Garen and Mackenzie

"Mackenzie, take a little time to rest and recover your battle-qi. We'll spar in a bit."

Garen had never fought a human Saint Realm powerhouse before. He was confident, but still wanted to experience it for himself.

"All right. I'm looking forward to it, too. Let's see how I measure up against a Saint Realm Ultimate Warrior."

Mackenzie knew he would most likely lose, but he was still incredibly eager.

What Saint Realm warrior wouldn't want to fight a Saint Realm Ultimate Warrior at least once?

They were said to stand at the very pinnacle of the Saint Realm.

He might not want to experience a fight to the death, but a spar could bring him great benefits. It was a rare chance to learn and improve.

Besides, befriending two powerhouses who were sure to reach the Saint Realm's peak one day could only bring benefits.

Mackenzie sat down on the ground and began recovering his battle-qi.

Linley sat down as well and closed his eyes, reflecting on what he had gained from the fight. A chance to battle someone from the Saint Realm was incredibly precious to him at his current level.

Half an hour later, Mackenzie had fully recovered his battle-qi and got to his feet.

Linley knew an exciting fight was about to begin, so he opened his eyes.

Garen slowly rose into the air and hovered there.

Mackenzie followed him up, looking surprised. "You can fly without transforming?"

He couldn't sense any fluctuations of magic or battle-qi. That could only mean Garen had reached an extremely profound level of understanding in one of the Laws and Mysteries.

"It's just a basic application of the Wind Element. Nothing worth mentioning," Garen said with a wave of his hand.

"Impressive, impressive. I'm hundreds of years old, and I've only ever heard of the Laws and Mysteries. I've never managed to grasp them. And you two, one an eighth-rank warrior and the other a ninth-rank warrior, have already comprehended..."

When Mackenzie was young, he had made a name for himself in the O'Brien Empire and was hailed as a once-in-a-century genius. But today he had learned that even geniuses could be worlds apart.

The gap between an ordinary genius and a peerless prodigy was simply beyond measure.

His whole worldview had been shattered.

"Haha, Mackenzie, comprehending the Laws and Mysteries can come down to a moment of insight. I'm sure you'll grasp them soon enough. Come on, let's have a good fight."

"Let's."

Mackenzie had assumed Garen would transform before sparring with him. He hadn't expected Garen to fight in his ninth-rank human form.

But he had already suffered at Linley's hands, so he didn't dare underestimate his opponent this time. His fire-style battle-qi surged as he leveled his spear, his aura rising to its peak.

Garen drew the God-Slaying Blade, but didn't unleash the baleful aura within it. He stood with the blade held at his side.

As Mackenzie stared at Garen, he was startled to see his figure grow increasingly blurred, seeming hazy and ethereal.

Mackenzie's spiritual force couldn't lock onto Garen's presence. It was as if Garen had become the wind, giving the impression that he couldn't be hit.

One man's aura was explosive as fire; the other's was as elusive as the wind.

"Watch out," Garen warned.

Then he blurred and appeared in front of Mackenzie in an instant.

"So fast! Is that really the speed of a ninth-rank warrior?"

Garen had gained a deep understanding of the Wind Element. His mastery now was nothing like it had been when he first started learning it.

Even without transforming, the Laws and Mysteries, combined with the Black Gem's boost, let him match Mackenzie's speed despite Mackenzie being at the Saint Realm Mid-Stage.

Garen swung with a simple slash. It seemed light and effortless, and held not the slightest trace of battle-qi.

Mackenzie still didn't dare take it lightly. He raised his spear to block.

"Clang!"

The explosive force of the blow sent Mackenzie flying dozens of meters.

Garen merely shook his head slightly.

"So fusing the Mysteries isn't that simple after all."

Garen's strike had been a probe. He'd wanted to try fusing the Mysteries of Wind Element with the Fire-style Profundity of Explosion.

He had used both the Mysteries of Wind Element and the Profundity of Explosion in that strike, but they hadn't fused at all.

Still, after his Soul Mutation, he could imbue a single strike with two different Laws. Even unfused, they had made the blow considerably more powerful.

"What kind of Laws and Mysteries was that? It felt as light as the wind, yet when it touched my spear, it was as explosive as a volcanic eruption. How strange."

Mackenzie was deeply shaken by the blow and couldn't help asking.

"..."

How am I supposed to answer that? Other people haven't even grasped a single Mystery. If I tell him I'm trying to fuse Mysteries from different Laws, wouldn't that be a little discouraging? Garen thought.

"Mackenzie, this is one way I apply the Mysteries of Wind. The Laws and Mysteries are as deep as the sea. There's a lot for us to explore."

Garen didn't tell him the truth. It seemed like it would only discourage Mackenzie, and wouldn't help him in the slightest.

"It seems you've comprehended the Wind Laws to an incredibly deep level. I'm going to use my ultimate move now. Otherwise, I don't stand a chance against you."

Mackenzie had felt the gap in their understanding of the Laws. In a normal fight, he wouldn't be able to defend himself at all—he'd just get beaten down. His only option was to use his ultimate move and see if he could regain a little ground.

"Good. Show me what you've got," Garen said boldly.

Given how the fight had gone so far, he couldn't feel the slightest pressure.

"Fire Domain!"

Mackenzie suddenly burst into action. For a thousand meters in every direction, the air was saturated with fire elements and battle-qi. Garen felt as though he had plunged into a sea of fire.

Mackenzie merged into the fiery sea in an instant and vanished from sight.

A flaming spear suddenly appeared above Garen's head. Garen swung his blade at it.

The spear shattered with ease.

"So it's condensed energy, not a physical object."

Then countless spear-shadows took shape within the sea of fire and stabbed toward Garen.

"Good."

Garen knew the spear-shadows were nothing but condensed energy. Even if they hit him, his Tiger God Armor would likely keep them from breaking through. But he felt this was a good chance to experiment with the Mysteries.

He had tried to fuse the Mysteries of Wind Element with the Profundity of Explosion in his last strike, but it had felt too difficult. He decided to change his approach.

This was the perfect chance to familiarize himself with the two Wind Laws Mysteries he'd just learned: "Mysteries of Speed" and "Mysteries of Slowness."

Using speed to overcome speed!

Garen knew these two Mysteries could be combined into the "Mysteries of Velocity," so he deliberately used them together.

His blade flashed. His movements seemed slow, yet he struck a million times in an instant, shattering every spear-shadow in the sea of fire.

Mackenzie was astonished once more. Garen's blade seemed slow, but was actually incredibly fast. He had blocked every one of Mackenzie's attacks.

Mackenzie had sparred with other Saint Realm powerhouses before, but none had managed this within his Fire Domain. That included the "strongest warrior in the Saint Realm," the Rock Sword Saint Hederson. Even Hederson couldn't have shattered every spear-shadow in his Fire Domain.

Hederson had relied on his peerless defense to endure the attacks, winning only after Mackenzie's battle-qi ran out.

Now, within the Fire Domain, Mackenzie was still looking for the right chance to strike.

He didn't know that Garen could sense his presence even though Mackenzie thought he had vanished into the Fire Domain. In truth, if Garen wanted to beat him quickly, it would be a piece of cake.

Garen's Map Function displayed Mackenzie's position with perfect clarity.

The longer Garen fought, the more excited he became. His blade seemed to grow faster and faster, and his understanding of the Mysteries of Speed and Slowness continued to deepen. The two Mysteries seemed to be on the verge of fusing.

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