“A - apologies? ” Jason was stunted for a moment, then he asked with a confused frown: “For what?”

“For - well, let me lay this out first - ” Jianmen sighed and sat back slightly: “When you came back, there were some traces of energy that remained on you, and the angry voice you mentioned. I didn’t tell you a lot about it since you needed the rest. But now that you are out, and you are on the fourth tier, I think you are more than ready for this piece of information ...”

“He’s some kind of evil god, isn’t he?” Jason scratched his head and asked.

“Hmm, so I don’t have to tell you.” Jianmen smiled: “Well done. How did you know?”

“Well, we both saw you fight that evil shadow in the sky in San Francisco.. There was something about … you know, Godhood that you just cannot quite forget once you encountered it.” Caroline chuckled: “Am I right, Jason?”

“Yeah, half right.” Jason shook his head: “The other half was that when I heard the void, I got a strange feeling about the one who conveyed the voice to me - not exactly the feeling you gave us when we saw you fight that shadow, but something that was similarly - well, mysterious.”

“That is the feeling of ‘Dao’, or ‘path’, something you will need to find one for yourself someday.” Jianmen answered: “But we can continue with the Godhood lesson another day - what I would like to express to you, Jason, is that I did something I should have told you before.”

“What?” Jason sat back on his chair, he stayed silent for about half a minute, then asked: “You went and contacted him, didn’t you? And if I understood the situation correctly, you wanted to pull him on our side, when that ‘war’ comes. Am I right?”

Caroline was slightly surprised, but then she realized that this theory actually made quite a lot of sense - strategic wise.

“Yes, that is indeed what I did.” Jianmen sighed and nodded at Jason: “And I am sorry for that. I am going to tell you that I would do it again, but I should have told you.”

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Jason signed, took a deep breath and looked up, then he asked with a calm but repressed voice: “Did he agree? Is he gonna be on our side?”

“That fucking coward of a god hasn’t got back to me yet.” Jianmen shook his head: “So I am assuming no. And the more I got to know about her, the less faith I have in any potential alliance with him. So, if he came back to me with a yes, I would just keep him around but treat him as a betrayal risk and a spy.”

“Okay, okay, good, good. I wouldn’t trust anyone like that.” Jason let out a long exhale in relief, then he looked Jianmen straight in the eyes and asked: “And Boss, please be frank with me - if I want to kill him, which tier should I be on?”

“If you want to beat him to a pulp, you just need to be on the fifth tier. Hell, you can probably beat him once you’ve stabilized your power and maybe gained a little progress, and you are not within his realm or kingdom. This bastard has surprisingly not recovered that much from the last time I dealt with him.” Jianmen answered: “But killing a god is not that easy, even a fallen God whose conduit you sliced in half like a sandwich bun in the crossover limbo. It’s something to do with Godhood, even a broken Godhood. But I can teach you how to actually destroy Godhood if you really intend to learn. It’s not some kind of forbidden knowledge, but it’s still heavy stuff.”

“Okay, Boss, thanks for telling me that. We’re good. And I totally understand, you need allies.” Jason nodded: “I want to learn that someday, and I want to destroy him someday. Or at least bash him back into his hole.”

“Woah, Jason getting hard.” Caroline joked: “Can I sign up for that class too, Boss?”

“Okay, god killing lessons it is.” Jianmen laughed in relief: “But you’re gonna have to cultivate harder, because those are only okay for you to take when you’re one tier higher. Alright? Don’t be hasty with the nastier arts of cultivation.”

“So, Boss.” Caroline poured herself some more tea: “Who’s this evil fallen god? And what’s with this ‘fallen’ business?”

“Godfalls, THE mystery of millenia.” Jianmen shook his head: “I don’t have that answer - yet. But I think it’s safe and prudent to let you know that this is something that happens - Gods, and powerful power wielders, including cultivators, can sometimes fall from power due to unknown circumstances. And this particular god, a really treacherous and cowardly one at that, his name is Hoztang. And apparently, he likes to pull stuff like inspiring his believers to run cults and have his believers do a lot of his dirty work for him. He even had a lot of dealings with lycans and vampires as far as I know. And just like fate, I found out that I have actually encountered him before, thanks to the notebook you had in your pocket, Jason.”

“Holy - it’s the same god you brought down in that story of yours?” Caroline almost laughed out loud: “Ain’t that just funny.”

“Yeah. He’s still operating here, after I sent him packing last time.” Jianmen said: “I was pretty weak back then, so it looks like I didn’t do enough damage to scare him away. And Jason, that main boss - I mean the big bad guy from that crossover limbo, was his conduit. And conduits are like a special kind of zealot, who have opened their minds and souls completely to the will and decree of the gods. The fight you had, was not just with the man given the fallen god’s power, you actually fought a small part of the god himself.”