Ancient Sages Society

Ding-dong! Suddenly, a golden metal bead dropped out of thin air into the cave. Zhou Tai Two instantly sprang to his feet, dropping into a defensive stance. The other Zhou Tais stepped in front of Zhou Tai Two to shield him, for the body Zhou Tai Two currently occupied was their original form. The metal bead rolled across the ground. Suddenly, numerous golden lines appeared on its surface. Then, unfolding layer by layer along the lines, the bead formed a golden lotus. Countless gold threads spread outward from the lotus, partitioning the entire cave into a myriad of tiny grids. "Good morning, gentlemen." At that moment, a blond foreign youth appeared behind Zhou Tai Two, resting a hand on his shoulder as he spoke. Zhou Tai Two grew calm instead. "I assume you aren't with the government? If you think we're still of some use, feel free to say so plainly. If we can cooperate, we certainly will." "I do enjoy talking to intelligent people. Abe no Seimei's golden lotus barrier can only last five minutes, so I'll make this brief. I am Plato, the twelfth seat of the Ancient Sages Society. Our objective is to become true gods, not sham deities who are gods in name only. So... are you interested in joining us?" the blond man asked. Zhou Tai Two smiled. "Of course we're interested. Life and death isn't a hard choice to make." "Excellent, then come with me!" Plato smiled. Seeing that the two sides had reached an agreement, Zhou Tai Three grew lively again and chuckled. "Wait. It's enough for Number Two to go with you, but the rest of us are staying. The game hasn't even begun yet." "I see. In that case, I might as well lend you a little help. As it happens, Huaxia's Pangu, Nuwa, Hetu and Luoshu, and the Primordial Eight Trigrams Diagram are all targets of our Ancient Sages Society. Causing them even a tiny bit of trouble sounds rather delightful." Looking at Zhou Tai Three, Plato slowly withdrew a golden goblet from the void. He held the goblet, giving it a gentle swirl. The crimson blood inside gave off a faint red luminescence. He explained, "This is Death Curse Blood. When drunk willingly, it grants the user terrifying demonic power, but their lifespan is cut short, leaving them with only a single day. The good news is... it only affects the physical body and won't cause any harm to the soul or consciousness. I wonder if this suits your needs?" Looking at the blood in the goblet, Zhou Tai Three laughed excitedly. "I can only say, this stuff is fantastic! I love it!" "Glad to hear it. Time is running short, so drink up," Plato said with a beam as he looked at the remaining Zhou Tais. With so many test subjects willing to drink the Death Curse Blood, he was eager to see what kind of surprise would follow. Risking a brief delay was entirely worthwhile. Zhou Tai Three took the goblet and swallowed a large gulp before passing it to Zhou Tai Four. In the blink of an eye, aside from Zhou Tai Two who occupied the original body, the remaining Zhou Tai personalities all drank the Death Curse Blood. They trusted Plato because they knew full well that since Plato could track them down, wiping them out would be child's play for him. Besides, even if Plato did not intervene, their chances of survival were already bleak. There was simply no need to borrow trouble. Crack! The body Zhou Tai Three currently inhabited was formed by an aberrant worm parasitizing a middle-aged driver. At that moment, the aberrant worm tore through the man's skin, its dense tangle of tentacles weaving together into a vaguely humanoid silhouette. Brilliant crimson rays of light shone from between the tentacles. Then, all the tentacles fused into a unified whole. A pair of massive demon horns sprouted from its head, and dense chitinous scales covered its entire body, transforming it into a burly demon warrior. "This feels incredible! My strength, my speed, and... it's unbelievable! So this world had such layers to it all along!" Zhou Tai Three opened his eyes, which glowed with red light, and gazed around the cave, speaking in excitement. His eyes were solid red with no pupils, yet he could see a far more layered world, beholding sights ordinary humans could never fathom. "Looks like you gained quite a nice ability," Plato said with a smile. Zhou Tai Three turned toward Plato. In his vision, an illusory hell seemed to stretch behind Plato, where countless wronged souls struggled and wailed. Splitting his mouth to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth, he chuckled. "It really is a nice ability. Too bad... it only lasts one day." "I'll continue refining the Death Curse Blood. In the future, it might well last far longer than a day. Stay tuned!" Plato smiled. By then, the other Zhou Tais had also completed their metamorphoses one after another. Each took on a different form, varying in strength, but every one of them possessed a special ability. "Time's almost up. Drip a bead of blood here, and we must be off!" Plato checked his wristwatch, turned to pick up the metal lotus from the ground, and spoke to Zhou Tai Two. Zhou Tai Two nodded. He cast a glance back at the other Zhou Tais before walking over to Plato. After the blood was dropped, Plato placed the lotus back on the ground and said to the others, "This lotus will take his place in being locked on by the Huaxia government's Hetu and Luoshu. If you don't want to die too quickly, you'd better stay clear of it." Then Plato took Zhou Tai Two by the arm and led him straight into the void. From Zhou Tai Two's perspective, he felt as though he had passed through a thin membrane, stepping into a world filled with the fragrance of flowers and the song of birds. The sky was bathed in radiant sunshine, surrounded by a breathtaking sea of blossoms, with numerous fairies fluttering through the air, frolicking merrily. "Mr. Plato, are all members of the Ancient Sages Society as powerful as you?" Zhou Tai Two asked. Plato smiled. "Naturally, some are stronger and some are weaker. However, only fifteen are more powerful than me. The rest are either close to my level or inferior." "Then what does the Ancient Sages Society see in us?" Zhou Tai Two continued to ask. Plato replied, "In truth, you caught the eye of our Ancient Sages Society the very first time you appeared. But back then, you had nothing to offer that warranted an invitation. As the old saying in this ancient Eastern land goes, fortune and misfortune walk hand in hand. The Silver General Arena was a splendid performance, and it showed us your potential. And so... here I am." "I see." Zhou Tai Two understood. The Ancient Sages Society had set their sights on their ability to deeply activate the transcendent bloodlines within transcendent creatures. This truly was an immensely formidable power. Once they awakened the bloodlines inside those transcendent creatures, the other party could harvest the blood and mass-produce more monsters of the same caliber. Even so, Zhou Tai Two was not afraid of being used. What he feared far more was having no value to exploit—that would be the worst outcome of all. If you had value to exploit, you were an ally. If you had no value? Then you would most likely end up as lab rats on an operating table. On the other side, inside the mountain cave, Zhou Tai Three watched Plato and Zhou Tai Two recede into the distance within hell. The two were surrounded by a sea of fire and mountains of blades, with all manner of grotesque, horrifying corpses crawling about. A woman even tried to grab Zhou Tai Two's foot, only for a blade to sever her arm, leaving her to roll on the ground, shrieking in agony. Plato... is that your Republic? Fascinating! How fascinating! This is so much fun! Hahahahahahaha! Zhou Tai Three watched Plato and Zhou Tai Two vanish from sight, musing inwardly before bursting into a bout of raucous laughter. This world was simply too amusing, and he was far from done playing.