The first hint that yang Jingshen had that something was wrong was the darkness. It was pitch black and stygian and he thought that he had never witnessed something this dak. And, the other indicator was the silence. It was utterly, incomparably silent– the quietude and stillness carrying a palpable pressure in the air, making you feel as if you were being slowly suffocated.
And, for a moment, Yang Jingshen even thought he had gone deaf and blind, but then quickly rejected this conjecture when he realized something else– something more terrifying and pressing than the murky darkness and the heavy silence.
Where was his body!?
When he had first come to his senses, all he had felt was warmth; a comfortable, lulling warmth, unlike anything he had experienced ever before. At that time, he had thought he was sleeping– the most enjoyable and relaxing sleep in his life.
But why did Yang Jingshen feel as if he had experienced this same feeling somewhere before? When was it? Such a pleasant experience, why can't he remember?
And, that was when his consciousness registered something else; that he might not be sleeping as he originally thought himself to be.
'I can't even speak, but then again, I don't seem to have a body so it's not that surprising. Just what on the earth happened?'
He could clearly remember the weird phenomena that happened in front of the production company before his vision turned dark. Did the world actually pause and shatter like it was made of glass? Is that even possible? Or did he, perhaps… die?
'Or, could it be that everything that happened until now was a dream and there was no novel world?'
Then his cousin Feng Xue– was she real or not? Yang Jingshen tried to ignore the panic accompanying an inexplicable feeling of loss as he pondered another pressing problem. If this was really a dream, does that mean that he actually didn't die? Also…
'What exactly is this place?'
"Your heart lake."
'...'
"And no– this world in the novel is not a dream and you are already thoroughly dead in your original world. Your life as Yang Jingshen is completely over."
'Wh-what?' Yang Jingshen finally came out of his shock of hearing a voice in this darkness. He- he didn't sense the presence of anyone before, and now suddenly there's someone in this dark place talking to him? Was he imagining things?
'It could be– I have heard that being isolated in darkness without any sound can drive a person mad.' And, to this, Yang Jingshen himself can attest, as he could already feel his feelings and thoughts becoming erratic and disorganized.
One moment he would feel unprecedented fear of his situation, which would then turn into something akin to hysteria before calming down. Adding the euphoric feeling brought about by the peculiar warmth he felt into this mix– he felt that he was really starting to lose his mind.
The emotions were all complex and the darkness and silence only heightened their existence to unparalleled levels– it was truly difficult for a normal human's mind to bear without falling into madness.
'Scary!' And the worst thing was that he only had his thoughts to accompany himself and there was no way to vent. So, was it any wonder that he found himself imagining voices speaking to him?
Suddenly the imaginary voice sighed. "You're not imagining things. I'm real and you haven't lost your mind."
'Oh! So it speaks.' If he could, Yang Jingshen would have laughed. Even when imagining things, it seems that he was a notch above others. Even the voice he imagined could argue back and speak in its defense.
'Quite realistic and logical if I say so myself. Then again, it looks like the pressure of this transmigration thing finally broke my mind. Or maybe I even imagined this whole thing in the first place?' Now that would've been really interesting.
"First of all, let me get this straight." The voice interrupted his train of thoughts, this time sounding exasperated. "You have really transmigrated to the world of the book 'How to be a superstar' and you haven't lost your mind. And no– I'm not a figment of your imagination. I'm what you humans would call a soul guardian."
'Oh?'
"In your original world, the accident you faced made your soul become extremely weak due to an oversight on our part, and to help you recover, I placed your soul into the body of this Feng Xi in this world. You on–"
'Oh oh oh– I know! I have to save the world and take revenge for this poor girl on the way, right? Or, could it be that I have to change the plot of the world and retrieve a fragment of a powerful godly soul? Or, could you be a harem system and you'll aid me to conquer the world and countless beauties?'
The voice: "..." Well…
'The thing is– I think I'm currently a woman according to how I imagined. This Feng Xi– I imagined her, right? Though I won't really mind.' Yang Jingshen felt slightly bashful. Lilly love (1) can also be quite exciting ah! 'But, I'd still like to change into a man. But… how do I do that?'
"... I'm not a harem system."
'You're not?' Yang Jingshen felt disappointed. Jeez! His imagination was already this vivid. So why not imagine himself as a man collecting a harem of beauties while conquering the world? That sounds so cool ah! Maybe if he tried hard to envision this, he could do it?
He can remember how much he enjoyed reading this type of novels when he was a teenager. Really, why did he stop reading them? Wasn't that pretty stupid?
"Your mind is becoming more chaotic" The voice observed after a prolonged silence, and Yang Jingshen thought he heard a trace of pity in it. Pity?
'Wow! I'm so cool. I even created a voice with feeling. So, why can't I create a harem system? Oh, by the way– what kind of a system are you? Are we going to go world-hopping? Or cultivate into immortals?"
"... I'm not a system." This time, it sounded deadpan. After another pause– during which Yang Jingshen imagined himself cultivating from a bullied youngster to becoming the world's strongest cultivator slaying demons and massacring– ah excuse him, he meant face slapping his enemies.
Now, where was he? Oh, he finally became the demon lord. Today was his ascension ceremony day. And then…
"Oi-" It was that annoying voice again. Yang Jingshen swatted at it in irritation, and it was quite sometime later that it dared to pipe in again. "Very well. Suit yourself. But…" He suddenly felt a huge pressure bearing down on him, interrupting himself in the midst of enjoying the very luscious and massive boobs of the daughter of the heavenly emperor, lady Tao Tianxian. The very delicious Peach immortal.
"Which bastard dared to ruin this lord's time with lady peach, eh?" The almighty demon lord Yang Jingshen roared. Hmmmm, now wait. This name– it doesn't sound suitable for an overlord like him, right? "Should I give myself another nam–Urk!" He suddenly groaned as the previous pressure developed into an inexplicable and horrendous pain.
Piercing through this cloud of pain, a voice boomed within his ears, the power in it immense and sky-rending. "Remember this! Once you've returned to reality and your mind has calmed down– remember to say the word 'panel'. Then you'd know whether I was real or not."
The power of this new being was so vast that our demon lord Yang Jingshen didn't have any chance of fighting back. It tore into him and destroyed his primordial soul.
And the last thought before he dissipated into oblivion was that it was such a shame this voice decided to lay waste to a genius like him. Why didn't this exalted senior accept him as an apprentice? Even if he foraged in the whole three realms, he would not have found someone more talented than this demon lord to be his disciple ah!
'It must be that traitorous bitch peach fairy. One day, I'll gather my soul and return and destroy the whole heavenly realm in retaliation' Yang Jingshen vowed vengeance. But that senior's word had been so profound and demon lord Yang felt like he had touched a corner of profound dao. Maybe, he should follow this deep advice and cultivate himself to attain enlightenment?
And, just as the last remnants of his soul dissipated into the void, the overlord of the demon realm, his excellency the demon lord Yang Jingshen shouted out loud with all his heart, ignoring the soul-tearing pain he was experiencing.
"Senior, whoever you're, I, yang Jingshen, would never forget this great boon you granted me. I'll forever keep the words of profound dao you told inside my heart, and practice this deep technique called 'the panel' you imparted to me!"
The said exalted senior: "..." He sure is energetic and imaginative.
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Glossary:
01) Lilly love - Love between women. In other words, lesbian relationships.