The Dawn of the New World

"Ray of Light!"

Before anyone had the chance to do anything else, Micha was already pulling back the string once again, this time even further than before.

Blue light congregated in the arrow shelf, becoming brighter and brighter by the second. Everyone around him had to take a few steps back and look away from it.

Alte's expression hardened.

"The little prince is quite talented indeed to be able to use 'that' skill at his age. It is a shame he is of such low moral character. Should I intervene?" he asked Ceni through spirit sense.

Ray of Light was part of a set of skills created by the founding father of the Kingdom of 'Dar', Micha's great great great grandfather. He was a renowned archer in his time and had numerous accomplishments to his name when he passed. His Archery was known for being fast and deadly. He was a menace on the battlefield that had taken the heads of many enemy commanders from the other end of the battlefield.

And it seemed like his main cultivation technique was still being passed down through the 'Dar' family and Micha had even managed to learn one of the first skills. That was why Alte was concerned. It wouldn't be a simple quarrel anymore if that attack was unleashed.

The blue arrow continued to grow until it was over 1.5 meters in length. It was released out a stupendous amount of energy that even made Hao Xuan frown.

"Why do you keep pushing me?" he murmured.

He was about to summon the Scorpion King to take care of the brat once and for all when the 5-meter wide door behind Ceni abruptly opened, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Stop!"

With the authoritative shout, a spiritual pressure fell on the entire crowd, other than Hao Xuan and Jin Wang, even Ceni and Alte weren't left out of it.

The arrow Micha was about to unleash distorted and broke apart into smithereens along with the shout. There was a strong spiritual compression in the air. It didn't affect the body, only the Qi and the Mind.

Alte was left aghast when he realized he couldn't even muster any Qi. He and everyone else here was a sitting duck. He stood in front of Ceni along with the 3 others, and the bodyguards of all the other prince and princesses did the same.

The three girls who were acting scared a minute ago behind Micha suddenly looked like different people. Cold expressions adorned their pretty faces as they surrounded him from all side.

'So there were his bodyguards?' Hao Xuan was quite surprised to see that.

The sound of footsteps came from outside and in walked a group of 6 people. Four of them were the department heads of the ship, respectively trailing behind two others.

Ceni and Alte both frowned and somewhat relaxed when they saw them.

The party came closer and everyone present got a clear look at the two people in front. Almost all of them were shocked to the core upon seeing them.

In the lead was a woman of 30 years of age in a black pantsuit. She had a pale white complexion and a forehead that was twice the size of a normal person's. There were two red dots around her nose. She was the one responsible for releasing the spiritual pressure but not the reason for everyone's shock. It was the smaller boy next to her.

He had the same facial features, only the dots around his nose were of a golden color. He didn't look older than 16 or 17 at most.

"Junior greets Senior brother!" Ceni bowed at an angle of 30 degrees as soon as they came closer.

Her voice woke up everyone else present. All the spoiled brats that were acting so Nobel a second ago bowed even lower than her, including Micha. His anger dissipated like smoke.

"Juniors greet Senior brother!" they all repeated the same thing.

Only their bodyguards remained silent but they bowed nonetheless. This was a show of respect to someone of a much higher status. Someone that was born to be their better!

The boy ignored all of them, only glancing at Ceni and giving a faint nod before passing her.

None of them got up, staying in those positions, even Ceni. She looked at one of the female department heads that passed by and contacted her through spirit sense.

"Why is the young master here?" she asked with a deep frown. They should have told her if he was coming so she could have prepared.

"We don't know either princess. He just appeared 20 minutes ago saying he was here to pick someone up," the department head shook her head helplessly.

The boy passed by everyone, stopping in front of the last two people and the only ones still standing straight.

They all looked towards Hao Xuan with amused expressions.

"That's what you get peasant."

"The fool just signed his own death warrant!"

"Idiot, his ignorance has lead to his death..."

These were the type of thoughts going through their minds. Micha smiled resplendently for he knew what was to come. Ceni's expression became a bit dark and she tried to speak up but was stopped by Alte, who silently shook his head.

Hao Xuan looked down at the teenager in front of him with a dissatisfied expression. One of the middleaged department heads quickly stepped forward. His black beard shaking with every word.

"What are you doing? Bow ri-"

The boy raised his hand, silencing him.

Hao Xuan let out a deep sigh while looking at the boy.

"You're late."

The boy looked down, trying not to meet his gaze.

"I'm sorry, you didn't give much of a heads up. I thought there was still a day left."

"It's fine, let's go. I've been cooped up in this damned ship for too long," Hao Xuan waved his hand and started walking out.

The boy was, of course, Wu Jin.

Ceni's dainty little mouth fell open. If it was a cartoon, her chin would be on the floor right now. All the others had almost the same expressions on their faces, all of them.

Wu Jin followed behind silently like a child that had done something wrong. There was pin-drop silence in the chamber with the only sound coming from Hao Xuan, Jin Wang, Wu Jin, and her caretaker's shoes.

*Tap*Tap*Tap*

The faint sound fell directly onto Micha's heart as he saw a white silhouette stop in front of him and a heavy hand patted his back as a whisper came into his ear.

"I'll be seeing you, lover boy. Next time we meet, show me that arrow again and I'll show you what I got."

Micha's heart was in his throat as he gulped and forcefully nodded without saying a word.

He then passed by Ceni, ignoring her completely.

*Tap*Tap*Tap*Tap*Tap*

And just like that, the sound of their footsteps slowly disappeared and their backs vanished from view.

"Who the fuck was he?!" someone shouted what was on everyone's mind.

Alte and Ceni exchanged glances with one another, confirming that neither knew of Hao Xuan's actual background.

***

Hao Xuan walked out of the chamber and saw the same chariot waiting for him that Wu Jin arrived in the first time they met.

But he went past the unmanned chariot and looked at the scenery behind. It was truly marvelous.

"The academy lives up to its name," he said in wonderment.