The Dawn of the New World

The moment Ma Jiang came into contact with Hao Xuan's body her mana was pulled out by an unknown force and together with the red Qi overpowered the Chaos instantly.

The Golden light became whole again and accompanied by Princess Ceni's Qi and Ma Jiang's mana sent a second, much more powerful wave of energy shooting up the pillar.

It became impossible to tell where one ended and the next began but the Grand Priestess could not tear her eyes away from the spectacle. In fact, her eyes opened even wider as she tried to peer into the light for some clues.

And it was then that she saw it, a trace of a fourth color hidden somewhere within the golden light. It was white, more pure and holy than anything she had ever seen or felt in all her days. It felt like she was seeing the light from beyond the pearly gates of heaven itself.

It was merely a sliver but still it kept everything under control. Both Ma Jiang and Princess Ceni's energies that should have been fighting against one another were kept in check by it and used to bolster and stabilize the golden light even further.

Soon the entire pillar of light was shining so brightly in the dark of night that it was next to impossible to stare at it directly. And the Grand Priestess knew in her heart that if she continued to peer into it there would be a hefty price to pay but she still couldn't look away.

She needed to see what this new future was and why it was so important to her people.

The influence of the iridescent light increased to cover the entire lake and waterfall before expanding further outwards to encompass most of the forest.

It pierced through the air upon coming into contact with the first layer of atmosphere and appeared on the surface before once again continuing further into the empty void outside of the planet.

But when the light overtook the Grand Priestess she was finally able to catch a glimpse of something inside.

There were multiple events being unfolded at the same time and now instead of one there were three separate ones. Each one was fighting for supremacy trying to come up on top.

She looked towards the source and saw Ma Jiang, Hao Xuan, and Princess Ceni frozen in place like statues. There were threads of golden light connecting each one of them together in an intricate design, creating new patterns as they went along.

"No...what have you done, it wasn't supposed to be this way..." she said to herself in a low murmur before losing all sense of time and freezing just like them.

**

The colosseum was filled with waves of clamorous tidings as all the native soldiers were being ordered and sorted into their respective groups.

"TO YOUR POSTS! WE WILL LEAVE IN 20 MINUTES!" a cultivator shouted from the stands.

They were preparing to set out. Dai Zhi stood at the foot of the domed hall peering down at all of them. Micha came up behind him and bowed lightly, "Lord Dai Zhi."

Dai Zhi's expressionless face gave little away but his words were anything but tranquil.

"Call in everything, EVERYONE. Bring out the beasts and the mutants, the mercenaries and the priests. I want everyone out there. Kill all those who stand against me, and of those that surrender, ruin them still. Both the Temple and the Hall will send their people to join us."

Micha hesitated for a moment wanting to say something but held back in the end.

"Yes."

But while he was turning around something caught his eye on the horizon, far in the distance.

"B-BROTHER!" he shouted in astonishment while pointing towards it.

"Hmm?"

Dai Zhi followed his line of sight and saw what he was pointing at. There was a strange phenomenon that was visible all the way from here. Pieces of a mountain were floating up into the air.

"Is that-?!"

"The main entrance into the catacombs, it's been opened!"

"That's impossible, the only way to open it is from the inside or-" Dai Zhi didn't finish the sentence.

He quickly took out his identity token which was made from a blue jade unlike those of the rest of the participants and send some spiritual energy into it.

"Siubune! What's happening at the mountain pass?"

The jade token brightened for a moment before returning to normal. Dai Zhi's expression turned ugly.

"He's dead."

He muttered a few other names into the token but got the same result from all of them.

"They are all dead, everyone overseeing the mountain entrance is dead."

"Then the seal really has been opened?" Micha asked for confirmation and got it not a second later.

"Call Tian Zheng and Dima, tell them what happened. Have Dima meet me in my chambers. He has more people there so he would know better."

**

At the mountain range in question, the scene was one of total destruction. One of the mountains had been hollowed out halfway while the surrounding ones were all missing sections from one spot or another.

Two figures stood in front of a valley, watching in silence as the numerous runes and plates blocking their path were slowly dissolving into thin air.