Chapter 69 - Choice
Hao Xuan's last fight although took a while to describe, but in reality, it all happened in less than 3 seconds.
From the Mad Saint's point of view, Hao Xuan closed his eyes and mumbled something. When he opened them they were completely white. A lightning bolt struck him but didn't make a sound. He looked at the three attacking beasts and all of a sudden separated into four, with three of them attacking the demonic beasts and one still standing in the original position.
His attacks were so unexpected and fast that the beasts had absolutely no chance to defend. Three Hao Xuan's flashed like a blur and when their attacks connected, the beasts basically 'vanished' within the orbs of light.
*tip*tip*tip*tip*
It started raining and got heavy within a few seconds. Hao Xuan's unconscious broken body was laying on the ground and all the blood and mud was being washed clean off. It was almost like the rain wanted to wash away everything.
The Mad Saints were still sitting in the tree's canopy, staring at Hao Xuan with nothing to say.
Kuo, Maddy, and Hash were in front of everyone else still powering up a shield that wasn't needed anymore.
"Well fuck me sideways and call me sally, that was unexpected," a voice woke everyone up from their daze. It was Mason.
*cough*cough*
Kuo coughed and cleared his throat. He seemed to have chocked on his own saliva. "L-Lets get down," he stammered, still in a slight daze.
The reason these three experienced Spirit Realm cultivators were at a loss for words and confused was because they clearly felt the changes that happened at the very end. Those three 'clones' of Hao Xuan weren't actually clones.
It wasn't unheard of to be able to clone yourself. There were several different ways but one common theme was that no matter what, the clones cannot have more power than the original body, only less. Whereas what Hao Xuan did was something entirely different. All of his clones were just as strong as his main body.
Also, cloning could not be done instantaneously like that. Not to mention the changes in the atmosphere.
"T-Time. There were time dilations present...." Maddy whispered still looking at Hao Xuan as if looking at an alien. Hashirama and Kuo's expression changed even more. The surprise and utter shock could not be hidden even if they tried.
But it was a good thing everyone was engrossed in their own imaginations otherwise saying something like that would cause an uproar.
Time dilation's, in the cultivation world at least, meant something slightly different. What Maddy had implied was that those weren't Hao Xuan's clones, rather he himself attacking the three beasts in three completely different directions at the same time. It would mean he was manipulating time itself.
Time as many incorrectly believed, was not a straight line. It didn't just go in one direction. There were many strange places in the universe where time flowed differently than others. It was either slower or faster, or even completely absent. And Hao Xuan's technique had something to do with that.
If this got out then Kingdoms and even entire empires would go to war over it. Time-related techniques only existed in stories and legends.
"SHHH! Don't ever say that again. It was no such thing. This never happened!" Kuo said in an authoritative tone as if stating a fact.
"Eh? Y-Yes, of course!" Maddy and Hash both nodded in agreement. But they missed something, an eavesdropper. Jin Wang's eyes gleamed and he looked at Hao Xuan with a strange smile on his usually expressionless face. God knows what was going through his head.
Kuo opened his mouth to give orders but was interrupted by a worried scream, "B-Brother Hao!" a scrawny little silhouette was standing over Hao Xuan trying to protect him from the rain.
"Hmm?" Kuo frowned and disappeared from his spot along with Maddy and Hash.
*Vssh*
*Vssh*
*Vssh*
Cui had tears streaming down her face. Hao Xuan knew the cave was behind him so he fought against hundreds of beasts and didn't take a single step back, not once. Obviously, it was because of her and Wei. He was bleeding all over. The color of his skin was a reddish-pink and it hurt just looking at him. She heard the whooshing sound and looked up to see three unknown men that had appeared out of thin air.
"S-Stay back!" she picked up Hao Xuan's sword that was next to his body and attempted to lift it up in front of her but it was too heavy. She dropped it and took out a small knife from her ring and stood in front of Hao Xuan protectively, aiming the knife at Kuo and Co.
"W-Who are you?" she asked with a stammer but her expression changed once again. One after another people kept 'appearing' behind the three men. There were dozens of them.
"G-Go away!" she tried to shout again but this time her voice was quivering too much. She was still scared but not once did she think about running away and stood her ground against these unknown enemies.
"What a brave little girl. Don't worry, we don't mean you any harm. How do you know Hao Xuan?" asked the man in front breaking into a kind smile.
"W-Who are you?" she asked again but this time much quieter.
"SOLDIERS! Who are you!?" instead of answering like a normal person, he shouted while still looking at the girl, scaring her.
"The Red Legion! The Mad Saints!" All of them replied in unison.
"See? Now your turn," he smiled at her. She took out an amulet and lifted it up in front of her so they all could see. Kuo's expression changed.
"Gao Royalty? You're from the caravan?" he asked, surprised. She nodded back in response. Kuo then looked at the unconscious Hao Xuan and mumbled, "What luck.."
"Alright. Let's get acquainted later. We need to treat his injuries," he pointed at Hao Xuan.
"There's a tunnel over here," she pointed behind her.
"Lead the way," Kuo wasn't able to find anything with his perception so he asked her. Jin Wang came forward of his own accord and picked Hao Xuan legs and looked back, "Someone gonna give me a hand?"
Everyone was stunned. Not a single time since they had known Jin Wang had he done something that he wasn't ordered to.
"O-Oh!" Hashirama walked out and picked Hao Xuan up from the shoulders and they followed after Cui.