"Master."
Green and Red were down on one knee in front of Hao Xuan.
Hao Xuan waved his hand grumpily, "Stop already, for god sakes. How many times have I told you not to do that? Just relax."
"Yes," they replied in the same servile tone and got up quickly. One of Hao Xuan's brows shot up when he noticed their height. Previously they were around 14 feet tall but they were just a foot taller than Hao Xuan himself at around 9 feet.
When they used to walk out into the crowd before, they were the center of attention wherever they went. At 14-15 feet, these two massive lumps of meat and muscle were way too eye-catching. But now they might not even be the tallest ones in a room.
He pointed at them with his mouth still half-open from shock, "What happened here? How did you become so much shorter??"
Green was the one to answer.
"As we gain more and more control over our bloodlines and our bodies, we can start to control our physical features at will. After breaking through to the Spirit Realm the divine blood will completely awaken, giving us more abilities and overall control. So we will be able to look like normal humans then if needed."
"Ho, did not know that….maybe I can control my own height as well. People look at me like I'm a freak," Hao Xuan mumbled to himself, and it was true. People mostly didn't comment on his height but he was over 8-feet tall, dwarfing most humans. Only against beasts and non-human races would he seem somewhat normal.
They talked for the next 20 mins or so. Green and Red told him everything that had been happening, including about Yun Wentian's progress.
The kid was quite talented with the sword and picked up most things relatively quickly. He wasn't a genius but he still wasn't slow by any means. He had already broken into the Earth Realm.
Hao Xuan felt quite a bit of pressure after finding that out. He had been stuck at the top of Origin Realm for months now and needed to break through to Spirit Realm as soon as possible.
He dismissed them and walked around the massive courtyard in deep thought.
Sometime later he came upon Yun Wentian who was training under a tree with a wooden sword. A few feet away from him was Ensis, sitting with his eyes closed.
Every now and then whenever Yun Wentian did something wrong, Ensis would correct him without even opening his eyes.
For someone training in the way of the sword, Ensis was the perfect teacher. He was the literal embodiment of a Sword god and knew as much one could know about the weapon, or at least his specific understanding of it.
Hao Xuan didn't bother them and walked back to his room.
It was time for lunch by that time. Xu Qing had already made the table and was waiting for him patiently.
A smile appeared on Hao Xuan's face when he saw her sitting by the side of his bed peacefully. She could literally be doing anything and would look as holy as an angel and as beautiful as the first strand of light after a long darkness.
"How long have you been waiting here? Why didn't you just call me?" he asked gently while taking a seat in front of her.
Her lips arched into a half-smile, "I didn't want to disturb you. You were so out of it, aimlessly walking around like that."
"Oh, but still, you don't have to be so reserved you know."
"Alright, next time I will wake you up from your daydreaming sessions," she nodded her head gently and extended both her hands.
Fortis suddenly jumped from Hao Xuan's head and landed in her lap comfortably. He then looked at Hao Xuan smugly, "M.i.n.e!" he enunciated slowly and clearly.
Hao Xuan's right eyes twitched again, making him almost curse out by instinct.
Xu Qing picked up a soup bowl closest to her and started feeding Fortis like before.
After finishing lunch Xu Qing went out with Green and Red somewhere with a couple of baskets full of food. He didn't ask any questions and returned to the patio under the giant maple tree.
Pretty soon he fell asleep. He had a long dream. Partly peaceful, partly painful.
He dreamt about an old man sitting atop a lonely mountain peak. The mountain was surrounded by many villages and towns on one side, and on the other was the end of the world.
A kilometer-long crack in space that shone with brilliant lights that swirled continuously, making it look like a giant eye.
And from that crack would come out thousands upon thousands of monstrous creatures every single day. They would come and destroy the towns and villages and kill all of their inhabitants before returning to the crack.
Then more people would come and settle down in those towns, everything repeating over and over again. But slowly, the crack continued to expand and sooner or later would become large enough to devour everything in its path.
Without any sign of hope and overtaken by sorrow, his eyes were emotionless and dim, without any light whatsoever.
He would look over these happenings without any emotion, until one day something changed.
The monsters attacked, killed off everyone once again and returned to the crack leaving only an infant behind.
The infant cried for hours. Its screams echoing throughout bloodied and empty structures, but no one was there help. Finally having had enough, the old man flew down the mountain and picked up the little thing, bringing it back with him to the mountain peak.
He would feed the infant from one of the fruit trees at the peak and give him water by melting the ice.
Years passed by with a blink of an eye.
The old man's hair turned completely white and his body withered, while the infant blossomed, turning into a strong young man. He picked up a sword and trained in it until he was strong enough to fight off the monsters.
He would go down the mountain every time they attacked and protected the mortals.
After every victory, he would return to the old man and tell him everything proudly. He would feed the old man and light a fire beside him to keep away the cold. He did this every single day without pause.
The old man never said anything in return, not even moving from his spot all this time.
Another monster army attacked, but this time it was different. They were ready for the young man.
Surrounded from all sides by the heinous creatures, the young man fought until the sky turned dark and a storm separated the heavens and the earth.
The old man watched on as all that took place, without even lifting a finger.
With a bright smile on his face, the young man fought for hours.
Blood flowed like rivers and covered half the world.
Thunder and lightning erupted from the dark clouds.
A humanoid monster covered from head to toe in gigantic bone spurs that looked like blades and sabers clashed with the young man.
Finally having met his match, the monster stabbed him through his chest after an arduous battle. The smile on the young man's face never faded for even a second even in death. And just like that, he closed his eyes for the last time.
The monsters regrouped, once again getting ready to attack the towns while the old man's eyes never left the young man's radiant smile.
With the roaring of thunder, the clouds finally burst open. Heavy rain covered everything in sight. Drops fell down the old man's wrinkled face.
He did not cry, but the heavens did it for him.
With a sigh, he raised his right hand above his head as a dreadful silence fell over the world.
All the lightning from the dark clouds condensed, congealing in his palm before expanding outward.
It started to take shape of a spear, increasing in size every second. Arcs of lightning twisted around it like ghastly serpents.
The old man opened his mouth for the first time in eons, uttering a few words that Hao Xuan could not hear, before throwing the spear forward.
The spear collided with the crack in space, cutting open a hole in the 'eye'.
Monster after monster poured out of the broken eye but was wiped out of existence buy the white lightning.
The remaining monsters fell down to their knees and kowtowed in front of the old man in terror.
The old man raised his hand once again and made a grasping motion. His arm extended and reached out towards Hao Xuan like a snake, waking him up.
Breathing heavily, he jumped up from the patio, drenched in sweat.
Xu Qing was sitting beside him looking around anxiously.
"Are you okay? Did you have a nightmare?" she asked worryingly while extending her hand to pat his back.
Hao Xuan took a few seconds to catch his breath before he shook his head with a wide, almost maniacal, grin, "No…a premonition! I know ….what energy to understand now!"
