The Dawn of the New World

Mendax stopped just outside the gate. He reached out to push it open but paused to look over his shoulder one last time to check with Baba Jezda.

"Are you certain about this? The chances of this ending without a bloodbath are almost none. You are stepping into HIS domain and not even I will be able to stop him if he decides to go all out," he reiterated hoping to avoid an ugly situation but the Old Witch could not even be bothered to respond.

*Sigh*

"Fine, so be it."

Hao Xuan cautiously stepped back and away from Baba Jezda while the ten-meter-tall copper gate opened.

Unlike most of the other entrances he had gone through within the Sanctum, this one wasn't a portal or a door to another dimension entirely. Standing outside he could see and feel the copious energy on the other side.

It was the domain of a god-level entity but that did not stop Baba Jezda from walking in without any preparation whatsoever.

And Hao Xuan would be lying if he said he wasn't curious about the source of her confidence. It looked like she wasn't even expecting a fight to take place.

He gave them a few seconds before carefully walking in after them.

And to his surprise, the scene took a drastic turn the moment he stepped over the threshold. He found himself standing on the edge of a super volcano thousands of meters high, at the first step of a stone staircase carved out of the black lava rocks.

It led straight down into the bowels of the VERY active volcano. Both Baba Jezda and Mendax were already several hundred meters down, casually passing through the spurts of molten rock being sprayed in their direction from the lava lake in the center.

Hao Xuan didn't lag behind and swiftly followed after them with wide strides, jumping over tens of stairs at once. He had to protect himself using only the spiritual energy at his disposal which proved to be more than enough.

Despite its initial gloomy and lifeless appearance on the way down, Hao Xuan came across numerous smaller and medium-sized creatures living around the stairs within the ashy rock substrate.

In fact, the entire volcano was one giant world of its own with different biomes separated by the levels of heat being given off. As they got closer to the lava lake the creatures also started to become larger and more unique in their appearance.

One such peculiar-looking creature also blocked his path. It looked like a fat lizard not much bigger than a house cat from earth. The only difference was that precious crystals were growing on its tiny back.

Some of them were purple and golden-colored spiritual crystals that he had never even seen before while the rest were colorless. But they were all jetting straight up into the air with the largest being almost 20 inches long.

They probably weighed more than the little cretin itself.

Thinking it to be a precious pet of the being that created this domain, Hao Xuan waved his hands to get it to move, "Shoo, get out of the way."

He wanted to jump over it but alarm bells started going off the moment that thought popped into his head.

The lizard raised its head with some effort to look up at him. Its baggy eyes were corrupted with a purple hue that Hao Xuan surprisingly recognized.

"You're poisoned? Do you...need help?"

He took a look around but couldn't even see the other two ahead of him anymore.

*sigh*

"Okay, I will help you but don't do anything strange...like trying to bite my hand off..." he slowly reached out and tried to pick it up but couldn't even make it budge.

Hao Xuan's eyes widened a little from the shock. He wasn't super strong like many of the other candidates but juggling a car or two wouldn't be a problem even in this state. And yet he couldn't move this chubby lizard one inch.

'Hmm, seems it can't move by itself either. Then maybe I can just..." he stepped around and easily passed by without any problems.

But just when he was about to continue the lizard let out a pained groan as if begging for his help.

Maybe it was because of the changes in his soul but Hao Xuan could feel exactly what the lizard was feeling. It was tired and hungry, trying its best to look for some assistance but it had been rather unlucky running into them.

Hao Xuan let out a deep breath, "Fine, one try and if it doesn't work then I'm leaving, understand? Call for your master to help then."

He inspected it quickly, looking for any obvious injuries or signs of infections but it seemed to be healthy. The only thing that stood out was a tiny little bright blue crystal growing from the flesh over its shoulder.

It was tightly wedged between the other crystals, perfectly hidden from sight.