Mystical Journey

"Yes, it’s just part of it." Angela nodded.

"It’s unfortunate that I have no use for it." Garen regretted. "Do you have any information regarding the function of the Blood of Eternal Life?

"Now that one’s much easier; it’s widely known," Angela paused to align the relevant information before continuing, "Each Blood of Eternal Life has different functions. In fact, all of them come from non-humans."

"Non-humans?" This was the first time Garen had heard of the term.

"That’s right. Most of the non-humans have life spans that far surpass humans, and the special ones are called the Everlasting Beings. The most extreme fighters among us have interested in these non-human race’s long lifespans, as they’ve come to realize that they don’t have enough time to achieve the extreme edges of martial arts.

Angela exhaled and continued calmly, owing to Garen’s increasing interest in the topic.

"Hence, some of our top talents from the human race started investigating ways of attaining a lifespan equal to these Everlasting Beings. The two main methods were hybridization and food consumption, both of which are also the most effective methods. Hybridization is by far the best, as one could obtain a stronger blood lineage and offspring through copulation. This slowly begins to form some of the ethnic groups we see in certain countries. On the other hand, strong individuals like to increase their lifespan through edible consumption. After the Great Draught a millennia ago, which was the worst drought we’ve had, a lot of the Everlasting Beings left the land and went into the ocean. They took a boat and wandered the seas for decades. Humans are completely incapable of sailing the seas in the same way.

Naturally, their conflict with the humans gradually dissipated. "

"So the Blood of Eternal Life was something they left behind?" Garen asked.

"Yes. Due to the sparsity of these Everlasting Beings, you can only find a small amount of Blood of Eternal Life from some of the remains. But then again, these have already been contaminated by the ancient humans who consumed them into their bloodstream. Although the blood has been contaminated, its ability to lengthen one’s lifespan still remains." Angela explained.

"Since the Everlasting Beings left just a thousand years ago, there should still be human descendants who possessed the Blood of Eternal Life besides the corpses right? If they really have such a long lifespan, it should be just a few generations to them for the past millennia." Vampires and werewolves were the first thing Garen thought of when he heard the word Everlasting Beings. These mysterious creatures were known everywhere and became legends on Earth. The legendary vampire was said to be forever young and immortal. This gave earthlings a very strong impression.

"It is true that there are descendants from the Everlasting Beings. However, they hide themselves within the human world and it would be difficult to trace them unless they transformed, or use a specially made soul detector."

"There are detectors for them?"

"Li Gaode, the academician of the Champagne Empire’s Science Academy invented a detector called the boiling blood. It’s very expensive to manufacture and we, the Behemoth Gate could only buy two sets. It’s very impractical as well due to its high electricity consumption."

The Champagne Empire was one of the three large empires in the Azure Continent, currently in a minor conflict with the Republic of the Tulip. The Champagne Empire was once a well developed country with a deep background. They were not afraid to go up against three dominating empires.

Garen understood well since he had learnt the world’s geography.

"Furthermore, there are a lot of types of Blood of Eternal Life." Angela added on as she glanced at Garen.

"Types?"

"Other than increasing one’s lifespan, they can give humans different talents." Angela observed Garen’s expression closely as she explained. She found out that Garen was genuinely surprised as if it was his first time hearing such a common knowledge. This shook her assumption of Garen being a mixed between an Everlasting Being and human.

"What species are you guys mixed with?"

"We are mixed with the white dog’s bloodline. Once you have absorbed the bloodline, you can live for a maximum of 300 years and about two hundred years on average, which is about 145 years of increased lifespan. You can live for more than two hundred years if you incorporate a series of Essence Locking Techniques."

"White Dog Man…" Garen was said aimlessly, as he had lost interest after hearing such a bloodline. With the talent he possessed, there was no need for him to obtain such a thing. He had reached the utmost limits of a human being before the age of 20. There was no rush for him to pursue such a thing as he still had at least seventy to eighty years to explore his options.

"What about the origins of the telekinesis from the Immortal Palace?" He asked a question that he had been very curious about.

"The Immortal Palace represents the bloodline of the Everlasting Beings. They are the last remaining organization which consists mainly of tainted half-breeds, so it is common for them to have special abilities. Furthermore, the majority of those humans, including those tainted half-breeds, would do whatever it took to kill the Everlasting Beings and obtain the Blood of Eternal Life. Once the tainted half-breeds were revealed, they would be in an unimaginable state, like becoming a experiment subject or a blood slave. Flamingo and Sylphalan, the powerhouses of the Immortal Palace, are prime examples. Both of them are tainted half-breeds, and their family members were mercilessly murdered. They have an insatiable hatred towards human kind."

She stopped for a while and continued.

"The Immortal Palace consists of five people in total. Now that Duskdune Shura has left due to his severe injury, there are only four left. All of them have their own secret organizations under them. Flamingo and Sylphalan have revealed their identities to the public, and we also know that Ghette, the general of Weisman, is one of them as well. Unfortunately, the last member is still in the dark."

Garen stroked his chin as he processed the information he had obtained in his mind. He recalled Celine stating that the Immortal Palace initially had five members and there are currently four as one of them had left the group. This matched the information Angela had given.

"Alright, what is the Behemoth Gate’s motive? You used Rosetta to lure me here so that Clark and the Killer Hunters Squad may attempt to murder me. What do you want?" Garen finally brought the issue up.

"I think you know why. We are after the Blood of Eternal Life that you are hiding." Angela confessed.

"Unfortunately, I am not a carrier of the Blood of Eternal Life." Garen shrugged. "There are a lot of humans with strong talents too. It’s not just the tainted half-breeds."

"No one will believe that." Angela helplessly smiled.

"This can be proven by using the detecting device, right?" Garen needlessly explained.

Angela’s eyes were wide open as she couldn’t believe what she heard.

"Why are you staring at me? I am born from a normal family. I don’t have any Blood of Eternal Life. All of this information can be obtained with some research." Garen explained.

Garen didn’t stay long since he had obtained enough information. He went back to the study room through another prison tunnel.

The eighth Golden Hoop was already sitting inside the room serving himself drinks from the pot of hot coffee on the table in front of him.

When he saw Garen, he silently took out a roll of dark red paper from his arms, and used a white porcelain cup to hold it down, placing it on the table..

Garen sat in front of the eight Golden Hoop, taking the cup and open the roll of paper.

‘Nominating NO.9 as Province Galantia’s regional director. Granting authority to mobilize all stationed military within the province.’ With a stamping at the back, ‘Golden Hoop Headquarters’

Garen understood intention of the piece of paper in his grasp.

"Is this prepared specially for me?"

"Yes." The eight Golden Hoop replied. "The upper management needs to evaluate your performance. If you can finish a small, specific task, you will have the authority to secretly mobilize the military of this province. Galantia’s chief commander and most of the commanders are our people."

Garen understood that the Golden Hoop wanted him to continue staying in the organization as his value had increased. It is also probably that they wanted him to depend on the organization’s power. Judging from the looks of it, it was so powerful that influencing the country leaders was no problem.

No. It might be the opposite, where the country leaders were planning to use him through the Golden Hoop. It was definitely a possibility.

"What do you want me to do with such authority?" Garen asked as he put down the paper.

"Just to clean up some trouble for the government." the eighth Golden Hoop smiled. "Although this is equivalent to hiring a mercenary, we won’t mobilize you most of the time. It would considered remarkable to receive a task once in a few years."

"I need something solid. I do not want these vague answers." Garen knew that with his strength, he could not live a good life even without the Federation’s support. Hence he didn’t oppose such headhunting.

"How about a mission once every three years?" The eighth Golden Hoop had obviously reached an agreement with the upper management. "The success rate of the mission must be at least fifty percent and the government will supply you the necessary monetary resources."

"Fine." Garen wasn’t stingy at all. It was preferential treatment to him as the best among the grandmasters of combat, to have a mission only once every three years.

Firearms, which were once a threat to him were no longer so, due to his rapid growth.

It showed that the government was experienced in these affairs, based on their arrangements. They were able to protect the country when needed, by gathering enough power from the citizens even with regulations this loose. It was similar to an arrangement of hiring bounty hunters.

Garen, who was seated well, poured himself a cup of coffee and surmised his recent lifestyle.

From studying sincerely in Huaishan City to finding the Antique of Tragedy. He initially thought that he could study in a university and find a job after graduation while slowly climbing up to the top of the martial arts world with his talent. It was unfortunate that things had changed so quickly.

He had unknowingly made a name for himself by helping Su Lin with his troubles since he had owed Su Lin two favors. He was also made known in the time the Immortal Palace invaded, and the changes to his master’s dojo.

He had reached the highest level in the martial art world in a very short amount of time.

Now that he had taken over the White Cloud Gate, he had become an important person in the eyes of the government, as he was also in a powerful organization in the martial arts world.

Garen felt surreal recalling these events. Practically speaking, he hasn’t even reached 19 yet, he was barely 18.