Mystical Journey

“Welcoming, from the East, Gate Master Du of the East Pole Gate.”

A clear voice traveled over a hundred meters, reaching their ears.

“The banquet is ready, be my guest!”

Garen stood up, gesturing his invitation with one hand, and then he walked into a small door on the right.

The others hurried after him, Hochman nodding slightly at Garen, as though hinting something, before he walked away alone, without a word.

Du Xinglong and the others followed Garen through the door, into a medium-sized private room, with a round table in the center that was already laden with a variety of dishes. Most of the dishes were oriental, they could tell that this was prepared beforehand.

After the few of them took their seats, maids immediately served them appetizer soups.

It was steaming hot and smelled delicious.

But Du Xinglong’s attention was not on the food, his gaze wandering instead to fixate on Garen, who was sitting in the top seat of the table.

“The representative of the Sandt, Tamms, is already here, and is currently showering and changing. They will be here soon, so kindly wait a while.” Gare clapped, and instantly a few pretty Asian girls sat beside Du Xinglong and his two disciples. They were pure and cute, with a hint of childlike innocence. Their white robes proved that they had been selected from among the disciples and students.

Ever since the Holy Fist Palace was established, and after the World Fistfighting Championship was held, they kept accepting combat enthusiasts from all around the world.

Dahm and Hochman, who were good at business, straight-out began recruiting pretty and cute girls under the age of sixteen from all over the world to work in the palace, their status allowed them to learn some fistfighting basics occasionally, but they also had an enviable salary. Their job was specifically to attend to guests at parties, serve the elite members, and so on.

These were all young girls who had signed ten-year contracts, they took shifts every half a year, after they left the mountain, they could enter the prestigious private university founded by the Hochman family and the Rexott group.

Du Xinglong, on the other hand, was fairly unwavering, he was not affected in the slightest. His two disciples, however, were passionate to begin with, so now that they saw so many pretty Asian girls sitting so close to them, their gazes were instantly fixed onto the girls.

Garen and Du Xinglong casually discussed the current situation regarding East Pole fistfighting, and the conversation moved to the World Fistfighting Championship that had just been held.

“The main objective of the World Fistfighting Championship was to properly show off fistfighting to the world, instead of constantly hiding everything in an unseen corner. As martial artists, we should spread the glory of martial arts. However…” Du Xinglong said with a frown. “Many fist techniques were meant for killing rather than performance, once we get serious, permanent injuries or even death are all possible, the destructive power is huge. And if we treat it as merely an exchange of techniques, that would be like a tiger whose claws and teeth were wrapped up in thick cloth. Without sharp teeth and claws, the intensity of the move would naturally be reduced greatly. That way, we naturally would not be able to demonstrate properly useful fist techniques… May I know what Mr Garen thinks of this?”

“This sort of situation is bound to happen,” Garen said calmly. “But we are living in a society governed by laws, martial arts are no longer a weapon of war, now they have become merely ways and methods to train one’s body, this is the general trend, and no one can change it. What we need to do is to stay calm and focused, we need to treat both competitive fists and killing fists objectively.”

“It seems Mr Garen already has an opinion?” Du Xinglong said fixedly.

Just then, two more middle-aged men wearing golden headscarves walked in, both of them were dressed in white robes embroidered with snakes and birds, and they folded their palms, bowing respectfully at Garen after they entered.

“Your Excellency Thams, welcome.” Garen stood up with a smile. “Please, sit.”

Immediately young girls from Europe and Arab respectively came up to serve them at close quarters.

The two of them took their respective seats, and two more entered just behind them.

This time the two guests carried long, thin swords on their backs, wrapped in cloth. One was a man and the other a woman, their gazes piercing and flinty, so they gave off a very sharp vibe.

They both wore long black tight-fitting clothes, with long sleeves and trousers. The sleeves reached up to half of their arms, their fingers long and fair, as well-maintained as a pianist’s fingers.

“The current Sect Masters of the Mokso Sword Sect, Masters Sabik and Lorrisa, welcome,” Garen smiled. “Now the representatives of all the top-level fistfighting techniques from all over the world are gathered here. This is the true gathering of international fistfighting!”

“You exaggerate, Mr Garen. We merely represent a small part of the martial arts world, there are still countless legacies hiding everywhere.” Sabik’s expression was serious, he seemed to be a humorless person.

All eight of them filled the banquet table, accompanied by the girls.

Garen had carefully selected these people, they were all the strongest martial arts sects and families in their areas, with the most influence, and each of them represented a huge step in martial arts as they attended this banquet.

This was all due to the operation the Holy Fist Palace joined recently, in exterminating the Wellington Family from the Blood Breed’s secret party. As normal people, they actually faced the Blood Breeds head-on without falling to a disadvantage, and their main forces returned unscathed, while the Wellington Family suffered heavy losses. Although the Dark Colors witches did participate, this was still enough to prove how deep and terrifying the power of the Holy Fist Palace was.

The groups from all over who had treated the invitations they had received with disdain instantly felt a jolt, and they each sent their people to this banquet in response. At the same time, they wanted to see if the Holy Fist Palace truly had the level of power the rumors said.

Of these people, the East Pole Gate Master seemed the most mysterious, he sat in his place, his aura faintly seeming to become one with nature.

Thams, the representative of the Sandt fist was the complete opposite, he had a striking presence all over his body, a strange sensation that made him impossible to ignore.

And the two masters from Mokso remained silent, they did not seem to be the talkative type.

After the few of them chatted for some time, they began to argue, not one side giving way. They all had martial arts knowledge dating over a century, so since they could not come to a consensus, they naturally wanted to try out some moves themselves.

“I heard that Mr Garen from the Holy Fist Palace has the title of Fist Saint(2), known as the strongest fistfighter in America.” The East Gate Master went straight to the point, “I, Du, came here to experience Mr Garen’s famous peak-level fist techniques for myself.” He actually challenged Garen directly.

Garen understood it well in his heart, every person present here had spent years perfecting their art, becoming the strongest opponents. They had practically thrown away all the luxuries in life, dedicating all their time to martial arts. They were not very well known among the sects, but they were truly the strongest of humanity, they had reached terrifying peaks in many areas. They had each surpassed the human limits using their own unique styles and ideals, elevating their skills to heights beyond human imagination.

These people’s bodies were probably already approaching the pinnacle of human genetics.

As soon as those words were spoken, the atmosphere in the banquet fell quiet, evidently this was everyone’s true goal.

Garen clapped his hands, and the girls at the banquet immediately got up and left, closing the door behind them.

He noticed that after Du Xinglong said that, his entire aura changed even more obviously, he seemed to blend in perfectly with the surroundings, his breathing even resonating vaguely with the air in the room, giving off an intense, natural pressure.

“I created three fist techniques, the Two-Faced Waterbird Fist, the Shooting Shadow Secret Technique, and the final White Cloud Secret Technique. Which do you want to experience, Gate Master Du?” He was smiling, but the sound of his words kept assaulting Du Xinglong’s merging, and his body emitted a huge and terrifying qi.

This qi was almost solid, everyone present could feel a huge current brush past their faces like a blade, but when they came back to their senses they realized it was merely an illusion.

This qi was enormous and extremely powerful, pressing down on the whole room, and most of the area around Du Xinglong were all suppressed completely. He was not forced out of his merger, but the natural area he tried to merge into was also completely controlled by Garen, so he could not move at all.

Du Xinglong’s face was slightly red, he felt the space he was in get isolated all of a sudden, his lungs began to lose their breath, a heavy pressure pressing down hard on him.

“As expected of a master-level fighter who has achieved qi-to-mind refination…” He held his fist in salute and lowered his head, with just that simple test, he could already sense his opponent’s bottomless power. Even if he wanted to ask for some sparring, he could no longer say it now.

Just the terrifying oppressive power of his opponent’s aura was enough to make his breath catch and his blood pause. Add that to the lightning on his brow (1) from before, and even if Du Xinglong was reluctant, he still had to lower his head and admit defeat.

Eastern martial arts were divided into three main levels, namely spirit-to-qi refination, qi-to-mind refination, and mind-to-null refination. Even now, he was merely at the peak of spirit-to-qi refination, there was an entire level between him and Garen. Just by standing there, Garen could easily force him down with his body’s vitality, only qi-to-mind refination could truly break the body’s genetic barriers, and constantly strengthen oneself through one’s life.

Garen was exactly like that, in the process of constantly gathering his soul seed, he had actually undergone the spirit-to-qi refination process, the two were very similar in principle.

Beside them, the Sandt Fist, Thams, and his disciple, also had shocked gazes. That enormous power Garen just emitted made them feel as though they were facing a sandstorm in the desert. The suffocating pressure caused even the flow of their powerful Daylight Martial Arts qi to stutter.

The Sandt fist was a bit like the Eastern fist technique, neither could surpass their genetic limits, so instead they cultivated many different attributes of qi, storing them in their bodies to support themselves. That was the true essence of spirit-to-qi refination, this stored-up qi could be emitted to harm enemies, or it could be used to stabilize themselves and activate their potential.

As the peak-level fighter of the desert, although Thams’ qi had achieved a very high level, it was still a certain ways away from the East Pole Sect Master, Du Xinglong. Seeing Du Xinglong submit like that, Thams was shocked beyond words.

“We don’t understand anything about qi-to-mind refination, martial arts were created for real battle, and we won’t know who’s stronger unless we actually cross fists. Therefore, why don’t we all show off our respective levels, whoever’s higher will be the winner, and we won’t need any more wars.” Master Sabik of the Mokso Sword Sect, who had been sitting beside them, stood up slowly. “I am only here for one thing, the word ‘Holy’ in the Holy Fist Palace indicates that it is at the very pinnacle of the field. If the sect holding that position does not have the power to back it up, they would be a shame to our martial arts world.”

He stared at Garen fixedly, taking the long sword covered with black cloth off his back, and quickly unsheathing the sword.

“I, Sabik, officially challenge you, Fist Saint Garen Thomas, on behalf of the Mokso Sword Sect.”

He raised his blade, gripping it in one hand, and his other hand waved as though he was performing a magic trick. Instantly an intricate black handgun appeared in his hand, it was exactly the same color as his clothes, completely inconspicuous, but it gave off an unspeakable sense of extreme threat.

The Mokso Sword Sect was famous for their gun-and-sword technique, a terrifying form of martial arts that merged a hot weapon with cold weapons. It was not based on any qi or spirit at all, relying solely on the edge of a sword and the destructive power of a gun to kill or maim their opponents.

Similarly, this sword sect’s ideals had been greatly promoted throughout all the European countries, giving them a shocking degree of influence.

Garen sat in his seat, watching Sabik quietly. He was just about to speak when suddenly his expression changed slightly, and his gaze wandered to the right, as though seeing something in the far distance through the walls.

This was a female disciple he had put a lot of hopes on, after practicing for so long, she had finally made her move, beginning her first official important mission.

“Fine, I accept your challenge.” He brought his attention back here, looking at Sabik, whose anger was brimming at the seams.

Translator’s note:

拳圣, very similar to his other nickname, Holy Fist (圣拳). A phenomenon where people with great qi flow has that power manifest in a bolt of lightning between their eyes.