The Dawn of the New World

"Holy Son?"

The carriage was moving across the night sky silently, the half unicorns galloping at such speeds that to the outside observers they were nothing but a blur. They cut straight through the city of lights that seemed to be even more lively at night.

Ryfon took out something that looked like hard candies from somewhere and started munching on them loudly.

"Yeah, each generation's most promising pupil is called the Holy Son or Daughter by most large organizations, among other things. Guo Yang is the Yang clan's genius. Oh, the Yang clan is one of the two clans that control the Temple of Dius just like us, so he is a pretty big deal."

*Crunch*

"And what about the consulate?"

"Oh that, it's just like how it sounds. It's the Temple's diplomatic branch here. It's where their people stay when they visit the academy. Guo Yang is currently there, training several talented cultivators on both our and the Temple's behalf. That's where you'll be staying for training as well."

*Crunch*

He ended the explanation by biting down on another large piece of candy. For someone that looked so elegant, Ryfon didn't have very good manners. He chewed with his mouth open, occasionally throwing out a few pieces here and there. Hao Xuan moved to the side to stay out of his range.

"Can you at least look the other way? Your face is really pissing me off right now," Hao Xuan commented with a scowl.

Ryfon grinned and moved even closer, "Jealous, are we? Here, you can have some too."

"You bitch, at least close your mouth!"

"Hahaha!"

The carriage flew for about 40 more minutes before abruptly coming to a stop. Hao Xuan looked out of the window and saw a 15-meter wide arched stone gateway in a wide-open space with hundreds of elven soldiers in gold engraved armor walking about.

"Where are we?"

Ryfon quickly fixed his appearance and put on a gentlemanly smile.

"One of the places under my clan. This is a Spatial gate we can use to go directly outside of the city since we're kind off short on time," he explained while stepping out of the carriage.

Spatial gates had different types and this one was a permanent one. It connected two places that weren't too physically far apart. It also didn't require any energy or formations to operate. The special stone gateway around it was enough to keep it open and stabilized.

20 armored soldiers were waiting right outside the carriage and as soon as Ryfon stepped out, all of them bowed from the waist and stayed there until he gestured otherwise.

"Welcome your Highness!" they shouted in unison.

Hao Xuan who was watching from inside turned to face Ensis.

"I need you to do something else while I'm busy here. Take Monk and go to..." Hao Xuan explained the plan he had come up with. When he was done, he called out Monk.

"Listen to Ensis carefully he will explain everything, don't try to bring too much attention to yourself unless necessary. Once it's done, contact me and I'll tell you where to meet," he passed both of them the spirit bands that Baracus had reconfigured.

These spirit bands still needed a lot more work done but right now he had no choice.

When Hao Xuan came out after Ryfon, he could tell from the soldier's expressions that they were all pretty surprised. Some of them even looked him up and down quite rudely.

But what amazed Hao Xuan was the fact that each soldier here was a Profound realm cultivator. There were close to two hundred of them here and each one at that realm. And from the looks of it, they weren't considered anything special. Perhaps above average in ranking as compared to normal guards.

Ignoring their intrusive gazes, Hao Xuan walked up to Ryfon and whispered something in his ear, getting a nod in return.

Ryfon looked at one of the nearby soldiers.

"Take the gentleman inside the carriage into the main city. Be careful, he is my guest."

"Yes your highness," the soldier bowed quickly.

Ryfon looked at Hao Xuan for confirmation that this was okay, who signaled that it was.

"Let's go."

They had stopped about 400 meters away from the gate so had a few minutes while walking over, so Hao Xuan decided to ask where the gate led to.

"To 'Sanatio'. It is one of the many powers associated with the academy. It's one of the best schools of Medicine and Alchemy in the continent. I have a few acquaintances there who should be able to help with whatever you need."

"Oh, that's nice."

A few minutes later they arrived at the gate. For some reason, it looked even bigger up close. On the other side Hao Xuan could see a completely different scenery just from standing where he was.

Ryfon went up to a group of soldiers that were standing next to the gate and told them something. They bowed and moved aside swiftly while one of them wrote something down on a giant book in his hand.

"We're good to go. I had you signed in as a friend of mine. Everyone that passes has to sign in, even me."

Hao Xuan nodded and looked up at the sky. He could see two moons and many stars in the sky above. He noted their positions and passed through the gate with Ryfon in the lead.

Hao Xuan had already been through spacial rifts and teleportation formations before and the experience was a little different every time. It would feel like every cell in his body vibrated once if not more.

But when he passed through this gate, it was just like stepping outside into a more warmer area. The scene changed in front of his eyes and he found himself standing in a lush green field. It was still night here but the weather was a bit different, more temperate it seemed.

"Identify yourself please!" someone spoke up from the side, waking Hao Xuan from his daze.

He looked around and saw several people looking in their direction.

With his 'commercial' smile, Ryfon walked up to them and started talking, leaving Hao Xuan to examine the surroundings.

The first thing he did was, of course, check the sky. He looked up but could see none of the stars from before. Even the moons were gone.

"Damn, we really came far, and with just one step."

A cool, scented gentle breeze blew past his face. Unconsciously, Hao Xuan closed his eyes and enjoyed the feeling. It was like getting caressed by mother nature herself.

*Drip*

*Drip*

Cold raindrops fell on his face making him smile, until he remembered something. The sky was completely clear a moment ago, so much so that he could see every star up there.

He slowly opened his eyes and found himself standing in a field of black roses. The sun was about to set or rise, he couldn't tell but the sky was crimson from its light.

"Hmm~"

From his left a flowing melody came into the ear. Carefully, Hao Xuan turned around and saw a young girl standing over a rose bush, humming a melody he had never heard before.

"Take your time little one, no need to hurry," she talked to the plant without a care in the world.

Hao Xuan was about to approach her when he felt a jolt go down his spine and turned around to see Ryfon standing there.

"Did you hear me? I said let's go, it's done," he said before walking away.

Hao Xuan quickly looked back towards the girl but found nothing there. It was night once again and the scenery had returned to what it originally was.

"Another hallucination? Or something else...?" he murmured to himself before following after Ryfon with lazy steps.