Chapter 168 - Gather
Hao Xuan who was still a bit nervous meeting a room of full of strangers for the first time suddenly frowned.
"Why is that guy acting like that?" he thought.
"I will not repeat myself. This place is not for someone like 'you'. Leave," the guy repeated himself, this time releasing a bit of aura. Hao Xuan's eyes contracted and he met the man's gaze.
"Spirit Realm?!" Hao Xuan's expression turned serious.
There was complete silence in the room. Hao Xuan and the man kept staring at one another as if in a contest, while Jin Wang simply smiled looking at them.
The man started releasing more and more Qi along with his aura, making the pressure on Jin Wang and Hao Xuan increase. But Jin Wang was completely unaffected by it. He was actually so relaxed that he yawned and rubbed his eyes in boredom.
Hao Xuan, on the other hand, wasn't having such a relaxing time. Small droplets of sweat appeared on his forehead under the increasing pressure.
He looked at the man and saw that he wasn't planning on backing off anytime soon which confused him. He hadn't met this person before yet why did he seem to have a personal vendetta against him?
"I don't like you very much," he mumbled and sat back on the seat.
*ssss*
A sound similar to a hiss of a snake came from Hao Xuan's body. A purple strand of energy came out of his hand. It was visible with the naked eye.
The eye's of the bulky man that was sitting opposite to Hao Xuan glinted upon seeing the strand of energy.
The strand moved in the air like a see-through tentacle. Its tip turned towards the man that was releasing all the pressure and extended forward.
The man frowned and released some energy of his own. It was a clear blue color and was in the shape of minute needles. There were over twenty of them. They shot forward one by one, embedding themselves in the purple tentacle.
The man saw that the tentacle had stopped moving and scoffed.
*Plop*
It sounded like a small bubble being popped and the tentacle exploded.
*BZZZZT*
A heavy pressure descended on the entire room. Other than Jin Wang, everyone else's expression turned serious instantly. They all turned and looked at Hao Xuan in surprise.
The purple energy that Hao Xuan had released was a culmination of all emperor's energy that he could have the utmost control over.
In a direct confrontation, emperors' energy was useless. It couldn't hurt anyone just by itself. Its main use was "suppression". The suppression of a mighty king towards all the elements in his domain.
And it did exactly that. The pressure descended on everyone and their powers were suppressed to an extent.
The aura and the pressure the other man was releasing weakened considerably, enough for Hao Xuan to counter it.
"Enough. We are already low on time. You guys can play around later," the bulky man waved his hand nonchalantly and pressure vanished like it was never there.
Hao Xuan knit his brow and looked at him. "Why didn't you step in before?"
"Because it was fun," the man grinned back. His face contorted in such a strange way that it looked deformed.
"God damn, that's one ugly grin," Jin Wang spouted out what Hao Xuan was thinking.
"Hahaha, right??" the man started laughing like a lunatic, leaving both Hao Xuan and Jin Wang speechless.
"Hello, my name is Sun An, I'm in charge of the Valkyries," the girl to Hao Xuan's left finally couldn't take it and introduced herself.
"Ah, hello. Hao Xuan, Red Legion," he introduced himself with a small bow.
"This is Guo Bao, he is in the Flying Tiger's," she pointed at the bulky man, "He looks stupid but is a good guy."
"The two aren't mutually exclusive though..." Hao Xuan thought while looking at the laughing Guo Bao.
"This is Zou Jie. She is the little princess of the 'Ten Thousand'. Isn't she cute?" she pointed at the chibi in the oversized armor and made a face at her. Hao Xuan turned to look at her but she quickly looked away with a slightly red face.
"I-I guess....."
"And that is Dong Ning. He is the youngest member of the 'Spearhead'," she pointed at the guy that told Jin Wang he couldn't sit at the table and messed with Hao Xuan.
Hao Xuan looked towards him and saw him glaring back at him.
He frowned and leaned towards Sun An and acted like he was whispering but everyone could still hear him clearly, "Is he retarded? Why does he keep staring at me like I stole his boyfriend?"
"Pfft," Zou Jie wasn't expecting him to say that and almost burst out laughing.
Dong Ning stood up and smacked the table with his fist, leaving a dent.
"Don't mind him. Many people in the military compare him and you so he made a rivalry between you both in his own head," she shook her head and explained.
"Oh, so he is a moron then," Hao Xuan nodded his head like he finally understood everything.
"And the last chair is for the only member of the "White Death". He usually doesn't come to these things and is always on his own."
"Hmm," Hao Xuan looked at the seat she was talking about and saw Jin Wang sitting there like it was his own home, picking his nose with his left pinky finger.
"Oh, this one's quite big!" he mumbled while looking at the treasure he managed to dig out from his nostril.
Hao Xuan turned away in disgust and ignored his very existence.
"So what are we doing here?" he asked Sun An.
"We sent a preliminary scouting party into the gate and found out that it is indeed a Grade 1 realm on the other side. Anyone higher than Spirit Realm can't even enter," she waved her hand and a hologram appeared in the middle of the table.
She looked at Hao Xuan, "We were waiting for you to arrive so everyone could depart at once. Originally, the plan was for the most powerful people from each division to enter with a team of their own, but since the difficulty is low, the generals have decided to send us."
"You will go in with your regiment along with two other parties. These parties constitute of different young men and women from our allies and your job is to act as their leader while in the realm."
"From what we have gathered, the realm is a pre-historic world. We couldn't find any sign of civilization from our initial search but that could be incorrect. Its packed with unknown creatures and materials never seen before."
"Your main objective is to try and get as much information about the world as possible. Try to bring back any special flora or fauna you come across. There will be a team of scientists and archeologists going with you to do most of the work, so it's not as bad as it sounds."
"Also-"
"Wait, my regiment has to come with? But they're back near Galena," Hao Xuan interrupted her speech and told her about the Mad Saints.