Purpose

When Nan Fusheng advanced to "Swindler," he had already digested quite a bit of the Potion immediately after consuming it, thanks to his prior acting.

But tonight, more than half of his Potion had suddenly been digested. The only reason he could think of was what he had deliberately let Tang Wulin and the others see that morning. They should be discussing him right now.

"A Swindler, a Swindler—the key is deceiving and misleading others. It doesn't necessarily mean scamming them out of money."

Honestly, this discovery also relieved Nan Fusheng. If he had to scam people directly, small sums would definitely mean slow digestion progress and take far too long. But if the amount was too large, he would probably land himself in jail.

This also gave Nan Fusheng a deeper understanding of acting. "Acting" was determined by one's understanding of the profession, combined with the actor's inner nature. Whether one was good or evil depended on the actor. With everyone possessing different personalities, every "Fraudster" had a different style of conduct.

Just like a "Physician." He could produce good medicine that saved lives, or poison that killed people. But whether he used them and how he used them depended on himself.

The three pathways from Lord of Mysteries that Nan Fusheng possessed were "The Fool," "Gate," and "Error." The Ritual for Sequence One of The Fool pathway was:

Establish a Marionette Town, Design a personal Fate trajectory for every Marionette, and have them portray a sufficiently realistic picture of life through their interactions, thereby creating a corresponding region in the Spirit World. The larger the town, the more Marionettes it contained, the more meticulous their daily lives, and the more vivid, realistic, and prolonged their different destinies were, the better the Ritual's effect.

However, if he were to establish this "Marionette Town" himself, it would be exhausting, labor-intensive, and time-consuming. In particular, "Designing a personal Fate trajectory for every Marionette" was equivalent to having one person "construct the life trajectories of everyone in the town, while also personally acting as every one of them."

But there was another method that could achieve success quickly: turn everyone in a town into "Marionettes." It would save both time and effort. Of course, it was also equivalent to killing everyone in that town.

As for which of these two methods one should choose, different people would have different opinions.

For Nan Fusheng, if all those years of preparation still could not digest the Potion, then he could only try other methods and see whether they counted as fraud.

For example, becoming an "Auctioneer." Through Eloquence and other means, an Auctioneer could sell an item for a price far exceeding its actual value. Was that not also a form of deception? And it was legal, too.

Directly deceiving others was the final and worst method. After all, fools were not that easy to find.

At the same time, the Potion's digestion progress also told Nan Fusheng about the special nature of Tang Wulin and Na'er.

That was their Sequence Status. Sequence Status played a crucial role in Lord of Mysteries, whether as a source of power, a channel for energy supply, or a symbol of authority and influence.

In essence, it was a higher form of the permanent effects Beyonder Characteristics had on the body and soul. For example, certain Potions might permanently alter the drinker's body, such as increasing their height or changing their sex. These side effects caused by Potions would not disappear even if the Beyonder Characteristics were lost.

As for Tang Wulin and Na'er, one had the Divine Core of the Golden Dragon King sealed within his body, while the other was the Silver Dragon King herself. Even though they had now undergone Humanoid transformation, their Sequence Status would not change.

And Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon King Divine Core seemed to be considered part of him as well.

"At this rate, my Potion should be fully digested within the next few days."

Nan Fusheng was not particularly surprised by the Potion's digestion speed. He even felt that it was somewhat slow.

To put it simply, when Nan Fusheng was still a Marauder, stealing one dollar from an ordinary person and stealing one dollar from a god were entirely different concepts.

"Maybe it's because Tang Wulin hasn't opened the Golden Dragon King Seal yet. Or perhaps the concepts of the two worlds differ somewhat. After all, the world of Lord of Mysteries leans more toward a Cthulhu style."

Though it differed somewhat from what he had imagined, Nan Fusheng was not too disappointed.

Still, it made him even more certain of how important it was to build a good relationship with Tang Wulin.

Unless something unexpected happened, he would probably have to stay with Tang Wulin for quite some time. At the same time, this would lay the groundwork for Stealing the Golden Dragon King Bloodline in the future.

There were no feelings in the adult world, only interests. To Nan Fusheng, the Golden Dragon King Bloodline might not be necessary, but he was used to planting a seed in advance. What if he needed it someday?

However, at this stage, Nan Fusheng's priority regarding Tang Wulin was still to build a good relationship with him. Although Tang Hao and Ah Yin were guarding against an Abyss invasion, that did not mean they could not act on Douluo Continent.

To say nothing else, on the day Nan Fusheng and Tang Wulin had first encountered Na'er, Nan Fusheng had suddenly felt a palpitation, though it had lasted only an instant.

At first, he had thought it was an illusion. But thinking back afterward, it should have been a warning from Sefirah Castle or his own spirituality.

Tang Wulin's encounter with Na'er had definitely been arranged by either the two of them or Tang San.

After all, the Silver Dragon King underwent Humanoid transformation, happened to have an accident, happened to be left outside, and happened to be found by them just as she was about to be taken away by some street thugs.

No matter how he thought about it, something was wrong. Where had Di Tian and the others gone, and why had it taken them three years to find her?

At the very least, when Tang Wulin met Na'er, the couple Tang Hao and Ah Yin had definitely been watching. If he had dared to snatch away the Tang Family's "future daughter-in-law," he would probably have been hit by a Soul-Powered Car while walking down the street, or encountered an Evil Soul Master and gotten riddled with bullets.

Besides, there were also those two, the Titan Giant Ape and the Sky Azure Bull Python.

In any case, until he reached Sequence Two or could freely borrow the abilities of Sequence Two without paying too great a price, he would not make a move against Tang Wulin.

Sequence Zero of the Marauder pathway, Sequence Two of the "Error" pathway, was the Trojan Horse of Destiny, also known as the Destiny Thief. It could tamper with another person's Fate, causing certain Errors to appear in their life for a period of time. This was exploiting loopholes in Fate.

Simply put, it could Steal another person's Fate and appear in their place under their identity. It could turn them into someone without Fate, severing all ties with the real world and causing them to die bit by bit. This was social death in the truest sense.

With this ability, he could even try to seize some of Tang Wulin's future "fortuitous opportunities." Minor opportunities did not matter, but he could not yield the major ones.

For example, when Tang Wulin was drugged with an aphrodisiac in the future, and Gu Yuena helped him—at that moment, if he used Fate Theft... that scene... tsk tsk.