027 Divine Possession

027 Divine Possession

Jia Yun was

winning

.

It wasn’t just a little advantage—she was

decimating

Fan Shi.

She was faster.

Stronger.

Her three tails whipped through the air as she weaved between attacks with inhuman grace, her fans sending out slicing arcs of wind and ice with every motion.

Fan Shi dodged by a hair’s breadth each time, but I could tell—she was struggling.

And it pissed me off.

I activated

Voice Chat.

"Fan Shi, sidestep to the left, then pivot. She's aiming for your legs."

Fan Shi obeyed without hesitation, narrowly avoiding a crescent slash of wind that would’ve tripped her up.

"Now

jump

—she’s setting up for a follow-up strike."

She leaped just as an ice spear shot out from beneath her.

I exhaled.

My Perception, Wisdom, and Intelligence stats were putting in

overtime

for this one.

Reading into an enemy's attack pattern like this? I wouldn't have been able to do it in a normal PvP match back in

Lost Legends Online

. But here, where I could perceive Qi—

really

perceive it at superhuman levels—I saw more than just movements.

I saw

flows

.

Currents

.

Subtle shifts in energy that revealed the

intent

behind an attack before it even happened.

Divine Sense had lots of

flavor text

in LLO.

One of them was being granted insight into an opponent’s techniques.

Of course, that never actually manifested as a game mechanic. It was just one of those immersion-boosting descriptions slapped onto a useless passive.

But here?

Here, as I got more used to observing and deducing Qi—its movements, its pulses, its reactions—Divine Sense had evolved into something

real

.

And what I was sensing from Pan Xia made me

very

suspicious.

I didn’t confront him.

Not yet.

Instead, I honed in on him.

There was an energy connection.

A

solid

,

hidden

thread linking him to Jia Yun.

The skill she was using—this

Bloodline Art

—either didn’t fully belong to her, or it required

someone else

for activation.

Could I be wrong? Maybe.

But I

knew

Pan Xia was supplying energy to her.

And it

wasn’t

Qi.

It wasn’t Mana, either.

It felt different.

In LLO, there were

Ultimate Skills

that players could

never

use even if they met the requirements.

Not because they lacked the proficiency.

Not because they lacked the stats.

But because sometimes—just sometimes—those skills required an

energy cost

that went beyond what a player could normally access unless they fulfilled the relevant quests.

Was this that kind of situation?

Before I could think about it further, I noticed Pan Xia looking at me.

An amused smile spread across his face.

“Is there a problem,

Senior Da

?” he asked smoothly. "If looks could kill, I would have died ten times over."

I rolled my shoulders. "That’s an exaggeration."

But my eyes stayed on him.

"That

is

a weird technique, though."

His expression didn’t change, but I saw the briefest flicker in his eyes.

A flinch.

He hid it well.

Don’t worry, Pan Xia. I wasn’t going to expose your cheating.

Yet.

Or maybe never? Because I was feeling… particularly vindictive today.

He smoothly redirected the conversation, playing dumb.

"You must be referring to what’s happening below, yes?" he said, gesturing to the fight. "Bloodline Arts are very rare, after all. The

Nine-Tailed Fox Ascendance

is a

Secret Art

—one that allows its caster to borrow power from an

Immortal Beast

."

Ah.

So it was like a Paladin or a Priest summoning a deity into their body.

Interesting.

And

very

convenient.

Back in

Lost Legends Online

, I never chose a deity to serve.

No gods. No patrons. No fancy blessings or divine sponsors.

That meant no

Divine Descent

, the strongest ability a Paladin could have.

And because of that, my damage potential suffered—badly.

For a good one or two seasons, I was stuck at the bottom of the rankings, grinding skill points while everyone else was popping off with their

Divine Descent

builds. I could’ve jumped ship, reset my skills, or even rerolled a new character.

But I

didn’t

.

Why?

Because I was waiting.

Patiently.

I had my eyes set on an upcoming class update for Paladins—one that would let me play exactly how I

wanted

to play.

You see,

Lost Legends Online

wasn’t exactly

forgiving

to old players. Resetting skill points was more painful than just deleting your character and starting from scratch. Most players did

just that

. But me? I

persevered

.

And then the update finally arrived.

The

Divine Path of the Paladin Legacy

.

And with it came a skill no one expected to be

as

stupidly broken as it was.

A skill called

Divine Possession

.

Now, when the devs started teasing it, most players ignored it outright.

A skill that

halved

your stats? In exchange for

possessing

another character—whether they were a Player, NPC, or even a random mob?

Yeah. Hard pass.

And then they made it worse.

If you learned

Divine Possession

, you were

locked out

of

Divine Descent

forever. No refunds. No take-backs. You were making a deal with the

worst

kind of devil—bad game design.

And what did you

get

for this trade?

A possessed character buffed with half your stats but at the cost of

shared control

.

Which meant the

other

guy could fight back while

you

were trying to use them.

Most players who tried it rage-quit on the spot.

But me?

I saw

potential

.

I started using it in PvP.

On my

opponents

.

And then I’d

attack myself like a lunatic

.

Because guess what?

Friendly fire was real

.

And I had

three

resurrection ultimates.

So even if they

self-destructed

, I’d just

come back

.

And the worst part?

I’d spam their skills like a madman—burning all their mana, wasting their abilities, and making their movements look like a drunk toddler was at the keyboard.

If I could’ve burned through

Ultimate Skills

, it would’ve been

completely

busted. But even without that, it was

enough

.

It was

warped

.

It was

effective

.

And best of all?

No one could

adapt

.

Eventually, word spread.

More Paladins started copying my strategy.

Possession became the

strongest

crowd-control skill in the game.

Wasting skills became the

ultimate troll move

.

For a while,

Paladins were meta

.

And then—because the universe can’t let me have nice things—the devs

nerfed it into the ground

.

Now, whenever a Paladin used

Divine Possession

, their

real body

stayed behind.

Vulnerable.

Unmoving.

Completely

free

to be targeted.

And what happened after that?

Everyone

who had been salty about Paladins

finally

got their revenge.

For weeks, Paladins were getting deleted the moment they tried to possess

anyone

.

Spam

every

ultimate on them? Yes.

Blow them up with overkill damage? Absolutely.

Make their existence a living hell? Without question.

So why am I rambling on about all this?

Well…

Because I was about to

screw someone

with

Divine Possession

.

In this situation, what was the best part about

Divine Possession

?

It didn’t have

any

animation or visual effects.

No glowing sigils. No fancy light shows. No dramatic wind effects.

Nothing.

Just a clean, silent transfer.

And right now, I was

tempted

.

I could use it on Jia Yun and have her suffer a

humiliating

defeat. The sheer

schadenfreude

of watching her lose in the dumbest way possible was… enticing.

Or I could

use

it on Fan Shi. Maximize her skill usage, abuse

my

stats, and show these cheating bastards who was

really

the boss.

But I was an

adult

.

And there was no

need

for anyone to lose face here.

Who knew? Maybe this whole thing could be solved with just…

talking

.

I smiled. “As expected of the Cloud Mist Sect. Truly a formidable force.”

Pan Xia huffed and turned away.

Divine Possession.

A

sharp

dip in my mana. A shift in my senses.

And suddenly, I was seeing myself from a

third-person

perspective—through

Pan Xia’s

eyes.

Then the shift continued, pulling me forward—deeper.

First-person view.

I blinked.

I was no longer in

my

body.

Pan Xia's mind tried to fight back, but I squashed his will with the utter difference in our stats. It was something that would have been normally impossible in LLO if we were at the same level or if his stats were a bit closer to mine. I remembered one-sidedly possessing NPCs and massively lower-level players, so this one-sided possession must be the result of something similar.

I guessed that even if my stats were halved, I was still stronger than this guy... stat-wise at least.

The next thing I did was subtly angle Pan Xia’s fan to

cover

my face while stealing a glance at my real body.

And I saw…

me

.

Standing there.

Looking back.

And smiling.

Huh?

Weird.

Wasn’t my

main body

supposed to be

motionless

?

I watched as the other me—my original body—lifted a hand.

And reached out to me through

Voice Chat

.

[…Greetings, My Lord.]

The voice was

mechanical

.

[My name is

David_69

, your Holy Spirit.]

…

What the fuck?!

I

almost

lost composure right then and there.

I had too many questions.

Too many

concerns

.

But I had

other

matters to attend to.

I pushed down the

what the fucks

piling up in my brain and addressed

69

through

Voice Chat

.

"We will talk another time. Protect us in the meantime and don’t act too suspiciously. Moreover, continue guiding Fan Shi on how to defeat her opponent via Voice Chat. If you can’t, prioritize giving her instructions in a way that she receives the least harm."

I had no idea how

he

worked, but if he had my stats, then he should be able to

power-compute

the most optimal paths for Fan Shi, right?

There was a brief pause.

Then

69

replied, [I understand, My Lord.]

I

hoped and prayed

this dude wouldn’t suddenly betray me by

jumping off the VIP balcony

or something.

That would be… ugh.

“You look worried, Daoist Pan.”

Long Xieren’s voice broke through my thoughts.

I ignored him.

I didn’t have much in the way of acting skills, but here goes nothing.

I couldn't exactly summon tears on command, but surely, I could at least pretend to be a brooding sage—not to be disturbed, lost in contemplation of the vast mysteries of the world.

With a slow, measured exhale, I lowered my gaze and angled my fan slightly to cast a shadow over my face.

Mysterious. Enigmatic. Tragic.

If anyone looked at me now, they’d think I was contemplating the weight of destiny itself.

But in reality?

I tapped into

Voice Chat

.

Inside

Pan Xia’s

head.

"What’s happening?! What did you do to me?!"

His panic hit me like a flood.

I took my time before responding, speaking with deliberate slowness.

Measured. Patient. Like a celestial master gazing down upon the tribulations of a mere mortal struggling to comprehend the vastness of the heavens.

"Calm yourself, Daoist Pan,"

I murmured.

"Calm myself? CALM MYSELF?! I CAN’T MOVE! I CAN’T USE MY QI! I CAN’T—"

"Shhh."

"DON’T ‘SHHH’ ME—"

"Shhhhhh."

That shut him up.

"Good,"

I said, voice as tranquil as a still lake.

"Now, listen well. What you are experiencing… is but a mere glimpse of the immensity of heaven and earth."

"What does that even mean?! Who are you?!"

"Who am I? Ah… That is a question many have asked. Few have received an answer."

"ANSWER ME, DAMN YOU!"

I let out a soft chuckle.

Sage-like. Knowing. Infinitely patient.

"Daoist Pan, do you truly believe that the heavens revolve around you? That your struggles are unique? That you are beyond the reach of fate?"

"What are you—"

"Consider the sky above. It does not mourn when a storm is born, nor does it celebrate when the sun shines once more. It simply is—immovable, untouchable, unshaken by mortal concerns. The same is true of the great Dao."

A pause. A long,

stunned

pause.

It was eight-grader syndrome bullshit. Or maybe some dialogue script I overheard somewhere…

But meh…

I could practically

hear

the gears in his head grinding together, trying to decipher my words.

"What… what do you want from me?"

"Want? Ah, Daoist Pan… You assume much."

Silence again.

Then, cautiously, he asked,

"Then why are you… in my mind?"

"Ah."

I sighed wistfully.

"Why does the wind blow? Why do the stars shine? Why does the river flow ceaselessly toward the sea?"

"THAT DOESN’T ANSWER ANYTHING!"

"Doesn’t it?"

Another silence.

I could feel the

frustration

. The

despair

. The

helplessness

.

Pan Xia was grasping at understanding—trying to ground himself in reality, only to find the ground had been

pulled out from under him

.

Good.

Let him

stew

. Let him

question

. Let him

doubt

.

I smiled faintly, outwardly maintaining my brooding sage act as I continued my silent monologue inside Pan Xia’s mind.

This was getting fun.

Too fun.

Fan Shi was barely hanging on by the skin of her teeth.

Jia Yun’s rampage had reached its peak—her movements were swift, her attacks relentless, her power overwhelming. Every time Fan Shi dodged, it was by the slimmest of margins. Every counterattack was met with force several times greater.

Yet, despite all that, Fan Shi endured.

Because 69 was far more capable than I had given him credit for.

I had fought opponents twenty levels above me before and barely managed to eke out a victory—but that was with

items

. That was with buffs, with potions, with some ridiculous game-breaking exploits that let me cheat the numbers.

This?

This was just

raw skill

.

And it was

awesome

.

I let out a quiet breath, keeping my posture still and composed—or rather, keeping

Pan Xia’s

posture still and composed. My mind, however, was racing. This was the first time I had seen Divine Possession work like this in

real life

.

If I had known it would be this effective, I would have used it sooner. I wanted to use it on Jiang Zhen as part of an experiment, but he suddenly forfeited.

I turned

Pan Xia’s

head, making sure his gaze locked onto my own body sitting across the way.

Pan Xia—or rather, the part of him still aware that

something was wrong

—was losing his mind.

“RELEASE ME! I AM A GRAND ELDER OF THE CLOUD MIST-”

"Shh."

I silenced him through Voice Chat, my voice calm.

"Pan Xia,"

I continued,

"I don’t like cheaters. I don’t like bullies. And I especially don’t like people who think they are above being fair."

His panic sharpened into pure terror.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about!"

he tried to lie.

"You’re not stupid. You know exactly what I’m talking about."

He couldn’t respond.

"This will be my only warning to you. While your reputation remains intact, I suggest you no longer stray from the righteous path."

And with a thought—

snap.

I severed the energy connection he had tied to Jia Yun.

Immediately, the transformation below unraveled.

Jia Yun’s body convulsed mid-attack. Her nine-tailed fox form flickered, the blue flames and icy mist dissipating in an instant. Her expression twisted in confusion, then horror.

Then, her body gave out.

With a dull

thud

, Jia Yun collapsed onto the arena floor, unconscious.

Fan Shi stood over her, victorious—but barely. Her body swayed slightly, her breathing ragged, but she remained on her feet.

And then—

I left Pan Xia’s body

.

I blinked, suddenly back in my own first-person perspective, my own hands resting where I had left them.

Across from me, Pan Xia sat frozen. His face had gone pale. His lips were slightly parted as if he wanted to say something—but no words came out.

Instead, he turned his head ever so slightly, glancing around, as if searching for something.

Good.

I had gone to

great lengths

to save him face.

Hopefully, he

heard

my warning loud and clear.

But knowing the xianxia genre…

I

really

couldn’t let my guard down.

Chances were, he didn’t even know it was me.

If he

suspected

, he’d never dare try to confirm it or confront me. If he did, it would probably be with the backing of his Sect—which I

doubted

he would have. After all,

I

basically had the backing of the Isolation Path Sect, though in name only.

That said, Pan Xia would also need

solid evidence

of what I just did.

There was no premise for him making trouble. No excuse.

Because everything that happened…

Happened

in his mind

.