The Dawn of the New World

A total of six other silhouettes ran out of the hole created by Hao Xuan.

Other than Jarek, Isak, and Burak, the remaining three fell to their knees, kissing the ground and even shedding a tear or two in jubilation. And who could blame them? After spending so many months stranded in another world, it was nothing less than a miracle that they were now back.

Hao Xuan walked up to the hole and listened for the sound of any incoming footsteps. He found them without much effort.

"One or two more minutes before they reach us," he told the others.

"Alright. We go back, recover and come back with more people to finish the job and close this place for good," Burak decided.

He seemed to be in a world of his own but Hao Xuan did not really have time to think about that anymore because right now he was hearing a plethora of different voices directly inside his head.

Quite a wide range of voices albeit almost all female.

'I think I broke a rib, damn this place.'

'Why did we even come here? There is nothing of value to take.'

'This wench, how dare she look at me like that.'

'Oh no, sister Inara will get angry again. Why does she hate me so much?'

'Ah, I'm so hungry...'

It was just like when he was in the webway before in the ethereal form. He was able to hear the thoughts of someone without even meaning to and it seemed like it was still happening. (start of CH 739)

He looked back towards the barbarians and even after focusing on them for a little while he couldn't hear anything.

'Baracus!'

He swiftly called on the most knowledgeable source of information at his disposal and told him everything from start to finish.

'Although I cannot say this with much certainty since it requires further testing, it appears that when you entered the webway without your physical body and interacted with the gateway, it changed your soul's base frequency.'

'The data on this particular subject is severely limited but progenitor hypothesized that every soul has its own base frequency. The physical body acts as a buffer and protects the soul as well as acts as a tether so it can stay on one specific frequency.'

'When you enter a new world especially one with a world spirit, your soul's base frequency has to slowly adjust to that world's frequency over time. That is also one of the ways how a world spirit limits the powers of all invading entities for a limited time.'

'But by interacting with the gateway without a physical body, you were able to not only change your own base frequency but also tap into the frequencies of others from that world. You basically turned into an antenna that can pick up stray thoughts. That would explain why you could not listen to the ones you came here with, their soul frequencies have yet to readjust.'

Suffice to say, Hao Xuan was more than a little taken aback by this development. It was unexpected but not entirely unwelcome.

'So I can read the thoughts of everyone here on this planet?'

'Not exactly. You should only be able to pick up the subconscious 'momentary' thoughts and emotions that are either very strong or not too valuable. And only if the target is unprepared.'

'A simple barrier of spiritual energy can stop all thoughts from escaping so it is quite situational, meaning a non-cultivator or someone incapable of utilizing Qi should not be able to defend against you at all.'

'Alright alright, that's not too bad. But is it permanent?'

'Negative. If it is indeed happening because of your soul frequency, then it should be gone once it returns to normal.'

'I understand.'

By the time Hao Xuan finished conversing with Baracus, he had detected Princess Helena and her party and was almost on them.

With a light push he jumped up from the valley floor and landed on the hill right in front of them. But his brow creased upon seeing their faces.

Standing so close to them he could indeed hear the thoughts of almost all of them, well, all but one.

Princess Helena was the only one who silently stared at his face as if she was looking at a ghost.

"Who are you people?" Hao Xuan inquired but the barbarians caught up to him before he could get an answer.

Burak recognized them and how could they not know him?

They talked until Hao Xuan felt the hunter make its appearance. He was hoping it would be held back due to either the explosion or all the ether beasts on the third floor but it caught up so easily and so soon.

Their only chance was to reach one of the larger encampments and gather a few extra hands before it attacked again.

Hao Xuan looked at the human female that was left behind by her group. He could feel the lack of energy within her body but it felt different.

"What are you waiting for? Move!" he shouted at her.