Mystical Journey

“You’re underestimating yourself. You’re the Two Hearted Peak Master who is ranked highly at number twelve within the Scarlet Snow Sect, one of the Big Three Sects in the Northern Yu Province. Compared to an Energy Machinist like you with a promising future, are my own lowly positions even worthy of praise?”

Both of them started to take turns rambling, secretly beginning to probe for the baseline of the other party’s price.

One thousand tons was not a measly amount. The Merci Kingdom’s total yearly production rate stood at around ten thousand tons. Hence, if he wished to obtain a thousand tons in one transaction, the slight difference between the prices would be multiplied to a terrifying scale.

Despite being an elite Energy Machinist who was not lacking in funds, Garen was still careful and prudent when spending such great expenses. His main source of income came from the sales of the Energy Machine Imprints he made and the fixed resources that was given to him by the sect. He received more than ten thousand Spar Stones each month, which were equivalent to a few billion Universal Units when converted. However, he needed more than a thousand Red Peacock Stones, and one ton was worth over ten thousand Universal Units. Therefore, he would need over ten billion Universal Units in one go, which made this huge expense appear extremely terrifying.

The two of them bargained for more than half an hour before reluctantly agreeing on a price. It was slightly higher than the market rate by 10%, but it needed to be fully paid in one transaction.

It was only after the two of them finalized the transaction did they feel relaxed.

The Royal Princess Aine neither had the Appraisal of an Energy Machinist nor was she a Mech Pilot. She merely possessed the Willpower that she had trained in order to improve her looks and to delay aging. Moreover, she did not have any combat abilities at all. She depended fully on the two maids-cum-bodyguards beside her for her safety.

The sun began to set now.

After obtaining the resources and materials to practice the Hellfrost Peacock Technique, Garen was in an extremely good mood. He saw that the Royal Princess’s gaze indicated she was feeling friendlier towards him as well. The trio decided to just stay back and have a meal with Garen in his villa.

This villa was unlike the other one within the residential area. Each of the Peak Masters here had built a residence on their own peaks independently. Meanwhile, the villa that was assigned to them by the sect was their own dwelling place inside the base. Garen would normally only return to live there for a period of time.

He called Bainster back to discuss the specific transportation method, location, process, and other details with one of the Royal Princess’s maid-cum-bodyguards.

After eating with Aine, Garen strolled through the sightseeing corridor on the side of the peak by himself.

There was a floor-length glass window that was completely transparent beside the corridor. Stretches of fluffy white clouds below could be seen through the window, appearing shockingly magnificent.

“It’s truly a spectacular design,” Aine praised sincerely.

Garen smiled.

“I designed this based on a winding corridor in my previous place of dwelling. Is it still acceptable?”

“It’s very beautiful,” Aine nodded. Her gaze lingered on the faraway sea of clouds for a long time as she revealed an expression of yearning.

“Compared to you, the inferior mortals like us cannot see a chance to grasp our own destinies in the future. Moreover, we don’t even have the strength to resist great momentum or oppression. When I think about it now, I feel truly pitiful…”

“Being extremely powerful isn’t necessarily a good thing…” Garen whispered. “Those with great powers attract attention. Furthermore, stronger powers create greater effects. The effects that are caused by your every action will be amplified when your powers are greater. Various dangers and risks will also follow. Since everyone gravitates towards becoming stronger, the source of their desires and goals are merely strengthening themselves. How would you be able to find tranquility in a life like that?”

“You’re right,” Aine nodded. She reached her hand out and tidied the strands of hair on her temples gently. “No matter which stage of life you are in, you will have your own troubles and predicaments. Everyone wants to get to better places, but in order to truly get there, you will still need to face the very troubles and predicaments that exist, except for the fact that they will change based on the new circumstances.”

“Looks like you’re very aware of things,” Garen smiled.

“Aren’t you the same?” Aine smiled gently and spread out her hand. Shrouds of cold air formed in the middle of her palm slowly before condensing into an ice crystal.

The ice crystal turned into a sculpture automatically. Within a few seconds, it turned into a palm-sized ice sculpture.

The sculpture depicted a sharp snowy peak within the sea of clouds.

“This is…?”

“This is Black Wolf Peak,” replied Aine certainly. “Other than delaying aging, the youth-preserving Willpower that I practice can also do little things like these.”

“That’s an amazing craftsmanship for a sculpture,” Garen praised sincerely. It was remarkably lifelike, and its degree of fineness was extremely frightening. He could even see a man and a woman strolling on the slim walkway on the hanging cliff at the side of the peak. Those two people were actually himself and Aine.

The ability to carve such an intricate sculpture on a palm-sized object within a few short seconds was truly amazing.

“I heard that Peak Master Garen and Werder are about to fight on the Decisive Battle Platform?” Aine lifted the ice sculpture gently and dispersed it into snowflakes that scattered themselves in mid-air.

“The news traveled so quickly?” Garen was somewhat surprised that even the Merci Kingdom had heard of this. Was he truly this famous now?

“You’re too humble. You need to know that we keep track of the first twenty ranked powerhouses within the Big Three Sects. Peak Masters like yourselves cannot merely be compared to the legendary Three Hearted Disciples. They are not stationed locally within the Northern Yu Province, unlike the Two Hearted Disciples that are most likely to stay back and act as the endorsers to be in charge of the outgoing posts and take care of the matters regarding various countries. Therefore, the ones that we should actually be contacting are the Two Hearted elites like yourself,” explained Aine.

“So the incident with Werder was spread this way as well?” Garen asked again.

“Yes,” nodded Aine. “He’s the Prince Regent of the Reydan Kingdom under the Scarlet Snow Sect. He initially had a royal status, but the national power of the Reydan Kingdom is weak. Of course, this status is insignificant to both of you.”

“You shouldn’t say that. No matter how weak a kingdom may be, they will definitely still have Inherited Level powerhouses,” Garen shook his head.

“The entire Reydan Kingdom only has a few Inherited Level Elders as their backup forces. If you needed it, you just need to say so, and my entire Merci Kingdom will come around supporting you fully,” said Aine, revealing a charming smile.

The Scarlet Snow Sect had many kingdoms as their subordinates. One of them was the Merci Kingdom that was ranked at a position that was above average. This kingdom possessed a somewhat impressive national power and had a lot of inside information. If he were to use them as support or backing, it would definitely be beneficial to him.

“Then what will I have to give in return?” asked Garen while smiling.

“The King’s youngest daughter, Her Highness Princess Simone, has admired you for a long time. Perhaps we could take it one step further by strengthening and tightening our relations…” Aine smiled faintly and whispered.

Another marriage alliance.

Garen was helpless. The princesses in the royal families were merely tools for marriage alliances. Moreover, he did not know the total number of princesses within the royal families. However, he knew that actions like these to issue marriage alliances everywhere and entice powerful elites to strengthen the bloodline and genetics were not something uncommon.

When she saw that Garen was speechless, a strange luster flashed in Aine’s eyes.

“I heard that Werder had recently broken through Grade Ten of the Scarlet Snow Technique and had undergone a significant increase in power. Of course, I’m sure that Peak Master Garen has already received word about this. However, I have a piece of information here that may interest you. Take it as an additional gift for our collaboration this time.”

Aine raised her hand and turned the white jade bracelet on her wrist briefly.

Suddenly, an invisible electric wave was transmitted into Garen’s Energy Machine Imprint.

Garen used his Energy Machine Imprint to decipher it quickly. The Energy Machine Imprints of every Energy Machinist were equivalent to a portable high-performance computer. Hence, he was naturally unfazed by something like this.

After deciphering it quickly following the decoding method that was provided by Aine, he received a series of information and messages regarding Werder.

‘Prince Regent Werder: His real name is Cheswerder and he is one hundred and twenty-eight years old. Currently possesses Grade Ten of the Scarlet Snow Technique. The remaining information will be discussed briefly. Latest information: Other than practicing the Scarlet Snow Technique on his own, Werder has additionally practiced a mysterious technique known as the Ice Cicada. This technique can temporarily increase the abilities of the Scarlet Snow Technique. Its explosive powers are not known in detail.’

The remaining information below includes a video of the combat between Werder and other individuals previously.

Garen furrowed his eyebrows and scanned it quickly.

Needless to say, he had merely regarded this fellow as one of the assistants or attendants at the March’s side. He had never expected to see that this person had concealed something so deeply. The frequency of his attacks during hand-to-hand combat was extremely high and he seemed to be victorious every time. Moreover, it always seemed as though he was only fighting in the beginning because the fight would be suddenly finished later in the blink of an eye.

“According to our investigations, we’ve discovered that Werder is definitely hiding an extremely powerful and explosive ability. Of course, everyone has their own hidden abilities, depending on whether they’re strong or weak. However, we were lucky enough to find some information regarding the Ice Cicada technique that Werder is practicing.” Aine continued, “The Ice Cicada Technique is modeled after a fatal move by Mech Pilot powerhouses. He can release an icy sharp flying insect-like Ice Cicada instantly. This Ice Cicada has a body that is completely solid and moves at a rapid speed. Moreover, it’s extremely sharp and can even pierce through first-rate armor instantly. The specific details depend on the degree of the Ice Cicada’s nurturing.”

“The Ice Cicada is something that is nurtured within his body?” asked Garen.

“Yes, so you need to be careful not to approach him during battle,” nodded Aine.

Garen was speechless. He had just broken through the Blood Eagle state, but whether the Blood Eagle state or the Ice Cicada technique will prevail… It would be revealed when the right time came.

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

A month’s time had passed fleetingly.

The date of the decisive battle between Garen and Werder finally arrived.

The decisive battles of those in the Two Hearted grade were unlike those of the One Hearted grade. It was usually the One Hearted grades who would get on the platform and solve their disputes; it was extremely rare for Two Hearted members to be truly willing to go up and fight.

After all, most Two Hearted Energy Machinists were either Level Three or Level Four and were considered somewhat impressive elites within the entire Energy Machinist world. Coupled with their origins from a major sect, these individuals would be treated more highly than the average Energy Machinist when they went out. Moreover, they would be able to blend in well no matter where they went. It would be enough for them to rest well in their old age for the rest of their lives after they reached a standstill. Therefore, no one was willing to go up on the platform and fight a decisive battle with others.

On the gigantic Decisive Battle Platform here, a white, cylindrical light screen was projected downward in the center of the snow-white battle platform, forming an independent area in the center of the platform.

At noon, many people had arrived at the previously empty audience seats in advance. There were numerous people who had come out to watch the battle at the base that had been always deserted as well.

Throughout the years, there had only been one or two Two Hearted decisive battles, making this a rare opportunity. A good deal of One Hearted Energy Machinists arrived at the scene continuously and occupied the good places to spectate the fight.

The seats for the audience were unusually packed. The places that could seat more than a thousand people were fully packed with Energy Machinists and their friends and relatives.

Fortunately, the Energy Machinists, who had always preferred quietness, were not overly rowdy. Most of them were merely discussing the entire process of the decisive battle in hushed voices.

March and his group of people walked up slowly to the seats that were exclusively reserved for them. They sat down on the seats indifferently and closed their eyes to rest.

The Decisive Battle Platform permitted wounds, disabilities, and even fatalities. It was a good place within the sect to resolve issues.

Werder and Yiling sat beside March respectively and scanned the entire area now. A hint of a smile appeared on Werder’s face.

“What a coincidence that I was able to borrow this opportunity to display Moonshine’s powers and to propagate it for once. It’s unfortunate that the few Two Hearted people decided not to come.”

March shook his head.

“It’s just a decisive battle between a few junior members… of course, they would never come. Once you’ve finished fighting in a little while, challenge Beehive directly and test his basic skills.”