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Another Five Minutes Later...

Hao Xuan was constantly jumping over the beasts in his path while throwing a flurry of kicks when fighting was the only option. His only good hand was now also mangled beyond recognition due to the fight with the Sword Clone.

*Beep*

"Bone and muscle reconstruction is underway. The process will take close to 2 standard hours."

He was breathing heavily since even with his superhuman physique Hao Xuan could not last indefinitely under constant pressure. And since a new wave of creatures was coming his way it was unlikely that would change anytime soon.

He threw a roundhouse kick to the back of a humanoid shadow beast before dodging out of the way of the remaining beasts before replying.

"I don\'t know...what else to do," he muttered through labored breaths, "There are no other tricks...left to pull. No hidden cards...I can\'t keep this up for another hour."

"The host will reach the settlement in 55 standard minutes."

"No...I won\'t. This is the end. I am out of energy and exhausted in every which way."

"..."

"The system agrees with that assessment."

The minimap started zooming out until both the settlement and Hao Xuan were visible on the same screen but there were thousands of red dots along the way.

"If you were trying to make me feel better...it did not work."

"Negative. The scans reveal the location of every shadow beast with a physical presence. As you can see, they are all congregated along the route back. It appears that their efforts have been coordinated by an unknown entity."

"Your point? It doesn\'t matter what kind of beast is controlling them anymore, I can\'t fight it either way."

"Indeed. But if the host was to take a different route then it might give you some time to recuperate."

Hao Xuan\'s brow began to furrow while he thought it through.

"You\'re not wrong, it might work but...they will find me soon enough. It won\'t be enough time for me to fully recover and I will only be more tired afterwards."

"Affirmative. But that is not the goal."

"Out with it, what do you want me to do?"

"Absorb the core of the shadow beast. It might hold the answer to the host\'s proverbial prayers."

Hao Xuan looked over his shoulder to see the two silver leaves wound tightly around his arm. The Death Moss was hanging loosely from his back like a stick insect.

"I forgot about that, you\'re right it could work. Find me a place that\'s a little out of the way."

***

Ten Minutes Later...

Hao Xuan was sitting cross-legged in a random hole in the ground looking at the projected map.

All the red dots were scurrying around like chickens with their heads cut off but there were a few that were already moving in his rough direction.

"They are definitely tracking me. And...I think I know how..."

The core of the Greater Shadow beast was laying in his lap, surrounded by a thin layer of Chaos Energy.

"They are coming after the core, I can feel a faint connection to it."

*beep*

"Time is of the essence," Baracus reminded.

"I know," Hao Xuan mumbled while closing his eyes.

Three golden threads of Spiritual Sense extended towards the core, easily bypassing the shield of Chaos energy to enter the dark ocean of pure Yin energy within.

They tunneled deeper and deeper inside the core. Hao Xuan felt like he was diving towards the bottom of the ocean completely naked because the further down he went the colder it became.

Then finally, after what felt like ages, his spiritual form stood in front of something solid. At first he thought it was a pair of serpentine eyes floating in the ocean of Yin energy but the more he looked the more its shape changed.

He was seeing everything and anything he wanted to see. It was formless and shapeless until he looked at it.

The threads of spiritual sense reached out and upon connecting with the shape-shifting object the core abruptly shattered.

A wave of dark purple energy shot into Hao Xuan\'s head and straight into the Mind Palace.

Hao Xuan appeared in the Mind Palace following the disturbance just in time to see a bright purple insignia being etched at the bottom of the podium.

The red insignia of the ability he got from the demon was at the very top while this one was on the opposite end. It was not only larger but the design itself was much more complicated. Hao Xuan brushed his fingers across its smooth surface, "It looks like a butterfly."

He pulled back his hand and opened his eyes in the outer world.

"How long did that take Baracus?"

*beep*

"Approximately 7 minutes."

"Good, not too long then. Now let me see what this thing can do."