1011 Era 1

Inside the clean, hollow room.

Staff in hand, Rainy was quietly standing far away from where Garen was. Changing into a suit of white practice clothing, she seemed like an ordinary harmless old woman with the peaceful look on her face.

At the other side of the room, Garen raised his arm as five Winter Night Wolves appeared before him.

Once he started using the Space Ring, he instantly remembered that this was still Princess Aine's personal belonging and he was just borrowing it. But now that he was suddenly brought along by Third Senior Sister as a Three Hearted Disciple, he could only wait utill he got back to return it to her.

"Just five?" Rainy shook her head. "This isn't enough at all…" She grinned all of a sudden, exposing her sharp white teeth, making her seem like an absolutely terrifying beast.

"Just try it," Garen did not say much, every wolf from the Winter Wolf Pack was exactly as he imagined, they reached the Level Five limits already. A light translucent membrane lingered around them, the symbol of a Level-Five energy field defense.

For a Level-Five opponent, they would have to break through the energy field defense before being able to defeat the gigantic wolves.

"Then… Be careful…" Rainy laughed before casually striking her staff on the ground.

Boom!!

A huge terrifying shockwave of energy spread from around her towards all directions.

"War Trample!!"

Rainy growled. Click!

Cracks started forming all over the ground like black snakes creeping towards Garen swiftly.

Poof!

A gray stone pillar shot out between the cracks, its extremely sharp peak aiming to pierce Garen's underarm.

Garen got caught by surprise because everything was moving too fast and he could not react in time.Within the blink of an eye, the attack was in front of him.

Without further hesitation, he kicked behind to dodge the stone pillar's pierce. The five Winter Night Wolves were howling and darting towards Rainy, surrounding her from three directions.

"Idiot! Us Energy Machinists from Planet Naga only rely on ourselves, not our machines!" Rainy snorted while her body flashed. It did not seem fast at all but it was just right for her to dodge the wolves' attack, she even led the wolves to inflict the attack on themselves.

While dodging, Rainy was still able to rush towards Garen at an inhuman speed. She was like a sharp blade launched from a sheath.

Right when Garen managed to avoid the pierces from the cracks on the ground and just steadied himself, he then saw Rainy who was already before his eyes.

Whack!!

The bottom of the black staff was like a steel thorn aimed at Garen's eyes. With that speed power, he might just be unable to block the attack and get stabbed to death.

"Ten Thousand True Destruction!!" Under such circumstances, Garen had no way of defending himself so naturally, he used his quickest and strongest Ten Thousand True Technique.

The destructive power twisted his entire body which caused his body to twist all the way to the left. At the same time, Garen's right arm drew out towards Rainy's neck like a whip.

His eyes flashed too. Knowing that he had no chance up against Rainy, any sense of mercy would be ridiculously stupid so he might as well release his Ten Thousand True Technique's third transformation to the limit.

Besides his right arm whipping out towards Rainy, he held up two fingers on his left hand and pierced towards Rainy's vital side of her waist.

"Now this move is something!" Rainy was still able to comment calmly even when she was moving at high speed. "Someone with combat skills of Water Mirror Level can be known as an absolute guru among the normal people, but in Planet Naga, it's nothing!"

She abruptly let out a low scream.

"I shall let you see a higher level of Water Mirror! Silver Mirror!"

Her staff suddenly vanished, whooshing downwards from her front in a strong stroke.

Clang!

An odd feeling washed over Garen, he felt like all his powers were gone, as if there was a strong force of power drawing along his natural attacking instinct.

Under such situations, his well-trained combat instinct was telling him that he had already hit his target, but in reality, his five senses were telling him he missed it.

Swish!

Like a shadow, Rainy dashed out from the right, her staff subtly hovering above Garen's throat. Every swift movement instantly became a complete silence. The sharp point of the staff was nearly half a centimeter near Garen's throat.

He felt an immense pressure pressing on him although the staff was clearly hovering above his throat, Garen had a feeling that once he got hit, he would shatter and fall into pieces within a second.

"I didn't even get to use my Ten Thousand True Technique's third transformation…" Garen said in extreme disappointment.

This was a mere contest to see whose combat techniques were better, both of them did not use their Scarlet Snow Technique or their other special abilities, it was just an innocent battle between different combat realms.

Unbelievably, he lost and was undoubtedly defeated.

The instinctive drawing force he felt just now was a skill of a higher level, it was a martial skill and not just some born ability.

The sharply pointed staff was still close to his vital point.

Cold sweat was dripping down Garen's forehead as he stared at the sharp tip pointed at his throat, he did not dare to move even a little.

"This is just too disappointing… Really…" An odd look flashed through Rainy's eyes. "How are you Senior Sister's hope when you're so weak? Instead of being killed by someone outside, I should just kill you right here right now!!!"

Finishing her sentence, the staff pierced towards Garen.

The sharp pointed tip of the staff pierced through Garen's throat, it was meant to kill him.

Blood spattered everywhere.

Swish!

The tip of the staff pierced right through the back of Garen's neck, drawing out fresh red blood.

Garen covered his throat with a look of disbelief as he backed away, then only did he realize that no matter how good his physique was or how much potential he had, it would be unable to stop the vast amount of blood gushing out...

Was he not just in a test? How… How did this happen?

He wanted to dodge it but his life was on the line. After using his shaking transformation five times continuously, Rainy was able to see through it. The end result was still him being pierced in the throat and he was completely defenseless.

This time around there was almost no way to fight back. Rainy's combat power had reached a certain peak. Garen had always been proud of his Martial Arts Realm all this while yet this was the very first time he was suppressed by his opponent, and this was not what he could not believe. What he did not understand was that Rainy actually made a killing shot when they were supposedly just training together!!??

Drip drip drip… Drip drip drip… Drip drip drip…

His vision started to darken, the vast amount of blood loss was causing him to lose his sight. Suddenly, a short rhythmic sound rang in his ears.

Snap!

He felt a throbbing pain in his forehead, something icy was pressed between his brows and it was prickling him.

"He's awake!" Someone shouted by his side.

Garen felt his vision go blurry for a second before his mind awoke.

He was still standing at the same spot in the middle of the white space, Rainy remained standing far away from him staring at him with an indifferent look.

There were no cracks between them, the ground and his throat were still intact, there was no blood and no forms of injuries.

Instinctively, Garen reached out to his throat… It was still unscathed!

"What… What is this realm?!!"

His voice was slightly hoarse, but what surprised him was that his throat was really injured, it was not all just an illusion. It was hurting and it felt as if something actually did pierce through, just that it seemed much better than the scene he just witnessed.

"In the killing of martial arts, there is a supreme skill known as the Mirror Realm. When you're able to do so, it means that you've managed to achieve a new generation of master and you'd be able to set up your own sect and move on to bigger things," Rainy explained calmly while holding on to her staff.

"As for your current realm, the Water Mirror Level, you are able to respond to all attacks by your natural instinct, then your body automatically generates the best reflex accordingly at the fastest speed. So this is how Water Mirror works, it's not afraid of hidden attacks or illusions, it fights reality with reality and is also one of the combat realms. It is also a higher realm than most ordinary Master-Leveled Oneness Realms.

"How is the Oneness Realm differentiated then?" Garen asked with his husky voice.

"Oneness, the name implies it all already, when all paths lead to one and it reaches a certain level, a particular pattern can be seen. Applying that with martial arts, you become your own target, just mix yourself together with your skills and you'd be able to build your own realm of martial arts skills. 

This is the Furnace level, which is also the foundation of the Master Level. Once you've reached this level, you're then qualified to enter the Mirror Level," Rainy explained with a smile. "At your age, you'd really be one of a kind if you were to enter the Mirror Level, a prodigy among other geniuses, you'd be scarier than Carthage. If it wasn't for his born talent, you might just stand a chance competing against him."

Garen was still trying to recall the feeling when his throat was pierced just now, the pain he sensed was not just a misconception.

"Senior Sister, I'd like to ask how is it in the Mirror Realm then?"

Rainy laughed and with a wave of her hand, the both of them instantly left the white space and reappeared in the same hallway as earlier. The hallway was empty, only a lady in white was still waiting at the same spot.

"There's Water Mirror in the Mirror Realm, and that is if you practice your instincts at your current level until you reach the peak of perfection. It is then followed by the Silver Mirror, which is the battle between the elite powerhouses. Do you believe that the Qi's Dynamic crossfire between one another is extremely intense, especially among the martial arts Master-Leveled powerhouses? I actually didn't do anything just now, all I did was release my realm and allow you to perceive it. If I delayed just even a bit, you might've really died from the vital blow on your throat."

Rainy explained gently.

"You did nothing?!" Garen was shocked, "So everything just now was just my hallucination? Or was my natural instinct misled?!"

"That's the Qi's Dynamic crossfire, low-leveled fighters shouldn't even be able to experience this kind of feelings. You actually do have Qi's Dynamic, you just don't use its technique, which is why your skills are all suppressed by machines and all sorts of fancy technology. You can only use it in close combat fights and not under complex circumstances. Am I right?" Rainy grinned again.

"Exactly," Garen nodded solemnly. Ever since he came to this world, Senior Sister was right about Martial Arts Realm not being suited other than close combat fights. It was certainly not enough for him to stand against high-powered high-tech weapons.

"That is the reason," Rainy nodded. "The Mirror Realm is extremely deep. Seeing that you don't have a mentor, you can only explore around yourself. So being suppressed by the advanced technology is actually really normal, but the power of the Water Mirror is that it can be used in all aspects. Against high-tech weapons, you don't even need to be close to land, you just need to train all your tricks as a natural instinct of your body. You need to add your own instincts to your body so it becomes part of your conditioned reflex. This requires Mind Core, something significant you can only acquire when you've reached the resonance stage."