The Dawn of the New World Chapter 1561

The lava lake reminded Hao Xuan of the surface of the sun, not just because of the heat but also the solar flares-esque offshoots that were throwing tons of molten rock in every direction with each little pop of a yang energy bubble.

Hao Xuan examined the crater carefully with a furrowed brow. It was tens of kilometers wide with no clear shape. The Yang Energy was so intense that it would evaporate any being below Profound Realm in an instant.

But perhaps the worst part was the potent stench of rotten eggs permeating the atmosphere.

Hao Xuan hastily covered his nose even though it would do little to no good without an actual body to accompany it.

'Feels like a hundred nukes are going off every second...and this smell of sulfur, why is it so strong?? Because of its demonic origins?'

But no matter how much he theorized, the only way to get some real answers was to inspect the source with his own eyes.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" Hao Xuan commanded, creating a ripple in the atmosphere with his unrestricted soul power.

For a second all sounds down, not unlike the calm before the storm.

Then the entire world shook and the lava lake exploded as an even more powerful roar came out from somewhere deep inside. The lava splashed in every which direction, forcing Hao Xuan to use his soul power to create a spiritual barrier to protect himself.

He took a few steps back, utterly incensed at the cheeky display of insolence.

"CERBERUS!" he called out the hell hound's name to forcefully summon it.

But when he saw what came out of the lake his rage turned to concern.

Only two of its three heads came out of the lake, covered in extensive cuts and bruises in every direction. Originally Cerberus was hundreds of meters tall but now each head didn't even take 50 meters of space.

Hao Xuan had to step back even further since the smell of sulfur was overwhelming his senses.

"Ugh! It's coming from his blood! Is this ALL your blood?!" Hao Xuan muttered in shock upon seeing the slightly darker tinge of lava that was flowing out of the hellhound's wounds.

It was the same color as the lake but even more pure and concentrated.

'Wait...what the hell is that?!' he thought upon seeing something squirming inside its flesh.

Hao Xuan quickly jumped into the crater to get a closer look at its injuries and when he got within 500 meters another foreign could be detected due to its close proximity.

The wounds on Cerberus were anything but ordinary. They were trying to close up thanks to its supreme regeneration but a secondary energy kept erupting from inside its body to force the wounds open and in some cases making it even worse.

'?!'

'It is in even worse condition than before!'

One had to remember that the hellhound was already in a pretty bad state when Hao Xuan first 'acquired' it. It had just gone toe to toe with the Heavenly Extermination sent by Odin himself. It was mangled and disfigured with injuries that would take centuries to heal if they healed at all.

Any other beast would have succumbed to its injuries long ago but somehow Cerberus was still holding on even now. Its massive eyes followed Hao Xuan as he ran left and right to inspect each and every abrasion in extreme detail.

'Time energy, I knew I recognized it! It's oozing time energy...but why??'

After being out of the lake for just a few minutes its unsteady breathing was taking a turn for the worse due to the continuous bleeding that had been going on for several days now. So suffice it to say, it presented little to no danger to Hao Xuan in this state. Just keeping its eyes open was the most it could do.

After examining all the various nooks and crannies Hao Xuan got a pretty good idea of what was happening and why.

"Okay you can go back now," he patted the Hound of Hell gently, "Try to rest and recover as much as you can. The more you move the worse it will become so stay still while I try to find a solution."

Apparently it understood him because its four massive pupils were trained on Hao Xuan's figure even as it slumped back into the lava lake that was created from its own blood.

It had not done anything untoward in the greater scheme of things so Hao Xuan saw no need to punish it further, especially in this condition.

'It hasn't accepted me as its master yet but at least it won't attack without reason. The important thing though-'

*Sigh*

'-is that I don't know if there is even a solution for something like this. Bringing it back through time to a period when it already existed is creating a paradox.'