Mystical Journey

“A pipe?” Something odd flashed past the depths of the Second Elder’s eyes. “My lungs haven’t been feeling all that good recently, so I don’t really want to smoke, that’s why I put it away. Why, do you have a problem with that? Are you trying to dictate whether I smoke or not as well?!”

“Naturally, that is not my intention, Master.” Garen’s narrowed eyes grew sharper.

“If that is not your intention then hurry up and scram!” The Second Elder instantly lost his temper.

“Your lungs aren’t feeling well?” Garen laughed coldly. “I’ve been getting much stronger lately, maybe I can help you check, dear Master. Let me see just what’s wrong with your lungs…”

Before he finally finished speaking, Garen reached out his hand like a claw, grabbing at the Second Elder. With a tearing sound, a void-like vacuum was ripped out of the air, it was a terrifying vacuum left behind by immense speed. Before the air around it could even fill in the void, Garen’s claw had already reached the Second Elder’s chest.

The dazzling white Non-Falling light covered Gardens palm, dying his whole hand jade-white. From afar, it did not even look like a human hand.

The claw was just about to grab the Second Elder’s chest.

“How dare you!!”

A layer of black light abruptly exploded beside Garen, turning into a black whirlpool. Several black bugs the size of fists shot out of the whirlpool, rearing their jaws at Garen’s head.

The Second Elder also looked extremely shocked, the Non-Falling light all around his body exploding mercilessly, but even then he just delayed the progress of Garen’s arm, reaching forward quickly.

“One Time Fist Pressure.”

Garen’s right arm abruptly doubled in strength, and crashed towards the Second Elder’s chest with an even more intense and heavier pressure.

The intense fist pressure from the surroundings instantly caused his black bugs to exploded in mid-air, reduced to several mounds of foul-smelling pus.

An unstoppable, terrifying pressure pressed down on the Second Elder tightly, and right now, he was completely unable to fight back. He could only watch, wide-eyed, as the hand

approached him.

“You dare kill your master!!!?”

He howled madly.

Booom!!!

Garen’s palm disappeared, and the terrifying traits of the Ten Thousand True Technique meant that he could instantly transfer that immense power somewhere else, crashing it into the chest of a person in black who had just appeared.

Thick blood sprayed out from under the black-robed man’s hood, and he screamed, flying backward into the wall. Large cracks spread across the wall, and the layers of Non-Falling power fell off his body like layers of an onion, disappearing and shattering layer by layer.

“I… won’t yield…!!” His body instantly turned into a flash of black light that darted away.

“Cowardly sneak, you dare escape!” Garen harrumphed coldly, and took one step forward.

“Two Times Fist Pressure.”

Boom!!!

A terrifying pressure suppressed the black light, and the black light crashed onto the floor like a mound of lead, sending out a large spray of black shards.

The air began to coagulate slightly, like a thick liquid, and even the wind could not flow.The falling of the black light, the expression on the Second Elder’s face, the shards of the wall, everything seemed to move in slow motion.

Every movement would consume a great cost. This was the terrifying power of Garen’s destructive abilities, the 88-times fist pressure seemed to increase completely according to the

capabilities of the user’s own physical body. As long as the user’s body could withstand it, the number could keep on rising indefinitely.

Right now, Garen’s Strength was at 40 points, and by doubling the power of his Destructive Impact Fist, it could reach 80 points in Strength. Even a powerhouse at the same level as him,

at the peak of the Non-Falling Level, would not be able to fight back against such a terrifying pressure. They would be suppressed like infants. Faced with Garen’s fists, their Non-Falling power was no different from eggshells.

To put eighty Strength points into perspective, back then Garen had dominated the Totem World with less than twenty Strength points. All the giant beasts or terrifying monsters several dozen meters tall could not do anything when faced with his fist. And a giant beast that was several dozen meters tall could destroy a skyscraper in one hit.

And now he had eighty points of Strength, four times what he had back then. If he split up the power and used it separately, he could destroy more than ten skyscrapers in one hit, and could instantly demolish some smaller cities.

This was all just the terrifying power of Garen’s One Time Fist Pressure. Such power was concentrated fully in this space that was less than a hundred acres large.

“Sunshine!”

The black light on the ground made its last desperate struggle, exploding out with a terrifying golden light and heat. This was evidently his Origin secret skill.

“Three Times.” Garen took one step forward, and the terrifying power just grew more intense. Faced with the overwhelming power of 120 Strength points, the black light’s explosion was instantly extinguished like a flame being put out.

After a whoosh, the black light shattered and scattered, and everything returned to normal once more.

Up until that point, this unidentified Non-Falling powerhouse had died powerlessly in the tower, and all that remained of him was the web of cracks across the high-density alloy wall. And this was after Garen controlled his power, making sure not to waste too much.

“You—Y-y-you–!” The Second Elder’s pupils dilated, and as he watched Garen walk toward him slowly, a sweat broke out on his forehead. Even his teeth kept chattering, he could not fight his instincts at all.

“Master, do you have any problem with the way I finished off that suspicious character?” Garen asked calmly.

The Second Elder’s lips shook, all the blood drained out of his face. But he tried hard to maintain his image anyway. “No… no problem… You did well! You did very well!” He kept nodding his head. By now, he had lost all his poise and dignity as a teacher.

As his power increased, the Army-level Garen already had the beginnings of an invisible, formidable aura. Since he had completed his training for the Hellfrost Peacock Technique, it was now rapidly displaying its ultimate power.

Garen could see that his Vitality value had reached the Soul Limit, but some of his physical attributes were still increasing drastically, the most crucial one being his regenerative powers.

The most significant aspect of the Hellfrost Peacock Technique is immortality, or regenerative powers that border on immortality.

Garen was already feeling it.

Before this, when he activated the triple fist pressure, his body would tear internally from the burden, but now, it was a piece of cake. That was just a few days ago… and the speed of his regenerative powers was still increasing rapidly.

Even he did not know to what extent the Hellfrost Peacock Technique’s regenerative powers could reach. At the end of it, even he did not know just how strong the highest level of a Living Secret Technique, the Army Level, could be. And Garen did not know just what heights he could reach when he merged it with the Willpower training of this world, either.

All he knew was that he was getting stronger and stronger, stronger and stronger…

Looking at the Second Elder cowering before him, Garen was now certain that this man was indeed the Scarlet Snow Sect’s Second Elder. But he was only that person in body and in strength, whereas he was no longer that person in spirit…

Perhaps this was the same as what Carthage did to Garen in the past, right now, this person was just a Bodysnatcher they found from somewhere else. Thinking back to the Second Elder’s personality, Garen knew that he would never be this scared by such a small matter.

Sadness flashed through Garen’s heart, but even more of it was killing intent toward Carthage.

The Second Elder and Rainy were all people who had helped him, but now they were being treated like this, and he could do nothing about it.

“The Destructive Impact Fist has reached five times… this is the limit my body can take, if I go any further, I’ll need to increase my speed. When the Major Battle starts, I might not have any time or energy to upgrade myself so relaxedly anymore.

Garen understood in his heart, and gave the Second Elder one last look, before he closed his eyes, turned around, and slowly walked away.

“It’s time I focused on increasing my Nine-Level Tempered Body Technique. I need nine different types of precious mineral essences to temper my body. It will cost an arm and a leg, so I had best use my power in the Scarlet Snow Sect to gather and provide what I need. To face Carthage, I need all the power I can get.” Garen already had a plan lined out.

“Master, I plan to call a Courtroom Meeting, please make your way to the Courtroom, and it’s best if you’re not late,” he said calmly, without even looking around.

“I won’t, I won’t…” By now, the Second Elder had already been scared out of his wits, and could only say yes to everything.

If he was not mistaken, the Second Elder had been Bodysnatched.

Garen did not need to go see the First and Third Elders, they were probably in the same state. Perhaps the entire Scarlet Snow Sect had already changed hands. Carthage’s aims had been achieved. If it were not for Garen, an anomaly, perhaps this Energy Machinist sect would have already been reduced to existing in name only, being used solely as a base to ambush other sects.

As for that hidden black-robed person he killed, Garen was not worried in the slightest. This had always been “Jeros'” character: bloodthirsty, evil, and a lover of destruction above all.

He was just a Non-Falling Level, Carthage would not really mind even if he did know. Theoretically, Jeros was at the same level and position as him, so naturally he would not be controlled by his orders.

Leaving the Second Elder’s tower, Garen went to the First and Third Elders’ places as well, barging in forcefully. Unsurprisingly, it was completely empty inside, with only a few blood stains left. Perhaps they were killed, perhaps Carthage did not think they were worthy of even the lowest-level Bodysnatching, and just killed them off cleanly.

As for the guardian, if the Scarlet Snow guardian still had not shown up at this point, that must not be good news either.

“Carthage…”

Garen floated in mid-air, he could feel the last Will of several dozen ancestors in the armor on his brow, they were furious and roaring out in anger. That was a fury and hatred born from the imminent annihilation of the Scarlet Snow Sect.

Some of them had lived for far too long in the Scarlet Snow Sect, some had been raised and protected by the Scarlet Snow Sect, and treated this place as their home. Yet others had poured too much of their blood, sweat, and tears into the Scarlet Snow Sect.

“Please relax, I will return this favor to Carthage properly…” murmured Garen softly.

He could feel that his powers were constantly growing madly with every passing moment, the mad dash as a result of the overnight explosion from the Army-Level, completed Hellfrost Peacock Technique was still in effect. And the tree branch of the Staff of Absolute Yin that he was getting from the Remora Business Alliance would arrive soon enough, and then he would have another new source for replenishing his potential points.

After this, he wanted his true form to try and break the next level of the Scarlet Snow Technique. Reaching Grade Sixteen Level Eight, or even Level Nine, would not be a problem, because the ancestors’ Armor of Ice had given him the experience to level up completely. He could even reach the very top level of the Scarlet Snow Sect without a problem. All he needed was time. But after Level Nine, he would once more face the same dilemma his forefathers did, and be unable to reach the Tenth Perpetual Motioner.

This was the Demonic Curse, a Demonic Curse that no one in the Scarlet Snow Sect could avoid.

Unless they could reach Level Ten, they would not be able to fight Perpetual Motioners, much less the powerhouse among Perpetual Motioners, Chinande. Perhaps the final key still lay with the secret techniques…