"Seal it?" Fulke chuckled thinking Hao Xuan was joking but upon noticing the seriousness in his gaze he inquired further.
"Why? What's down there?" he moved in closer to Hao Xuan and asked in a low voice.
Hao Xuan's expression turned to one of disgust as he looked towards the hole that seemed darker than the night itself.
"It's… a long story. I'll tell you later but right now we must ask for help from those guys. We need to bury this whole place," Hao Xuan snapped back to his senses and started walking towards Dai Zhi.
He had only taken a couple of steps when a slender hand grasped his, stopping him mid-stride. Hao Xuan turned around and saw Ceni standing just a few inches away from him.
His pupils contracted to the size of needles as he held back the overwhelming urge to crush her fragile little neck. A strong killing intent, unintentionally, leaked out of Hao Xuan's body.
Most people considered Killing intent to be just a feeling, a sixth sense of sorts but…that was only true for normal people. Cultivators, as wonderous as they were, could even weaponize their killing intent and affect the physical world with it if it was strong enough.
When it was weak, it would be 'received' as a feeling that the person in front of the target wanted to hurt them. It would be like a feeling of Deja Vu where they would keep feeling threatened by the attacker.
But when it was strong, killing intent could manifest in the physical world and create realistic illusions like changing the color of the sky and the scenery around them, in one way or another showing how many people they had killed. It was different for each person and changed according to their own mindsets.
And the only way of increasing the level or strength of one's killing intent was by feeding yourself with negative emotions and of course, killing other living beings. The more a person killed, especially in a painful or demented way, the stronger their killing intent would become.
The more a person harbored negative thoughts and emotions towards their targets like hatred, jealousy, fear, or anger, the higher his or her killing intent would be.
Of course, if the killing intent was kept unchecked, it would start affecting the behavior and personality of the bearer, making them more and more ruthless until they would lose their mind and become a killing machine.
Hao Xuan's killing intent was in its infancy. He didn't harbor such negative thoughts towards anyone, or at least not to such an extreme degree, nor had he killed thousands or tortured others.
What Ceni felt was just a feeling that she should put some distance between herself and Hao Xuan. It was her body's way of warning her.
Ceni quickly let go of his hand and took a step back without even realizing it. She was flustered by Hao Xuan's gaze but didn't show.
"He won't let you. Dai Zhi only wants recognition for himself and he will not let a chance go by," she gestured towards the severed claw a few meters away from them, "He won't give up an opportunity to find out where it came from and what was behind it. As long there's a chance that it could benefit him somehow, he won't let it pass."
Since Dai Zhi had recalled the Holy sword, thick raindrops had started to drizzle again, increasing in frequency over time.
Behind them, no one wanted to intrude, not even Fulke. They both looked awkward enough on their own without another person jumping into the conversation.
They watched silently as Hao Xuan gazed at her piercing black eyes for a few seconds before turning away and continuing his march where Dai Zhi was standing.
"I still have to try. Otherwise, that thing down there will bring us all down," his voice came into Ceni's ears.
**
Dai Zhi was busy tending to some of the wounded when Hao Xuan walked up to him and pulled him aside.
"You want to do what?" Dai Zhi asked with a deep frown, his expression one of both anger and disbelief. He looked at Hao Xuan as if staring at a clown.
"Are you out of your mind?! This planet belongs to the academy!" he said as a matter-of-factly, "You are but a guest here. I appreciate your help in rescuing the newcomers but I will take it from here. You should go back to the city and rest. I will handle whatever is down there, it is not for you to worry about."
As Hao Xuan stared at the overbearing prince in front of him that refused to listen to his warnings, his killing intent grew ever so slightly. He sighed at his own powerlessness but this wasn't something he could do alone.
Seeing the resoluteness in Dai Zhi's eyes, Hao Xuan gave up.
"Alright then, good luck. I suggest you evacuate everyone that can't fight as soon as possible. There will be some monsters crawling out of the hole pretty soon," he spoke in a voice loud enough that was heard by everyone around them. He did it on purpose so Dai Zhi would be held to some accountability by his peers later on.
Dai Zhi's expression turned ugly for just an instant before quickly softening.
And with that one warning, Hao Xuan took Fulke's group with him and left. Ceni also picked up her two friends and left with haste with the help of some of the other cultivators.
Dai Zhi called for reinforcements from the walking city that was still nearby and waited, refusing to leave the place.
Barely an hour had passed when the ground started shaking once again.
Hao Xuan who had picked up Fortis, Salome (Ch 440), and the girl they had rescued just reached where Henrik's group was waiting for them when the entire mountain range they were on shifted by a few inches.
