Hao Xuan spent the entire night cradling the scaled egg for dear life. The black blood on his forehead burned non-stop for hours, sometimes faster, sometimes slowing down to a crawl but never completely stopping.

He didn't know when but at some point in the night he passed out due to the sheer mental exhaustion and was woken up by flapping of wings sometime later.

He looked around and realized where he was. The same winged monkey that had first brought him to the swamp was now carrying him back.

Closing his eyes once again, he passed out for good.

The war had been going on for more than a month now. The situation changed greatly in the favor of Mei after Great general Ouki took back that city, effectively cutting off the supplies to Jia and 'Wu' clan armies.

That created a panic within their ranks, prompting many of the bigger armies to withdraw back to the border.

But things still hadn't calmed down.

The situation in the city of Fortuna, for example, was coming to a boiling point. Several incidents involving the humans from earth took place that divided the city and its people.

One man went into a school and started a killing spree. Another did the same in a crowded mall, while another killed a dozen of his coworkers before committing suicide himself.

A group made up of earthlings took responsibility for these attacks, claiming they wanted to bring attention to the plight of earthlings that had been mistreated and deserved better.

Of course, these were the doings of a select few out of the several million that came here, but the native residents of Mei didn't differentiate between them.

They treated every earthling as a plague which were to be avoided at all costs, further increasing the divide between them.

Every earthling paid for the misguided mistakes of these few souls.

They were fired from their jobs, refused to be served by businesses, alienated, and hated by their peers, but what could they do?

And while the attention of the military was focused on this matter, they ignored the sudden influx of foreign influences into the country and the city itself.

Hao Xuan slowly opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of his room. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before getting up.

He was back in his mansion in Fortuna. His body felt extremely weak for some reason, so much so that he couldn't even get out of bed.

"What's…going…on…

" he murmured weakly while rubbing his temples. A throbbing headache welcomed him back to the land of the living.

"Baracus, what happened? How did I get here?

"

*Beep*

His usual emotionless, somewhat robotic voice, came from the watch.

"The person you call First found you and brought you back while you were passed out. The egg did something to your body. It absorbed your life essence at a terrifying rate. If not for First finding you in time, things could've gotten out of hand pretty quickly.

"

Hao Xuan looked around and saw the egg sitting not too far from him on the other side of the room. The blue light was pulsing at a slightly faster rate than before within the cracks, making it look quite mesmerizing from afar.

"Mhm…

"

Hao Xuan nodded once before closing his eyes, giving in to the drowsiness that overtook him completely. He woke up a few hours later feeling much better.

After inquiring from Baracus he found out that it had been 5 days since he was brought back from the frozen graveyard. He gave an update regarding all the matters that had taken place in the meantime as well.

The Jia armies had fallen back to the border and were getting ready for a full-frontal attack. No one knew the reason for this sudden change in tactics but it didn't matter anymore.

Over three Jia armies constituting of more than 2 million soldiers had gathered there already.

In response, the Mei had also sent three of its Great Generals to deal with them.

The vanguards were the Winged Tiger unit and the Spearheads, while the Red Legion was going to provide backup and support in case anything went wrong.

The Valkyries had also sent over their main fighting force as well, although not the full army.

Many people believed that this battle would decide the victor for good.

Jia Heng (Jia's crown prince) had announced that he would be taking command of his armies himself. He was going to be present for the final battle.

The work on Yangdi's side was going exceptionally well. He had already set up the factories and even created the first prototype weapon which was sold to the Mei government.

The Mei were more than happy to sign a contract with him for the next 2 years.

"What about the things you needed? Did you get them yet?

" Hao Xuan inquired upon remembering what Baracus mentioned back in the graveyard.

"Yes. Everything is here. I have made the blueprints and just need a blacksmith to create the devices.

"

"Alright. Send the blueprints to the Den using my name. They have some of the best blacksmiths on the payroll and can get it done quickly. But make sure you don't give away the entire device, this level of technology would bring far too much attention if they found out whatever it was for.

"

"I already made the necessary arrangement. By adding a few extra parts here and there, I can disguise the devices true purpose.

"

"Good,

" Hao Xuan nodded satisfactorily.

"So what's next? Will you be participating in the upcoming battle?

" Baracus inquired as to his future plans since he would have to change his own schedule accordingly.

"I will break through to the Spirit realm first. I realized what has been holding me back. I need to further my Physique a tier before breaking through. And it's close, so very close. I can feel it in my bones…literally…

"

Like every physique, the Immortal Devouring Demon Physique also had its own levels and progression system.

It was divided into Six Major realms, and currently, Hao Xuan was still in the first Realm.

Breaking through every Physique realm wasn't as simple as breaking through to the next cultivation realm, because the cultivator must pass a certain 'test' to reach the next physique realm.

These tests were called demons, Physique demons.

They would have the exact same powers and abilities as the cultivator, but would be a realm higher in cultivation.

The only way to break through was to defeat this demon in its entirety and absorb it back into your physique.

Hao Xuan was still too far to actually break through to the next realm but reaching the top of the First Major Realm wasn't too farfetched.

Initially, he wanted to break through to the Spirit Realm first but it seemed like this was the better option.

He recalled all the information regarding leveling up and placed an order for the ingredients he needed.. Most weren't easy to come by locally but thankfully, the Den had a large network spanning hundreds of kingdoms.