Chapter 145 - 144: The Origins of the Demon Qi Are One Greater Than the Next

Chapter 145: Chapter 144: The Origins of the Demon Qi Are One Greater Than the Next

The Ounide Alliance has established the Holy Guard Sect. The Purifying Cloth has been designated its founding Holy Artifact, and a limited supply will be distributed to believers monthly.

The legacy of Gandalf is hidden within the Purifying Cloth. Whoever uncovers its secrets will become the Child of Destiny for this era. His Eminence Aragon has issued a public request for methods to use the Purifying Cloth.

A Desire Celestial Demon, suspected to be under the command of the Skeleton Monarch, has infiltrated the human world. Those lost to desire will become puppets of the Celestial Demon. Please report any sightings of the Desire Celestial Demon to the authorities immediately.

With the aid of His Eminence Aragon, Great Alchemist Brian has developed a replica of the Purifying Cloth. The manufacturing process will be made public and promoted throughout the Alliance shortly...

...

These announcements spread from Cedar City one after another, causing a massive uproar within the Alliance.

The people of Cedar City scrambled to join the Holy Guard Sect and become its followers, all for the palm-sized piece of the Purifying Cloth they received upon initiation.

Following the establishment of the Holy Guard Sect, the price of the Purifying Cloth skyrocketed. An unused, palm-sized piece was already selling for over one thousand Gold Coins on the black market.

Used pieces of the Purifying Cloth sold for a relatively lower price, but still fetched over five hundred Gold Coins.

People had already verified that used pieces of the Purifying Cloth indeed carried Curse Power; hitting an opponent with one could weaken their abilities.

Furthermore, the more times it changed hands, the stronger the curse’s power grew.

The only prerequisite was that the Purifying Cloth’s wielder had to withstand the initial phase of its curse on them.

Upon first acquiring a "filthy" Purifying Cloth, the new owner would suffer a bout of bad luck. Once they weathered this period, the cloth would fully accept them.

Of course, the very first user wouldn’t have this problem...

...

Li Ye hadn’t left Cedar City yet, as the establishment of the Holy Guard Sect required him, its Sect Leader, to preside over matters.

He hadn’t been idle, either. For the past few days, he had been learning astrology from Floyd.

’Relying on others is never as good as relying on yourself. Being able to see into another’s destiny would be a huge boon for my future.’

’The hardest part of every transmigration is determining the identity and nature of the Demon Qi. If I could figure that out with astrology, the lost Life Energy would be insignificant. Life Energy is the one thing I have in abundance, not to mention I can just restore it with Nourishing Essence Pills.’

Unfortunately, Li Ye never managed to learn astrology.

Floyd’s astrology relied on a special fate and bloodline.

According to Floyd, one of his ancestors—he didn’t know which one—had offered their fate to the Sun God. In return, they gained the ability to peer into the river of destiny, but they also had to bear its curse.

That was how his family came to possess the gift of astrology.

Every generation of the Floyd family had produced astrologers on the continent of Ounide, but almost none had met a peaceful end.

Floyd tactfully told Li Ye that every art requires specialization. He already had an excellent teacher who had laid out a bright future for him; there was absolutely no need to learn Divination as well.

Li Ye scoffed at this.

’In the Ancient Era, what Great Power or Immortal couldn’t perform a quick divination or use the art of Inference?’

Since Floyd was a dead end, Li Ye turned his attention to the demonic artifacts.

’Last time, even though I didn’t get a real Time Ability from the watch, I at least managed to farm the Time Immunity skill. If I find some demonic artifacts related to Divination, I might be able to farm some kind of prescient ability.’

Since he couldn’t learn astrology, Li Ye stopped wasting his time on Floyd. He gave the man another Nourishing Essence Pill and tasked him with divining the identity of the final outsider. After that, Li Ye focused his main efforts on the Holy Guard Sect.

With Gandalf’s endorsement and all the groundwork he’d laid, the toilet paper’s Demon Qi was rising incredibly fast. Its current density was nearly on par with the watch from the previous world.

He had to admit it.

’Daily necessities really are easier to promote than luxury goods.’

’No wonder all those little roadside restaurants love to invent some ancient tale connecting them to a famous historical figure!’

’It works like a charm!’

Li Ye made up his mind. In all future transmigrations, he would latch onto a famous name. The catastrophe from ten thousand years ago had created gaps in the histories of many worlds. The names of the Ancient Great Gods were just sitting there, free to use.

...

"Lord Ling, what’s with the rumors about the Purifying Cloth?" Li Ye asked. "That Curse Power?"

With the toilet paper’s help, Li Ye had gained a portion of Divine Power, causing his strength to soar. His opinion of the toilet paper was excellent.

’At least when it counts, Lord Ling actually comes through. So much better than that stingy watch.’

"It’s true," the toilet paper said smugly. "It’s a new ability I developed, in addition to Entanglement. Every single tissue I split off possesses this Power of Filth. I feel like if I keep evolving, one day I’ll surpass the Primordial Golden Dipper. I’ll be able to nullify the Magical Power of even a Daluo Golden Immortal with my Power of Filth alone..."

"A newly evolved ability?" Li Ye was stunned.

’But on second thought, it made sense. The Team Emblem could grant Demon Qi to others, and the watch could manipulate time. It seems these demonic artifacts all possess their own unique abilities.’

The toilet paper’s previous ability was just binding via Entanglement, but limited by its own strength, it was a rather useless skill.

This naturally evolved Power of Filth was much stronger than Entanglement. Still, the toilet paper’s Power of Filth was a bit similar to his own Derived Skill, Drenched in Dog Blood.

’So Derived Skills really are related to the demonic artifacts,’ Li Ye thought, then asked, "Lord Ling, can you evolve any other abilities?"

The toilet paper said, "That’s up to you. I helped you obtain Michael’s Divine Power, you know. You can’t just be ungrateful."

"Lord Ling, we’ve only been in this world for just over twenty days, and your fame has already spread across the land. I’ve done a pretty good job, haven’t I!" Li Ye said helplessly. "In the last world, by the time the watch and I left, its accumulated Demon Qi was only about what you have now. The only reason your Demon Qi is increasing slowly is that more than half the population of this world has been killed by the Undead."

"What a shame!" the toilet paper sighed at length. "That Skeleton Monarch is so detestable."

"Lord Ling, it’s a double-edged sword. If the Skeleton Monarch hadn’t forced the survivors to unite, they wouldn’t have placed their hopes in me, and they certainly wouldn’t have come to trust me so quickly," Li Ye said with a smile. "Brian has already figured out how to manufacture regular toilet paper. Once it becomes widespread, your Demon Qi will get another boost. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the rewards..."

"Hmph," the toilet paper responded. "And you’d better get me a few more new abilities while you’re at it."

"Don’t worry. Everyone wants to obtain Gandalf’s legacy. They’re so desperate they could tear you open and study every last shred. New abilities are bound to emerge from that," Li Ye laughed.

This was the reason he had chosen the toilet paper in the first place.

It was practical and easy to promote. Things like the Ruler or a razor weren’t nearly as easy to popularize.

Especially the Ruler. Who would just take out a ruler and measure things for fun? Besides, this world already had its own system of measurement.

Things were so much better now. He didn’t even have to lift a finger; everyone was researching uses for the toilet paper themselves. If it weren’t for that final boss, the Skeleton Monarch, lurking menacingly on the sidelines, this would have been his most pleasant transmigration yet.

"Lord Ling, can I ask you something?" Li Ye asked.

"Go on," the toilet paper said.

"What’s the deal with Michael’s Divine Power?" Li Ye asked. "He’s an Archangel, after all, with a status on par with Lucifer. And Lucifer is someone who could even take on Satan. How could his Divine Format be so weak? Even as just one-seventh of the original, it shouldn’t be *this* weak!"

This was the question that had been weighing on his mind.

Michael seemed far too weak. His Divine Power was feeble, and his combat strength appeared to be on the same level as the Puppet Silk’s, not at all befitting his reputation.

"First, Michael is already dead, and his Divine Format was shattered into seven pieces. Without a body to sustain it, the Divine Power stored within even a complete Divine Format would constantly dissipate, let alone in a mere Divine Fragment. It’s already remarkable that it hasn’t completely vanished after ten thousand years."

The toilet paper continued, "Second, many gods like to create avatars to gather faith across different worlds. The Divine Format you got isn’t his primary one.

If this were Michael’s primary Divine Format, even shattered into fragments, do you think I could suppress it in my current state? The true body of the Chaotic Heaven Silk might stand a chance, but not me!"

"So, you’re saying Michael is probably still alive?" Li Ye asked, astonished. "If I absorbed his Divine Format, will he come after me for revenge?"

"I don’t know," the toilet paper said. "But even *I* was suppressed, so it’s not very likely he’s still alive. Besides, even if he is, you don’t need to worry about him retaliating. He’ll never be able to trace a Divine Format that I’ve cleansed..."

"..." Li Ye was silent for a moment before asking, "Lord Ling, how much of your memory have you recovered?"

"Just a little," the toilet paper said. "It seems that when certain conditions are met, some of my sealed memories are unlocked."

"Lord Ling, when Michael’s Divine Power was trying to possess me, I saw a vision of him fighting a giant wolf. The wolf’s body was longer than a mountain range. Was that Fenrir?" Li Ye asked, probing.

"No," the toilet paper stated firmly. "Fenrir could never be that weak. Its true body is bigger than a planet. If it was only a little larger than a mountain range, it was probably just one of Fenrir’s descendants!"

’Alright, then.’

’This thing has definitely recovered a lot of its memory. It just doesn’t want to tell me!’

’Maybe it still doesn’t trust me.’

’By that logic, the Team Emblem and the watch must have hidden a lot from me, too...’

Li Ye sighed to himself. In the legends, when Fenrir opened its mouth, its jaws could touch the heavens and the earth. The ’bigger than a planet’ body the toilet paper mentioned was probably the true Fenrir.

In Western legends, when the Midgard Serpent J?rmungandr stretched out its body, it could encircle the entire world.

The bodies of these ancient beasts were all enormous.

...

Shaking the image of Fenrir from his mind, Li Ye asked, "Lord Ling, what do you think the watch was in the Ancient Era?"

He felt no obligation to keep the watch’s secrets. To learn more about the mysteries of the Ancient Era, he decisively sold it out.

The toilet paper said, "It might be the Donghuang Bell, which can reverse time and space. Or it could be the Candle Dragon, one of the Four Great Dragon Gods. There’s also the God of Time, Ye Ming, with his human face and serpent body. All of them could control time..."

Li Ye paused. "And the Team Emblem?"

"I don’t know." The toilet paper was silent for a moment before continuing, "But judging by its characteristics, it’s a bit like Nuwa’s Demon-Calling Banner."

Fuck!

’The origins of the Demon Qi are that epic?’

Li Ye pursed his lips.

He suddenly felt as if he’d missed out on a billion-dollar lottery. If what the toilet paper said was true, then the few Derived Skills he’d awakened seemed a bit... lame. They didn’t live up to the status of those Ancient Divine Artifacts!

"Li Ye, don’t overthink it. The Donghuang Bell, so what? The Demon-Calling Banner, who cares? In the end, weren’t they all shattered, forced to start their cultivation all over again?" the toilet paper hmphed with disdain. "Everyone’s starting from zero. Lord Ling’s future won’t necessarily be any worse than theirs..."