Chapter 168: Rules of the Great Dao

Cold, sinister, oppressive…

A thick fog reduced visibility to less than ten meters. His perception was compressed to a radius of three hundred meters. But it wasn’t just his senses; the Spiritual Power and Divine Power within his body flowed sluggishly, almost inert, suppressed by nearly ninety percent…

This was Li Ye’s first impression after crossing over.

‘What’s going on?’

‘What kind of world is it this time?’

Li Ye scanned his surroundings. As far as he could see, all the flowers, grass, and trees had withered and died. He couldn’t sense any sign of life, not even an ant on the ground.

In the last world, even when it was ravaged by the Undead, there was still grass, trees, and ants. But this place was completely, deathly still.

There was no Spiritual Qi, nor any Magic Power.

‘Has this place already been wiped out by demons?’

‘Or did civilization just never recover after some ancient cataclysm?’

‘If it’s the former, and my powers are completely suppressed because some monsters have already slaughtered this entire world, then I might as well just give up and wait to die.’

But if it was the latter, Li Ye felt he could still put up a fight.

After all, if he couldn’t advance, neither could the other demons…

…

Li Ye checked his remaining supplies.

A mass-produced flying sword, a top-grade Spirit Stone, and the demon he’d brought with him this time—an antique-looking Erhu.

After learning from the Chaotic Heaven Silk that Demon Qi was related to ancient Magical Treasures and demons, Li Ye had been more deliberate in his choice of Magical Treasure.

The top criteria were that it had to be a well-known Magical Treasure from the Ancient Era, and it had to be easy to popularize.

In the years since the Demon Hunting Bureau was founded, the number of demons that had vanished along with the Time Travelers exceeded two hundred.

The Time Travelers had suppressed and absorbed a few dozen wisps of Demon Qi at most, yet the number of demons brought back to Earth by Demon Hunters never seemed to decrease.

At this rate, they would never finish capturing all the Demon Qi. It was almost certain the Demon Suppression Tower was pulling strings behind the scenes. After releasing the Demon Qi, it had no intention of ever suppressing it again.

Realizing this, becoming stronger became Li Ye’s only option.

Caught in a whirlpool, the only way to swim out and avoid being swallowed was to be a stronger swimmer than everyone else…

…

The mineral water bottle was suspected to be the Jade Purification Bottle, or maybe the Yin-Yang Bottle, or possibly the Eight-Treasure Glazed Bottle, or even the Four Seas Bottle…

No matter which bottle it was, its origins were extraordinary.

The pinwheel was suspected to be Wind Granny’s Wind Pocket;

The rubber band resembled the Immortal Binding Rope;

And the Fun House Mirror that Song Jiani took was most likely the Demon-Revealing Mirror…

But all these items had one thing in common: they were difficult to popularize and promote.

In the end, Li Ye chose an Erhu.

Among the Four Celestial Kings, the King of Chiguo’s Dharma Artifact was the Jade Pipa. While not as famous as the Chaotic Heaven Silk, its renown was still considerable.

Most importantly, a musical instrument-type Dharma Artifact would be incredibly easy to promote!

Just as the Chaotic Heaven Silk had said, all the Demon Qi had been reverted to their original forms. Everyone was at the same starting line; it was impossible to say who would achieve more in the end!

Before coming, Li Ye had memorized a huge pile of musical scores.

Thanks to the physical enhancements from the Demon Qi, in just a few short days, he had already become a Grandmaster Level musician.

…

“Hu? Hey, Hu, can you talk? If you’ve regained your memories, please say something!” Li Ye held off on exploring his surroundings and gently called out to the Erhu in his hands.

Compared to the unfamiliar environment, his first priority was to prevent possession by the Demon Qi. Even now, Li Ye had no foolproof method to stop a demon from taking over his body.

He had obtained five Derived Skills from the roll of toilet paper and intercepted a large amount of Demon Qi, but his body’s capacity for storing Demon Qi was still too low.

The Erhu remained silent.

“Hu, I don’t know if you really haven’t recovered your memories, or if you’re just pretending. But we’re friends, not enemies.” Li Ye continued, cradling the Erhu, “The Demon-Calling Banner, the Donghuang Bell, the Chaotic Heaven Silk… they’ve all formed a united front with me. Right now, the Demon-Calling Banner has already broken free, the Donghuang Bell has gained initial mastery over the Time Law, and the Chaotic Heaven Silk has recovered about half of its former Divine Abilities. We’re just waiting for a chance to escape the Demon Suppression Tower’s control…”

“I don’t understand a single thing you’re saying,” a cold, glacial voice suddenly echoed in Li Ye’s mind.

“Hu, you don’t understand because you haven’t recovered your memories yet.” ‘It finally responded,’ Li Ye thought, breathing a silent sigh of relief. “The Demon Suppression Tower erased all your past memories. Once your Demon Qi recovers, you’ll naturally remember everything. In the Ancient Era, you were all peerless Magical Treasures or great demons who dominated your own domains. Later, you were suppressed by the Demon Suppression Tower, which erased your memories. You were only released a short while ago.”

Before, it was always Li Ye trying to coax information out of the demons.

Now, with more and more information at his disposal, he had to take the initiative. He needed to make the Erhu understand that cooperating with him was beneficial, so it wouldn’t try to possess him.

“Peerless Magical Treasures or great demons?” The cold voice held a trace of doubt.

“That’s right,” Li Ye said. “Hu, I suspect your previous form was the Jade Pipa in the hands of the King of Chiguo, or the Pipa Spirit that bewitched King Shang Zhou, or maybe even the flute of Han Xiangzi, one of the Eight Immortals.”

“…” The Erhu fell silent.

“You don’t want to be locked up in the Demon Suppression Tower for another ten thousand years, do you, Hu?” Li Ye coaxed. “The Demon-Calling Banner, the Donghuang Bell, and the Chaotic Heaven Silk have already formed an alliance with me. My main role is to help you all grow and break free from the Demon Suppression Tower’s control. Once more and more demons join our alliance, resisting the tower will be within our grasp.”

“You’re afraid I’ll possess you?” the Erhu asked.

“Hu, I just want to explain the stakes,” Li Ye said with a sly chuckle. “This is mutually beneficial. There’s no advantage for you in possessing me. Do you even know how to make yourself stronger?”

“…” The Erhu was silent.

“How many wisps of Demon Qi are in this world?” Li Ye asked.

“Four,” the Erhu replied.

Damn it!

Li Ye’s heart sank. That was one more than in the last world.

‘What the hell? Are they even trying to let people live?’

However, the simultaneous existence of four wisps of Demon Qi proved that civilization existed in this world.

The existence of civilization was a good thing. Moreover, the fact that four wisps of Demon Qi still coexisted after all this time meant he still had a chance to grow stronger.

That was enough. Li Ye forced himself to remain calm and returned to the previous topic. “Hu, four wisps of Demon Qi… You don’t want to be devoured by them before you’ve even had a chance to grow, do you?”

“…” The Erhu fell silent once more.

“I helped the Demon-Calling Banner devour two wisps of Demon Qi, the Donghuang Bell three, and the Chaotic Heaven Silk four.” Bluffing, Li Ye inflated the numbers from past worlds. “When it comes to dealing with Demon Qi, I have plenty of experience. There are four wisps in this world. If we work together, I’ll help you take care of them, Hu. Of course, the precondition is that you can’t expose our alliance, Hu. Otherwise, all our preparatory work will have been for nothing. The Demon Suppression Tower and its master are too powerful. We have to recruit more allies for the alliance to have any chance of success. I’m the key to all of this, which is why I absolutely cannot be possessed.”

“You mean I have no choice,” the Erhu said.

“When you’re weak, who ever has a choice?” Li Ye gave a bitter smile. “I’m being forcibly thrown into one strange world after another by the Demon Suppression Tower, having to guard against possession by demons while fighting other wisps of Demon Qi. What choice have I ever had? We’re all just victims of circumstance, huddling together for warmth. Hu, only by becoming strong can you master your own fate!”

The Erhu was deeply moved.

After a long moment, it sighed. “Fine, I’ll listen to you. Tell me about the Demon-Calling Banner and the others. Perhaps it will help me recover my memories.”

‘Still so cautious!’

Li Ye chuckled to himself. “No problem. In principle, I shouldn’t tell an outsider about the other members of the alliance. But I trust you, Hu. I trust every demon suppressed by the Demon Suppression Tower. After all, you were all once proud and untamable beings. Ten thousand years ago, to resist the Demon Suppression Tower, you didn’t hesitate to unleash catastrophes across countless worlds, shattering the entire universe and wiping out numerous civilizations. Even if your memories were sealed and your Divine Abilities erased, I believe your spines have not been broken. You would never betray anyone in the alliance.”

“…” The Erhu was silent for a moment before saying, “You’re right.”

‘Flattery will get you anywhere.’

‘Truly a timeless truth,’ Li Ye mused. “Hu, I’ll tell you about the other alliance members when we have more time. The urgent task now is to figure out what’s going on with this world. Here, my Magical Power is suppressed by ninety percent.”

As he spoke, he tried to channel his Spiritual Power to control the flying sword. The moment the Spiritual Power surged from his body, it extinguished with a soft FIZZ. He couldn’t even produce a flicker of sword light, let alone control the sword to kill enemies from a distance.

Next, Li Ye tried to mobilize the Magic Elements stored in his body. The same thing happened. Before a Fireball could even form, the Magic Elements dissipated as if they had been instantly annihilated.

Fortunately, his robust body, enhanced by Demon Qi, was still functioning normally. He still possessed the strength to move mountains and part seas.

“It feels like the Rules of the Great Dao,” the Erhu said out of the blue.

“What?” Li Ye asked, confused.

“The Rules of the Great Dao in this place do not permit the existence of Spiritual Power, so it cannot function,” the Erhu said. “Only a rule can counter a rule.”

‘Only a rule can counter a rule?’

Son of a bitch!

‘Which Great God came up with this?’

‘A Forbidden Demon Domain?’

With his Spiritual Power and Divine Power unable to be projected outward, he couldn’t even do things like throwing the rope to bind someone from a distance or releasing the Praise of Life.

Li Ye grumbled in frustration and asked, “Hu, have you recovered your memories?”

“Seeing your Spiritual Power get annihilated just now made me remember something,” the Erhu said. “In places with similar Rules of the Great Dao, you should only be able to use your own innate power.”

“Which Great God’s ability is this rule?” Li Ye asked.

“I don’t know,” said the Erhu. “I have no memory of it at all.”

As they spoke, a dozen or so black shadows rapidly approached him within his perceptual range. Their build resembled wolves, but they were nearly twice the size.

They covered the three-hundred-meter distance from the moment Li Ye sensed them to the moment they were upon him in just over three seconds.

The leader, a pure black wolf, lunged straight at him. Its cavernous, blood-red maw reeked of a foul stench as it aimed for his throat.

Li Ye stepped back and swung his hand at the black wolf’s neck.

CRACK!

The wolf’s head went flying, but after cleaving through its skull, the flying sword snapped in two.

Li Ye pursed his lips. ‘A mass-produced flying sword is useless without an infusion of Spiritual Power.’ The sword was one of many created by the Demon Hunting Bureau, mass-produced using scientific methods based on the Artifact Refining Technique he had brought back.

To be honest, the quality was truly mediocre, a far cry from one hammered out by a professional Artifact Refiner.

Then again, these wolves’ bones were ridiculously hard. No matter how it was mass-produced, the flying sword was still made of alloy!

‘With Spiritual Power and Divine Power restricted, have all the creatures in this world focused on body cultivation?’