Chapter 12 - Sunder!

"Circulate your Qi!" Sgt Wei said standing in front of him like a tower.

As Hao Xuan started to move the Qi between his few unlocked meridians, it felt like a rush, like a breath of fresh air. It was like his body was suffocating and had just received a burst of pure oxygen.

His muscles tightened and without even realizing it he held the blunt sword sideways, with the sharp end pointed towards the ground. It was the most natural stance he could come up with. Rather than think, it was his body that moved on its own.

His heartbeat increased, getting faster and stronger by the second as if complying with some hidden protocol already in place. His face started turning a reddish hue and his body started burning up with steam coming off of him.

"What the hell is wrong with this kid?" the Sgt wondered looking at Hao Xuan.

But Hao Xuan had never felt better. It was like every single fiber of his being was brimming with power, screaming out, "STRIKE". That was the only word that was left in his mind.

He was losing control over his own body, losing the ability to think clearly. He started to lose his sight and everything slowly turned pitch black.

And then he saw a vision of man, a man with long black hair down to his shoulders, a man with a back wide enough that could support the entire sky. In his right hand a massive weapon of about four meters in length, over 60% of which was just the blade and the remaining a massive black hilt with strange markings on it.

The man had many wounds from which he was bleeding profusely. A sword especially stood out which was protruding from his chest, someone had stabbed him from behind. Below his feet were corpses of numerous different beings.

Hao Xuan could not see the man's face but for some reason, tears formed around his eyes seeing his bloody state. It was as if he was looking at an old friend.

In front of the man were humongous beasts, divine dragons, thousands of kilometers long divine serpents, a few massive Xuánwǔ's, just to name a few. They were so large that nothing beyond their heads was visible. Hao Xuan was sure that each of those black turtles was bigger than the entire planet earth.

Many creatures were present, baring their fangs at him, even some towering human-like silhouettes stood on the sides holding different weapons from scythes to swords.

But even though his enemies were so many that they could block the entire sky, the man's expression wasn't one of fear or panic, but one of anger and disappointment.

Whereas the massive army in front of him was just standing there, looking at him in trepidation.

The world around him shook before a thunderous voice boomed, echoing between the heaven and earth, "Empyrean Emperor, enough! Too much blood has been spilled already, nothing good can come of this. The second Firmament war is at hand, we must stand together, lest we all perish!"

"Enough? ENOUGH?!? You dare spout your bullshit in front of me after what you have done? How many souls perished here today? And for what reason? You rob my home and then want me to look the other way?! HOW FUCKING DARE YOU!" roared the man as he raised the weapon atop his head.

"Even if it is the last thing I do, I will make sure none of you leave here today," he said gently, as if ceding to his fate. The markings on the weapon started to light up, after which a voice akin to a God giving a final Heavenly mandate came out of his mouth.

"Sunder...the Heavens!"

He brought the weapon down in front of him as the scene blurred.

While he was seeing these events, Hao Xuan unconsciously also mimicked the man's actions. Lifting the blunt sword atop his head, his Qi started circulating on its own, "Sunder!" he uttered the words solemnly with every ounce of force he could muster before bringing the sword down in much the same manner.

The Qi traveled from his body into the sword and suddenly, it burst into tiny little pieces. Yet that energy did not dissipate immediately but carried on through the air towards Sgt Wei who was just standing there in shock.

In that short moment Sgt Wei felt genuine fear crawl up his spine, warning him that if that energy touched him, he would cease to exist. So instinctively he took out his hammer and using every single bit of power he could muster, swung it towards Hao Xuan.

As his hammer made contact with the energy, it exploded and the force behind the collision sent him flying through the main camp wall which was about a meter thick, leaving a massive hole in its place.

As soon as the rest of the soldiers heard the loud noise they came running in and saw Hao Xuan standing in his place with his eyes closed, a hilt in his hand and blood coming out of his eyes. The Sgt was nowhere in sight.

Hao Xuan had already lost consciousness. The hilt slipped through his fingers and he crashed on the ground.

Sgt Wei came rushing back through the hole he was sent through, looking at Hao Xuan with a fearful gaze. His arms which he had used to block the energy were bleeding profusely and wouldn't stop.

"Take him back to his quarters," he ordered pointing towards Hao Xuan.

Not explaining anything to his subordinates he went straight back to his own room and closed the door. He took out a talisman from under his bed, put a little bit of blood on it and placed it in front of him and sat down respectfully, waiting.

A few mins later it started burning and a figure appeared in its place.

"General!" he said bowing deeply.

"What happened? I gave you that talisman in case of an emergency," the figure frowned.

"My apologies sir, but I thought you might want to know this," the Sgt replied and explained everything that had happened.

"Are you certain? And his eyes were bleeding? Show me your wounds," the figure ordered.

After taking a look at Wei's injuries he went silent for a few mins.

"Did anyone else see this?"

"No sir, it was just me", Sgt Wei replied with sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Hmm, alright. Don't let a word of this out. Nothing happened, understand?" the figure said looking straight at him.

"Yes, of course!" Sgt Wei bowed from the waist.

"I'll send some people to take him away. Make sure no one says a word about him to anyone, by whatever means necessary. He doesn't exist anymore.. If anyone asks, Hao Xuan is dead," the figure said as it turned into smoke and vanished.