17 Dominus!

Hao Xuan sat alone in his room for a few hours, just trying to remember anything about his past he could but every time it would hurt even more than the last. His head would start pounding like a drum and his vision would go dark.

"I still remember everything about cultivation, but why is it that only my personal memories are out of reach?" he wondered while sitting cross-legged on his bed.

"Screw it, no use wasting any more time on this, nothing's gonna change with me sitting here," Hao Xuan said out loud and decided to go for a walk.

Walking out of the room he saw the majestic scenery outside. With no memory of the place to begin with, naturally, he couldn't recognize anything which only added to the sense of amazement one would feel upon seeing something of the sort.

There were towering beautiful pavilions everywhere with torrents of thick spiritual energy dancing in the air. There were ancient trees planted sitting comfortably every few steps with a few small streams of water snaking in between them.

He walked around aimlessly lost in admiration of the beautiful scenery. Everything seemed to just 'fit in'.

Soon he lost track of time. He had been walking around for almost an hour, going from one vista to another when he realized that he was now completely lost.

"Oh come on, you can't be serious," he mumbled a bit nervously as a sense of unease settled in his heart.

Hao Xuan didn't even know the name of the man who was giving him a place to live, how would he explain the situation to the palace guards? They'd think he was an assassin or a pervert and hang him out in the open.

He turned back around and ran, hiding from any guards and patrols that came around. If he had only gone up to one they would've recognized him at first glance.

After roaming around for a couple of hours he ended up in a wide-open space with a lake surrounded by misty fog in the distance. There were small animals all around the lake, harmless little creatures that jumped around and played with one another without a care in the world.

"Hmm, maybe if I can catch one of these guys, I can feed myself," Hao Xuan thought, trying to hide in the bushes. He hadn't eaten anything in the last 2 days and now that his mind was somewhat empty, the intense feeling of hunger hit him like a truck.

After a few minutes of careful examination and planning he narrowed down on a target. A beautiful white and black hare that was just jumping around looking for food, biting every other leaf found on the ground.

But little did Hao Xuan know, because of the copious amounts of spiritual energy around the lake most of the animals had developed a sentient thought process and were almost as smart as 3-4-year-old human children.

With its acute senses, the hare quickly found out it was being followed by Hao Xuan and intentionally led him deeper into the mist, closer and closer to the lake.

When Hao Xuan came to his senses and looked around, he was even more lost. He could see nothing and hear nothing in the dense mist.

"Oh what fresh hell is this now, you gotta give me a break," he pleaded looking above as if someone would actually respond.

Hao Xuan tried to retrace his steps but they were gone, he couldn't see anything at all. It was like someone had intentionally wiped away all traces of him.

Stumped, he found a small rock and sat down, pondering about his current situation and trying to think of a way to resolve this conundrum when he heard a tune.

A melodious tune was being hummed by someone close by.

Hao Xuan clenched his fists and decided to follow the humming as it was his best and perhaps the only way out of this place.

Just a couple of minutes of trekking later he came to a clearing near a small waterfall at the edge of the lake to finally see the source of the humming.

It was a girl with her back to him, sitting on the edge of the waterfall with her feet dangling in the water. Locks of long dark hair went all the way down to her waist.

Hao Xuan let out a sigh of relief because not only was she fully clothed but wearing some kind of a gold-plated battle armor to boot.

'Oh thank god, she must be a high-ranking guard,' he thought inwardly, 'I can just tell her I was lost, no harm and certainly no foul. Yeah, it's not like I was spying on her while she was bathing or some dumb shit like that.'

Hao Xuan got up and fixed his clothes a bit before walking right out in the open.

Unfortunately, in his nervousness, he missed a pale white rune that was inscribed on the ground and stepped right on top of it. A wave of electricity ran up his legs right before he lost all control of his body.

The only thing he could move was his head which he used to look around and found several runes placed on the ground all around him.

'W-Was it a trap? No, maybe they were just being extra cautious, I can still explain my way out of this-'

But when he looked up at the girl again his pupils narrowed to the size of pinholes. Now that he was a little closer Hao Xuan could see the blood-ladened sword she was holding in her hands, gently wiping the blood off of it in the waterfall.

His gaze drifted upwards, to her pointy ears.

'An elf! She is an elf! Aren't they like a super-powerful race? No way one of them would serve as a guard for humans, she must be an assassin sent here to kill someone!'

'Damnit, What the fuck are elves like in this world?! Are they good or evil?? Will she kill me just because I saw her? Fuck it, better just slither back and try to find another way, I'm not about to risk getting killed by some assassin that wasn't even meant for me.'

But no matter how hard he tried to move his body would not listen to him.

'Argh! Fuckin...stupid...legs...MOVE!'

Try as he might the effects of the magic rune could not be broken with simple brute strength, not that he had much strength to begin with.

While Hao Xuan was struggling for his life the black-haired elf's humming evolved into singing.

'Eh?'

The moment her melodic voice slipped into Hao Xuan's ears he fell into a trance. His body relaxed to the point that he couldn't even look away. All unruly thoughts of resistance were washed away immediately.

Her hypnotic voice disarmed Hao Xuan from the inside out. He was stuck on her every word, delusionally thinking that it was meant for him.

"Who are you to make me keep thinking of you,

This hurts my pride but I'm all worked up,

My face goes red and my heart is racing,

I can't control myself as if I'm getting dizzy."

Aloof and indifferent to all around, all she cared about was her song while blithely pouring the blue water onto the blade, lost in her own little world.

The blade was made from some rare metal ore that could capture light from surroundings, clearer than the whitest of jades and smoother than the finest of silks. Drop by drop the blood was washed off its surface, returning it to its previously unsullied state.

The sound of footsteps came from the other side and another girl walked over. She was wearing a pitch-black suit of leather armor. Four bronze mirrors floated above, slowly trailing behind her.

She had long, orange hair tied up in a ponytail at the back and fringes coming down to her forehead.

"Senior sister, you called?" she smiled while taking a seat next to the elf.

The elf paused to look at her with a questioning gaze, "Hm? When?"

"Just now, one of the keeper runes went off but it was too weak to be an intruder. I thought you activated it to call for me..?"

The elf frowned, "I didn't. Must have been a young spirit beast, where was it?"

The orange-haired girl raised her hand and one of the bronze mirrors floated over. She tapped on it a couple of times before pointing in Hao Xuan's direction.

"Over there."

The elf stood up and began making her way over through the fog, followed closely by the other girl. The fog was pushed aside by an invisible force, clearing sections of land all around them.

And not a few seconds later they were standing in front of him.

"Hmm?" the elf's frown deepened considerably while the other girl was more curious than anything else as she leaned forward to examine him more closely.

"Woah! Its a...guy? Like...just a...normal guy? I can barely sense any spiritual energy from him. Senior sister, look, he is weaker than the weakest spirit beast hahaha! How did he get stunned by a warning sigil??" she threw her head back laughing.

When the laughter finally stopped she wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to wake him up.

"Hey, Mr. mortal can you get up? What were you doing here? Were you spying on this beautiful sister perhaps?"

But the elf grabbed her hand before it could reach Hao Xuan.

"Don't! Don't touch him, he fell into an afterthought!"

"Huh?"

The orange-haired girl looked into Hao Xuan's eyes which were glazed over, they had lost their usual green luster. She snapped her fingers left and right but he just sat there like a mindless puppet.

She suddenly turned towards the elf in shock, "Senior sister...did he...were you singing?!"

The elf nodded hesitantly, guilty as one could be.

"How could you?! You know how dangerous it is for mortals! What if he doesn't wake up?? If the academy finds out about this they will not let you in!"

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't think there would be anyone else-"

"We have to let the others know, maybe they can help if it's not too late!" the orange-haired girl threw out the words while running back, leaving them alone.

The elf knelt in front of Hao Xuan to whisper into his ears.

"It's not real. Don't believe anything you see...I promise to get you out as soon as possible," she pleaded almost on the verge of tears but Hao Xuan could not hear her.

The well of fog was pushed aside as several figures flew in at breakneck speed.

Along with the orange-haired girl came two others.

One of them, who was in the lead, had long brown hair and a cold demeanor. She was a bit older than the others and much calmer as she handled herself with grace even now. She was wearing gold-rimmed spectacles with a simple black dress. There was a purple book strapped to her waist like a holster.

The last girl had bright golden hair that overshadowed even her suit of sparkling silver armor. There was a sword hanging by her waist and a white shield on her back.

They landed expertly behind the elf before surrounding Hao Xuan. The brown-haired girl tapped the elf on the shoulder, "Let me have a look."

She took out the purple book and it opened by itself, the pages flipping of their own accord before randomly stopping at a page. She held the book in her left hand and extended her right hand in front of Hao Xuan's face while muttering something under her breath.

Motes of light gathered at her fingertips before a magic circle sprung into existence. It rotated clockwise and then anti-clockwise for a total of eleven times before breaking off.

Hao Xuan's pupils moved momentarily but no one noticed the change since they were all focused on the magic circle instead.

Somewhere deep inside his mind, Hao Xuan came to in a pool of sticky liquid surrounded by darkness on all sides but one. There was a crack in space in front of him showing the scenes taking place outside.

"What the hell is this??" he looked around in bewilderment.

His legs were stuck in the pool of liquid and they would not nudge no matter how hard he tried.

"What is this place?! HELLO?! IS ANYONE THERE??" he screamed at the top of his lungs but heard his own voice echoing back through the darkness.

His attention was quickly brought towards the crack which was not only sole the source of light but also the only thing tethering him to this reality.

"Who are- That's the elf girl! Did you do this to me!? Oi!" he yelled before realizing that none of them could hear him, "Tsk, I knew I should have turned back, pretty girls are always more trouble than they are worth. What...do I do now??"

Back in the outside world, the brown-haired girl pulled back her hand with a somber expression, "It's not there. I can't feel his soul."

'The hell you mean you can't feel my soul?!' Hao Xuan screamed internally, 'Oi, don't you fucking dare kill me off like that!'

The elf stumbled back, aghast at the mere thought of it.

"I-Is he...did I kill him?"

"No, he is not dead yet. His soul is trapped inside his subconscious mind. Normally I would be able to force him awake but there is something else wrong here, it's not all your fault."

She exchanged knowing glances with the blond and orange-haired girls. The orange-haired girl quickly stepped forward and tapped the elf on the back, "Senior sister, can you find out who this person is? Maybe he was a guest in the royal palace."

The elf gave an enthusiastic nod, "Un, I'll ask uncle, he must know something," before running out.

When they were sure she was gone the blonde-haired girl stepped forward.

"Unni, what are the chances that he can be saved?"

The brown-haired girl thought about it for a moment, "20%? Can't be sure, I have never done this before either."

"Then...we can just get rid of him here and now. Ning'er will be leaving in a few days and she needs to focus on the examination. With everything else that's going on, if she thinks she killed an innocent person then there is no telling what might happen. She is fragile enough as it is."

"You...understand what you are asking, right? This is murder, in the royal palace of all places!"

"Of a mere mortal, yes. You can tell at a glance he is no one. It looks like he started cultivating just a few days ago so what does it matter? I can make it look like his internal energy backfired. And even if it was found out, it's not like they are going to punish four princesses for someone like him."

"We tell Ning'er he was healed and went on his way. As long as none of us says anything everything will be fine."

Hao Xuan who was a witness to their entire plan could barely even speak out of pure rage.

"This fuckin- BITCH! You're not even gonna TRY to save me?! YOUR FRIEND DID THIS TO ME!"

The other two girls looked at each other for a brief moment before coming to the same conclusion. He was not worth the trouble, it was as simple as that.

"We do it together then."

"O-Oi oi, don't do this...just leave me here and go, okay? You don't have to help me but please...at least don't kill me!"

Alas, his imploring cries fell on deaf ears. Hao Xuan watched as each of the girls pulled back their hands preparing to strike. Swirls of various colored energies gathered at the tip of their fingers before striking him in the stomach, back, and forehead simultaneously.

Blood began pouring out of his eyes, nose, and ears. They dragged his body over the waterfall and threw him in without a second thought.

On the inside, the crack immediately shattered when his forehead was struck. The pool of black liquid began bubbling, pulling him in with a newfound vigor.

"NO! NOOO!" he screamed over and over again as his soul was continuously pulled deeper into the black liquid.

"I won't die! NOT LIKE THIS! NOT NOW! I REFUSE TO!" he thrashed around as best as he could trying to hold onto something ANYTHING that would keep him afloat but to no avail.

There was nothing here, nothing that could save him from a most certain death. The world turned dark as the liquid swallowed everything but his right hand.

Hao Xuan's body fell down the waterfall and settled at the bottom of the lake. The last breath was about to leave his body when the Glaive manual appeared above the pool of black liquid.

It opened halfway, just enough for a hilt to come out and settle within the palm of his hand. He grabbed it in a bid to pull himself out but instead, the hilt slid down and entered the black liquid with him.

The ground vanished from beneath his feet as Hao Xuan fell head-first into nothingness.

"AAAAAAAHH!"

He was falling continuously but could not see where. All he could hear was the wind whistling around him, tearing and pulling at him from all sides.

And at this moment Hao Xuan knew he was the closest to death. He could feel himself getting colder by the second the further he fell. He knew he was alone but it did not feel like it.

'A sssoul at death'sss door, it wasss not your time yet,' a voice whispered into his ear. It stretched along the 's' in every word.

"Who is it?!" he shouted.

'Who isss it??' it repeated mockingly, 'It mattersss not who I am, human, only that I am here. Tell me, why do you have his ssscent?'

"What is this place? Am I dead?"

'Clossse. Death will sssoon find you!'

"I don't want to die!"

'Ohh? Don't you? Then what will you give to live?'

"What...do you want?"

'Anssswers...anssswers which you do not have...but there isss one who knowsss. I can feel his ssscent inssside of you...'

The air suddenly became warmer just as a dim green light ignited in the distance. It was coming towards him, getting closer and closer. Hao Xuan squinted hard trying to see what it was but the air pressure made it difficult to even open his eyes.

It was only when the light was less than 500 meters away that he could see a rough shape around it. It was an animal, a beastly creature the likes of which Hao Xuan had never seen before.

It held the shape of a serpent but was made wholly of skulls, human and beast alike. One glance at its horrifying figure was enough to send the bravest of warriors running. (Reference Image posted in Author's notes and Discord)

But where could Hao Xuan go? All he could do was watch helplessly as it closed in on him...or was he the one falling towards it?

"You are...death?" he whispered.

'Yoursss,' it answered.

"I don't want to die," he repeated.

'But you ssshall...a mere mortal...what can you do?'

"A mere mortal...they said that too before killing me. Am I really that helpless?" Hao Xuan tried to ball up his fist out of frustration but realized that there was something in his hand.

He brought it in front of him and saw the ethereal silhouette of a weapon. It was almost as big as him but completely weightless. It was so strong and sturdy, so sure of its purpose in life...unlike him.

"No...I am not helpless."

When Hao Xuan tightened his grip around the glaive his body shook in the outside world. A whirlpool was created in the water as it began absorbing all the spiritual energy from the surroundings, of which there was plenty.

"I am not alone!"

The copious amounts of internal energy the three princesses had poured into his body to kill him were also pulled into his meridians one by one. The very thing that was meant to end his life was now giving him a second chance.

Hao Xuan's lips cracked into a smile as he peered at the glaive in his hand. He could feel it as if it was a part of him, hear it like an old friend.

"You are not alone," it spoke, "Do you wish to live, my master?"

"I do," he answered.

"Then raise your head! Clear your mind of all thoughts but one. Look into the eyes of your enemy and let your purpose be known! Only in death...there is life."

"FIGHT!"

"FIGHT!"

"FIGHT!"

"FIGHT!"

He was unsure whether these many thousands of voices belonged to the previous owners of the glaive manual or their followers but...it didn't matter anymore.

All Hao Xuan could hear was the unceasing cacophony of chants urging him onwards. An ocean of voices, an entire army at his back! How could he be afraid when he was surrounded by allies on all sides but one?

All his worries had been washed away leaving only a single thought behind.

"WE FIIIIIGHT!" Hao Xuan screamed with all his might while diving towards the serpent, towards death itself!

His very soul was set alight by his unshakeable resolve, burning brighter than it had any right to be. At this moment he was the only light against this sea of darkness and he would not have it any other way.

Hao Xuan had stopped caring about such superficial things as life and death. All he wanted was the fight, to see if he could kill that hideous monster before it devoured him. His battle cry could be heard through the ether, echoing through the river of time and forever changing the course of his life.

Both the glaive and Hao Xuan were surrounded by a bright white flame as he raised it overhead. The Serpent, egged on by his futile attempt at fighting back shot forward, both meeting somewhere within the void of an afterthought for the first time.

**

As soon as Hao Xuan's thoughts coincided with that of the Glaive manual his compatibility increased ten-fold. In the future, it would be much easier for him to cultivate through the manual as long as he held the same mindset.

*BOOOOOOM*

A muffled explosion rang from his body, one loud enough that it could be heard outside. The three princesses who were still near the top of the waterfall heard it too.

"What was that?!"

"Probably just some spirit beasts fighting."

"No, it felt different. Let's go check it out, we can't take any risks right now."

They came down just in time to see the shocking events.

*Bzzz*

A light buzzing sound came from Hao Xuan's eyes as their color began to turn dark red.

The lake began to part from the middle when an invisible pressure began to spread out in all directions. When it reached the princesses their faces fell, especially the girl in the silver armor whose idea it was.

"That...is so familiar, I feel like I am standing in front of father! What is this pressure?!"

Weak-kneed, it took all their strength just to keep standing upright.

"Unni, what's happening?!" she turned towards the brown-haired girl who could not even lift her book of spells.

"H-He somehow absorbed the energy we put inside his body and made it his own! I can feel it getting stronger, be careful!"

"That's not possible! His soul was already lost, how could he come back?!"

"I DON'T KNOW EITHER! Maybe...maybe he did die? This energy is too strong for a soul that young. Did...my gods, I think he is being possessed!" she muttered incredulously upon seeing Hao Xuan's body rise into the air.

He floated towards the shore and when his feet touched the ground another shockwave extended in every direction.

"Careful, back away!" using all the strength she could muster the 'sorceress' opened her spell book. But before she could cast anything three overlapping voices interrupted her, all of which were coming from Hao Xuan's mouth.

"Dominus Infirmi!" x3

"AAAAH!"

Her arm cracked and twisted to the side. The pressure increased three-fold forcing all of them to their knees.

"I-I can't gather any mana, it's being forcefully dissipated!" she muttered through the agonizing pain.

She raised her head with some effort but upon seeing the blank expression on Hao Xuan's face all her hope vanished.

The Qi inside his body bubbled vigorously, its color changing to a bright golden purple as it shot straight up to the first main meridian in his right arm that had been chosen to unseal first.

*BOOOOM*

Another explosion sounded as the Qi collided with the first meridian, cracks appearing on its walls, but still not enough.

The pressure outside doubled yet again. The orange-haired girl could not hold on any longer and collapsed.

Seeing how much they were suffering Hao Xuan grinned wordlessly. With his left hand, he made a grabbing motion and the blonde-haired girl rose into the air floating towards him. She stopped just an arm's reach away.

A cut appeared on her cheek and several droplets of blood floated out and into his mouth.

"Hmmm, a noble bloodline. It shall do!"

His Qi thrummed once again hitting the first meridian with several times more power than before. It blew open and all the pressure outside vanished in an instant.

The blonde-haired girl's face turned ashen as she clutched her chest, "What...did you do?"

One by one her hair began to lose color, turning pure white.

"An equivalent exchange. Your life, for the power of your blood."

Instead of using a weapon's essence to open his first meridian, Hao Xuan used the energy and aura of the princess's noble bloodline to carve out a new power for himself.

***

Author's Notes:

All images are posted in the Official Discord.

Link: https://discord.gg/AHdSBFQ

___

Reference Image Link: https://i.pinimg.com/564x/61/cf/7d/61cf7ddb862a95fedfdb7e04da4be34e.jpg

Shortened Image Link (case sensitive) : https://urlzs.com/oFGty