Mystical Journey

"Of course it's all for benefits," Kong Xinxue nodded. "Let me tell you this, many people may know about this secret, but they just choose not to expose it."

"What secret?" Garen was getting curious as well. "To be able to attract so many transmigrators' and even the Nine-Tailed Fox's attention, that shouldn't be just some ordinary thing."

Kong Xinxue was not ashamed at all as she sat in the tub, her back facing Garen.

"Four Great Cornerstones are known as they are all due to one main thing which is the Sacred Sigil."

"Sacred Sigil?"

"That's right." Kong Xinxue nodded. "The reason the Four Great Cornerstones can outstand other people plainly is because the four of them possess extraordinary powers and this is where the Sacred Sigil works its magic."

"So you guys want to obtain the Sacred Sigil?" Garen asked out of curiosity, "If it's that easy to claim it, can you guys can get it?"

"Obviously it's not easy to get it," Kong Xinxue rolled her eyes at him, "but there are many parallel worlds out there and some of the older generations of some worlds have been researching for a long period of time and they've concluded that a certain amount of energy can be drawn out from the Sacred Sigil by undergoing some special transplant, not seizing, but just absorbing a little. This is actually pretty impressive already. Once one gets a hold of this and leaves this world, they are free to use the powers of the Sacred Sigil. Although it won't be as phenomenal as it originally was, it won't be subjected to the world's regulations and restrictions. This is the advantage of receiving powers of a low martial arts world. It's the same as how you get powers from the Mother Stream System which is applicable for most worlds' regulations."

Garen nodded as a sign of understanding.

"Then what's the main purpose of the Sacred Sigil's powers?"

"There are four kinds corresponding to the Four Great Cornerstones." Kong Xinxue simply broke everything into detail. "First on the list would be Slayer's Sacred Sigil, then Mind Reader's Sacred Sigil, Illusionist's Sacred Sigil, and last of all, Savior's Sacred Sigil. A Sacred Sigil would allow us to possess a portion of the Four Great Cornerstones' powers, but just a weaker version of it. The good thing is that it's usable in any world out there, the bad thing is that it's not much of a use in an upper martial arts world."

"That's why some people want it, some people are not bothered by it. Just like those of Sea God Grades, why would they care?" Garen seemed to understand.

"That's right."

"I guess I understand the basics of it." Garen touched his chin. "For us transmigrators, the Slayer's and Mind Reader's Sacred Sigil would be our top picks, followed by the Illusionist's and Savior's. The Savior's Sacred Sigil has very rigid restrictions, that's why it is not as popular as the others."

"Yeah." Kong Xinxue returned a smile. "It's great that you understand. I want the Mind Reader's Sacred Sigil, Nine-Tailed Fox wants the Slayer's, I guess everyone wants different things. Due to the fact that this is a weakened version, there's plenty of copies out there. One Sacred Sigil is sufficient to be given to ten or more people, but the conditions to acquire those are extremely tough, which is why everyone is working so hard."

"Yeah, everyone's putting in a lot of effort." Garen nodded in agreement. "If that's the case, that thing won't be much big of a use for me then…What time am I able to go to the Lighthouse Headquarter? Compared to this, I'm more interested in going there."

"They're still under lockdown, you will have to wait for this plot to end and for the powers of the Sacred Sigils to slowly die down in order to prevent the activation transmission of rules in the world. I'd say you won't be able to go over any time soon," Kong Xinxue explained. "You'd have to at least wait for the first generation to end."

"How long would that be?"

"Probably a few years time."

"That's long…"

Garen was speechless Ever since he found out the existence of the Lighthouse, he had always been eager to check it out. He would not have to just walk his own wild path or swim in Mother Stream anymore, a more convenient way was always better.

"Alright then… I'll just wait for a couple more years."

After Kong Xinxue left, Garen started to think about the possible situations that might occur. A few years time was not exactly a long period of time in his opinion, it would pass like a breeze as it was back in the Mech World. There were plenty of ways to pass time too, but it was what Kong Xinxue revealed about the powers of the Sacred Sigils that caught his attention.

If he guessed it right, the Sacred Sigil's powers could be a variant of Soul Energy. Since the Four Great Cornerstones were able to use such a vast amount of Soul Energy, why was he not allowed to do so?

With that thought, inspiration started seeping into his head. He started researching everything that was related to the usage of Soul Energy.

After staying at a high-class hotel in Slann for a long period of time, the occasional trip back home to see Kong Yuan was something arranged by the government, even reporting to the university in advance. Sometimes, the security department would contact him and assign him to difficult tasks. Though they were not much, Garen would always complete the tasks successfully.

Unconsciously, a year had passed.

Garen had also gained a certain reputation in the international market, living up to a success rate of 80%, which was an impressive score in a high martial powered country like Slann. As for the in-between tasks that were unsuccessful, they were basically troublesome things like searching for wanted people, which Garen simply gave up on.

In the National Security department, the nickname given to him was Sword Master.

While he was enjoying his leisure life, Yuria was already holding meetings with Vulture's high graded powerhouses. The forth powerhouse had been defeated by Yuria, the third one resigned voluntarily, while the second one tied with Yuria. The situation only subsided one night after a year's time when the first ranked powerhouse trashed him completely.

Within the year's time, Yuria traveled around in hopes of finding his mother, Light Path. He brought his sister along as they wandered around the world. Naturally, the experiences he gained had surpassed many adults that were older than him. In the beginning, he would occasionally return to the hotel and ask for Garen's help regarding problems with his Saber Art. However, later on, he only dropped by for the occasional visits, a form of etiquette as a disciple toward his master. As for Saber Art pointers, there was not much that Garen could teach anymore due to the rules of this world. Techniques of higher levels were not usable and all the techniques available were already taught.

Easier said, Yuria had already finished his apprenticeship.

Yuria was now just slightly weaker than Garen. Other than Garen's power card of raising his realm grades, if they were to fight against each other, the ratio would be a four to six.

Due to problems with expenses, Yuria would accept some of Garen's government missions. In fact, those tasks were assigned to Garen but he outsourced them to his disciple and the reward money would be split into half.

If not for Yuria's unwillingness to join the government, he would not have to make this choice in the first place.

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

Thud.

The teacup was placed gently on the glass table.

Yuria slowly exhaled a breath of hot air, the scent of tea calming his nerves. Raising his head, he looked at Garen sitting in front of him.

"Minister, how many unrestricted combat people did you recruit? Why are the people contacted this time around all our old friends?" He frowned and asked.

"There's no other way, welfare is pretty good," Garen answered lazily. "Unrestricted combat has now basically separated from school and has set up its own organization. The small fraction of people who stayed voluntarily will occasionally pick up the subcontracting tasks that I have outsourced. The pay is good, the risk is low, so naturally, everyone is willing to do. What's not good about it?"

"Although you'd take care of problems personally, that isn't a big problem. However, do you really not care about these things?" Yuria rolled his eyes. "You're basically using the public funds to raise your own private soldiers."

"Private soldiers your ass." Garen could not control his laughter as he scolded Yuria. "Look at that bunch. The moment something happens, the ones who will back out and run away will definitely be them!"

"Alright then… I'm used to it anyway." Yuria leaned on the sofa, shifting into a more comfortable position. He was dressed in a white windbreaker and long fitted jeans. His beard had not been shaved for a long time, making him look unnaturally mature. He did not look like a sixteen or seventeen-year-old. A year of running around in search of his mother had brought him experience and maturity.

"So tell me, why are you here? I know you wouldn't look for me unless you wanted something," Garen held his teacup, sitting lazily in his white pajamas.

"Heh... I knew I couldn't hide it from you," Yuria smiled begrudgingly. It was a little disgusting coming from a grown-up looking man doing that expression…

"Hurry up, stop dilly-dallying," Garen was slightly irritated.

Yuria's expression became dead serious.

"So here it goes, although I couldn't find my mother this time around, I sort of have this feeling that she's avoiding me somehow."

"Avoiding you? Why?"

"I don't know." Yuria's brows tightened in a know. "That's what I'm frustrated about, what more…"

"What more what?" Garen took a sip of his tea.

"This time out on my trip, I met a weird guy. He seems to know me and he came over to me all secretive telling me that my target had died and asking me not to waste my efforts and hurry back to converge," Yuria spoke with a bewildered expression.

"Converge?" Garen was confused as well. "He said your target is already dead? Does he mean…"

"No… Not that meaning," Yuria shook his head, "he seems to think that I belong to some organization or something. Converge. Who do I converge with? He didn't say anything about all this. He disappeared right after I turned around. It's just all very strange."

"And after that when I was on my way back, I inadvertently received a small note which warned me that I'm in danger. It also had instructions on it asking me to burn it right away and not let anyone else other than me see it," Yuria just could not figure it out.

"So you burnt it then?"

"Burnt it? I didn't tell anyone about this, only you right now. I suspect that I'm somehow dragged into something."

Garen sorted out all the information he just heard. Yuria's situation was not mentioned at all in the plot, whereas Nine-Tailed Fox and the others were still in other countries trying to pave the way for Yuria. The news was not unusual. The only odd thing was that Slayer and the others who were supposed to appear by now were still nowhere to be seen. According to the plot, they should have appeared long ago, but there was still currently zero news of them.

"Well done, don't tell anyone about this, your sister included. This matter won't be much of use other than worry everyone else, everything will be clearer when there are more clues." Garen explained, "I'll pull some strings and try to find out whatever I can for you and see what kind of people are trying to get into contact with you or to influence you or whatever…"