The Dawn of the New World

The scaly shell holding Nidhora's soul shard collapsed the moment he came to. It melted in the blink of an eye and was absorbed into the ground soon after, leaving Hao Xuan standing alone in the valley.

He let out a deep breath and replied after a brief moment, carefully choosing his words.

"I'm...just a little tired. It's fine."

Baracus realized something was up and pushed for answers, "A cultivator's spiritual energy is directly affected by their state of mind. A change could mean-"

But Hao Xuan was having none of it and he immediately cut Baracus off.

"Tell me something. When I severed your core back in the lab, I ordered you to tell me the truth no matter what. Isn't that right?"

"...."

"Affirmative."

"So you wouldn't lie to me, right? You wouldn't deceive me?"

"Affirmative. The system's only function is to support the host to the best of its abilities. The main objective is, and always has been, to prioritize the host's physical and mental health."

"Hmm. And who decides that? Who decides what's good for me? What's in MY best interest?"

"The system has predefined parameters for every possible scenario."

"So you decide it then, right? You chose what is good and bad for me?"

"Affirmative."

"Hmm," Hao Xuan nodded thoughtfully, "About the Orcs. Are you sure you didn't miss anything? Maybe about the timeline or the events?"

"Negative. The system downloaded the complete dataset."

"And it was not corrupted or broken?"

"Affirmative."

"Okay then. That's all there is to it."

Hao Xuan turned around and began making his way back without saying another word.

In the meantime Baracus's mainframe automatically erased several lines of code to create a new configuration. None of these changes were visible to Hao Xuan.

-[Scenario 8.6.6.9 Reached]-

[Updating Parameters]

-[Bypassing Scenario 8.6.7.0]-

[Parameters Updated]

[Establishing Contextural Timeline]

-[Initializing Scenario 8.6.7.1]-

[Host State Primed for Omega Varient]

[Commencing Final Countdown]

***

Hao Xuan reached the mountain passageway and by the time he stumbled out all he could think about was the conversation he had had with Nidhora. Her words rang ever so loudly in his mind.

'The Orcs did not betray you. It was the humans they brought from the splinter world that schemed with one another to take control of the cities once they realized that you were not coming back. The war indeed took place between the Orcen and humankind but their loyalty to you was unbroken until the very end'

"What?! That's not possible, I saw Altron's recording myself. He was clear that it was all caused by Arthur's son Lucious. He was the one that started all this."

'Human, tell me, who showed you this truth?'

"Baracus. He is an advanced AI that gained sentience. I have complete control over him."

'Do you? Then according to him, what happened to the Orcs after the war?'

"There were four wars, not one. And by the end of the last war there was no one left alive."

'I know not why this creature deceives you, only that it does. The war took place between us, your followers, and the humans they had brought over. Once you leave the valley go to the place where the 'Death Mold' is born. You will find the proof there'

**

"Death Mold?" Hao Xuan whispered, that name was familiar to him.

He had never seen it before in person, only heard of it in another lifetime. A spiritual herb that grows on corpses when the soul cannot move on.

It was called the 'Death Mold' or 'Everlasting Grass'.

He recited everything he could remember.

"Long silver blades akin to ordinary grass. Can burrow underground and move at exceptional speeds. When left in dark places they create their own lights either blue or white in color depending on the type of soul that was absorbed. Shy and extremely skittish. But most importantly-"

He knelt down to touch one of the silver grass herbs that was identical to his descriptions, "-They are known to retain strong emotions of the soul they are born from and can even recognize people the soul had a connection with while it was intact."

As expected the Silver Grass Herb did not run away or hide from him. In fact, it reached out with its leaves to gently hold his hand.

Hao Xuan's expression softened greatly as he whispered, "Did I know you? Where you one of them?"

But the herb did not appear to understand him and could only caress his hand lovingly.

He stood up and followed the path back up to the place he had arrived from, all the while keeping an eye out for any place that would stick out.

'They are born from the corpses so a grave or wherever they were buried. It can't be too far from-'

Just when he reached the starting area something caught his eye. There was a whole host of herbs spread around the mountainside in a unique formation.