"Okay, but why?"
Already aware that he wouldn't obtain an answer regarding what made him special, John hoped to finally get to know how he was supposed to help this divine being. And this time, he would not be disappointed.
"It's simple. I want you to do something for me, and in exchange, I'll give you an opportunity that you have always wished for: To live in a world that you belong to. Of course, you'll gain far more than that, but it's a great baseline, am I right?"
Although he knew that there were no free lunches in the world, John couldn't help but freeze up at the mention of his most deeply-held desire. At his core, he was a very simple man. All that he wanted was to live. And to do that, he needed to be in a world that didn't actively reject him. But before he could get lost in the joy, he realized something crucial.
"Does that mean that you know where I originally belong to?"
With a gentle smile on his lips, Huang Xian nodded.
"You belong to the Heavenly Dao."
Rather than to lift a burden from his shoulders, this revelation caused John to freeze up and scrutinize the Heavenly Emperor with suspicion, as it made him aware of an unpleasant possibility.
"Then does that mean... that me being here is your fault?"
Despite the fact that John had not bothered to mince his words, Huang Xian didn't get angry. Instead, he simply helplessly shrugged.
"Depending on how one looks at it, that is one possible interpretation. I would much rather put it like this: You being here is an unintentional fallout resulting from my murder. We do have a connection, you and I. That much should have been obvious to you already. But if there is anyone who is truly at fault for all of this... then it is the Heavenly Empress."
Towards the end of his explanation, a deep pain, mixed with confusion and hatred, flickered within the Heavenly Emperor's eyes, his voice trembling a little.
"Your enmity with her is not nearly as great as my own, although her actions did indeed lead to both of us being here, in our current situation. Which brings me to what I'd like to ask of you in return for bringing you back to where you belong: Please kill my wife, the Heavenly Empress!"
Even merely uttering these words filled Huang Xian's heart with agony, yet he still forced them out through clenched teeth. Ignoring the deflection of blame for now, John couldn't help but feel a bout of compassion and worry for the man who had only just narrated his life's story to him, so he carefully inquired further.
"Is this truly what you want? What if, despite how unlikely it seems to you, she truly did not kill you out of her own free will?"
Falling backwards in his throne with closed eyes, the Heavenly Emperor heaved a pained, listless sigh.
"That possibility exists, which is why I feel deeply guilt-ridden whenever negative feelings towards her bubble up within my heart. Still, even in that case, killing her will be the best choice, as it would set her free from whoever managed to control her. And... if she really betrayed me of her own volition, then all I want is for her to die!"
Even though Huang Xian suppressed the deep killing intent that was threatening to burst out from within him, John still felt like a tiny, fragile leaf braving the towering waves of a tempest-ridden, endless ocean. He appeared insignificant in the face of it, which only served to further make him realize one crucial problem with the matter that he had been asked to take care of.
"Alright. Assuming I agree, there would still be an issue. How can you assure that I will not be detected by her immediately upon my arrival. Her power and abilities should vastly surpass anything that I can currently imagine, so I'd be shocked if my intrusion from the outside, or even my mere existence, wasn't immediately known to her."
Raising an eyebrow in approval, the Heavenly Emperor nodded, gathered his thoughts for a moment, then began to explain his plan in detail.
"Indeed, if I simply sent you there, or allowed you to reincarnate there, then you wouldn't stand any chance of survival at all. The only way that can fool her will require me to make use of some of the contingencies that I left behind over the eons to deal with potential enemies. I have some backdoors to the Heavenly Dao and can easily shield you on that end. Then, to ensure she won't be able to detect you herself, your soul will have to merge with the soul of an indigenous inhabitant of the Heavenly Dao. This will not cause either of you to vanish, there will also be no main and supplementary soul–instead, you will truly fuse as one, into a new being, one comprised of the both of you."
This price–admittedly–felt very hard to accept. Yet John was aware that even if he could find some other way to return to the Heavenly Dao, even if he didn't agree to help Huang Xian... the Heavenly Empress would still eliminate him immediately upon detection. After all, he did present a potential risk. His mere connection to her husband was already enough to sentence him to complete eradication.
"... but if this fusion of souls occurs, what will happen to me and the one I fuse with? Will we just disappear and a newly born being will take our place?"
Seeing how worried and cautious he was, the Heavenly Emperor showed an understanding smile.
"That won't be the case. From both of your perspectives, you will merely gain the experiences of the other, causing you to blend into a new person with both of your experiences. Souls are originally born without a specific form or identity. Only what happens throughout their existence shapes them into what they become later on. So yes, you will change completely. But you will also still be you–a you who has lived a different life on top of this one."
Despite feeling relieved, John still forced himself to properly think about what choice he should make. Therefore, for a few minutes, the two sat in total silence, before John eventually raised his head and motioned for Huang Xian to continue, which the latter unhurriedly did.
"I will leave the choice of the soul fusion target up to you. Of course, there are some restrictions. First of all, the person needs to have died. Secondly, they need to have died within a 10,000-year period, the central point of which is the time when you make your decision and I'll activate my methods. In other words, 5,000 years in the past and 5,000 years in the future from then on out. The power I have left can unfortunately only cover such an insignificant time period."
As soon as he heard this, John began to feel overwhelmed–after all, considering how unfathomably numerous the people of the Heavenly Dao surely were, wouldn't he be spending an endless time searching?
Having seen straight through his thoughts, the Heavenly Emperor revealed an amused grin, then he waved his hand and caused a transparent panel to display itself in John's vision, almost like in a video game.
"Not to worry, to familiarize yourself with the concept of the Status Panel, I have taken it upon myself to collate all information that you could possibly need and present it to you in suitable from. Although this here is merely a database filled with information, the method by which you operate it is the same as that of the Status Panel. Have a look, and tell me once you've decided on someone."
If anyone had created a database of all humans that had ever lived on John's home planet, along with all of the information about them, then all of it would be entirely insignificant compared to the endless data that he was now confronted with. A part of him was nearly overwhelmed, but the rational parts of his mind quickly realized that this panel allowed him to search, filter and arrange the data in every way that he could possibly want.
He played around with a few options, then he noticed something strange.
"Is there a reason for there to be only men in the database?"
Nodding with a peculiar smile on his lips, Huang Xian responded immediately.
"Of course. I told you that souls initially start out pretty much blank, right? But after living their first life, they then turn into whatever form that their experiences have moulded them into. In your case, that means that your soul is very decidedly male. Now, if you were to fuse with a female soul, or to be reborn in a female body, it would be anything but a pleasant experience. While it wouldn't nearly be as bad as what you've been through already, you would certainly feel very off and strange all the time, as there's a certain mismatch. Occasionally, some souls do get reborn into bodies that really do not fit them, and most of them absolutely do not enjoy such a life, to say the least."
Not needing any further explanation, as it was quite obvious in hindsight, John's lips curved into an embarrassed grin, then he pretended as if he hadn't asked anything and continued perusing the data that he was now drowning in.
Likely due to being in the form of a soul, he didn't get bothered by any bodily urges or needs, and soon lost himself entirely in the countless identities whose information he was presented with. He had no idea how long it had been by the time that he finally had found something that made him pause. It could have been days, or maybe even years. Considering how many names that he had already noticed disappearing from the database as he was scrutinizing it, it might have been longer.
'If I am to assassinate the Heavenly Empress, then I cannot choose a random, regular person as my target. The other soul needs to at least have the potential to grow to a point where it can threaten her. I don't necessarily have to be able to beat her in a head-on fight, as Huang Xian's fate has made abundantly clear. Still, that does reduce the available options quite a lot.'
Glancing at the Heavenly Emperor resting peacefully nearby, another thought couldn't help but flash across John's mind.
'Even in the case that I initially agree to his request, but then later on change my mind for whatever reason at some point throughout my new life, it will still be important for me to be powerful enough to protect myself. Nobody knows what the Heavenly Empress has done over this period of time. Or, well, I don't know. It's very possible that the Heavenly Dao is now ridiculously dangerous. So choosing a person with the best potential and an extremely powerful, secure background should be my priority.'
John was very aware that Huang Xian knew what he was thinking, but considering that he wasn't making a fuss about it, he likely would have some contingencies in place which would keep him from abandoning his mission.
"You're partially correct. But my main contingency is you yourself. I am confident that you will truly do your very best to kill her once you're there, even if it will take you a while to get properly motivated. And no, I won't tell you any more than that."
Cheekily rolling his eyes at the Heavenly Emperor, he ignored the mind-reader and refocused on his task.
Another indeterminate amount of time later, he closed his eyes and fell into deep thought. On many occasions now, he had come across one particular name throughout a vast majority of his detailed searches. It was an individual who, by pure aptitude alone, was ranked in the top percentage of nearly every single category that he could think of. But that in and of itself wouldn't be enough to make him noteworthy. His background and Unique-grade Talent were!
While he didn't understand much about the Heavenly Court, the database did include an option to rank everyone by the power of their background, and this individual was the undisputed first place when it came to this. While John had no idea what the specific numbers signified, this man's background's score vastly eclipsed that of the second places, by multiple hundreds of orders of magnitude. It was utterly absurd! The mere thought that someone of such noteworthy position had managed to die left him flabbergasted.
He was only even more confused when he by chance glanced at the Unique-grade Talent that this man possessed.
[ Grim Reaper's Levy (Unique):
• Obtain one Talent from every killed being.
• If multiple are available, then a specific one can be chosen.
• If the same Talent is already in possession, then an evolution towards a higher grade can be initiated. ]
No matter how he looked at it, John knew that 'Grim Reaper's Levy' signified absolutely infinite growth potential! And yet, from the information that he could gather, the young man by the name of 'Theodore Winter' had died before his journey could ever even fully begin.
Taking note of this person, he once again searched through all other outstandingly talented individuals, and indeed found some that surpassed Theodore in many aspects. Yet, none of them could simultaneously fulfil both the growth potential and background requirements that John had set as his goal.
'... it can only be you, it seems.'