Mystical Journey

"Go to the treatment room to treat your chest wound . " Fei Baiyuan left a few words before he casually strolled downstairs .

Garen stood in place as his expression changed . He didn’t make a sound .

He watched his master went downstairs as his figure disappeared around the corner . He waited for his footsteps to fade away before he gently stretched the cloth around his chest .

A copper bullet was embedded in the left side of his chest near his heart, penetrating his pale skin about one centimeter deep .

He dug the bullet out with his hand as the wound on his chest immediately contracted . The edge of the wound was a little burnt with only a sliver of blood flowing .

"So this is a bullet . . . " He gazed at the bullet in deep thought .

He went downstairs and asked the doctor at the White Cloud Gate to treat his wounds before he slowly walked out of the dojo’s main gate .

On the empty streets, a few patrol police dressed in full black strolled in front of the dojo . They were talking and laughing as they held a dim oil lamp .

A group of men in gloomy factory uniforms sat on a set of stairs across the street . Drunk from alcohol, they kept their hands their pockets . Garen didn’t know what they were talking about .

"There’s a clothing factory near here that manufactures jackets and cotton clothes,"a male trainer said casually as he passed by Garen . He glanced at the clothes Garen wore .

"Hey man, you’re training pretty late . Where are you going? Do you need a ride?"

"That’s fine; I’m waiting for someone . " Garen smiled as he pointed at the black car in the front .

The car window rolled down as Grace’s delicate face appeared .

"Not bad!" The male trainer laughed a bit and patted Garen’s shoulder without saying anything else . He then approached the other parked car .

Grace stepped out of the car and walked in front of Garen .

"Garen…" She momentarily didn’t know what to call him as she hesitated .

"Just call me by my name . " Garen shrugged, "Let’s leave and head to my home . I’ll listen to your situation on the car . "

"As long as you are pleased, we’ll provide any compensations!" Grace adopted a pleading look .

"I didn’t dare to explain in front of the Dojo Master, but the actual situation is that we are not the

only ones who stole the artifacts . In Huaishan City there’s another company competing with us in this area . "

"No rush, explain to me in detail . "

Grace looked at Garen’s expression and slightly relaxed since as he didn’t seem to be irate .

Once the two got in the car and closed the doors, Grace slowly started the car as the antique vehicle began to lurch forward . Amid the rumble of the engine, Garen sat silently in the passenger seat as he stared at the retreating scene of the night .

The light fragrance of Grace’s perfume whiffed into his nose . The street lights cast shadows across his face one by one . His previous excitement finally calmed .

"I am part of the Manuyllton Corporation, one of the three biggest gang-related companies in Huaishan . One of the other two companies has no common business areas with us, but the Blackplume Corporation also accepts hiring missions and the selling of restricted items like us . They are the ones that escalated the tension between us," Grace explained as she drove .

"Restricted items and hiring missions? What are these?" Garen lowered his voice .

"Restricted items include firearms, artifacts, and drugs like rainbow candy . Hiring missions include, robbery, or even murder . This is nothing surprising and a lot of gang-related companies are similar . These two areas offer the most lucrative profits, while the primary operations of the company act as a cover . The money from the legitimate business is only considered a bonus . "

Grace started to feel less tense .

"Your company is called Manuyllton Corporation? What’s the size of the company?"

"There are approximately 50 people that act as the core . The other supporting individuals total to less than 200 people . I am middle to upper management and in the middle of the pack . But don’t worry, with Master Fei, the upper management will do anything to compensate you . I am certain about this point . "

"Do you still have the artifacts with you from the first time we met?" Garen asked as he remembered the Potential increase from when he tried to stop the car .

"The artifacts are still there and in one of my houses . Do you want them now?"

Grace let out a sigh of relief as she was afraid that Garen wouldn’t ask . But since he asked, the problem became much easier . Garen was clearly new to the scene, but with the backup of Master Fei and his three seniors, even the boss of the corporation would not dare shortchange the compensation .

"Now would be the best time . Where do you live?"

"Downtown, beside the central park . "

"Not too far, let’s go grab the artifacts and then I’ll go home . This is part of the compensation . " Garen nodded .

"Then the other compensation…"

"Let’s not rush this . You have some means of selling artifacts in your company right? Maybe I’ll have to ask you for help in the future," Garen said without any fluctuation in his voice .

"No problem, I’m at your disposal . " Grace immediately nodded .

After a short while, the car slowly stopped in a downtown area with a circular park . Grace got out of the car and entered a white building on the left side . She ran out after a few minutes .

Once she got in the car, she placed a black bag in front of Garen .

"These are the artifacts we found in the city . There are a total of three items . Are these what you’re looking for?"

As soon as Garen touched the bag, streams of coldness flowed from the bag into his body .

Joy emerged in his heart as he opened the bag without much of an outward reaction . Inside was a white rectangular wooden box with a shade of yellow . The lock was open .

As he lifted the cover, there were three cross emblems sitting inside on the black velvet cover . From left to right, there was a bronze, a burgundy, and a silver-white artifact .

APM

The three emblems had the same design, only the letters in the middle were different . They were A, P, and M .

Garen immediately recognized that the burgundy emblem was the one lost by Old Man Gregor . It was also the one that had Potential .

The moment he opened the box, an enormous amount of Potential flowed evenly into both of his hands . The cold streams flowed directly from the veins in his arm, past his shoulder, and across his neck before they concentrated around his eyes .

Garen clearly saw the Potential Meter in his visual field increase steadily .

From 80%, it rapidly rose to 90, and then to 100, 110, 120, 128, 133 .

In the few minutes since he had opened the box, his potential skyrocketed to above 200% .

At this moment, the stream of energy from the box began to slow down .

Garen then felt a source of potential from the burgundy cross emblem in the middle, the same artifact he had discovered at the old man’s antique store .

While the burgundy emblem continued to release potential slowly but steadily, the other two emblems had released all of their potential .

He gently touched the bronze cross emblem’s surface as the rough and cold sensation transmitted to his fingertip . He only took this emblem .

"Nothing else?"

"No, these are the only things I have with me . Out of the three emblems, only the middle one was collected from the city . The others were transported from other places . " Grace rushed to answer .

"I’ll take this emblem with me . The other requirement is that the rest of the compensation goes to my master . Now take me back . "

Garen responded simply and did not say any more . He slowly caressed the bronze cross emblem .

"Ok . So when should I train with you?" She looked relieved as her feeling of impending doom subsided .

"It will start after the Formal Disciple ceremony . "

Grace forced a smile . She had heard about the role of practice trainers at the White Cloud Gate . Certain explosive techniques must be practiced on humans to measure the results . Only a few knew the details about the practice trainers . Rarely would they be healthy without any injuries .

The best case scenario was to have a few broken bones, while more severe consequences included organ damage . It would take at least a few years to recover, but it was also normal for the practice trainer to be killed . Usually, they would find people who only cared about money and not life . If she wanted to survive this time, it would depend on Garen .

******

The car gradually came to a halt two hundred meters away from Garen’s neighborhood . Garen gently closed the door after walking out of the car . He watched the car turn before it disappeared .

He raised his right hand and looked at a piece of white paper . The Confederation Bank’s name and an absurdly large number were printed on it .

"One million dollar bank deposit . Money comes pretty fast . " He shoved the deposit slip in his pants pocket and he strolled toward the direction of his home .

"I am back . "

As he closed the door behind him, the living room was pitch black . Only a yellow light slipped through the door cracks of his sister’s bedroom .

No one responded .

"Only two people at home again?" He took a breath before he changed into his slippers and turned on the light .

He sat on the sofa . A dark yellow wooden cup filled with brewed black coffee was left on the table .

Thirsty, Garen chugged the coffee . It tasted bitter but sweet as it was completely cold . The edge of the cup had the scent of a cigarette .

"Father didn’t finish after he brewed it . " He put the cup down and leaned against the sofa . He felt the bronze cross emblem in his pocket continue to provide him with potential .

"I don’t know how much potential this emblem will provide . The other two were finished in just a few short moments . "

He felt joyful as his potential in his vision continued to rise .

"As long as I have sources of potential, I can continue to grow with the help of Potential points . There is almost no limit . I am confident that I can surpass anyone!"

Suddenly, the smile that appeared on his face faded .

He realized that the potential increase had slowed down compared to moments ago .

The coldness from the emblem continued to flow without any difference in thickness, but the numbers on the Potential Meter began to slow down .

"What’s going on?"

Garen sat straight as he carefully examined the increase in potential . From the moment he touched the emblem until coming home now, the potential points had already rocketed to above 300% . Now, however, the rate of increase began to diminish .