'It was real?!' Hao Xuan couldn't believe his eyes.
That really happened just now? A second ago he was in another place and now he was here. Or did that place not even exist to begin with? But then how did he get these things?
"Hey, there you are, come let's go over there," Henrik's voice woke him from his daze. Beads of sweat were still present on the side of his forehead and there was even some dust on his pants. All adding to the fire burning in his heart.
"Y-Yeah.." he replied weakly and followed him to one side where all the participants of the academy were standing together. A few people tried to talk to him but he had Henrik keep them away for a little while until he gathered his thoughts.
Standing away from any prying eyes, he opened the sketch and examined it carefully, it looked like it was moving every now and then. It was so life-like that Hao Xuan thought it come alive and jump out of the paper.
The person in the portrait was a handsome young man with a wickedly charming smile. Even Hao Xuan had to admit that this guy was good looking. He would have women falling for him wherever he went.
There was a pair of earrings hanging from his ears in the shape of two cross-shaped arrows. He had short, dark hair and was even winking in the sketch.
After memorizing it he stored it away along with the booklet. There was no point in going over it whatever was inside that right now.
He was taking a few breaths trying to calm himself down when he overheard a conversation between Henrik and a few girls.
"Senior brother, did you hear about those new people joining the tournament last minute?" a 16-17-year-old girl walked closer to Henrik and whispered, who shook his head in response.
"No, who?"
She giggled and explained in a sweet voice, "My father is in charge of making the finalized list of all the participants for the smaller powers and he said two big shots came from the other continents on the last few days. He didn't tell me their backgrounds but said they are some of the strongest cultivators from their respective continents. One of them even defeated the Holy Son of the Hall, He Shun one on one."
Henrik was visibly shaken by her answer. His eyes opened wide, "H-He Shun?! Even he was defeated?!"
She nodded innocently, "It's common knowledge now. You can ask anyone from the hall. He Shun announced it himself and said he would be going into closed-door cultivation until he could defeat him."
Henrik let out a deep breath, "To think even he would be defeated…"
**
Just like Ryfon had said, the journey only took 30 minutes until they reached their destination. After being teleported once again all the participants found themselves in a giant room with glass windows on all sides but one.
Hao Xuan's heart shuddered. A strange, cold feeling seeped into his body. No, it would be more accurate to say that it was a spiritual feeling rather than a physical one. It felt like he had walked through a curtain to a more colder area. He felt exposed, vulnerable here. Which added with his already unstable physical and spiritual center did not help.
He felt agitated and a headache quickly welcomed him back with open arms. He moved to the side, towards one of the windows.
The windows showed the scenes of a pitch-black outer space. There was a giant green and blue planet with two moons right below them. This was to be where they would spend the next 2 months.
Hao Xuan leaned against the window and peered downwards. It all felt too…unreal. This wasn't the first time he had felt like this but all he could do was grit his teeth and jump in. It felt like he was living someone else's life sometimes.
The side without any windows opened up and four groups of people walked in. They all wore the same white jumpsuits and held different objects in their hands.
"Please make three lines and walk up one by one," a middleaged man with black-rimmed spectacles walked forward and shouted. The participants quickly made the lines. They were already divided into three groups so it barely took any time.
Hao Xuan was in the first five of his line which was the leftmost one. He was the only guardian that hadn't joined the tournament yet and had a somewhat higher priority than others. He along with Henrik, Hazel, and Fulke were processed first.
They used what looked like a portable scanner to see if they had anything on their bodies that wasn't allowed. Hao Xuan was a bit nervous when it was his turn but nothing out of ordinary was found.
It looked like their technology wasn't advanced enough to detect the nanotech that Baracus had customized.
"Please move to the next area. You're welcome to walk around but don't go too far," the bespectacled man told him.
Out of the 40 or so people in these jumpsuits, this man was the only cultivator. He was at the peak of the Spirit Realm.
"Thank you," Henrik thanked him for their group and dragged Hao Xuan away.
There was a long hallway outside which opened up into a large, bustling area.
Hao Xuan was taken aback looking at the hundreds of mortals walking around, going in and out of shops and going about their regular life.
They were on a ship, a space ship, and yet there were mortals here living like this?
Henrik went into what looked like a hotel and got a room for them overlooking the miniature city. There was no sky above, no clouds or anything. The surroundings were illuminated with giant yellow lights on the ceiling which was at least a thousand meters high.
Hao Xuan took the seat next to the window and gazed outside. The difference in air quality was quite obvious. This air had a slightly medicinal scent to it.
"The grand opening of our even grander hotel is in two days! Don't forget to bring a friend and get a discount!" a teenager dressed in bright red clothes was shouting while ringing a bell.
Hao Xuan could see children running around, some human and some from other species. Women walking around in groups, men walking to and from one shop to another. It looked like any ordinary city from the beast world.
"Does every ship have non-cultivators like this?" Hao Xuan asked Henrik.
