THE GOD EATER

As they flew through the air, Loki asked in surprise, ”Is flight possible here? I thought there was a ban on flight in the third heaven, and it was impossible to do.”

The guardian responded with a light smile on their hidden face, ”Of course, flying is possible. You’re just not strong enough to fly.”

”The rule of thumb is that if you can’t do something, it is not that it is impossible to do. It is that you’re not strong enough.”

Hearing this, Loki nodded in understanding and said respectfully, ”Your words are pearls of wisdom that have broadened my mind.”

On the surface, he was calm and seemed to have let go of most of his fear towards this powerful figure.

Meanwhile, he was thinking to himself, ’I wonder what they want. If I can’t give them what they want, I’ll be screwed.’

In response to his thoughts, the guardian said, ”I have a question for you. Did you see a great being as the manifestation of your pathway after you became a Dao Lord?”

Loki answered in a confused voice, ”What great being?”

The guardian was looking at him skeptically, but they still explained patiently, ”Think carefully before you answer. It should be a great being in the form of a black hole. It should be a black hole large beyond compare.”

Loki’s eyes lit up as he said, ”That sounds impressive.”

Then he shook his head and said, ”Unfortunately, I saw no such being.”

His words made the guardian become silent and stare at him with eyes of intense scrutiny. He didn’t know it, but the guardian’s spirit was scouring his inner world and Cave Heaven to see if he was lying or not.

The inspection lasted a full three seconds, during which the guardian was completely silent. This behavior caused the fear that he had previously restrained to slip out of control and begin running around in his mind.

After a while, the guardian asked him, saying, ”Are you sure you didn’t see anything? Is it possible that you forgot?”

Loki, in a bid to satisfy this powerful being, immediately said in reply, ”I’m sure that if I had seen something, I would have remembered.”

His reply further confused the guardian, who said uncertainly, ”You don’t seem to be lying. It seems it didn’t really happen.”

”Should it have happened? Should I have seen that great being? Is something wrong? Am I in danger?” Loki asked in fright.

He was so afraid that he fired off a series of questions one after the other. He would have continued to ask more questions if the guardian had not interrupted him.

”Enough questions. There is nothing wrong. In fact, it is a good thing what happened to you.”

When he heard this, Loki relaxed visibly and said, ”That’s good. That’s very good to hear.”

The guardian was still suspicious, though. They were looking at him skeptically as they said, ”Do you know why your Devouring Supreme Metac became a Cosmic Dao?”

”I don’t know exactly,” he said as he shook his head. ”It should be a Grand Dao. But it changed and became a Cosmic Dao when I was advancing. That great force that descended on me did the upgrade.”

Inwardly, he thought, ”Why are they asking all of these questions? What good will come out of it? Am I answering the questions well, or should I prepare to wash my neck in preparation for a clean beheading?”

Amused, the guardian chuckled and said in encouragement, ”Don’t worry. You’re doing well so far.”

Then they asked, ”Do you know why you have ten godheads?”

Loki’s heart sank when he heard this question. But he quickly recovered his composure as he thought, ’As expected, they saw right through me. I really have nothing to hide in the presence of this great being.’

Outwardly, he said, ”I was very surprised when I condensed the ten godheads. After all, I didn’t have the qualifications to have ten godheads. I just thought I was lucky.”

The guardian nodded as they said, ”Indeed, you shouldn’t have had ten godheads. But you did because the grand will of the universe thought highly of you and was willing to invest more in your growth.”

”What you’ve achieved and how you’ve achieved it is very rare in the universe. It is so rare that fewer than 100 in the history of the universe have ever managed to achieve it. That’s a great achievement.”

As they were talking, a subtle force emanated from the guardian’s body, freezing the world around them. Loki was close to the guardian, so he was under the influence of this force and was frozen in place, unable to move.

His thoughts could still operate under the influence of this force, so he thought, ”Oh no. What have I done wrong? Is this the end for me?”

As soon as the guardian heard his thoughts, they chuckled and retracted the pressure they were exerting on their surroundings with their spirit.

Then they said, ”It is time for that favor I wanted to ask you. I have come to ask you to help me produce an offspring for my race. What do you say?”

Loki was unnerved to hear this request, but he didn’t hesitate to say, ”I’ll be glad to help you with anything.”

The way he replied without thinking made the guardian laugh, saying, ”Hahaha. It seems Black Chain did a number on you.”

”You have learned to recognize your place without the need to be compelled by force. I hope your son will be as discerning as you are.”

Loki took this as a compliment and bowed as he said, ”Thank you for the compliment, sir.”

”It seems I have nothing to worry about,” the guardian said as they brought out a big black egg with their left hand.

Then they presented the egg to him, saying with a serious voice, ”Touch it and don’t take your hand away from it no matter what happens.”