The Dawn of the New World

The rumbling slowly came to a stop right after the blue barrier fully materialized around the battleground.

The spectators finally relaxed once their own safety was assured but Dai Zhi was so embarrassed that he could only hatefully glare at the arena where the ground itself was covered in fire, lava, and lightning while the sky was almost frozen in place with great Ice Blade hovering in the center.

Seven mind palaces had fired in unison and they could do so one more time before dissipating. Stasa was hovering above the great ice blade at the height of almost 200 meters. He peered down at his handy work like an angry god ready to unleash his fury.

His rational mind told him that nothing could survive that. Not even a profound Realm cultivator could remain standing after taking such an attack head-on but somehow, deep down he knew that wasn't the case.

The anxiousness in his heart was foreboding of something terrible, his instincts screaming at him to cut his losses and run away.

'He is dead. He has to be dead...WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD?!'

The fire died down just enough for him to catch a glimpse of a silhouette. There he was, still breathing, still standing. But he cut a sorry figure with almost half his upper body without any skin. It had been burnt off in the earlier attack.

His back was covered in two rows of black bone spurs that were drawing in all the energy from the air. That was the reason the intensity of the fire had lowered considerably, it was being devoured by him.

Stasa's eyes narrowed in disbelief. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The burnt flesh and skin was recovering so quickly that he could see it with the naked eye.

"You fucking monster. What are you? WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE?!"

In a moment of hysteria he had subconsciously yelled that out loud and Hao Xuan heard obviously him.

His head swiveled upwards until he was staring right into Stasa's eyes. From over 200 meters away Stasa saw his own reflection staring back at him from within the darkness of his gaze. For a moment it felt like the entire world had gone dark.

All that was left was him and Hao Xuan. He had never felt this way before in his entire life. This...vulnerable and exposed. The hair on the back of his neck stood straight up to face the heavens.

He saw Hao Xuan's lips arch into a terrible smile exposing sharp beastly fangs.

"Found you," he mouthed the words and Stasa's heart skipped a beat.

'He...isn't human! That is a monster! I need to kill him NOW!'

He had completely lost his composure. His survival instincts had taken over making his rational mind take a back seat.

He waved his hands and seven serpents that acted as the bodies for the Mind Palaces came to an abrupt stop. The first among them lit up and immediately fired where Hao Xuan was.

*ZZZZZ*

The surrounding air froze as the energy beam shot out once again.

But this time Hao Xuan didn't wait for it to get to him. He raised his right leg which was covered in bright red fire and brought crashing down onto the ground.

*BOOOOM*

What was left of the ground shattered instantly, sending chunks of earth shooting into the sky. By the time the energy beam landed, Hao Xuan had already jumped into the air.

Stasa readied the second one before firing it instantly but it missed once again.

Hao Xuan was using the chunks of earth that he just sent shooting up into the sky as platforms to not only change his position but also to higher up into the sky.

It was like a scene from a movie or a game. He moved so quickly that most people couldn't even see his movements. But those that could were left in awe of his agility and finesse.

He was moving in a cyclone with all kinds of debris and obstructions coming his way yet none of it touched him even once. He was always at the right spot at the exact right time. Every energy beam missed him by less than a meter.

No matter what Stasa tried to do he was always a step behind and before he realized what was happening Hao Xuan was almost on him.

He gritted his teeth staring at the great ice blade in ambivalence. He didn't want to use it. It was always meant to be a prop, something to scare rather than actually use in combat. He would be set back months if not years. All his hard work gone down the drain.

But when he saw Hao Xuan getting closer by the second all other options were automatically thrown out the window.

'Fine, if death is what you want, death is what you will get!'