Mystical Journey

The second main peak of Planet Scarlet Snow.

The peak was an emerald-green empty field resembling an aircraft platform; amongst the green field were strips of white paths that seemed like white ribbons interlacing with each other. A few aircraft on the side were taking off and landing.

White clouds drifted gently in the blue sky, golden rays of light peeped out from the skyline time to time, brushing against the edge of the clouds and shining upon the peak.

A beige colored building stood quietly in the middle. The building was shaped as a white tree growing from the ground, the bottom part was full of metal 'branches' while the top part was as sharp as blades, piercing into the sky.

The building was at least a couple of meters high, with a light red halo circling it.

"That's the Energy Shield."

A disciple in front of Garen said respectfully.

"Energy Shield?" Garen walked out of the flying ship and looked up at the red halo circling above. There were fine markings that resembled rune symbols inside the halo.

"It's beautiful."

He was dressed in a Third Hearted Disciple's formal wear - a form-fitting white leather armor, a pointy Third Hearted shoulder pad on his left shoulder, and a long white cape swaying behind him. He looked powerful and mighty with his black messy hair, a majestic aura emitting from within him.

"This is the mighty halo handcrafted by the Great Elder. It not just has its own defense mechanism, but also the ability to monitor its surroundings." The disciple in white answered as he eyed Garen with high respect.

Garen nodded. If he had not met these incredible disciples from other sects in the Void Battlefields, especially those Non-falling Leveled powerhouses like Blue Pole Star, he might just have a heart of gratitude now. But even a disciple like Blue Pole Star could reach the non-falling level, whereas he almost got caught up by the enemy twice, thus he felt slightly comforted that he had yet achieved the Non-falling Level.

Most importantly, it was able to see everything in the Space-Time Print.

The world…is changing…the Energy Machinists catastrophe is coming soon, while all the Energy Machinists are still immersed in their own perfect, false reality.

Just a couple of decades more…

Garen refreshed his eyes as he made his way towards the pointy tower. His visit this time was a threshold to determine Second Great Elder's greatest attitude. Everything would be fine if he got through, but if he did not…then there was only…

After passing through numerous passageways, the main hall, he finally got on an elevator.

Within seconds, under the lead of another staff, Garen reached the highest floor of the building -- a wide-spaced circular hall.

The hall was empty. A skinny and boney old man sat in the middle of the hall, his eyes were closed as if he was resting.

Click…

The door closed as the staff who brought Garen up left.

Garen walked over and kneeled silently on the ground with one knee, his head bent low as he faced the old man.

"Disciple Garen presenting himself."

There was no response. The old man seemed to be sound asleep, no movement could be observed from his body.

Garen was in no rush, so he continued kneeling on his one knee as he waited patiently.

Time passed quickly. Ten minutes had passed, then half an hour, then an hour…

"Ga…Garen?" The old man finally opened his eyes slowly, asking with his dry cracked voice.

"Yes!"

"Since joining the sect, your movements weren't discreet at all…Ron Belle and Barlow disappeared after they left with you. You all went to the Void Battlefields, and even got into trouble with the Blue Frost Sect powerhouses…" The old man shook his head, his yellow, muddy eyes stared at Garen silently.

"I have always been passive, just that I have no other choices when..." Garen spoke softly but sincerely, "If they didn't…"

"How dare you!"

Second Great Elder yelled suddenly.

"Killing recklessly at the Scarlet Snow Planet, then stirring up trouble at the Void Battlefields, do you think the Blue Frost Sect people are those that you can easily mess with!"

"I admit my wrongdoing." Garen trembled as he felt a strong surge of impact charging into his body. The forceful impact continued to swerve within his body, all his Willpower and Scarlet Snow Techniques were smashed into pieces as it went along. Instantly, his body's power was locked down and he had lost his own defense mechanism.

Second Great Elder snorted and turned to look at the other side.

"Brother Blue Creek, tell me how should I take care of this rebellious disciple!?"

Hearing that, Garen's heart shuddered. He knew that things were going downhill but his powers were locked away. Even if he was able to revolt somehow, the chances of getting away were slim, so he just remained in the same posture with his head bowed down.

At the other side of the hall, a warm man's voice sounded.

"Second Great Elder is indeed conscious of the righteousness of a cause and fair against disciples like this from the sect. Since they went against my Blue Frost Sect's regulations, why don't I bring him back personally and give him the punishment he deserves? What do you think of my suggested way to handle this?"

Second Great Elder nodded in agreement but frowned.

"No, that won't do. That'll be treating this brat too lightly."

"Then what do you think, Great Elder?" The person responded softly.

Second Great Elder fondled his beard.

"He should receive a harsher punishment!"

He was glaring at Garen fiercely.

"Third Hearted Garen! As one of the fifteen core disciples, you dare to wantonly kill your fellow senior brothers, offend disciples of a big sect in the Void Battlefields, you deserve death for your crime! Slicing you up a thousand times would still not be enough for your crimes! Someone, come here!"

"Here!"

Two guards in black armor suddenly appeared out of nowhere beside the Second Great Elder, each of them held Garen by his side and dragged him up.

"Throw him out! A ban of three years! He shall not exit the perimeters these three years! If there's any form of violation, kill him!" Second Great Elder yelled, his loud voice rumbled against the walls of the hall.

"Huh…grounded? This is a punishment?"

Garen was stunned beyond words.

Not just him, the gentle and soft man was shocked as well. The two guards in black armor stunned for a bit before recovering and responded in acknowledgment before dragging Garen away.

Garen heaved a breath of relief and noticed that the strong force just now did no harm to his body, but just continuously damaging his remaining Divine Wind General Willpower.

Just a short amount of time and it was almost able to clear out all his remaining Seventh Divine Wind General Willpower!

"Andy Mullah, what is the meaning of this!!" The originally soft voice suddenly became relentless. With a swish, a middle-aged man dressed in a blue shirt appeared before the Second Great Elder in the hall.

The man had a cold expression and he was glaring at Second Great Elder.

"Are you sure you are not playing a joke on me?"

"Khoo Wang Ling, I've already given you face. Garen is our second top prodigy, are you not satisfied with a serious punishment like grounding him for three years?" Second Great Elder smiled lightly with both his eyes narrowed.

"You call this a punishment?!" Khoo Wang Ling grunted.

"Of course!"

"That's good!!! Scarlet Snow Sect! That's terrific! You wait and see!" The man in blue, Khoo Wang Ling, was getting more agitated as his voice became sharper.

"I'm just waiting over here, come on, stop boasting already. Since when have you ever beaten me in a fight?" Second Great Elder said without even looking at him. "Get lost, you don't even acknowledge my goodwill."

With a wave of his hand, the man in the blue shirt blurred slightly before vanishing from the spot. Turns out he was only just a holographic image.

"Andy Mullah! You wait and see!!"

The voice sounded far away.

Garen was dragged out, the powerhouse from the Blue Frost Sect was chased away as well.

The hall returned to its silence.

Second Great Elder, Andy Mullah, shook his head without saying a word.

"He really thinks too much of himself, coming all the way here to deal with my elite disciple, who does he think he is? So hilarious."

He touched his jaw once again as he fell into deep thoughts.

"Come to think of it, if Ron and Barlow were really killed by Garen, that means this guy is really as what Third Great Elder said and has potential. No wonder Third Great Elder requested for me to take care of him."

He pressed something in mid-air and a circular screen appeared before him. The screen displayed everything about Garen's performance at all times, the Void Battlefields, the ancestral hall, and even his various performances when he was at Planet Naga.

All sorts of images flashed out and Second Great Elder got more satisfied.

"He indeed has potential that is worth to be nurtured." He nodded in satisfaction as he made a keynote.

"Master, have you finished settling the issue regarding Garen?" A holographic image of a lady popped out in the air on his right. The beautiful slim lady dressed in red from top to bottom was Third Senior Sister, Eva Regar.

"Of course, you concentrate on your own matters. I'm here to look after things. Blue Frost Sect would be asking for their own deaths if they dared to come over to Scarlet Snow Planet. The defensive system set by the ancestors is not a joke, plus as long as we have the Guardian Lords around, they wouldn't dare to do anything." Second Great Elder smiled brightly.

"Then…what do you think of the prodigy I recommended?" Eva beamed straight away as she asked in a coquetry manner.

"Not bad." Second Great Elder nodded his head, "He's developing fast, just a tad lacking compared to Carthage. Just that after he enters Inherited Level, it's going to be a really long period of growth, so I'm not sure if he can actually catch up to Carthage…"

"He's strong enough already!" Eva was speechless. "I'm already this close from advancing to Inherited Level, and he's almost chased up to my speed already! And you're still not satisfied."

"Alright stop talking nonsense, when are you coming back?" Second Great Elder asked nonchalantly. "I still have a pile of stuff for you to settle when you're back."

"Uh… another ten days or so I believe. You understand too that the competitions are tough over here, I'm actually still waiting for my next round."

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

Garen was brought to the entrance of the white building before the guards in black armor let him go.

"Do excuse us." One of them apologized awkwardly. "We had to do it for show just now."

"It's alright." Garen wriggled his arm. The surge of Willpower Second Great Elder forced into him just now had already completely defeated the remaining Seventh Divine Wind General Willpower in his system. To this point, all the hidden injuries in his body had fully recovered and he felt a sense of relief washed over him while the Great Elder's Willpower vanished naturally.

"Who knew the Blue Frost Sect people would actually disobey the rules. Bringing the matters of the Void Battlefields to reality, that's just shameless." The other guard responded with disdain. "Seems like we have to be more careful if we ever meet Blue Frost Sect disciples in the future."

"It's alright, everything happened as I expected. I just didn't expect Master to be so generous, letting such a huge issue go this easily." Garen lamented. He did expect Second Great Elder to try to protect him, but he did not expect Second Great Elder to be this tough on it. Perhaps Third Senior Sister Eva was in the picture as well, after all, legend says that Second Great Elder was most fond of Third Senior Sister. This was also why Third Senior Sister was constantly opposing Carthage and he could not do anything about it. Maybe it was because Carthage had a crush on Third Senior Sister, or maybe he was just more scared of the kind of doting love Second Great Elder had towards her.