Chapter 324 - The End of the Fourth Time-travel

This wasn't entirely impossible.

Cassius had his own fortuitous encounters, and it wasn't far-fetched to think others might as well. The history of this world was ancient, and stretched back to even more mysterious and powerful civilizations. Just like Feng Liusi, who had unintentionally acquired the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist in the Loka Mountains, there were always lucky individuals.

Perhaps Xiadu was just as Cassius had imagined. However, Cassius was unique. While others' encounters were unpredictable, his could be controlled.

He could travel back to different eras, exploring with clear intent. Even if he failed, it was just a failure in the time-travel attempt. It wouldn't endanger his life in the real world.

"Xiadu... Xiadu..." Cassius muttered to himself, further engraving the already memorable name into his mind. Based on the incomplete memories of the old Ultimate Fist practitioner, Xiadu must have been a powerful rival, with strength at least equal to his own. That meant Xiadu was likely at a level beyond that of a combat artist.

Ultimate Fist? Holy Fist? Dominator Fist?

Cassius's thoughts raced, but his understanding of this mysterious Xiadu was still too limited. To truly figure it out, he would need to conduct a thorough investigation.

It would be best to proceed cautiously for now and avoid direct confrontation with the Gate Organization. Perhaps Cassius could try to approach the Gate Organization in his time-travel explorations to investigate their leader, Xiadu. This way, he'd have an added layer of protection and wouldn't risk his safety in the real world.

Of course, these were just spur-of-the-moment ideas. The actual execution would require careful consideration and improvisation.

"

Cough, cough...

"

"Ugh..."

Suddenly, two faint sounds reached Cassius's ears. He snapped back to the present, only to realize he was standing in a vast hall. The surrounding light was dim, with only faint green luminescence shining through the cracks onto the floor. The air in the light seemed murky, with small debris floating like insects.

The structure resembled a cathedral, towering and spacious. The dome was adorned with incomprehensible black patterns, seemingly religious murals.

Stone pillars supported the four corners of the building. The rough floor and straight walls were marked with dense, spider web-like symbols, which gradually dimmed, receding into the walls. A dried-up corpse sat cross-legged at the center of the intersecting patterns, devoid of any divine presence. It looked like an ancient, weathered body about to crumble to dust.

Cassius recalled his six months of grueling yet oddly fulfilling training in the Qi World. He sighed deeply, extending his hand as purple energy swirled between his fingers.

"The Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist... I've already mastered the basics..."

"And with some help, I've reached the second stage..."

"This time, I've gained quite the advantage..." Cassius muttered to himself before abruptly turning his head.

Feng Liusi and Saint Feinan lay before him, both severely wounded. Their injuries were all too familiar to Cassius. They were inflicted by Reverberating Force, which had exploded within their bodies, leaving gaping, bloody holes. Their clothes were soaked in blood.

"

Cough...

Such formidable Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist techniques! I couldn't even withstand two moves... It must be a fully mastered Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritance, right? I'm still far from that level..." Feng Liusi lay on the ground, blood streaming from his seven orifices. His eyes, however, were wide open and unusually bright, showing no fear of death. In fact, there was a hint of excitement in his gaze, a kind of admiration and awe for the power of the fully mastered Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritance.

"Ugh..." Saint Feinan, who was leaning against a pillar, spat out another mouthful of blood, his face filled with frustration, seemingly demoralized.

Like Feng Liusi, Saint Feinan's condition was critical. He was on the verge of death, with any misstep potentially being his last.

Cassius rushed over without hesitation. He grabbed each of them by the hand, channeling the remaining life vibration energy within his body. Fortunately, he had enough life vibration energy left to fully heal their severe injuries six or seven more times.

Without it, Feng Liusi and Saint Feinan would have surely died. Warmth spread from Cassius's palms, and soon the energy's powerful healing effects began to take hold.

The two men, who had been on the brink of death, stabilized and stopped slipping toward death. As time passed, vitality arose from deep within their bodies. It spread throughout them, like warm spring water, wrapping around every injured part of their bodies.

Damaged blood vessels, shattered organs, broken bones, and torn flesh all began to heal visibly. New tissue squirmed as it grew and connected at a speed thousands of times faster than normal.

After five to six minutes, Cassius withdrew his hands, halting the energy transmission. He took a moment to assess his remaining life vibration energy. He had enough left for three more complete healing sessions.

It was just enough to bring each of them back from the dead once more.

Looking at Feng Liusi and Saint Feinan, who were meditating to absorb the residual healing energy, a question formed in Cassius's mind.

According to the time marker, Cassius had spent over a hundred and fifty days in the Qi World. How had he, Feng Liusi, and Saint Feinan come out at the same time? From Feng Liusi's mutterings earlier, it seemed he had made the same mistake Cassius had at the start to receive guidance from the old Ultimate Fist practitioner.

He was near death, gradually being freed from the illusion. Yet in reality, they had emerged together.

"Could it be the effect of the rituals inscribed in this building?" Cassius wondered, patiently waiting for the two of them to recover.

Ten minutes later, Feng Liusi recounted his experience, which was exactly as Cassius had predicted earlier. Initially, he had used the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist against his opponent, but was beaten to the brink of death by the explosive power of the old Ultimate Fist practitioner.

Unlike Cassius, Feng Liusi had managed to last one more punch by going all out. When he saw that things were going badly, he immediately unleashed his ultimate move, the Blood Vulture's Beak. Its terrifying burst of power had blocked the first punch, but he had been defeated by the second punch.

Of course, being able to survive a single move against an Ultimate Fist practitioner was already a great honor. Feng Liusi had a hint of pride in his tone, and he asked Cassius about his experience.

When he heard that Cassius hadn't even managed to take one punch, Feng Liusi gave a smug smile that made him look like he was asking for a beating. However, as Cassius continued to explain, Feng Liusi's smile slowly disappeared.

"You could do that? Hundreds of retries?" Feng Liusi's eyes widened as he rubbed his smooth chin.

"To be precise, it should be over a thousand. I got smart about it later. Each time I restarted, I didn't fully recover from my injuries. I used my heavily wounded state to learn the fist techniques since I'd end up getting killed anyway. This way, I saved two-thirds of the energy..."

Cassius nodded, calmly explaining. The existence of life vibration energy was no secret to either of them, and since they were in the time-travel era and he would soon be leaving, there was nothing to hide. Besides, it was amusing to see Feng Liusi's flustered expression... Strangely, he even felt a bit reluctant to go.

"And then? After those thousand times..." Feng Liusi suddenly laughed, realizing what it meant that Cassius was uninjured.

"You sly fox, trying to brag sneakily, huh? Don't pretend—you're already at the entry level of the Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist, right?" Feng Liusi's eyes locked onto Cassius, seeing through his pretense with a teasing grin.

"Good, good. You've got it now. It's been a rough road to get here, filled with danger. These old bones of mine were almost shattered in the process. Even though my body has returned to its youthful state, my mindset hasn't."

His tone carried a mix of emotion and a genuine sense of relief as he offered his blessing.

"Now that you've mastered the Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist, make the most of it. Knowing how to grow stronger and not doing it is laziness. Remember that—it's something my master taught me."

"Show me the Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist. Let me see it with my own eyes," Feng Liusi said, his gaze filled with curiosity.

"Alright."

Cassius' upper body clothes were already in tatters and unable to conceal his strong physique. He activated the Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist.

Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding...

Eleven purple acupoints lit up from top to bottom, from left to right, like dazzling stars in the night sky, carrying a mesmerizing and enchanting aura.

"What are you doing? I told you to show the Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist, not the Red—wait, what the... you... this is..." Feng Liusi's eyebrows twitched wildly as his expression became extremely animated.

"Second stage of the Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist! Eleven acupoints! Did you take some kind of drug?" He reached out and prodded several of Cassius' acupoints in disbelief. "Or is the Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist just really easy to cultivate and break through?"

"Uh... no. Actually, it's like this..." Cassius explained the situation in detail.

Feng Liusi's face grew even more expressive, muttering to himself. "An Ultimate Fist practitioner personally taught you... this treatment..."

"You've reached a level that would take others years, even decades, to achieve in an instant... sigh." Feng Liusi shook his head.

Suddenly, he noticed Saint Feinan, who had been silent all this time, and asked curiously, "What about you? How did it go for you?"

Saint Feinan opened his mouth awkwardly. "I didn't go through any of that. I just saw an old man by the waterfall, and before I knew it, his shadow flashed, and I got knocked out with one punch. That old man even said, 'Why is a sword practitioner learning fist techniques?'"

"......"

Both Feng Liusi and Cassius fell silent. It turned out someone had it even worse...

The three of them chatted a bit more, and Cassius explained the time issues he had encountered. However, they couldn't come to any conclusions and chalked it up to the mysterious nature of the ritual and the unique properties of the Qi World.

"More than fifty days have passed. I guess the scarab tide should have died down by now. We probably won't run into them on the way back..."

"Still, we should be cautious. I suggest we hunt some creatures on the fifth level to stock up on enough life vibration energy first."

"Let's find some weaker ones to avoid any surprises."

The three quickly formulated a retreat plan. Since they had achieved their goal, it was time to return.

A day later, Cassius and the others had gathered enough life vibration energy to deal with any unexpected situations.

The cavern on the fifth level was filled with a green glow, as if a layer of moss had covered the surface of the structures. Three figures quietly gazed down from the roof of a building, their shadows cast at an angle.

"It's time to go..."

Saint Feinan wiped the blood off his sword and sheathed it again.

"Yeah... it's time..." Cassius stood still, like a statue against the dim backdrop. His expression was complicated, and his emotions turbulent.

Six days left... Ending the time-travel era now would be the safest choice, since we would avoid any dangers on the return trip. But, since we've come this far, we should see it through to the end...

Cassius thought to himself as he glanced at the two beside him.

A faint smile tugged at his lips before he turned around and led the way.

Time flew by, and six days had passed.

The return trip was much smoother than expected. Instead of retracing their steps, they took a different, shorter route. Perhaps the scarab tide had thoroughly cleansed the ruins, but many of the creatures had disappeared. Only some terrain traps remained, which the three of them could easily evade with their combat reflexes.

As a result, their pace was much faster. It took two days to get from the fifth level to the fourth, and four more to reach the first level. They didn't deliberately provoke the Blood Race's lair or the scarabs, sticking to their plan.

Tap, tap, tap... tap, tap, tap...

Footsteps echoed in the dark corridor, and three figures appeared around the corner one after another. They moved swiftly, like a gust of wind sweeping through the passageway.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The trio appeared at the entrance of the five-meter-high cave in a rocky mountain wall, below the rootstock of a giant tree. They quietly examined the lush, green vegetation covering the valley.

Thud...

They jumped down together, landing on a patch of verdant grass. Cassius looked up, watching the twilight sun set.

The sky had a rusty copper hue, with fog and clouds swirling, forming rings of white circles. The sky was clear within those rings, with a red sunset and a dim, golden light.

The fiery clouds were sinking into the deep blue horizon.

"Didn't expect it to be such nice weather when we came out. It's just a bit late..." Saint Feinan commented as he glanced at the scene.

"Clear skies are a good sign. Birds fly high..." Feng Liusi remarked as he watched the birds soar past the white clouds.

Cassius wore a faint smile as he looked at Feng Liusi and Saint Feinan. These two old guys had certainly been through a lot for his sake. Just as Feng Liusi had said, their bones were almost falling apart.

The journey had been perilous, and making it to the end together had not been easy. As memories of the time-travel era flooded his mind, most of them involved these two old men by his side, facing challenges together, teacher and friend alike.

A true and pure friendship was rare indeed.

He reached out and rubbed his face. Then, to the confusion of Feng Liusi and Saint Feinan, he walked over and gave them both a big bear hug. In his golem form, Cassius stood two meters tall, his muscular frame turning as he forcefully patted their shoulders and backs.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Thud, thud, thud.

"The time has come..." Cassius looked up. The bird at the edge of the clouds, just about to disappear from sight, suddenly stopped, suspended in midair.

Everything around them froze. Feng Liusi and Saint Feinan's slightly embarrassed expressions, caused by Cassius' sudden embrace, were also frozen on their faces, along with a faint hint of a smile.

"It's time to go..."

Cassius closed his eyes.