The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1532

"But...where is this?" he wondered, "From what I know the places within the Umbral Planes vary so much because they are greatly affected by the material world and its occupants. In fact, it shouldn't even be possible for a place to have...nothing..."

It had been so long since he could talk freely that Hao Xuan vocalized every thought as he toured this strange space.

The ground was soft and a little wet while the atmosphere was, well, there. There was nothing that stood out about any of it.

"Was this space connected to a temple or something? Some bald dudes in orange robes trying to suppress all their emotions like in those old novels haha. Then there would be one guy sitting under a waterfall and one dude balancing on a bamboo pole on the edge of a cloudy peak somewhere- WOAH!"

As soon as his thoughts reached that point the ground in front of him suddenly vanished, replaced by a sea of clouds.

He leaned over the edge to peer down but could not see anything past the first cloud layer. He stepped back with a raised eyebrow, "Coincidence?"

When he was talking about that cloudy peak just now, that image was so clear in his mind that he could see it if he closed his eyes. And then, all of a sudden, a similar scene came to be in his path.

"Then, a bamboo forest," he said out loud but nothing happened even after a few seconds.

"Hmm...."

This time Hao Xuan actually closed his eyes and imagined himself in the forest surrounded by tall bamboo trees on all sides. Earthy smells, the chirping of insects, and heavy air- all things that he thought would normally be present there.

And when his eyelids lifted it was so.

Bamboo trees were stretching into the air and on all sides to boot- just as he had imagined.

"Well....I'll be damned! This space is being directly influenced by my thoughts, shaped by my imagination. This is..."

He was more shocked than excited by this discovery.

"How far...can it go?"

Hao Xuan's brow rose into the air as he quickly tried a few more things.

"A sword!" he imagined holding an ordinary blade in his hand but when he opened his eyes there was only dirt in the shape of the sword.

"A person!" he imagined.

It was no one specific, just a figure with his back turned towards him.

He could hear the faint movement of the soil and once it subsided a statue was left in its place.

The dimensions and shapes were exactly as he had imagined but it was nothing more than a life-sized faceless statuette made from the same solidified material as the soil.

"A cow with tow heads!"

"A Cat with no tail!"

"A dog with a limp!"

Each time he imagined it with great detail but the results were all the same.

Hao Xuan sat down in defeat, taking note of the limitations of the space.

"Details help but some things it just can't make," he mused, "And it costs a little bit of soul power every time too. If I didn't have such an obscenely powerful soul then it would have been a major concern."

"And it's not simply about organic or inorganic objects. A whole forest of bamboo trees was created perfectly but it couldn't make a sword? How does that make sense? I need to know the principles it works on..."

**

It was difficult to tell how much time had passed but it had to be tens of hours. Hao Xuan was so absorbed in his countless experiments that he had completely lost track of time.

Sometime later he finally let out a breath of relief, surrounded by mounds of dirt on all sides.

Hao Xuan plopped down carelessly as he began to feel the strain on his soul after so long.

"The good old...scientific process, eh? Never thought...I'd still be using stuff from earth but...what makes sense makes sense," he joked while surveying his many creations and even more failures.

There were things like simple desks and tables, some broken chairs, chains and raw metals, many fruits and vegetables that looked good enough to eat.

Hao Xuan summarized the results so far.

"So, if it can exist naturally without the intervention of another being- I can create it here. It will cost a certain amount of soul power to do so but as long as I understand how it works and imagine it clearly, it will appear here."

"Animals and other living beings are far too complicated and consume a disgusting amount of soul power to make so it's not even worth the trouble."

He looked over his shoulder at the simple table which had no defects.

"As for objects like that, I need to take it step by step. If I want to create a wooden table, I need to imagine trees from where the wood will be harvested and then refined into planks. Then those planks can be used to create the desired object IF I have the necessary tools and knowledge to do so."

"I need to follow every single step of the manufacturing process from start to finish, save for the manual labor which is optional."