524: Chapter 524 Each with their own ulterior motives

At the end of the round table, Lord Canglan and Kong Xuan, who was using Zhou Yan's female body, rose elegantly.

She was currently wearing the same outfit from when Zhou Yan first appeared as Kong Xuan—a white undergarment with a blue outer robe—except that this time, the outer robe was covered with a layer of peacock feather garments, appearing like decorative patterns on the blue robe.

Although this outfit was eye-catching enough, it was merely ordinary compared to the circle of bizarre figures around the round table.

[Image of Kong Xuan's Feather Garment]

Lord Canglan placed one hand behind his back and the other across his front; though he wore a smile, the aura he exuded was sharp and overbearing.

"I am Kong Xuan, the Wisdom King of the School of Life. My cultivation is at the Middle Stage of Soul Transformation, and I am currently a Grand Elder of the Taiyi Sect."

After speaking, Lord Canglan's gaze swept across the crowd before he gave a slight cupped-fist salute and sat down without saying more.

Zhou Yan was observing the current situation through a shared perspective.

Although there was no direct appraisal from the System panel, he could sense that the current atmosphere was very heavy just by looking.

After Lord Canglan finished speaking, the others showed no reaction—no applause, no laughter—it was excessively calm.

It was a Middle-aged Man with blond hair and blue eyes next to Li Heng who spoke first, finally breaking the silence.

"Isaac Lowell is my name. From the School of Physics, Late Stage Soul Transformation."

After Isaac finished, a female human Cultivator sitting near Lord Canglan picked up the conversation and winked at him.

"My name is Cen Xiu, also from the School of Physics. My current cultivation is at the Early Stage of Soul Transformation, but I'll reach the Middle Stage soon. Your Excellency Wisdom King, we are both female Cultivators, so we should help each other out."

Lord Canglan gave a kind smile and nodded to her, while simultaneously marking her as a dangerous target under Zhou Yan's annotation.

Following the two Cultivators from the School of Physics, everyone else began their introductions in a seamless flow, as if a floodgate had been opened.

"Aleph Misir, Early Stage Soul Transformation of the School of Mathematics," said a Cultivator with a burly build and an extremely obvious mechanical appearance.

"Su Yao, Late Stage Soul Transformation of the School of Mathematics." The speaker was an elderly fox yao with graying hair and a monocle over one eye.

"Winter Karen, Middle Stage Soul Transformation of the Chemistry School." The speaker was a Middle-aged Man with silver hair, a messy hairstyle, and a face full of lethargy, who finished his introduction while slumping in his chair.

"Jiang Liu, Early Stage Soul Transformation of the Chemistry School. I have come here under orders to cooperate sincerely with everyone." Unlike the previous speaker, this representative of the Chemistry School wore a military uniform and had a resolute face.

Although he looked no different from a human, the color of his eyes and his aura revealed his nature as a member of the Yao Race; he likely belonged to some fire-attribute yao tribe.

"Florian Huon, Late Stage Soul Transformation of the School of Biology. Miss Kong, in a way, we could even be considered family."

Florian looked more like a teenager of sixteen or seventeen, but he wore a mature, fake smile on his face.

Despite calling them family, his attitude was far from friendly, even carrying a hint of hostility.

Zhou Yan knew a bit about this.

It was said that the School of Life was originally a sub-faction of the School of Biology, but it became independent after growing large and had severely backstabbed its former employer.

Thus, despite having the same cultivation System and direction, their relationship was anything but friendly. It had only slightly improved after King Dong took power, but it remained very poor.

"Don't be so hostile. Miss Kong has only just joined and doesn't have much to do with you yet. If things get this tense, the plan will be hard to execute."

A young man wearing glasses with dark circles under his eyes stood up to mediate, while looking at Lord Canglan with a friendly smile.

"My name is Yun Mingtian, from the Astrology and Astronomy School."

"Don't be fooled by my Middle Stage Soul Transformation; I'm actually just a desk worker. My strength isn't even as good as the several Fellow Daoists at the Early Stage of Soul Transformation here."

"However, everyone usually gives me some face, so if you encounter any issues, you can look for Boss Li first. If Boss Li is busy, you can come to me."

Yun Mingtian's words once again eased the heavy atmosphere.

After the round of introductions, everyone seemed to let go of some of their emotions.

Except for Florian, whose gaze toward Lord Canglan was still off, the others had reined in most of their probing and ulterior motives, turning their eyes toward each other instead.

Having heard their introductions, Zhou Yan now had a general understanding of the situation.

Aside from Lord Canglan, there were nine people in total: three from the School of Physics, two from the School of Mathematics, two from the Chemistry School, one from the School of Biology, and one in astronomy.

Following the Truth Cult's fine tradition of numerous factions, these were essentially different camps.

On the surface, the School of Physics's presence at this table could be called overwhelming.

The leader of this plan was from the School of Physics and was also the only one at the table openly at the Body Integration Stage.

Yet those two from the School of Mathematics didn't seem to give a damn about him. Combined with Cen Xiu's deliberate attempt to win people over, it suggested that Li Heng's pressure wasn't all that strong.

One could preliminarily judge that as the overall person in charge, even with higher strength, he couldn't show too much favoritism to his own school, which was why the School of Mathematics was so fearless.

As for the Chemistry School, it was hard to say.

One was too lazy, the other too serious; it was hard to distinguish their stance.

But sometimes, not being able to distinguish a stance is a stance in itself; they were likely the type to remain on the periphery and change sides at any moment.

This kind of swing position, looking like a third party, backstabs the hardest.

Florian went without saying—pure malice.

His stance had no extra value. The mere labels of the School of Life and the School of Biology placed on their heads destined them for absolute opposition; even in the same camp, backstabbing was inevitable.

But Yun Mingtian's attitude was very peculiar.

He claimed to be a desk worker with low cultivation, yet when he said he had "some face" and even placed himself just below Li Heng in his speech, no one refuted it. This showed he was definitely not simple.

He was also the second Cultivator after Cen Xiu to actively express goodwill, even taking the initiative to mediate between him and Florian.

Hard to say if he had other trump cards, or if he was truly the one in the third camp—the type where whichever side he joined would win.

A small table of ten people split into six factions. It was hard to say if they were really one camp executing a single plan; even warlord fragmentation was only at this level.

Perhaps as the atmosphere gradually eased, everyone began to interact, though it was nothing more than a few pleasantries, nothing deep.

Sitting at the head of the table, Li Heng watched everyone chat for a few minutes. Once the conversation had opened up, he stood up again, prepared to say something.

But at that moment, Aleph, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly slammed his hand on the table and said in a low voice.

"You're already chatting? If I recall correctly, isn't there one more person who hasn't arrived? What, are we all going to isolate that person, or does that person want to isolate all of us at once?"

These forceful words instantly suppressed all other sounds, and everyone's eyes began to dart between Aleph and Li Heng.

"Fellow Daoist Xieli is currently..."

Seeing this, Yun Mingtian was about to stand up again to be the peacemaker, but Li Heng raised his hand to stop him.

"Sigh, Fellow Daoist Yun, don't be in a hurry."

"Mr. Aleph is merely expressing a reasonable doubt; there is no quarrel between us." After stopping him, Li Heng turned slightly, his gaze fixed on Aleph. "Miss Xieli is currently unable to leave her laboratory; she has a very important experiment to complete."

"Mr. Zeno has already informed me about this in advance."

"I know there may be some conflict between your respective schools, but this is Mr. Zeno's wish. I hope Mr. Aleph will prioritize the big picture and not let personal feelings get in the way too much."

"Huh?" a lazy sound of confusion rang out from the other side, drawing everyone's attention once more.

The one who made the sound was Winter, one of the representatives of the Chemistry School who had looked lethargic earlier.

He rubbed his bird's-nest hair and said with a look of indifference.

"So after all that, we can't even get everyone together. I thought this was some solemn meeting."

"You should have said it was a tea party earlier. If so, I should have brought afternoon tea."

As he spoke, Winter stood up, stretched, and then turned to walk toward the main entrance.

"Let's go, kid."

"Your teacher told you to follow me, but it wasn't to listen to them discuss some melodrama about real and fake heiresses at a tea party."

"If you want to see something dramatic, I'll go buy you a romance novel from the street later. It's much more interesting than this."

Seeing Winter leave, Jiang Liu looked apologetic, then stood up and gave everyone a standard bow.

"Apologies, Mr. Winter needs to go back and rest, and my duty is to take care of him. Please excuse my rudeness."

After speaking, Jiang Liu jogged toward the main entrance, stopping two steps behind Winter and maintaining a steady pace as they left.

The room fell silent once more, but Zhou Yan's heart was in a state of agitation.

Is this meeting a water heater? Why does it keep switching between hot and cold?

But this plan really has promise!

I thought Aleph was already a pro, but I didn't expect someone to be even bolder than him.

To this, I can only say—Brother Wen, nice opening!