The Dawn of the New World



The cavern fell silent.

Hao Xuan was the only one left standing, staring unblinkingly at the pile of ashes that, until just a few seconds ago, was one of the brightest and kindest people that he had ever come across.

He couldn't believe she was gone just like that- No, he didn't want to. Too much had been done, far too much. The whole reason for coming to this planet was for her, to unite her with Ryfon and her real family but now....now Ma Jiang was dead and Ryfon had probably met the same fate along with his sister, her mother.

Everything he had gone through, all the pain and suffering that he had endured was, all of a sudden, for nothing. His thoughts were a mess and he couldn't even hear when Baracus spoke up.

*beep*

"Skfurhs hFyhsiftn edigjns fhewutrng dhfuentgi byurfgjyikn."

The words didn't make sense, nothing did for a brief moment until he felt the soul bond waver and looked down to see Zhurong's terrible condition. He was barely breathing.

"Can you hear me? The spiritual beast named 'Zhurong' is in dire straits and requires immediate attention!"

"I know," Hao Xuan whispered and sat down on the spot. He closed his eyes to send the spiritual threads inside his body to examine in more detail.

"He has used up too much vitality, there is nothing I can do with some actual medicine," Hao Xuan quickly concluded.

As his mind began to return Hao Xuan remembered the object Ma Jiang had handed to him in secret. He took it out to inspect.

It was a white marble about five centimeters in diameter that gave off a faint chill.

"It's a spiritual core from a very powerful beast. She must have been saving this until the end."

"Or perhaps it was meant for the creature named Zhurong."

"Un, probably. Knowing her it would be. I'll try-"

Hao Xuan channeled a small portion of the Chaos Qi toward his hand and surrounded the beast's core with it. As expected it began to melt and purified spiritual energy began pouring out in all directions.

It was so much in fact that the temperature of the entire cavern dropped by several degrees in an instant.

Hao Xuan held it over Zhurong and at first most of it entered his tiny little form but it couldn't be contained and leaked out soon after.

"It doesn't work, he's too weak to refine or convert it himself," Hao Xuan mumbled in a daze.

"Then the host should absorb the energy so it does not go to waste."

"Ok," Hao Xuan opened himself up and allowed the energy to wash over him.

The process was slow at first because the Chaos Qi was actively working against it and trying to drive it out of his body but when it reached his mind palace something clicked and all the energy was guzzled up within seconds.

Hao Xuan didn't have to do much of anything as the concentrated energy found the most compatible source and immediately rushed in of its own volition.

His eyes felt lighter and somehow more durable by the end of it.

"Oh, [Umbra] leveled up again," he commented casually.

*beep*

"No physical abnormalities detected. Are you okay?"

Hao Xuan was brushing his fingers through Zhurong's pure white fur, almost fixated on the singed patch on his belly.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little...cold. I kind of feel like I'm flying...like I'm in a dream floating through space."

"That is a natural response in some humans when faced with extreme trauma. Would you like to talk about it?"

Hao Xuan shrugged nonchalantly, "Talk about what? How she chose to die as a free woman on her own terms rather than live a long life as someone else's prisoner? What's there to talk about?"

He looked down at his hands in a daze, "Are you sure I am awake? This is all real?"

"Affirmative."

"But how can you tell? Everything would make sense if I was still in a comma or asleep somewhere and this was just a terrible nightmare."

"It is not a dream. The host simply does not like how the events are unfolding and is trying to come up with a different explanation. You must accept things as they are to move on."

Hao Xuan looked down at Zhurong's helpless little body, "Accept things as they are? That means he is probably not going to make it either then, huh?"

"It is likely. The creature has lost too much vitality and without some medicine that could replenish it, it would not be possible for it to make a full recovery."

"Okay," Hao Xuan nodded. He stood up and ran his hands through Zhurong's fur one last time before sending him to the Mind Palace, "Then I must move on right? Do what needs to be done, push it all down until I can't feel anything. That sounds like a good idea."