The Dawn of the New World

"A paltry little fleshling that managed to escape the purge. Allow me to cleanse this land of the Luna bloodline."

He casually extended his left hand in the direction of the shell as a ball of black swirling light materialized within the palm of his hand. The ones standing next to him moved back just as it fell through the air.

It moved rather slowly and most people didn't even know what it was but those that did could not get further away.

Inside the shell things began to shake and fly up to the roof as if gravity had been reversed. The closer it got the stronger this force of attraction became until even people were holding onto anything attached to the ground.

Hao Xuan's gaze was fixated on that 2-inch wide ball of foreign energy just as the figure's gaze was fixated on him.

"If I had not seen it myself never in a million years would I have believed it," Hao Xuan admitted while getting into the same stance as before.

The figure saw him trying to make a move and chuckled at the futility.

"Even you cannot cut a blackhole in half. But worry not, I will stop it before it swallows the remainder of the planet."

Hao Xuan's eyes narrowed through the helm as he suddenly sheathed the sword and changed stance. Well, it would be better to say that he canceled it altogether since now he was just standing straight with his right hand extended towards the shell.

The shell creaked loudly and began to lift up into the air trying to meet the miniature blackhole halfway and it was only then that its lower body came into view, or rather a portion of it.

The shell was just the 'head' of a much larger being. The remainder of its body was just a squirming mass of countless tentacles stretching endlessly under the surface of the ocean.

Hao Xuan closed his eyes for a moment as he quickly orated the various steps of the sword scripture.

"First step to Rule the mortal Realm

Second step to suppress the hells below,

Third step to shake the heavens above

Fourth step to submit to the Desolation of All."

He stopped at the fourth step and opened his eyes for a moment that were completely white. The outline of his figure blurred just like the sea monster the shell was attached to.

The light around them both dimmed as for just a short moment, right before the black hole was about to come into contact with the creature, it turned into an ethereal copy of itself.

The blackhole touched the shell and then passed through it as if it wasn't even there and fell straight down into the water.

The sounds that were created as a result of that could not be explained. The water imploded as more and more matter was pulled towards the black hole. Even the island Hao Xuan was standing on was sucked in within seconds creating an empty void of space.

Speechless, the figure snapped his fingers and the black hole vanished just like that.

The ocean level fell by several meters as the surrounding water began to fill in the void. Only then did the sea monster and Hao Xuan both rematerialize.

Since the island was now gone Hao Xuan floated up into the air while the creature quickly submerged itself back into the water.

Unfortunately, the space was still locked down and numerous laws once again held it in place so it couldn't move very far.

The figure began to slowly clap in a rare show of admiration.

"I had heard of the miraculous nine steps but never would I have thought there was any truth to those rumors. Once again you have left me at a loss for words, bravo sir! Can you tell me what that was precisely? It felt like you had seized to exist in your physical form. I see you can do that to others too but how?"

The figure let his inquisitive nature take reins of the conversation without even realizing it as he asked one question after another while hundreds of other powerful cultivators silently listened from behind.

"Does it have to do solely with the sword scripture or do your own understanding and sword dao also come into play? Or have you perhaps reached that mystical realm of Sword Dao where you can will yourself out of existence? Surely not, only one man managed to reach that realm and he was never seen again after that."

Hao Xuan did not say a single word in response and allowed him to go on by his lonesome self. He was asking questions and also answering them by drawing his own conclusions and the most terrifying thing was that he was getting closer to the truth.

Hao Xuan had never seen anything like that before. It sounded like every word that came out of his mouth was one step closer to reality. Just from seeing Hao Xuan execute a single movement he was able to infer that much so god only knows what he could have accomplished with a little help.

And while he was busy ranting and raving Hao Xuan's Qi gathered at the tip of his fingers before slowly being sent into the scabbard. He was slowly drawing spiritual energy from the surroundings although not many could even pick up on it.

Well, none except one. The female that had spoken up beforehand noticed it soon after.

😉