The Dawn of the New World

It was around 9 A.M when Hao Xuan woke up the next day. Even though he got some sleep but it wasn't very pleasant. He kept having nightmares about being chased by something. But the strange thing was that as soon as he opened his eyes all the details about it were forgotten.

He didn't remember why some 'thing' was chasing him, only that he could never stop otherwise it would be the end of him for good.

"Same one again," he mumbled and massaged his temples while sitting on the side of the bed. He would usually have a headache for a little bit after having this dream. And this had happened about 4 times before so it was nothing new.

After lazying around for 15 minutes or so he got up and took a shower. It was at times like these that the true value of the portable camp was shown. There was a huge water tank included with the camp and every morning it would automatically heat up some water for his morning ablutions. There wasn't much that he could complain about living a lifestyle like this even in the dangerous forests.

He got out of the shower and made some breakfast. It included a cup of milk tea, 12 pieces of bread, and four half fried eggs. Although it wasn't much it would still keep him full for a couple of hours. He went out and sat by the campfire to enjoy this scrumptious meal.

It was almost 10 A.M by now and even through all the trees, some rays of sunshine were falling here and there, and with the fog it made it look like a magical scene straight out of a movie.

It was a truly beautiful morning, completely in contrast to the previous night which seemed like an actual nightmare.

While eating he suddenly remembered something and looked down at his Spirit Band and after finding what he was looking, a mischievous smile appeared on his face. With a wave of his hand, the illusion formation of the camp was disabled allowing anyone outside to be able to see whatever he was doing.

He made an exaggerated expression while bitting into an egg and quickly took a sip of tea, "Ahh, so good. Damn, I'm such a good chef!" he complimented himself and enjoyed the meal with all the fervor of a starving person that hadn't had anything to eat in days. His actions were so passionate that it could very well be called foreplay.

He stole a glance at his Spirit Band once again and almost burst out laughing.

After finishing up the breakfast he cleaned the dishes and poured himself another cup of hot tea and laid back beside the fire to enjoy it.

There was morning dew all around him and many of the blood puddles from the creatures last night had either completely frozen or were washed away. After finishing the tea he logged into the military portal and video-called First, who picked up on the second ring.

"Ninth brother!" First's excited voice was heard but the entire screen was black with some recurring clicking noises.

Hao Xuan frowned looking at it, "First brother! Can you see me? Your screen is completely black. I think the connection is too weak, let me move and call you back," and he tried to turn off the call but First quickly replied.

"No no, the connection is fine. It's not on your end," he said after that some scuffling sound came.

"Qiye'er, let go! Let go of daddy's band. No no don't bite it harder!!" the scene finally changed and a mouth with two tiny little teeth moved away from the screen.

It was First's son Xin Qiye that was bitting down on his Spirit Band.

"I'm sorry Ninth brother, he's teething so literally anything he see's he tries to bite," First's tired face came into view. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked like he hadn't slept in days. Xin Qiye was sitting in his lap chewing on a plastic cactus.

First used his sleeve to wipe the spit and drool off the band, "What's up? Everything okay?" he asked Hao Xuan finally letting out a deep breath.

"Hehe, things seem tough, brother," Hao Xuan jokingly said while looking at the little twerp in First's lap.

"You have no idea. I have fought against Jia commanders and Demonic beasts that were less ferocious than this little demon. He stays up all night and only sleeps fours a day. I don't know where he gets all the energy from. I haven't slept in 3 days!" First was on the verge of crying just by explaining the situation to Hao Xuan, who had a cheery smile on his face.

"Hahaha," Hao Xuan couldn't help but break out into laughter hearing his story. This was the most powerful member of Red Legion. Someone at the very top of the Spirit realm and just one step away from entering the profound realm. Yet today he was on the mercy of a child barely two years old.

Xin Qiye looked over at Hao Xuan's hologram and his eyes sparkled. He got up with some effort and tried to jump on him but went through and almost fell down.

"No no, this is a ho-lo-gram. It's not real. You can't touch it," First caught him and tried to explain but his audience wasn't having it. He suddenly saw something from the corner of his eye and sprinted after it like a cat running from water.

Hao Xuan chuckled seeing the comedic scene and almost forgot why he had called, until First reminded him.

"Ah, yes. Brother do you know about the Spirited away town that I passed by on my last mission?" First's expression instantly turned dead serious.

"What happened? Did you find another place like that?!" he asked while standing up quickly.

Hao Xuan quickly shook his head, "No no, but something weird happened last night," he explained everything that happened, making his expression worse.

"Brother, don't stay in the wilderness for now. Find the nearest Grade 2 settlement near you and stay there. I'll report this to the higher-ups and let you know the details. Don't move around needlessly unless you hear from me okay?" he said with furrowed brows.

Just like Kingdoms, each settlement was divided into three grades. Three was the lowest and one was the highest. There were only a few Grade 1 settlements in the entire Kingdom, Fortuna City being one of them.

To be a graded settlement they must fulfill certain conditions.

1. They must have more than 50 million population.

2. There must be at least 10 Profound realm cultivators present.

3. There must be proper defensive formations and anti-beast weaponry present.

The last condition was optional and could be fulfilled in a few different ways. Once a settlement satisfied the first two conditions, the last one could be satisfied by the government of the kingdom as they were responsible for the citizen's safety.

Any other settlement would have to buy their own formations while the kingdom was only responsible for keeping peace and providing soldiers in times of need.

Hao Xuan gave it some thought and agreed with First's suggestion. It was stupid to stay out when weird crap like that was happening randomly.

After talking a bit more First hung up as he had to contact the military leaders and let them know of the situation. Hao Xuan sat in front of the campfire drinking tea for another 30 minutes or so in deep thought and then made another call.

This one was to Xu Qing. She picked up on the first ring and gently bowed her head even though Hao Xuan had told her not to do it, "My lord."

"Mhm. How is everything at home?" he asked with a smile but froze after noticing a 'couple of things'. Xu Qing seemed like she had just gotten out of the shower and was dressed in a simple white robe that was sticking to her body like glue and was semi-transparent. She wasn't wearing anything underneath so the robe might as well not be there at this point.

He quickly turned away with a blush and stutteringly spoke, " Um, d-did I catch you at a bad time? S-sorry, take your time, get dressed, and then give me a call," he said with a flustered tone and quickly hung up.

Xu Qing was confused until she asked one of the servant girls to come in and see what was wrong with her appearance.

A few mins later Hao Xuan got a call back from her. He picked up and saw her standing in front of her dresser in a blue kimono, looking beautiful as usual. The only difference was that her face was beet red.

*Cough*

He cleared his throat, "How is Yun Wentian? Is he studying properly?"

"Yes. Lord Green and Lord Red also teach him whenever they have time. Lord Yangdi visited a couple of times and gave him some pointers as well," she calmly explained every single thing one by one.

"Mhm," Hao Xuan nodded his head. "Are you bored? Do you have something to keep you busy?" his tone suddenly turned gentle.

"Yes. I take care of the gardens and have planted a few new plants myself. They keep me busy," she said with a kind smile that made his heart skip a beat.

"Dear God, how is this woman so pretty??" he thought inwardly, losing himself in delusions. Xu Qing didn't say anything either and just quietly sat there, waiting for him to respond.

*Cough*

"Sorry, another message came up from someone," he woke from his stupor after a minute or so with a blushed face and made an excuse.

"Mhm," Xu Qing simply nodded in response with a small smile that was enough to light up any room.

Feeling himself falling into another delusion, he pinched his thigh and quickly changed the topic.

"D-Do you remember First brother? His son Xin Qiye is two years old now and is very energetic. If you have some free time, go and look after him for a while and give older sister and him some time to themselves."

Xu Qing was taken aback by the sudden request but the smile on her pretty face became more dazzling in an instant and she nodded enthusiastically, "Yes. I took care of my little brother back home so I'm very good with kids. I'll pay them a visit right now," she said while standing up.

"Ri..right now? Oh, okay. Take Green with you then," Hao Xuan who was gleeful a second ago said gloomily. He was hoping to talk to her for a bit more but seeing her smile, there was no way he could stop her.

"Yes," she bowed respectfully and hung up, leaving Hao Xuan speechless. He started laughing remembering her animated expression.

*Beep*Beep*

The spirit band vibrated and a notification popped up, interrupting his jolly mood.