The Dawn of the New World



"You lie, manipulate and distort the truth to bend people to your twisted will. I passed him your maps but this was the last time, I will not allow him to fall for your tricks again. He will get to know the whole truth the next time we meet..."

***

Hao Xuan walked out of the illusion array surrounding the ruins and quickly summoned Grey while pouring some Qi into the stone disk to activate the map. Time was of the essence so Zhurong and Ma Jiang came first.

The rays of blue and red light came out of the inscriptions on the stone disk to create a full 3D virtual map in front of him.

"It's not that far," Hao Xuan happily muttered, "We can be there in less than ten minutes."

He was about to put the disk away but changed his mind at the last second and decided to check the other map too. Following the same method, the lights illuminated a second area but it shared a lot of similarities to the first one.

"Wait a second," he opened the other one at the same time and noticed that most of the areas were overlapping, "They are located around the same mountain! The place where Ceni is being kept is much larger so it has to be the size of a small city and if I'm not wrong, that would be their main base."

"This other one is a very secluded spot around the back of the mountain. This is where Feng Huang should be. With some luck there might even be a path connecting the two so I can just enter the city afterwards without much trouble."

*beep*

"Will host be visiting the hatching pits before venturing into the enemy's camp?"

"No, not enough time," Hao Xuan immediately shook his head while peering into the distance, "I can barely feel Zhurong anymore, he can't last much longer. We must hurry!"

He jumped on Grey's back and passed on the directions while channeling a good ten percent of his internal energy over for the journey, "As fast you can, no need to hide your presence until we are close."

*Neigh* x2

The Chaos energy rampaged through Grey's body in a blind frenzy.

The green word of power underneath Grey's hooves lit up as he pushed against the ground to propel him forward at breakneck speed. They broke through the sound barrier with a defeating boom before doubling their speed seconds later once again.

Since Hao Xuan had finally allowed him to run free Grey stopped holding back altogether and used every iota of strength at his disposal.

The ground split into two while the nearby trees were pulled out by their roots from the immense air pressure.

Even Hao Xuan had to lower his head as much as possible and hold Grey close in a bear hug when the surrounding pressure became too much to handle, not to mention the heat.

The surroundings turned into a blur just as the automatic warnings came flooding in.

[Temperature Exceeding Nominal Limits]

[Anatomical Acceleration Surpassing Physique Restrictions]

[Physical Deterioration Expected in 40 Standard Seconds]

[Current Speed: 6215 Km/h]

'GREY, SLOW DOWN!' he ordered through spiritual sense but the words fell on deaf ears.

Grey was far too engrossed in the moment to pay attention to anything else. All Hao Xuan could do was grit his teeth and wait, which wasn't very long.

Less than 30 seconds later he began to deaccelerate before slowing coming to a full stop. All six of his legs buckled simultaneously and Grey fell to the ground while panting heavily.

Hao Xuan jumped off ready to throw a few well-deserved curses at him but immediately changed his mind upon seeing Grey's dire condition.

Veins were protruding from underneath his skin while bloody red mists were snorted out with every breath. Hao Xuan placed his hand over Grey's abdomen and sent in the spiritual threads for a more detailed inspection.

*beep*

Even Baracus spoke up after a quick scan, "Several abnormalities detected within the equine subject's bloodstream."

"Yeah I know, there is damage to his muscles and many internal organs. Tsk, it was the chaos energy! It boosted his strength and speed beyond limits but at a great cost," brushing his hand through grey's mane he apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't know it would be this bad. Go back and rest, I've got this now."

He was too tired to even respond so Hao Xuan quickly recalled him back within the main meridian where he would be bathed in the purest spiritual energy before it was converted into Chaos Qi.

The ten-minute-long journey had barely lasted for a minute which was great.

"At least something good came out of it," Hao Xuan mumbled while examining the surroundings.

He was in a barren mountainous region surrounded by peaks on all sides. Taking out the stone disk he opened the map again to check his exact location.

"Should be just over that hill," he mumbled looking straight ahead.