Mystical Journey

Both of them arranged to meet at the arena. With each of them concealing their identities and not revealing their true self, Liz was unable to contact them both. This place isolated lower wavelength of voice transmission communication.

"Where's Garen and Accord? Are they not coming to such a grand event?" Liz leaned her arm on Dios' and entered into the arena with team Black Blade.

Her gaze secretly screened through the seats of participants in the arena, in hope to find her two best friends.

"This is the winners' grouping. If you want to find your two friends, you should go to the competing section. This is the place for experts that are due to enter the final arena," Dios burst into laughter as he shook his head as a reminder to Liz.

"This is the winners' grouping? I didn't know..." Liz stuck her tongue out in a sort of naughty yet cute way. Dios was fond of this characteristic of hers. Ditzy, beautiful, dolled up, pouty and cute. Don't all men like their women to be pouty and act all cute?

"You are not at the same level as them. They would probably have a hard time entering here. Only the winning representatives and elders can enter," Dios smiled. "I can only enter in light of my grandfather."

"I see..." Liz nodded with comprehension.

"Watch the competition. It is a not-to-be-missed real battle experience that will be an eye-opener to actual combats."

"Alright," Liz nodded in obedience. She scanned the people around her and all of them were experts with obscure aura. Apparently she herself has unconsciously entered a new height.

"I gave them a chance but they did not value it." She still felt down in the dumps. They were friends that originally came together. Wasn't it normal to depend on the strong when one did not have the capabilities? It can be tiring to fight alone, and with an outcome that may not be successful, was it worth it? Couldn't they be like her, find someone great to rely on and live a blissful life without a worry? She had intended to introduce two female Energy Machinists from a strong family background to Dark Light and Garen… but it's a shame that they did not strive for it.

"Quick, look! The three representatives with the most consecutive wins are coming out!" Dios' voice trembled with excitement, "Senior Brother Hell King Blade from my team Black Blade is there!"

Liz was instantly pulled back from her thoughts and looked towards the direction he was pointing at.

"The final winners' grouping of the competing arena: Red Skeleton, Dark Light, Hell King Blade and Crimson Ice."

The final verdict from the referee was out and based on the number of wins, the four strongest was tallied. These were the four strongest of the third competing arena.

Four people with different temperament stood up and were prepared to accept challenges thrown by others in the winners' grouping.

Anyone who was with confidence could get up on stage to challenge them.

This was also providing the losers one last chance. Thereafter there would a battle between them.

At present time, there were still competitions that hadn't ended in some competing arenas for winners to come out, so the four were also waiting for the rest of the winners to challenge them.

Liz's eyes swept past Dark Light but she did not recognize him. That dark aura covered up many of his characteristics.

"We will begin the second event of our competition. The Challenge. All challengers please head up to the stage base on nickname," the referee announced.

"It's going to start...my senior brother Hell King Blade will surely win!" A senior sister by Dios spoke with confidence.

"That's right. If Senior Brother were to use his full potential, then no one can stop him!" One of the Black Blade juniors exclaimed.

"The final champion belongs to senior!" Dios nodded in agreement. No one was clearer than them on how terrifying Senior Brother Hell King Blade could be.

The four stood on an independently stretched platform, waiting for challengers to come up.

It wasn't long when one leaped up.

The moment he stepped up, this person was immediately lashed with Red Skeleton's whip. His clothes were stripped to rags from top to bottom. Through the sounds of teasing and laughter, this Energy Machinist was dragged down by his sect elder in embarrassment.

"How embarrassing! Really," Liz couldn't help but laugh. "Sister Red Skeleton is really good! She was top three in our year of assessment and she's still that powerful now."

"Of course. Red Skeleton is a genius that with the right nurture, how can she not end up to be one of the top experts," Dios nodded. "With the condition that she doesn't die."

Another one went up to challenge Hell King Blade.

Almost sliced into half at the waist by one strike of his blade, the challenger held his wound as he was rescued down the stage in helter-skelter.

"Gotta give it to Senior Brother! One strike and done," Dios laughed saying.

"Who is more skilled between Sister Red Skeleton and Senior Brother Hell King Blade?" Liz asked in a seductive tone.

"Senior Brother, of course. Red Skeleton just entered Inherited Level while Senior Brother is already at the Non-Failing Level and is the strongest in our Black Blade's youngest generation. But I heard that there's something uniquely dangerous on Red Skeleton's that needs to be handled with care. I don't know if it's just a rumor."

******

One by one, challengers went up on stage. Hell King Blade, Red Skeleton, Crimson Ice and Dark Light knocked them all down the stage.

As the challenge continued non-stop, Red Skeleton began to show signs of exhaustion. Beating the expert with the sand earlier had consumed a large amount of her willpower and skill. Now with this back-to-back challenge and being the weakest of the four, her face started to pale.

Dark Light remained at ease without feeling strenuous. He whacked each of his opponents with his dark gas scorpion tail. Any resistance proved futile. The difference between him and his opponents was far too wide. If they were of the same level, the opponent could put up a struggle, but his willpower was now hidden within the dark gas and could have possibly reached a higher stage. As challengers were defeated at first blow, gradually there wasn't anyone who was willing to get up on stage as they saw no hope.

As for Crimson Ice, it was an alias. Crimson Ice was actually Hong Guo of Scarlet Snow Sect. White Night and Prism Light did not enter the final battle of the strongest as they lost one round. Hence, only Hong Guo who went all out was still standing on the battlegrounds.

It was as how Garen had predicted. Although Hong Guo nonchalantly responded but when it came to it, he was the one who put in the most effort.

White Night was the type that would analyze the strength and weakness of his opponent and if he felt he could not defeat them, he would throw in the towel immediately, whilst Prism Light responded the same as completing a task. Except for Hong Guo.

This fella was the one who would go all out!

Garen was sitting below and upon seeing this, he was satisfied. This sort of talent was the real backbone that Scarlet Snow Sect needed! White Night was overly selfish and carried the burden of his family's vengeance. Prism Light was overly mysterious and his real intention remained unknown. Only Hong Guo grew up proper. He was the grandson of Senior Sister Rainy and inherited Frost Hell's soul seed secret technique. He felt indebted to the secret technique teacher ancestor and developed a sense of protectiveness to the Scarlet Snow Sect.

With the Inherited Levels heading up one by one, Hong Guo was starting to struggle.

Garen looked at the statistical data and the accumulation wins on the Scarlet Snow Sect was enough to enter the final competing grounds. It was only that he couldn't be the strongest representative but that didn't matter as it was good that they were not attracting too much attention.

Seeing Hong Guo struggling on stage with no intentions to back down and intertwining with an Inherited Level Energy Machinist of a large bird, Garen decisively transmitted his voice over.

"Enough, Hong Guo. You have done enough."

Hong Guo who was on stage was flabbergasted. He looked beneath at Garen from the platform.

"No, I can continue!" He saw the proud smiling faces of the sisters Little One and Little Two in the audience, Uncle Ice Fox shouting at everyone around while thumping his chest, a few companions as well as Conan, this young lady who has been supporting him was looking at him.

"There's so many that's supporting me. To leave that early while I have not given my all, I am not fulfilled!!"

Hong Guo casted Garen's voice transmission aside and continued to battle his opponent.

Garen who was below wanted to transmit his voice further but found that this little fella was ignoring him. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. Would a boss of a company complain about a diligent staff? Of course not.

So he let him be.

Alice and Osho Ice-Ocean that followed behind had a funny look on their faces. They had never met such a peculiar little fella. The remaining experts have moved on to another arena to prepare their duties. Only two of them were left here to compete.

"See that?" Garen's deep voice transmitted to the ears of them both, "This is the elite of our Scarlet Snow. The hope of our sect. Although Senior Sister Rainy has left, she did not leave behind merely memories."

Alice silently nodded.

"If all of our Scarlet Snow were as such, then we need not worry of the decline of our sect," Osho Ice-Ocean sighed.

"Emphasize on protecting and nurturing him," Garen dully gave the lowdown. Once the Energy Machinist's crisis was over, Hong Guo receiving focus in nurturing was evident.

"Understood."

Osho Ice-Ocean nodded.

Witnessing everything on the side, Alice suddenly wasn't all that resistance towards Garen's power usurp. No matter what, they were still part of Scarlet Snow and they were all fighting for the rise of it.

She still remembered the words said by Garen when he took office.

"When the sect is in dire peril, I, Garen, will strive for prosperity and usher in thousands of years of outstanding hegemony!"

******

Bang!

Hong Guo took down another opponent on stage.

All of them could tell that Hong Guo and Red Skeleton was at the end of the rope and focused on attacking them both.

Another opponent went up on stage.

Hong Guo's line of vision was already starting to blur and his sweat drenched all over yet the coldness emitted from his body condensed it to ice.

"You're losing it. Isn't it better that I take your place on this stage?" His opponent was a treacherous looking woman with a hook nose. Holding double blades, she teased Hong Guo.

Hong Guo noticed the sect emblem of his opponent. It was the Melting Tool Sect, one of the fifteen major sects with a solid background. It was going to be another tough battle.

"You can try it out yourself to see if I'm losing it or not." Hong Guo has always been intractable who responded only to reason and not force. He arched his back and gave a nonchalant attitude.

Swoosh...Clang!

Their two figures clashed into each other with sparks of snowflakes and flames counteracting and melting, sprinkling all over the platform.