The Dawn of the New World

The yellow energy bubble grew larger and larger until it covered Hao Xuan's brain and spinal cord.

He closed his eyes and felt the changes taking place within his body. His heartbeat quickened and beads of sweat formed on his forehead and back, almost completely drenching his shirt.

The color of the energy bubble started to deepen until it looked like molten gold. One by one the miniature pearls resting on each of the other three leaves also shattered until the entire flower had shrunk to less than half its original size.

But while all this was happening no one even noticed the strange energy changes other than two individuals. The first one, surprisingly, was Feng Huang. Hoe opened his eyes for the first time since Hao Xuan had arrived and looked right at him.

His eyes shone with violent carmine-colored lights that brightened and dimmed on their own.

The second person, unsurprisingly, was the Abysswalker.. He who had been sitting on his throne silently watching everything unfold sat upright for the first time. His eyes narrowed slightly but other than that he didn't make a move.

When Hao Xuan opened his eyes again the last of the gold-colored energy dissipated.

*Beep*

'Warning! Warning!'

'Extreme Spatio-Temporal Fluctuations Detected.'

'Body functions returning to normal.'

'Blood pressure increased by a factor of 3.'

Baracus's automated warning system was activated by the sudden outburst of energies and the changes within his body. A moment later Baracus himself also spoke up.

[Conditions for 'Scenario Three' have been satisfied. No abnormalities were detected. Logging data...]

'Scenario three' was how Baracus referred to this ability that Hao Xuan had yet to name. By measuring the constant waves of temporal energy he could stipulate that the ability was activated and record all data of the 'time jumps' for future reference.

While Hao Xuan was trying to regain control of his stampeding heartbeat, Baracus began asking all the standard questions.

[How many iterations were conducted?]

Hao Xuan rubbed his temples in an unsuccessful attempt at lowering the intensity of the headache that always followed after using the ability. He took in a deep breath and recalled each and every jump that he had just gone through.

'21 times.'

Even Baracus was a little surprised by the answer. That meant he died 21 times and returned for the last, 22nd time just now.

[Were all attempts unsuccessful?]

'No, I lived through three of them but didn't like the outcome so had to kill myself to reset.'

[21 runs is a lot higher than the last time. Were there any significant changes?]

'It's because I died so quickly so many times. But the ability's capacity did increase by a small margin halfway through, I could feel it. Unfortunately, I have to use it to make it stronger, which means I have to die over and over again.'

[Any other details?]

'Like what? You want to know how I died?'

[Affirmative, that could be helpful.]

'Alright. Of the 21 deaths, 16 took place during the match. I survived only once before dying shortly after. And I died twice more while trying to 'talk' it out with these guys, that was before the match even started. For the remaining three I managed to make it out but not in one piece.'

[So you haven't made a single successful escape?]

'Not really, no.'

[What is your plan this time around?]

'You'll see. If I am right, I will have to wait a while longer.'

By the time Hao Xuan finished talking with Baracus, the applause had all but died down from Dai Zhi's speech. Now they were all looking at Hao Xuan to choose his "sparring" partner.

Hao Xuan had already gone through this exact same scene more than 20 times but he still couldn't get used to it. In fact, it made him even angrier when he thought about their underhanded tactics and the position they had forced him into.

He stood up and met Stasa's glare head-on. Even the projection showed his face in the middle of the colosseum.

"This might be a simple match to test our skills but I must warn you, I cannot hold back in the heat of the moment. You might seriously get hurt. Do you still want to fight?"

He had chosen his opponent. Stasa was the one who was going to help him get out of here alive.

"HAHAHA!" Stasa roared with laughter like many of the others around him, "I would like to say the same to you. I am far too experienced with the blade so things could get out of hand. I take full responsibility!"

He agreed at once but then Hao Xuan turned towards the last person anyone thought to address.

"No, I would like the Lord Inquisitor to act as our insurer. Being a high-ranking member of the Church Of the Holy Light, I trust his word above all others."

A loud bang resounded from Dai Zhi's table as it broke into pieces.

"Hao Xuan, watch your tongue! How dare you directly address the Lord Inquisitor!?"