["The author of this letter was likely that Mara-struck you defeated—he was deceived under the guise of treatment, suffered poisoning, and became what you saw."]
["Such methods remind me of an organization that vanished from the Xianzhou a millennium ago—the Yaoshi Secret Art!"]
["They are followers of Abundance, dedicated to unearthing forbidden elixir formulas and reviving the so-called secrets of the immortal path."]
[Qingzu's meaning was simple: if they found any clues related to the Yaoshi Secret Art in the future, they should hand them over to the Seat of Divine Foresight. Of course, the rewards would be generous.]
[With the current chaotic situation on the Xianzhou, some were taking the opportunity to deceive outworlders in the Changming Lane area. Qingzu also recommended starting the investigation there.]
[Stelle arrived at the streets of Changming Lane. Originally thinking it would take a long time to find leads, she had just left the Divination Commission and reached the entrance of a small alley when a man who looked rather shifty immediately ran over: "Outworld guest, please wait. Do you crave longevity?"]
[Stelle: "..."]
[Qingzu had said earlier that the Yaoshi Secret Art was an illegal organization pursuing longevity. But to recruit members through multi-level marketing right across from the Divination Commission and in public was just too brazen!]
——
"Uh... I don't even know where to start ranting from." Asaba Harumasa held his forehead. It was a miracle this thing could resurface.
"An illegal organization actually recruiting people on the street right opposite the Divination Commission, not even bothering to hide it... The Diggers in New Eridu observe for months before recruiting."
"It must be intentional by the Seat of Divine Foresight, right?" Tsukishiro Yanagi pushed his glasses up his nose. "Stelle is the bait they released, just waiting for the Yaoshi Secret Art members to bite. Dealing with this small fry isn't hard, but it would be terrible to alert the enemy."
"But using longevity as bait... it's really quite attractive. If it were me, I might really follow them in to try." Asaba Harumasa subconsciously touched the cross pendant choker on his neck.
"Trying might lead to dying."
Tsukishiro Yanagi kindly reminded him, "Nothing in this world comes completely free of charge. If it seems that way... it's definitely boring rhetoric from multi-level marketing scammers, and they should be arrested directly."
"Also, I don't think this Yaoshi Secret Art is that simple. There should be more tests to join, right? Passing more tests lets you climb higher—isn't that how all multi-level marketing works?"
——
["No, I crave power!" Stelle placed her hands on her hips and proudly raised her head.]
["..."] The strange man frowned, but then his eyes lit up as if he had a sudden realization. "Oh, I see! You mean you crave longevity, right? After all, immortality is a form of power!"]
[Stelle remained persistent: "No, I just crave pure power!"]
["Uh..."] The man was speechless for a moment. "You've got me all confused, sister."]
["You're really interesting. Frankly, I can only offer outworlders the chance for immortality. Before gaining absolute power, you must also crave to live forever, right?" The man deliberately lowered his voice and whispered.]
["My name is Green Hibiscus. I came to Changming Lane hoping to encounter destined people like you, to ascend the immortal path of longevity together. How about it? Come with me to a place more suitable for discussing these matters."]
[This suited Stelle's plan perfectly; she originally intended to infiltrate them. Rewards delivered to your doorstep shouldn't be refused.]
[Stelle followed him, turning left and right, and entered a remote house.]
[Inside were many people, including even a Cloud Knight! The moment they saw Green Hibiscus, they stood up respectfully.]
[Although Stelle wasn't afraid, she played her part fully and tried her best to look like she was trembling: "What are you all going to do?"]
["Don't worry, the Medicine King is compassionate; I won't harm you." Green Hibiscus reassured her. "Let me reintroduce myself. I am a Planter of the Yaoshi Secret Art. I couldn't reveal my identity earlier in Changming Lane, but now I can tell you boldly."]
[It was indeed the genuine Yaoshi Secret Art! Really, no effort was required to find them. Stelle's eyes gradually lit up as she looked at Green Hibiscus—this was a walking reward!]
[But Green Hibiscus misinterpreted this gleam as a craving for longevity and couldn't help but show a satisfied smile. As expected, this person was qualified and promising material!]
——
"So these are the methods the Yaoshi Secret Art uses to recruit humans? I see..."
In the Great Tomb of Nazarick, having witnessed the Planter's rhetoric, Demiurge seemed to suddenly think of something, showing an expression of sudden enlightenment.
"Hmm? Demiurge, what did you think of? This human's rhetorical skills are far from brilliant, right?" Albedo cast a puzzled look at the man in a suit beside her.
"It has nothing to do with his spiel... It's just the organization of the Yaoshi Secret Art gave me some inspiration."
"Oh? Care to elaborate?"
Demiurge's face showed a look of reverence, and his tone became slightly more serious: "Albedo, you remember the task Lord Ainz previously assigned us, right?"
"Of course. Lord Ainz established the Sorcerer Kingdom, but he is worried about other kingdoms secretly organizing resistance forces, so he ordered us to prepare intelligence work in advance and eliminate any forces hostile to the Sorcerer Kingdom at any time."
"Right, that's it." Demiurge's tone gradually became lighter. "It's very difficult to completely eradicate rats hiding in sewers and corners. But if there was a way to gather them together and then wipe them out in one fell swoop—"
"You don't mean to emulate the Yaoshi Secret Art, do you?"
"Correct, Albedo." Finally getting to the core of his plan, Demiurge said eagerly, "We can send people to various kingdoms to form forces opposing the Sorcerer Kingdom. Using this as bait, we can gather all the humans in various kingdoms who secretly intend to resist Lord Ainz."
"Finding each hiding rat is truly troublesome... Think about it. If the leader of the Yaoshi Secret Art was from the Seat of Divine Foresight, that woman called Qingzu probably wouldn't have to worry, right? She would just need to secretly deploy troops and kill all these humans."
The moment he mentioned slaughter, Demiurge's mood became very pleasant, and he even began to tremble slightly uncontrollably.
"Hmm, a rather excellent plan." Albedo praised. "Indeed, only you could think of such a method, Demiurge."
"I really don't deserve such praise. When Lord Ainz entrusted this matter to us, he must have already noticed this aspect and was just waiting for me to bring it up, right?" Demiurge showed his usual smile to Albedo, the Overseer reservedly.