8 Ouki!

Because of the earthquake, the entire District guard regiment was deployed. No one else knew what had caused the earthquake, but they knew its epicenter was deep within the forest.

But as there were no tectonic plates or fault lines anywhere near Fortuna city, the higher up's were under the assumption that a fight between some powerful cultivators or beasts had occurred, and the earthquakes and the shocks were a result of that.

This would also explain why the lesser beasts fled the forest, for them, it was the same as Armageddon.

The districts 11, 12 and the very 1st were hit the hardest but the protective formation for the inner city was activated on time and prevented any damage to its residents.

As soon as the beast horde was seen all of the outer guard regiments were dispatched. They handled the situation well and killed every single beast that had entered the districts, but there were still many casualties, especially in the newly allocated human areas.

Several hundred families were wiped out entirely, especially from District 12, which was hit first and took the brunt of the beast horde. The Khan family was the only survivor within a 1000 km radius, which attracted a lot of attention from the higher-ups.

**

General Ouki was returning from an expedition when the earthquake hit. Although he had command over 300,000 of the strongest warriors of Fortuna City, he had only taken his private guard with him which numbered just over 2500.

As soon as he was made aware of the situation he left everything under his subordinate, Lt. General Tou's command, and went out himself.

Having lived through countless battles, General Ouki had served the Mei kingdom for over 700 years. Never losing a single fight against the Jia kingdom that outnumbered and outmatched them in every aspect, he was the very embodiment of what the Mei Kingdom stood for. Soldiers would kill for an opportunity just to see him in person.

No one knew what his cultivation level was anymore, but all Generals had to be at least Profound Realm experts.

When the news spread General Ouki ran towards the beast horde on foot, but he was even faster than the elite cavalry that was following him.

Not a single beast within the radius of two districts survived by the time he was done with them. Something was pulling him towards the last remaining protective barrier in District 12.

General Ouki was standing on the corpse of a beast the size of a small hill, holding a vibrating purple crystal in his hand that was humming lightly with every pulse.

His expression was somber as he stared unblinkingly at the crystal, his brow locked in a tight furrow.

"Where is it? What kind of a selfish creature is calling for it this time?" he muttered with a disgusted expression.

His past experiences had only led him down a dark path so he was expecting the same thing to happen again. And not a few seconds later the crystal hummed with a wave of bright iridescent light in response to his query.

His eyes widened, "Close! It is reaching out again!" he exclaimed.

General Ouki immediately closed his eyes and began to focus his senses. His hearing became more and more sensitive while its range continued to expand outwards in every direction for miles.

*Gasp*Gasp*Gasp*

*Ba-dump*Ba-dump*

Shallow breaths fighting for every breath and a heartbeat on the verge of collapse. It was a dying man's final moments.

Even though he was a few miles away from him, everything could easily be heard like he was standing right next to Hao Xuan.

It was a miracle that he picked it up from so far even with his cultivation level.

General Ouki's eyes sprung open as the beast's corpse beneath his feet exploded into smithereens and his figure disappeared.

The space bent around him as he reappeared several miles away within the blink of an eye, laying witness to a most fascinating scene. With a wave of his hand the crystal was replaced by a glaive.

His first instinct was to run in but this was a special situation. He wanted to see how it would develop until the very end.

His eyes narrowed to slits as he watched Joey outrun a beast several realms above him.

"Hmm, interesting. I sense the crystal's energy coming from that beast, no wonder it could outrun an Alces," General Ouki concluded as he saw the situation unfold.

If he so desired, he could've killed the Alces just by lifting a finger from a dozen miles away, but he wanted to see what would happen next even though it was pretty obvious.

"The energy is too much for it. At this rate the heart will-"

*BOOOM*

The horse's heart exploded before he could even finish the sentence and the rider was thrown clear off.

*Sigh*

He let out a breath of disappointment. It was over before it could even start. But just when he was about to step in the boy got back up again.

But instead of running away he lumbered over the horse wounded and maimed, trying to comfort the animal that was long dead.

"A kind soul," General Ouki mumbled to himself while extending a hand, "But without the will to fight it means noth-" the words got stuck in his throat when he saw the boy pull out a flimsy weapon from underneath the animal and point it at the beast running towards him.

He could barely stand upright yet still he wanted to fight the Alces in his condition. Even for an Elementary realm expert it would be a challenge, let alone someone who didn't have a single ounce of Qi remaining in their body.

For the first time in a long time, General Ouki felt his warrior spirit stir upon hearing the last words that came out of the boy's mouth. His lips arched into a grin, "Not an easy dinner, eh?"

To stand firm and not give up in the face of adversity, that's what it meant to be a warrior. Never surrender no matter how bad things got.

It was like the boy was talking to him directly, sending him down a memory lane that he had not revisited in centuries, ever since he took the first oath in secret halls beneath the Great Temple.

He missed those days. Hell, he had almost forgotten why he was here in the first place. Everything was coming together piece by piece, seven hundred years of ceaseless work and planning culminating into this final fateful encounter...and just when he thought it was too late.

"It's you! Fate has brought me to your door, young one," he mumbled with a toothy grin that was enough to send cold shivers down the spine of anyone unfortunate enough to witness it.

So he took one step forward and appeared in front of the boy. An invisible ray of energy shot out towards the Alces and it was slayed without making a sound.

The rest of the cavalry arrived just as the boy collapsed.

General Ouki picked him up and with another step, appeared outside the Khan family residence dozens of miles away. As he saw the destruction that had been caused by the beasts and the panic-stricken faces of the family, he got a little angry and tapped his foot lightly on the ground to send out a wave of invisible Qi that silenced all of creation.

The barrier popped like a bubble in the wind but every single beast in district twelve was dead by then. Normally he wouldn't use his power needlessly but something had come over him.

Just as the Khan family was preparing for the worst, listening to the howls and roars of the beasts outside, everything stopped.

Mr. Khan peered outside to see what was going on, only to see a small giant standing there with a bloodied-up Hao Xuan on his shoulder.

"W-who are you?" he asked cautiously, looking around. All the beasts were dead, nothing outside was moving.

General Ouki waved at him through the window, "Oh hello there, my name is Ouki. I'm a soldier of the Kingdom, you don't have to worry about anything anymore," he said smilingly.

Mr. Khan slowly walked over to the main door and opened it to peek outside.

"Does this one belong to you?" General Ouki asked gesturing towards Hao Xuan.

Mr. Khan completely astonished by the sudden turn of events, nodded his head blankly.

"Please, c-come in," he stutteringly invited him in.

"Thank you," General Ouki replied cordially and bent down to enter the mansion.

Mr. Khan didn't realize just how tall their savior actually was until he entered the house. His head almost hitting the ceiling.

Everyone else also came out to the hallway to meet their new guest and got the shock of their lives. The man was about 9-10 feet tall.

Maaz who was usually the biggest one around, looked like a child in comparison standing in front of him.

"I need a clean place to treat his injuries."

Everyone was so engrossed in looking at this giant that they almost forgot about the bleeding Hao Xuan on his shoulder.

"Oh my lord, in here! What happened to him?!" Mrs. Khan replied in a panic while pointing at the dining room table on the right.

As he put Hao Xuan down, everyone got a better look at his condition and they were horrified.

His left arm's bone was popping out of the skin, there was a huge dent on his chest and his head and legs were bleeding profusely.

Emilie saw him and started bawling like a baby, with snot and all.

"I-Is b-big brother going to die? So much blood is coming out, mama! Please help big brother," she said through all the tears.

General Ouki smiled at the wholesome scene and moved his hand over Hao Xuan's body as a bright white light illuminated his palm. As soon as the light hit his body all the bleeding stopped.

Then he took out a small bottle from his side pocket and poured the liquid into Hao Xuan's mouth. A few seconds later they could hear crackling and sizzling noises coming from Hao Xuan as the potion got to work.

"Holy shit," Sam accidentally said out loud, amazed by the scene unfolding in front of him.

The rest of the family was just as shocked but General Ouki's tightly knitted brow said otherwise.

"I need to treat him, everyone out please!" he waved his hand and every single person was suddenly pushed out by an invisible force, the door locking behind them.