Previously, when Nan Fusheng ascended to Swindler, his potion digestion had already progressed significantly due to his earlier roleplaying. But tonight, the potion suddenly advanced even further—by a massive chunk.
The only explanation he could think of… was what happened this morning. He had deliberately allowed Tang Wulin and the others to see his injuries. They were likely talking about him right now.
"Swindler, swindler... It's all about deception and trickery—not necessarily about scamming people for money."
Honestly, this realization brought Nan Fusheng a sense of relief. After all, if he had to con people for real, small-time scams wouldn't help digest the potion fast enough. Big ones? Those would probably land him in prison.
This led Nan Fusheng to a deeper understanding of what it meant to play the role.
"Roleplaying" is shaped by one's interpretation of the profession and the heart of the performer. Whether good or evil, it all depends on the individual. Everyone has their style—even among Swindlers.
It's just like a Physician. One can use medicine to heal, or concoct poisons to kill. Whether or not you use them, and how, depends entirely on you.
In Lord of the Mysteries, the three paths Nan Fusheng had access to were:
The Fool,
The Door, and
The Error.
Among them, the Fool Pathway's Sequence 1 advancement ritual was particularly… absurd:
Create a Marionette Town, design the life trajectories of every single marionette, and have them interact to form a convincingly real, dynamic town. The town must also manifest a corresponding domain in the Spirit World.
The larger the scale, the greater the number of marionettes, and the more detailed and realistic their lives, the stronger the ritual's effect.
But if you were to build such a "Marionette Town" from scratch, it would be insanely time-consuming and mentally exhausting. Especially the part about crafting individual fate trajectories and personally acting out each life… That was like trying to simulate the lives of an entire town by yourself.
There was a faster method, though—just turn the entire population of a town into marionettes.
Time-saving. Energy-saving. Efficient.
...But also equivalent to slaughtering an entire town.
Which approach to take? Well, that came down to the individual.
For Nan Fusheng, if all his years of groundwork and fake personas still weren't enough to digest a single Swindler potion, then he'd have no choice but to try alternate paths of "deception."
Like becoming an Auctioneer. After all, auctioneers use charm, rhetoric, and misdirection to inflate the value of goods far beyond their worth. That, too, was a form of deception—and perfectly legal.
Openly scamming people would be the last and worst resort. Not only was it risky, but marks weren't exactly easy to find.
Still, his potion's digestion speed had revealed something important: Tang Wulin and Na'er's special nature.
It came down to one thing—Authority Level (or "Godhood Rank").
In Lord of the Mysteries, Authority (位格) was a foundational concept. It represented:
A source of power,
A conduit for supernatural energy,
And a symbol of divine influence and recognition.
It's a permanent metaphysical elevation, born from the Beyonder characteristics integrated into one's soul and body. Some "side effects" from potions—like altered height or even gender—could not be undone even if the power was stripped away. That's Authority.
And Tang Wulin and Na'er?
One held the sealed Golden Dragon King's divine core,
The other was the Silver Dragon King herself.
Though they now lived in human form, their divine "rank" hadn't changed. That core inside Tang Wulin… had effectively become part of him.
"At this rate, I should finish digesting my Swindler potion in just a few more days."
Nan Fusheng wasn't particularly surprised by his speed. If anything, he felt it was still too slow.
Think of it this way:
If a Thief stole one dollar from an ordinary person, and one dollar from a god…
Those two acts were not remotely the same in terms of significance.
"Maybe it's because Tang Wulin hasn't unsealed the Golden Dragon King yet… or maybe it's just that the world mechanics are different. After all, Lord of the Mysteries is heavily rooted in Lovecraftian cosmic horror."
Even though the effects were a bit less than expected, Nan Fusheng wasn't disappointed.
Instead, it confirmed the importance of maintaining a good relationship with Tang Wulin.
He'd likely need to stay close to him for a long while. It was also a great setup for the future, when he might try to "steal" the Golden Dragon King's bloodline.
"In the adult world, there are no pure friendships. Only interests."
To Nan Fusheng, the Golden Dragon King bloodline wasn't strictly necessary. But still, he preferred to plant a seed early on. Who knew when it might come in handy?
For now, though, he would focus on befriending Tang Wulin. After all, Tang Hao and A Yin were still around—guarding against Abyssal threats—and could intervene in the mortal world.
Take that day, for example, when he and Tang Wulin had first encountered Na'er.
It had only lasted a second, but Nan Fusheng had felt a chilling premonition—a sudden spike of dread. At first, he'd dismissed it as imagination. But in hindsight, it was likely his spiritual intuition or the Origin Castle warning him.
"Their meeting with Na'er wasn't a coincidence. It had to be orchestrated—probably by Tang San."
Just think about it:
The Silver Dragon King awakens,
Just happens to lose her memory,
Just happens to end up on the street,
Just happens to almost get kidnapped by some lowlifes,
Just happens to be found—at that very moment—by Tang Wulin and Nan Fusheng.
...How is any of that not suspicious?
Even Di Tian and the others spent three years trying to locate her.
There was no doubt: When Tang Wulin and Na'er first met, Tang Hao and Yin were watching.
Had he tried to interfere—even a little—they'd probably have arranged for him to get run over by a soul car, or maybe have a run-in with a "random" Evil Soul Master.
Not to mention, Titan Giant Ape and Sky Blue Bull Python were still lurking, too.
Until Nan Fusheng reached Sequence 2, or could safely access Sequence 2 abilities, he wouldn't make any direct moves on Tang Wulin.
The Thief Pathway's Sequence 2—Fate Trojan, aka Fate Thief, was a terrifying existence.
It allowed the user to tamper with fate, forcing mistakes and anomalies to occur. In essence, it was about stealing someone's fate and replacing their presence.
Once targeted, the victim would slowly lose connection to reality, becoming forgotten, abandoned, and erased. A true "social death."
With that ability, Nan Fusheng could one day steal Tang Wulin's opportunities.
Small ones weren't a concern. But the major ones? Those, he wouldn't let slide.
"Like when Tang Wulin gets drugged in the future… and Gu Yue sacrifices herself to 'help' him...
Just imagine if I used 'Fate Theft' at that moment. Hah. The scene... would be something else.