Battle of Minds

This was Old Wang’s Mental World.

The entire world was tranquil, like the Zen Staff Forest amid the morning breeze and dew.

Whenever a Pandaren elder of the Wandering Isle sensed that their life was nearing its end, they would come to the Zen Staff Forest, plant their staff in the ground, and sit cross-legged beside it in meditation.

The staff would rapidly take root and sprout, then grow into a tree when the Pandaren elder finally died.

The elder’s soul would linger beside the tree, guarding it and merging with it as one.

That was the Zen Staff Forest.

The sacred land of the Wandering Isle.

It was the place etched most deeply into Old Wang’s memories, because Shang-Chi, the master who had set him on his path and taught him martial arts and wisdom, was there.

It was also there that Old Wang felt the spiritual will of generations of Pandaren elders, received their guidance and help, and communed with the super giant turtle Shen-zin Su for three days and three nights. That was how he rose to become a master Monk in less than two years, breaking a record the Pandaren race had held for over ten thousand years and laying a solid foundation for his later advancement to master and Grandmaster.

It was also there that Old Wang whisked away Ji Firepaw and Aisha Cloudsong, as well as the even more important little loli, Li Li Stormstout, and headed for the distant Eastern Kingdoms to begin his reckless journey to save Azeroth.

Old Wang’s Mental World upheld the Pandaren tradition: tranquil and peaceful, like a starry sky, like an abyss, like a windless sea without ripples, and even more like a silent ancient forest.

But now, darkness surrounded it on all sides, like a black sky.

A terrifying existence was invading.

As he looked at that black, shapeless monster and the pair of blood-red eyes at its forefront, filled with madness and primal desire, Old Wang recalled the sha demons he had seen when he arrived on the continent of Pandaria that year.

They were somewhat alike.

Both were magical creatures without physical forms, monsters filled with negative emotions. Both constantly influenced the bodies and minds of others, and both could even attach themselves to someone’s body and use them as a vessel…

Neither had a gender, nor did they care about gender. Male or female was fine; neither male nor female was fine too.

But they were also different.

Sha demons came in different types.

The Seven Sha were seven different sha demons: the Sha of Fear, Sha of Madness, Sha of Anger, Sha of Doubt, Sha of Despair, Sha of Hatred, and Sha of Pride. They represented seven different negative emotions. A sha demon usually possessed only one, and its influence on a "vessel" was likewise limited to one kind.

But the Beast was different.

What it stirred was the primal desire of its "vessel," its savage beastliness, the original sin of all living things, the primordial evil.

Once it successfully possessed someone, it could continuously absorb the sins of countless people in this world. The more people committed crimes, the stronger the power of the Beast’s descent became, and the stronger its beast nature grew.

The Seven Sha did not possess beast nature.

The Beast gave Old Wang a feeling more akin to the Wild Gods that represented natural life, more like Goldrinn, the wolf demigod who had dared to roar at the moon goddess.

That did not matter.

Because Old Wang was familiar with both the Seven Sha and Goldrinn.

He was familiar with every Wild God of Azeroth, even all the Loa demigods of the troll race. He had dealt with all of them.

When it came to banishing Loa gods who wanted to enter the physical world, sha demons possessing Taran Zhu or Garrosh Hellscream, or whatever else, Old Wang was highly experienced.

"Was it you who stopped me from taking her body and descending upon Earth?"

"A lowly insect like you dares stand before a great god?"

"Your only destination is death!"

A furious voice rang out. The blood-red eyes fixed upon Old Wang, and a beast claw covered in black fur swiped at him.

"This guy isn’t weak… Interesting!"

Old Wang smiled.

This was his Mental World.

The boundless darkness outside was the Beast’s Mental World.

The Beast’s Mental World was desperately suppressing and attacking Old Wang’s Mental World, while the black giant beast Old Wang saw was not the Beast’s true body.

It was merely a projection.

The power of a mere projection was already far beyond that of ordinary people. Power on this level was absolutely impossible for ordinary people to resist. No wonder Elektra, who had undergone Stick’s brutal training for more than ten years, had continually lost herself beneath the Beast’s lecherous tyranny, fallen completely, and ultimately merged with the Beast to become Black Sky.

However…

So what?

The Beast, which had not truly descended, could only borrow Elektra’s soul. The boundless darkness outside was the Beast’s Mental World, but the manifested black giant beast was actually Elektra’s nightmare illusion.

This was a contest of minds and a confrontation of souls, without any real power mixed into it.

And in this kind of confrontation, whoever had the more stable soul, the firmer will, the richer experience, and the more positions, was stronger.

This body had been listless for eighteen years. Even after cultivating in defiance of its nature and preserving its virginity, it was, even today, only comparable to a very ordinary Pandaren master Monk—like the elders of the Wandering Isle or the masters of Pandaria.

But the soul carried by this vessel of flesh

had received the blessings of numerous Dragon Aspects, Wild Gods, and Titan Keepers,

had continuously grown stronger through decades spanning three lives and three worlds,

had moved toward perfection through the joy and pain of countless unions of flesh and soul,

had been nurtured within the Life Cradle,

had strengthened its sense of self amid the torment of the Seven Sha,

had wandered like a demigod within the Emerald Dream, where time and space had no meaning,

had experienced epic, magnificent wars during the War of the Ancients amid the reversal of time,

and had received the blessings of every Titan but Sargeras within the Pantheon.

Just how powerful would such a soul and spirit be?

"You vile beast, how dare you?"

"Soul Split!"

His soul left his body, floating within the Mental World before continuously expanding.

When the black giant beast’s enormous black-furred claw reached toward him, Old Wang was as small as the fungus on its nail;

but when that giant claw reached Old Wang, the black giant beast was as pitifully tiny as the white of Old Wang’s nail.

"Surprised? Didn’t expect that, did you?"

You thought I was just a slightly chubby young man who had only turned eighteen?

Sorry, but my soul is stronger than you can imagine, my experiences richer than anything you have known, my figure rounder than you ever noticed, and my positions are…

In another world!

Old Wang reached out, grabbed the black giant beast as though catching an ant,

then squeezed.

He crushed it.

The boundless darkness swiftly retreated.

Yet an even more terrifying pair of blood-red eyes appeared in the darkness, separated from him by an unknowable distance of time and space.

"I will return!"

"You cannot stop me!"

"Even if you kill this little girl, you cannot stop me, because there are many Black Skies in this world!"

"Even killing every Black Sky will be useless."

"As long as sin and beast nature remain in this world, Black Sky will continue to be born."

"I will descend eventually!"

The darkness vanished completely. Starlight glittered all around him, formed from the merged stars of three lives and three worlds. It represented the cosmic starry sky within Old Wang’s subconscious, as well as his longing to return home.

"Descend?"

"Then come."

"The next time you come, don’t leave."

"I have experience dealing with things like you."

He shook his head with a smile.

"Mmm… ah…"

A moan sounded, calling Old Wang back to reality.

Thanks to Great Spinnaker, Ziyuan882, Messy Leon, and Godfather of Tomorrow for the 100 rewards!