Seeing all of that in person, watching his daily routine and all the things he did in between on display like that only rubbed more salt into an already bleeding wound.
"I promise…you'll be safe here…" Hao Xuan mumbled absentmindedly.
One moment he could see Salome laughing like a fool and the next he returned to reality where Salome's lifeless mutilated body was being trampled under Tian Zheng's feet.
The identity tokens of everyone else had stopped broadcasting already but Hao Xuan's was still going, showing Tian Zheng dancing on Salome's corpse like a madman. The morbid scene would make one sick to their stomach even if they didn't know the victim so one could only imagine how Hao Xuan was feeling.
He didn't even have enough energy to scream anymore. All he could do was watch and ingrain every moment of this despicable act in his memory.
Hao Xuan's ears started to bleed just like his eyes. He could not hear anymore, not this. It felt like someone had replaced the audio track to his life with something else.
The Grand Priestess who was watching with bated breath murmured something under her breath.
"It has begun. With the casting of the first stone, the thread of destiny hems a new truth…"
"Granny, what is that?! What's happening to him?"
Ma Jiang asked in shock as a dome of golden energy took shape around Hao Xuan. It engulfed him completely like an unchecked flame.
Inside they could see Hao Xuan's body inexplicably change postures. One moment he would be sitting vacantly and the next he would be on his feet screaming at the sky, while the next he would be back on his knees punching the ground. It was showing all the different ways he could have reacted to this.
The golden energy slowly increased in intensity until a pillar of golden light shot up into the sky. It broke the 'ceiling' of the forest and pierced through space upon reaching the first atmosphere.
Princess Ceni who was closest to him could feel it the best. This energy was unlike anything she had come across in all her life. It didn't have an overpowering aura or pressure about it, it simply felt like creation itself.
All the good and bad things about life, all of them were in that golden energy.
The Grand Priestess fell to her knees from astonishment. Others could not see it but it was crystal clear in her eyes. She could see a new possible future being written right in front of her eyes, one that would have never existed otherwise.
It was being reflected within that golden energy shower like a series of soundless moving images. It was being shaped around him by an unseen force, a future that did not exist before this moment.
He was walking on a sea of blood using endless rows of corpses as footholds to move forward, a bloody path carved to his destination at the end of which awaited a throne of broken swords surrounded by many monstrous silhouettes.
But inside the energy barrier Hao Xuan did not even know what he was experiencing. His thoughts were only of revenge, of spilling as much blood as needed to quench his anger, of all those that took part in that foul exhibition of viciousness.
And it was these very thoughts that were shaping a new fate.
His ears were filled with the sound of war, of the unrelenting clash of cold steel against exposed flesh. He could hear countless voices calling out to him through the void, crying his name to accept him.
Wisps of chaos energy in the shape of black plasma escaped from Hao Xuan's body and started to pollute the golden energy.
"NO!" the Grand Priestess screamed from the shock. She jumped down and landed nearby but could not take one more step closer towards him. Ma Jiang landed beside her albeit in a much better condition.
The Grand Priestess looked towards Princess Ceni who was standing just outside the energy barrier.
"YOU! STOP HIM, BRING HIM BACK OR HE WILL BE WIPED OUT OF EXISTENCE!"
As surprised as Ceni was by the appearance of two new people she did not question it right now.
"HOW?! I CAN'T GET ANY CLOSER!"
"YOU CAN, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS PUSH THROUGH AND A NEW FUTURE WILL BE WRITTEN, ONE WHERE YOU BOTH ARE MEANT TO BE!"
The Grand Priestess didn't know how true that was but she did know what Princess Ceni wanted so she offered her that. A future where she would never be alone.
And she wasn't entirely wrong. A new thread of destiny was being weaved by Hao Xuan's thoughts, intentions, and actions right at this moment and if she could force her way in she would always have a place in that future.
They would effectively be tied together by fate.
And as expected, Ceni didn't need to know anymore. She reached out and put her hand through the golden energy barrier. There was some resistance at first but it vanished the very next second.
She stepped through and quickly bent down to hold Hao Xuan's face in the palm of her hands. Her eyes glowed with a crimson light as she stared into his unfocused gaze, unleashing the full strength of her bloodline, the succubus bloodline.
"You will be mine, always and forever, for all of eternity."
The red light covered her body and slowly started to leak into the golden barrier but it was too weak to completely merge with it.
So she did what she had to to get more power. Her right hand moved down to Hao Xuan's chest and with a sudden jerking motion pierced his heart.
"WHAT IS SHE DOING?!" Ma Jiang screamed, dumbfounded.
"What needs to be done, we cannot interfere now-"
Before the Grand Priestess could finish speaking Ma Jiang had already charged forward.
"STOP YOU FOOL! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS!"
But her warnings fell on deaf ears.
A circle of green letters appeared in front of Ma Jiang and broke into shards of light that surrounded everything, erecting a green-colored shield that protected her from the front.
"She is going to kill him!" she muttered moments before running headfirst into the golden barrier.
Her green shield cracked and simply disintegrated upon coming into contact with the golden energy but enough of an opening had been created that she could step through.
"STOP!" she shouted right before making contact with Hao Xuan's back.
Her own green-colored mana leaked out of her body and finally overpowered the influence of Chaos.. Gold, green and red colors mixed together for an instant before erupting in an explosion of blinding light.
