Mystical Journey

After listening to Lindsay’s explanation about the combat world, in the next few days, Garen asked her about the relevant situation every day.

More than sixty years, Ying Er might still be alive, but his parents...

Garen sighed inwardly, time was still the strongest weapon of all.

He suddenly had the urge to return to the White Cloud Gate and take a look. But it was obvious that the current White Cloud Gate was probably no longer in the Stonecliff Continent’s Yalu Confederation.

However, since all the famous sects will join the Combat Festival, then the old sects like the Crimson Sand Sword and the Celestial Circle Gate would definitely be there, if he went there, he might be able to meet some of his old friends from back then.

Andrela, the King of Nightmares, the members of White Peacock from back then, were they still around now?

If he could meet some of his old friends, he might be able to find Ying Er as well.

Just then he was sitting in his own room, listening to Lindsay recall some of the combat world stories she knew, and he could more or less deduce the changes in the state of the world as well as their technological level.

"...After the Battle of Black Smoke Island, the second to grasp nuclear bombs were the Yalu Confederation, and then it was the Republic of the Tulip. After all three superpower countries controlled such intimidating power, there basically were no more great wars, only a few military exercises and constant small-scale skirmishes. That was when the true value of Grandmasters of Combat could be seen."

Lindsay spoke about all of this logically, after following her father on the sea for so many years, she had seen all sorts of people, and had many sources of information, plus she was bright enough, so Garen understood everything unnaturally well.

"More than ten years ago, a special forces team made completely out of Grandmasters of Combat infiltrated the Republic of the Tulip, in a mere ten days, they assassinated fifteen province-level high officials consecutively, and caused a huge international uproar. That mission was the famous Flash Operation, as though teleporting in a flash, they moved from one place to another, killing instantly, meeting no resistance. This made all the countries in the world understand the terrifying power of Grandmasters of Combat in a special forces unit. And because of that, the Demon Gate and the Immortal Palace began to grow dramatically stronger, bringing the whole combat world with them. Each country began to understand the Grandmasters of Combat more, and more combat-related activities blossomed, until training in combat became a popular trend. Now, all of the countries determine the strength of their special forces according to the number and quality of the Grandmasters of Combat in their countries."

Lindsay finished saying all that in one go, then she picked up her tea and chugged from it, moistening her throat.

Garen watched the little fella talk and talk in front of him, acting like a little adult, and he could not help but find it slightly funny.

"Then the Demon Gate and the Immortal Palace have their own territories, right?"

"That is for sure, the Immortal Palace is mainly in Weisman where we are, and they have countless connections with the military. The Demon Gate is mostly based in the Yalu Confederation, and the Republic of the Tulip in the Azure Continent is the weakest, although the Crimson Sand Sword and Celestial Circle Gate are very powerful, they are still too far away from the Immortal Palace and the Demon Gate."

The Crimson Sand Sword and Celestial Circle Gate were both forced to the Azure Continent.

Garen understood now, the old Yale Confederation had been utterly conquered by the Behemoth Gate, while the Immortal Palace were in cahoots with Weisman. If the White Cloud Gate really still existed, and was still teaching their legacies, then they were most likely in the Azure Continent.

Picking up the tea cup and sipping from it, Garen fell into deep thought, when suddenly he felt the cup in his hand sink a little, the hardworking young Lindsay had refilled his cup with tea.

She had been cleaning his room and serving him tea every day for these past few days, and this young one carried out her duties respectfully, her service detailed and first-rate.

"Is the Combat Festival held in a fixed location?" He picked up his cup and sipped again.

"It’s not, they choose a different place each time. Mr Garen, are you planning to join the Combat Festival?" Lindsay asked carefully.

"That’s right, after training for so many years, I thought I should go out and meet the people outside." Garen put down his cup, "I bet you’ve practiced some things with your old man, right?"

Lindsay’s heart brightened, and she pressed down her excitement.

"You mean..."

"I won’t take you in as my disciple, but I can teach you a thing or do." Garen smiled. "Get up and show me everything you learned before. The one you practice the most."

"Yes!"

Lindsay was instantly overjoyed, and she hurriedly moved the chair away, opening up some space.

Standing in the empty space, she pressed her arms forward slowly, and then she raised a knee, the tip of her foot moving slowly at first, but then kicking quickly, her upward kick drawing an easy and beautiful arc.

Turning around, side kick, forward kick, spinning stomp, warhammer downward chop, both her legs in the air as she kicked consecutively.

In that little two meters worth of space, the girl nimbly demonstrated all sorts of different kicks in a very short time, her actions light and quick, her control excellent.

The whoosh of her kicking kept spinning and resounding in the small room.

"Attack me!" Garen said suddenly. "At full power!"

Lindsay’s heart was filled with joy, she knew that this was his real test for her. Her right leg was pulled back, and instantly bounced up again like a poisonous snake, turning into a black shadow and aiming for Garen’s throat with a whoosh.

Smack!

Garen caught the tip of her foot steadily in his hand, so she could not move at all, and all the momentum seemed to have been kicked into the empty air, making Lindsay feel unspeakably uncomfortable.

"Your basics are not bad, but they’re just for show, without the secrets of blood qi, you can only beat up normal people at the most."

"Blood qi secrets?!!" Lindsay’s eyes instantly lit up, "Are you going to teach me blood qi secrets!?"

Blood qi secrets were something only secret techniques had, and the true secret techniques among secret techniques, were the essences of all sects and true martial arts. No matter how the fist- or kick-fighting techniques were, without the secrets of channeling blood qi, they would still only be normal people, unable to reach their limits.

And once they had this secret, only then would they truly step into the world of secret techniques, the world of martial artists.

Garen laughed out loud, blood qi secrets were the core of secret techniques, so they were indeed precious, but he had too many secret techniques stored in his brain, and yet any low-level secret technique would be a priceless treasure to this fellow, it was a core item that could be passed down for a lifetime, and used to strengthen a family.

Besides, even if it was just one of the low-level secret technique secrets that Garen remembered, to Lindsay, it would still be a huge opportunity.

She knew it best herself, this was different from the era where several hundred families clashed with their secret techniques, now countries were paying a lot of attention to the power of Grandmasters of Combat, and had strict regulations over secret techniques, and especially so over the Immortal Palace and the Demon Gate, they would not allow the large-scale spreading of secret technique secrets at all, and they had strict rules over the other sects as well. As a result, other than joining the Combat Festival, those who were not chosen and did not have the opportunity, would never be able to learn true secret techniques.

"I’ll teach you a simple leg technique. Practice more of this yourself." Garen went through some options, and found the Snake Style Leg secret technique that he had recorded under the White Cloud Gate.

"This secret technique tip is called the Snake Style Leg, it has tremendous power, immense speed, allowing you to extend and retract your leg quickly, so you can land one hit before the enemy could even react. It’s not really a secret technique, at the most it’s only really an explosive blood qi technique."

"It’s enough, it’s enough!!" Lindsay’s smile was going to turn her face into a flower, she was so happy it was turning her silly.

She was deeply in love with martial arts since young, but unfortunately she did not have the conditions required, so she could only keep repeating her old man’s few moves.

After that, Garen got up and showed her the key to the Snake Style Leg, the moves, and pressure points regarding blood qi and will.

Lindsay was indeed no prodigy, and she was barely even bright, she was just average at best. After hearing it three times, she still barely understood, so Garen had to explain it to her again in detail, analyzing the Snake Style Leg in parts, and setting several goals and steps for her, so she just had to train towards these daily goals.

This was his way of repaying her food and accommodation services.

Time passed by day after day, Garen stayed deep within Lindsay’s family ship, just teaching Lindsay a bit about the kicking technique every day, while he spent the rest of his time alone in his room, reading books, and listening to the radio Lindsay had brought him.

Soon enough, the ship also approached their destination -- the East Continent.

The east side of the three continents was called the East Continent. In truth, the whole East Continent was the East side that Garen’s master, Fei Baiyun, mentioned back then. In other words, it was the place the White Cloud Gate was initially founded. For his whole life, Fei Baiyun wanted to return to the East Continent, to see his old hometown and school, but unfortunately he never managed to fulfill that wish of his, so he passed it on to Garen on his deathbed.

Back then he had thought he would not be able to fulfill it either, but now he had somehow returned to the East Continents, though it was several decades later...

*************

"Hahaha...!"

Amidst the hearty laughter, a large man with a black beard hugged Lindsay’s old man hard, patting his back loud enough to for others hear the clapping.

"Safe sailing, Captain Whitman! And I thought I’d only see your ship next week, but to think you’re here today!" The large black-bearded man was shirtless, revealing his powerful and healthy dark skin.

The two of them stood on the jetty, surrounded by the laborers carrying the cargo back and forth. It was dawn, the air was clean and cold, with a faint hint of mist, veiling the whole jetty in a foggy blur.

"You kid, Brother Feng, this time I brought a large cargo with me, if I don’t move faster, I’d regret it if all the cargo had been taken away by others!" Whitman chuckled as he added on.

While the adults chatted on that side, the children were gathered elsewhere.

Lindsay was standing aside, facing a boy and a girl.

"Big Sis, this is the fifth edition of the ‘World’s Combat History’, I bought it specially for you." The little boy’s face was all swollen and his nose green, but he handed her a neatly-wrapped book respectfully.

"This is the ‘Transmutations of the Kick’ that I found." The girl handed over a book she had found as well.

Both of them seemed about ten years old, their faces childish, but even the girl’s face was covered in bruises.

"What’s up with your faces?" Lindsay’s voice grew angry, and she asked softly. She was the Big Sister of the captains’ kids here on this jetty, and because she liked martial arts, she often beat these kids into submission. The two small ones in front of her now were her ‘true disciples’, not everyone dared to touch them.

Seeing as the two of them weren’t speaking, Lindsay humphed coldly like her father.

"Was it Zhao Qinglan!?"

The two of them stuttered but did not dare to reply.

If it was the Lindsay from before, she would not dare to rush and find that Zhao Qinglan either, that person was new to the jetty, and had been studying martial arts since young, she was even better at it than Lindsay, although she was also a girl, she already weighed more than sixty kilograms despite her young age, and had tremendous strength.

But now that she had gotten the secret of the Snake Style Leg, Lindsay was full of confidence, and was sure of her powers, so she had the urge to give it a try.