The Dawn of the New World

At first the Barbarians were flabbergasted by their chief's obeisance but when they saw her limp hand the truth of the situation came to light and each one of them put down their weapons.

If he could do that with raw strength alone then there was no telling what could happen if he actually decided to his other abilities like Dai Zhi.

Hao Xuan on the other hand couldn't give enough of a damn to even talk to them properly but still forced himself to be as cordial as possible in a situation like this.

"There is no need to kneel. It was my mistake, I...lost control for a moment."

She stood up with a warmhearted smile and Hao Xuan got a good look at her for the first time. Princess Na'im and Burak really were her children because he could see the resemblance at once.

Her features were sharp other than a permanent frown on her forehead, no doubt from years of worrying and stress. Most of her hair was white but her skin was remarkably smooth which made her look as if she was still in her early thirties.

Other than that she looked remarkably ordinary if one ignored her muscular physique.

Hao Xuan turned around and began walking back towards Grey's location when the chieftess spoke up, making him pause mid-stride.

"My daughter is still too young and passionate when it comes to the matters of the tribe. I hope the 'chosen one' does not take her actions too seriously."

He turned around with a knitted brow, "The chosen one? You are referring to me?"

"Of course," she nodded, "Who else but your eminence?"

This was the third time someone had called him that but he still didn't exactly know what aspect of him made them do that.

"What makes me the chosen one?" he asked with a raised eyebrow but the chieftess only looked back at him in confusion.

"The prophecy of course. I would have thought the Grand Priestess would have told you about it by now since it was her duty to guide you after you revealed yourself."

'Of course, there is always fucking a catch,' he cursed inwardly. The one person that would hold all the answers was out of commission.

"She is not doing too well right now. You will see for yourself once you return to Argham."

"Argham!" the chieftess smacked her forehead upon remembering, "To Burak! Go, everyone moves out! Catch up to them!"

Without even waiting for Hao Xuan to respond she jumped into the air towards the east and ran into the forest at full speed. The other quickly followed behind them along with Princess Na'im who had just managed to come back.

There was a trail of blood coming out of her mouth as she gave Hao Xuan a dirty look before following after her mother like all the rest. Only one person walked up to him.

A man of much smaller stature than the rest with a handsome visage. He was ghastly pale and judging from his looks alone it was obvious that he had not had the opportunity to rest in quite some time.

"Isak," Hao Xuan's expression softened considerably upon seeing him.

They had in fact spent quite a long time within the pyramid so this was natural. (First mentioned around CH 655 I think, he was Burak's second in command and used a special kind of black flame ability)

Iska responded in a similar cordial manner, even going as far as patting Hao Xuan on the shoulder.

"I am glad to see another friendly face, even if it is under these circumstances."

"Hmm," Hao Xuan smiled subconsciously. It was like meeting an old friend after many years.

"I must go now, the others could be in danger."

"By others you mean?"

"Burak and the rest of the group. They were with the tribe trying to head towards Argham. We stayed back to stop that man but...never would I have thought he would be so much stronger than us. If you hadn't come I'm afraid-"

"Don't mention it. I was going to come either way, whether or not you were here."

"Hm, I will see you in Argham if all goes well," Isak nodded one last time before running eastward.

Hao Xuan stood rooted to the spot for quite sometime after that, letting the truth of the situation wash over him.

"Meng, he was behind me getting the physique but only so Dai Zhi could take it from me. Which means I have been embroiled in this from the very beginning. And...to think I fell for his sob story...just how much of my life was manipulated by him? Is he the one behind everything? Maybe...he is the Emperor?"

*Woooosh*

A cold gust of wind blew in from somewhere up north, followed closely by a sharp pain in the back of Hao Xuan's head.