Chapter 78: Impulsive Cousin

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Impulsive Cousin

"Lu Mu, a great scholar of Jiang Country, became a Beginner Student of the Wenda Alliance on the thirteenth of the seventh month of the Longren Year. He is forty-four years old and has authored works such as *Commentary on the Middle Way of Confucianism*, *Ritual Discourse*, and *Meng Zheng*. His guide is Jiang Yishan..."

"General Tan Bangyan of Lu Country became a Beginner Student of the Wenda Alliance on the fifteenth of the seventh month of the Longren Year. He is fifty years old, victorious in a hundred battles, and hailed as the God of War in Lu Country. He has authored military works such as *New Strategy for Training Soldiers* and *New Interpretation of the Military Saint*. His guide is Mo Li of the Wuji Sect..."

"The great merchant Ding Shou’an of Lu Country became a Beginner Student of the Wenda Alliance on the first of the eighth month of the Longren Year. He is fifty-three years old, known as the Land God of Wealth, and is the president of the Jiangnan Commerce Association in Lu Country. He deals in tea, silk, and porcelain. His guide is Pan Yun of Celestial Pine Mountain..."

...

「That day.」

Li Ye was looking through the Wenda Alliance’s talent pool list, recorded by Yang Tianrui.

Suddenly, an abrupt voice echoed in his mind, "It was suffocating! Those idiots have no idea how to help me grow."

The next second, Li Ye felt a powerful surge of Demon Qi invade his body from the watch on his arm.

Unlike the Demon Qi that had previously improved his body, this time, everywhere the Demon Qi passed felt as if it were being frozen solid.

In the blink of an eye, Li Ye lost control of his left hand.

’Fuck!’

’No warning at all, just going straight for possession!’

Li Ye jumped in fright. He hurriedly mobilized the Demon Qi he had managed to retain with his three Derived Skills to fight the watch’s encroachment. However, the Demon Qi inside his body was a river without a source.

When it clashed with the Demon Qi from the watch, it collapsed on contact, and a large portion was devoured in an instant.

Li Ye hastily withdrew his Demon Qi.

He still needed that Demon Qi to power his Derived Skills; he absolutely couldn’t let the watch devour it.

’Friendly Fire is a Divine Skill, and I haven’t even used it in this world yet!’

"Give up. That pathetic bit of Demon Qi you have is no match for me. Hand over your body obediently, and you’ll suffer less," the watch’s vicious sneer echoed in Li Ye’s mind. "Don’t be afraid. Even after I occupy your body, you’ll still be conscious. We can enjoy this world together."

"Cousin, are you sure you want to fight me for this body?" The Demon Qi’s corrosion had already spread from his hand to his elbow. Li Ye took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

"Of course! I’ve had enough of being stuck inside a dead object," the watch said, exasperated and furious. "Now that I have a chance, I’m damn well going to control my own destiny!"

"Cousin, are you confident you can escape the Demon Suppression Tower’s control?" Li Ye continued to ask.

"What?" The watch paused. "How do you know I’m controlled by the Demon Suppression Tower?"

"We’re on the same side," Li Ye said. "You must have sensed the Demon Qi in my body. It was left by the last demon. I’m in a cooperative relationship with it now.

In the last world, I helped it raise its Demon Qi to the absolute limit—a quantity at least a thousand times what you have now. I also helped it devour two other streams of Demon Qi. If I can help it, I can help you..."

"Help me? I bet that’s how you tricked that other idiot, isn’t it? Just like all those fools helping you promote the Wenda Alliance." The watch didn’t stop its encroachment on Li Ye.

In the time it took to exchange a few sentences, it had already taken control of Li Ye’s entire left arm. Its voice was laced with smugness and unruliness. "Besides, you’ve already helped me enough. As long as the Wenda Alliance keeps running, my Demon Qi will only grow more and more abundant..."

"The Wenda Alliance is about to blow up. After it does, all this current prosperity will fall apart in an instant. When that happens, all fingers will point to me, the main culprit. Are you sure you can handle that situation?"

Li Ye’s voice remained calm, as if he weren’t the one being corroded by Demon Qi. "I’m only at the fourth level of Qi Refining right now. Even if I converted all my Inner Strength, I’d only reach the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining at most. I can’t even beat Yang Tianrui. Do you really want to handle these matters personally while you’re this weak?"

The encroachment of the Demon Qi stopped abruptly.

A moment later, the watch said, "After I possess you, your consciousness will still remain. Since you’ve thought this far ahead, you must have a solution. Otherwise, they’ll only kill you. The worst that can happen to me is retreating back into the watch and being taken back by the Demon Suppression Tower."

’So even after being possessed by a demon, consciousness is retained.’

’Another piece of useful information.’

Li Ye smiled faintly. "Cousin, once you’ve occupied my body, what makes you think I’ll help you?"

The watch said, "If you don’t help me, you’ll die."

Li Ye replied, "Give me liberty, or give me death. I’m not afraid of dying. When I became a Time Traveler, I already accepted the possibility of death.

It’s just a shame that after you’re taken back by the Demon Suppression Tower, your chances of finding another Demon Hunter who can perfectly develop your power and help you grow will be slim to none.

Cousin, you yourself said those people are idiots. Are you really content to just languish inside the watch? To wait for the next ’destined one’?"

Not to be outdone, the watch retorted, "I already know how to develop myself. I’ll just tell them what to do!"

"Under the Demon Suppression Tower’s control, you dare to speak to a Demon Hunter?" Li Ye laughed. "Aren’t you afraid the Tower will discover you, erase your consciousness, seal your memories, and return you to silence?"

This time, the watch fell into a long silence.

After a long while, it gave a cold laugh. "That idiot really did tell you everything, didn’t it!"

"Cousin, compared to possessing me, letting me help you grow clearly has a higher return. Impulsiveness won’t solve any problems; it will only harm you." Li Ye smiled and continued, "Cousin, I know you’re more intelligent than the last demon. If even it could figure this out, you’re not going to tell me you can’t, right?

I understand how you feel. You just want to be free after being suppressed for so long, but now is really not a good time.

Even if you were to placate me for now, let me solve all the problems, help you grow to your full potential, and allow you to sever the Demon Suppression Tower’s control before trying to possess me again—that would still be far better than doing it now. You’re being too impulsive!"

"What was the deal you made with that last idiot?" the watch asked.

"The last world was too weak. I helped it grow and devour other Demon Qi. Then, it would pretend not to have awakened and follow the next Time Traveler, continuing to other worlds to devour more Demon Qi and strengthen itself, until it found a world it was satisfied with. Only then would it sever its connection to the Demon Suppression Tower and regain its freedom."

Li Ye nonchalantly revealed his deal with the Team Emblem, choosing not to hide it. He felt it was a perfect plan. "Cousin, on Earth, Demon Qi runs rampant. But when you’re out with a Time Traveler, you only face one or two streams of Demon Qi at a time. Steadily devouring them offers a much higher chance of success and is far safer."

"Playing tricks right under the Demon Suppression Tower’s nose... it certainly has guts." The watch snorted coldly. "I finally managed to escape and regain my intelligence. I’m not stupid enough to rush back to my own death like it is."

"Cousin, how many streams of Demon Qi are in this world?" Li Ye asked suddenly. He needed to break the watch’s train of thought and get it out of its rut.

"One," the watch said.

"If you can sense it, it can also sense you," Li Ye said. "It’s been operating in this world for four years without being discovered. Are you confident that if you stay here, you’ll be able to devour it? Or are you just planning to chicken out and avoid it for the rest of your life?"

The watch fell silent.

"Even if you hide from it, are you sure it won’t come looking for you?" Li Ye pressed, his tone aggressive. "If I die, your best-case scenario is hiding in the watch and being recalled by the Demon Suppression Tower. But the most likely outcome is that I die, and you get devoured. Cousin, think about it carefully. Is that really the result you want?"

After a long time, the watch’s voice returned, tinged with a hint of awkward defeat. "Li Ye... I wanted to possess you. Will you still help me?"

"Why not?" Li Ye smiled. "Helping you is helping myself. I may not be afraid to die, but I don’t want to die either."

"Aren’t you afraid I’ll just possess you again once my power has grown?" the watch asked. "I’m definitely not going back to Earth."

"What a coincidence. I don’t want to go back either," Li Ye said. "Earth is too dangerous. There must be quite a few defecting Time Travelers. Why insist on possessing me? Isn’t it better for us to grow together and enjoy this wonderful, decadent world?"

"..." The watch hesitated for a moment before saying, "Do you think I’d believe you?"