Mystical Journey

Under the guidance of an attendant, Garen returned to the accommodation arranged by his sect . He entered his own independent room, took off his clothes and walked into the shower .

He shut the door and gently turned the faucet on .

Whoosh .

Cold water rushed out first, but soon the water warmed and steam slowly filled the bathroom .

Garen stood under the faucet, letting the warm water cascade down from his shoulders . The tense muscles and skin around his body gradually relaxed under the warmth . Hot water drenched his back and flowed to his feet, washing away most of the sweat and stains .

He wiped his face with his hands and started recalling the developments in the tournament so far . Each of his four opponents had their strengths and weaknesses . The strongest opponent was the last one, Carlos from the Order of the Iron Fist; his true strength was comparable to Golden Hoop Number 9 .

"Now that I think of it, Carlos and Eldest Senior Sister share a similar fighting style: both aim to kill . But compared to Eldest Senior Sister at her current level, he is slightly weaker . Nevertheless, the difference is marginal," Garen contrasted Carlos with the standard of the Eldest Senior Sister that trained with him from his memory, and carefully evaluated it .

Since receiving the Secret Martial Art, even he himself was unclear what level his true strength had progressed to; he needed a clear comparison .

"Eldest Senior Sister would not have exhibited her full strength when she was training with me . Based on several daily details, I estimate that she is slightly stronger than Carlos . I could spar with Eldest Senior Sister when I am back to find out the current extent of my true strength . But why didn't Eldest Senior Sister and the others participate in the ranking tournaments? If they were here, White Cloud Gate wouldn't be in too low a ranking . "

Garen's mind kept recalling the actions, strength and other details of Second Senior Brother and Eldest Senior Sister when they were in training .

Ever since he received the Secret Martial Art, his perspective had completely changed . His strength and martial art techniques have been coherently amalgamated to reach a stage where he could organically combine moves . Naturally, his perspective of former opponents had evolved, and he would notice more than he did before .

"Eldest Senior Sister and Carlos should be on the same level, and Second Senior Brother is slightly weaker . Third Senior Brother is on the same level as the guy from Holy Fist Gate in the first round . He's really too lazy…" As he thought about Third Senior Brother Joshua, he couldn't help but shake his head slightly . Practicing martial arts once every three days could still be considered diligent . No matter how talented he was, he wouldn't be able to accomplish anything if he wasted his talent like that .

He looked down and gently clenched his fists . After a few duels, Garen could clearly feel that he had become more powerful . There were no specific enhancements to his strength and speed, but his martial arts had become more powerful . He could spontaneously apply the Four Major Forms; they had been ingrained as a natural instinct . He could easily integrate the strength of his entire body in the execution of every move .

Even though the Strength points in the Attribute Pane remain unchanged, Garen could feel that his true strength had increased by more than one fold . He could probably achieve 500 pounds of explosive force in situ . If it were coupled with the impact of a run-up, the results would be unimaginable even to him .

"It would probably reach half a tonne…" Garen tilted his head upwards and allowed the hot water to directly drench his hair . "What a shame . This seems to be the maximum extent of the Secret Martial Art of White Cloud Gate . I could still progress further, but the Secret Martial Art has peaked . "

Ding dong .

"Garen, are you there?" the voice of Master Fei Baiyun came from outside the door .

"I am, master," Garen hurriedly replied . "I'm in the shower . I'll be out in a minute . "

He quickly turned off the tap, dried himself, hastily dressed then pushed the door open to walk out .

The door clicked as it opened . Fei Baiyun stood at the entrance clad in black silk clothing . He was wearing a round black hat and small sunglasses . Coupled with his handlebar moustache, he made an oddly delightful sight .

He let himself into the room and sat down . Fei Baiyun stared fervently at his disciple who closed the door and sat down .

"Garen, I was chatting to some old friends and heard that you won the preliminaries and entered the finals . You've really done me proud this time!" His face shone with glee . "I didn't expect your true strength to develop so fast after you've received the Secret Martial Art! This kind of talent… Looks like I was right in selecting you to be a last disciple!"

"Well done!" Fei Baiyun patted Garen's shoulders hard . "I will meet whatever request you have when we get back!"

"Master, you flatter me . " Garen was somewhat embarrassed by his master's praises .

"I am clear about what is and isn't flattery . For you to be able to reach this level in a year, no one would have expected it . Your Secret Mammoth Technique should be at the Mammoth level, correct?" Fei Baiyun lowered his voice and asked .

Garen nodded . This was not something to hide . The Secret Mammoth Technique purely relied on perception and talent . It was different from White Cloud Secret Method and Explosive Fist Arts; those were fundamentals which required hard work .

"Indeed…" The more he looked at him, the more Fei Baiyun liked Garen . The smile that he suppressed to maintain his dignified image as a teacher couldn't be contained any longer . His wrinkly face grinned from ear to ear . "Any injuries from the tournaments?"

"None…" Garen replied truthfully .

Fei Baiyun suddenly stood up and looked at his disciple Garen, shook his head slightly and said, "I can't believe that a last disciple that I, Fei Baiyun, have admitted in my sunset years, would be such a fascinating character like you . There is still hope for White Cloud Gate…"

He hesitated, looked at the confused Garen, then finally made his decision . He reached a hand into his inner pocket and took out a round indigo metal container and gently opened it .

The metal box was merely the size of a palm, but there was another small black box within it . Fei Bayun opened that too .

On a piece of black silk inside the innermost box was a square black piece of paste, even on all sides . It looked insignificant .

Fei Baiyun looked at it and let out a long sigh .

"Here, eat this . " He put it in front of Garen .

"What is this?"

Garen stared curiously at the squarish paste: it looked like hardened black toothpaste .

"Why are you asking so many questions? I won't harm you! Eat!" Fei Baiyun urged impatiently .

"Oh…" Garen picked the square paste up and put it straight into his mouth . He chewed a few times; it was sweet and sour, like eating a fruit roll-up . He swallowed it whole . Suddenly, from his mouth to his throat down till his stomach—any esophageal tract that the paste passed through—he experienced a cool refreshing feeling .

"Alright, rest well . Good luck in the finals tomorrow!" Fei Baiyun cleared his throat, patted Garen's shoulder and said as if nothing had happened . "I'll be off . You take care and condition yourself . "

"Yes, master . " Garen nodded respectfully .

At this, Fei Baiyun gave a contented nod, put his hands behind his back and sauntered out of the room .

When he was a short distance away from the room, he slowly turned back to look at the closed room door .

"Bloodboil Pill… Such miracle drugs are better utilized on youths . Don't disappoint me, Garen . "

He turned around and slowly walked to the far end of the corridor, and soon disappeared around the corner . In that instant, even his silhouette seemed to have aged a lot .

At the other end of the corridor outside Garen's room, two other old men appeared . One had a full red beard, and the other had a pale and clean-shaven face, with skin covered in wrinkles and liver spots .

"I can't believe Fei Baiyun gave the Bloodboil Pill to that kid . That was his life's work: in order to collect all the herbs and ingredients, he almost lost his life several times . That is the White Cloud Gate miracle drug, able to cure internal injuries and prolong life, which he specifically intended for self-consumption in preparation for breaking through into the next stage . Now he's actually given it to this young fellow…" the red-bearded old man lamented as he recalled Fei Baiyun's silhouette walking away . He gently shook his head . "Without the Bloodboil Pill, Old Fei won't live for long . "

"The accumulation of a lifetime of hard work, all wagered on one disciple . Old Fei is really…" the other old man didn't know how to continue .

"Life's like that . Everything is impermanent . Let's go . The matter regarding Eastern Saintcloth awaits, we have to sort it out soon . This kid doesn't let us have a moment of peace . He's getting into trouble wherever he goes!" the red-bearded old man sighed, and turned around to walk away .

The pale-faced old man took a look at Garen's room door, inexplicably let out a sigh, and turned to leave as well .

In the room, Garen was stunned to see the Attribute Skills Pane in the bottom of his vision undergo a slow but sure change .

Under the Skills column, for Secret Mammoth Technique, the word 'Achieved' after it gradually blurred, and slowly transformed into a new word: Explosive . But the wording was translucent, as if it hadn't fully crystallized .

"What's this?" Garen was shocked . He immediately thought of the thing that tasted like fruit roll-up that his master had given him . "Could it be some kind of secret medicine? What kind of secret medicine has such a powerful effect?"

The word 'Explosive' after 'Secret Mammoth Technique' floated about and looked unstable, as if it wouldn't be completed anytime soon .

Garen didn't know what would happen . He planned to observe first . This change seemed to be incomplete; maybe it would fully stabilize later .

After going out for dinner and giving some instructions to a few disciples, he went straight back to his room . He waited until it was dark outside, changed, and asked an attendant for directions to leave the Celestial Circle Gate grounds .

He went around the perimeter of the grounds and walked to the edge of a deserted forest .

Garen finally saw a figure in black cloak standing under the shadow of the woods . He stood silently with his back to Garen .

"You passed me the note?" Confident about his true strength, Garen approached him and asked loudly .

Whoosh!

The figure dashed straight into the woods without replying .

"Don't think you can escape!" Garen scorned and trailed closely behind .

The bushes and tree leaves rustled as he ran across . They were sprinting one after the other in the dark forest, but Garen didn't manage to catch up with him .

Soon, both of them dashed out of the woods . They had reached the edge of the forest, and suddenly he saw a huge loess stone wall in front of him .

Four skulls were mysteriously engraved onto the stone wall, side by side . The sound of the wind whistling could faintly be heard coming from the black eye sockets and mouths . Each skull was ten odd meters tall; it was extremely spectacular .

A wooden suspension bridge linked the forest area to the open area below the stone wall .

The figure in black rushed onto the bridge without hesitating . Garen followed, and ran past the bridge quickly . An ominous cold current of air constantly poured out from the dark abyss below . The bridge swayed side to side as they ran past, and both stopped at the loess open area below the skull stone wall .

"Who are you?" Garen stared fixedly at the figure in black .

The figure in black slowly turned around, and revealed a handsome, apathetic face of a man . His skin was pale; there was almost no blush on his face . A few strands of long, black hair were vaguely exposed around the edges of his cloak .

"Garen Lombard, the disciple of that foolish brother of mine…"

"Who are you?!" Garen narrowed his eyes as a chill flashed across them . "Do you know how Old Man Gregor died?"

"How he died?" The man calmly gazed at Garen . "I killed him with my bare hands . "

"And so you shall go to hell!" Garen's eyes widened . A crater blasted open under his feet as he violently leaped towards the man . An explosive roar like a mammoth trumpet could vaguely be heard coming from behind him .