Chapter 115 - 114: Who Has the Better Chance?

Chapter 115: Chapter 114: Who Has the Better Chance?

"Alliance Leader, the Ninth Elder’s Puppet Silk must be an Ancient Dharma Artifact." The Daoist Sect Leader looked at Li Ye, who was clearly in a foul mood, and tried to break the tension. "Fortunately, you comprehended the Time Divine Abilities, Alliance Leader. Otherwise, I’m afraid we would have suffered a crushing defeat."

"The Alliance Leader truly has great foresight. If we had gone to rescue the Daoist Sect back then, I fear the Wenda Alliance would have become the Ninth Elder’s puppets as well," Mao Xiu said. "The Puppet Silk is terrifying. No wonder the Ninth Elder was able to unify the Three Evil Sects all by himself."

"Compared to the Alliance Leader’s Time Divine Abilities, the Puppet Silk is ultimately just an external tool." The members from the Sword Sect and Buddhist Sect who had joined later were experiencing the Time Divine Abilities for the first time, and the shock it gave them was far greater than that of the Puppet Silk. "With the Alliance Leader’s Time Divine Abilities, if we can’t win, we can always turn back time and escape. Fundamentally, we’re already in an invincible position."

"That’s right. We have countless chances for trial and error, but the Ninth Elder only has one life," a Sword Sect Peak Master named Song Liangrui said with a smile. "We only need to win once."

"Alliance Leader, when time reversed just now, the people from the Three Evil Sects looked utterly shocked. Does that mean they also retain their memories of before?" asked Elder Fa Zhi, an Elder from the Buddhist Sect who was of the same generation as his Sect Leader.

"My Divine Abilities are not yet complete. Everyone affected will retain their memories," Li Ye said, glancing at him.

"In that case, this makes things rather difficult," Elder Fa Zhi said. "The next time we encounter them, they will surely be on guard."

"So what if they’re on guard? You think they can break it?" Song Liangrui retorted. "The Alliance Leader holds the initiative. The moment we face them, all their schemes will be laid bare."

"Peak Master Song is absolutely right. With the Alliance Leader’s Time Divine Abilities, we’re already in an invincible position," a Wenda Alliance member chimed in.

"Maybe it won’t be long before the Alliance Leader’s Divine Abilities reach Great Success and only we retain our memories. The Three Evil Sects won’t even know what hit them."

"Once the Alliance Leader’s Divine Abilities reach Great Success, why would he even need to clash with them head-on? He could just rewind time to when the Ninth Elder first got the Puppet Silk and snatch that fortuitous opportunity for himself..."

"Indeed, the Time Divine Abilities are just too powerful. In the future, when the Alliance Leader’s Path of Time reaches Great Success and he can travel through time at will, I hope he finds me early and has me join the Wenda Alliance. All the Alliance Leader would need to do is tell me about a sachet embroidered with ’Bound by fate in this life, our love unwavering till we’re old and gray,’ and I’d trust him completely..."

"Old Zhou, what’s the story behind that?"

"None of your business what the story is!" The Sword Sect Elder called Old Zhou glared at him. "Instead of wasting time prying into my affairs, you should tell the Alliance Leader a secret or two of your own. That way, when he can travel through time freely, he can form the Wenda Alliance earlier in the past."

"Old Zhou, you’re the clever one."

"If the Alliance Leader went back in time to form the Wenda Alliance, wouldn’t that mean the Wenda Alliance was truly established in the past? Every member of the Upper Three Sects would be part of the Wenda Alliance. We wouldn’t even need to root out any spies. Everyone could just reveal their identities, and it would be a complete regime change..."

"Hahaha, if we had met the Alliance Leader earlier, there wouldn’t even be an Upper Three Sects. We would have all started cultivating Wish Power long ago."

"If you ask me, you’re not thinking boldly enough. Once the Alliance Leader’s Time Divine Abilities reach Great Success, he could just go back to before the great calamity ten thousand years ago, casually copy some Cultivation Techniques from those great sects, or bury some Ancient Dharma Artifacts in certain places beforehand. Then he could just travel back here. Why would we even need to worry about some Puppet Silk?"

...

All at once, the atmosphere in the Wenda Alliance became lively again.

They discussed the wondrous uses of the Time Divine Abilities, their confidence in Li Ye restored. Moreover, they felt increasingly fortunate to have been brought into the Wenda Alliance.

...

Although Li Ye had lost in his inference of the future, the Wenda Alliance’s side was filled with cheerful laughter and brimming with hope.

In contrast, the Three Evil Sects, who had won a decisive victory in the inference, were all wearing grim expressions. The sudden manifestation of the Time Divine Abilities had thrown every single one of them into a panic.

In fact, the panic brought on by the Time Divine Abilities even overshadowed the terror of the Ninth Elder’s Puppet Silk.

...

"We weren’t just dreaming just now, were we?" the Demon Sect Leader asked, a look of utter confusion on his face.

"It wasn’t a dream. In our minds, we fought a battle against the Wenda Alliance and won. Then, we were forcibly sent back," the Demon King said.

He was not usually one to speak, but the shock from the Time Divine Abilities was too immense.

"So, what kind of Divine Ability is this? An Illusion Technique?" an Elder from the Ghost Sect asked.

"It’s not an Illusion Technique. If it were an Illusion Technique, why would the Wenda Alliance weave an Illusion Realm for us in which they were defeated?" a Demon Sect Elder said while observing the surroundings. "It’s more like time was manipulated. We were forcibly sent back a quarter of an hour by the Wenda Alliance Leader..."

His expression was extremely grim as he spoke.

He secretly glanced at the Ninth Elder and said, "No wonder he could unify the Upper Three Sects. It turns out he’s mastered such a powerful Divine Ability. He can foresee what’s going to happen, and if things go against him, he just reverses time. He’s already in an invincible position."

"If we rush to Celestial Saint Mountain now, they will surely be long gone," an Elder from the Ghost Sect said.

"Puppet Silk, what is this Divine Ability?" The Ninth Elder’s eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like he was going mad. "Can he control time?"

In his memory, his Puppet Silk had managed to control his opponent, but he also clearly recalled the pain of his heart being pierced.

His opponent had appeared abruptly behind him with unprecedented strength.

His Protective Spiritual Power was as fragile as paper mache before his opponent’s immense power. If the Puppet Silk’s Demon Qi hadn’t been so profound, he feared he would have been killed on the spot.

It was impossible to defend against that instantaneous movement which evaded his senses.

"I’m afraid he has mastered not only Space Divine Abilities but also Time Divine Abilities." The Puppet Silk’s voice was also filled with terror. "Since ancient times, space and time have been inseparable. That watch he uses for telling time... I’m afraid it’s truly his demonic artifact."

"What do we do now?" The sound of whispering from those around him irritated the Ninth Elder. With a wave of his hand, he set up a barrier, isolating himself from everyone else.

Previously, he had been brazenly confident and didn’t mind revealing his connection to the Puppet Silk in front of everyone. Now, however, he no longer wanted others to overhear his conversation with it.

After a moment of silence, the Puppet Silk offered its answer. "You can’t fight a time-based demonic artifact. We should just go into hiding! He can afford to lose countless times, but he only needs to win once."

"..." The Ninth Elder also fell silent. When he spoke again, his voice was hoarse. "Hide where? Have you forgotten how fast he grows? It only took him two months to get from Foundation Establishment to the Harmonization Realm..."

"The world is vast. There must be some place we can hide!" the Puppet Silk said.

"Only if you can hide yourself so you’re not detected by his Demon Qi," the Ninth Elder said.

"..." The Puppet Silk fell silent again. After a long moment, it said, "How about we try talking to it?"

"Negotiation is impossible. The Puppet Silk can control him, so he’ll never agree to talk with me!" the Ninth Elder said.

The Puppet Silk suddenly flew into a rage, shrieking hysterically, "Then what are we supposed to do? We can’t hide, and we can’t win a fight! Are we just supposed to wait here to die? The universe is so vast, why did the two of us have to run into each other? How could I be so unlucky?"

"If I hand you over, will he let me go?" the Ninth Elder asked suddenly.

"It will devour me," the Puppet Silk said. "Besides, the two of us are already bound. Unless you die, Cutting our connection is simply impossible."

"Is that so?" the Ninth Elder asked.

"Why would I lie to you?" the Puppet Silk said.

"Then fighting is our only option." The Ninth Elder sighed in defeat, then pulled himself together. "The fact that both sides retain their memories proves his Time Divine Abilities are still incomplete. This means we still have a chance."

"Exactly," the Puppet Silk said. "We still have a chance. As long as we can control him just once in the real world, his demonic artifact will be yours, and so will his Time Divine Abilities.

Traverse time and space, use the Puppet Silk to control the experts of every world... In the future, we will be the most powerful beings in the entire universe."

"Control him just once?" The Ninth Elder’s expression shifted.

"Yes." Perhaps realizing there was no escape, the Puppet Silk recovered from its frenzy. "Jiu, the Three Evil Sects are too large a target, and your cultivation is the highest. We can have the Three Evil Sects continue their pursuit of the Wenda Alliance as a feint, while you act alone and assassinate Li Hao. If you succeed just once, we win."

"He has Time Divine Abilities. Plus, our two sources of Demon Qi will sense each other when we get close. There’s no way I can successfully launch a surprise attack on him..." the Ninth Elder said.

"That sensing is exactly what we want! Activating the Time Divine Abilities consumes a huge amount of Demon Qi every time." The Puppet Silk paused, as if it had found a loophole, its tone suddenly becoming excited. "How could I have forgotten? It’s only been four years since we escaped the Demon Suppression Tower.

Even if it spent all four of those years accumulating Demon Qi, how much could it possibly have stored?

Its Demon Qi reserves can’t be that large.

Otherwise, with Time Divine Abilities at his disposal, he would have taken the initiative to attack us long ago instead of just trying to escape.

Jiu, this is our chance! A chance to capture the time-based demonic artifact!

We’ll harass him again and again, forcing him to use Demon Qi to rewind time with each inference. Once we’ve exhausted his Demon Qi, he’ll be completely at our mercy."

"Really?" the Ninth Elder asked, still skeptical.

"Of course it’s true," the Puppet Silk said. "Think about it: the Spiritual Qi you need for a Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul Devourer is different from what you need for a Soul-Loss Slash. Right now, what Li Hao is doing is like using a Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul Devourer, while we’re just using a Soul-Loss Slash.

His Spiritual Qi might be exhausted from using Ten Thousand Ghosts Soul-Devouring Spiritual Qi just ten times, while we can use Soul-Loss Slash tens of thousands of times. We don’t even need to use Soul-Loss Slash—just getting close to scare him is enough.

Jiu, the opportunity is on our side, but we cannot let him grow stronger. That is the one condition—we cannot let him grow stronger..."

The Ninth Elder thought it over carefully and realized the logic held up. He cleared his throat. "Alright. Let’s go get him."

...

The Wenda Alliance.

Li Ye also made new arrangements:

"...If we keep being hunted like this, none of us will be able to grow stronger. My Time Divine Abilities are still incomplete. If we get trapped in a corner with no way out, the Wenda Alliance is finished.

Therefore, I have decided to take all the Harmonization Realm cultivators and go harass the Three Evil Sects to lead them away.

The rest of you will break into smaller units, slip into the Mortal World, and focus all your efforts on expanding the Wenda Alliance’s influence. Strive to make the Wenda Alliance flourish throughout the Mortal World in the shortest time possible.

During that time, if anyone manages to comprehend other Divine Abilities, our odds of victory against the Ninth Elder will be even greater."

"Alliance Leader, you cannot take such a risk yourself..." an Elder from the Sword Sect protested. "There is strength in numbers. If we all stick together, we’ll be more confident in our ability to handle the Three Evil Sects."

"The Ninth Elder has the Puppet Silk, so having more people is actually a disadvantage. The ones I’m taking are all at the Harmonization Realm, which gives us greater mobility. Besides, I still have my Time Divine Abilities. We will be fine.

That’s final. We’ll set out shortly. Once we’re gone, all of you are to disperse and leave. I will then draw the attention of the Three Evil Sects to buy you more time to get away." Li Ye surveyed the crowd, giving his orders in a grave and formal tone.