The Dawn of the New World

"There is a shadow of divinity in it!" Hao Xuan muttered incredulously. There was no way to be sure but this was the only thing that made sense.

"That must be the artifact which is hoarding all the divine power until he is ready to accept it. But why is it here?"

It was hovering directly above where Argham should be, which greatly worried Hao Xuan.

"Fuck, I have to go. I'll come back after making sure everything is good in Argham."

He looked back at the ruins one last time while mumbling, "Don't fuckin' disappear on me dipshit. I'll be right back," before sprinting off into the dark forest.

Jin Wang watched as Hao Xuan's figure disappeared into the night. The scene was being played in front of him much like a hologram, only more real.

He let out a resounding sigh before turning away to inspect his surroundings once again. He was in an empty space that was illuminated by bright white light in all directions.

It didn't have any walls or even a ceiling that he could see. He had been running in every direction for the last ten minutes but there was no end to it.

None of his abilities worked in here, not even magic. He still had his overwhelming strength but it was useless. It was just him and the hologram that popped up every time he thought about leaving.

'It's like it is telling me I don't have to worry about him,' he thought inwardly, 'But that means this is not just some random coincidence and there is a sentient being controlling it.'

"HELLO! I come in peace!" he yelled in a random direction because there was nothing and no one to talk to.

"Do you work for the Emperor!? If so I'm your ally!" he shouted before realizing that might not be the case so he quickly followed it up with, "And if you are trying to find him or kill him, I can still help you, eh? We can talk about it! I never liked that old bastard anyway!"

The moment he stopped talking a faint giggle resounded within the surrounding space.

'Oh, I was right, there really is someone. The voice sounded a bit young though. Was that a child? I feel like I might have heard it somewhere...'

But while Jin Wang was trying to recall where he had heard it another hologram popped up right in front of him. It showed a scene from not too long ago when Ma Jiang had returned the stone disk to him.

"Hmm?"

With a frown he reached into his shirt and fished for the disk, taking it out a moment later.

"This thing? Do you want this? I haven't had the time to investigate it yet," he cautiously explained.

This disk contained the being that called himself Hyde. He was living within Hao Xuan's mind palace and Jin Wang assumed it was a parasitic entity that fed on his mental faculties.

Morsels of bright white light congregated in front of Jin Wang in a horizontal column before dispersing not even a moment later. In their place was a pedestal with a hollowed-out circular pattern that matched the underside of the stone disk down to the tee.

The pedestal didn't look like it was created recently. In fact, when Jin Wang brushed his fingers over its rough surface it felt identical to the stone disk.

"How is this possible? I am the one who created this disk in the first place. I got it from a starstone that was mined from depths of deep spac-"

He almost bit his tongue when he remembered where he got the location of the asteroid from.

"So I wasn't the first one to find it, huh?"

The emperor had obviously gotten to it first and upon discovering the unique qualities of the stone he had passed on the information to Jin Wang in his previous lifetime.

*Sigh*

"Did you know I would have to use the disk on Hao Xuan? Or was that your plan from the beginning? You could have warned me a little so I wouldn't use it twice beforehand. It's nothing short of a miracle that I even still have it. You...still continue to surprise me even after all this time..."

(Authors Note: The disk could only be used three times in total before it would break and it had been used twice already as mentioned in one of the earlier chapters)

He waited for a brief moment but no answer came. With no small amount of hesitation, he took the disk and placed it on the pedestal, locking it within the groves that fit it perfectly.

The light dimmed around him and by the time he looked back the surroundings had completely changed.

Jin Wang was now standing within a great hall decorated with giant stone statues on all sides.

😉