Welcome, everyone. I hereby declare—the First Fusheng Conference officially begins.
The figure of Nan Fusheng appeared at the center of the tribunal platform. Looking down at the gathered clones, he made the announcement, and then—
"'Fusheng Conference'? That name sounds so lowbrow."
"For real. Why not call it the 'All-Fusheng Assembly'? At least it has a better ring to it."
"Forget it, that's no better. Honestly, we should just call it the Tarot Club."
"Hey now, blatant plagiarism? Besides, the Tarot Club only had a handful of codenames. Look at how many people we've got here—what about the ones left without names?"
"Who said you even need codenames to call it the Tarot Club?"
"No way. Without codenames, it loses all the flair. Better not use it at all."
"I agree."
"+1."
The voices buzzed across the floating stands, everyone chattering while completely ignoring the darkening expression on Nan Fusheng's face.
Damn it. Sure, I suck at naming things, but do they have to roast me this hard? This is seriously pissing me off. (`~)
"Ahem! Quiet. Quiet." Sitting high on the tribunal platform, Nan Fusheng cut them off before they could say anything else that would spike his blood pressure.
"The reason I've gathered you all here today is to discuss our future direction—to set a clear plan for where we're heading, and how we should walk the path of Sequences. I want you all to share your ideas, so we have references to work with."
One Spirit Transmission Tower staffer spoke up:
"Main body, isn't our direction already clear? Right now, our focus is the Sequence path—aiming to advance into True Godhood. Soul power cultivation comes second, but we should still strengthen ourselves as much as possible."
"Yeah. And if possible, we should keep increasing the number of clones. Main body, have you already maxed out your parasite quota?" another random Fusheng clone asked.
"I've already filled up all my parasite slots. If I need to parasitize someone new later, I'll just cut out a nonessential clone."
Qiangu Bubai: "Then, main body, are you planning to keep advancing—or switch to a different pathway?"
Nan Fusheng: "I have some of my own thoughts on that. But I'd like to hear your opinions first."
Duan Xuan (President of the Tianhai City Forgemaster Association): "Personally, I think we should switch. Based on what we know about the Douluo World, the Fool pathway looks promising. Sequence Three: Ancient Scholar—we already understand its role-play requirements."
Nan Fusheng (clone): "I agree. With Historical Projection, we could summon past powerhouses. Imagine pulling in figures like Dugu Bo or Sword Douluo Chen Xin. Gods might be out of reach, but mortals? Definitely doable."
Nan Fusheng (politician's son clone): "Now that's fun. Cross-era showdowns! Imagine Dragon God Douluo Mu En of The Unrivaled Tang Sect fighting Sky-Supporting Douluo Yun Ming! That'd be epic!"
Qiangu Bubai: "Epic, my ass. Did you forget about Battle Armor? Yun Ming would crush Mu En. Do you think the title 'Number One Below Godhood' is a joke? Forget fighting Yun Ming—Mu En would already struggle against Super Douluo with Four-Word Battle Armor. Against a Limit Douluo in full Four-Word Armor, he'd be lucky just to stall."
Coldface (Tower Master of Donghai City Spirit Transmission Tower): "Exactly. Ancient Scholar's powers are good, but not essential. The stronger the Historical Projection, the more it drains the main body.
And most importantly, don't forget—if the main body switches pathways, what happens to us clones?"
Nan Fusheng nodded. That was indeed one of his main concerns. If switching jeopardized his clones, all his past efforts might go to waste.
Coldface was the Tower Master of Donghai City's Spirit Transmission Tower, a middle-aged man with a perpetually cold, expressionless demeanor. He came from the clan of Heaven Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu, and they were technically cousins. Coldface himself was a Level 94 Titled Douluo, martial soul: Ice Phoenix, Title: Frozen Douluo.
Leng Yaozhu had personally promised him—if he broke through to Level 95, the clan would provide resources to obtain God-ranked metals from Divine Craftsman Zhen Hua, paving his way to becoming a Four-Word Battle Armor Master.
Nan Fusheng had parasitized him remotely through Fusheng No. 1. Thanks to Coldface, he managed to infiltrate and control most of Donghai City Tower's key personnel.
Thinking of this, Nan Fusheng said aloud:
"Coldface is right. Having many clones is our advantage. We can't give that up—especially since they serve as anchors to stabilize my humanity."
Lufa: "Then it's settled. As for the advancement ritual, we can only stick to the previous method. But what about the role-play of Deceptive Mentor? Does anyone know how to do that?"
Fors: "Well, the name says it all—it must revolve around trickery and deception."
Qiangu Bubai: "And the 'mentor' part? Are we supposed to actually teach people how to scam others?"
Fors' eyes lit up: "That's brilliant! As the Tower Master, you're in the perfect position. You could instruct your staff on how to be shady merchants—like how to upsell soul spirits at inflated prices. Wouldn't that count as mentoring them in deception?"
Qiangu Bubai's face twitched: "Genius, huh? The prices of soul spirits are strictly regulated by the Spirit Transmission Tower. They were created to benefit soul masters, not to fleece them. If I start jacking up prices, I'll be drinking tea with the Tower and Federation higher-ups real quick."
Coldface: "Exactly. And besides, the profits on soul spirits are already enormous. A standard century-level soul spirit sells for one million. We make at least nine hundred thousand profit on each. Raising prices further would just be icing on the cake."
Timeworm Soul Spirit: "Damn you bastards. No wonder, when the main body pulled from the random soul spirit pool for 30,000 credits, it didn't bankrupt you. You guys never lose money!"
Coldface: "Not true. If he'd pulled a century-level soul spirit, we would've lost money."
Timeworm Soul Spirit: "And what's the chance of that happening?"
Coldface: "Hmm… about 0.01%."
The Timeworm Soul Spirit exploded: "One in ten thousand?! You Spirit Transmission Tower people are ruthless!"
Coldface: You're looking at it wrong. Do you know how expensive it is to make a soul spirit? Even a basic ten-year one costs thousands to tens of thousands in raw materials. Selling them for 70,000 is already generous.
At 30,000, the odds are roughly 70% for defective spirits and 30% for ten-year ones. It's just gambling. We never force anyone to buy.