The Dawn of the New World

"What army?" Hao Xuan questioned but the answer was revealed to him rather than answered.

Ashura of the Six Paths gigantic form that was holding him up suddenly disappeared and Hao Xuan was left floating within the sea of clouds by himself. He looked around confusedly for a moment but immediately after all the clouds were simply evaporated by a blaring sound.

*TUUUUUUUUUUUUU*

A war horn!

As loud as it was deep, the sound reverberated within every dark corner of the underworld. And it was even louder for Hao Xuan who for a moment was sent to an entirely different place.

He was standing at the edge of a cliff being ceaselessly battered by rain and ice.

Across from him on the other side was a hole torn into space, a portal into another world. There was a sea of armored men and beasts looking up at him. But as mighty as their numbers were they seemed to be shaking in fear.

Hao Xuan could almost taste their dread on the tip of his tongue. It was a strange kind of feeling, one that only a wild animal might ever get to experience.

Above them at the forefront were twenty-three humanoid figures floating in the air. Their imposing energies were reaching into the heavens as they stared daggers at him.

One of them, the one in the middle who seemed to be an old man with flowing white hair let out a heavy sigh before turning to face the army behind him.

? "Men, stand tall! For Chaos, has come to our doorstep!"

Hao Xuan could feel himself breaking into a half smile before giving a nod.

*TUUUUUUUUUUU*

The same war horn sounded again as countless nightmarish figures rushed past him in the blink of an eye and fell into the portal.

*GAASP*

Hao Xuan gasped for air while taking several steps back from the stone gateway. He immediately looked down at his body and saw his decrepit right arm. Never would he have thought to be relieved at the sight of such an injury but that meant he was back in his body.

His back and forehead were covered in beads of cold sweat but he got what he wanted. There was a small swirling ball of white mist at the top of his left hand.

The purest form of Yin Qi, so much more than he could have gathered by himself. It looked like Ashura of the Six Paths had read his intentions and helped him out.

'But was that a vision? Or a memory?' he asked himself before turning to the right.

Ma Jiang's physical changes had barely gotten worse which meant only a few seconds had passed in this world.

Hao Xuan took in a deep breath and walked into the room head first.

The fire singed his hair and skin even though he was using what little chaos energy he had left to protect himself. It was assaulting him from the front trying to push him back out of the room but he moved forward one step at a time.

All he could hear was the crackling of flames but there was intention mixed in there. It was being controlled by something.

"Not...today!" he mumbled just before reaching Ma Jiang.

Her eyes had rolled back and most of her body was covered by a red epidermis being formed by the flame.

He reached out his left hand while trying to bear with the increasing pressure that made it impossible to even breathe.

There was an invisible forcefield surrounding her from all sides but thankfully it looked like the Ying Qi was a perfect match for it as it slowly ate away at it.

"Mother...fucking BREAK ALREADY!" Hao Xuan shouted before forcing his hand across.

Two of his fingers broke in the process but he made it through and the Ying Qi was pushed inside her forehead.

"AAAH!" she screamed as all the fire was pulled back inside her body in a flash of blinding light.

The forefield exploded outward sending Hao Xuan flying into the wall. He was knocked out for a couple of seconds but regained consciousness before he could even hit the ground.

Still, his knees buckled as exhaustion took over. He had to take a few seconds to gather enough strength to stand up and check on Ma Jiang.

Despite how severe the physical changes looked she was completely back to her original self. Not the Ma Jiang he had known all this time but her true form that was previously hidden under a spell.

She looked a little older, a lot more solemn. There was still some baby fat around her cheeks and if Hao Xuan had to guess he wouldn't go above 16.

She was frowning subconsciously and it looked like that was her resting expression. She looked cold and difficult to approach. And just like Princess Ceni there was that touch of nobility within her brow.

Hao Xuan chuckled lightly and pressed the area between her eyebrows to make her 'de-frown'.

"Relax. How many things can you have to worry about that you frown even while sleeping?"

😉