223: Chapter 223 Entering a Desperate Situation Again

"I keep my word. As long as you increase your Charm attribute by 1 point now, I will immediately lift the suppression on you and grant you one day of freedom! This is your only choice!"

The Phantom Demon's deep laughter echoed in Chu Xuan's ears, rumbling loudly.

"Still trying to find a way to trick me? It seems this is all you're capable of..."

Chu Xuan smiled as well. "My current Charm attribute shouldn't be enough for you to achieve a perfect Fusion, right? Even if you resort to forced parasitism, there's likely a huge risk of failure. The most probable outcome is that both your consciousness and mine are wiped out, giving birth to a brand-new monster..."

"As expected, you've learned many things through the future."

The Phantom Demon's laughter stopped abruptly, followed by an even more sinister smile.

"But you're wrong about one thing! I don't need forced parasitism. I just need to keep suppressing you like this, and before long, your body will gradually become spectral, and your consciousness will fall into a daze. When that time comes, I'll still be able to control your body..."

Chu Xuan's vision blurred, and an endless sense of dread pressed down on him. Everything around him seemed to be magnifying infinitely, while his body felt like it was constantly shrinking. The darkness before his eyes became distorted and kaleidoscopic.

In his daze, he felt as if an incredibly terrifying existence was standing right behind him. Under the shroud of its shadow, everything in the world was cut off.

Chu Xuan knew that this was the Phantom Demon releasing the aura unique to an S-rank Specter.

However, he already had experience dealing with this.

*Snap!*

A multi-purpose military dagger was thrust into his fingertip, prying off the fingernail raw.

Perhaps because his Physique had been greatly enhanced, prying off the nail with this high-quality dagger wasn't that easy. Fortunately, Chu Xuan had enough strength and eventually managed to pry it off by force.

*Snap! Snap! Snap!*

Three bloody fingernails flew off in succession. Sharp pain instantly shot to his heart. Chu Xuan's hazy vision cleared significantly, his mind followed suit, and his thoughts were no longer so stiff.

Without hesitation, Chu Xuan immediately spent 410 spirituality value to replenish his skill points to 50, and began upgrading the Transcendent Skill [Heart Bewitchment].

[Current Transcendent Skill Heart Bewitchment is LV.4. Upgrading to the next level requires 30 skill points. Do you wish to consume 300 spirituality value for replenishment?]

—Replenish.

[You have consumed 300 spirituality value.]

[Your Transcendent Skill Heart Bewitchment has been upgraded to LV.MAX.]

[Heart Bewitchment LV.MAX: You can perceive and manipulate the target's emotions and exert continuous influence over all targets within your spirit coverage range, including but not limited to vision, hearing, cognition, and spirit consciousness, etc.]

Cooldown: None (Note: Requires Mental Energy as support.)

Hint: The cradle of fantasy, the woven illusion. Can you step out of the deviation of self-perception? Perhaps one day, you can deceive the world and be the Dominator of the end, but remember—do not lose yourself!]

Along with the appearance of the System notification, Chu Xuan immediately saw the description for the max-level Heart Bewitchment. One of its greatest features was that there was no longer a limit on the number of people, and secondly, the cooldown time constraint was also gone.

But the prerequisite was having enough Mental Energy.

Seeing the description of this ability, Chu Xuan finally understood why, in [Future Tang Zheng]'s description, both Chu Huan and the Phantom Demon were able to slaughter over 25 million people in Haicheng through illusions in a short period of time.

This max-level Heart Bewitchment ability was simply a divine skill for slaughtering weaklings on a massive scale.

Meanwhile, the Phantom Demon suddenly burst into a fit of mocking laughter.

"You're truly insane, actually spending a large amount of spirituality value to upgrade Heart Bewitchment. Don't you understand that the more this skill is upgraded, the closer the connection between us becomes?"

The Phantom Demon laughed loudly. "I was just lying to you earlier. I couldn't actually influence you gradually to eventually take over your body. But now that you've taken the initiative to spend spirituality value to upgrade Heart Bewitchment, you're practically seeking your own death..."

As the Phantom Demon's voice rang out, his vision suddenly blurred again, and an even stronger sense of dread hung over his heart.

"I only need 24 hours at most to perform forced parasitism and directly wipe out your consciousness!"

"I've decided to give you one more chance. Increase your Charm attribute by 1 point now, and I'll give you one day of freedom! Even if I don't have my current memories after I wake up, seeing that you've increased your Charm attribute, I will still grant you some time instead of attacking you immediately..."

The Phantom Demon's laughter suddenly became extremely gentle, then gradually grew high-pitched:

"My friend, please stop making these futile struggles. Perfect Fusion with me is your ultimate destiny!

This is not the end, but a brand-new beginning. We will step onto the path to godhood together! The only truth, the only True God, the great Final Phantom God is waiting for us!"

Chu Xuan said no more, simply swinging his blade to pry off all his remaining nails.

Blood flowed from his ten fingers, but it seemed that this level of pain was no longer enough. His vision remained a blur, and endless darkness pressed in, making even his physical movements extremely sluggish and his thoughts stiff once more.

Chu Xuan bit the tip of his tongue and absorbed all 1000 points of spirituality value within the spirit pearl.

[Current spirituality value: 1193]

Then, with immense difficulty, Chu Xuan took out an item from his tactical waist bag that he had been carrying with him at all times, never letting it leave his side even while sleeping.

Curio, indestructible flowing shadow!

Chu Xuan tightly gripped the demon-subduing pestle.

However...

It was useless!

Time passed. A full ten seconds went by without the slightest reaction.

Chu Xuan was slightly stunned, and then his expression suddenly changed.

All five prerequisites had been met, yet the call that [Future Tang Zheng] spoke of, followed by stepping into the Purifier sequence, had yet to occur!

Why was it like this?

What went wrong?!

"Hahahaha!"

The Phantom Demon laughed loudly. "No matter what you have planned, it's too late for everything now. Your only choice is to increase your Charm attribute! I promise you, for every additional point of Charm attribute you increase, I will grant you one more day of freedom to settle your affairs!"

The echoing voice of the Phantom Demon made Chu Xuan's thoughts move extremely slowly, his brain feeling as if it were filled with cement, making it hard to function.

Having had experience, Chu Xuan knew that perhaps only by performing slow slicing on himself or disemboweling himself could he temporarily regain a state of clarity.

*Crunch!*

Chu Xuan bit off the tip of his tongue with force, a coppery, sweet taste welling up in his throat.

Using this brief moment of regained focus, he did not hesitate to slash open his abdomen with his blade.

Then he reached in, pulled out a section of slippery, blood-covered intestine, and squeezed hard, snapping it by force.

In an instant, the world became clear.

The pain brought Chu Xuan to complete alertness, and at that same moment, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

[Future Tang Zheng] died three years ago...

Could it be that he died today?

Because he failed to enter the Purifier sequence, the Phantom Demon took control of his body.

Coupled with the fact that the Azure Dragon was dead and he had lost that powerful aid, was that why Tang Zheng ultimately failed to escape Haicheng like in the previous dreams?