Mystical Journey

“So this is Carthage’s secret weapon!?”

Garen felt his heart drop, yet surprisingly, he was strangely calm.

He expected Carthage to have some sort of ace up his sleeves, but he did not expect Carthage to build his body as a target to be possessed.

Allowing the creepy dwarf behind him enter his body, Garen’s expression was blank. Although he could neither see nor hear, he could feel the trace of an evil intention surging into his hindbrain, the main organ that controlled an Energy Machinist’s Energy Machine Imprint.

“Possession? That’s what I’m least afraid of!!”

As he slowly curled his body, Garen took a deep breath.

Hiss… A huge terrifying swirl of air started spreading wildly in the air.

Waves of white, silk-like airstreams were sucked into Garen’s lungs from all directions.

“It’s useless… There’s no point in struggling because every fiber of your being shall become a part of me…” The sinister voice started ringing in Garen’s body.

Garen gave a smile and abruptly opened his mouth wide.

Roar!

An indescribably deafening rumble came out of his mouth.

Black shadows of nine snake-like salamander were projected below him, looking ferocious and demonic.

“Idiot! I haven’t even got to devour the creations outside, and you dare scramble around in my body!!” There was a trace of sarcasm of Garen’s face.

“Wait! What is this!?” There was something off about the voice. “Why do you have something like this in your body!?”

Golden spots started forming on Garen’s skin. They were like dragon scales, covering Garen’s entire body and gradually spreading toward his head.

“You’re merely a Non-falling Level!” The vicious voice was getting more furious. “No! That’s not possible! There’s no way your body is not reformed!! Damn it! Carthage, how dare you fool me!”

All of a sudden, the golden spots spread upward and covered Garen’s head entirely.

The voice instantly let out a horrible shriek.

“No!!”

A wisp of smoke was urging to rush out from the back of Garen’s head, an arm slowly reaching out. Suddenly, a black shadow emerged and bit on the figure.

Garen, who was floating in mid-air, started opening his eyes slowly, his entire body was glowing a bright golden hue. Meanwhile, bursts of beasts chewing could be heard.

“No! How can I die at a place like this!!” The voice roared in a fit of rage as he struggled, along with the dreadful sounds of the nine salamanders.

Bulges started forming around Garen’s body. His arms, his chest, his back, and both his legs started swelling. The swells would last just a few seconds before shrinking and disappearing. The swollen areas then returned back to normal. The body parts continued to swell and shrink simultaneously, causing an extremely disgusting scene.

“It’s useless,” Garen said calmly. “The ancient Nine-headed Dragon Soul is specifically used against souls. Therefore, if you still existed in flesh, I wouldn’t even stand a chance against you. Unfortunately…”

Thick layers of frost started spreading upward from his foot.

“Let us form into one then…” A cold smirk crept up Garen’s face. As he raised his arm, a huge, black dragon’s shadow emerged from his palms and encircled him above the air. The several black dragon shadows had him entirely cocooned in the middle, forming a ball of black shadow.

“No!” I am Jeros, and I will fall in a place like this!! I have not gotten my revenge yet! Not yet…!” The scream stopped abruptly.

Inside the dark shadow, Garen reappeared.

The black shadows gradually went away, and everything went back to normal. Garen’s body was back to normal as well, leaving no trace of anything that just happened.

Poof!

A large cloud of smoke started spreading to all directions from Garen, forming a white ring of cloud in the sky.

What initially seemed to be an extreme danger, was eliminated within seconds.

Garen could feel his Cold Energy reaching its limit within his body. With his Fourteenth Level of Scarlet Snow Technique just recently being achieved, he actually managed to engulf its energy during that short period of time when his spiritual body was possessed, and he succeeded in breaking through the Fifteenth Level. The cloud of white ring just now was the sign of a breakthrough to the Fifteenth Level.

“Level Fifteen…” There was no change in Garen’s expression. To Carthage, if he was not at the peak of the Eighteenth Level in the Scarlet Snow Technique, it would be tough for him to actually inflict any sort of harm.

From Jeros’ powerful spiritual body, Garen intercepted plenty of information.

“Oh, Jeros, a member of the Light of Justice huh?” He was swiftly rearranging all the information he was getting.

The Hellfrost Peacock Technique and Nine-headed Dragon both had a formidable power against soul abilities. After all, the Endors were specifically against the culture of modern soul practicing. In this universe, there was probably nobody else other than Garen who knew more about the battles from a spiritual perspective. Jeros actually died in a pretty decent way.

After the Nine-headed Dragon engulfed most of his energy, it swiftly shrunk back to its soul form, but not before spitting out some of Jeros’ memory fragments.

“As expected… Almost the same as what I’ve guessed.” After briefly looking at the memory fragments, he swiftly remembered all the content recorded.

At that moment, people started crowding around below due to the commotion in the sky. A lot of the people from the Scarlet Snow Sect thought Garen was actually practicing some sort of a special technique, hence the terrifying tremors of energy.

Even some of the Great Supervisors, who were constantly practicing all day, were taken aback and probed into what was happening with Garen.

Swoosh!

Carthage appeared right before Garen.

“Jeros wasn’t a problem, was he?”

“Of course not,” Garen responded with a familiar smile from Jeros’ memory, a sinister aura dissipating from his body.

“That’s good, don’t get in the way of my plan.”

“It was just a minor accident,” Garen mumbled. “I’m just having some spiritual connection problems with that kid, so I need some time to completely fuse with him spiritually. Fuse, mind you!”

“Fuse? Can I help with anything?” Carthage glared at Garen, his eyes were cold and as sharp as knives.

“Level Fifteen!” Garen’s heart missed a beat. He had finally managed to see Carthage’s level clearly! Level Fifteen Scarlet Snow Technique! Other than the giant arm’s true form he called forth the other day, the power he held within this body should be Level Fifteen!

“No need, I can handle it myself. Just focus on managing your own things,” Garen’s voice was filled with an indescribable sinisterness.

“Are you sure?” Carthage suddenly chuckled.

“Yes I’m sure,” Garen said coldly.

“Alright then, this body is the best there is. Try not to spoil it, it’s very hard to nurture another one,” Carthage said while walking away.

“Oh yeah, Kaos has arrived at the South Pole Planet, do you want to go fetch him?” He asked suddenly.

Garen remained expressionless.

“Kaos, are we even that close? Stop playing with me, Carthage.”

Carthage turned around and stared at him with a silent smile.

“Seems like the fusion process was just nice, rest well and recover soon then.”

“I don’t need you to remind me that!” Garen snorted.

Beads of cold sweat were actually trickling down his back. He had no idea who Kaos was, he could only sense that Carthage was suspecting him already, so he simply connected bits and pieces from his memory. He was tensed and ready to make a move already, but who knew he would actually make the right connection.

“You shall be in charge of the Scarlet Snow Sect, I’m leaving for a period of time.” With his last words, Carthage suddenly shot out into the distance, disappearing into thin air.

“Hmph!” With a snort, Garen dived toward the Frost Hell. Perhaps the Secret Frost Seed’s Inspiration might do his Nine-Level Tempered Body Technique some good, other than the Destructive Impact Fist. These two secret techniques were well-suited for him. If he could advance to a higher level, these techniques would definitely boost his Hellfrost Peacock Technique.

Below them, Eva and Solomon, the eighth Demonic Spirit, witnessed the whole conversation between Garen and Carthage. They just could not hear the actual conversation.

“What are these two up to this time!” The mummy-like Demonic Spirit said in an eerie tone.

“Someday, I shall seek revenge for Rainy one way or another!” Eva said in an icy-cold tone before flying off toward Second Elder’s place.

*******************

“If I really had turned against Carthage just now, what are the chances of me winning?!” Walking along a white-blue ice tunnel, Garen recalled what just happened.

Right now, he had fully caught up to Carthage’s body power, which was a Level Fifteen. Besides that, he was sure by now that this body was not Carthage’s true form. The terrifying huge arm that he saw the other day was Carthage’s true ability.

“Every member of the Light of Justice under Chinande is a Level-Ten Perpetual Motioner. If Carthage is one of them as well, I definitely don’t stand a chance against him. But, I’ve already been advancing to higher levels in the shortest time possible, it’d be meaningless to continue pushing myself, even with most of my Hellfrost Peacock Technique. Perhaps I shouldn’t be merely focusing on this world’s pure energy…”

Once again, he focused on superimposing his secret techniques.

There was a total of eighteen levels of the Scarlet Snow Technique, but other than the Teacher Ancestor who started up the sect, nobody else had managed to practice this certain secret technique up to its peak. It was simply unrealistic to think that one could reach the peak by relying on this secret technique. Even Garen originally wanted to practice this secret technique just to condense more of his Scarlet Snow Technique’s soul.

At this point, if he were to refer to the process earlier before, he should be able to condense a new kind of Soul Seed already. Yet, Garen still did not feel any trace of his Soul Seed condensing.

“Perhaps the Secret Frost Seed would inspire me.”

Passing through the blue-white ice tunnel, Garen came to a wide, arched white hall.

The hall was densely packed with shimmering blue spheres of light, and every light had a name carved on to it.

As he first stepped into the hall, Garen could sense a strong presence of souls that overwhelmed him.

“This!?”

He was shaken.

An immense force was pushing toward him.

“I don’t have any rights to summon, that’s why I was rejected by all the other seeds! But this…” Although Garen was stifled by the monstrous force pushing at him, there was a sharp, never-before-seen glint in his eyes.

“This… All these are Soul Seeds!”

He had always wondered what was all about the Scarlet Snow Sect’s Secret Frost Seed, but he had never expected them to be beads of souls of secret techniques that were extremely concentrated and condensed!

Click…

A solid layer of dark blue was slowly creeping up Garen’s legs.

“Freeze me? You want to freeze my Hellfrost Peacock?” Garen smirked.

“All creatures of the world can never escape from fading…”

With his arm raised, he placed his palms against the tremendous force gushing toward him.