I am a demonic cultivator, not a capitalist with a conscience.

Chapter 140 The Root of All Evil (46)

"Twenty-three, this way please."

The massive city gate slowly opened, like the gaping maw of a giant beast, ready to devour Xu Zilong.

The temple keeper at the entrance had a blue talisman pasted on his face, with an eye symbol drawn on it, which was the mark of the ancestral god father.

There are many ways to achieve the Golden Core, most of which require exceptional talent to succeed. However, there is one way that does not require aptitude but only resources.

That is the method of the ancestral gods.

To implement this method, one must start with oneself, strive to cultivate a vast corporate empire, and become the defender and guardian of this enterprise.

Then, they continuously extract faith from the bodies of family members, turning the company's profits into their own resources, making themselves the soul of the company, and the company their own flesh and blood.

They are the symbols of the enterprise, the ancestral gods that complement the enterprise.

For them, family members are not important; they are all their children anyway, so they can just have more.

Employees aren't important; if they're gone, they're gone, just hire more.

But businesses are very important; they are the body through which they live, profits are their lifeblood, and the respect of others is their foundation.

He is the soul of the Xu family, the human manifestation of capital.

Therefore, when the trade lock failed to function as intended, the father's interrogation began.

Looking at the bottomless passage in front of him, Xu Zilong, who had temporarily become a ghost cultivator, couldn't help but tremble and dared not go through.

The temple keeper at the entrance was already used to it.

He took out a chain and asked casually, "Will you do it, or should I help you? If I help you, it might hurt a lot."

"……I come."

As Xu Zilong walked deeper into the passage, he saw the talismans on the walls constantly lighting up, illuminating the path ahead.

This was his second time here; the first time was to witness the former head of the family being tortured.

The patriarch who secretly opposed the ancestral god was discovered by the ancestral god's father, and the Samadhi True Fire was released onto the opponent's primordial spirit, gradually incinerating it.

Several hours later, the entire space where he was being tortured was filled with an indescribable smell, the smell of his primordial spirit being burned by true fire.

Even more terrifying, just when they thought the patriarch was about to die, the ancestral god turned around and restored him, followed by a new torment.

From that day on, Xu Zilong could not tolerate even the slightest bit of barbecue, and he absolutely could not have any charred food in his meals, otherwise he would be reminded of the patriarch's inhuman body and the other's last scream: "Let me die! Father, I was wrong!"

Walking slowly forward, Xu Zilong went deeper and deeper, and unknowingly arrived at an extremely deep underground place.

As he stepped into a deep darkness, he suddenly stopped.

Father, you are right here.

He knelt down silently, his forehead pressed tightly to the ground, and he clenched his teeth to control his trembling.

He didn't know how long he had been kneeling before he heard a voice slowly emerge from the darkness: "Twenty-three, you've lost weight. Wait, not just lost weight, you've disappeared."

Contrary to his terrifying impression, his father's voice in the darkness sounded very kind and friendly, and he could even crack a little joke.

A gaunt, giant hand emerged from the darkness. Compared to it, Xu Zilong looked like a trembling hamster, letting the giant hand stroke him.

"Look at you, you got beaten up so badly. I heard you were barely recognizable as a human when you came back, you looked like Zilong-chan."

"Father, I'm sorry."

"No need to apologize. I know your abilities. Otherwise, why would I have made you number twenty-three?"

The titles of Xu family members consist of two parts: their real name and a number. The number is a special designation; the smaller the number, the greater their power within the group and the more blessings they receive from the ancestral gods.

To be promoted, one either has to outlast those ahead of them or make outstanding contributions to be noticed by the ancestral gods and thus be promoted.

Xu Zilong's mother was favored by the ancestral gods during her lifetime, which also elevated Xu Zilong's status, making him the twenty-third.

But now, this number is likely to be taken away.

After a long silence, the father asked, "What are you going to do?"

"I've already had my men create the corresponding dreams, and soon we'll be able to launch a counterattack against Tianyuan!"

Will they win?

"..."

Will they win?

"..."

Tell me, will we win?

An intense sense of oppression swept over them; the kind father they had just seen had vanished, replaced by a cruel blizzard and towering icebergs.

Xu Zilong was so frightened that he pressed himself against the ground, trembling as he said, "I don't know."

"Ha, at least you're honest. Get up."

Xu Zilong didn't move; instead, he pressed himself even closer to the ground.

The father didn't let him get up, but continued, "Now is not the best time. Although we are very strong, we cannot control everything. However, you young people have not experienced those things, so you don't know how ferocious the demonic cultivators were. You take everything for granted, so you are ignorant of the power of the world and lack awe."

"Father is right, I understand."

"No, you don't know. You haven't experienced it, so you wouldn't understand. The new generation of the Xu family hasn't experienced much either, so they don't understand either."

"...Father, I was wrong."

"hehe."

In the darkness, a giant hand gently stroked Xu Zilong's head and chuckled softly.

The other person petted him with the same care and attention as if he were petting a cat, as if he were not his own son, but a small toy.

While masturbating, he said, "Everyone says it's okay. As long as you don't betray me, you'll still be my good son. Public opinion is fermenting, and the world is condemning you. But it's okay. Their voices may seem loud, but we can distract them by doing something. Do what you want to do, and let me see your strength."

"But there's not enough time."

"Tsk tsk, I knew you wouldn't understand. Fine, let's continue with this one."

pain!
A sharp pain shot through him, causing Xu Zilong to look down in surprise. He then saw his father's giant hand pierce through his chest and plant a black seed inside.

"You were already at the half-step Foundation Establishment stage, so I'll give you an Ancestral God Seed. Remember, this is war. Don't go in with that naive mindset you had before. What you need to do is use everything the Xu Group has to defeat your opponent. Even destroying them in the end is fine. Do you understand?"

Xu Zilong couldn't say a word.

He could only feel the fingers churning inside his body, as if his primordial spirit was being turned into a pot of porridge, causing him endless pain, yet he couldn't utter a sound.

Finally, after retracting his finger, Xu Zilong lay on the ground struggling to recover, and at the same time discovered that a black magic seed had appeared inside his body.

Numerous evil thoughts surfaced in his mind, and the dark side of capitalism emerged at this moment, causing his past rationality and moral constraints to begin to crumble.

"Heh, go ahead, Twenty-three, let them see just how despicable a despicable guy can be."

(End of this chapter)