512 Return 2 (1/2)

Chapter 512: Return 2

Instantly, the atmosphere in the hall seemed to have changed somewhat, the various Elders all looked rather interested, and even Ivycius, who had his eyes closed before, opened them now, looking at the three disciples who stepped out of the line.

The first two were the two masters that Garen had recruited as his disciples before, and the other was a young guy of about fifteen or sixteen. Unlike the polite respect of the other two, this young fellow respected him but tried hard to keep his head up, meeting Garen's gaze head-on, even if this determination made his whole body tremble, and slightly more than ten seconds was enough to cover his head with a cold sweat. But he still clenched his teeth and held in there.

”Who's Ansapello?” Garen asked calmly, but his gaze was already fixed on the young man whose face was growing paler and paler.

”It's that little idiot who just refuses to bend his head.” Amidst the Elders, Wukang couldn't help but laugh. Instantly, the whole hall burst into fond laughter.

”I heard that you meditated under my statue, and said you would surpass me?” Garen was not laughing in the slightest, though. His tone instantly affected the atmosphere in the whole Grand Hall, and the other Elders' laughter also slowly quieted down.

The pale young man still held his head stubbornly high, his originally short brown hair soaked with sweat and plastered onto his forehead, while there were visible sweat stains on his clothes, but he still had no intention of lowering his head.

”Yes…!” He forced the word out of clenched teeth, under the pressure of Garen's gaze, even though Garen did not mean to pressure him at all, he was born with an innate and acute sensitivity towards danger, this was a talent, and this talent allowed him to travel thousands of miles, escaping death countless times, finally arriving at Kovitan and entering the Black Swamp Palace.

Right now, this talent had instead become his biggest burden, this sensitivity towards danger was making him shake like a leaf, his body and heart on the brink of collapse, as though he was at the bottom of the water, trying to float upwards to obtain oxygen, but there were seaweed and whirlpools holding his feet down.

This unbelievably overwhelming sense of suffocation made him almost want to lower his head and give in.

Whoosh…

The young man seemed to hear the sound of the tide retreating, the pressure all over him suddenly disappearing, his whole body shook slightly and he just nearly fell to the ground. His senior brother beside him held him up secretly, finally helping him steady his footing.

Evidently Garen had discovered the reason why he was shaking, and had taken the initiative to pull back the aura and energy emitting from his body, which finally let the young fellow return to normal.

”Good… very good!!” Everyone could see the smile on Garen's face clearly. His eyes showed his appreciation of the young man without hesitation. ”The fourth level of the Black Water True Technique, you'll need to trade for it using quest badges, the Black Swamp Palace won't teach it to you for free, the first three levels are the most basic benefits for disciples and scholars, but after enjoying the privileges, you would naturally have duties you need to fulfill. For the fourth level, you'll need to complete a certain number of quests to obtain quest points yourselves, only then will you obtain it, and you are not allowed to teach it to each other privately. There's no problem, is there?”

”Of course!” The young man replied loudly, and panted once. ”If we want to get something, we need to give something equal in return, that's what you're trying to tell us!”

”Go down and rest.” Garen waved his hand, and there were instantly maids coming up to help the young man stand, bringing him down.

Garen's attitude had affected the attitudes of all the Black Swamp Palace higher-ups to some extent, and most of the Elders still looked friendly, only the Seven Night Tower's Angel looked slightly displeased, though she did not say anything, that young fellow had probably offended her at some point.

Garen did not bother with her, the Palace was not one fixed entity, there would be some slight conflicts between members, and he would ignore those, as long as they did not cross a certain line, everything could be considered the obstacles and trainings between Palace members.

After that, it was the Four Directions Sky Warriors in charge of various matters who came up to report on their respective areas, although these conditions had already been summarized and given to Lala for organization, now they reported to him again in detail, in a way to fill up the details.

The Four Directions Sky Warriors were peak-level fighting geniuses chosen from outside, after testing their qualifications and endurance, in the two short months since Garen left, two of these four positions had been challenged by outsiders, and the people in the positions changed. The challengers were from the prodigy training camps, these camps included the cream of the crop from among the competition of many normal scholars, and these elite members were once more divided into the possible candidates for the Four Directions Sky Generals as well the core scholars and disciples.

The whole Black Swamp Palace had formed a complete system, albeit one in the early stages.

The whole Black Swamp Palace was divided into five levels.

The first level was the Palace Master.

The second level included three powers: the Elders, the head manager Lala, and the Technique Hall, each of these was equal in power.

The third level had the core scholars, the Four Directions Sky Warriors, the prodigy training camp's instructor totem users, and the managers of the outside businesses.

The fourth level had the prodigy scholars.

The fifth level was the lowest level, and included the normal scholars, they were just one level higher than the regular maids and servants, or the domestic help.

Of these five levels, just in the fourth level itself, the Black Swamp Palace's prodigy scholars already had countless connections to the outside world, the higher-ranked scholars had already become future investment targets from many of the large and small factions outside, and these scholars had gathered many powers, some more and some less, big and small, behind them.

The power of the entire Black Swamp Palace was like a giant spider web, covering the whole Kingdom, and rapidly spreading to cover the entire Protection area.

This had already become a huge economic group with the Black Swamp Palace in the middle, and Garen at the very top.

The Four Directions Sky Generals came up to report on their different missions, the black-armored guards had been renamed from the Black Fire Guards from before to the Black Swamp Guards now, these Black Swamp Guards were more powerful than before, and the Four Directions Sky Warriors' powers combined, added to the power they had under their control, was more than capable of matching four peak-level Form Four totem users. Although this was the effect of using all sorts of methods, and disregarding all costs, but from here the terrifying power of the Green Vine Sphere was made evident, it was enough to make a normal person achieve the level of a peak-level fighter, as expected of the Green Vine Sphere, the heights of Vanderman's achievements throughout his lifetime.