“Cece was gravely injured, and the opponent got away?” Garen sat in the highest seat of the practice hall, watching the disciples spar together with the other important delegates. When he received Quentin’s call, he frowned slightly.
“The opponent is very powerful! She cannot be compared to the other two elders, Cece’s Fantasy Fist Profound was broken, and she was injured in the right rib, after checking I found that there’s some internal bleeding from the shock. Thank goodness I saved her in time.”
“Tu Lan, was it? The other people from Wellington were dealt with?” Garen asked softly.
“All dealt with, only the Elder Tu Lan is left,” Quentin replied.
“Get Cece to come back and meet me,” Garen said calmly.
“Yes.”
Putting down the phone, even Garen was slightly surprised. Looks like he had been careless, this last Wellington Elder was actually a true upper level Blood Breed with real power, he had intended for her to be Cece’s trial run.
Seems like everything had all gone too smoothly, so he had begun to neglect some details.
When he returned to his senses, the people from the three main fist techniques around him were still chatting away happily, along with Hochman and some other representatives from his disciples.
After Garen faced Master Sabik of the Mokso Sword Sect just now, the few main sects all understood that Garen’s true power was far stronger than they imagined, so they no longer dared to test him head-on. Instead, they were trying to elicit information from Garen’s disciples about his level of strength.
According to the East Pole Gate’s estimates, Garen’s power should be equal to a Grand Master. He was only one step away from mind-to-null refination, and the level of legends. Right now in the East, there were no longer any masters at the qi-to-spirit level, only the masters of history could achieve that step.
But they never could have imagined that Garen’s true strength lay in his terrifyingly powerful body, and not in his mind. He could instantly apply up to a thousand tons of force, that was a level far beyond his understanding. And let’s not mention the power he had upon activating the Seven Star Life’s Secret Point.
Right now, two of the figures on the arena were leaping and jumping, intersecting with each other non-stop, each time they made contact, there would be a dull explosive sound.
It was one of the masters of the Waterbird Fist under Hochman sparring with one of Thams’ Sandt Fist disciples.
Strangely, the Sandt Fist gave off an impression of extreme softness, but while it was soft, it could instantaneously burst out with a force like a spring. It was just enough to fight against Hochman’s man, they were relatively well-matched.
The people sitting at the top did also seem to treat Garen as their leader, his impressive blood qi had unconsciously covered the entire arena. Especially now that he had mixed it with the Holy Phoenix Scriptures, his dominating aura had gotten even stronger.
That almighty aura also leaked out slightly, forcing uneasiness into the hearts of the representatives from the three main sects.
Only the East Pole Gate Master, Du Xinglong, was slightly more relaxed. But that also meant he was even more aware that the power of the Holy Fist Palace was indeed far stronger than he ever imagined.
“I hear that Palace Master Garen is looking for clues about the Sleepless Faces everywhere.” While everyone else was focused on the sparring going down below, Du Xinglong spoke slowly. “It just so happens that I have some information about a mask that had wandered off to the East.”
“Oh? What do you mean by that, Gate Master Du?” Garen brought his attention away as he said calmly.
“We have already sent our men out to gather the masks. We of the East Pole Gate are also rather in awe of the Holy Fist Palace’s martial arts level, so I would like to send my young grandson here for a long-term martial arts exchange program.”
“That would be fine, of course.” Garen nodded. He wore a mask, but although no one could see his actual expression, they could tell from his tone that he had no intention of rejecting them.
Du Xinglong knew very well that a chance like this, to allow his young grandson to be this close to a qi-to-mind level Grand Master, would be unthinkable of in the East. If he did not make full use of this chance, by the time more people approached Garen, he might not be able to benefit as much anymore. Once there were more people, naturally the Holy Fist Palace would place less emphasis on them.
He understood what the Holy Fist Palace had planned, they wanted to reach a true position in the international martial arts scene, and become the true holy land for all martial arts sects.
Since they had a Grand Master standing guard over the Holy Fist Palace, that title was naturally theirs for the taking.
“I just happened to have the same intention.” Beside them, Thams smiled as he said, “And my allied sects will surely have the same plan. When the time comes, I hope Palace Master Garen will help out our youngsters in their training.”
“Of course, of course.” Garen nodded with a smile.
For a moment there, the host and the guests were all perfectly happy, the main martial arts sects had also found a glimmer of hope in their battle against the Blood Breeds through Garen. But the truly powerful Blood Breeds were not the regular Blood Breeds, but the Death Apostles at the very top. They were the ones with power comparable to a nuclear weapon, and it all depended on whether or not the Holy Fist Palace could defend against the Death Apostles’ revenge,
The Wellington family was not that easy to provoke, the Death Apostle Wellington would surely not let this slide, so it all depended on what happened after this.
After some more exchanges, Garen also understood that Thams had always been close to the higher-ups of the Rexott group, his arrival here this time obviously represented the Rexott Group’s attitude to some extent.
Manpower, financial power, and martial power, he had them all. The only thing he needed now was a chance to show off the true power of the Holy Fist Palace.
***************
Standing in front of Cece’s sickbed, Garen was dressed all in white, wearing a mask as he checked Cece’s condition.
He reached out his hand and touched Cece’s injured right ribs a few times, then he pulled his hand back slowly. Next, he opened Cece’s eyelids, checking her pupils.
The others, Quentin and Xander, all stood at the side respectfully.
There were only a few members of the Holy Fist Palace’s higher-ups present in this room.
“Teacher, how is Cece’s condition?” Quentin asked, slightly worried.
“The destruction of the Fantasy Fist Profound damaged her spirit and cranial nerves, she needs some rest. To normal people, cranial nerves cannot be regenerated, but to us, it’s possible. It just requires a longer time. Add that to the internal bleeding and shock caused by her injuries, and she will need at least two months to recover.”
Garen replied as he pulled back his hand.
“Thank you, Teacher.” Ninox hid under the covers, her face slightly red. The place on her right ribs where she was hurt was near her chest, even if it was her teacher touching her like that, she was still embarrassed to no end.
“Is this Tu Lan really that powerful?” Xander was rather incredulous, “The other two Elders could be defeated by even a slightly stronger middle level Blood Breed, why is this one Elder so ridiculously powerful?”
“That is my mistake.” The door was pushed open, and Dahm strode in, wearing a bright red cape.
“Greetings, Teacher.” He first lowered his head in a bow to Garen, and then he began to explain the reason. “I learned about Tu Lan from one of the Blood Breeds under my control. Although as Elders, they don’t usually fight, but some of the older middle level Blood Breeds were aware of some things. Tu Lan used to be the strongest general in the Wellington family other than their chief, Wellington. Even among the upper level Blood Breeds, she was one of the very best.”
His androgynous voice revealed a hint of rare solemnity.
“If you want to kill Tu Lan, either Hochman and I have to personally fight her, or Teacher…” He did not continue, but his intention was very clear. Unless Garen fought her personally, they would not be able to ensure that it would go one without a hitch.
“How are things with the Blood Breeds’ secret party?”
Garen did not continue that topic, and switched to another one instead.
“The secret party has the main advantage now, most of the light party’s power had been suppressed and taken apart. As for the attack on Wellington, it looks like there’s no reaction for now, but it’s most likely gathering momentum for a bigger impact. We need to be constantly prepared for a counterattack by the Death Apostle Wellington at any time,” Dahm replied seriously.
“No news about the Death Apostles Scarlet Moon and Ashen?”
“A little, they say that Ashen has gone missing, this is also the main reason the light party is completely falling apart. Right now, even the power of the Lion Mother cannot suppress the flames of the secret party,” Dahm replied quickly.
Garen fell silent.
For some reason, he suddenly remembered the sisters, Isaros and Arisa, as well as that strange Scarlet Moon Blood Breed. Inexplicably, he felt as though Isaros and the others may know a bit about Ashen’s disappearance.
The last time he secretly visited his parents, he had seen Arisa’s condition, that little girl’s air of worldliness had gotten stronger. That feeling of being part of the world’s path had grown stronger and stronger.
Isaros and her sister was evidently the core trigger to these events, he had to be constantly aware of any developments on their part as he gathered the masks.
Touching his right eyes lightly with his hand, that one completely blind eye kept reminding him of the approaching danger from the Void Nine-Headed Dragon King.
He needed to pick up the pace…
********************
Secret party Blood Union
In a wide open white hall, in some mysterious ruins.
There were countless crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, like so many small red suns, emitting a bright and gentle red light.
Underneath them were three giant silver balls floating in mid-air.
Each ball was more than ten meters in diameter, huge and round, filled with an unnamed amber fluid that bubbled occasionally.
Strangely, there was a well-proportioned white-skinned human figure suspended in each ball of liquid.
There were three bodies in the three balls, two male and one female. Each of them wore different but equally elaborate long robes, even the men wore long black dress-like robes with golden hems.
“Wellington, your old base was destroyed by those witches, but you don’t seem too bothered at all.” One of the blonde men in black robes opened his eyes, looking at another handsome man with otherworldly features.
“There’s too much trash in there, so I borrowed some outside power to clean it out. My family has been rotten for too long.” Wellington had short purple-red hair and a cold expression, as though he did not care about his clan’s survival at all, “After all, it’d only take me a few years to start another family again anyway.”
“Ashen has been critically wounded, without the help of the Lion Mother, he cannot hide for long. Scarlet Moon, on the other hand, that guy’s always been missing.” The blonde man was thoughtful.
“Wellington, I think you should still go back for a visit, that kid Tu Lan should be close to a breakthrough, don’t let her be interrupted just like that. There are only so few of us in this world, it’s been so long since we had a new face around here, it’s too boring…”
The woman in the last sphere had completely white eyes and no pupils, her long green hair reaching her waist.
“Oh?” Wellington looked slightly surprised, and after thinking for some time, he spoke softly.
“Then I’ll go out for a bit. But are you sure it’s okay for just the two of you to suppress Ashen’s Blood Nucleus?”
“Then why don’t you just get it settled sooner?” the woman laughed softly.
“True.” Wellington nodded, and turned around slowly, swimming backward lightly. Soon enough, he began to gradually disappear into the sphere.