18: Control

Control

In a simple and elegant pavilion near Prince Shu's palace, a handsome man was sitting there drinking tea. Suddenly he felt a disturbance in the spiritual energy coming from the restricted area of the Royal Palace. No one other than those of the Mei bloodline were allowed inside, it was a place filled to the brim with spiritual energy thanks to a massive spirit gathering formation. 2

The man frowned and flew straight up into the air and looked towards the source of the commotion. It was still a few kilometers away but he could see everything that was happening. He saw Hao Xuan and the ladies and frowned again.

What was happening? He had left Hao Xuan alone for just a few hours. How would he explain this matter to others?

To keep the information from spreading he sealed the entire place with his Qi, no one other than him would be able to feel the commotion anymore.

He flew above the lake and heard Hao Xuan's voice, "Understand!?!"

He looked down and saw Hao Xuan in the middle of the hurricane, sitting there with his legs crossed, looking at the girls.

"What's wrong with him? Did sealing his memories have a negative side-effect?" he mumbled.

And then he felt his aura peak all of a sudden, in that instance, Hao Xuan broke through to the next realm, the Elementary Realm!

"How is this possible? He was on Qi Foundation third stage this morning!!" the handsome man was flabbergasted. This speed was way too fast even for someone with a special constitution.

"Damn it, no other choice then," he thought and made up his mind. He closed his eyes and started humming a tone, slowly it got louder and louder. When it reached the people below, they felt extremely tired. A few seconds later, one after another they started to fall asleep.

Hao Xuan sat in the middle of the hurricane and watched everything unfold. When the sound waves reached him, his eyes dimmed for a few seconds and all the energy from them was neutralized.

The handsome man was shocked yet again, was that his ability?

When he was sure that everyone else was knocked out, he slowly came back down to the ground.

"Hao Xuan, what're you doing here? This is a restricted area," the man said.

"I go where I want when I want. Who are you to stop me?" he replied casually.

The handsome man's eyes constricted, "Who are you? You are not Hao Xuan" he said as he took out a longsword.

"Me? I am Hao Xuan, and he is me. We are one and the same," Hao Xuan replied with a smirk.

"I have always been here, inside him, waiting. Thanks to your meddling I could finally get out," he continued.

"Demon?!!" the man stepped back, stunned.

"No, nothing that simple. I told you, I am just as human as Hao Xuan. We are the same," Hao Xuan said, standing up.

"I don't believe you," the man replied, on guard.

"You don't have to believe me, you will see for yourself in the future."

"For I am the whisper in the back of his mind, I am the last voice of reason. I am the final 'seal' before the coming of the Beast," Hao Xuan replied with a huge smile.

"If you see me again, do yourself a favor and run as far away as your feet will carry you. Because if I am unable to halt his arrival, all shall perish," Hao Xuan said looking at the handsome man.

For the first time in a long time, the man felt like he was standing in front of a mighty beast. Something he would never ever be able to even comprehend, let alone stand up against. Without even thinking, he slowly nodded his head.

"Mhmm," Hao Xuan nodded in response and went back to his position and sat down as if nothing happened.

"Don't give in to your desires so easily kid. Have some self-control for god sakes. You see a few beautiful women and lose all rationality. You mustn't become like him," Hao Xuan spoke as if giving someone a lecture.

"Become stronger and stronger until you're standing at the top of this world. Maybe then you will have some chance of victory," he sighed.

"Here, have this technique, it suits the Glaive perfectly. Don't let us down," Hao Xuan said as he closed his eyes and his body went limp and he fell to the ground.

The man stood there watching as all this was happening. After a couple mins, he took out a bottle from his sleeve and emptied it. A white fume came out and entered everyone's brain. Then he carried Hao Xuan in his arms and flew away.

A few mins later everyone woke up but they couldn't remember what happened, that is everyone except the four girls. They could clearly remember those eyes looking at them and saying "You all belong to me". They looked at each other and saw the look confirming that it was all real and not a dream.

They shuddered thinking what kind of a being could make Origin Realm experts such as them kneel on the ground just by looking at them.

***

The handsome man brought Hao Xuan back to his pavilion and placed a spirit mark on him so he would always know where he was.

After that he sat there in front of him, not moving a muscle.

About 5 hours later Hao Xuan woke up. The first thing he saw after opening his eyes was the handsome man sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Are you okay?" the man asked with genuine concern.

"Um, yes," Hao Xuan replied awkwardly. "Why was this guy on my bed, did he do something to me while I was sleeping?!!" Hao Xuan suddenly thought, covering himself with the blanket.

"It's good if you're okay. Do you remember what happened?" he asked again ignoring Hao Xuan's strange actions.

"I was out on a walk when I got lost and then ended up in a weird misty place. There were some girls there, I didn't mean to peek, I just wanted to ask for directions! But- I don't remember anything after that," Hao Xuan replied trying to explain himself.

"Hao Xuan, you're 19 years old already. You need to get stronger. Even Prince Shu who is only 11 has a higher cultivation level than you. I'm going to admit you into the military. You need to get proper training and get a handle on everything. Ready yourself," the man said in a serious tone and walked out of the room, leaving Hao Xuan stunned.

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