The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1560

While Hao Xuan was trying to come up with some of the more 'unorthodox' methods to get rid of the creature something caught his eye.

*Sniff*Sniff*

The smell of burning wood carried over on the wind along with clouds of white smoke. Faint tremors could be felt every few seconds but they were so weak that no normal human being could have been able to detect them.

Hao Xuan turned towards the easterly direction with a grim expression, "Did you wake up?" he muttered out loud while moving deeper into the forest.

After barely crossing a few tens of meters he came upon a small stream of molten lava slowly edging closer to the many failed (and some successful) creations he had left behind. It was just a couple of inches wide so there was not much risk. (Reference Images posted in discord)

"Damn it!!" he cursed loudly because it could be a symptom of something much worse.

Hao Xuan swiftly picked up his pace and followed the rivulet back to its source. It joined into a much larger stream, deeper and hotter with constantly widening banks as it burned and ate the surrounding bamboo forest to increase its mass. (Reference Image 2)

He jumped over the rocks that were a little warm even for him and sprinted towards the sound of flowing water.

'There's water here?! I don't remember 'imagining' any fast-flowing rivers!'

Hao Xuan became concerned that another sentient being had sneaked in while he was away and was now changing the landscape according to its own will.

'That would be VERY bad!'

But just as he was about to launch into the air a clearing came into view. Hao Xuan prepared himself for either a fight or a quick retreat if the opponent was too powerful but what he saw left him speechless.

The ground abruptly ended as an entire river of lava dozens of meters wide blocked his path. The scenery took a drastic turn for the worse. (Reference Image 3)

Streams of molten rock poured into the river from the north and the east. Most of the earth was charred black and covered with a thick layer of volcanic rock from wherever the lava had passed from.

The damage was immense but there was no way for Hao Xuan to see the extent of it until he explored more.

He had to take a couple of steps back because it was actually becoming quite uncomfortable standing this close.

'The yang energy oozing off of the lava is on another level. It's suffocating on a whole other level!'

Keeping on the side of the bamboo forest Hao Xuan followed the main lava river back to its origin and in less than ten minutes he came across another scene that left him stupefied.

There were buildings here! Albeit abandoned and on fire but that was definitely not something he had created. (Reference Image 4)

"Where the hell did these come from?!"

The uncertain feeling in the pit of his stomach became stronger and stronger the further in he went, forcing Hao Xuan to keep a low profile. The vegetation began to die down and the ground turned rock solid, replacing the previously fertile soil of the forest.

The air became heavy, full of poisonous elements that eliminated most normal life.

Hao Xuan began to slow down when he came across a small hill next to- what appeared to be- the end of the world.

The ridge broke off and nothing could be seen through the thick smog that blanketed everything in sight.

He stumbled across the barren landscape for several hundred meters but to no avail.

"Where is it?? It should have been right here! It's not like I could miss it considering its siz-"

The words got stuck in his throat when another tremor shook the land. This had to be above a 6.0 magnitude on the scale and it was coming from the other side of the wall of smog.

With narrowed eyes Hao Xuan tried to bore a hole through the cloudy wall but it was an exercise in futility. Nothing could be seen on the other side.

'It's fine. It can't attack me,' he told himself, 'The soul connection won't let it...hopefully...'

With gritted teeth Hao Xuan pushed into the smog, allowing it to envelope him completely. Once inside he could feel another spiritual sense- nay, a Divine Sense bearing down on him.

At first it was inquisitive but once it realized who he was it quickly became aggressive. It was akin to having millions of small steel wires trying to tie him up and extinguish his flame altogether.

He channeled the full power of his soul, preparing to let it run free in every direction so it could be recognized as the new master.

"ENOUGH!" Hao Xuan roared before unleashing the power of a million souls at once, "OBEY OR BE DESTROYED!"

The world shook by the overwhelming might of his spirit and when Hao Xuan waved his hand every cloud in his way was pushed aside by raw soul power.

The scene suddenly became clear.

Hao Xuan was standing at the edge of a crater and its basin was filled with the same lava that turned most of this world into a wasteland. (Reference Image 5)

***

Author's Notes:

All images are posted in the Official Discord. [Remove spaces from links before entering.]

Link: https: // discord. gg / AHdSBFQ

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Direct Link to the post: https :// discord. com/ channels/ 764767675779383327/769296071418576937/1270237970581950505