The Dawn of the New World

"What's going on?" Hao Xuan asked walking up to the Scorpion King.

The Scorpion King who was lost in a world of his own suddenly jerked back, looking at Hao Xuan with his wide, beastly eyes.

Hao Xuan was also startled by his reaction, especially since the Scorpion King had such an unpleasant 'face' to begin with and now it was inches away from him. (Reference Image in authors notes)

The Scorpion King looked him up and down confirming something before with a defeated look, he spoke in a heavy, gruff voice.

"Welcome back....master," and with a bow mimicking the humans from the Beast world he walked back towards his usual spot with drooping shoulders.

Hao Xuan's frown deepened. He was indeed acting very odd. This was the first time he had done something like this of his own volition.

Shaking his head Hao Xuan turned around halfway intending to inquire further about it when he froze midstride. Slowly, like a statue coming to life, he turned back around to peer outside the Mind Palace in the same exact manner as the Scorpion King was.

*Whooosh*

A gust of cold, wet air blew in his face.

"Wha-... how...?" Hao Xuan stammeringly muttered looking at the scenes outside.

When Hao Xuan's central mind palace was first created he had visualized a basic domed semi-open structure with seven pillars supporting it. There was no special meaning behind it and it was only a reflection of something Hao Xuan had once seen sometime in the past. (Image linked)

The Mind Palace itself had expanded exponentially in size since Hao Xuan first created it but the watery area outside of it had never changed, or rather, it could not change. It was a hollow projection of an old memory to make the mind palace look more realistic without any actual use. It was basically a moving painting.

But that wasn't the case anymore.

Hao Xuan rubbed his face, looking at the water marks transferred to his hand.

"It's...real.." he mumbled, dumbfounded.

The old scene of the still water was gone. Now there were swirling rings of black clouds above and below the Mind Palace, the same as in the space Hao Xuan had created for understanding the Chaos Laws.

The only difference was that there was only one on each side. One above, and one below, both rotating in opposite directions. And to the right of where Hao Xuan was standing was the same wooden gateway that had been created in the space. (CH 635)

Now it was hovering silently a few meters away outside the same spot where Hao Xuan always first appeared in the mind palace. A distinct "1" carved on the top beam staring at him in the face. And at that moment Hao Xuan realized what it was.

"It is also a Mind Palace!"

The number "1" referred to its own position. If the central mind palace was number '0', then this was the first one that had been created during Hao Xuan's understanding of the Chaos Laws.

But what happened to the four he had before? Did this mean his cultivation had fallen to Spirit Realm's 1st stage? According to some cultivation manuals the Mind Palaces had their own unique properties, so what was this one's? He had more questions than answers at this point.

A rain of black ash-like particles was being released from the cloud rings, falling on the central Mind Palace. The ring below the palace didn't look like it followed any laws of gravity since the ash-like particles were still somehow 'falling' on the base of the palace even though it was above the ring.

Every now and then a gust of these black particles was carried over by the winds generated from the rings and into the Mind Palace itself. But as soon as they entered its boundary they would turn into water droplets.

How all this was possible or what it meant Hao Xuan didn't have the faintest of ideas. All he knew was that his cultivation system really had changed. The little black book that first invoked the law of Chaos had much more to it than meets the eye. (CH 428/429)

Hao Xuan recalled the conversation he had had at the time.

"But did Njall know about this? He did say it would be useful to me but this...I don't think he knew it was to this extent..." he mumbled to himself.

Hao Xuan examined the rest of the palace with excruciating detail, making mental notes of every little nook, cranny, and crack in there before finally exiting.

As soon as he returned to the outer world a chill went down his spine and Hao Xuan remembered that he was still naked. He got up and put on some old clothes that felt a little too big for him.

"Baracus, where am I? Where do I need to go?" Hao Xuan asked, but the answer he was expecting came from behind him.

"Who is Baracus?" a voice asked, startling him. Someone had appeared right behind him and Hao Xuan didn't even notice until they spoke up.

***

Authors Notes:

All images are also posted in the Official Discord.

Link: https://discord.gg/AHdSBFQ

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Scorpion King reference image link: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/05/10/27/0510276161473788cbcab2d1b5e97d4d.jpg

Shortened image link (case sensitive): https://urlzs.com/u57Fc

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Mind Palace reference image link: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/20/b5/65/20b5659e44b090c92e161072bd56f0df.jpg

Shortened image link (case sensitive): https://urlzs.com/TVGNK