The people of the Scarlet Snow Planet went out to investigate. The Great Supervisors handling the daily matters, who were usually separated from the external administrative people, also realized the changes.

The headquarter region was where the Great Elders and the hidden powerhouses stayed. This, on the other hand, was an independent managerial department. Other than the occasional request for a.s.sistance from the inner sect, they would not usually enter the inner sect.

However, now that the snow mountains melting was causing the rivers to converge, this anomaly had attracted the attention of the administrative people.

Garen had just exited the Frost h.e.l.l when the guards at the entrance were investigating the changes outside, so no one realized Garen had already left the Frost h.e.l.l.

"Senior Brother! Senior Brother Garen! I didn't know you left!?" As he reached the front entrance of the cave, one of the guards exclaimed as he noticed Garen walking out.

"Mm… What's happening outside?" Garen asked, confused.

"I'm not sure, but I think the snow is melting," one of the guards whispered.

"The snow is melting?" Garen suddenly thought of the souls disappearing from the Frost h.e.l.l. It might have been him who triggered this change because the source of the snow mountains' cold temperature had always been the secret souls in Frost h.e.l.l.

Now that the secret souls had fused together and formed a horrifying ice armor, it was the merged inheritance of all the ancestors. It was the condensed essence of Scarlet Snow Sect.

Garen knew that him taking the armor meant that he was accepting the wills and wishes of Scarlet Snow Sect's past ancestors over thousands of years.

"Is a ceremony going on?" He remembered what Carthage said before he left. The ceremony was the so-called Major Battle to gather all the elites. In the end, they were all defeated by the Pilots, which resulted in heavy casualties among the entire population of Energy Machinists in the City of Nagadako.

The only thing was that the Major Battle would last a long time; it was not something that could be finished quickly.

Returning to reality, Garen started thinking once again. How was he going to answer to the Great Elders about the disappearance of the Frost h.e.l.l?

He left the entrance of the Frost h.e.l.l, heading straight to the main peak's courtroom where Renee was once put to trial.

The entirety of the Scarlet Snow Sect had become chillier by the minute. Perhaps it had been chilly before, it was just that Garen was only realizing it now. Not many people were to be seen around on the way there. As the headquarter of Scarlet Snow, there were very few people around.

The extreme cold made it difficult for normal people to enter. Only the ones who practiced Scarlet Snow Technique could survive there in the long run. Not many people left their homes during the weekday anyway, only the trained ones dared to.

However, those trained ones were likely to retire into isolation for several years at times, hence explaining why the area was deserted.

In the desolate sky, Garen glanced down. The rare sight of a few sporadic figures could be seen flas.h.i.+ng quickly across the ground. It was evident that plenty of people were moving about using Teleportation Arrays.

Soon, he reached the courtroom. From a distance, Garen could hear what sounded like a subtle roar, as though something was colliding against a heavy object.

As the courtroom became closer and closer, two white silhouettes could be seen cras.h.i.+ng against each other between the huge ice sculptures.

A gigantic Ice Fox was hovering in front, constantly playing around with the small white spot on the other side.

"This won't work, the strength's not enough!"

"Speed! You're too slow! Faster! Go faster!" An old man, who was in the middle of the Ice Foxes, yelled.

"Ah ah ah!" On the other side, a white youngster suddenly lashed out a clean palmprint that had a strong chill; it was still increasing in size toward the Ice Foxes.

"Too weak!"

The low rumble sounded among the Ice Foxes once again. A tail whipped out and shattered the clean palmprint.

"You just ruined a perfectly ruined the good old Snowstorm Palm! Yours just looks like a slow and powerless ordinary palm!" The old man's hoa.r.s.e voice continued to lecture.

Two young, beautiful girls were standing by the side, watching quietly. It turned out they were Little One and Little Two, the two guards given to Garen by the First Princess. From the worried looks on their faces, it was evident that they were very familiar with the two people on the spot.

Ever since Garen's surroundings had been conquered by the Two-headed Werewolves, they were not able to receive any commands from Garen ever since. So, they roamed around Scarlet Snow Sect's headquarter freely. Their lives were peaceful yet boring, and they somehow met people around the area.

With just one glance, Garen recognized the two people who were in battle.

The golden-haired teenager was Senior Sister Rainy's grandchild of direct bloodline, Hong Guo, one who inherited a Secret Frost Seed.

When he first ventured into the Scarlet Snow Sect's headquarter along with his buddy, it was said that he was imprisoned. However, to everyone's surprise, he was now safe and sound.

The one standing against him was a Great Supervisor within the sect. He had the powers of the Inherited Level, the Ice Fox Nasata, and he was one of the Great Supervisors in charge of foreign affairs.

"Hong Guo, huh?" Garen was floating high up in the sky to avoid being noticed by people on the ground. He was just observing how the Ice Fox was instructing Hong Guo how to unleash his powers as well as the Secret Frost Seed's strength.

He also noticed the mysterious teenager, the one always ranked at the bottom among the Third Hearted, was standing far away, witnessing the battle as well. He thought he had gone unnoticeable, just staring blatantly at Hong Guo with a greedy look on his face.

Garen recalled the incident that involved Hong Guo last time.

If this fellow had followed his original track, he would have been the leader of the lucky Energy Machinist survivors. After the Battle of Ice Age about a hundred years later, all the Upper Energy Machinists would be completely dead. Meanwhile, he would lead the leftover younger Energy Machinists away to start over a new life at a new place.

Since Little One and Little Two were somewhat congenial with him, he should just let them protect him then…

Garen did not move anything other than his lips, silently pa.s.sing a message along to Little One and Little Two who were below.

The two girls' faces instantly lit up with shock. They searched around for Garen, but they did not see him at all. As for Garen's original worry that the Great Supervisors and Great Elderlies would notice the disappearance of Frost h.e.l.l, there had been no sign so far. Everything was in peace in the courtroom.

The Great Elderlies were not there, the Great Supervisors seemed to be busy with their own matters, and most of the Three Hearted Disciples of the entire Scarlet Snow Sect were still out, so they had not entered the Frost h.e.l.l and realized anything.

Without the Great Elder, Garen was currently the strongest in Scarlet Snow Sect.

Observing the battle below, Garen paused for a bit before leaving quietly.

Along with Carthage's ruling, the top reclusive powerhouse headquarter of the Scarlet Snow Sect had gradually died down, becoming extremely quiet and lonely.

The moment he returned to his own place, Garen immediately noticed the few Great Supervisors waiting for him outside his Black Wolf Lair's mansion.

"Senior Brother Garen, we have something urgent that needs a decision! An urgent matter! It's a pressing matter so we do not dare to make any unauthorized decisions!" One of the Great Supervisors, who was unusually sensitive, sensed Garen approaching and started shouting frantically.

"What about Senior Sisters Alice and Eva, and King Cat?" Garen frowned. If foreign affairs had started coming to him for help regarding emergencies, did that mean that the people in front of him were dead?

"Senior Brother Carthage rearranged all the rankings before he left, so you're the second one now. You're ranked number two!" One of the Great Supervisors quickly explained. "You have to make all the big decisions in the sect now!"

Only then did Garen understand the true meaning of what Carthage meant with his parting words.

He landed on the ground swiftly. He had yet landed properly when the Great Supervisors already rushed forward.

"Senior Brother Garen, we have an urgent situation! The Medicine of Creation has finally produced the fifth secret medicine! Should we send people over!?"

"There's also the military situation. Our Scarlet Snow Business Alliance's third lane was attacked by pirates and they're in need of a powerhouse to help out!" Another voice followed.

"I'm here to report about the Sky Capital. Star Cloud and Black Blade have officially initiated a war! The thirteen cities will be destroyed, and the battle fire will soon touch upon Planet Naga!"

The three back-to-back information caused Garen to be taken back by surprise.

"Started war? Star Cloud and Black Blade? The Star Cloud and Black Blade Magnetic Field was one of the strongest organization of Energy Machinists, and now they were at war? This gave Garen an uneasy feeling.

"At the Blue Sky Capital?" He asked in a hushed tone.

"Yes… That's right! The Blue Sky Capital already has thirteen of its major cities destroyed and completely wiped out. Their death count has reached over ten million already!"

"What about the few Three Hearted Royal Highness?" Garen asked quickly. Since he was the person in charge now, he should just get straight to the point.

"Some are in solitude, some are taking a break on holiday, but all of them basically have no idea what's happening."

"Make public the third piece of news you just gave me now. Inform the stationed personnel over at Planet Naga and reach out to families and relatives from other places to bring them back. n.o.body is allowed to travel long distances from this moment on." Garen barked out commands swiftly. n.o.body knew the future as well as him, he just did not expect things to disrupt this soon.

"Also, inform everyone, including the Three Hearted Royal Highness, that I am calling together at a meeting at the courtroom! The Great Elder and Senior Brother aren't here, we have to immediately confirm my authority as the decision maker of Scarlet Snow Sect!"

"Yes!"

The three Great Supervisors responded solemnly and dispersed, immediately going about to deliver the news.

As the three of them left, Garen returned to a state of calmness. He had reached a moment of life and death, this was not the time to hesitate.

He got up once again and ordered his Two-headed Werewolves and Turing to save up resources before he started toward the Second Great Elder's main peak.

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

The white, cold tower stood above the mountains, rings of white halos could be seen surrounding it.

There were no signs of any bodyguards around, a completely different situation compared to the last time Garen dropped by. There were only a few automatic robots patrolling the area.

"Garen here to pay respect to Master," Garen called out gently as he landed in front of the tower.

There was no response; the tower remained silent as if n.o.body was around.

"Garen here to pay respect to Master, request to open the defense screen," Garen repeated himself.

Perhaps it was the loud echoes, someone finally rushed out from inside.

"Great Elder has said that he doesn't want to see anyone, he's in recluse now!"

"He doesn't want to see anyone?" Garen's eyes were cold as he made his way toward the tower. A terrifying aura of chill was emitting from him, turning into wisps of white smoke spreading everywhere.

"Stand still! How dare you enter the tower without permission!" The person shouted after Garen furiously.

The peak of the tower instantly flickered in fluorescent white.

A translucent screen appeared before Garen's eyes, blocking his path.

Rip!

The screen was torn apart in Garen's hands within seconds.

Garen continued on his path. At the speed of a lightning, he appeared before the man and grabbed the man's head, freezing the man's entire lower body so that the man's brain was the only system still functioning.

"Forgive me! Have mercy on me! I'm just a messenger! It's nothing to do with me!" The man's reaction was strangely instantaneous. As it turned out, he was just a trash with a Level Three or Four Scarlet Snow Technique.

Simply throwing the person aside, Garen strode into the tower. The normally-filled place was now deserted, with no sight of the daily maintenance crew.

Remaining silent, Garen headed straight for the stairs.

Just as he reached the second floor, his eyes landed on Second Great Elder who was walking slowly toward him in the corridor.

"Are you rebelling, Garen?! Simply tearing the tower's defense screen, you are just trying to ruin my hard work aren't you!?" Second Great Elder shouted angrily, glaring cold at Garen with his hands behind his back.

Garen studied the Second Great Elder for a while and then bowed his head after making sure there was nothing wrong.

"As your disciple, I dare not do such a thing."

"Dare not? You killed your Senior Brother and your Senior Sister; you disrespected your teachers and acted irrationally. Is there

anything else you dare not do?!" Second Great Elder scolded him.

"Seeing as you are well, teacher, I shall excuse myself…" Garen turned to leave, his face calm and steady. He suddenly realized that Second Great Elder's hands were empty.

"Teacher, why do you not have your pipe with you? That's your favorite pipe." Garen narrowed his eyes against Second Great Elder.