Once, I wanted to be a good person

Hearing Fang Ze’s inquiry, Councilor Chen’s face showed no hesitation. Facing Fang Ze now, he appeared more respectful, not only hunching his back but also having a more ingratiating smile on his face.

The reason for his change was all due to the events Fang Ze had orchestrated in recent days.

On that day, Fang Ze called those dozen Council Members into the room one by one and then engaged in a conversation.

During the conversation, Fang Ze informed them that he indeed had a method to quickly break through to the Absolute Pinnacle. Furthermore, this method could also be applied to others.

However, since the method required immense resources, Fang Ze could not afford to use it for everyone. Thus, he could only assist those who demonstrated a high degree of loyalty and made significant contributions.

Although many of the Council Members harbored doubts about Fang Ze’s words, the matter of his ascension was evident before their eyes. Thus, within their hearts, they tended to believe Fang Ze.

Of course, there were also those who suspected Fang Ze of putting on a show, doubting whether such a method existed or could be used on others.

But Fang Ze silenced their doubts with a single statement: he would choose one person from these dozen Council Members to help ascend to the Absolute Pinnacle before heading to the federal core.

This statement dispelled all skepticism. After all, within just ten days, even if Fang Ze were buying time, he couldn’t possibly set such a short period.

Therefore, it was highly likely that Fang Ze truly possessed such a technique, which was why he was so confident.

Thus, motivated by this grand promise, these dozen Council Members were genuinely energized, wholeheartedly helping Fang Ze recruit talents, stabilize the situation, and control the Council.

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Among them, the most diligent was Elder Councilor Chen. Perhaps due to his advanced age and lack of hope for a breakthrough, Elder Councilor Chen cherished this opportunity greatly, exerting all his effort.

And because he had lived long, held high status, and had many former students and officials spread across various departments, plus being an officer of the core department himself, it was only natural his contributions became the greatest during these eight or nine days.

During these eight or nine days, Fang Ze also conducted several tests on Elder Chen.

There were tests with the [Lie Rootless Vine], investigations by the Late-Night Investigation Room, as well as some other background checks and evaluations. Finally, he confirmed that Elder Chen was the "valuable horse bone" worth his weight in gold.

The reason Fang Ze was so cautious in choosing the first candidate for ascension was multifold. Besides the immense resource consumption for ascending to the Absolute Pinnacle, there was also a crucial piece of information Fang Ze had been withholding: his ascension method was not something ordinary people could accept.

The day he learned from Black Bull about the eager desire of many Council Members to ascend to the Absolute Pinnacle, Fang Ze pondered whether there was a method to help others ascend.

Soon, he deduced a method.

First, to ascend to the Absolute Pinnacle in a short period required two conditions: time, and the Power of Faith.

Time was easy to solve since [Credit World] could be lent to others.

The key was the Power of Faith.

As before, transmitting the Power of Faith into someone else’s body required meeting three conditions: 1. Fang Ze and the other person had control or be controlled, 2. Fang Ze transformed into Yuan Gu and then imported the Power of Faith to the other, 3. The other person must be able to immediately use this Power of Faith.

As with Fang Ze’s own ascent to Absolute Pinnacle, the second and third conditions were easy, but the first condition was difficult.

Thus... Fang Ze devised a seemingly unconventional solution: Before helping these Council Members ascend, he would first use [Personal Deprivation] to control them, so... he could fulfill the condition and help them ascend, couldn’t he?

Of course, while this condition could solve the issue of ascending to the Absolute Pinnacle, it’s something not many would accept. If one or two among those dozen Council Members could accept it, that would already be good. Therefore... he was so cautious when choosing the first Council Member.

After all, this was meant to be a grand promise, not a commitment that could be fulfilled easily.

Fortunately, his choice was not wrong. Knowing the prerequisite for ascending to the Absolute Pinnacle involved being controlled, Elder Councilor Chen, though initially resistant, ultimately agreed after pondering for a while.

After all... given his age and position, breaking through to the Absolute Pinnacle was exceedingly difficult. Even if he had enough lifespan to wait, it was uncertain if the Human Race could last that long.

In times of great contention, the most prudent course was to secure power in one’s own hands ahead of time.

Moreover, to be honest, Elder Councilor Chen had never disclosed to others that after the first meeting, he went back and thoroughly researched Fang Ze’s past.

He was astonished to find that during the initial twenty years, Fang Ze seemed like an average person without any extraordinary features.

But since last year, Fang Ze seemed to have transformed, with his strength skyrocketing. In just over a year, he ascended from being an ordinary person to the Absolute Pinnacle.

This was clearly an anomaly of a peerless prodigy, a Child of Destiny!

As an elder in the Federation, Elder Councilor Chen had his information channels. So he also knew some secrets about Demigods and Venerables.

Upon seeing Fang Ze’s strong fortune, he immediately determined: Even if Fang Ze could not end world reincarnation, he was certainly the most competitive contender for the Human Race’s Venerable!