In this universe, there was only one entity—one single entity—that could combat the power of Chaos. That was the rule, the law of the cosmos, unable to be broken by anyone nor anything.

That entity was Order.

Chaos and Order—both shared many of the same properties. They were both primordial, they both existed during the time before time, and together, they were the two founding pillars of the universe that ultimately grouped everything else together like magnets. One was positive, one was negative, like opposite electrical charges part of the same atom.

Chaos was wrathful, restless, and longed for change. On the contrary, Order was rigid, confined, and longed for eternity. Neither was better than the other. Both were needed in a fine balance to create the perfect universe. But unfortunately, as much as that was true, these two primordial entities were sentient—they had minds of their own.

And just like with normal men, two entities who had opposite ideologies will always find it difficult to get along with one another.

As such, throughout the eons, Chaos and Order waged war. Neither was able to win against the other—their power stood above all else, but compared to one another, they were exactly on the same level. On par.

And now, back to the present…

Everything made sense.

The blue color—that stood for Order. All the pieces of the puzzle fit together now—why the Hex were so strong, and why this Obelisk was resistant to all incoming damage. The answer was laid in plain sight:

The Hex had harnessed the power of Order.

How, I didn't know. But one thing was for sure—they just became exponentially more dangerous. I didn't even know if they were really that much of a threat until recently—but with this new discovery, I needed to tell the other Founders.

After all… if they had the power of Order, even my Chaos power wouldn't be able to defeat them. It would be a tie at best, and they still severely outnumbered me.

"… We need to go back,

" I said darkly.

"Now. We can't break it.

"

"Is it because…

" Feng Mian began, and I nodded.

"… The Hex… they have Order on their side.

"

*****

After returning the location we had been warped into this underground ruins from, the girls and I left the same way—flying upwards into the massive spiraling whirlpool that somehow wasn't falling from gravity, and in an instant, we were shot upwards through the water. If it wasn't for a barrier I cast on us beforehand, all of us would've gotten drenched right then and there.

When we arrived at the top of the mountain once more, none of the villagers were to be seen, and we could hear the sound of chattering coming from a short distance away. They probably thought we were goners, and were busy returning to their normal lives right now—but oh well, let sleeping dogs lie. I didn't have time to even deal with them at the moment, for there were far more urgent things to do.

"Qing Yue, send the helicopter team a message,

" I said, turning to her.

"Tell them to head straight back to the island—we'll teleport there.

"

"Understood, Big Brother Xuan Kai~

"

She winked and stuck her tongue out playfully, then used Psychic Magic to connect with those still on the helicopter. After a few seconds, she flashed me a thumbs-up, and I used Gate to bring us all back to the private beach—our base of operations.

In a bright flash, we arrived, landing on the familiar soft sand of the island. Without any hesitation, I left to go see Xuan Yu, since she was top priority.

Knocking on her room door, I asked politely:

"Are you there, Xuan Yu?

"

After several seconds, a faint and shy reply came back.

"Y-Yes… but if you could wait a couple of minutes, that would be grea-

"

"It's urgent. Please.

"

"Oh… then… come in.

"

Saying this, she hesitantly unlocked and opened the door… and all of a sudden, before me, she stood, wrapped in nothing but a bath towel. Her skin was still wet, signaling that she had just come out from the shower. She was blushing shyly and looking away, cheeks tainted pink.

"Ah… sorry,

" I said, looking away.

"I didn't think this is what you meant.

"

She shook her head.

"Mm. It's okay. What did you need me for?

"

"It's about the Hex,

" I said, getting straight to the point.

"They have the power of Order.

"

*****

– Several Minutes Later –

After explaining to Xuan Yu what happened on today's trip, from beginning to end, she was left speechless.

"Impossible… but how? My ancestors never had any contact with the Hex… this bloodline is supposed to be Order's wielders.

"

"That's what I'm wondering,

" I muttered.

"After some thinking, I came up with two possible conclusions. One, they somehow got their hands on a different source of the power of Order, or two… they invented a power on par with Order in terms of power.

"

"I don't believe it is the second option,

" Xuan Yu said, analyzing the situation deeply.

"To create something similar to a primordial power like Order or Chaos is akin to trying to recreate the entire universe. No matter how powerful these Hex are, I doubt they have the capability to do that.

"

"So you think it's the first option, huh?

" I asked, folding my arms.

Xuan Yu nodded.

"I really hope my guess is not correct, but… they may have gotten their hands on the true body of Order in the cosmos, and restrained it one way or another.

"

"The true body…?

" I tilted my head, confused.

"Yes. Both Chaos and Order have origin points—they are both primordial beings and existences in the universe, and have real, tangible bodies. The powers we have are derived from those origin points, channeled through those 'cores' to our bodies via your Mei Gui and my Bai He respectively. Normally, it's impossible to get close to them due to the immensely powerful aura they give off, but this is the only possibility I can think of.

"

"I see…

" I narrowed my eyes, thinking about it for a moment, then made up my mind.

"Thanks for the info. I'll talk to you again about this later.

"

Xuan Yu gave a nod.

"Got it. Come to me whenever, okay?

"

I smiled..

"Yeah.

"