The Dawn of the New World

Xue Meng could only shake his head in silence watching Tian Zheng overreact and fall apart before the fight even began.

'What weak spirit. To be broken by mere words, can you even call yourself a warrior? Tsk.'

The more he came to know of him the guiltier he felt about ever helping him in all this. But he had made a promise and-

'What is a man if not his word?'

*Sigh*

Looking over at Hao Xuan's haggard appearance and the pain he was going through made it that much more difficult to do what he had to. But at least he could make sure it would be swift.

His grip tightened around the saber, 'Come on kid, strike, just one attack.'

But Hao Xuan had no such plans, although if he could stick to them was another thing.

Tian Zheng had completely lost it. He was going off on him about wanting respect and knowing one's place but Hao Xuan couldn't give less of a shit.

He spread out the spiritual sense in all directions and as expected found all exits to be covered or completely missing as was the case in the back.

Looking back in its direction he could vaguely make out two large figures hiding within the shadow of the valley. The only reason he could even see their outline was because of his lycan bloodline but it was his physique that helped identify them.

The feeling he got from them was very similar to the Puer he had fought back in the pit.

'Demons, true demons. Summoned to our plane? He is a summoner? I could easily kill him before he can command them. Once the tether is broken they would either be sent back to where they came from or set free. Either way, I won't have to worry about them much.'

'But if I attack Tian Zheng Xue Meng will attack me and...I can't defend against that. Tsk, this needs to end quickly.'

Hao Xuan was running out of ideas. He tried to summon a sever but his mind palace was still locked down.

He could only depend on himself for this one.

Hao Xuan drew in a deep breath to regulate his breathing just as Tian Zheng's tirade came to an end.

"Are you done? Or is there still more you want to bitch about?"

An ugly black vein revealed itself on his forehead when Tian Zheng grit his teeth. It snaked down the left side of his face creating a symbol of a clawed beast that was striking down.

Every time it pulsed a malevolent aura exploded from within his body forcing Grey to back up several steps.

Hao Xuan's eyes narrowed to slits upon sensing the sudden change in his demeanor after the vein revealed itself.

'He has been marked by a greater demon? No wonder he can't control himself!'

He was more or less at the mercy of his emotions which were greatly influenced by his connection to whichever demon that had marked him.

But perhaps even more surprising was that Xue Meng seemed to be already aware of this fact. And for some strange reason, it made Hao Xuan quite disappointed.

He shook his head glancing at Xue Meng's rigid figure, "No wonder it does not accept you. You bring shame to your predecessors."

To someone in Xue Meng's realm it was not easy to be fazed by empty words but every time Hao Xuan spoke about the blade he felt like it was coming from a senior of his.

'He doesn't know what he is talking about,' Xue Meng told himself again and again but deep down he was beginning to falter.

His instincts were screaming at him to listen even though it made no sense.

Tian Zheng's appearance continued to change and within seconds he was nothing like his previous self. The handsome young master of a noble clan was replaced by a bony figure almost twice his previous size.

Sunken cheeks and dark circles around his eyes made it appear as if he had not eaten or slept in weeks. The arms were disproportionately longer than the rest of his body and the fingers looked like they belonged to something else entirely.

Pitch black and ending in claw-like hooks, they scraped the ground even while he was standing upright.

But it was his aura that had seen the most significant change. There was nothing human about it anymore.

His yellow pupils slowly focused on Hao Xuan's shaking figure.

"I want you to feel every kind of pain there is," he spoke in a gruff voice.

Hao Xuan scoffed, "And how will you do that?"

He still wasn't afraid of him even after the change in his appearance. If he truly was a summoner then Hao Xuan could easily overpower him.

But to his surprise, Tian Zheng's elongated arm shot out and pierced the back of the undead creature below him.

It screamed and squirmed in pain as he fished for something for a few seconds before digging out a still-beating heart from within its body.