Yan Jin walked through the hollow corridor toward the familiar pool room. The scent of blood and age hung heavy in the air, a reminder of the place he was returning to after only days of rest. The old man in charge glanced up from his usual spot, eyes narrowing as he saw Yan Jin approach.
"You again?" the old man muttered, a mixture of annoyance and concern in his voice. "What do you want this time?"
Yan Jin blinked, taken aback by the tone. The old man's words were gruff, but there was something in them that felt oddly familiar—like his grandfather back on Earth, someone who cared but would never admit it outright. The unexpected warmth caused Yan Jin to lower his guard, and before he knew it, he sat beside the old man.
"Grandpa Pool," Yan Jin began, his voice low and raw, "someone stole my friend. He defeated me so easily... because I was weak. Unprepared." He clenched his fists, the rage simmering just beneath the surface. "I want to get him back, but I can't think straight. The anger...
it's like it's boiling inside me. I can't focus."
The old man remained silent for a moment, his gaze softening ever so slightly. "Why do you want to stop it?" he finally asked, his voice rough but thoughtful. "You youngsters, always trying to control everything. Why do you need to stop being mad? It's there to be felt. Let it burn.
Sometimes, it's good to be angry."
Yan Jin blinked, surprised by the wisdom in the old man's words. He had been taught to suppress his emotions, to keep them in check for the sake of clarity, but maybe... maybe that was the wrong approach.
"Maybe you're right," Yan Jin said quietly, the anger still there, but less suffocating.
"I usually am," the old man grunted. "So, what do you need?"
"I need to rent a high-grade blood pool for six months."
The old man's eyebrows shot up, clearly taken aback. "Six months? What are you trying to do, kid?"
"Deadly meditation," Yan Jin answered, his eyes cold with determination. "Reach the resonance realm or die trying."
The old man studied him for a long moment before giving a slow nod. "You're not asking me to stop you?"
But the most imposing presence was not the stars. It was the figure before him.
A being of unimaginable size towered in front of him, so massive it seemed to encompass the entire universe. Its sheer scale was incomprehensible, and Yan Jin couldn't see where the figure began or ended. It was like a god, something beyond mortal understanding.
Fear surged within him, but Yan Jin fought it, knowing he couldn't retreat now. He stood his ground, watching as the colossal figure began to shrink. The galaxy around them seemed to condense, and as it did, the enormous being shrank down until what remained was a man—a man in purple armor, with pale skin and long white hair that flowed like liquid silver.
He stood just a head taller than Yan Jin, his eyes glowing the same radiant blue as the ones in Yan Jin's blood navel.
"You finally decided to reach out," the man said, his voice resonating with the weight of a thousand echoes. There was an ancient power in his tone, a force that made Yan Jin's knees feel weak. It was clear that this entity had been waiting for this moment.
"I tend to avoid things that don't bother me," Yan Jin replied, his voice shaky in the face of the immense power before him.
"What... are you?" Yan Jin asked, the words slipping from his mouth as he fought to maintain composure.
The man in the purple armor looked directly into Yan Jin's eyes, as if peering into his very soul. "My name is Eli, the last heretical god."
Yan Jin's heart raced. A god? His mind spun, trying to comprehend what that meant. "A god?" he repeated. "Are you the one who brought me to this world?"
Eli's expression remained calm, almost amused. "Brought you to this world? If you mean this space? Yes. But if you're referring to your journey into this mortal realm... that was not my doing."
Yan Jin's confusion only deepened. He realized that this being had no connection to his transmigration into this world. "What is a heretical god?" Yan Jin asked, trying to shift his line of questioning, hoping for some clarity.
Eli's gaze became distant, as if recalling memories from eons past. "At the beginning of time, chaos gave birth to the Astral Entity, which in turn gave birth to the myriad races of the universe. The Heretical God Race was among them—one of the strongest races to ever exist."
Yan Jin listened, hanging on every word as Eli continued, his voice filled with both pride and sorrow. "However, the universe seeks balance in all things. The Heretical God Race was cursed with low fertility and harsher birth rates, making it impossible for us to expand and conquer the universe as we once desired. Despite this, our race became a force feared by all. We stood among the strongest...
until we faded."