Chapter 179

"I didn't expect you'd come to me." Su Lin summoned a historical projection to serve tea to both of them—of course, the tea itself was also plucked from history. "May the God of Wealth bless you with daily fortunes."

Zhongli sat on a chair opposite Su Lin, deliberately altering his appearance into that of an elderly man to avoid being associated with the guest from the Dorn family.

He shed his disguise, revealing the form Su Lin recognized, lifted a jade cup, and gently blew on it. "Today I toured Beckland by taking the bus."

"I happened to hear you'd started a business, so I got off at this stop to take a look."

Su Lin chuckled. "What have you been busy with lately? Miss Kelaien said you were away for several days."

Miss Kelaien had said that Zhongli actually spent very little.

"Just some business," Zhongli set down his teacup and surveyed the empty premises outside the door. "I've been negotiating mineral development collaborations with nobles like Lord Hall, took a train to a nearby mine district, and helped them locate new ore sources."

"I've also acquired some shares."

Thanks to his identity as Dorn Tantes's guest and Audrey's recommendation, Lord Hall had no doubt about Zhongli's expertise in geography. Soon, after finalizing details with Lord Hall, Zhongli conducted trials in several locations near Beckland.

Delighted by the initial gains, Lord Hall introduced Zhongli to other nobles. During discussions on commerce, Lord Hall suddenly realized Zhongli possessed extraordinary depth in economic knowledge, and invited him to stay an extra day at his estate.

"Are you free tonight? I'll treat you to dinner at Sazoren Restaurant."

Su Lin's hand froze as he manipulated the sealed artifact, scrutinizing his mental state to confirm he hadn't been contaminated by the historical fissure.

"Impressive, impressive." Su Lin fitted a monocle into his eye socket. This was what a true master looked like—while he was still tinkering with modern marketing tactics, this man was already involved in state-owned enterprises.

"This thing is uncomfortable to wear." Su Lin tore off the monocle and said to Zhongli: "You know what I mean, right?"

"I brought money. Don't worry." Zhongli's lips curved slightly as he smiled. "I just occasionally forget."

Really? I don't believe you.

"How's your avatar doing?"

Previously, Zhongli had condensed an avatar to consume a serum, attempting to master the rules of the Sequence Path through the avatar while analyzing and imitating it with his main body.

"Lacking materials for Sequence 4," Zhongli paused. "Zhou Mingrui said he'd try to find the relevant materials for me in the Land of the Forgotten Gods."

"I think we need not be fixated on fixed advancement methods or paths. Our goal is more focused on studying the essence of this power."

"Of course, the difficulty is immense—but I believe it would be beneficial."

Zhongli's words held merit; the advantages of higher rank were evident now.

Lower Sequence serums and rituals could be skipped without consequence—they wouldn't collapse anyway. Su Lin, for instance, had already experimented with several different paths; currently, he was testing the Thief Path.

Moreover, for Su Lin, he could maintain the "Divine Descent" spell, allowing another historical projection to consume the serum, then cancel it and retrieve it again, repeatedly switching paths and instantly toggling states.

"If only I could turn Divine Characteristics into cards and stick them on my belt."

"The laws of the Dao," Su Lin pondered, pointing at himself. "Senior, didn't you forget I'm only at the Golden Core Stage?"

Zhongli fell silent for several seconds. He had, without realizing, begun ignoring Su Lin's actual cultivation level.

"My apologies. I was hasty."

For Su Lin's own strength, discussing this matter was still premature.

But as other group members said—cheat system, right?

With Song Shuhang's precedent before him, Zhongli had no doubt that within a month, Su Lin's own strength would reach the level of his avatar.

"It's almost time," Zhongli said to Su Lin, glancing at the wall clock.

"Mm." Su Lin nodded. Today was Monday; the Tarot Meeting would be held at 3 p. m.

The current time was 14:08.

Divine power suffused his pupils, subtly altering his facial contours. Su Lin adjusted his posture, aligned himself with the mirror, fine-tuned his micro-expressions, pulled his black hair back to his shoulders, letting a few strands fall across his forehead.

Divine power wove a simple, plain white classical robe. He returned to that sacred posture—pious, prayerful, lips curled in a faint smile.

Zhongli smiled helplessly. He wore casual winter attire; though no change was strictly necessary, to show "respect" for Mr. Fool, he'd better be formal.

He retrieved the set of clothing Su Lin had provided earlier: a black evening suit, gold threads tracing minimal lines along the tailored fabric; a golden half-dragon, half-phoenix motif embroidered on the black tie at his chest, and a black cloak with a hood behind.

Good taste. It had purification and self-repair functions. He wondered when Su Lin had prepared it.

After setting up a few simple arrays, the time reached 13:00.

"Praise the Great Lord of the Washroom!" Su Lin devoutly intoned. Layers of gray mist appeared before his eyes.

Within the grand, majestic palace, beside the ancient, weathered table, figures appeared simultaneously, coalescing into form.

Except for the Pope and the Priest seated to either side of the Fool at the head, all other figures concealed their faces within gray mist.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Fool."

Justice—Audrey rose as usual, facing the head of the bronze table, lifting her skirt slightly in a graceful bow.

Her voice, light and melodic, lifted the listeners' moods.

Compared to the state of the last Tarot Meeting's conclusion, Audrey's emotions had recovered. The information from Mr. Fool must be true; remaining despondent would achieve nothing. She had fully adjusted her mindset, ready to face the cruel opening of the story with unwavering will.

Only thus could she help more people, not betraying Mr. Fool's intentions.

"Fool," Miss Kelaien gave an almost imperceptible nod in response to the members' greetings.

Miss Kelaien sat atop the head seat, his gaze shifting to Su Lin on the left, silently thinking:

"You think I can't hear you? If I weren't outmatched, I'd show you what divine dignity means."

"I was too gentle when training your combat skills. Had I followed the Mad Adventurer's style, I'd have broken at least two of your ribs by now."

"Amon and Charlatan have arrived," Miss Kelaien did not linger on Su Lin, but turned toward Forsyth along Su Lin's side.

"Don't be too nervous when you go out. Charlatan's target isn't you."

Magician—Forsyth's spine chilled. Her eyes widened. Was Mr. Fool speaking to me? Why would Charlatan—a Sequence 1 angel—target me?! Wasn't last time just a coincidence?!

Forsyth wanted to cry. If only she hadn't heard this news—she was supposed to meet her teacher today.

Could she leave Beckland for a while? It was so dangerous here.

Miss Kelaien then turned to Sun—Daryck and said:

"I shall grant you the recipe for Sequence 3 'Silver Knight' of the Warrior Path. Prepare six relics of powerful beings, and await my bestowal of the chance for advancement."

"Within the Giant Wang Ting, the spiritual residue of the former Heavenly Deputy, the Dark Angel Sasilier, resides there—no need to seek it out."

"When the Co-Ruler of Heaven sleeps forever, the Light-Seekers shall welcome redemption."

Upon hearing this, Darik bowed respectfully to the Fool, his heart surging with tidal waves, yet he showed no outward sign.

"Engage in free exchange."

The Fool lightly tapped the bronze long table, his figure blurring and vanishing behind the gray mist.

Miss Kelaien chuckled silently and operated the dummy "World" to speak: "Tell your teacher for me."

"The Mystic Saint Bing Tisi is on my list. How much is he willing to pay to reclaim Bing Tisi's Unique Property and the Class-0 sealed artifact, the Box of Doomsday?"

Forsyth's head spun; she had no idea what Mr. Gelmann was talking about—what Bing Tisi, what Class-0 sealed artifact? How did these powerful things suddenly involve her?

Hearing World-Gelmann's words, the others were stunned—Class-0 sealed artifact? Was World-Gelmann planning to hunt a Saint who wielded a Class-0 sealed artifact?!

"I heard he is one of the five Saints of the Aurora Sect," said the Hermit, Jadelya.

Gelmann gave a light laugh and spoke slowly: "He was also a disciple of a certain member of the Abraham family. The Box of Doomsday was once the Abraham family's property."

"Of course, I mean it was."

"In a certain sense, he was once your senior brother."

Forsyth never imagined this scenario—had her teacher once trained a Saint? What had happened to make this Saint defect? No… even I didn't know these things! How did Gelmann Sparrow know?!

Miss Kelaien continued: "Of course, Bing Tisi is a Saint of the 'Apprentice' Path, possesses a Class-0 sealed artifact, and enjoys the favor of the True Creator. I believe hunting him alone would be extremely difficult, so I invite you all to lend a hand."

"At that time, you may choose some of the spoils."

It was a lie. Dealing with Bing Tisi, who held a Class-0 sealed artifact, wasn't as easy as imagined—but it wasn't nearly as hard either. The Fool's right-hand man was right here; even the True Creator would get two slaps. Cough, cough.

Miss Kelaien tried hard not to get too carried away, but sometimes he couldn't quite control himself.

His goal was to strengthen the Tarot Club's teamwork, effectively accelerating the future's progress. Though the group's average strength wasn't as high as in the book, with him personally leading this mission, there should be no problem.

Now that he knew the future's direction, what he needed to do was rapidly grow the Tarot Club to seize more advantages.

Everyone's eyes turned to Jadelya. Aside from the Fool's attendants—the Priest and the Pope—here, only the Hermit's rank was higher than World's.

"My payment to you is: complete the digestion of the potion's esoteric knowledge within this month," Miss Kelaien said calmly.

These words stirred Jadelya's heart—she recalled the Mystic Queen telling her last Thursday to fully cooperate with all actions of the Fool and his followers.

The Queen's attitude toward the Tarot Club had risen sharply; though she didn't know why, it was the Queen's order, and she would obey it—and there was esoteric knowledge to gain.

"Fine."

Forsyth's heart also stirred, but before she could speak, World spoke: "I need your participation too."

"Me?" Forsyth couldn't believe it. "What can I do?"

"Be the bait," said Gelmann Sparrow, his tone calm, unshaken.

Forsyth deflated. The outcome was unexpected, yet not entirely surprising.

Moments later

"If you encounter any information about followers of the Primordial Moon, inform me—the higher their sequence, the better," Su Lin said, opening his eyes and gazing at them after seeing Miss Kelaien finish his instructions.

"Most of them are connected to the Rose Sect's Permissive Faction."

"Primordial Moon?" Emlyn White suddenly recalled his previous commission to "World" to deal with a major figure from the Rose Sect—but the target had vanished. They were no strangers to the Primordial Moon; vampires who prayed to the Primordial Moon would enter a state of losing control.

Su Lin looked at Emlyn White. The vampire ancestor Lillith was also tied to the Moon's authority; she should now be evading the Fallen Mother Goddess, having shifted her path to the Earth's authority.

Su Lin wanted to use Emlyn White to learn more from Lillith.

Miss Kelaien sighed inwardly—Su Lin was relentless; no matter where he went, the Fallen Mother Goddess followed.

The Fallen Mother Goddess had caused such chaos—once this guy fixated on her, what else could he do? Even if he'd just shoved Su Lin into the earth's core, he wouldn't be this obsessed. But no, you made a young, innocent boy experience pregnancy—no, not like Song Shuhang's kind, with real cargo inside. Pfft… no, I must hold back.

Miss Kelaien controlled his facial expression, striving not to laugh—otherwise, right now, the God of Light would be launching a rebellion against the Fool.

"My Lord the Pope, I've collected some artworks from the Soloman Empire era, and a treasure map, said to be left by a certain noble family," said the Hanged Man, Alger, his tone filled with respect. "Along with some accumulated items from before—"

Alger paused, because what he was about to say might sound absurd:

"I wonder if it could be exchanged for one opportunity to have you act."

In the past, he would have thought himself mad with greed, losing control and turning into a curly-haired baboon—thinking a pile of artworks and Unique Properties could buy the intervention of a "Primordial God."

But after previous attempts and some hints from World-Gelmann, Alger was genuinely tempted.

Yet now he feared his greed might anger this Earth God—even though the man seemed kind, and during private exchanges on the gray mist, he'd felt like an elder.

"Hmm," nodded the Pope, Zhongli. "Agreed."

Without delay, Alger immediately heard Zhongli's reply. Filled with excitement, Alger sincerely said: "Your generosity fills me with honor and gratitude."

With Alger leading the way, members who had traded with the Pope these past days all perked up—could it really be done?!

All of them had received subtle hints from "World" not to exchange material goods.

"Are you at sea?" Alger glanced at Emperor Watching Lu Mingfei's attire and asked.

Jadelya also looked over—she was the Star Admiral of the seas.

"Yeah, I accidentally ended up on Princess Traci's ship," Watching Lu Mingfei sighed, glancing at "World." "I've been thinking about running away."

Because of Traci, every pirate now wants to gnash their teeth at me. Though I, Watching Lu Mingfei, have no interest in this beautiful female pirate, she comes every day to ask about my potion progress—and I have no idea why.

"If you want to leave, I can help," said Jadelya. "I can send someone to extract you."

"Oh, thank you! Not yet—I'll see how things go," Watching Lu Mingfei replied gratefully.

Jadelya nodded and said nothing more.

After the group chatted a while longer, the palace fell silent. Miss Kelaien tapped the long table and said:

"Today's gathering is concluded."