Mystical Journey

Once the Second Elder received his orders and started handing out orders, the powerhouses beneath him who had drunk the wine finally gave up for good. Even those who had not given up, those who refused to accept this, had to pretend to obey the orders. Otherwise, they might be punished to set an example for the others.

The Energy Machinists had lived for so many years, so none of them were fools. They all saw clearly that Alice, Eva, and Aloran might have been spared because Garen still cared for their old bonds, but the remaining people might not be so lucky.

Some of the more experienced Energy Machinists had already realized that Garen's aura now might have already surpassed Non-Falling Level, and they quietly spread the news of this possibility, so that the atmosphere in the Basilica grew even more fearfully respectful.

Right now, Garen was sitting on the Throne of Ice, and he was also considering how to manage the entire Scarlet Snow Sect. Other than for Alice and the other two, he had added the Distorted Seed into every other portion of wine.

By now, his Distorted Seed was even more terrifying than ever, it could increase the parasite's physical fitness by six times, but since there was a limit to the human body's physical fitness, so this increase would manifest in a different form, and that was the Armor of Ice.

When the extra power was activated, it would automatically envelop the parasite, forming an extremely powerful suit of Armor of Ice, and increase the parasite's physical fitness by the maximum of six times that way.

This was very similar to Garen's current situation.

But even then, the increase was already exceedingly frightening. Once Garen activated it, everyone's physical fitness would be increased by six times, reaching an extreme degree.

After all, every one of the Inherited-Level Energy Machinists here had already reached the limit of their physical fitness, they were all at twenty points. If they all had that increased by six times… that would equal to 120 points, that was strong enough to force their way into the Non-Falling Level!

"If the effect really is as good as I imagine it would be, then I would instantly have many Non-Falling-Level assets." Garen closed his eyes to rest, and it looked like he was quietly waiting for the orders to take effect, waiting for all the Inherited-Level powerhouses to meet, when in fact he was considering all the possibilities.

He needed to take complete control of the whole Scarlet Snow Sect right now in one go, and catch all of Carthage's spies all at one go, turning them all into his assets through the Distorted Seeds. This was the only thing he could think of.

The time passed by. To Energy Machinists, even a few months barely counted as anything, it was equivalent to what normal people considered a few days. Nobody was impatient, and even if they were, they would not dare to show it.

A day passed.

Some of the Energy Machinists had completely white hair, and brought their disciples back to the headquarters. They were quickly led to the Basilica, and gifted the Distorted Seed wine, then they were sent to an area near the Basilica to rest.

The Great Supervisors and powerhouses who had retired into secrecy all streamed back to the headquarters, and to Garen's delighted surprise, two of the old men had been hiding their powers, and had actually already reached Non-Falling Level.

These two were the brothers Ice-Crack and Ice-Grand who had retired to the South Pole base, they were old-time powerhouses from the same generation as the Second Elder. Back then, they had lost in the battle for the Elder positions, and had retired in their despair. No one had thought that they would unexpectedly reach Non-Falling Level.

Although Garen did not know how they did it, regardless of the result, he just happened to be in dire need of powerful helpers right now, so Garen did not care all that much about the process. He offered them the Distorted Seed wine, and he only had to release his Level-Eight aura to get those two old geezers, as well as their four disciples' disciples, to obediently drink the wine.

The Scarlet Snow Sect's secret power was extremely considerable, and contrary to Garen's expectations, on the fifth day, even more powerhouses appeared, one after the other, from the outer planets. Many of these were capable powerhouses who had been exiled to the other planets, and one of them was even one generation older than the Second Elder. This person was truly a long-lived elder, currently aged 5602, and was also at the Non-Falling Level, but this one was at the peak, making him(1) overwhelmingly powerful.

This person came with all his disciples and grand-disciples, carrying a fearsome momentum. He clearly planned to usurp Garen's position, and had even brought some of his friends from other sects to buff up his forces.

Unfortunately, he met Garen. Garen just had to release his Level-Eight aura, and the whole group deflated like balloons, each of the Inherited-Level and above powerhouses obediently accepting the Distorted Seed wine, and all turning into parasites.

This parasitism would not take effect immediately, but it would slowly and subconsciously affect the parasite's Will and Soul, gradually turning them into the Hellfrost Peacock's larvae. They would then be unable to resist their inherent fear and respect for the original mother queen. Although they would not obey the queen unconditionally, they must still never have the slightest intention of disobeying the queen, and whether they were alive or dead, they would eventually merge into the queen. At the same time, their affinity for ice would increase tremendously, and naturally they would also possess the talent for the Cold Chaos ability, that was the true power of the Hellfrost Peacock. When an army of countless soldiers brought out their Cold Chaos ability and spread it everywhere, devouring everything, unless they were stopped, the whole world would truly fall apart at the seams.

This blindly ambitious old man was forced down by Garen, and even the thirty-odd Inherited-Level powerhouses he had brought with him became the Distorted Seed's parasites. These included not just the older members of the Scarlet Snow Sect, but even the powerhouses from other sects, and in turn, this greatly benefited Garen's succession to the throne.

After half a month, the main situation had settled. Every member of the Scarlet Snow Sect was under the control of the Distorted Seed, and all the powerhouses, Inherited-Level and above, were completely unaware of the parasites. Instead, they felt the wine slowly strengthening their regenerative powers, and at the same time, a layer of ice armor gradually appeared on their bodies, one that they could extend and retract at will. When they donned the armor, their fitness would also be greatly increased.

Garen had always been sitting in the middle of the Basilica, high above the ground. A thick white pillar had naturally appeared beneath the Throne of Ice, connecting it to the Basilica underneath.

The armor over Garen's entire body had completely fused with the Throne of Ice, fixing him onto the seat. He had also sent the others away, so he was the only one left in the entire Basilica.

An extremely terrifying chill was circling around the Basilica, turning this place into a true Frost Hell. As soon as any living thing entered this place, even their Wills and souls would be instantly frozen, and they would completely be paralyzed as Garen's Faded Creation skill slowly devoured them.

Unless they were powerhouses at Inherited Level or above who had become parasites of his Distorted Seed.

Ever since Garen succeeded the throne, the sky in the Basilica had been covered by a whirlpool of black clouds with the occasional rumble of thunder, the pressure low and cold. The whole Basilica glowed with an eerie cold blue light, and the ice-blue cold flames flickered sometimes, burning slowly on the torches.

Garen sat on the Throne of Ice, his eyes glowing with an eerie cold blue light, the patterns on his armor growing more and more intricate, marks like sword scratches appearing on the surface of his armor. Some sharp Wong-like thorns of ice had already started appearing on his back. These thorns were blue-black and extremely sharp, stacking on top of each other without any rhyme or reason. Seen from a distance, they looked like a random pile of bird wings, without any order or symmetry to speak of.

But they vaguely gave of a sense of holy, majestic sharpness.

The many wing thorns were wide and long, and had nearly become the most eye-catching symbol in the whole courtroom. Compared to Garen and his throne, which were only several meters tall, the blue-black wings on his back, more than a dozen meters tall, were even more iconic and memorable.

From a distance, all that could be seen was the infinite chill emanating from the piled-up wings, such that anyone who even glanced at it, even from several kilometers away, would feel all cold all around their bodies.

It had already been half a month since Garen gathered all the powerhouses. The sky was calm without even a hint of clouds, because all the clouds had gathered above the Courtroom, forming a black whirlpool there that seemed as though it would never cease. And everywhere else was as sunny as could be, without the slightest bit of chill, as though the entire headquarters had instantly gone from winter to summer.

Psst!

All of a sudden, from a building within headquarters, a pillar of pale blue light shot into the sky. It shot straight for a dazzling star in the sky, and the pale blue glow it emanated almost outshone even the golden light of the sun.

"I've broken through! I've broken through! Hahaha!! Hahahaha--!!" A man's deafening, almost mad laughter rang out, and echoed infinitely across a large area of the headquarters.

In a small alley between the palace's many buildings, Eva and Aloran looked at the pillar of light in the sky, shocked.

"That's… Non-Falling Light??!"

Eva said disbelievingly.

"Who else in the Sect could break through to the Non-Falling Level in such a short time? Could it be King Cat?"

"No way! That's not King Cat's voice!" Aloran was equally shocked, and murmured softly.

Ever since Garen dominated the entire Scarlet Snow Sect, they had left the Courtroom, thick with conspiracy, in a rage. They wanted to leave alone, but they could not break away completely, both of them had their own relatives. They both came from large family clans, with at least a hundred members in total, their parents, their children and grandchildren. All of these people lived under the protection of the Scarlet Snow Sect, and could not escape at all.

So all they could do was turn a blind eye to this, and secretly investigate the change in the Elder while also secretly transferring their families and assets away.

At first, they had thought that since they did not support Garen, and the Scarlet Snow Sect had two of its Elders go missing, the Sect's strength would be affected. But now, someone had actually broken through to Non-Falling Level!

"If it's not King Cat, then who is it?" Alice sighed. "I just got the news, two weeks ago Garen announced the latest situation, Star Cloud and Black Blade have started warring against each other, and the impact is felt far and wide. The battle has already spread to more than thirty planets, and our Scarlet Snow Sect has been implicated as well. The Major Battle has been delayed indefinitely now."

"Then what do we do now?" asked Aloran dejectedly, looking at the Non-Falling Light with some envy in her eyes.

"I heard that two Perpetual Motioner Holy Lords have joined in as well, once it's reached such an extent, our Scarlet Snow Sect can only hide in our headquarters, keep a low profile, and wait to see how it ends." Alice was melancholic. "But even such a wish might not come true."

"You mean…" Aloran suddenly thought of something.

"That's right. That one will probably come…" Alice nodded.

Psst-psst-psst!!

Suddenly, three more pillars of light shot into the sky. They were all Non-Falling Light!

This time, Alice's eyes widened, and Aloran was completely stunned.

"Wh-what's this?!" Her mouth fell open as she stared at the four pillars of white-blue light shooting into the sky, and she could not close it for a long time.