Mystical Journey

“You are right Simon, we must go back now and scatter out in different directions!” A disciple of the Southern Twelve Gates answered with a worried expression. “My master told me to bring you a word.”

“What is it?” Simon raised his head and urged him to go on.

“Someone might use extreme measures against us! My master warned master Fei to be careful. At this time, it’s every man for himself.”

The disciple hurried out after these words, and only then Simon realized the disciple had a black backpack in his hand.

At this moment, Simon felt his mind was chaotic.

Senior Sister Rosetta defected, Second Senior Brother was still missing, and now Master was injured as well. Senior Brother Garen was nowhere to be found either.

“How great would it be if Senior Brother Garen was here!!” He thought to himself.

Suddenly, a few silhouettes walked in from the entrance. Leading the group was a tall and young man with a sturdy build with wine-red eyes, wearing a white martial arts training uniform.

“It’s Senior Brother Garen!”

“Senior Brother Garen is here!”

“Senior Brother Garen!”

The Southern Twelve Gates’ disciples suddenly found someone they could depend on; the surprised cheers gradually spread over the crowd of disciples.

“Master!” Garen immediately saw Fei Baiyun after entering the platform, lying in an armchair. Garen’s expression changed and he rushed to his master’s side.

“Master! How do you feel? Are you hurt?!”

“Get out of here! Take everyone and leave!” Fei Baiyun let out a relieved sigh after finally seeing Garen, his expression relaxed a little.

Garen checked Fei Baiyun’s pulse and breathing. Everything was normal, so he wasn’t seriously injured. He was only having a hard time speaking due to concussion, thus Garen felt relieved.

“Is that who they call the strongest among the Southern Twelve Gates, Senior Brother Garen?” The green-haired young man on the stage shouted abruptly. “Looks like the Southern Twelve Gates had put all of their hopes on you. Do you dare come up and challenge me?”

Garen stood up, glancing at the surrounding crowd.

The Southern Twelve Gates’ disciples all had their eyes on him, along with that Margent he had defeated and a few other masters who were still conscious.

Garen sneered and jittered his shoulders, then jumped onto the stage.

“You are digging your own grave.” His expression was ruthless; his eyes became even redder.

He was feeling down from his defeat earlier, so his anger erupted like a volcano.

“You sure talk big!” The green-haired young man mocked and dashed forward, instantly closing in on Garen.

Boom Boom!!

The two traded dozens of blows in seconds; the sound of their fists and elbows clashing filled the platform.

Peng!

The young man’s face turned pale and he stuttered a few steps back while clenching his chest, unable to catch his breath.

Garen suddenly jumped back, and his whole body came to a stop. He stretched his two hands out like he was holding two invisible spheres. A manic and hot stream came out of his body, caused by his rapidly increasing skin temperature.

As his eyes turned increasingly red, his deep breath echoed like the calls of a mammoth. He looked like a suppressed bomb, waiting to explode.

“S***!!” A man with similar green hair sitting below the platform jumped on it and quickly charged toward Garen.

The masters of the other sects all had grim faces.

The masters of Celestial Star Gate and Crimson Sand Sword both leaned forward in shock.

Suddenly, the master of Crimson Sand Sword remembered something.

“That’s…!” If he was already surprised before, now he couldn’t close his mouth.

Kaboom!

A loud noise came from the stage. Along with it came the scattered pieces of someone’s clothes.

Garen’s muscles fiercely inflated and he stood there like a powerful creature from ancient history. His body towering over two meters looked overwhelming. His cold red eyes stared at the green-haired men.

“Master is out to protect his worthless disciple?”

The green-haired man held his unconscious disciple in his arms, but he was knocked back ten steps. His clothes were falling apart. He was out of breath and could not speak a word.

When he opened his mouth to speak, he spurted a mouthful of blood and bent down on the ground.

“Fine, nice, okay. Garen of White Cloud Gate, I’ll remember this, and you will pay for it some day!!” He let out a sad smile and quickly ran into the crowd with his disciple; he was fast like a swallow flying in the rain.

Garen’s glanced around the platform, turned back and jumped off.

“Pack your stuff, we’re getting out of here!”

“Yes! Senior Brother!” Collin and the others answered. One of them supported Simon while Garen scooped up his master, and they all left through the exit. His body had not fully recovered yet, so he couldn’t keep on fighting. Otherwise he would have tried to force the green-haired master and disciple to stay.

Just as they stepped out, a stream of blood came out of Garen’s mouth.

“Senior brother!!” Collin saw this and came up to try to support him, but Garen raised his hand to stop her.

“We must leave now! If the words were true, we are in great danger. This place isn’t safe.” Garen picked up his pace and walked on.

The group followed behind him. There were a dozen disciples from other sects behind them as well.

“Why are you following us?” Garen asked with a deep voice.

“We… We are headed for the same direction as you! Could Senior Brother Garen protect us on the way back?” A silver-haired young man stood out and begged. A few disciples behind him were supporting two elders who were unconscious, they were in the same boat with White Cloud Gate.

“Follow up then!” Protecting four or fourteen men was all the same, so Garen thought he might as well help these people in need.

“My name is Rampas, I’m going to represent my gate!” The silver-haired youngster introduced himself.

Garen nodded mutely.

The men packed their belongings and asked Celestial Star Gate if they could borrow their cars. The Celestial Star Gate wanted to stay neutral and out of this mess, so they refused the request.

Inside the parking lot, Garen and the group stood together, staring down at the Celestial Star Gate disciples.

The leader of those disciples was a blue-haired man wearing a black suit. His arms were exposed and a black cross was tattooed on his right arm.

“I’m Tenstar Ni. Master gave us orders. No one is to borrow our cars at this moment, so please leave us.” The man crossed his arms and drawled.

“We were invited to join this exchange, but now that we are in trouble you wouldn’t even let us use your cars… you!!” Collin was so mad he couldn’t speak.

“I’m just following orders. It’s not just you guys, the other Southern Twelve Gates are not allowed to borrow our cars either. Senior Brother has already gone to the other side.” Tenstar Ni lowered his hands and clenched his fists. “With Senior Brother here, even your masters dare not make a move. Why don’t you give up now, turn around and walk back to where you came?”

The Celestial Star Gate disciples behind him had no expression on their faces. Hearing Tenstar Ni’s words, they all lowered their right hand and started stretching their fingers. A thrilling sensation permeated the air.

Garen stared at Tenstar Ni with his cold eyes. He could feel the opponent’s strength; it was close to his level. If they were to fight right now, the result would be up to fate.

This is also the reason both sides remained humble since the beginning; the strongest of the two groups both feared their opponent. Having improved his power, Garen could now tell the someone’s strength by their slightest movements and the way they acted and talked. He could feel the threat from Tenstar Ni.

“Fine! Very well! Celestial Star Gate, I’ll remember this!” Garen turned around. Even though he was confident in his own strength, this was on Celestial Star Gate’s turf, and thus it wouldn’t be wise to get in conflict with them right now.

More importantly, he was still injured.

“The challenge must be premeditated, it’s a plot against the Southern Twelve Gates!” Simon said while holding his broken arm. “Why are they targeting no one but Southern Twelve Gates! The masters are either injured or passed out. There must be someone trying to overthrow us!”

The group quickly left the parking lot and moved away from the cars.

Tenstar Ni finally felt relieved as he stared at Garen’s back.

“Mastering a third-tier Mammoth Secret Technique to this level …” Remembering the scene on the platform, he murmured. “It must be… That’s definitely…”

Garen and the group were quickly leaving toward the exit.

“It’s not the time to discuss that right now. The Twelve Gates are busy with their own affairs. Collin said that every sect is having significant internal problems, is it true?” Garen asked as he led the way.

“It’s true!” Simon nodded, “It’s obviously a plot against us, and our enemies must have paid off Celestial Star Gate. They might have some secret agreements too! We must be careful!”

“No matter how careful you are, at times like this brute force is the only way out.”

Right as they left the parking lot, they saw on their left some other disciples from Southern Twelve Gates walk out of the exit from the other parking lot. A middle-aged couple led the way, and their disciples followed.

They slightly nodded as they saw Garen, and led the way to the left.

“They are heading toward the military camps. It looks like they have connections within the army! Should we follow them, Senior Brother?” Collin asked in a quiet voice.

Garen raised his head and looked up. On the floors above them, disciples from other sects were looking at them from the inside. Among them was Raydon couple who were close to him earlier. He was wondering where they were when he was competing in the tournament. It looked like they had received words in advance.

“If they had the capabilities to help us, they would have done so. Since they have left on their own, obviously they can’t help us. Let’s go back the way we came. I’m curious as to what kind of methods they have prepared for us!” Garen sneered and led the way to the right.

The white cement road was wide enough for four carriages to ride side by side. The group followed Garen outside the Celestial Star Gate’s front gate, where carriages were parked.

The white and black horses huffed and puffed, grubbing their hoofs. They were tied to a tree trunk on the side of the road.

Garen walked directly toward the biggest carriage, which was pulled by four horses and had two rows. He instantly pulled the rope that tied the carriage, tearing it easily.

“Get on!”

The group jumped in without hesitation.

Garen found another large carriage behind the first and organized everyone else to get on.

“Those are our carriages! What do you think you are doing!” A shouting came from behind.

Garen ignored the shouting and asked the driving disciple to lash on the horses with the whip. The two carriages quickly turned and sped onto the road. Garen sat next to the driver and squinted his eyes, immersed in his own mind to check his condition.

After his Mammoth Secret Technique evolved to Explosive level, he was not sure what his current strength was. He only knew he was stronger, a lot stronger!

A small blood sphere in his chest was spinning and rotating, radiating hot streams into his body. The streams spread out like small creeks and came back after running through his whole body. It was a continuous cycle.

His injuries were not completely healed but he still had to fight the green-haired man earlier. The strong trait of Mammoth Secret Technique is its explosiveness, but when the user fights someone with similar strength or someone with an even stronger body, this explosiveness would turn into a counterforce and injure the user as well.

Garen’s injury got worse after this fight.

“It shouldn’t matter too much.” Strangely, the blood sphere in his chest was repairing his body like the attribute points did. “At this rate. I’ll be fine and able to regain my full strength after half an hour.”

Garen estimated and thought to himself.