Ancient Sages Society

Ding-dong!

A golden metal bead suddenly fell out of thin air inside the cave.

Number Two Zhou Tai immediately rose to his feet and assumed a defensive stance. The other Zhou Tais rushed to shield him, because the body Number Two Zhou Tai was using was the original body.

The metal bead rolled across the ground. Suddenly, countless golden lines appeared on its surface, and the bead unfolded layer by layer along those lines, forming a golden lotus.

Countless golden lines spread out from the lotus, dividing the entire cave into countless small squares.

"Good morning, everyone."

At that moment, a blond foreign youth appeared behind Number Two Zhou Tai, resting a hand on his shoulder as he spoke.

Number Two Zhou Tai instead calmed down and said, "You're not with the authorities, are you? If you think we still have some use, just say so. If we can cooperate, we definitely will."

"I like talking to smart people. Abe no Seimei's Golden Lotus Barrier can only last five minutes, so I'll keep this brief. I am Plato, the twelfth seat of the Ancient Sages Society. Our goal is to become true gods, not false gods who only bear the name. So... are you interested in joining us?" the blond man asked.

Number Two Zhou Tai smiled. "Of course we're interested. Between life and death, the choice isn't difficult."

"Very good. Then come with me!" Plato said with a smile.

Seeing that the two sides had reached an agreement, Number Three Zhou Tai became lively again and laughed. "Wait. Number Two can go with you, but the rest of us are staying. This game hasn't even begun yet."

"I see. Then I'll give you a little help. Pangu, Nuwa, the River Map and Luo Script, and the Primordial Bagua Diagram of Huaxia are all targets of our Ancient Sages Society. If we can cause them even a little trouble, that seems rather nice." Plato looked at Number Three Zhou Tai and slowly drew a golden cup from thin air.

He gently swirled the cup in his hand. The crimson blood inside gave off a faint red glow as he introduced it. "This is the Blood of the Death Curse. If the user drinks it willingly, they will gain extremely terrifying demonic power, but their lifespan will be shortened to just one day. The good news is... it only affects the body and will not harm the soul or consciousness in any way. I wonder if it suits you?"

Number Three Zhou Tai stared at the blood in the cup and grinned excitedly. "All I can say is, this stuff is fantastic. I love it!"

"That's good, then. Time is running out. Drink up," Plato said with a smile as he looked at the remaining Zhou Tais.

Number Three Zhou Tai took the cup and gulped down a large mouthful, then handed it to Number Four Zhou Tai. In the blink of an eye, aside from Number Two Zhou Tai, who was using the original body, all the other Zhou Tai personalities had drunk the Blood of the Death Curse.

They trusted Plato because they knew perfectly well that if Plato could find them, killing them all would not be difficult.

Besides, even if Plato did not act, their odds of survival in what came next were slim. There was no need to create extra trouble.

Crack!

The body Number Three Zhou Tai was using had been formed when an Aberrant Insect parasitized a middle-aged driver. At that moment, the Aberrant Insect tore through the man's skin, and densely packed tentacles intertwined to form a vague humanoid shape.

A great deal of red light glowed among the tentacles. Then all its tentacles fused together, a pair of enormous demonic horns grew from its head, and dense chitinous scales covered its entire body as it transformed into a burly demonic war general.

"This feels incredible. My strength, my speed, and... this is unbelievable. So the world has layers like this," Number Three Zhou Tai said excitedly, opening eyes that glowed red as he observed everything in the cave.

His eyes were nothing but red, without pupils, yet he could see a world with far richer layers, along with many sights ordinary people could not comprehend.

"It seems you gained a rather good ability," Plato said with a smile.

Number Three Zhou Tai looked at Plato. In his vision, an illusory hell seemed to lie behind Plato, countless wronged souls struggling and wailing within it. He split his mouth open, revealing densely packed sharp teeth, and smiled. "It is indeed a good ability. Unfortunately... it only lasts one day."

"I will continue improving the Blood of the Death Curse. In the future, it may last far longer than one day. Please look forward to it!" Plato said with a smile.

At that moment, the other Zhou Tais also completed their transformations. Each had a different form, some strong and some weak, but all possessed some special ability.

"Time's about up. After dripping a drop of blood, we should leave!" Plato glanced at his watch, turned around, picked up the Metal Lotus from the ground, and said to Number Two Zhou Tai.

Number Two Zhou Tai nodded and glanced at the other Zhou Tais before walking toward Plato. After dripping his blood, Plato placed the lotus on the ground and said to the others, "This lotus will take his place as the target locked onto by Huaxia's River Map and Luo Script. If you don't want to die so quickly, stay farther away."

Then Plato took Number Two Zhou Tai by the arm and led him into the void.

From Number Two Zhou Tai's perspective, he only felt as though he had passed through a thin membrane before arriving in a world filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers. The sky was bright with sunlight, beautiful seas of flowers surrounded them, and many sprites danced through the air, playing joyfully.

"Mr. Plato, are all the members of the Ancient Sages Society as powerful as you?" Number Two Zhou Tai asked.

Plato smiled. "Naturally, some are strong and some are weak. However, only fifteen are stronger than me. The rest may be close to my level, or they may be weaker."

"Then what does the Ancient Sages Society see in us?" Number Two Zhou Tai continued.

Plato answered, "Actually, you entered the sight of our Ancient Sages Society the first time you appeared. But back then, you had no value worth inviting. There is an old saying in the ancient Eastern nation: fortune and misfortune depend on each other. The Silver General Arena was a wonderful performance, and it allowed us to see your potential. So... I came."

"I see."

Number Two Zhou Tai understood. The Ancient Sages Society valued their ability to deeply activate the extraordinary bloodlines within extraordinary creatures.

It truly was an extremely powerful ability. Once they activated the bloodlines within those extraordinary creatures, the other side could collect blood and mass-produce more monsters of the same level.

But Number Two Zhou Tai was not afraid of being used. He was more afraid that the few of them would have no value to use. That would be the worst possible situation.

If they had value, they were one of their own.

If they had no value?

Then they would most likely become guinea pigs on an operating table.

Meanwhile, inside the cave, Number Three Zhou Tai watched Plato and Number Two Zhou Tai gradually recede into the hell in his vision. Around them lay mountains of blades and seas of fire, while all manner of disgusting, horrifying corpses crawled about. One woman even tried to grab Number Two Zhou Tai's foot, but a blade severed her arm, leaving her only able to roll about and scream.

"Plato... was that your Republic?"

"Interesting, interesting. This is so much fun! Hahahahahaha!"

Number Three Zhou Tai watched Plato and Number Two Zhou Tai vanish from sight. This world is far too fun. I haven't had nearly enough fun yet. Then he let out a string of rough laughter.

This world was simply too much fun. He was nowhere near done playing yet.