Chapter 3: Prologue 3: Clash of the Titans
Reborn as a God and a Devil King
A few hours after the assimilation of Lord God Lu Ying, she found herself in a vast and almost limitless darkness.
"This!? I have never seen a vessel possess such a large Dantian."
Lord God Lu Ying was completely speechless at what was before her. Darkness as far as the eye could see.
In her world, a person's innate strength and talent are measured by their dantian. The larger and more vast the dantian, the stronger the potential of the being.
What Lu Ying is seeing right now was almost enough to make her faint. The dantian of her chosen vessel is very large. Even bigger than hers before she ascended to divinity, much bigger.
"This vase ... Little Fan, this gift of yours, I will treasure it for all eternity."
Lord God Lu Ying breathed in, and proceeded to shout full of pride and resolute.
"May this vessel and I be named as Lou Chen!"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Lou Chen!? Who, on the spot, is this Lou Chen?"
"Who ...!?"
Suddenly, Lord God Lu Ying was startled to hear someone laughing in the shadows.
"This!? How long has he been here!? I couldn't even feel him ... but more importantly ...
"Who are you!? I command you to show yourself," Lord God Lu Ying waved his hand as he shouted with pure dominance.
"Hahaha! You show yourself? You talk like an ancient witch," the mysterious voice replied, clearly mocking the mighty Lord God.
The man continued to laugh as he revealed himself from the darkness. He was a tall man with long black hair with four horns protruding from the back of his shoulders.
- This man, he is strong!
Feeling the pressure being emitted by the stranger, Lord God Lu Ying raised his hand and summoned a thousand light-covered blades.
"Idiot! You want to perish!? Withdraw your weapon now, woman!"
"Answer me first! Who are you to meddle with my ship!?"
"What the hell are you talking about? I was here first."
"..."
Lord God Lu Ying thought about it, and the stranger made sense. She would have noticed if someone as strong as the man before her broke into the ship after her.
"Hmph! Never mind. This vessel belongs to me! Disappear or I will be forced to extinguish you, Demon," although Lord God Lu Ying said this, she was actually quite hesitant to fight the man.
She knows that if she fights this man, even if she manages to win, the toll on her soul would be so critical that she might not have the strength to possess the ship. But she has no choice. The most important thing right now is this ship. After all, she was only able to gain such a powerful vessel due to the sacrifice of one of her beloved juniors, Elder Lou Fan.
"Did you just call me a ... Demon? And kill me? You think you have that kind of power, Celestial?" the stranger cracked his knuckles while showing an irritated expression on his face.
"You dare!?"
"Sure, I dare," the stranger smiled.
Seeing his smug response, Lord God Lu Ying could not help it, she waved her hand and the blades of light around her suddenly vibrated and shot towards the stranger's position.
However, before the blades of light could even hit the stranger's nose, they disappeared.
"What have you done?", Lord God Lu Ying was clearly at a loss as to what had happened. She didn't even feel the stranger use any of his powers.
"My turn, Celestial."
The stranger raised his hand and pointed. A huge fireball appeared above him, it was as if he summoned a dwarf star.
Lord God Lu Ying immediately put up her guard and summoned a barrier. She gritted her teeth as she prepared to block the oncoming attack.
However, the shield of light she summoned once again disappeared.
"Oh no!", Lord God Lu Ying panicked.
But to his surprise, the colossal fireball summoned by the stranger also vanished into thin air.
"Relax, woman. Did you see what happened just now?" the stranger said as he sat down calmly.
Lord God Lu Ying did not respond and immediately planned another counterattack.
"It won't work, our powers don't work in this weird dimension."
"Do you really think I'm going to believe that?",
"Eh? Who cares what you believe. Anyway, I said what I said. None of our attacks work here."
Lord God Lu Ying was about to debate with the stranger once again, but she decided to retract. Seeing that there seems to be some truth to what the stranger is saying, she also relaxed and sat down.
"... No matter, this vase still belongs to me. I cannot waste the gift my junior gave me just for your sake. Leave before this vessel matures into a living human."
The stranger's ears perk up. "A human ... so we are inside the core of a human? Intriguing ... very intriguing. Haha!" the stranger laughed.
"Why are you always laughing, and why are you still here? Don't you understand the consequences if we both stay here for too long?"
"Heh. I wish I could leave," the stranger whispered something.
Lord God Lu Ying couldn't hear the stranger, so she just chose to meditate, telling the stranger once again to leave before closing her eyes and concentrating on circulating her enormous ki.
The stranger, despite being told to leave, sat in front of Lu Ying's meditation and watched her.
Minutes, hours, days - they stood like that before the Lord God Lu Ying could not help her annoyance.
"Hmph! Do you really not wish to leave this vessel ...?"
"Woah, I thought you were dead!?" the stranger feigned a surprised expression.
"Answer my question, stranger."
The stranger laughed before answering, "I can't leave. I've been trying to do that even before you arrived."
"Hm, what do you mean?", Lord God Lu Ying tilted his head and looked at the stranger with a curious look.
"We are both probably stuck in this so-called vessel of yours."
"Impossible! You could simply get out of one of the meridians if you so desired!"
"Meridians? What the hell is that? I can't get out anyway. Every time I try ... something .... someone is trying to push me back."
Upon hearing this, Lord God Lu Ying once again closed her eyes and tried to reach the nearest meridian of the vessel with her will.
When she did so, she immediately felt a strong pressure, as a huge pair of eyes appeared before her. She felt as if someone was looking into the depths of her soul. Lord God Lu Ying immediately retracted her will and opened her eyes. If she had a real body, she imagined it would be full of sweat right now.
"What the hell was that!? Even in my millions of years as a god, it was the first time I felt that kind of pressure!"
"Woah, you're a crazy woman, aren't you? Even though I warned you that something else was here. In fact, it's probably watching us right now. Brr, I get goosebumps just thinking about it. What a pervert," the stranger hugged himself while shaking his whole body in a funny way.
"What was that?".
"I told you, it's something."
"This ... is not one of your tricks, stranger!?", Lord God Lu Ying pointed at the stranger.
"...Kaisel."
"What?"
"My name is Kaisel. Kaisel of Freiden," the stranger stood up as he bowed.
"I didn't ask for your name, stranger," Lord God Lu Ying looked away.
"Well, if we're going to be stuck here until this ship ... human child is born, we might as well get to know each other."
The stranger extended his hand to Lord God Lu Ying.
"Hmph, very well. I am the Lord God." I allow you to call me that," Lord God Lu Ying said proudly as he placed his hands on his waist and puffed out his huge breasts.
"...."
Kaisel paused for a moment before suddenly laughing his lungs out.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"Why are you laughing again!?"
"HAHAHAHAHA! Lord God, she said! HAHAHAHAHA!"
"You dare mock and defile my title!?"
"HAHAHAHA! Are we using our titles? Very well, I am the Devil, the Evil Monarch, Destroyer of worlds, banished in the existence of humans, the Demon God - Kaisel."
Xanthus mimicked Lord God Lu Ying as he also puffed out his chest and placed his hands on his chest. However, the slightest hint of loneliness and disgust as Kaisel uttered his titles did not escape the eyes of Lord God Lu Ying.
'The devil - a path full of thorns and repentance,' thought Lord God Lu Ying. 'This one's name is Lu Yin, Lu Yin of .... Xuezhou."
"Xuezhou ... An oriental name. I have explored all the oriental countries. As I have never heard of someone as strong as you there," Xanthus placed his hands on his chin.
"We are probably not from the same world ... or even universe, Kaisel of Freiden."
"Hm, I suppose."
Being as powerful as they were. The notion of there being another world was not something they disapproved of. Thus, Kaisel didn't bother with the matter any further, so he just asked what their next move should be.
"I don't know, Kaisel. Maybe we are destined to die and rot inside this vase."
"Hmmm."
"I just wish it wasn't like that. One of my ... friends ... a young man, sacrificed himself so that I could find a suitable vessel and continue to walk the six paths. But then here we are, just my luck," Lu Yi exhaled with disappointment.
"A friend? I ... deeply regret your loss."
Kaisel knew the burden of beings as powerful as they were. To have even one acquaintance, much less a friend is a blessing to them. To treat one as such must mean that this "friend" of theirs must be truly special.
"I ... I also left someone in my world, Mari," Kaisel smiled as he closed his eyes in reminiscence.
"Mari? She seemed very nice."
And just like that, two extraordinary beings are having a very ordinary conversation. They realized this fact at the same time and couldn't help but laugh.
"I can't blame you for choosing this vessel to assimilate, Kaisel of Freiden. He ... Is very strong. Unusually so."
"Chose? I'm afraid you have the wrong idea, oh mighty Lord."
"Hmph, explain."
"I should be cut off from the cycle of life. I didn't want to be reincarnated."
"...," Lu Yi remained silent.
"Instead, I was absorbed. Absorbed by this precious vessel of yours," Kaisel exhaled as he lowered his shoulders in defeat.
"What!? Is that really possible?"
"I can't explain it myself, as the last embers of my existence were about to disappear, I could feel a black hole suddenly sucking me in ... At first I thought it was Cortana sucking me in, if you know what I mean," Kaisel winked at Lu Yi while deliberately making a dirty joke to try to liven up the conversation.
"A black hole?", Lu Yi, however, totally disregarded that last part of what Kaisel said.
"Yes, it just sucked me in ... and before I knew it, I was here. I tried to get out at first, but I felt extreme pressure going through my body. I'll be dared to try that again."
"..."
"A few moments later, I heard someone scream, and then here we are."
Lord God Lu Yi thought hard about what could have caused this, but unfortunately, she simply could not come to a conclusion.
One thing is certain, though, whatever brought Xanthus here, the owner of the pair of eyes that emitted a strong pressure was certainly involved, she thought.
"Could it be the owner of the eyes earlier?" said Lu Yi.
"Maybe. This vessel of yours is mysterious for sure. In fact, I don't think you even chose this vase, it chose you."
"... That's imp-"
Before Lu Yi could finish his answer, the two of them heard a loud sound, a thud. Suddenly, a colossal pressure fell on them, causing them to kneel down.
"Oh boy, now what?", Kaisel muttered as he tried to get up, but couldn't.
"Shut up, I'm trying to concentrate here!"
Suddenly, two large eyes appeared before them.
"You're here!"
"Who are you!?"
The large pair of eyes continued to stare at them before closing and finally disappearing.
And then once again, before Lu Yi and Kaisel could relax, another bang resounded through the darkness.
"That sound...".
"No ... it can't be!? It's still early! This ship isn't even ready yet! It shouldn't even have been a week," Lu Yi formed an ugly expression on his face.
In fact, what they heard caused a chill to run down their spines.
It was ...
A heartbeat.