Boom!
The weather grew worse as the crackling thunder became louder with brilliant flashes of lightning swimming in the sea of gloomy clouds above like numerous flood dragons.
The sunny glow of morning disappeared, and only the power of annihilation that threatens to tear the skies asunder lingers as the clock ticked and the pendulum swings.
Albion's consciousness slowly faded as people took out their phones. Some took pictures, some called the ambulance, and some checked the weekly weather forecast.
"Quick, call the ambulance. This boy requires immediate medical attention!" The homeless uncle roared as he did not have a phone of his own.
"Don't even bother, mate. There is no hope for this kid. No one can survive a hit from a truck that hard! Maybe he will be sent to a better place than this shitty world." A middle-aged man spoke.
"What do you know?! True hopelessness is when you do not even bother putting in the effort to try! Just like this world, it can be shitty, and it can be beautiful! If people accept it as it and do not bother to change it, how would they ever know how beautiful it can be?!"
"Funny thing to say for a homeless bum like you, mate. Who are you to lecture me? If you are so capable, why are you living on the streets?"
As the two people argued, streaks of thunderous dragons descended the skies and struck the lightning-catching rods atop the city skyscrapers.
"Oh my god! What is going on? Is this the end of the world?"
Buzz! Buzz! Poof!
The copper rods fell from above under the ungodly power of annihilation. They impaled the ground like steel javelins as people scrambled for shelter amidst the heavy rain and strong wind.
"Everyone, take cover!"
"Good lord! What kind of lightning is this? Even the lightning rods cannot contain its power! This—This must be heavenly tribulation lightning!" An avid web novel reader spoke with shock.
"What nonsense are you sprouting, mate? Have you been reading too much of that wuxia stuff online?"
The avid reader rolled his and angrily rebuked, "You know nothing! Wuxia novels don't have heavenly tribulations!"
He felt insulted by the person's ignorance and careless remark.
In the wake of heaven's wrath, the whole world quaked and trembled beneath its might. Chaos sprawled across River City as people pushed and shoved each other for the safety of building covers.
Everyone worried about their own lives, and all have forgotten about the boy hit by the truck.
Such was the way of the world. Even if their lives were not at risk, very few cared to begin with. Too many people die every day. Whether Albion lives or dies, it had nothing to do with them.
Boom!
Albion's body was struck by lightning and disintegrated into nothingness. Body and soul, all trace of Albion, departed the world forever.
…
In another place, another world, yet seemingly identical city, a similar phenomenon took the world by a storm. The sea of gloomy clouds churned, and the wrath of heaven rained from the skies.
Atop the tallest skyscraper in the city, a topless youth with terrible scalding burns roared to the heavens, "Come! Give me your last shot! After I endure the 9 rounds of Heavenly Tribulation Lightning, I shall achieve true immortality and return to the 9 Divine Heavens to reclaim my rightful place!"
The youth appeared to be 25 years old, but in fact, he had lived for ten millenniums on Earth. He was a Divine Emperor who once ruled over one of the 9 Divine Heavens, the Divine Asura Realm.
After being killed by his beloved queen, who schemed against him for his imperial throne, he was given a chance to reincarnate to Earth. However, resources were scarce, and cultivation was difficult on this little blue planet.
"Ten millenniums! For ten millenniums, I have toiled hard on this planet, manipulated the course of history, and plundered its resources! All for this very day, the day I return to 9 Divine Heaven and kill that wench with my own hands!"
In the 9 Divine Heavens, he was known as the Asura Emperor! On Earth, he was known by many names! Dark Emperor, Dark Hands, Black Lotus, King Yama, Boss Asura, The Devil, Master—Simply said, there were too many names to remember.
He was the biggest, the baddest, the most notorious, and hidden boss the world had ever known. With his unrivaled strength, he had conquered half the world and controlled it from the dark!
Only his closest confidantes had seen his real face. The rest of the world had only heard of his titles. Even so, they all have no choice but to fear and obey!
At the side, four menacing men in black suits stood on vigilant watch.
They were nothing compared to their boss, but their strengths were still beyond anything ordinary humans can ever imagine! They were known as the Four Horsemen, the generals of the Dark Emperor.
Although there was not a single person in this world that could harm their Dark Emperor, they still guarded his breakthrough against any mishap.
"Once the boss succeeds, he will take us to the 9 Divine Heavens, the holy land of cultivation with him!" Kasin said with clenched fists.
Polemos nodded sternly and spoke, "Just one more round. Boss will definitely succeed!"
"Here it comes!"
As the ninth ray of lightning descended, the Dark Emperor endured its blinding brilliance with his bare body.
Boom!
Success!
9 round of tribulation lightning successfully endured! The pillar of light leading to the 9 Divine Heavens arrived!
In the blink of an eye, the scalding burns rapid on the Dark Emperor's body healed and disappeared without a trace after he broke through the Demigod stage and directly stepped into the True Immortal stage.
"Congratulation on entering the True Immortal stage, Boss!"
"It's not enough! My strength has increased drastically after entering the True Immortal stage, but it is still far from the peak of my previous life! I still have a long way to go!" The Dark Emperor said.
"Everyone, step back! The Heavenly Tribulation is not over! Boss, watch out!" A Horsemen suddenly cried.
"What?! There's a tenth round of tribulation lightning?!" The Dark Emperor was shocked, but he quickly laughed, "Hahaha, even the heavens are helping me! This must be my good fortune! Come at me, tenth tribulation lightning!"
For every round tribulation lightning endure, a person will grow accordingly in strength. This was a well established and known fact!
The tenth round of tribulation lightning was unheard, but this was his chance! If he could endure it, his future will be limitless! He might even surpass all 9 Divine Emperors to claim true hegemony over the 9 Divine Heavens!
It was nice to dream, but the reality was different!
Once the grey tribulation lightning contacted the Dark Emperor's body, he immediately broke down into anguish wails of pain.
'What is this tribulation lightning?! It is too powerful! I cannot take it—No, someone's trying to invade my soul! Who the hell are you?! Do you know who I am?'
'How the hell would I know who you are? 'Scuse me, coming through!' Albion responded in a semi-conscious state like he had been blocked from entering the hot springs after freezing in the cold winters.
'You, stop it! Stop it now! No! Uwaarghhh!
Boom!
An explosion of electrical discharge and steam knocked the Four Horsemen back a few steps before they raced forward to check.
"Boss, are you alright?!"
"Of course, the boss is alright. Boss is almighty!"
"That is right, the gate of heaven is here. It has to be true!"
The Dark Emperor's body laid on the ground with eyes tightly shut. Not a single wound could be seen on his peerless body. The Dark Emperor's soul was gone, obliterated in the blast, but another took his place.
'Ugh, I'm not dead yet?' Albion thought the moment his consciousness regained some clarity.
He faintly heard voices talking closeby before the cold feeling of death receded, and warmth returned to his body—or maybe not his?
"Boss, are you alright?" Polemos asked.
Albion shook his head, feeling a massive migraine that threatened to split his head apart. An enormous influx of information rushed into his mind, but he failed to digest them all.
Nevertheless, he managed to piece together some useful information to make sense of his situation. Once he learned the identity of the Dark Emperor, he immediately shot to his feet, fully awake with shock.
Holy shit, did he just hijack the body of an MC in another world?