The Dawn of the New World

And all of a sudden everything started to make sense. Why Dai Zhi was killing so many natives for no rhyme or reason, going out of his way to start unnecessary bloodshed. It was all offered as a sacrifice so he could come back here one last time.

Princess Ceni looked down at her feet which felt light as a feather. She took a step forward and the weight increased, albeit slightly. She looked to the second Orb and began marching towards it.

Every subsequent step became heavier than the last and by the time she reached the second orb the weight was similar to wearing heavy boots. It was enough to be noticeable but not enough to hinder her progress.

She continued moving forward from one orb to the next until it became a chore to even lift her feet. Upon reaching the 5th Orb her legs felt like two pieces of cinderblocks she had to lug around. But she knew that to counter the added weight she needed to channel in more and more blood energy but only the one from the vampire bloodline.

Princess Ceni knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so she didn't hold back either and utilized the full force of her bloodline. The only problem was since the majority of the blood essence of the vampiric bloodline was laying inside Hao Xuan's body, when it reached low levels it began to draw vitality from his blood as well.

He was like a backup battery for her. His body became weaker and began to age much faster. Wrinkles, loss of stamina, muscle, and skin degradation. Within a handful of seconds he had aged several decades but that combination of two extremely strong bloodlines was enough to propel Princess Ceni all the way to the 8th Orb, at the same spot Dai Zhi was at.

What had taken Dai Zhi decades and several attempts to achieve Princess Ceni had done in a matter of seconds on her very first try.

The last orb was right in front of her. All she needed to do was take one single step forward and it would be hers. Other than her father she would be the second person to have received the entirety of the ancient vampire lord's inheritance but when Princess Ceni raised her foot she remembered how she had arrived in this space in the first place.

That back in the outer world she and Hao Xuan were physically connected and she understood how she had managed to make so much progress. If it wasn't for him she would not have gone past the 6th orb at most.

But for her to take that final step would mean Hao Xuan would have to die. There would not be enough blood essence left for him to go on even for a day.

It was a simple choice. Sacrifice a guaranteed rise in power for a chance that maybe there could be another future for her with Hao Xuan in it.

By utilizing him she could break free of all the chains that had been holding her down without depending on anyone else, but in the end, she would be all alone.

And for her, that wasn't even a question. She opened her eyes back in the outer world, her hand still within Hao Xuan's chest.

'What's the point of standing at the apex if there is no one to share the view with. I will find another way back like Dai Zhi did.'

When Princess Ceni had entered the space Dai Zhi could feel her presence even though they were separated by tens of thousands of miles, and when she left he could feel how much progress she had made.

"NOOOOO!" his screams echoed within the treasure palace.

**

Although much had transpired, in reality, no more than ten seconds had passed from the moment Princess Ceni's hand had pierced through Hao Xuan's chest.

Having fully awakened her bloodline and received the first eight portions of the inheritance, Princess Ceni was seething with power. Her blood was boiling with more rich lifeforce than she had use for and after seeing the condition she had left Hao Xuan in, Princess Ceni channeled all the excessive blood essence back into his body while the rest leaked out and began to overpower the chaos.

But she didn't even have time to rejoice since not even a second later the barrier opened on the other side and another figure ran in screaming for her to stop.

The barrier closed behind her just as she made contact with Hao Xuan. A surge of green-colored energy exploded from within her body which was so excessively pure and potent that not even Princess Ceni could contend against it, not without allowing the chaos to take over.

All these different kinds of energies that normally should have never come into contact with one another were mixing together.. The result was devastating on everything around them as the second energy wave erupted forth.