Mystical Journey

"Brother Garen, what are you going to do next?" Hillco asked in a hushed tone.

"What I intend to do?" Garen clenched his fists, "I still need some time to get used to the jump from Level Four to Level Five. If I want to reach Level Five, the Mars Radiation Stone won't be the only thing I need…"

"Brother, our small territory has always been peaceful, relatively stable. With you as our leader, the area of the snowy peaks has always been calm. But I wouldn't say the same for the other snowy peaks," Hillno said simply, "every second disciple will be assigned to different houses and a snowy peak to practice alone; this is the rule, in the sect, to protect the followers and first disciples in the surrounding. But I heard something recently from one of the sisters, that one of the Brothers at a snowy peak nearby wants to contact you. Even though I'm unsure of the details and who…"

Before she could even finish her sentence, a soft voice broke through the air from a distance.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

In between the laughter, a white shadow leaped down from the sky and barged towards the three of them who were standing at the top of the snowy cliff. Followed that, a huge snow hawk circled above.

"Let me see what kind of special ability does an elite from the central have!!"

As the last of his voice fell, he rolled over and let out a piercing screech. Countless snowflakes were gathered, immediately forming a gigantic white dragon which darted towards Garen who was standing in the middle of the trio.

The dragon swept up the snowflakes from the surrounding ground and formed a huge snow column which was at least meters thick. The tip of the column was a sharp edge that was pointed directly at Garen's face.

Garen snorted, then proceeded to activate his Level Four Cold Scarlet Snow technique and clouds of white frost emitted from his body. Holding out just one arm, he pointed his index finger at the sharp edge, as if he wanted to use his own flesh and body to fight against the solid ice thorn.

However, his finger and the ice thorn closed in quickly. Just when they were about to touch, Garen's finger suddenly shot out like petals of a flower. Within a second, his palm turned into a pale icy-white shade and hit the ice thorn at the side.

Bang!

The ice shattered into pieces. The snow column was thrown to the side by a shadow by the side, whereas Garen remained still on the spot.

"Nice!!" The person made a flip in the air and landed on the ground steadily. His feet sank into the snow, leaving two deep footprints.

"Indeed the elite of the central. Just achieved Level Four, yet such strong lethality. Among all the brothers, your power should be ranked top three."

"Who are you to show up at my snowy peak without invitation and behaving so atrociously?" Garen asked icily. After the series of hand-to-hand combat and his style of speaking earlier on, Garen seemed to have a wrong impression that he was meeting a secret powerhouse.

When all the snow debris finally dissipated, the trio was finally able to see his true face. It was a white young man with a handsome face and white short hair. He had only one arm but there was a sense of emotion in his eyes that gave others a relentless feeling.

"I'm the owner of the twelfth snowy peak, Joyson but you can call me Joey. Garen, master of this peak, I've been observing your breakthrough for the past few days. What about it? Well, are you interested to join me in competing for the top ten snow peaks?" This person's previous rage was nowhere to be seen anymore -- he was slowly warming up.

At this moment, Bainster and Hillco were still unable to regain their composure. Bainster stepped back in shock whereas Hillco just seemed pale. Even though she felt a sense of threatening death during the ambush, she did not step back, which truly showed her strong sense of will.

"How will I benefit from being in the top ten snow peaks?" Garen asked calmly.

His opponent was a similar Level Four Energy Machinist. However, during the short fight just now, he noticed that the opponent was just testing the waters, that's why the opponent did not unleash his full power. Being a second disciple meant that his qualifications were not bad, so he should be at least between the third to fifth rank among the disciples.

"Obviously, there are plenty of benefits!" Joey laughed, "Second disciples in the top-ranked snow peaks get special treatment. Since you just recently managed to break through, you will need some sort of treasure to secure your position. Or else, you will need at least another two years to completely stabilize your position before you can try for the next level. Think about it, without the help of extra resources earlier on, you would have spent five years to break through from Level Three to Level Four. Do you know how fast the disciples from bigger sects progress after receiving resources? If you don't fight for some things, you'll just be long forgotten behind by others who have leverage above you!"

Garen frowned.

Spending five years to break through Level Four was something he did not think of.

Speaking of disciples from bigger sects, wasn't Accord one of them?

In comparison to Accord who was already focusing himself on passing Level Five already, he thought that it was just their differences in talents. But come to think of it now, things seemed different.

Joey laughed at Garen's expression. "I've been searching in the snow peaks for the longest time and after selection, only you Garen, you're the only person I can't see through. And that is why I am here to ask for you to team up with me. You've relied completely on yourself to reach Level Four already. Other than the treasure to secure your rank, you still lack a suitable Energy Machine Imprint. If you're in the top-ranked snowy peak, you'd be able to buy more powerful Energy Machine Imprints… Not just the ordinary ones you see in the market, like… The new batch of mutated imprints that are stronger than the ordinary ones by a couple of times -- Winter Night Wolf!"

"Winter Night Wolf?"

Joey stepped closer, within five meters range from Garen and the two others.

"Seeing that you chose a wolf Energy Machine Imprint, I have the impression that you have a liking towards this sort of Energy Machine creatures. The Winter Night Wolf is a rare mutated Energy Machine Imprint. Although it isn't much of a difference from the initial Giant Wolf Cannon Fodder, once cultivated in the right way, which is three by three from the biochemical pool, it will have strong jumping abilities and facing flying units would be no big deal. Most importantly, it's group increment would rise according to quantity! Now that's the scariest part!"

Increment rises according to quantity.

Suddenly, Garen was slightly moved. If he was to add the Distorted Seeds to these wolves…

"How do I fight for the top rank?" Garen asked in a low voice.

With the sight of Garen being moved, Joey smiled lightly. "That's simple, kill!"

"Kill?!" Garen was stunned.

"Brother, he meant killing disciples of the opposing sect. The more you kill, the more evaluations you get, and the higher you would advance in rank according to your battle records," Hillco explained softly.

"So what about it? You and I team up against the Dragon Eye Sect. I've been keeping an eye out for them for three days." Joey even had a target selected already.

"How are battle records calculated?"

"The sect imprint will automatically calculate the power extent and proportion of impact," Joey explained.

"I should look this up." Garen nodded. If the other person was speaking the truth, then he really had to fight others for resources that he would need to shorten his time of practice so that he would not be suppressed by the others. As for the resources, conflicts were bound to happen.

Survival of the fittest -- that was the natural selection of life. This was still a path of life, whether it was the Combat World or the Technology World.

"I shall be waiting for your good news then. This is my communication device."

Joyson threw a clear crystal brand towards Garen who caught it easily.

A gust of snow rolled up. Once again, he turned into petals of snowflakes, dissipating into the cold air. Who knew what kind of supporting tool he was using that allowed him to walk on air.

"To be able to fly away, that is something only a Legacy Master can do!" Bainster stated with envy. Only now did he dare to reveal himself from behind Garen.

"That was just some help from a prop." Hillco cast a glance of disdain towards him, "You're a man yet you were the first one to retreat."

"What can I do when I have no power? If I were to have power like Brother Garen, do you think I will still be scared of him?" Bainster asked unconvincingly.

"Come on, just you?" Hillco rolled her eyes.

As the both of them continued to bicker, Garen fell deep into thought.

Originally, whether he was in Combat World or Totem World, he had the potential points to provide him with resources so he did not have to be swept into this battle vortex of limited resources. However, things were different in this world. Potential points were nowhere to be found and the second Staff of Absolute Yin was yet to be found. Even after such a long time, the remaining potential points left in his Attribute Pane were not to be easily used. It was only for emergency life-saving purposes.

To be exact, he had always been practicing alone, excluded from the world of interest.

"Turns out I've never really been into the vortex of natural selection of life." He let out a breath.

"Let's go." He picked up his feet and walked towards his villa situated at the foot of the hill.

The both of them followed suit behind him, though still bickering. However, as if everything was blocked out, Garen was still lingering over the sudden realization that had never occurred to him.

It was his past all summed up.

Because of the potential points, he need not have to fight others for the limited resources. All he had to do was practice silently and continue advancing so that he could be the best. This was his luck, not his unfortunate.

Though the disadvantage of relying on potential points too much in this world had finally surfaced because he never had any past experiences. So, he would not take the initiative to find the resources he really needed. As for the path he took part in, he had to rely on himself to move forward and as a result of that, he kept being thrown off by others, further and further away. This was the consequence of not having resources and not trying to fight for them.

Accord, who should have been the same as him was already trying to reach for Level Five. Yet here he was, only achieving Level Four recently.

However, he remembered.

"With the help of external objects, I can improve faster. If I were to rely on just myself, it will be a sort of training for myself. This path would be more simple and pure, but it will not only take a much longer time, but it is dangerous at the same time. On the other hand, my foundation will be steady throughout, and it will be easier for me to achieve a higher realm in the long run."

He held out his hand and stared at the snowflake that was slowly melting in his palm.

"If I want to reach a higher state, to reach the Army Level or even higher, speed is not the only thing I'm looking for."

Horrifying images of devils destroying the world from ancient mythologies kept popping in his head.

Garen then realized his own determination.

"What I want is not just temporary strength, but a power that will last me in the long run. I don't need any foreign objects that will affect my foundation. As for what Joey mentioned about the Winter Night Wolf, it's something I should give up on. It is a trick that allows people to accelerate their progress in a short period of time by sacrificing their potential. Anyway, the power spawned out is still not as good as one's natural capabilities."

Although he had understood this principle since long ago, he had never truly experienced it as he did at this moment. From what he saw, the potential points he had used to advance in the past was no different from an external support tool.

He may not be able to observe the after effect of using potential points to push himself into secret combat level, maybe because it was too high level, but there would definitely be a consequence. If he wanted to progress rapidly, would it be possible that he need not pay a price?