Chapter 178 - Exploring

Hao Xuan was standing on the camp wall staring out into the darkness with a frown.

"Are you sure?" he mumbled. Zhurong who was sitting on his shoulder nodded before letting out a yawn.

"I'm just gonna see if he needs anything, promise!" an energetic voice came from behind him.

He turned around and saw Rong Li trying to walk towards him while Kramson was pulling him back.

Hao Xuan smiled and asked, "Where's your leader?"

Both the boys stopped in their tracks. Rong Li was the first to answer while pointing at their tents.

"Senior brother is in there!"

"Good. Tell him I'll be going out as well so you guys should stay inside for a while. It could be dangerous out there so don't risk anything," he said in one quick breath and jumped out, disappearing into the darkness.

The boys didn't even have time to answer. When they came to, Hao Xuan was already long gone.

Rong Li ran up to where Hao Xuan was standing and looked out, trying to find his silhouette but there was only the murky black night.

With a pondering expression on his face, he turned towards Kramson and whispered, "Hey, let's go out too!"

*Smack*

Kramson's reply was to smack him on the back of his head and drag him back to their own area while cursing his own misfortune of getting stuck with a moron like Rong Li.

***

Hao Xuan walked into the black night. Zhurong was already yawning continuously.

Hao Xuan looked at him with a vacant face and sighed, "Fine, go back to sleep."

"Meow," Zhurong happily licked him once on the cheek and disappeared once again.

He waved his hand and Black and White appeared on his shoulders.

The first thing they did after coming out was snuggle against his ears, making him break into a smile. The second was to look around with the same confused expression as the one Zhurong had.

They both stood up straight and started looking around.

"I know, the brat told me," Hao Xuan rubbed the top of their heads, making them relax.

The night was cold enough that he could see his own breath. Putting one hand in his jacket pocket, he zipped up the front.

The cold here was different than the one from the Beast world. Even with Qi protection, it would still find its way to the person's bones.

Looking at the shivering Hao Xuan, Black opened his mouth and a small white flame appeared at the tip of his tongue. But instead of shooting it outwards, he swallowed it. A few seconds later, his body started becoming much hotter.

"Oh? That's new!" Hao Xuan smiled and rubbed the underside of his head.

White glared at his brother angrily and produced a black flame of his own. But when he swallowed it, there was no difference in temperate at all.

Hao Xuan let out a small laugh and patted him as well.

"Both of you did good," he said trying to console White.

Unsatisfied by his performance, White closed his eyes and opened them again. He looked up at Hao Xuan with a questioning gaze.

"Hmm? Go ahead," Hao Xuan replied. He couldn't actually hear anything but it was instead a feeling. He felt like White wanted to show him something and was asking for permission.

White threw a dirty look towards his brother before opening his mouth as four tiny but extremely sharp teeth popped out and bit down on Hao Xuan's earlobe, making him recoil.

After the initial pain, Hao Xuan suddenly felt a strange new power creeping into his body. He closed his eyes to feel this new power and when he opened them, it felt like someone had turned on the lights in this eternally dark world.

His pupils turned vertical like that of a snake and the world around him started glowing brightly. There was no difference between the day and night for him now. Everything was crystal clear.

Shocked by the sudden turn of events, he looked at White but couldn't actually see him. With a wave of his hand, a sharp silver sword appeared in his hand. Using that as a mirror, he looked at White and was flabbergasted.

White's body had shrunk and coiled around his ears. He touched him with his other free hand and was even more shocked to see that it had turned completely solid.

He looked at Black worryingly, thinking this 'change' might be permanent, but relaxed when a single word echoed in his mind, "Skill."

So this was a skill of theirs? Hao Xuan looked around happily. This would make everything so much better.

Black saw Hao Xuan almost jumping with joy and couldn't help but become dejected.

He then proceeded to use the same skill as White and bit down on Hao Xuan's other earlobe.

"Ouch!" Hao Xuan winced from the unexpected pain and felt another power enter his body.

*Whoosh*

Almost like a broken dam, a hot stream of Qi entered his body and spread out to every single vein and cell.

Hot steam could be seen coming off of his body, much like a candle that had just been put out.

Hao Xuan closed his eyes and felt the two new Qi's circulating around his body. The most surprising thing was that there was absolutely no conflict between his own Qi and theirs. If need be, he could convert their Qi into his own and use it normally.

"Hahaha, I feel....so powerful!" he couldn't help but close his eyes in satisfaction and feel the raw power coursing through his veins.

After a few minutes of getting accustomed to the Qi, he tried to control it and was able to restrict its flow like water from a tap. He adjusted the Qi from Black until it was just enough to keep him warm, but not so much that the excess heat could be seen coming off of his body.

He then tried the same with White and was able to adjust it as well, although to a much smaller degree.

Using the silver sword as a mirror, he looked at his ears and couldn't help but nod in satisfaction.

Both Black and White had shrunk and after coiling around his ears, looked pretty cool. Not to mention the energy that he was giving off made him look wild and almost, beastly.

"Nice..." he clenched his fists and veins could be seen expanding and contracting.

*Thud*

There was a loud noise from a few dozen meters in front, interrupting his moment of self-pleasure.

Regaining his composure, he looked out and saw a small hunched figure looking at him from behind a rock at the top of the gulley.

If it was the same as before, there was no way to see that far in this kind of darkness. But right now everything was as clear as day.

A grin appeared on his face as he looked at the little creature. The creature noticed the change in his behavior and retreated instantly.

"Not so fast," Hao Xuan grinned even wider and using the silver sword as support, made his way up to the hole the creature had run into.