Back on the deep-space vessel, close to an hour had passed since Elder Wushing's departure. The Shadow Regent was still sitting in the same spot as before enjoying his tea when suddenly his expression changed.
He reached out into his robe and pulled out an old scroll. As he opened it, row after row of words started appearing on its surface.
It read as follows:
"Shadow Regent's treasure disk has arrived on the beast world but it was completely empty upon landing, apart from an unconscious body which belongs to Elder Wushing. After further investigation, we found out that the treasure disk initially landed at another location two empires away after arriving on the Beast World."
"Elder Kyria led a team there as soon as he found out but it was already too late. Two cities were wiped out in less than 20 minutes. The entire space was sealed off but reports of similar happenings came from 5 other cities nearby."
"We have tried every quarantine measure available but there has not been any success so far. The 'infection' is spreading too fast. Anyone that comes in contact with it soon becomes one of "them". The situation has gotten out of control. The Elder council seeks your guidance in this matter as the Academy and the Hall have gotten wind of the worsening situation and are asking questions."
It was just a few lines but that was enough to send a cold shiver down the Shadow Regent's spine. He couldn't help but recall the results of the divination they had conducted to find the location of this planet.
"A great power hidden beneath the surface, surrounded by death in all its glory."
The Shadow Regent bit his finger and wrote a short sentence at the bottom of the scroll.
"No news of this must leak out. Do whatever you have to keep the blame away from us. I will return posthaste."
***
Down on the Planet's surface, Hao Xuan had just landed back on the ground after kicking Branh away when three shadowy silhouettes surrounded him.
One of them was a girl who was standing to his right. She was the other person standing next to Branh behind the City Lord.
She threw off her hood, exposing two arms and legs covered in tattoos. The tattoos moved on their like before and a white bone spear came out of each of her fists. It also had a few moving tattoos on it.
The person to Hao Xuan's left was another girl. There were tattoos all along her neck, face, and forehead, even going down her exposed back.
Her tattoos started glowing and an ethereal image of a beast surrounded her from top to bottom. The beast looked like hybrid between a monkey and a tiger, a truly strange-looking thing.
Behind him was a teenaged boy, about the same age as most of the participants this time around 16-17 years of age.
Tattoos covered his eyes, nose, and ears, creating a mask of sorts. Even though his tattoos were glowing, there was no physical change on his body, at least not one that was visible with the naked eye.
The hair on Hao Xuan's neck stood straight up as his instincts told him to be wary of him the most. He gave off a strange aura that was much different from the other three who had clear beast-like origins.
His expression turned ugly under the mask as he looked towards the row of participants casually spectating from the sidelines a few hundred meters away.
"Oi, how long are you people going to stand around and watch? Get to fighting!" he yelled towards them.
Many of them were still in shock from Hao Xuan's earlier show of power. Not because it was so 'special', but because of the fact that it was all coming from his physical body. There was not a single physique cultivator among them so it was quite a surprise.
But still, they weren't your average cultivators. Each and every one of them had a powerful background and were looking for an opportunity to showcase their abilities.
Like flies to honey, all of them activated their own skills and abilities and jumped to Hao Xuan's aid.
Another half an hour later the battle came to an end.
An area of more than five kilometers which was about a quarter of the city was left in shambles. Most of the buildings had nothing but a few walls left while the ground was covered with craters and holes left behind from the fight.
Remnant Qi polluted the environment, making it impossible for non-cultivators to even step in there without getting poisoned.
Because of the City Lord's quick action, the area was evacuated in a timely manner which kept the number of casualties to zero.
Hao Xuan leaned back against a broken wall. There were bloodstains around his ears and patches of purple skin along his forearms.
"That god damned kid, the next time I see him I will rip his heart out," he mumbled through gritted teeth while applying a white paste on his skin.
"Baracus, have you identified the poison yet?"
