over two hundred people, each of you can only have one..."

"Then there's no way out?!"

"What good can a single pill do? If it fails, we're doomed!"

……

The crowd erupted in commotion, and seeing that Jiang Liming was about to lose face, Lin Xucheng stepped forward with a smile, grabbed a handful of Tranquilizing Pills from his storage bag, and said loudly, "Everyone, there's no need to worry. I still have quite a few in stock. As long as we can win the war between the two worlds and make a name for ourselves in history, I can give you at least three more pills each. Please go and fight with peace of mind!"

A large quantity of calming pills emitted a faint fragrance, and under the halo of light, the crowd immediately switched sides.

Jiang Liming's expression darkened slightly. Clearly, he had revealed all his secrets and offered pills, but he hadn't considered things carefully and hadn't received any gratitude in return, which had directly brought him fame!

Lin Xucheng was overjoyed. He pretended to comfort Jiang Liming and encouraged his subordinates. Soon, the whole team swallowed pills and descended from the crater to eliminate the strange creatures all the way to the heart of the volcano.

"This is the last base of the Three Realms Guardian Team. Where do you cultivators come from?" The guard never expected that a group of cultivators who did not belong to the alliance would suddenly emerge from the darkness. He hurriedly stepped forward to check, fearing that some of them might have been corrupted by the strange entity.

Wearing a mask to conceal his true face, Lin Xucheng raised his hand to signal his subordinates to stop. Without answering their question, he looked at the empty battlefield not far away and asked instead, "The deeper you go into the heart of the strange realm, the more difficult the battle becomes, right?"

"Uh...that's true." Under the protagonist's halo, the guard scratched his head and sighed, "It's really a headache. Those terrible things that are like octopuses, covered in slime and tentacles, easily contaminate cultivators. The fairies' Bright Immaculate Magic Array works well on the surface of the sea, but it's too difficult once you go deep into the heart of the sea."

It's only thanks to the Free and Unfettered Sect's wealth and the presence of alchemists that they've managed to achieve a draw.

"If the battle lines are stretched thin, we'll likely suffer repeated defeats in the long run..."

Lin Xucheng sneered with a smirk: "The Xiaoyao Sect is rich and powerful? Heh, all the sects have contributed a lot of money and effort. I'm afraid it's all been embezzled by some people. Otherwise, my subordinates of only two hundred or so men could have wiped out the mere Strange One. The Three Realms Guardian Team has been fighting for so long and they still can't match our achievements in just one or two days."

It's laughable that you're worried about an alien invasion, while some people still think they haven't had enough money to rake in!

Are the Xiaoyao Sect taking advantage of this opportunity to amass wealth?

The guards were stunned by his words, then watched as the masked mystery led his subordinates into the battlefield. The experts of the Three Realms Guardian Team, to avoid contamination, fought with restraint, their combat strength even inferior to the protagonist's bottom-ranked Golden Core cultivator.

"My God, how did these people do that?"

"The weird slime has all gotten on them, how come they aren't contaminated?"

"These people have ordinary auras and unremarkable cultivation techniques. How could they completely resist the power of this strange contamination?"

"There must be some precious magical treasure! It's amazing. If we could fight like this without restraint, we wouldn't have been trapped here for so long..."

…………

The stage set up by the script team for the protagonist was right in front of him. Jiang Chen took advantage of the chaos to hide in the crowd and peek. The sect leader was indeed very capable, having made arrangements in advance. More and more powerful figures from various sects, including the Hehuan Sect, gathered to watch this eye-opening "performance".

Leng Moran was among them. When they secretly met earlier, he told him that he had tracked down the storage bag to Lin Xucheng and that he might need to use it to offer a chance to help if necessary. Lin Xucheng was naturally free-spirited and disliked being ordered around, so he was a little displeased and stood far away, concealing his aura and acting as a background figure.

"Senior Lin!" One of the low-level cultivators, whose mind was unstable amidst the battle, noticed the medicine's effects waning and cried out to Lin Xucheng, his face pale, "The medicine is not working properly! Please, Senior, give me some more medicine!"

He was anxious and nervous. Only when disaster struck did he belatedly realize that he hadn't asked the other party for a pill to keep on hand. What if the other party wanted to take advantage of the situation...?

With everyone watching, Lin Xucheng knew that his powerful combat strength was his key to victory!

We must make sure everyone in the Three Realms Guardian Team sees this clearly. Whether we can turn the tide depends on this battle, and we absolutely cannot let any member fail us!

"Take it..." Lin Xucheng flew forward, his left hand reaching into his robes to try and prevent others from discovering the secret of the pill and giving it to him as quickly as possible. However, as he reached into his robes, his heart suddenly turned cold.

My storage bag is lost!

He was truly panicked. His fame was built on those pills! How could they suddenly be gone? They were clearly still in his arms, and he had even used them when he put away the spoils he had obtained from slaying the monsters…

"Senior, hurry!" As the effects of the medicine faded like the tide, the cultivator grew increasingly panicked, looking at his clothes covered in sticky filth. He shouted, "Please, give me the pill quickly! I... I'll be contaminated!"

Concerned for their own safety, the others also stopped killing the strange creatures and retreated to relatively safe positions. Pairs of eyes, some openly and some subtly, looked at Lin Xucheng. If he refused to take out the Tranquility Pill, they had to retreat to a safe position immediately and ask the fairies of Jade Maiden Peak to help purify him, otherwise they might be corrupted and turn into that disgusting state!

"Senior Lin!"

The cultivator's voice was tinged with despair. If he weren't afraid that the other party would slap him into mincemeat, he would have even wanted to go up and snatch it!

"It's gone! My storage bag is gone!" Lin Xucheng no longer cared about the life of a mere tool or cannon fodder.

One thought kept swirling in his mind—the storage bag was gone, and all those precious pills were gone!

What to do? How can I achieve great things on the battlefield without elixirs? How can I become stronger, lead other sects to defect, and crush the Free and Unfettered Sect?

The sudden blow left his mind buzzing, and he couldn't hear the angry roars, shouts, rebukes, or questions from the others who had turned against him.

"Backlash! Host, his protagonist halo is backfiring!" The fluffy little creature excitedly watched as the dazzling halo weakened at an alarming rate, licking its paws as it warned, "At most, one more small burst, and then..."

Before it could finish speaking, it stared in disbelief at the dim, dissipating halo that seemed to tilt backward like a candle flame. "Meow meow meow? The next Lady of Destiny! Wow, can a halo be inherited like this? Host, Lin Xucheng suffered a backlash, and the halo he lost went to Zhuang Wanhua!"

The cultivator was on the verge of collapse. He shouted and jumped up and down, cursing Lin Xucheng. After a moment, he suddenly realized what was happening and rushed towards the crowd of powerful figures at the rear on his flying sword.

Seeing them all hurriedly dodging, afraid of getting the sticky substance on their bodies, the cultivator, almost losing his mind, roared, "Tranquility Pill! The Tranquility Pill can resist the strange temptation and will not be contaminated!"

My medication is about to wear off. I beg you, seniors, if anyone can give me a calming pill to save me from this ordeal, I will repay you a hundredfold, even if it means serving you like a slave!

A calming pill flew through the crowd, and he caught it and swallowed it.

Feeling safe and protected by the medicinal power, the cultivator turned and pointed at Lin Xucheng, saying fiercely, "Lin, you're despicable for going back on your word! Stop acting! Who would believe that such a precious storage bag would mysteriously disappear? Your refusal to hand over the pills means you're deliberately trying to kill us..."

Someone surnamed Lin?

Zhuang Wanhua, who had just reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage in the crowd, suddenly had a premonition that the masked person frantically rummaging through a storage bag in the crowd seemed somewhat familiar.

"Xiao Hua, what are you looking at?" Elder Mo had only brought her here to broaden her horizons, and seeing this, he chuckled and said, "Not satisfied with just watching the excitement here? Let's move forward a bit!"

"Sister Fei, could you help me knock that guy's mask off?"

"Huh? You don't actually like him, do you?" Mo Xiaofei looked wary, as if afraid she'd been deceived by a man. "Didn't you hear what people said? He's a liar!"

At the same time, the alluring voice in Zhuang Wanhua's mind said softly, "I can't be mistaken, it's this aura! It's definitely the guy who killed your master. Although the old lady is quite strict, she's really good to my sister..."

Zhuang Wanhua gritted her teeth and said, "I would never like him. I just... think he looks like my enemy! Lin Xucheng, that guy killed my master in the lower realm!"

Upon hearing that it was about revenge, Mo Xiaofei immediately perked up, "Let's go, let's go, we need to be in the front row to see clearly."

The change happened in a very short time. As Zhuang Wanhua, whose protagonist aura was even stronger, arrived at the battlefield under the protection of Mo Xiaofei, Lin Xucheng's mask was easily knocked off.

"Lin Xucheng!"

"Isn't this the guy the Free and Unfettered Sect is after?"

"They've got some nerve, daring to go to the battlefield even though they're wanted by the authorities!"

"Yay! You scoundrel, prepare for the critical hit!" The fluffy ball of fur, who had been waiting for this moment, jumped up and projected the huge light screen of the recording stone above Lin Xucheng.

In the brightly lit room, an elderly woman dressed in the attire of the Hehuan Sect was left with only half her body, which was being held tightly in the mouth of a demon formed from scarlet energy, and was soon devoured.

Lin Xucheng manipulated the objects with hand seals, still complaining about not being able to find the storage bag beforehand;

In the jungle, Lin Xucheng leaned against a tree trunk, and on his open shirt was the head of a demon that seemed about to burst out.

The scene shifts, and young Lin Xucheng slaughters his family, annihilates the entire city, and digs out his beloved's top-grade spiritual root...

"Lin Xucheng, who cultivates the ruthless path and forbidden techniques of the Three Realms, prepare to die!" Leng Moran was furious at the thought of being defiled by such trash. He flew out from the crowd, unleashing his peak Tribulation Realm aura and launching a deadly attack at Lin Xucheng.

"boom!"