The Dawn of the New World



Hao Xuan walked over with measured steps and slowly peaked over the hill to check out the mountain in question.

It must have been the largest mountain within a thousand kilometers at some point but now that it had been shaved, cut, and drilled into in so many places it looked completely different.

The city where Princess Ceni was being held was carved into the mountain from the inside out, creating an exhaustive spiral maze that trailed up and down. The lower half was covered with thousands of people walking about like ants while the upper half was mostly deserted.

The structures here were bigger, more grand, and extravagant in every way imaginable as compared to the lower levels. There were even rows upon rows of all kinds of rare spiritual herbs planted along the sides.

"He's made it his home. I can feel the overflowing spiritual energy being extracted from the mountain all the way here," Hao Xuan accurately determined, "The lower levels must house the natives and low-born cultivators while the upper levels should be reserved for those elites that Dai Zhi values the most. The place Ceni was being held should be somewhere deep inside in the lower levels, it didn't match the aesthetics of the top half."

[Initial Scans Concluded]

"What did you find?" Hao Xuan questioned upon seeing the notification pop up on the top left.

*beep*

"The mountain is hollow. There is an extensive system of vents and ducts going from the depths of the mountain all the way to the top. These vents are carrying pure Yang energy and distributing it through each of the levels."

"There is only one mountain pass that opens up into the city but it is covered by numerous detection arrays and killing formations."

Hao Xuan craned his neck to the left to see the place Baracus was talking about. There was a single 10-meter-wide road snaking through the barren and rocky region. There were no places to hide or to take shelter anywhere along the way, not that it would help in any shape or form because every 150 meters there was a checkpoint.

"I could sneak in if it was just people but there are too many arrays in the way. They would detect me within the first few hundred meters. What's the alternative?"

"Here, along the back," Baracus pointed towards the rear of the mountain which was completely empty, "There is a single passage at the lowest point that leads straight into the main duct system."

Hao Xuan frowned, "Just like that? No guards or anything?"

"Negative. There are sixteen human guards positioned throughout the area but that is not of concern to the host. The system has picked up another four hundred unidentified entities roaming the area."

"What do you mean unidentified? You can't tell if they are people or not?"

"Affirmative. They do not possess any indicators of traditional carbon-based lifeforms."

Hao Xuan's mind raced with countless ideas before stopping at one.

"Pure Yang energy being extracted from the mountain, lack of human guards but a small army of other non-organic lifeforms. Do they have a spiritual signature?"

"Affirmative."

"All on the same wavelength as the Yang Energy?"

[Calculating...]

"Affirmative."

"Then it can only be one thing, fire spirits. They are born around concentrated sources of pure energy after a set amount of time. They are nothing more than rabid creatures that attack anything that is remotely different from them, that is until they gain consciousness after roaming the lands for several decades and accumulating enough experiences."

"I am guessing these spirits are not that old. They must be released around the back of the mountain on purpose as another defensive measure. The 16 human guards should all be at the peak of Spirit Realm to be able to hide their presence or maybe they have an innate talent for Yang-type energies which is why they are able to move around without getting harmed by the spirits."

"This is good!" Hao Xuan exclaimed while getting back on his feet, "The fire spirits are violent by nature but they also exude high levels of raw yang energy which makes it impossible for any protection arrays or other inanimate defensive measures to be put in place."

"And since Feng Huang is also a beast created from the purest Yang energy he has to be somewhere nearby. The place I saw Zhurong in was also underground, a massive cave covered in flames. That has to be at the center of the mountain. I will go there and crawl up the ducts to enter the city. This is perfect!"

The more Hao Xuan talked the more things started to make sense since all the pieces of the puzzle came together one by one. The knowledge from various other lifetimes had begun to play a vital role without even him realizing it.