The Dawn of the New World



Hao Xuan had barely walked a few meters when the horrifying sounds started to pour in.

*Craaaack*

*Squeelch*

"Ahhhh!"

He paused and looked back to catch a glimpse of a silhouette crawling through the miasma.

"Baracus, can you see that? Do you hear those screams?" he asked uncertainly.

*Beep*

In the background the sensors were picking up everything that was happening around Hao Xuan but that was not the answer he got.

"Negative."

"...You don't hear those howling screams?"

"Negative. Perhaps the miasma has hallucinogenic properties."

"No...it must be in my head then," he muttered while taking one last look at the corpses trying to claw their way out.

He turned away with a solemn expression, "Play something. Drown out these noises," and started moving deeper into the miasma.

[Searching Records...]

"There is a recording of a 'poem' saved within the recent downloads, from the individual named Arthur."

"Arthur?! He wrote a poem? Play it..."

Arthur's voice came through, thankfully pushing all other sounds to the back of his mind. This must have been at a later stage in his life judging from his aged voice.

'I am a little drenched in this rain of life,

A little parched from the heat of her tests.

I am looking for a shadow to rest under,

From the difficulties that keep coming my way,' the first verse went.

Hao Xuan's steps slowed but didn't stop, "Maybe the screams were better off. This just-"

Baracus didn't wait for him and continued playing the next verse as he traversed the mounds of corpses.

'I am a flickering candle under the skirt of a hurricane,

And you are a wandering stranger from another world, what would you know of my troubles?'

Only then he stopped to ask for confirmation, "Should the system find another piece?"

"No, it's fine. If I don't listen to him then who will? Keep playing."

Accompanied by the voice of a long-dead comrade Hao Xuan crawled up the mountainside and reached the area where all the fire spirits were.

As their name suggested they did not have a physical form just yet. They held vague humanoid figures shaped by the thoughts and fire energy around them. Without an enemy to fight they simply roamed the area aimlessly. (Reference Image posted in Author's notes and in discord)

Hovering just half a meter above ground they gave off so much light that it illuminated the entire area for hundreds of meters. Many of them did not even have feet and were floating ethereal figures skating on the raw Yang Energy.

One of the fire spirits that was closest to the edge stopped and slowly turned towards the edge where a new figure stood. It drifted a little closer and upon sensing the vitality that was oozing off of him it immediately became active.

The wisps of flame cupping its upper body expanded to four times their size increasing in not only force but also intensity. But before it could attack the figure abruptly looked into its eyes while uttering the words 'Second Gaze'.

That X-shaped pattern was the last thing it saw before the figure vanished. (CH 1291)

The fire spirit looked around in confusion for a few seconds but gave up soon after and returned to its previous docile state.

With [Umbra] active no one could detect Hao Xuan's presence as he openly walked through the scorched grounds. Arthur's voice continued to echo through his ears while he made a mental note of every single human cultivator that stood guard here.

They were even more susceptible to [Umbra] than the fire spirits because of their developed consciousness so there was no way they could pick up on it.

There was only one entrance into the mountain which was guarded by two of the most powerful cultivators. They were both at the First Stage of the Profound Realm but their energies were highly unstable.

Hao Xuan paused for a moment to look at them a little closer. They were natives of this world, not part of the group that came from the Beast World.

They wore black robes embroidered with gold all over. From their appearances alone it was obvious they had never worked a day in their lives, probably part of some royal clans that once existed on the surface before deciding to join hands with Dai Zhi.

From this close up he could feel the wavering Qi flows within their bodies. Dai Zhi must have used some treasure to forcefully increase their cultivation but the price for such a miracle was their future and vitality.

Not only would they never be able to increase their cultivation but if they ever lost control it would destroy them in an instant.

***

Author's Notes:

All images are posted in the Official Discord.

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