The Dawn of the New World

Hao Xuan's mind was racing trying to come up with a solution but there simply wasn't an answer here, at least not one he could see.

He couldn't just up and leave at this stage, not without seeing it to the end first because even now the cracks on the pearl's surface were beginning to repair themselves bit by bit.

'I have to be sure, I have to try everything!'

Having made up his mind Hao Xuan didn't hold back and called in his last chip.

The clover pattern around his brain activated as a golden energy began to surround his nervous system. And just as the energy covered his insides Baracus's warning also popped up in his vision.

[Warning!]

[Temporal Disturbance Detected]

The same golden-colored light covered Hao Xuan's eyes as he began the process of re-experiencing the same five minutes over and over again in a bid to find a solution to the current predicament.

One second.

That's how long it took. When Hao Xuan blinked his eyes had returned to normal but his forehead and back were caked with sweat.

[Energy levels returning to norm]

'You have used the special ability to peer into the future. Query: What was the outcome?'

Hao Xuan had barely opened his eyes when Baracus's voice sounded within his head.

He shook his head slowly looking up at the black pearl, 'Seven times. I had to die seven times but not once was I able to destroy that thing. And I was right, as long as it stays in one piece it will be able to regenerate within minutes.'

'Within five minutes it can reconstruct its entire body if I don't interfere. Twice as long if I do but in that case it will descend into that liquid and hide until it's back to peak condition.'

*Beep*

'The composition of the liquid is unknown. Have you tried entering the pool?'

Surprisingly Hao Xuan's expression turned ugly the moment Baracus mentioned the pool. He even took a step back without realizing it.

'I...did. It is...alive I think. I was not able to survive for more than five seconds in there before it invaded my body. I lost all control before it started breaking me down into a million little pieces but strangely enough, I was still able to remain conscious for a lot longer which allowed me to detonate what little Qi I had left to finish myself and reset it.'

Just thinking about it once was enough to leave him grinding his teeth.

'For a very brief moment just before the last reset my consciousness was able to connect with them. I felt them, a lot of them. Not just the grunts but the elites as well, there are hundreds of them down there,' he said looking at the pool.

'It's a breeding pit. If I leave the synapse will recover and attack the city with a new wave. No one will survive. Everything up till was just a test to gauge the strength of its enemies and to keep them busy while it prepared for the real thing...'

Zou Huan and Han Rong were still watching from afar and when they saw the battle had come to a standstill Han Rong wanted to jump in but was stopped by Zou Huan.

'What? He has no spiritual energy left, we have to help him!' Han Rong remarked to which Zou Huan slowly shook his head.

'Not yet. I feel something is a little off about him. Give him some time and if things get out of hand we will jump in.'

Han Rong ceased his struggle and frowned upon hearing his statement.

'What do you mean off?'

'I don't know. Call it a battle instinct but...I feel like there is something coming, like this isn't it.'

And as they soon saw for themselves, Zou Huan was right.

Irritated and infuriated by the situation Hao Xuan was beginning to lose control of his emotions. The hard part was already over and he was just a step away from killing it for good but that last step proved to be astronomical.

The Nine gates surrounding the central mind palace began to react the more he let go of his emotions allowing even more chaos to surge through.

The only difference was that his own Qi reserves were still mostly empty but wisps of pure chaos were beginning to exude from his body. He was drawing it from somewhere else, from somewhere far beyond the gates.

The chaos didn't have a fixed form as it leaked out into the surroundings but the space around and especially behind him began to shift and bend.

Zou Huan and Han Rong both subconsciously stood up in a bid to get a better look.

'There! Do you see that?' Zou Huan pointed at the obvious anomaly.

'I...think so? What is...that?'

Han Rong couldn't even tell what he was looking at right now. It felt like a very bad illusion but at the same time it felt more real than anything else in this specific moment. As if his brain was trying to rationalize an idea that should not have been possible in the first place.