Purpose

When Nan Fusheng advanced to "Swindler," he had already done some advance acting, so after drinking the Potion, he immediately digested quite a bit of it.

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 were probably discussing him right now.

"A Swindler, a Swindler... it's mainly about deceiving and misleading others. You don't necessarily have to swindle people out of money."

To be honest, this discovery also relieved Nan Fusheng. If he really had to swindle others, small sums would definitely digest the Potion too slowly and take far too long. But if the amount was too large, he would probably end up getting himself thrown in jail.

This also gave Nan Fusheng a deeper understanding of acting. "Acting" was determined by one's own understanding of the profession, combined with the actor's inner nature. Whether it was good or evil depended on the actor. On top of that, everyone had a different personality, so every "Deceiver" had a different style of conduct.

Just like a "Physician." They could produce medicine that saved lives, or poison that killed people, but whether they used it and how they used it was up to them.

The three pathways Nan Fusheng possessed from Lord of the Mysteries were "Fool," "Gate," and "Error." The ritual for Sequence 1 of the "Fool" pathway was:

Establish a Marionette Town. Design a Fate trajectory for every Marionette, allowing them to enact a sufficiently realistic tableau of life through their interactions and give rise to a corresponding region within the Spirit World. The larger the town, the more Marionettes there were, the more detailed their daily lives, and the more vivid, realistic, and enduring their different Fates, the better the ritual's effect.

However, if he were to build this "Marionette Town" himself, it would be exhausting, laborious, and time-consuming. In particular, "designing each Marionette's own Fate trajectory" was equivalent to having one person "construct the life paths of everyone in the town, while also personally acting as every single one of them."

But there was another method that could succeed quickly: turn every resident of a town into a "Marionette." It would save both time and effort. Of course, it would also amount to killing everyone in that town.

Which of those two methods one chose depended on one's own perspective.

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 swindling.

For example, he could become an "Auctioneer." An Auctioneer could use eloquence and other means to sell auction items for prices far exceeding their actual value. Was that not also a form of deception? And it was perfectly legal.

Directly deceiving others was the final and worst option. 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 "status." Status played a crucial role in Lord of the Mysteries, whether as a source of power, a channel for supplying energy, or a symbol of authority and influence.

At its core, it was a higher form of the permanent effects that Beyonder characteristics exerted upon the body and soul. For instance, 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 vanish even if one lost the Beyonder characteristics.

Of Tang Wulin and Na'er, one had the God Core of the Golden Dragon King sealed within his body, while the other was the Silver Dragon King herself. Even though they had now taken human form, their status would not change.

And for Tang Wulin, the Golden Dragon King's God Core also seemed to be counted as part of him.

"Going by the current progress, 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 a little slow.

For example, when Nan Fusheng had still been 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 the Mysteries leans more toward a Cthulhu style."

Although it differed somewhat from what he had imagined, Nan Fusheng was not overly disappointed.

Still, it made him even more certain of the importance of building a good relationship with Tang Wulin.

If nothing unexpected happened, he would probably have to stay with Tang Wulin for a long 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 accustomed to planting a seed in advance. What if he needed it someday?

For now, however, Nan Fusheng's priority regarding Tang Wulin was still to build a good relationship with him. Tang Hao and Ah Yin might have been guarding against an Abyss invasion, but that did not mean they could not act on Douluo Continent.

For one thing, on the day Nan Fusheng and Tang Wulin had first encountered Na'er, Nan Fusheng had suddenly felt his heart pound with unease, even though it had lasted only an instant.

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

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

After all, the Silver Dragon King had taken human form, then just happened to have an accident, just happened to end up wandering outside, and just happened to be encountered by them when she was nearly seized by some street thugs.

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

At the very least, when Tang Wulin and Na'er met, Tang Hao and Ah Yin had definitely been watching. If he had dared to cut in and snatch away the Tang family's "daughter-in-law" back then, he would probably have been hit by a Soul Guidance Car while walking down the street, or run into an Evil Soul Master and gotten gunned down.

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

In any case, before he reached "Sequence 2," or could freely borrow the abilities of Sequence 2 without paying too great a price, he would not make a move against Tang Wulin.

Sequence 0 of the Marauder pathway, "Error." Sequence 2 of that pathway was "Trojan Horse of Destiny," also known as "Destiny Thief." It could tamper with another person's Fate, causing certain errors to occur for a period of time. This meant exploiting loopholes in Fate.

Simply put, it could steal another person's Fate and appear in their place, turning them into someone without Fate, severing all connection between them and the real world, and causing them to slowly die. This was social death in the truest sense.

With this ability, even some of Tang Wulin's future "fortuitous opportunities" could be taken by him. Small opportunities were no big deal, but he could not yield the major ones.

For example, when Tang Wulin was drugged with an aphrodisiac in the future and Gu Yuena came to help him, he could use "Fate Steal" at that moment. That scene... heh heh.