137: Chapter 137 The dispute ends, [All Things Change]

Transcendent Skill leveled up!

[Heart Bewitchment LV.3: You can easily perceive the target's surface emotional fluctuations through sound, eyes, body movements, etc., while simultaneously influencing and guiding the audiovisual, cognitive, and spiritual consciousness of up to 10 targets to varying degrees. Cooldown: 2 minutes]

Chu Xuan's eyes narrowed slightly, and all the negative effects on his body dissipated at this moment.

"No... No! This is my power, this is the authority bestowed upon me by the gods!! I beg you, I was wrong, stop adding to your Charm attribute, my friend, I will never try to influence you again!"

The Phantom Demon's voice was extremely pained, yet carried a helpless anger and irritability. This display of weakness and begging for mercy was clearly intended to make Chu Xuan not hesitate and seize the victory by continuing to add points to Charm.

But how could Chu Xuan truly do as the other party wished? He immediately adjusted his mindset and said coldly, "Do you know you were wrong?"

The Phantom Demon's voice was incredibly weak: "I was wrong, I know I was wrong..."

Chu Xuan's gaze was cold: "In that case, take the initiative to give me more of that source power and raise [Heart Bewitchment] to the maximum level."

"What?! That won't do, you've already drained enough of my power..." The Phantom Demon's voice sounded like it was gritting its teeth.

Chu Xuan said indifferently, "But you promised me before that you would raise this skill to the maximum level."

"The prerequisite for that was you helping me find a suitable vessel!"

Chu Xuan's eyes flashed.

—System, how many levels does [Heart Bewitchment] have in total? How many skill points do I still need to raise it to the maximum level?

[Do you choose to consume 10 spirituality value?]

—Yes.

Chu Xuan didn't hesitate; he could afford such a small amount of spirituality value.

[Heart Bewitchment: This skill has a total of 5 levels. It is detected that your current level is LV.3. Raising it to LV.4 requires 40 skill points, and raising it to LV.5 requires 80 skill points, for a total of 120 skill points.]

120 skill points?

That's equivalent to 1200 spirituality value!

Chu Xuan suddenly remembered in his dream, when undergoing the Night Watchers' test, Luo Xiaotian was very shocked that his [Heart Bewitchment] level had reached Rank 2 and asked if he had spent 10 skill points.

In that case, the skill points required for Transcendent Skills are ten times those of regular skills?

Thinking of this, Chu Xuan said calmly, "It only takes me 1200 spirituality value to upgrade it myself. It shouldn't cost you much to give it to me directly, right? If you don't, I'll just have to keep increasing my Charm and drain it myself."

"But I have no source of spirituality right now; you've been squeezing me dry! If I give you power for nothing like this, I'll only die faster!"

The Phantom Demon's voice seemed to be suppressing anger, sounding like a bluff: "Don't think you have the upper hand now. I'm warning you, you'd better not continue, or I'll have no choice but to fight you to the death. At worst, we both go down!"

Chu Xuan sneered in his heart. These words were just short of saying: "Keep adding, keep adding, I have no way to deal with you, hurry up and max out your Charm attribute and squeeze me to your heart's content."

Naturally, Chu Xuan would not follow the other party's wishes. He had already thought of a way to deal with this scene during his last dream.

At this moment, Chu Xuan no longer suppressed the emotional fluctuations in his heart, and the sneer on his face was undisguised:

"Stop pretending! Do you really think I don't know what you're thinking?"

"I learned in my dream that those people in the Resurrection Society each have a Specter inside them. I heard from them that only by continuously increasing the Charm attribute can one suppress the Specter within. Otherwise, it won't be long before the Specter inside causes trouble again, because the Specter in their bodies will only get stronger!"

"Even those low-level Specters are like that, let alone you, an S-rank Specter. How could you not have a source of spirituality? Aren't you secretly accumulating power, hoping to suddenly kill me?"

At this point, Chu Xuan's tone suddenly softened: "Of course, I also know you have the ability to take me down with you, which is why I haven't pushed you too hard. After all, that Bald Man was already Rank 4 and primarily focused on the Charm attribute, yet he was eventually successfully backlashed by the Specter inside him. An existence like you naturally has even stronger methods."

Chu Xuan continued: "So don't blame me. Before you leave my body, I will also increase my Charm attribute from time to time!"

"Not only that, you also need to give me some more of [Heart Bewitchment]'s source power. This isn't squeezing you dry, but maintaining a balance between us. Otherwise, if you continue to secretly accumulate power, how can I feel at ease?"

"If you agree, our dispute ends here. If you don't, then there's no choice—I'll have to go all-in on the Charm attribute."

There were four points Chu Xuan truly wanted to convey to the Phantom Demon with these words:

First: Yes, my innate talent is to preview the future in dreams. Rest assured, I have no other means.

Second: Combining my dream experiences with real-world testing, I now completely believe that only increasing the Charm attribute can suppress you.

Third: I know you are secretly accumulating power to kill me. So don't worry, I will also quickly accumulate spirituality value and then put all my points into Charm at once! My current spirituality value is far from enough, so I won't add it all at once. Instead, I'm choosing to negotiate with you. This is just me biding my time, hoping you won't try to take me down with you.

Fourth: Based on my wariness of you, to maintain balance, I will increase my Charm attribute by a small amount in the future. At the same time, you must share some of the power you've secretly accumulated with me, or I'll worry you're still up to no good.

Among these, the information Chu Xuan wanted to reveal in the first three points was mostly to put the Phantom Demon at ease, dispel its concerns, and stop it from causing more trouble.

And the fourth point was to give the other party a reassurance while also making a counter-move to gain some benefits for himself.

As for the so-called secretly accumulated power?

Chu Xuan didn't know if it existed. He had fabricated it based on the fact that, on the surface, Specters were suppressed by the Charm attribute and had their power absorbed, yet they became stronger afterward.

The only thing he could be sure of was that when he increased his Charm attribute, the other party would receive an amplification and strengthening. Calling this "secretly accumulated power" wasn't far from the truth.

What?

You're unwilling to give it?

I've already laid everything out and stated that if you don't agree, I'll go all-in with all my spirituality value on Charm. I'm only asking you to share a bit of power, and you're still unwilling? Could it be that you're not afraid of me increasing my Charm at all?

As Chu Xuan's words left his mouth, the Phantom Demon fell into silence.

After quite a while, the Phantom Demon's voice reappeared, having regained its gentleness and magnetism:

"My friend, you truly surprise me. I thought I had hidden it deep enough, yet you still found out... However, although I am secretly accumulating power, I have no intention of harming you. It's merely for self-preservation."

With a soft sigh, the Phantom Demon said slowly, "But what do you mean by increasing your Charm attribute 'from time to time'? I hope the intervals can be longer, or at least not too short... To show my apology, I can give you more of the authority of [Myriad Forms]."

[Your Transcendent Skill, Heart Bewitchment, has been enhanced by source power. You still need 35 skill points to reach LV.4. Current level: LV.3.]

[A Strange Creatures from the Dark World has lent you more of the Myriad Forms ability. Do you choose to accept?]

—Accept.

[Your Transcendent Skill: Myriad Aspects (Temporary/Incomplete) has changed.]

[Myriad Aspects (Temporary): You can consume 10 spirituality value to change your appearance, physique, and physiological characteristics into any similar creature you have seen, lasting for up to 2 hours. Cooldown: 12 hours]

"In any case, you are right. We need to maintain a balance. Let this dispute end here. I hope you don't mind."

After saying this, the Phantom Demon fell into complete silence.