The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1557

As for the land itself, it was unlike anything Hao Xuan had seen so far or even expected to see during this brief expedition.

He found himself standing at the edge of a rift, a chasm of ungodly proportions. It began a few kilometers downwind from where he was standing and went on further than anyone could see.

At its point of origin was a majestic city etched out of white stone. Both sides of the chasm were lined with ragged dwellings carved into its yellow sides.

The architectural designs of these dangerous cliff-side dwellings that appeared tattered and decrepit even from so far away were in complete contrast to the main city that would be considered an engineering marvel even in the most extravagant sectors of the Greater Worlds. (Reference Image posted in discord)

The main city was connected to the side dwellings via many small land bridges numbering in the hundreds.

'Woah, this is...amazing!'

Hao Xuan exclaimed in wonderment while looking around for a way to get closer to the main city. But before he could even take a single step in its direction the ear-piercing shrieks of wraiths carried over from one of the land bridges.

He immediately fell to the ground and slowly peaked his head over the ridge to see what was going on.

There was a lanky humanoid figure about 4-5 times the size of a normal human being running across the land bridge. A few meters behind it was a floating wraith, not unlike the one that had escaped into the city the last time Hao Xuan was visiting Liet.

The humanoid figure was extremely fast but the wraith was just a tad bit faster. The wraith unleashed a grey energy-based attack that easily cut off one of its arms but it didn't even slow down to scream.

The humanoid figure picked up even more speed but just as the distance between them began to increase, more than three dozen wraiths floated over the chasm from the side-dwellings trying to cut it off.

Hao Xuan's eyes widened, 'So many! I'm not sure if I'd be able to escape from them either. Why are there so many wraiths here anyway? Is this a special place for them?'

As Hao Xuan craned his trying to get a better look at the side-dwellings where all the wraiths were coming from, he pushed too hard against the edge of the ridge and shook loose some of the stones right underneath.

The stones fell straight into the chasm but not before hitting a boulder that was sticking out of the side. Like an avalanche more and more dirt and sand got loose creating a lot more noise than he ever intended.

This noise was loud enough to awaken nearly every resident of the nearby dwellings.

Accompanied by an ocean of defeating screeches, more than three hundred wraiths climbed out of their 'tombs' thirsty for blood.

Although most of them were immediately pulled towards the humanoid figure fighting for its dear life, a select few noticed the disturbance and flew over to where Hao Xuan was.

'Oh fuc-'

He rolled away from the edge and pushed against the ground to jump but instinctively took flight with shocking ease.

'Huh?!'

Hao Xuan was just as surprised initially until he remembered how much more powerful his soul was compared to his body.

'Wait...if I can fly, won't I be able to fight them as well?'

And he wanted to give it a go with every fiber of his being but fighting in this place where there could be hundreds or even thousands more of them within earshot was a stupid idea no matter how one looked at it.

'Damnit, another time then!' with gritted teeth Hao Xuan picked up his speed and shot into the horizon before more than a handful of wraiths could get a good look at him.

***

He flew over the ravished land full of ruins and all manner of aberrations for nearly half an hour. A few strange-looking umbral creatures tried to give chase but he was too fast and his soul power nearly inexhaustible for anyone to catch up to him.

Hao Xuan came to a halt atop a barren plateau looking down on many of these various cursed grounds infested with all kinds of horrendous creatures.

'This place is too big and far too dangerous. In just these few minutes I've come across fourteen creatures exuding the same energy as a Saint Realm cultivator. I can't just keep flying around hoping to run into them. Can I- I wonder...'

He tried to reimagine the sword once more but this time he poured in as much soul power as it could possibly hold. It slowly materialized within his grasp, shaking violently while pointing in the direction he had come from. He let go, allowing the visualized blade to fly back to its owner.

'That worked?! Damn, those soul marks are far too dangerous if they can be tracked back that easily!'

But just as Hao Xuan flew after the blade a small shadow latched onto his leg without setting off any alarms.