The Dawn of the New World

"Yeah, more or less. Also this area is just a very small part of the ship," Henrik pointed at the wall behind Hao Xuan.

Hao Xuan turned around and saw a small hologram in a corner of the room. It showed the ship they were on. They couldn't see what it looked like from inside so the hologram was pretty informative.

The ship was shaped like a saucer, like the many so-called "alien" ships that people swore to have seen back on earth. This one was almost identical, only several hundred times bigger.

Near the bottom left side of the hologram was a small highlighted area. This area occupied only about 3-4% of the total ship's size. And within that area was a blinking red dot with the words "You are here" above it.

Seeing Hao Xuan looking at it, Henrik explained a bit more.

"This is a galactic level ship that explores the deep space. It is completely self-sufficient and doesn't need to dock on space stations or other planets to get resources. There are quite a few of these ships out there that harbor millions of people, both mortals, and cultivators. This 'city' we are in right now, is just one of many. And it's pretty low level as well."

He leaned out of the window and pointed at the city's ceiling.

"The higher level areas that are for cultivators have illusion formations and high-end technology working in tandem to produce a very realistic, natural environments. You can't even tell it's a ship. They have actual clouds, rivers, trees, mountains, beasts, etc. But only cultivators, and gifted ones at that, can live there."

Hao Xuan nodded absentmindedly, "Hmm..."

He had other things on his mind at the moment. Having gotten an 'assassination' mission on top of all the other things he had to do, it wasn't easy. Not to mention this place made him feel cold and somewhat lonely, even though he was surrounded by others.

Since their group was the first one to be processed, they had a lot of time to themselves. From their hotel room, they could see participants pouring out of the hall in streams.

Hao Xuan even managed to catch a glimpse of Ceni who looked straight at him as soon as she stepped out. It was like, for the lack of a better word, magnetism. Both of them could 'feel' each other's presence to a degree from quite a distance away.

Hao Xuan hadn't seen her in a few weeks and she seemed to have changed somehow, and not only physically. Her green hair had turned lush black that sparkled under the ship's lights. Her eyes seemed to have this deep...glimmer as she looked at him. And unlike before, she didn't ignore him either.

With a gentle nod of her head and a kittenish smile, Ceni greeted him from afar and walked to another establishment with her own entourage, which seemed to have expanded significantly. There were more than 20 people following her.

Hao Xuan leaned back against the seat and tried to calm his uncertain heart.

'Patience, breathing, focus.'

Those were the three most important words to him right now. He had met with Ysolt a few times in the last few days to get everything ready. At their last meeting, he told Hao Xuan about this little mental exercise.

"Whenever you start feeling bad or the effects of your unstable centers start acting up, do this. Just close your eyes, take deep breaths and clear your mind of all thoughts. Patience, breathing, focus. Live by these words. Don't let the stress get to you."

But it was easier said than done. To not think about anything when there was so much going on, how was possible?

That's why Hao Xuan had bought more than a thousand packs of cigarettes from him, just in case. Ysolt didn't ask how he was going to take them with him and he didn't answer.

Hao Xuan gave almost the entirety of the purple liquid over to Wu Jin and ordered him to work with Ysolt in bringing his business idea to life. Wu Jin had already been a member of the Academy for over a hundred years so he didn't need to go to the tournament, which is why Hao Xuan gave him this task to complete.

Taking in a deep breath of this...processed air, Hao Xuan repeated the words over and over again until the clamour outside started to die down.

'Relax, one step at a time,' he told himself, but that feeling didn't last long.

"Hey, look that's him isn't it?" Hazel's unnaturally loud voice interrupted Hao Xuan.

Somewhat annoyed and irritated, he opened his eyes and saw Henrik, Hazel, and Fulke staring at a hologram in the center of the room. He glanced over.

It showed a list of names and faces to go with them, with their respective rankings.

These people were the most popular participants and the ones that had the highest probability of coming in first.

Hao Xuan took one look and lost interest because he didn't recognize any of them.

A couple of minutes had passed when their badges vibrated, signaling for them to return to the hall. It was time to depart for the world below.

One by one they got up and started making their way back down. The same hologram was playing on repeat on every floor and every room. When Hao Xuan reached the lobby, he saw something out of the corner of his eyes that made him freeze mid-stride.

Almost mechanically, he turned his head to look at the giant hologram that showed a few static pictures with names and brief introductions below them.

The 4th picture from the right was what he couldn't look away from. Those eyes, those cross-shaped earrings.

"Dai Zhi. 1st guardian of the Academy, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Edda."

Hao Xuan weakly read the introduction out loud.

"A Hero among Heroes. Known as the Blood Prince, he is an avid believer of the Temple of Light. Having fully awakened the same bloodline as his father, the young prince is one of the most powerful and beloved participants from the Beast World."

Henrik who was not far from him heard him talking and peered back at him.

"Oh, him. I guess you will meet him soon too, since both of you are guardians. He's also princess Ceni's older brother and a student of the Academy's Vice-head. You'll like him, he's a really nice guy..."

Henrik kept explaining but Hao Xuan had long stopped listening.

"This...is a joke....right?" he couldn't help but murmur.