Chapter 349 - Treasures Go To Those Destined

The Shadow Demon was a born hunter and a bloody pursuer. It was not a weak dark creature. However, compared to the Golem, it was like a child facing a giant. The fifth-ranked dark creature had a massive advantage in sheer essence. It was clear from the collision of their life magnetic fields that the Shadow Demon was simply no match.

As long as Cassius took it seriously and spent two or three days of full effort, he could easily assimilate the Shadow Demon with the Golem's life magnetic field and refine it into a mindless puppet.

At the moment, the Shadow Demon was still parasitizing Cassius. However, it no longer had any subjective consciousness. Its life magnetic field was connected by transparent threads to the Golem's life magnetic field, and moved according to the latter’s movements.

After Cassius achieved a hundred percent assimilation rate, he tried to inject life vibration energy into the Shadow Demon's body. After many failures, he succeeded, allowing the life vibration energy to cover the Shadow Demon's entire body like a film of water.

Then, seizing the right moment, he released the Qi of the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist, representing the Killer Persona, and let it drill into the Shadow Demon's body. Since it involved Qi, it was rather dangerous. Cassius slowly injected the Qi bit by bit, forcibly preventing the Shadow Demon from rejecting it. It took him two or three hours to send some of the Red Falcon Qi inside.

But all three conditions were met at around six o'clock in the evening. He experienced a magical sensation, as if a part of his soul had been split into another body.

The feeling was very novel and quite strange. Cassius took quite a while to adapt.

He left the private room and took a bath. Then he stood in the room wearing brand-new clothes. The setting sun cast long shadows behind him. Cassius glanced at the shadow and slowly raised his hand. His shadow seemed to be manipulated by some magical force, moving and condensing like glue until it formed a pitch-black human shape.

It was tall and slender like him; the only difference was a pair of arms with unusually large hands that, when hanging down, could reach the knees. They were pitch-black claws capable of grabbing a human head in one grasp.

Cassius could feel the power of the Shadow Demon's body. It was a Red Eye level Shadow Demon. According to the division of the Shadowless Clan, Shadow Demons were categorized into Steel Claw and Red Eye. The Red Eye level Shadow Demons he had encountered before were roughly at the initial level of pugilists, without exception. However, this Shadow Demon, when it had last copied him, was at second-level accelerated blood flow.

In other words, it was a second-stage Red Eye level Shadow Demon. Based on information he had gathered in the past, a Shadow Demon of this level was already an elite among elites. They were extremely rare compared to the number of Dead Blood and combat artists out there.

Cassius's Shadow Demon was very special, and perhaps had been born with high talent. Even so, it could only copy up to the peak of pugilists. Combat artists who had mastered Qi couldn't be easily reached through parasitic copying.

In other words, Cassius's Shadow Demon substitute could reach the third stage of the Red Eye level, which was the peak of pugilists. If it returned to the Shadow Demon's lair, it might secure the position of the fifth or fourth hand. It might even reach the third hand.

Even if it wasn't comparable to a combat artist-level Shadow Demon, it would still only be beneath a few Shadows and above ten thousand others. Cassius thought it was worth a try. So, he placed a hand on the Shadow Demon's forehead.

He forcefully poured in all the remaining Decay-Rank life vibration energy in his body. The Red Falcon Qi controlling the Shadow Demon's body also cooperated as it started to absorb the energy. Dark creatures could also accept the enhancement of life vibration energy. It was just that Cassius normally wouldn't do this. However, he now had the circumstances to give it a try.

He originally wanted to use it as a reward for his meritorious subordinates, but it seemed he would have to wait a little longer. If the Shadow Demon substitute could truly infiltrate the circle of dark creatures, what life vibration energy couldn't it hunt? Cassius needed a mole to provide intelligence.

Waves of life vibration energy spread throughout the Shadow Demon's body through its head, reinforcing its life magnetic field. The Shadow Demon substitute quickly grew stronger, and its aura became deeper.

"Still not enough, let's add a portion of Undying-Rank..." Cassius frowned slightly and transmitted another portion of life vibration energy.

This time, higher-quality life vibration energy nourished every inch of the Shadow Demon's body. This was more direct than the Shadow Demon absorbing life force from parasitizing a host.

One was like eating food, where nutrients are digested and passed through various organs into the bloodstream. The other was like injecting glucose through an intravenous drip, infusing the life energy needed into the body. It was simple and crude but the effect was remarkably significant.

The originally tall and slender Shadow Demon began to swell. Originally about 1.85 meters tall, it gradually grew to 1.95 meters. Its shoulders also broadened and thickened; its two arms became thicker and longer, like tree roots. Tough keratin gleamed on its once sharp claws like the metallic sheen of sharp weapons.

It instantly transformed from a skinny weakling into a burly strongman. A horizontal scarlet slit faintly appeared on its forehead, as if a third eye was about to open. However, in the end, it lacked sufficient strength. The eye remained a scarlet slit.

Cassius took a deep look and roughly understood. If the Shadow Demon substitute developed a third eye, it could reach a level comparable to human combat artists. This was a symbolic feature.

He took a slight step back, looking at the dramatically transformed Shadow Demon substitute before him. Its aura was at least twice as deep and intense as before.

"Punch me with all your might!" Cassius ordered.

Whoosh!

The Shadow Demon moved instantly. Its thick tree-trunk black arm stirred up a gust of wind, bringing a howling sound in the room.

Bang!

A fist as big as a human head stopped mid-air as it was intercepted by a slender hand and unable to advance an inch. The shadow of the fist trembled slightly. It was clearly a contest of strength. The surrounding air rippled like waves, resembling white tides.

Boom!

The slender hand shook slightly, and the two-meter-tall Shadow Demon flew backward. It spun in the air and landed awkwardly.

Cassius slowly retracted his arm, placing it by his side. After pondering for a moment, he commented, "Peak of pugilist with even greater strength, instinctual rapid attack speed, reactions surpassing those of beasts. Unfortunately, it can't perform Covert Martial Arts, only barely utilizing some explosive techniques, assassination techniques, and combat moves..."

"So overall, it's still at the peak pugilist level. What a pity... If it could perform Covert Martial Arts, I might have another helper barely comparable to a combat artist. I'll pay attention from now on, see if there's any special Covert Martial Arts that don't require human body conditions, which dark creatures can also use... If it doesn't work, I'll have to specially modify a more powerful killing technique for the Shadow Demon substitute to use... Troublesome..."

Cassius snapped his fingers, and the Shadow Demon immediately reacted. Like diving into water, it leaped forward, swooshing into the shadow. It disappeared without a trace, like diving into the depths. However, Cassius's shadow became much fatter, looking as if two people were overlapped, both black and bulky.

"

Uh...

" Cassius touched his chin, glanced at his own shadow. "It shouldn't be noticeable that there's anything strange, right... If someone accidentally notices, then..."

On July 29, at seven in the evening, a train whistled along the tracks, stopping at the platform.

A man in a trench coat stepped off lightly. He carried no luggage and looked much more relaxed than other passengers. The man wore a black hat, covering half his face. Glancing around, he walked off the platform and exited the train station.

On the street, some taxis were parked, waiting for passengers. The man walked over slowly, randomly picking a car. Beside him was a mother and daughter with suitcases. The mother was loading luggage into the car, while the daughter was licking a lollipop, curiously looking around.

Looking left and right, her gaze finally fixed on the man. The light at the intersection cast shadows of the surrounding cars and people toward them. The stretched end of his shadow was right in front of the girl's shoes.

She licked her lollipop and gave a mischievous smile. She stepped forward, wanting to step on the uncle's shadow.

Unexpectedly, as her shoe stepped down, the shadow suddenly shrank, forming a depression. Her shoe stepped onto empty space, the edge one or two centimeters from the indented shadow.

A five year-old child couldn't understand what's eerie and what's not. A mischievous heart suddenly rose.

She took two or three quick steps forward, forcing the shadow to retreat step by step, like a tall person crouching down in grievance. The girl held the candy in her mouth, giggling as she jumped forward.

When her shoe was still five centimeters from the ground, a hand grabbed the girl's calf. With a gentle pull, she fell on her bottom. Another pitch-black large hand, moving extremely fast, flashed past the girl's face and snatched the lollipop.

The next second, the little girl sat on the ground, bewildered. Her small hands holding her sore bottom, she started to cry loudly.

"Annie? Why are you suddenly crying? Did you fall?" The mother immediately turned around, reaching out to support and comfort the girl.

With a

hum

, a taxi nearby accelerated away.

In the back seat of the car, the window half-opened. Cassius crossed his arms over his chest, leaning back on the seat. Dressed in all black, the hat's shadow covered half his face. His entire face was cold and expressionless.

The streetlights on the right shone on his face, flashing by continuously. The shadow on the left seat was also flickering. One could occasionally glimpse a strange black shadow clinging to the seat, a hand holding a lollipop, crunching and chewing the candy. It seemed quite happy; even the plastic stick wasn't spared.

"Sir, are you eating something? I keep hearing crunching sounds. I hope it's not a part of my car breaking..." The driver in front asked through the rearview mirror.

Cassius's eyebrow twitched, "Just some snacks bought at the station."

"Oh, then I'm relieved." The driver said no more.

In the back seat, Cassius glanced disdainfully to the left. The Shadow Demon was grinning foolishly, after finishing the candy, chewing on the plastic stick with relish. He could feel that joyful emotion through its Qi. For a moment, Cassius felt that the car was filled with an air of low intelligence, so he moved a bit closer to the window.

He wondered, did he make the Shadow Demon stupid by refining it? After assimilating, it became a blank slate.

Otherwise, what kind of normally vicious dark creature would tease a five or six-year-old kid and snatch a lollipop that the child was eating? Its mindset was either as silly and cheerful as a child or deeply mischievous with extremely bad taste.

Cassius suddenly regretted refining the Shadow Demon into a substitute.

But thinking carefully, he remembered that when the Shadow Demon parasitized and assimilated him before, it gradually influenced his personality, making him cruel, violent, and cold. Now, by reverse-assimilating and refining the Shadow Demon, didn't he influence the Shadow Demon's personality and behavior? Was he causing the originally vicious Shadow Demon to become a mischievous, deeply scheming individual who likes teasing children? Impossible, absolutely impossible!

Cassius decisively stopped his illogical and absurd speculations. Without even glancing at the Shadow Demon, he turned his head to look out the window.

On July 30, at six in the evening, it was dusk. The night before, Cassius had met up with Jilan on Camphor Street at the Maple Leaf Inn. The two did some preparatory work. They planned to conduct the Gate-opening ritual at seven in the evening.

In front of a residential building, under high walls, the moonlight was thin. Two black figures stood silently like tree roots, motionless.

"Peacock, the Gate-opening ritual has a certain probability of failure. The timing is secondary. The main thing is whether your strength is sufficient," Jilan said.

"To open the Gate of Physique, one's body must reach a certain level to have the strength to push that door open. There have been core members of the Gate organization who failed to push the door, wasting an opportunity," Jilan said with some concern. "Although my body isn't weak, I'm not confident of a 100% success in opening the door. If I fail this time, I'm afraid..."

"No. You won't fail," Cassius said firmly. "Trust me, the Gate of Physique will definitely be opened..."

He looked at Jilan with sincere eyes, full of confidence. Jilan and Cassius locked eyes and Jilan was somewhat moved. He smiled, seemingly relieved, the pressure on his shoulders lightening considerably.

"You have so much confidence in me, even more than I have in myself... Anyway, thank you, Peacock. I feel much better now. This time, the opening will only succeed!" Looking at the encouraged Jilan, Cassius gave a shy smile.

He wasn't confident in Jilan but very confident in himself. With his own strong body, the Gate-opening ritual of the Gate of Physique would definitely not fail!

Treasures naturally go to those destined. Cassius firmly believed that he was the only destined one!