The Dawn of the New World

*Khuk*

*Cough*Cough*

Upon hearing Hao Xuan's unexpected 'query', Ryfon actually chocked on his own saliva and looked like at him like he was an alien, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

Hao Xuan smirked, satisfied with the reaction. He waved his hand as if shooing away a stray, "Relax, I was kidding. But whether he is a god or a devil, I couldn't care less. You dragged me into this so I'm going to do it my way."

Although still not pleased with Hao Xuan's attitude, Ryfon decided not to pursue the topic either. He took out a small token from his storage ring and threw it to Hao Xuan.

"This is your identity token."

Hao Xuan inspected it. It had one eye engraved at the front with rays of light surrounding it and two vertical lines at the back. Hao Xuan had seen this eye before.

"Eye of Providence?' he mumbled.

Ryfon nodded, "Yes, so you know of it? It's the academy's symbol, the All-Seeing-Eye."

"Where does it come from? This symbol? I've...seen it before..."

"Seen it before? Outside of the academy? Where?"

"In a farm planet. There were a lot of conspiracies about it."

"For example?"

"That it belonged to a secret organization that controlled the entire world, for example. Is the Academy the only organization that uses this symbol?"

Hao Xuan's interest was peaked. Seeing imagery from earth brought back a lot of memories. He still remembered having a few spirited conversations with a few people online whether this was true or not. Hao Xuan wasn't really sold on the idea.

Ryfon looked up at the carriage's ceiling while recalling a few things about it.

"Although I'm not sure about this, but there are rumors that other than the three clans, there is another party in charge of the academy. The eye is supposed to be their symbol."

Hao Xuan sat up straight, "Which party? Another Clan?"

Ryfon looked like he didn't want to answer but seeing Hao Xuan's expectant face and looking at the current situation, he decided to answer. He snapped his fingers and the carriage windows closed and a barrier appeared them both.

"There is no proof of this but some say that the Eye of Providence is the symbol for an old God, one of the Nine Great Gods of heaven, the God of Wisdom. Again, it's all just hearsay but we do have a rather good relationship with the Heavenly Kingdoms."

"Hmm..."

'Another god?'

He hadn't really heard a lot about gods in this world. Not to mention that people here weren't very religious to begin with so Hao Xuan thought gods weren't such a big deal. Since they were already on the topic, he decided to ask a few more questions.

"These gods, are they the same as us? What's so special about them?"

Ryfon shook his head. If at all possible he didn't want to talk about this topic but it looked like that's all Hao Xuan wanted.

"There are different types of gods. Some are born as mortals and later achieved divinity, while some are born as Divine Beings. The second type are called 'True Gods'. Two different paths, the same final destination. Their powers are absolute and are in line with the natural laws."

"Gods have their own cultivation methods and most of their bodies are completely different from ours as well. They feed off of the prayers of 'lower beings' like us and become stronger. So the more followers a god has, the stronger his or her power becomes."

"The relationship between cultivators and Gods is very complicated. On the Beast World and the surrounding Origin Planets, their reach is very limited. This is done on purpose by the Ancients so as to limit the Heaven's powers to a certain degree and keep control. But once you get away from the Origin Planets, you'll start to see a lot more devout followers of all sorts of gods-"

"Wait wait!" Hao Xuan quickly interjected. This was another thing he wanted to ask for a long time now.

"What are the Origin Planets exactly?"

*Sigh*

"You're killing me here dude," Ryfon lowered his head, about to start crying.

"Come on, don't be such a baby," Hao Xuan kicked his leg but got no response. After about 20 seconds of silence, Ryfon spoke without looking up.

"The universe is divided into two parts. What we have explored, and what we have yet to explore. What we have explored is only about 17% of the total universe but that percentage keeps shrinking since the universe is expanding non-stop."

"The Origin Planets are located in the center of the explored territory. They are the safest place in the universe for us. They are overseen and protected by the Ancients who are the strongest Cultivators among us. The Origin planets and their surrounding moons are used to train the main forces of the Ancients and once you go outside of that protected area, things start to become a lot more dangerous."

"Out there, there is no order. The bloodthirsty races, the criminals, the cults, the worshippers of the dark gods, abyss creatures, the dark tribes, the veil, these are just some of the dangers people face out there every single day. Compared to that the Origin planets are a f*cking paradise."

"That's also why the Heavens have so many followers out there. Because the more danger they are in, the more they will pray to the gods and ask for their help, increasing the God's powers. And the more they pray, the more their god's rewards them. A "God's blessing" is a tool that is sometimes critical when fighting against the creatures of the darkness or even each other. And since you can be both without restriction, a cultivator and a god's follower, it can be just an extra ability or power for you."

"Anyways, my point is that God's are powerful beings with equally powerful abilities. They might not have as much influence here but its more than enough to kill someone like you or even me. Please don't go picking a fight with them," Ryfon pleaded, coming full circle on the conversation.

But knowing these things really opened Hao Xuan's eyes.

"...I need to make a few preparations.. Drop me off at my place for a bit, and get me those things I asked for quick."