Mystical Journey

"Have you succeeded?" Garen asked.

'Just an ordinary Void Worm. Your luck is not bad, this guy's intelligence is pretty low. It only knows how to steal your dream's image of your life to make you lower your vigilance so it can paralyze your nerves. No wonder its corruption is so low.' Black Sethe said with a tone that suggested Garen was extremely lucky.

"This is still low?" Garen was surprised. He used his hands to feel the texture of the sofa in details. It was firm and the texture felt delicate with a slightly cool temperature. All of this clearly conveyed to him that he was not dreaming right now.

'Of course, Void Worms are known as the weakest among the Void Creatures. Meaning that they are as weak as roadside bugs. When we go in and out of the void, sometimes we may unintentionally trample a bunch of them.'

Black Sethe answered like it was natural.

Garen was speechless. He was unable to imagine the strength of these Demon Kings when they were at their peak.

'Look at your ring.'

When Garen heard this, he looked down at his black ring. On top of that black ring inlaid with red jewels, there was now a small purple-black crystal sticking to it. The crystal was the size of a fingernail. The surface had a texture similar to that of wood but it was translucent.

Using his right hand to take off the piece of crystal, he felt that this crystal was just like it had grown out of the ring, similar to plucking mushrooms.

Pinching that crystal, Garen took a sniff at it. There was a faint aroma of milk.

'This is Void Crystal also known as Void Core. It's a crystal produced inside Void Creatures. Some research states that it's the crystallization of Void Creature's energy of life but my personal opinion is that this is just a dense bone left over from the Void Creatures. Whatever it is, this can relieve your body's weakening condition.' Black Sethe explained.

"How do I use it?"

'You can eat it or use demonic technique to absorb its vitality, it's up to you.'

"May I take a look at the corpse of the Void Worm?" Garen was quite curious about the Void Creature.

'Unfortunately, you can't see it. Void Creatures are mostly vague shadows or mist. Rarely are there any corpses after their death.' Black Sethe said casually. 'Maybe you'll meet them in the future, but not now.'

Garen considered for a moment then put the crystal into his right hand's glove and let it be absorbed by the demonic technique, Slaughtering Hand.

"And then?" He asked.

'Then, your weakening will not go on. It will temporarily stop and on the fifth day, it will be lifted completely, that's all.' Black Sethe answered. 'After this, you can choose your path.'

"What path?"

'The path of Warlocks, Secret Technique or summon and control. It's all up to you. Of course, these two are just a rough classification. If you want to walk the path of practicing Secret Techniques then you can choose one Secret Technique and focus on it while continuously hunt the Void Creatures to hone your martial arts. Your Secret Technique has reached a very high level. Even in our time, you can be considered as a class of your own. If you choose choose summon and control, then you can collect Void Core to use as your summon army. In the future, you can even manage multiple summons of the ancient True Soul's imprint to form a legion.'

'Simply put, this are two general paths, either go with strengthening your body or increasing numbers.'

"Didn't I make my choice long ago?" Garen answered.

'True.'

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

Grano, Faya state, State Underground Blood Union Hall.

The wide, golden, dome-shaped hall was brightly lit. The hall that was large enough for ten thousand people was currently occupied by hundreds of people.

Standing on top of the white stage was a gentle-looking young man wearing white-framed glasses. He wore a white suit and his hair was combed back. With a charming and gentle smile on his face, he stood on the white stage as a confident speaker with a style of his own.

Facing the buzzing crowd with hundreds of different gazes, the young man maintained his composure.

"In lieu of the recent rampant activities of the secret party, an order of suppression came from above. After repeated ineffective warnings, they have openly taken the most extreme action of disregarding all measures of prevention and caused the deaths of fifteen of our compatriots. As the governor of the Blood Union of Faya State, I express my deepest regrets and condolences. I received the news today that Scarlet Moon himself had received severe injuries and his subordinates everywhere have been hunted down. Pale Leaders have issued a general notice to all. Two months later, all light party members will move to hunt down the members of secret party. Any action to conceal or assist the secret party will be sentenced to two hundred years of non-blood imprisonment. I hope that everyone has reflected. Please quickly deal with anything out-of-the-line so as not to cause any unnecessary misunderstandings."

The buzzing sounds gradually quieted down. One of the three only Faya State upper-level Blood Breeds, a bejeweled white-haired old lady, stood up.

"Against the rampant action of the secret party, I think that the first action we should take is to protect Scarlet Moon's direct lineage. They are now being hunted down. Why is our tracking imprint unable to find their location? I feel that there are people inside the Blood Union interfering and causing damage. We should do a thorough inspection on the Blood Union Intelligence Department!"

After speaking, she sat down with the help of a little girl beside her.

"I agree with Madam Vanessa's view." Another upper-level Blood Breed stood up to speak. This was a radiant middle-aged man with a fit body, wearing a black suit and dark red tie.

""Faya State is ranked at the bottom among the country's 32 states, from the status of our economy or our geography and population. Yet, even in such a region, we could not find any blood relatives of Scarlet Moon and also couldn't contact them. This is definitely a problem with the Blood Union Intelligence Department. I suspect someone is using the Intelligence Department to prevent our tracking. If there is no proper explanation for this, we'll have to pull out our forces in the Intelligence Department to form our own investigation team."

This remark immediately received approvals from a large number of middle-level Blood Breeds.

The Blood Union was originally composed of the clan members of the various clans of Blood Breeds. Every clan played a part in in it. If there really were withdrawals due to this, the so-called Blood Union would become an empty shell.

The state governor and state leader of the Blood Union, which was the bespectacled man, frowned.

"Isn't it too early to make such radical remarks? Mr. Henderick, although the Blood Union has not done a good job in this matter, handling other matters has always been our most solid backing. We cannot dissolve the Blood Union due to such a little problem, this is too extreme. Regarding the tracking information, I will take measures as soon as possible. A thorough inspection will be conducted on the Intelligence Department. I can't do anything about other states but the Faya State will give you a satisfactory answer within three months!"

The state governor said decisively.

"Good! Then we'll wait three months!" said the middle-aged man, Henderick and sat down exchanging a few glances with Madam Vanessa not far from his seat.

Half an hour later…..

After the meeting was concluded, the crowd exited the hall into the corridor towards the elevator.

Behind Henderick were more than ten middle-level and low-level Blood Breeds. He deliberately slowed down and lagged behind to walk with Madam Vanessa.

The groups around them gradually merged and made a safe environment for them.

Henderick, with a cigarette in his hand, took a puff and blew out two lines of green smoke through his nostrils.

"Looks like the hands of the secret party are stretched far… I've decided to let Aier investigate the situation. Five hundred years ago, I owed a debt to Scarlet Moon. I can't just watch him walk into danger."

Vanessa was holding a slender white cane and walked with a trembling gait.

"The Tomb's Crow Aier? He is your best subordinate… Isn't he going to be promoted to upper-level soon? I remember that one hundred and twenty years ago, he'd reached the peak of middle-level."

"Soon, but promoting one to upper-level isn't so easy. Perhaps there will be hope in two hundred years' time." Henderick shook his head, "I will investigate this matter properly and I hope you will support me, madam. The governor's attitude is somewhat suspicious…"

"That's natural. The governor's two descendants have turned towards the secret party. One of them died by his own hands. It was still alright when the conflict between both parties had not intensified. Now, the situation has become complicated. He has become old and has no way to divide his Blood Core to make a new descendant. In the case that he loses another descendant, if anything happens to him, his position will be unstable." Vanessa sighed.

Henderick nodded to indicate his understanding.

"From the information that I gathered, there are fifteen hideouts of the secret party in this state. There are three places that are serious in the Biwinter city. The allied Witches there have already filed a request to control the Blood Breeds to my clan in advance. They've expressed dissatisfaction in the increase of the number in the secret party. I've sent my clan members there but at a great risk. I need your support, Madam."

"No problem, I will let all the person in charge to cooperate with you. Elvin, Biwinter, Kama, Sili, Grano and Marseille have the largest number of secret party members. This is the classified information that my clan members got from inside the Blood Union. I hope you'll have good results." Vanessa replied.

"I hope so, thank you very much for the information." Henderick bowed his head. Biting his cigarette, he walked slowly towards another elevator on the other side with his people.

Vanessa looked at Henderick's shrinking figure and shook her head.

"The light party has been accustomed to a gentle and peaceful life. I didn't think that even Henderick could disregard any interests and clearly state his position. But the result is not optimistic. The light party has been too accustomed to peaceful life. The more they have, the more timid they are."

The little girl beside her frowned.

"I think the biggest problem is that we can't differentiate the members of the light party from the secret party. A poisonous snake in hiding is the most terrifying."

"That's right. Remember to stay alert." Vanessa sighed.