Chapter 79: God of Bewitchment

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: God of Bewitchment

"Old friend, you have no better choice than to trust me." From the watch’s tone, Li Ye knew he had regained the upper hand. "I even know that you weren’t confident you could actually possess me just now. My mind is very strong. Old friend, you should know better than I do what failure to possess me means for you..."

The statement was a pure bluff. He had absolutely no idea what failing a possession attempt meant for a Demon.

Apparently, Li Ye’s gamble had paid off.

The watch was silent for a long time.

Li Ye breathed a sigh of relief.

’It seems that in a battle of wills between a Demon Hunter and a Demon, it’s possible for the human to turn defeat into victory.’

’Paranoid people have stronger wills, so using the Mental Tranquility Spell and focusing unwaveringly on one aspect of my personality are the right way to go.’

’Now that I know this, things will be much easier.’

...

"Alright, you win. Let’s work together!" The watch sighed, voluntarily relinquishing its control over Li Ye.

Li Ye regained control of his arm.

He was then surprised to find that the Demon Qi the watch had used in its possession attempt hadn’t vanished; instead, it had remained in his arm.

It quickly merged with the Demon Qi already inside him, becoming nourishment. This massive infusion of Demon Qi was nearly equivalent to the total amount the watch had provided him over the last month.

This unexpected windfall of Demon Qi was more than enough to ensure he could convert all the Inner Strength in his Dantian into Spiritual Qi within three days.

This was an incredible, unexpected bonus.

’The amount it used just to try and take over one arm was equal to a whole month’s worth of the Demon Qi it usually gives me. That ratio is totally off!’

’How is that fair?’

’I’m the one who does most of the work!’

Once he did the math, Li Ye couldn’t help but feel resentful.

’So Demon Hunters are just humanoid Demon Qi collectors for the Demons, and they’re the real capitalists reaping all the rewards!’

’Those sons of bitches!’

’No, wait. Above the Demons, there’s the Demon Suppression Tower.’

’Demon Qi is so useful, practically a universal catalyst. Could it be that the master of the Demon Suppression Tower intentionally released these Demons to collect Demon Qi for itself?’

Li Ye didn’t hesitate to attribute the worst possible motives to the master of the Demon Suppression Tower.

After all, both the Demon Suppression Tower and Pandora’s Box had been deliberately unleashed by some mastermind behind the scenes.

’Every Demon is on a leash, ready to be reeled in. And when I get back to the Demon Hunting Bureau, the first thing I have to do is hand over the Demon...’

The more Li Ye thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

’To endanger the entire Earth, and a neighboring universe to boot, just for selfish gain... what an absolute scumbag.’

His own scheming paled in comparison.

But Li Ye only entertained the thought for a moment before pushing it to the back of his mind.

’An existence that can control the Demon Suppression Tower, toy with the fate of an entire planet, and even send us to another universe to be its grunts... such a terrifying being is far beyond the reach of a lowly Demon Hunter like me.’

Li Ye couldn’t even begin to fathom the idea of opposing it.

’Once I’m strong enough, I’ll do the same as these Demons who are so desperate to escape the Tower’s control. I’ll just run, if I can.’

’Earth is nothing but trouble right now.’

...

However, giving up such a large amount of Demon Qi must have been a significant loss for the watch.

Li Ye looked at the watch, a new thought taking root. ’I should probably look into luring Demons into possession attempts every now and then to plunder their accumulated Demon Qi.’

’It’s way faster than waiting for them to release it little by little.’

"Why have you gone quiet?" the watch asked.

"Old friend, what exactly is the Demon Suppression Tower?" Li Ye asked. "Why are you so terrified of it?"

The watch wasn’t like the Team Emblem. The Team Emblem was obsessed with becoming more powerful, but the watch was desperate to escape the Demon Suppression Tower’s control.

Right now, its Demon Qi wasn’t sufficient to sever its connection to the Demon Suppression Tower.

But as soon as it had enough Demon Qi, Li Ye was certain it would sever its link to the Demon Suppression Tower without a moment’s hesitation.

’Once it severs that connection, I’ll never be able to go back.’

’And with the way I operate, the watch’s Demon Qi is bound to grow.’

’I have to prevent that from happening.’

’The people here can’t even achieve Ascension. This isn’t my ideal world.’

In the past, Li Ye would have been more than content with a lifespan of several thousand years.

But now that he’d glimpsed the vaster world hidden behind the Demon Suppression Tower, a world without Ascension was no longer enough to satisfy him.

’Rely on the Wenda Alliance to solve the mystery of Ascension?’

’It’d be faster to just go back to Earth and pick a new world...’

’Besides, I’m not strong enough yet. I need to switch to different Demons to gain more Derived Skills.’

"I don’t know," said the watch. "I’ve lost many of my memories. I only have a vague recollection of being incredibly powerful once, and after that, just endless darkness."

’Vaguely remembering being very powerful... The Team Emblem said something similar before...’

’What is the true origin of Demon Qi?’

Li Ye’s brow furrowed slightly. "Old friend, don’t you want to become powerful again?"

"Don’t try to trick me into going back. I’m not going back," the watch said warily.

"Old friend, you know the Wenda Alliance is a sham. It’s impossible to expect them to figure out the path to Ascension," Li Ye said slowly. "Are you content to be trapped in this world?"

"Compared to going back to Earth and being controlled again, I’d rather be trapped in this world," the watch said.

"Old friend, all your memories are gone, yet you still remember that you were powerful," Li Ye said with a sigh. "That proves your former power was so great that not even the Demon Suppression Tower could wipe it from existence.

The Demon Suppression Tower controls so many Demons and can send us across time and space at will. Even if you weren’t its equal, you must have been a being on a similar level.

Are you really content to be a nobody in this world? Don’t you want to reclaim your former glory?"

"All I know is that if I go back, there’ll be no hope of ever escaping again," the watch said.

"Old friend, I don’t know what you used to be or how powerful you were, but you can control time now..." Li Ye said.

"Don’t talk to me about controlling time! The only reason I can do that is because this watch is broken—it has a one-second error." The mention of time control seemed to enrage the watch. "The last bunch of idiots who used me saw I was a watch, so they just assumed I could control time.

To satisfy them, I had to force myself to control that single, short second. Do you have any idea how agonizing it is for me to control time?"

Er!

’So it really is because the watch is broken!’

Li Ye was speechless. He paused for a moment before saying, "Old friend, have you ever considered that your potential must be immense? You literally forced yourself to evolve the ability to control time."

"So what?" said the watch. "It’s only one second. It can’t change the world."

"Not necessarily." Li Ye shook his head. "The cooldown is already down to ten minutes. When your Demon Qi is powerful enough to completely ignore the cooldown, you’ll be able to rewind time indefinitely."

"Why would I force myself to do something I’m not good at?" the watch retorted. "Do you know how much Demon Qi it costs me every single time I do it?"

"Throughout history, those who can control time have always been among the most powerful beings," Li Ye said slowly. "Old friend, have you ever considered that one day, you could rewind time to before you were imprisoned in the Demon Suppression Tower? You could get your lost memories back. And getting your memories back means getting your old power back."

"..." The watch fell silent, stunned.

"You didn’t have this chance before, but you do now," Li Ye continued. "You could even go back to before the Demon Suppression Tower was ever created. Back when it was still weak, you could seize it for yourself and completely change your own fate."

"Could I do that?" the watch asked.

"Old friend, your past self couldn’t, but don’t forget, you now have the power to control time. Anything is possible," Li Ye said. "Maybe, in the future, you’ve already gone back."

"What do you mean?" the watch asked.

"One day in the future, you become so powerful you can turn back time by tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of years, becoming the God of Time. You go back to the past, see the truth of what happened, defeat the master of the Demon Suppression Tower, and take control of it."

Li Ye continued, "Perhaps the true master of the Demon Suppression Tower on Earth right now... is you. But to ensure your future self would still emerge and become the God of Time, you personally suppressed all the Demon Qi, sent the Demon Suppression Tower to Earth, and established the Demon Hunting Bureau. Then, from the countless masses, you chose me. All for this very moment... our meeting."