Chapter 453: Martial Arts 1
Translator:EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor:EndlessFantasy Translation
As he saw Angel turning to leave, Garen shook his head slightly.
"It's not so easy to fuse with this power…"
There was a limit, even for a masochist. Although this kind of breakthrough was an enjoyment, she might even collapse faster than a normal person.
However, everything had its pros and cons. He hoped Angel could get through this.
Without much emotions, Garen thought for a moment.
"Come."
Very quickly, a heavily armored Black Fire behind him and kneeled on one knee.
"Go and bring the Lord of the Silver Palace. I have something to discuss with him."
The Blackfire Guard did not answer. He merely stood up quietly and quickly left the courtyard.
They had capacity for speech. Although they maintained some form of abilities and intelligence, they were only equivalent to ten-year-old children.
Garen then instructed another servant to inform Lala, the supervisor, to prepare some essentials. It was all needed for Angel to adapt to Zibane's power.
When Ivycius arrived, Garen was busy instructing his subordinates on the things required for the next few days.
Maxilan and Edney behind Ivycius. As usual, the two of them were each in Green Vine Sphere armor. There were a blood vessel-like structures on the top, with green liquid speedily flowing through them.
"Just in time. I have something important for you to do." Garen nodded as he saw the pair. "Everything has been clearly stated in my previous letter. Have you all decided?"
Maxilan and Edney nodded their heads positively with firm expressions.
"That's good. The process is simple. In my Blackfire Guard, there are fifteen of them who can fuse. Once you reach the place, all you have to do is sit on the position and the armor will initiate the fusion process. The process will be immensely painful. Of course, the longer you withstand it, the greater the improvement of your abilities. Go to the Blackfire Palace once you're ready. I've already prepared everything there."
Garen explained in simple terms.
Maxilan nodded. They came together with two of the toughest guards in the Trejon Household. It was all about whether they could succeed this time. If they did, they would be able to step into a level that could compete with totem users.
As normal humans, they were different from Angel, who was innately a totem user. Obtaining powers like these would be a totally new experience for them.
Obtaining the power of Zibane did not mean that they would become strong overnight. It simply changed the attribute of the body to be able to withstand totem light. This gave normal people an opportunity to be on a level playing field as totem users.
Garen did all he could to prepare for his family and alleviate the pain. However, was barely effective. 90% of the process was dependent on the person's will and body.
Maxilan and the rest didn't utter much. The days of meditation had cultivated a strong will in them to surpass this barrier.
Garen could also see this. Without asking much, he waved his hand and instructed them to go.
Ivycius was the only one left in the courtyard as he stood quietly at a side.
"What's the matter?" Ivycius was already somewhat different than before.
His hair had already reached his waist. It was white as silver and tied in a bundle. His eyes were like high-quality white jade as his pupils were completely invisible. At the same time, there was a faint fragrance emanating from his body.
"I need your men for something." Garen whispered. "Send someone to the Seven Night Tower on the North Snowy Mountains. As my Blackfire Palace is recruiting disciples and announcing to the world, naturally we need some masters with substance to view the ceremony. The Lord of the Seven Night Tower, Anjiad and I hit it off well."
"Where's the gift?" Ivycius was lazy to even ask.
Garen threw out a small, black bag.
"This is the deposit. The Seven Night Tower is the strongest force in the North Snowy Mountains. Although their followers are poor, their elites still count for something."
"You want to invite the Lord of the Seven Night Tower as a guest?" Ivycius furrowed his brows. "But you've robbed a big portion of the Royal Treasury. This doesn't affect you at all."
"That's unimportant. What is most important is our own strength." Garen shook his head. "How has your progress been?"
Ivycius shook his head slowly.
"I'm stuck at the most important stage. If I take this step, I would definitely level up within a year!" He spoke confidently with an air of determination.
He gave Garen a glance in the end. "God Cloud's clone of the Emperor was heavily pursued by the Director of the Secret Service and almost fell. Do you know of this?"
Garen was caught off guard.
"When did this happen?"
"The news came the day before yesterday. Out of desperation, God Cloud had to reveal his actual self to fight. After battling with the Director from a distance, he managed to save his clone. But in this battle, he was slightly weaker than the Director and was heavily wounded. It's estimated that he won't be able to recover within these few years." Ivycius repeated the news that he heard.
"Not listening to the Director's words is looking for death. He can't blame anyone." Garen laughed coldly.
"But he still achieved half of his objective." Ivycius sighed. "Besides, the elites that you wanted to find have been found. What do you plan to do?"
"Set up a ring, the winner is king. The final three people standing would be given a place to join my Blackfire Palace." Garen had no expression, as if he had long thought about it.
"That's good. I'll go and make the arrangements." Ivycius nodded as he gradually disappeared into the shadows and left quickly.
Garen stood alone in the courtyard. He closed his eyes and descended himself into a state of mind to train his martial arts.
As time passed, he gradually understood the details of fusing with the Nine-headed Hydra.
Regarding this type of fusion, it was far easier for other totem users compared to Garen.
They only had to fuse once to complete the process.
But Garen had nine lives. The Nine-Life Talent brought an incredibly strong life force, but at the same time also brought a huge burden.
Garen had to fuse nine times in order to fuse all the nine heads into his martial arts and become one with his body. Only then could he could step into fifth form.
He had been meditating daily for the past few days. Every time he activated the Myriad Water Jasper Technique, it would shorten the distance between himself and the first of the nine heads.
As the Nine-Headed Hydra moved from the sides to the middle, the dragon heads gradually strengthened. The most terrifying of them all was the golden dragon head in the middle. It was the source of almost 80% of the Nine-Headed Hydra's power.
Every time Garen trained his martial arts, he would come to realize that the Myriad Water Jasper technique and the Nine-Headed Hydra were not a perfect fit. The majority of their paths fared well, but there was a small minority which rejected one another.
He had vast experiences in martial arts. He could even master theoretical techniques like the Divine Statue Technique. Naturally, he had ways to overcome this problem.
Recently, he had been spending most of his time adjusting the Myriad Water Jasper Technique to suit himself more.
Most of the adjustments were slight tweaks, according to the Nine-Headed Hydra's blood flow.
*********************
On the day of the announcement, everything was prepared.
Garen sat quietly in the garden. The four sides were surrounded by four heavily-armored Blackfire Guards to prevent him from being disturbed.
He was clothed in a white robe as he sat cross-legged on the ground. Black fog surrounded his body while faint strange noises came from within.
Undeterred by the black fog, the jade-like moonlight shined on Garen's body.
On Garen's skin, the faint, constantly moving red shadow of the Nine-Headed Hydra was visible. Each of the nine heads looked different. Some of them were grim, terrifying, quiet or even lonely.
Cheeeee!
Garen abruptly opened both of his eyes. Two red rays of light shot out like arrows, converging into two red lines midair. They dissipated after a brief period.
The left dot on his forehead was emitting a bright red glow.
Garen raised his hands and opened his left palm. Red light flashed over it, forming a red ball the size of an egg. A ferocious dragon head faintly appeared on the surface of the ball. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared, as if it were never there.
Garen abruptly clenched his fist.
The red ball exploded silently into tens of thousands of smaller red balls of light, gathering and quickly circling him.
The black fog mixed quietly spread towards his surroundings, permeated by the red lines.
The plants in the garden were like living things drinking water, greedily absorbing the black fog. Gradually, each of their surfaces turned black. Some of them even had red lines like the black fog, strangely mysterious.
Very quickly, the black fog completely covered the garden.
As the black fog rumbled, there was a ray of white moonlight that formed a puddle through the fog and onto Garen's body.
The moonlight pillar was incredibly clear, as if it were an actual solid.
At the same time, like resonance, the Silver Palace also emitted thick white gas.
A fragrance of faint rose came from the Silver Palace.
In the middle of the Silver Palace, swathes of white smoke formed a huge slowly rotating white whirlwind. Ivycious was seated right in the middle.
He gazed towards Garen from afar. Both of his eyes were white and devoid of pupils.
"You've found the juncture as well?" Ivycious mumbled. He retrieved his gaze and continued to close his eyes, focusing on the totem fusion.
Three white fire stations were placed in a triangular shape surrounding his body. Three basins of white flames were burning on top of them. The large amounts of white smoke were from these flames.
After some time, the gas in the two palaces gradually dissipated.
In the Blackfire Palace, the abnormalities all over Garen's body had disappeared as well.
He slowly opened his eyes. A red light flashed over his face. The left red dot on his brows dimmed a little, not as red as before.
As he felt the changes to this body, he let out a long sigh.
After being repressed for so many days, he finally understood all the details of the fusion process. After ensuring there would not be any problems, he started fusing the first dragon head proper.
It was the dragon head on the far left.
As the Nine-Headed Hydra had nine heads, he had to fuse nine times to thoroughly complete the fusion process. The difficulty level of the nine heads slowly increased, starting from the easiest in the beginning to the hardest at the end.
Moreover, fusing each dragon head with martial arts would cause drastic changes to this body.
Garen stood up, faintly sensing an unexplainable change in his body. His breath capacity seemed much larger than before.
This time, he completely fused the dragon head to the far left into his body.
He glanced at the attribute pane below his vision. Sure enough, there were new changes.
'Strength 14. Agility 10. Vitality 10. Intelligence 10. Potential 710%. Possesses Luminarist Qualities.'
'Martial Arts - Myriad Water Jasper Technique, Ten Thousand Mammoth Battle Skills.'
On one of the martial arts panes, there was a clear transformation.
'Myriad Water Jasper Technique: Myriad Water True Technique (Second Level, Total of Five Levels). Can control all forms of liquid within a specific area.
Martial Arts Additional Effects
Toxin strengthened by two levels. (From the Color Changing Butterfly Totem, Nine-Headed Hydra. All attacks have hallucination and deadly toxin effects)
Regeneration strengthened by one level (From the Nine-Headed Hydra, quick recovery after injury.)