Chapter 297 - Steamroller

Pop!

It sounded like a massive air bubble had popped. A spherical transparent wall had appeared out of thin air around the blood pool and aggressively expanded outward. It extended over half the plaza before suddenly collapsing. When it popped, a howling gale swept up debris and petals from the flower beds and hurled them in all directions.

Even the densely packed combatants were caught off guard by this typhoon-like gust of air. Some were blown away, others tumbled across the ground, and a few clung to corners. Hair whipped wildly, and faces were distorted by the sheer force of the wind. They couldn't close their mouths, so their cheeks flapped and saliva went flying.

The astonishing commotion drew everyone's attention. Even the distant battlefield where blades and fists clashed paused momentarily, as the experts threw a sharp, dangerous gaze toward the source of the gale.

In the blood pool, two towering and ferocious figures still maintained their punching postures, like statues. There was no beauty, only power—their exaggerated muscles were full of strength. Their honed physiques left no doubt that the two were monsters most suited for close-range combat.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

Lotus, in his armored giant form, broke the silence with a beast-like roar. Deep red bristles emerged like clusters of stubborn weeds from the gaps in his armor. Scarlet eyes gleamed with murderous intent from within his helmet.

But he was met with a pair of eyes that were just like his. Lotus let out another roar, like a mighty beast king encountering a rival. His territorial instincts and lust for murder surged as his entire body suddenly emitted torrents of white steam. He raised both hands high into the sky over his head and clasped them together before slamming them down fiercely like a hammer.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

When the iron hammer of the fists came crashing down, Cassius moved like a statue coming to life. His upper body blurred instantly, like a bowstring vibrating at high frequency. His hands turned into a dark cloud as he threw punches upward at the incoming blow. This was the effect of the Golem state combined with the Third Breath technique. His Thousand Palms was like a suffocating quagmire.

Lotus's unstoppable punch, which nearly broke the sound barrier, gradually slowed down when it met the torrent of blows. His armored gauntlets crackled as it endured and dissipated thousands of punches crashing on it.

Finally, Lotus’s punch was blocked by one last punch. Blood dripped from the surface of the armor; Lotus's arms were cracked. Of course, the attacking fists didn't fare any better—Cassius's fists had been completely worn away. His bones gleamed white in the air.

Whoosh!

Lotus threw another punch, but it was intercepted mid-air by Cassius’s fist. The two forces exploded, causing Cassius's figure to sway.

The Amalgamation that Lotus was employing was monstrous indeed, but it wasn't fully formed yet. Lotus could only use its arms at the moment. Meanwhile, Cassius's physique was already unmatched among combat artists, and with the Golem state's boost, the two were evenly matched. At most, the Blood Spirit Society president's strength was slightly superior.

He couldn't overpower his opponent, let alone crush them. When he realized how strong his opponent was, Lotus dipped his cracked arms into the pool, seemingly intending to utilize the abundant Dead Blood energy for ultra-high-speed regeneration.

Unexpectedly, Cassius had the same idea. He submerged himself entirely into the blood pool, feeling the warm, scalding liquid envelop every inch of his skin. The Golem's life magnetic field operated automatically in the Golem state. Cassius didn't need to close his eyes to sense the life magnetic fields of the densely clustered Dead Blood around him.

It was like opening his eyes in an inky black night and looking down from the mountain peak to see torches illuminating the entire landscape.

Since I'm already here, how can I not absorb to my heart's content?

He followed his instincts and stimulated the Golem's life magnetic field within his body to its maximum. Cassius's entire body immediately felt like it was being scorched by flames and struck by lightning as it sizzled and cracked.

It was the effect of the Golem's life magnetic field and the Dead Blood's life magnetic field colliding and eroding each other. The vibrations they produced penetrated deep into his every muscle and bone like a tingling, conductive water.

In the upper right corner of his vision, the numbers were rapidly jumping.

[Golem Covert Martial Arts: Qi Embodiment 36.4% (Total Three Stages)]

[Golem Covert Martial Arts: Qi Embodiment 36.9% (Total Three Stages)]

[Golem Covert Martial Arts: Qi Embodiment 37.4% (Total Three Stages)]

+0.5%, +0.5%, +0.5%, +0.5%...

It was increasing at an incredible speed. Every time he blinked, the numbers after the decimal point blurred. Even the ones digit was climbing quickly.

He had never absorbed so much before. Usually, Cassius absorbed the life magnetic fields of dark creatures using his palms, but now he was using every inch of his body. The contact area was far beyond that of just his palms, so he generated so much life vibration energy that it made one's eyelids twitch.

Though he had developed resistance to the life vibration energy of Decay-Rank Dead Blood, so many Dead Blood had been summoned by the resonance that there were even some Indestructible-Rank Dead Blood in the mix. He felt as if he were soaking in magma, but in a strangely comfortable way.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Roar!

Not far away, Lotus let out another deafening roar. He had just taken the time to restore his arms when he felt the energy in the blood pool dip. On the other hand, his opponent seemed immensely satisfied as he radiated an abhorrent aura. It was like a baleen whale opening its mouth, waiting for krill to pour in.

Cassius was stealing his food!!!

How could Lotus tolerate this? The instincts of a beast drove Lotus into an uncontrollable frenzy. His massive arms blocked out the sunlight, casting a terrifying, heavy shadow as threw a punch.

"Get lost!" Cassius roared as he raised his arms, gathering an overwhelming amount of energy between them. He actually flung the four-meter-tall armored giant away, causing him to stumble violently.

Cassius stood up from the blood pool, revealing a perfect muscular physique. Cassius had grown even taller. He was now two and a half meters tall. Every inch of muscle on his body boasted a preposterous amount of strength. White vapor curled from his nostrils and his breathing sounded like an elephant's trumpet. A blazing light erupted from his kidney. It was like a brilliant light bulb, as it sent the same phosphorescent liquid throughout his body.

"If you're taking so long just to form a shape; it's truly a worthless ability. Might as well give it all to me!" Cassius's voice boomed like muffled thunder.

In truth, not much time had passed. It had only been about ten seconds, and forming a complete Amalgamation would take about fifteen seconds. For ordinary people, that was just a momentary distraction. However, it was too long for a battle between combat artists.

Normally, Lotus’s Amalgamation state gave him strong defense and healing abilities. Although he couldn't move, his arms could attack. So even if he was attacked by multiple people, he could hold out until his Amalgamation was fully formed.

But he had encountered Cassius. Not only could he openly steal Lotus’s energy, but he even intended to fling Lotus, the rightful owner, out of the blood pool to enjoy it alone. Who was the one actually forming the Dead Blood Amalgamation? Who was the legitimate president of the Blood Spirit Society?

"Get out of here!" Cassius's face turned fierce. He clenched a fist and unleashed a blow that shattered the air.

Boom!

Blood-red steam exploded. The frenzied compressed Qi shot towards the Dead Blood Amalgamation like a roaring mudslide. A giant steel claw of a raptor formed within the blood-red Qi and flew along the punch.

The two overlapped, and Cassius’s strength exploded to the extreme in an instant. His arm was like a great spear as it smashed into the Dead Blood Amalgamation. The explosive accumulated force in his fist poured out all at once.

The Amalgamation was comparable to a truck in size, yet it was knocked into the air and clean out of the blood pool's range. Seizing the opportunity, Cassius spread his hands, absorbing the last remnants of the blood pool’s life vibration energy into his body. The blood pool instantly collapsed, leaving only a field of dark red, decayed sludge.

Hu...

He stood tall in the sunlight, hot air puffing from his nostrils and mouth. His skin was flushed red all over, with white steam gently dispersing around his collar and facial contours.

Cassius glanced at the upper right corner. For some reason, the excitement on his face was gone. Like a sage, he looked neither sad nor happy.

[Golem Covert Martial Arts: Qi Embodiment 36.4% (Total Three Stages)]→[Golem Covert Martial Arts: Qi Embodiment 44.1% (Total Three Stages)]

An increase of 7.7 percent; it was quite a hearty meal.

If it weren't for his own developed resistance, plus Lotus's Amalgamation absorbing a lot, the effect might have been even better. At his current stage, 7.7 percent was equivalent to the previous 10 percent.

Cassius wiped the fresh blood off his face and looked into the distance. Lotus was buried under a newly collapsed wall. Although he couldn't see Lotus, Cassius could still sense his Qi.

He kicked off with both legs, as he charged toward Lotus. The wall had not belonged to the Tulip Antique Exhibition but to another building. People couldn't see what was happening as Cassius rushed in; they could only hear muffled sounds one after another.

The ground trembled like thunder rumbling. Sometimes, a two-meter-long section of the wall would whistle out of the hole, soaring thirty or forty meters before crashing into the ground and leaving a huge crater. Other times, perhaps a figure like a stone pillar would suddenly fly out alongside the wall and smash down heavily. Yet, that figure would swiftly charge back in, not even leaving an afterimage.

Everything was a blur as wind and smoke billowed and stone chips and dust flew. It was as if two steamrollers were rumbling through the building. The two combatants collided continuously as they threw haymakers at each other.

The six-story building across the wall kept trembling. Either the wall on the second floor had a figure lodged into it, or the entire third-floor balcony was wiped away. It was as if a giant beast had taken a bite out of the entire building.

Finally, the building could no longer hold. It let out a mournful screech as it collapsed like a landslide. The air currents and dust suddenly swept through the entire plaza like a gale. People couldn't help but cover their noses and cough.

Bang!

Two entwined beast-like figures crashed through the wall, rolling and smashing into several cars by the roadside. Their steel-like muscles kept them safe as they tumbled across the concrete. However, the cars were flattened like soda cans. Shattered glass and twisted steel frames tangled together, while the windows were squeezed to narrow slits.

"If you were in perfect form, you might have a chance to face me, but now, you’re far too weak! This is far from enough!” The two-and-a-half-meter-tall micro Golem grabbed the three-meter-tall Amalgamation's head, a grim smile stretching his lips. His legs exerted force like a crane as his entire massive body sank slightly. He crouched and shot off like a rocket!

The micro Golem dragged the Amalgamation along as the two of them smashed into a building on one side of the street.

Boom!

Cassius slammed the Amalgamation's head into the third-floor wall, breaking through bricks and stones. However, his momentum was undiminished as he continued to slam the Amalgamation through seven or eight walls. In the end, they punched all the way through the building and burst out of the third floor.

Cassius spun in mid-air, his body arching backward like he was hitting a tennis serve. His waist was like a drawn slingshot as he raised both arms high above his head and clasped his fists together. .

Then, just like how Lotus had attacked him earlier, he drove his fists down into the Amalgamation, blasting it into the ground like a cannonball. Cassius gracefully flipped in the air like a high-jump athlete before he landed on the ground like a meteor falling to earth.

Boom!

The walls on both sides of the street were shattered by the twin impacts.

Cassius flew backward out of the dust, a red fist mark on his shoulder. "Still capable of resistance? You’re truly worthy of being the Blood Spirit Society president who condensed half of the Dead Blood's energy. Your vitality is even more tenacious than I imagined!"

He then vanished; only the rumbling sounds in the street continued as proof of their battle.

Finally, the dust cloud settled, revealing the battered Amalgamation. His entire armor was covered with cracks, and there were several large wounds penetrating through his body. The bloody holes were thicker than a normal person's head. Moreover, some kind of energy was slowing the regeneration of his wounds. One could even see the granulation tissue inside feebly trying to bridge the gaps. The Amalgamation lay in the pit in the middle of the street, feebly holding up a fist. Its body trembled, about to get up the next second.

"Don't waste your strength struggling! I've brought you a final gift..." Cassius's figure reappeared atop a building.

On his shoulder, he carried an old-fashioned steamroller. Its massive outline blocked the sun, casting a heavy shadow that perfectly enveloped the Amalgamation's entire body.

"I'll send you off!" Cassius leaped down from the rooftop, raising the steamroller above his head. One could only see a massive metal machine falling, its surface wrapped in blood-red Qi. It looked like a meteor that was burning from friction with the air as Cassius dove down!