The Dawn of the New World

It almost felt like it was alive. Hao Xuan could feel it carefully sinking down his gullet and upon reaching his stomach the hunger pangs came to an abrupt stop.

His stomach could be seen visibly expanding by almost three times which left Hao Xuan briefly concerned.

"Are you sure this is safe? I feel like I'm gonna blow any second."

*beep*

"This is normal."

"...What, no other explanation?"

"None that Host would understand with his limited knowledge."

"Thank you for calling me stupid, mom."

With a roll of his eyes Hao Xuan closed off the connection with Baracus for the moment to focus on something much more important, the red ruby.

He had been holding it in his hand all this time but the intense heat that came with the first one wasn't there at all. Its size was a little smaller and the shape just as random but when Hao Xuan held it up to his eye the most significant difference appeared to be the little worm swimming inside of it.

It was dark grey rather than white like the last one.

"So...if I use my spiritual sense to break through the outer shell and absorb it then the Capra Demon's ability will become mine?"

As he was eyeing the worm Hao Xuan couldn't help but get a little greedy. Suddenly finding out that he could collect demonic abilities like they were stamps made it that much harder to waste even one but-

*sigh*

"For science...I guess. I have to know what breaking it forcefully does."

Hao Xuan was a little worried that it may backfire in some strange way or worse, explode in his face but it needed to be done regardless. His instincts were telling him to try it at least once and this was not a feeling he could put off that easily so his only option was to be extra cautious.

He got up with some effort and began looking around for a particularly dense thicket. Upon finding something that suited his needs Hao Xuan took out the hammer and dug a half-meter-deep hole.

He picked up the ruby again and shoved his hand into the hole. This way the damage would at least be somewhat restricted.

After taking a couple of deep breaths Hao Xuan closed his eyes and began to slowly tighten his grip around the ruby. He pushed back against the barrier surrounding the ruby and after almost ten seconds it cracked along with the ruby's surface.

It was so sudden that he didn't even have time to stop exerting pressure before it burst open into countless tiny shards. Akin to a glass sculpture being thrown off a roof the ruby turned into red dust almost immediately and the grey worm resting comfortably inside it was squashed into nothingness.

The explosion Hao Xuan was expecting and had prepared for did not come but the moment the grey worm was killed an energy beam shot up his arm and straight into the Mind Palace.

Hao Xuan's consciousness was pulled in automatically and he appeared standing in front of the podium just in time to physically witness the energy beam shooting into the oval emerald that was in the middle of the lectern.

And as it did so Hao Xuan could feel the energy washing over him in a wave from top to bottom. The dull and unclear green emerald shinned with a new luster and when the light faded a moment later not only was it a little bit brighter but also clearer than before.

Hao Xuan bent down to inspect it more carefully and he could feel the changes taking place inside of it as his finger brushed over it.

"It got stronger! I can feel it!"

He quickly got back up on his feet and opened his eyes back in the physical world to test it out. He channeled the ability like before with Grey in mind and the moment he closed his eyes Hao Xuan could see him.

Before he could only see through Grey's eyes but now Hao Xuan was looking down at him from an over-the-shoulder point of view (POV). He could see everything around him at a 270-degree angle and it was much clearer and a lot more precise.

And when he thought about it the POV changed and he could again see in first-person directly through Grey's eyes.

Not only that but he was also able to feel what Grey was feeling even without using the power of the soul-bond between them.

"It feels like I can see into his heart," Hao Xuan mumbled out loud.

*beep*

"Change in spiritual energy detected."

Baracus spoke up inquiring as to the source and reason for this new development. Hao Xuan let out a deep breath, the corner of his lips slowly curving upwards.

"I can use demonic cores to strengthen my other abilities, that's what changed."