Mystical Journey

"Just then, I had a fight with Number Four about that item from last time. You guys are well aware of that. So I was in a terrible mood and received the news from our dependents. They said people are targeting the relatives of the newly joined Number Nine. So I rushed there to unleash my anger. However, I didn’t expect…"

"What did you encounter?" Number Eight asked in a lowered voice.

"I don’t know." Number Six shook his head.

The other people focused their attention on him. He had obviously piqued their curiosity.

"Just be straight forward and tell us. What’s with the hesitation?" Number Ten grimly said. Number Seven beside her calmly glanced over with reticence.

Number Six closed his eyes and didn’t respond right away. He was instead trying to remember what had happened.

After ten seconds, he gradually opened his mouth.

"I originally thought it was releasing the body hardening technique outside of the body, but later I realized it was impossible." He looked at everyone, and even Garen, who was looking through the documents, raised his head to focus on him.

"I would imagine it was psychokinesis. The guy I encountered must be someone who possessed the power of psychokinesis from the legend!"

"Psychokinesis?" Number Eight rubbed his chin, pondering.

"You read way too many novels, Number Six." Number Ten sneered. "I still have a business that I need to negotiate. If you’re telling me something imaginary and fake, you’ll have to excuse me for leaving!"

"No, what he said is true," all of a sudden said the silent Number Seven. "I have seen psychokinesis before. The world they live in is completely separated from that of normal people. Just like martial adepts, they’re light years ahead of ordinary people."

"Do you have any evidence?"

"Unfortunately, no." Number Six shrugged. "There was a black tattoo on the back of the corpse’s hand, but for some reason, it disappeared after death."

"It’s gone?" Garen put down the documents.

"Mhmm, completely vanished," Number Six confided. "I got someone to dissect the corpse but didn’t manage to find anything useful. Psychokinesis is one thing I want to remind everyone to be careful of. If possible, collect some intelligence in this area. Number Nine, if you have any information, try your best to notify everyone since it originates from you. You also have to be aware that they are strong, at least the person I met was powerful."

Garen nodded.

"The second thing, it’s the white rock eye we have. It already has five bidders. Currently, 56 million is the highest price. The item was acquired through our back office, and the front office has nothing to do with it. Therefore, the money will be only divided among the people that contributed," Number Six explained. "The appraisal will be up to Number Nine. This thing could count as an Antique of Tragedy, and it is said that anyone who keeps the antique in possession for over two months would be overwhelmed with diseases and pain. The book of silence… I don’t know if it is true or not."

Joyous in his mind, Garen immediately nodded in agreement. "My appraisal is not a problem." He looked at some information and became aware of the difference between the front and the back office of the Golden Loop.

The front office consisted of the first five numbers, whereas the back office were the latter five numbers. The two sides never got on friendly terms since the relationship had always been strained.

"That’s good. Now we divide up the money. Number Eight is the pivotal contributor this time and takes home 80%. Number Ten receives 10%. Number Nine and I will each take 5%. Us four will divide the money. Number Seven will take 100 thousand from number eight that received the most as tradition. Is everyone okay with this?"

"Yes," Number Eight said. "Number Nine contributed a major amount as well and should be rewarded accordingly. If it were not for him, I wouldn’t have been able to acquire the item. I’ll split one-third of my share with him."

"It’s okay, 5% is more than enough." Garen smiled. "If it can be sold for 50 million, I can receive two million. It is enough."

"There is no rush. The money is not as simple as it looks." Number Six gestured. "As a newly joined member, you have to prove your worth to the group. Appraisal alone is not enough to assume the position as Number Nine. Everyone must complete a mission when they join which would be beneficial to the organization. It is your turn now.

Garen slightly raised his eyebrows. "Is this an examination? What kind of mission?"

"We don’t know yet. But next time when trouble arrives, you alone will have to take care of the problem. This is to prove your ability to handle difficult situations alone as part of the top ten golden loops." Number Six shrugged.

Unbothered, Garen nodded. "This is not a problem. Also, about those psychokinetic individuals, are there any leads? Regarding their origin?"

"The only thing we know is that it’s connected to the explosion case in a rural area. As well as the Dolphin antique store’s owner’s mysterious disappearance along with the three bodies found in the backyard."

"I killed those three people," Garen interrupted him. "Can you help me look for Old Man Gregor’s information? His store should be recorded within certain bureaus. At least his personal information."

"Let me try. Number Ten is in charge of Huaishan area. You can go talk to her about it." Number Six mischievously smiled at Garen.

Garen was speechless. He had just injured and almost accidentally killed Number Ten. It would be senseless to ask her for help now.

"If there are any leads, please let me know as soon as possible."

"No problem." Number Eight patted Garen’s shoulder. "Don’t be too sad."

"No need to be sad. I’ll eventually find him, and kill him!" Garen said calmly.

After the money was split, the white rock eye fell into the hands of Garen to determine its authenticity within three weeks. He took it and left the small cabin while everyone else dispersed separately as well. Only Number Ten stayed behind. It was her place after all.

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

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The black sandbag flew higher and higher.

Garen forcefully smashed the sandbag with all his might, one punch after another. The metal sand inside the sandbag concaved from the excessive force.

His upper body was exposed, and the sweat dropped down like rainfall. He was only wearing black shorts, and the contracting and expanding muscles gave a sturdy but flexible vibe.

"From a martial adept’s perspective, you’re doing quite well."

In the training hall behind his back, Fei Baiyun took a white colored chair and sat down firmly. He had a cup of hot tea in his hand and occasionally took a sip or two.

"White Cloud Secret Arts, Combat Techniques, Explosive Fist Arts. You have learned it all. The next step is to take it to real combat. You must fuse all the techniques into particular moves and fully unleash your potential. This is what you need to do. In a few days, you’ll go with me to a conference and see the skill level of other martial adepts," Fei Baiyun said in a calm and slow voice.

"Yes, Master," Garen answered respectfully, stopping his training.

"There is nothing wrong with hiding your power. It’s just that if you don’t usually fight at your limit, your performance would be below expectations in a critical battle. Although hiding your power would make your opponent underestimate you, there are always accidents. You can never completely hide." Fei Baiyun took another sip of the tea.

"Everyone at the conference will be martial adepts. You’ll have to remember that you can’t be arrogant just because you have some achievements. The White Cloud Gate is nothing within the martial adept circle. There are far stronger opponents out there. Don’t underestimate anyone because of your mastery in Explosive Fist Arts."

"Don’t worry Master. I know where my limit is." Garen nodded in agreement. After witnessing Golden Loops’ martial adepts as well as the existence of psychokinesis, his original thoughts of being considered a strong marial adept after a couple of breakthroughs were shattered. His opponents were stronger than ever, and no one was weak. This point alone was enough to eradicate his arrogance.

"As long as you understand. Now go back and pack a few things. We’ll leave the day after tomorrow. Remember to let your family know." Fei Baiyun smiled, pleased.

He was extremely satisfied by this latest disciple. As long as he didn’t betray the White Cloud Gate, everything else would be irrelevant. His potential and power were impeccable even compared to Farak. It was unbelievable that he managed to reach the second level of Explosive Fist Arts in just one year time.

"I’ll only bring you this time. I’ve brought your senior brother and sisters separately before. This is the opportunity for you to expand your understanding of the martial adept world. There will be plenty of opportunities to fight, and you must be prepared for them. Also, you’ll be representing the White Cloud Gate as the core disciple. You have to be cautious of your image."

"I’ll be leading?" Garen was surprised. "Master, how many people are going this time?"

"Including you, a total of five people. The other four are selected based on their potential. They are your junior brothers and sisters. You’ll have to take care of them." Fei Baiyun smiled.

"Ok…" Garen was slightly troubled as he had a lot of things that he needed to figure out, which meant he wasn’t in the mood to take care of other people.

It had been several months since he met with the Golden Loop. He had to return the rock eye within three weeks. He had also saved up four attribute points.

The Black Jade Disk was completely out of potential now. Garen tried to absorb the potential from the Bronze Cross Emblems at the Silversilk Castle that he got from Dale Quicksilver. However, the absorbing speed was too slow. It was questionable whether he could increase one attribute point in a year’s time.

Therefore, he only had four remaining attribute points left, and he was faced with the situation where he had ran out of potential that could be absorbed.

During this time, he used Manuyllton Corporation and the Golden Loop to collect Antiques of Tragedy, except that none could provide the potential at a fast enough pace. He started to suspect that the problem came from himself. Potential generated attribute points, therefore, when he was weak, it was easy to absorb a large amount of potential from any Antique of Tragedy.

But now, the potential he was absorbing was becoming negligible. A large factor in this could be that he was stronger compared to before, thus, to generate an attribute point a significantly larger amount of potential was required. Therefore, normal Antiques of Tragedy could not sustain his needs.

A stream of water was ample to fill a cup, but for a jug, it would be minuscule.

That was what Garen deduced. The stronger his body was, the higher amount of energy would be required. It would only be natural this way.