Everything Was Going According to Plan

Early the next morning, while the sky was still dim, Nan Fusheng got up and dressed. Today was the day he enrolled. He would officially enter Red Mountain Academy, and the Soul Master Class at that, beginning at least nine years of schooling.

According to Sun Moon Federation regulations, both elementary and intermediate academies provided free compulsory education. Elementary academies taught for three years, while intermediate academies taught for six.

There were several ways to advance to an Advanced Academy: earn admission through outstanding grades, pay a hefty price to get in, or attend a Vocational Academy to learn a practical skill.

I never thought that after transmigrating, I'd still have to go through nine years of compulsory education. Still, it's time to start playing my role. Otherwise, it'll be hard to get close to the protagonist.

Next door, Tang Ziran had just led Tang Wulin out when a roar came from the neighboring house. "Get the hell out of here early! How did I ever give birth to a wretch like you?"

Amid a burst of smashing and crashing, a boy slowly emerged. His skin was pale, dark circles hung beneath his eyes, and his small, thin frame made him look malnourished. Without saying a word, he shut the door and walked out. From the direction he was heading, it seemed they were going the same way.

Tang Ziran frowned slowly at the sight. To be honest, he did not know much about his neighbor, though he had heard a few things from others.

The neighboring household seemed to consist of only a mother and son. The man had abandoned his wife and child, while the woman frequently abused her son. She stayed cooped up at home all day, relying on the child to bring her food.

That was what he had heard from the people around him. He had assumed it was all just gossip, but it now seemed to be true.

Still, he said nothing. This was, after all, someone else's family matter. He merely led his own child and followed behind Nan Fusheng.

Tang Wulin, whose hand Tang Ziran held, also looked at Nan Fusheng ahead of them as though he wanted to say something. In the end, however, he remained silent.

Walking ahead, Nan Fusheng wore a smile that said everything was going according to plan. Yes, this was all part of his plan. Although he possessed the foundation to become Lord of Mysteries, "Lord of Life, Profound Yellow Heaven," he did not possess the corresponding ascension Ritual. A Ritual could also be considered part of the Acting Method.

Lord of Mysteries was a world filled with chaos and madness, and most high-Sequence Beyonders had some sort of mental problem. The core purpose of a "Ritual" was to preserve one's self-awareness and assist with advancement.

For certain reasons, he had become a Marauder, and he had not heard any "ravings" to this day. Still, he had not forgotten his first experience ascending Sefirah Castle.

At worst, he might never become a high-Sequence Beyonder in this lifetime. So he could only pursue both paths at once and strive to become a powerful Soul Master. Why was he so confident?

Of course, it was because he was already a Marauder. Though he was currently only a low-Sequence Beyonder, he possessed some high-Sequence abilities.

In Lord of Mysteries, the protagonist Klein, while still at the low Sequences of The Fool pathway, had been able through Sefirah Castle to wield part of the abilities of Sequence Two, Miracle Invoker, from that pathway: "Resurrection is a miracle."

Then surely there was nothing wrong with him, a "little Heavenly Venerable" possessing both Sefirah Castle and three Uniquenesses, being able to use some high-Sequence abilities early!

"Uniqueness" was the tangible symbol of the authority corresponding to a Sequence. Only by truly mastering a Uniqueness and fusing three Beyonder Characteristics could one complete the transformation from human to god and command the authority of that Sequence.

That was the condition for becoming Sequence Zero. But he did not need to go through so much trouble. He did not need three Beyonder Characteristics. As long as he became Sequence One and fused with the Uniqueness—perhaps after completing a Ritual as well—he could become a True God.

That was getting off track. Simply put, he could use the abilities of the Marauder pathway from Sequence 9 through Sequence 5. The consumption was just rather steep, and he had to pay a certain price. Even Sequence 4 abilities were not impossible to use.

The Sequence 6 ability of this pathway was:

Steal: It could temporarily steal another person's Beyonder ability for one's own use. There was a chance to steal one ability from a target within fifty meters. The better one understood the target, the easier it was to steal the desired ability. The less one knew, the more random it became, relying on luck.

When the target's Sequence was higher than 6, the attempt could fail. The higher the Sequence, the greater the chance of failure. High-Sequence powerhouses could also be stolen from, but the odds were lower. For the ten minutes the ability remained active, the victim would directly lose the corresponding ability, while the Apprentice could use it proficiently. After ten minutes, the ability would disappear, and the victim would have to wait until the next day to recover it.

Translated into Soul Master terms, the stronger someone was, the lower the chance of successfully using "Steal."

Over the past few years, he had accidentally discovered that when he used Steal on a Soul Master, he could steal a portion of the other's soul power. Although it would be returned afterward, his own body gradually began to possess soul power. The parents of this body had both been ordinary people.

Naturally, he had possessed no soul power either. Yet whenever he stole "soul power," his body was gradually nourished by it. Soul Masters needed soul power to use Martial Souls and activate Spirit Skills, so when he stole "Spirit Skills," he could also steal a certain amount of soul power from the other party.

Honestly, he had not expected that. He had originally thought the stolen target simply would not be able to use their Spirit Skills. But when he targeted soul power itself, he could steal most of the target's soul power if the gap in their strength was not too large.

After discovering this ability, he had not used it recklessly. He stole only two or three times, then stopped once his body had accumulated a certain amount of soul power. This was also why his Innate Soul Power was only level one.

The ability "Steal" could not be used carelessly. If his target was a Soul Scholar who had only recently awakened their soul power, it was not much of an issue. But if the target was a Soul Master, then once they could no longer use their Martial Soul or Spirit Skills, there was a chance he would be exposed. The possibility was small, but he did not want to take that "risk."

Especially since every use of "Steal" now required him to rest for a while afterward. After all, this was not an ability he should have been capable of using yet. He could probably use it only once a day; using it again afterward would bring the side effect of dizziness and blurred vision.

The "woman's roar" Tang Ziran had heard just now had also been his handiwork—the Sequence 5 Seer ability: Marionettist.

Because he possessed the Uniquenesses of three pathways at once, he could use the abilities of the other two pathways across pathways. The consumption was simply even greater.

Put simply, the Marionettist's ability was this: gaining vision of Spirit Body Threads. By manipulating a target's Spirit Body Threads, one could directly influence the target's Spirit Body, Astral Body, Mental Body, and Ether Body, then use the Ether Body to control the target's physical body.

However, perhaps because this world was different, on Douluo Continent it worked by using Spirit Body Threads to gradually erode the target's mind and Martial Soul before controlling their body.

Once a target's Spirit Body Threads were initially brought under control, they would immediately suffer sluggish thoughts, stiff movements, and bodily rigidity, gradually developing in the direction of a puppet or marionette.

If the control process was not interrupted, the target would become a marionette after five minutes. In a sense, the target would already be truly dead, and marionettization was irreversible.

Nan Fusheng's mother, the woman named Lan Yuxi, had been turned into a "marionette" while he still had some residual power shortly after being reborn with the aid of Sefirah Castle.

That woman had only returned home at noon on the second day after Nan Fusheng's "resurrection." To be honest, as a transmigrator, Nan Fusheng had always possessed his own way of thinking.

Toward strangers, even the parents of this body, it was difficult for him to truly acknowledge them as family. Not to mention that, from a certain perspective, they had also killed him once.

So when Lan Yuxi returned home, he immediately turned her into a "marionette." He had still been too young; if Lan Yuxi went out for several more days, he feared he might die several more times. Afterward, he used Lan Yuxi's Soul Guiding Communication Device to ask someone to prepare baby food.

Fortunately, Lan Yuxi had already been made into a "marionette" and did not need to eat at all. That was how he had barely made it through the beginner stage.

The performance that morning had also been deliberately arranged by Nan Fusheng. A child without a father and unloved by his mother could easily win others' sympathy. It was also one move in his plan to approach Tang Wulin's family and prepare for his future acting.

However, controlling Spirit Body Threads truly consumed too much Spiritual Power. To put on that performance at just the right moment in front of Tang Wulin's family, he had to carefully time it. Furthermore, controlling a "marionette" did not consume spirituality, but his Spiritual Power, leaving him looking as though he had stayed up all night.

But it did not matter. Everything was going according to plan.