The Dawn of the New World

His left leg abruptly shot forward, snaking through the air right towards Hao Xuan's face.

But Hao Xuan's eyes were focused on his hands and it was not until the white blur that was Tasgall's leg was barely a few inches away from him that he finally reacted.

His right hand moved slightly to left and with the smallest of movements tapped Tasgall's leg, moving it ever so lightly away.

But Tasgall was waiting for exactly that and using the momentum of his kick he closed the distance between them.

Tasgall was a very experienced close-range fighter. His abilities weren't anything special but the key to success, at least for him, lied in an amalgamation of fast and powerful punches and kicks to the opponent's weak points.

Hao Xuan blinked and Tasgall had vanished from his sights. He felt the air move in front of his chest so using the explosive power of his own inhumane body, he turned to the right side, just in time to see the air explode right where his face was.

Hao Xuan's eyes opened wide, "You mothe-" he tried to curse but Tasgall did not give him the time. Their movements were way too fast for any normal person to even see. If there were any onlookers, to them it would look like gusts of wind moving back and forth.

In less than thirty seconds the fight had come to its inevitable conclusion.

Hao Xuan was covered in sweat from top to bottom, his shoulders heaving with every breath. In front of him, Tasgall was in much the same condition with the only difference being that he was sweating much less.

There were no injuries on either of them but the ruffled clothes told a different story.

Tasgall smiled, using sign language to leave a few morsels of constructive criticism on the fight.

"You still use too many unnecessary movements."

Hao Xuan shook his head weakly, "Like I have a choice. You are too quick and accurate. Every strike is aimed at a weak point so I have to make some useless movements."

He knew very well that if not for his monstrous body, Hao Xuan would have never won this fight.

Tasgall rubbed his hands and feet, signing "The effects are much stronger now although a little delayed."

He was referring to the Chaos Qi.

Halfway through the fight Hao Xuan had coated his hands with it and every time he touched Tasgall, some of it was injected into his body.

Tasgall lost motor control and the ability to efficiently move his internal energy through every body part that came into contact with Hao Xuan's body.

If this was just a match based on their physical bodies, Hao Xuan would have most certainly lost. But as a cultivator, that was far from what he was truly capable of.

"Another round?" Tasgall asked, to which Hao Xuan swiftly refused.

"No no, we need to be ready in case it finds us again. Plus I am going to complete the last step needed to take us back home so I need to conserve energy," he explained while shaking his head.

They moved through the forest, walking over the decaying amber leaves that crunched under their weights, providing a much-needed backdrop in the silence.

A minute later they arrived at the meeting spot where everyone was already gathered around the campfire.

Burak smiled widely before Hao Xuan was even in view. He tore off a leg from the roasted beast and waved it in their direction.

"Look who it is, you're just in time!"

Hao Xuan saw their many familiar faces looking towards him with friendly smiles. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a giant glass bottle that could not possibly fit in there.

"I thought you guys might be a little thirsty so I brought some drinks!"

"WOHOO!"

"All hail the human ingenuity!"

They rejoiced. The fruit wine that Hao Xuan had brewed with Baracus's help was quite popular among them. He handed the entire bottle over and sat on the side, munching on the meat while the remaining handful of barbarians that were still left enjoyed their own meals.

Burak waited for him to finish before he spoke again.

"So? What's the plan?" he asked in a low voice so as not to disturb the others from enjoying it.

Hao Xuan lowered his voice as well.

"I need to make the last contact today. I have almost set up everything, all I need to do is find someone close enough to the gateway and using them as an anchor, I will be able to reverse engineer the right sequence," he said proudly but when he looked towards Burak, all he could see was confusion on his face.

"Oh, my bad. Um, I just need to do the last "ritual", and then we can go home," he simplified so Burak could understand him as well.

"Oh, that's it?" Burak asked with a hint of obvious skepticism, making Hao Xuan chuckle.

"You catch on quick. When I am doing the 'ritual', it will be quite...."eye-catching" let's say.. So we will need to be careful, if "it" is nearby, that will be the best time to attack."