"You misunderstand our intentions, Brother Night Demon!" Ling Kong chuckled. "Come, let's go somewhere more private to talk." He approached Night Demon in a completely defenseless manner as he spoke, not even drawing upon his spirit power as a sign of absolute trust, and the same applied to his five companions. Fang Che kept his distance from them as they made their way toward an obscure area nearby, and Ling Kong said, "I'll come clean with you, Brother Night Demon. All of us have been assigned an additional mission during this Parasite Ascension Project. For Generals of the subsidiary churches like yourself, your objective is to simply kill as many people as possible, but we have to have an eye for the future." "Are you referring to the faction conflicts in the main church?" Fang Che asked. "Precisely! You really are a smart man, Brother Night Demon." "Will there be danger?" "Of course!" Ling Kong chuckled. "Continue," Fang Che prompted. "In your eyes, the main church is a single, unified entity. Particularly for a General from a subsidiary church like yourself, you get to see nowhere near as much as we do. We've grown up our entire lives in the main church, and it's such a massive place that we can't help but feel infinitesimally small. “In the main church, there is the enforcement altar, beneath which are the enforcement halls, as well as the battle altar that presides over the battle halls. As for the logistics, finance, and human resources departments, those seem to have nothing to do with battle, but all those in positions of power in those departments are extremely formidable warriors. “There are also those responsible for gathering intelligence, analyzing intelligence, devising short-term and long-term plans, forging weapons... In short, the main church is filled with countless factions and departments, and everyone wants to climb higher through the ranks, but that often comes at the expense of those above them. “Our mission is the same one assigned to all warriors of the main church: to obtain resources and develop connections that will pave our way to the top! The six of us have grown up our entire lives together, and we've intentionally kept pace with one another in our cultivation so that we can take part in the same edition of the Parasite Ascension Project." "But surely it's too early to be making such preparations at the General tier," Fang Che said in a puzzled manner. "What could you possibly do as mere Generals?" "It looks like you really don't know anything," Ling Kong sighed with a wry smile. "Please enlighten me." "Each of us only gets a single opportunity to take part in the Parasite Ascension Project. Only after taking part in the General tier Parasite Ascension Project can we take part in King tier, Emperor tier, and pope tier Parasite Ascension Projects, and it's only after that will we have earned the right to enter a department in the main church. “The vast majority of the main church's forces have come out of the Parasite Ascension Project system! For example, Pope Yin Shengong of your One Heart Church was once a part of Deputy Pope Bai's faction. However, there's no direct connection between them, nor are they related by blood. Instead, he was only the disciple of the disciple of the disciple... however many times over of Deputy Pope Bai. “Even his master and grandmaster have no direct tie to Deputy Pope Bai, let alone Yin Shengong himself. In fact, for a very long time, Deputy Pope Bai didn't even know there was someone by the name of Yin Shengong in his faction. So how did he become the pope of the One Heart Church? “He was able to pave a path for himself through the help of the connections he had made during the Parasite Ascension Project, thereby granting him the right to see his grandmasters and patriarchs. He required connections just to be able to see the people above him, and all it took was a slight push from Deputy Pope Bai for him to become the pope of the One Heart Church. “There are countless people like Yin Shengong in the main church right now, but they're only serving as advisors or lackeys, having to cop abuse from all sides without daring to retaliate. That is a reflection of their lack of connections! In other words, they failed to build the necessary connections in the Parasite Ascension Project to take them to the next level! “Even Yin Shengong was only able to establish contact with his faction in the main church after emerging from the General tier Parasite Ascension Project and toiling away arduously for several decades. It was only then that those above him began to see his worth, and they began to truly help him. However, that still isn't enough! “It was only their help, combined with the efforts of the acquaintances that he had made in the main church that he was elevated to a position where he caught the eye of Deputy Pope Bai, and his instatement as pope of the One Heart Church came naturally after that. Having said that, the connections that you make in here won't come in useful right away. “Instead, everyone will go their separate ways for some time to work on bettering themselves. This is the nature of the world. Even if you have all the connections in the highest of places, you still won't be able to get anywhere if you don't possess outstanding abilities. If your connections look down on you, how can you expect them to help you? “Having said that, if all you possess is ability, but no connections, then you definitely won't be able to get anywhere, either. The same principles apply in all areas of life." Ling Kong's voice trailed off into a faint sigh as the seven of them sat down in a circle, and he even brought out some tea leaves, while Fang Che slowly mulled over what he had just heard. "You just said that it's too early for us as Generals to be doing anything meaningful for our futures, but that's completely wrong," Ling Kong continued. “Generals carry immense value, particularly ones that have taken part in the Parasite Ascension Project," Ling Kong explained as he handed Fang Che a cup of tea. "The Generals that don't take part in the Parasite Ascension Project are naturally completely useless. “Their Five Spirit Parasites have never devoured any others, so they can only be passively added as contacts by others, and they'll never be able to climb up the ranks. Imagine if you reach the position of hall master someday, only to have to request the helmsmasters beneath you to allow you to contact them." Everyone collectively burst into laughter at the idea. Indeed, that would be quite absurd. "There are countless Kings, Lords, Emperors, and Sovereigns who've taken part in the Parasite Ascension Project, but we wouldn't dare to try and recruit them. Almost all of them will have already established alliances with other people, so it would be like recruiting a massive liability, and you don't even know who their backers are. “Not only will you not be able to rely on them to help you, you could easily lose your life to them if you're not careful. As for those who've come out of the Parasite Ascension Project yet are still somehow all on their own, they're even bigger liabilities! Why is it that they didn't make any connections during the Parasite Ascension Project? “They must have some form of major flaw! Among the younger generation of the battle hall, we're not particularly talented when it comes to cultivation, so we have to think more and try to outsmart others in order to get ahead." "You've truly opened my eyes, Brother Ling," Fang Che sighed. "For those of us in the subsidiary churches, we think that those in the main church live like gods without a care in the world, but it sounds like it's even more perilous up there than it is for us down here." "We are definitely in a more privileged position, but that comes with a whole set of struggles in itself. There are so many traps and potholes that we must negotiate, and we have to be constantly on our guard. Even a slight mistake could result in our downfall." "This is an opportunity for all of us, Brother Night Demon," Lu Yuan chimed in. "No one can predict how the future will turn out. Perhaps we won't even get far at all before we meet our demise, but this is the first step taken by everyone that's ever reached a high position in the main church. What do you think, Brother Night Demon?" As opposed to answering the question, Fang Che raised one of his own: "How many people in here have you already recruited?" Lu Yuan didn't answer the question. He knew the answer, but this was a question that only the leader of the group had the right to answer. Sure enough, Ling Kong answered, "If we count you in as well, then at the moment, it's twelve. We don't know how many of you will be able to survive to the end, so we don't know what the final number will be." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ noⅴelfire.net "I see," Fang Che replied with a nod. "If we're going to be working together, what is that going to look like?" Fang Che could tell that Ling Kong had been very candid with him. Ling Kong and the others were all very excited to hear that Night Demon was open to joining them. Out of all of the people they had attempted to recruit thus far, Night Demon was by far the brightest prospect. This was someone that had taken a Cloud Water Heavenly Fruit from right under Yan Beihan's nose!