Mystical Journey

"I've caused danger to my master and the other disciples by letting them stay at the secret villa that Grace prepared . Someone needs to take responsibility for everything . "

For a while, Garen still had slightly complicated feelings . After all, Grace was someone who had followed him for so long . The feeling of killing someone he was familiar with was different from killing a complete stranger .

Using his empty hand to search Grace's body for a while, he found a set of keys, a black leather wallet, a silver handgun and some documents .

Grace's figure was so curvaceous that even Garen could not help but grope her large breasts a few times, just to feel even more disappointed . He thought it was a waste that he had to kill such a capable and beautiful woman .

Fortunately, he was not some sort of perverted noble . Otherwise, he might first rape Grace before killing her, or even keep and train Grace as a sex slave after capturing her .

He carried her corpse to the dumpster on the opposite side and stuffed it inside . Taking out a lighter from his pants, he lit it up and threw it into a huge bag of shredded paper that was inside the dumpster .

The dumpster quickly caught on fire that slowly grew larger as white smoke gradually drifted into the air . Then the red flames lit up Grace's clothes and completely enveloped her corpse within the fire . The fair and delicate skin of her corpse started to turn yellow as oil seeped out from her skin, then her corpse turned black and completely turned into coke .

The air was filled with a strong smell of burnt meat .

Garen silently watched as Grace's beautiful face was completely burned beyond recognition before he slowly walked out of the alleyway .

There were several vagrants lying in the alleyway and were all knocked out using small stones . With the current strength of Garen's Vibration that came along with the Mammoth Secret Technique, it was an easy matter to completely knock all of them unconscious .

The smoke in the alleyway was getting bigger as Garen left . He quickly returned to Circling Dance Gate using the same route he came from .

He only spent half an hour to go there and back .

A young girl was holding a broom and cleaning the yard when Garen returned . After politely greeting her, he went back to the room that was arranged for him and sat down at the table with the precious Secret Martial Arts manuals .

For now, he had to put aside the situation in Huaishan City . Since Grace was a traitor, Celestial Circle Gate definitely knew where he was . He had no intentions of fleeing either . With so many people from the Southern Twelve Gates gathered here, it might be the best location to confront the Celestial Circle Gate and that mysterious organization . If he were to flee to another location, he might jeopardize his master and fellow disciples in Huaishan City . This upcoming war was inevitable .

The current situation was very simple . As long as he could block Andrela and protect White Cloud Gate, everything would be fine . The other factions would not behave like rats leaving a sinking ship . However, once he—the final hope of White Cloud Gate—was defeated, then they would be a sitting duck for other factions .

Putting aside Grace's matter, he moved the cooled coffee to one side and started to carefully open the secret manual of the Boulder Martial Art .

At the same, the Boulder Martial Art selection gradually appeared within the Skill Pane in his field of vision .

"Boulder Martial Art: Uninitiated (Three levels in total), Learning Requirement: At least 1 . 00 in Vitality, Strength, and Agility . "

This particular Secret Martial needed at least fifteen years to complete each level . It took a lot of time and the initial learning requirement was high . It was also the main reason why low grade Secret Martial Arts were disfavored .

On the other hand, the main problem for Boulder Martial Art was that the learning requirement needed Vitality, Strength, and Agility to be at least 1 . 00, and that was the average for an adult male .

This meant that only the body of an adult could satisfy the basic requirement for learning this Secret Martial Art .

The fact that every level needed fifteen years to complete was another important reason . If a Secret Martial Art needed fifteen years to get to the initiated stage and was only an inferior martial art, nobody would be stupid enough to practice it .

Garen took another look at the description of the result after mastering the Boulder Martial Art .

"When the Boulder Martial Art has been mastered, the body of the practitioner will be as hard as a boulder . Qi and blood will continuously circulate throughout the body, putting the body in the strongest defensive state all the time . Body speed will uniformly experience a significant growth . This Secret Martial Art was derived from the indestructibility of boulders in mountain ranges . After mastering the Boulder Martial Art, Qi and blood will blend together and become abnormally hard, while tranquilizing the mind . It will have a positive effect on irritable practitioners as well . "

Garen suddenly remembered Jaimea Lilliette . Her cold appearance might have been caused by practicing this Secret Martial Art . He guessed that it might not be entirely from it but could have learned from it .

"Could this really aid growth in body speed?" Garen was feeling slightly expectant .

Garen immediately stood up and took a pose according to the first diagram . At the same time, he followed the breathing instructions and the method to adjust his Qi and blood . His mind gradually entered the calm state mentioned by the secret manual .

However, ten minutes later, Garen suddenly felt a slight itchiness in his chest and abdomen, as if his organs were itching . Soon after more than ten seconds later, his skin and muscles were starting to slightly itch as well .

It was not really itchy, but was just a slight feeling .

The situation was similar to what was described in the secret manual . The Secret Martial Art would only consider to be initiated when the itchiness appeared, grew stronger, and finally subsided .

However, the current itchiness was very weak . Garen came to conclusion that he was practicing at the wrong time . There must be a reason that the secret manual stated that the Boulder Martial Art must be practiced in the middle of the night .

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Dinah City railway station

In the dead of the night, a white, luxurious train gradually stopped at the empty railway station .

The middle door of the carriage opened and a series of passengers wearing various kinds of casual clothes got off the train . Some of them looked like students, while others looked like tourists and there were even workers and intellectuals among them . There were all kinds of attires, but all of them had one thing in common, and that was they were all wearing a silver cross star symbol on their chest .

After most of the passengers got off, but three men and two women slowly alighted .

Among the five of them, only one man was an elderly in his sixties, while the other four were young .

A long-haired young man was leading the other three as they quietly and slowly got off the train .

"We've finally reached Dinah City . If we didn't receive the news that Garen came over here, we wouldn't have to switch to another train halfway through . " The long-haired man was slightly shaking his head in frustration . His left eye was covered by a black eyepatch while his right pupil was a rare dark golden . He had waist length hair, wore a black coat and had a mysterious aura .

"How is it? Andrela, Dinah City is the territory of Seven Moon Gate . Are you confident?" The old man raised his head and looked at the sign—that displayed the station name—hanging above them within the train station .

"I’m fine . " Andrela smiled and lightly touched the slender sword hanging at his waist that was hidden by his coat .

"Speaking of which, you've been at the Grandmaster of Combat level for quite a while . This time, you might be able to find an opportunity to advance . " The old man was feeling slightly emotional and expectant .

Andrela only smiled . "Grandmasters of Combat are far more superior than normal people and are no longer afraid of guns and bullets . It's even classified as a non-human realm . There are even some Grandmasters of Combat that believe that they're no longer mortal and view normal people as ants . Even though that kind of path was powerful, it is not the path I want to walk . That's why I've stopped progressing for so long . "

The old man was slightly surprised . This was his first time hearing this head disciple of Celestial Circle Gate voice out his opinion . "Then what kind of a path are you trying to walk?"

"Grandmasters of Combat are classified into Righteous and Immoral, and the difference lies in the fighting styles . A Righteous style doesn't hide its moves and uses momentum to pressure opponents . An Immoral style uses endless amounts of secret techniques . They each have their own merits . I have not figured out my third path . However, I feel that it's close… Grade D… is not the end . . . " Andrela's eyes were flashing with an indescribable gaze . "Martial arts should be endless . "

"That's our hope as well . " The old man patted Andrela's shoulder with a hint of gratification in his eyes . "To be unburdened by unnecessary emotions, as expected of my disciple!"

Andrela slowly shook his head . "Master, there are some people and things that were only buried in history . I am not the first Grandmaster of Combat that has walked on this path . "

"I know . " The old man nodded . "Let's go, bring along the glory of Celestial Circle Gate . Nobody will be able to stop you in this war of unification!"

"That's what I thought as well . " Andrela smiled as he strode out . The other three followed after him, as if they were bodyguards protecting him .

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Late at night

Circling Dance Gate

Garen was sitting cross-legged in the center of the cold dojo .

The muscles in his entire body were slowly wriggling around, as if there were countless earthworms crawling all over his body .

"Even though I've become a Grandmaster of Combat, I still don't understand true meaning of it . " He was constantly adjusting the Qi and blood within his body and also his condition by following the method provided by the Boulder Martial Art .

"Su Lin once said that a Grandmaster of Combat is a Martial Adept that has reached the limits of the human body in a certain aspect . Their skills have been thoroughly tempered and they no longer have any fatal flaws .

"However, is it really true that the limits of the human body were just this low? Even though I can withstand a bullet, I am helpless against bombs and artillery shells . " Both of Garen's hands were slowly raised above his head .

Hah!

With a low roar, all of the muscles in his body suddenly expanded . It was not the expansion of the Mammoth Secret Technique, but a very little amount of muscle expansion instead .

"A Martial Adept that has reached the limits of the human body and is also the number one expert of the younger generation, Andrela . " Garen's eyes were faintly filled with a trace of expectation . It was a kind of a true expectation toward an opponent of the same level .

Suddenly, within the Skill Pane in his field of vision, the Boulder Martial Art selection slowly changed .

"Boulder Martial Art: Rudimentary Level (Three levels in total)"

Suddenly, he thought of something .

Garen slowly stood and slowly performed the Four Major Forms of White Cloud Combat Arts . He was entirely immersed within the limit state of the Mammoth Secret Technique . However, he was not using the special breathing technique of Mammoth Secret Technique, but the breathing technique of Boulder Martial Art .

It was as if the Boulder Martial Art and Mammoth Secret Technique were reacting to each other . Garen was entirely immersed within the casual execution of the chain combination of the Four Major Forms .

The Boulder Martial Art selection, that was just displaying Rudimentary Level, immediately started to slowly disappear .

The strange part was that the Mammoth Secret Technique was slowly disappearing as well . They were replaced by an entirely new Secret Martial Art and a symbol slowly appeared behind it .

"Mammoth Variant Secret Technique: Explosive Level . "

Garen looked toward the symbol behind it .

"First level of stabilization of Qi and blood: The integration of Qi and blood within the body can reflect damage back to the opponents . Originated from Boulder Martial Art . Can advance to higher levels through training Boulder Martial Art . "

Reading the meaning of the symbol, he was slightly surprised . "The main effect of Boulder Martial Art is the powerful defense . I didn't think that its effects could actually stack with the Mammoth Secret Technique . However, the text behind states that it can advance to a higher level through training Boulder Martial Art . However, why isn't there any reaction from Iron Body? It should be combinable as well!"

He slowly recovered his posture and focused his attention on the Iron Body selection .

He suddenly thought of something and slowly performed the Iron Body as he executed the Four Major Forms .

After a few minutes, Iron Body slowly disappeared as well .

Then, the symbol behind Mammoth Variation Secret Technique slightly changed . It changed into two: one of them was stabilization of Qi and blood, the other was hardening of the epidermis .

"First level of stabilization of Qi and blood: The integration of Qi and blood within the body can reflect damage to opponents . Originated from Boulder Martial Art . Can advance to higher levels through training Boulder Martial Art . "

"First level of hardening of the epidermis: Hardness of the skin rises and is capable of resisting injuries from highly sharp weapons . Originated from Iron Body . Can advance to higher levels through training Iron Body . "

All of his Secret Martial Arts that were Body Hardening Techniques were fused together and he was only left with a variant Secret Martial Art .