Chapter 378 - Fivefold Power Enhancement

Ace of Spades had a total of twenty people, and the Shadowless Clan had ten. Ace of Spade would leave ten members behind to protect the core members of the Shadowless Clan. The remaining ten would join the battle alongside the ten controlled Shadow Demons. This arrangement was relatively safe since the organizations had just begun to collaborate. Perhaps once they became more familiar, they could devise a more efficient setup.

A group of thirty formed a standard hunting squad.

There were over twenty such hunting squads across the eastern region of the Hongli Federation. In total, there were more than six hundred people spread across the six eastern counties, with at least a hundred in each county. They were not ordinary gunmen or assassins; over the past few months, the Ace of Spades and the Shadowless Clan had learned much about dark creatures from intelligence acquired from the Black Ops Agency. Moreover, Cassius's improvements had allowed members of both organizations to make significant strides in strength.

Firstly, the Ace of Spades members had been under the influence of the Golem Seeds for over a month, and had undergone noticeable changes. Their massive muscular physiques were clear proof. In addition, the Demon Blood Combat Technique created by Cassius had brought extraordinary changes to the Ace of Spades. It was a kind of basic combat move as well as an explosive Secret Technique. Unlike normal moves, it was extremely radical.

Strength! The Demon Blood Combat Technique only enhanced physical strength!

It had four stages, involving all four limbs: left arm, right arm, left leg, and right leg. There was no specific training sequence, but the number of limbs affected was a good indicator of mastery.

It was a combat move synthesized by Cassius based on the three-dimensional diagram of the Golem's blood circulation, the meridians of the Southern Dipper Fist, and the three nodes of accelerated bloodflow from the pugilist realm in Covert Martial Arts. He had extracted their essence and discarded the dross to create this combat move. Essentially, it involved refining the blood vessels and meridians in the limbs until complete mastery was achieved.

When one limb was successfully trained, it allowed the blood and Qi to accelerate in that limb, bringing explosive strength.

The first stage of the Demon Blood Combat Technique allowed one limb to be trained. For example, when using the right arm, it could instantly double its original strength!

In the second stage, two limbs were trained. Both limbs could go into an explosive state, each tripling in strength. In summary, when someone trained the Demon Blood Combat Technique to the highest fourth stage, then all the limbs of the entire body could exert explosive power, each being five times their original strength!

Additionally, although the Demon Blood Combat Technique only increased strength, physical strength was always related to speed. If someone refined both legs, their strength would also cause a surge in speed—they complemented each other.

This was the secret manual that Cassius had created to train the Ace of Spades, which basically only they could use. The Demon Blood Combat Technique was quick to show results and brought considerable strength, but it had significant side effects, notably severe strain on the body.

People with thin arms and legs could only use it a few times before their meridians ruptured, muscles dissolved, and bones shattered, leading to instant death. Only these burly men who had been injected with Golem Seeds and physically mutated could withstand frequent usage. Of course, this was not a long-term solution.

In Cassius's vision, the Demon Blood Combat Technique was just the first step in paving the way. Further research would allow him to create a Covert Martial Arts technique based on the foundational framework of the Demon Blood Combat Technique, effectively raising the upper limit.

But the Shadowless Clan were also worth mentioning. They were not very strong at the moment, and they had just begun training in the Black Demon's Hand. However, as long as they could capture dark creatures and use them to train the Black Demon's Hand, then the progress of the Black Demon's Hand Covert Martial Arts would skyrocket.

The vitality of these dark creatures had the best effect when training the Black Demon's Hand. Perhaps just a single dark creature was equivalent to dozens or hundreds of humans.

Once this hunting cycle was in full swing, the overall strength of the Shadowless Clan would increase rapidly. Then, the vitality of the puppet Shadow Demons were only needed to be consumed. It was perfect.

What they needed was the first drop of lubricant to get the machine running. And that first opportunity had finally arrived!

According to intelligence within the organization, the Golden Coral Hall in the southern district of Beiliu City was a hidden base of dark creatures known as Dead Blood. Unlike general dark creatures, Dead Blood were quite organized and had formed an organization called the Blood Spirit Society. It was the same force behind the Duststorm organization that had frequently opposed the Ace of Spades.

Cassius had once slaughtered a vice-president of the Blood Spirit Society. However, the Blood Spirit Society still had a president and another vice-president, which was at least two Indestructible-Rank Dead Blood. Moreover, no one knew how much the Dead Blood, originally the local tyrants of Beiliu County, had developed over the past fifty years. Had any new Indestructible-Rank ones been born?

Therefore, Cassius personally oversaw the operations in Beiliu County. He used his subordinates to pressure the Blood Spirit Society until he could force their president and vice-president to appear. Once these Indestructible-Rank Dead Blood showed up, Cassius would personally hunt them. Humans eat bread and milk, dark creatures eat humans, and he ate dark creatures; it seemed quite reasonable.

The moonlight was thin as shadows of trees flickered and leaves rustled in the evening breeze. Withered yellow leaves swept across the street. They were crushed into powder by a black combat boot, and were swept away by the wind.

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

A series of swift and forceful footsteps approached.

The Golden Coral Hall was the Blood Spirit Society’s hunting base in Beiliu City. The Dead Blood mingled in human society, hunting and devouring life. They used their base for digestion and rest. There were several similar bases in Beiliu City, so each base only had a few Blood Spirit Society members. Sometimes there were only a few or a dozen Dead Blood, and at most thirty or forty.

Tonight, the Golden Coral Hall had twenty-one Dead Blood. Fifteen were digesting and sleeping, and six were patrolling and guarding the hall. Two at the main gate, two patrolling inside, and two handling daily affairs. Originally, patrolling and guarding didn't exist. At most, only one Dead Blood watched the gate, and most others would be sleeping.

After all, what force would attack dark creatures? They were the ones who hunted humans!

However, the incident in Fengnan City more than a month ago had put the Blood Spirit Society on guard. After all, a vice-president had disappeared.

The Blood Spirit Society had tried to investigate the Ace of Spades, but unfortunately, some of their high-level members were in slumber, and some were temporarily missing. Even if they obtained some intelligence, they didn't dare to act rashly. After all, even Vice-President Adam had fallen. They could only wait for higher-ups to take charge.

Now, instead of their higher-ups, they were met with a joint ambush by the Ace of Spades and the Shadowless Clan under the Golem Sect.

"Who goes there?!" Two members of the Blood Spirit Society stationed at the iron gate of the Golden Coral Hall suddenly turned, their gazes coldly staring into the distant darkness.

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

Twenty robust figures suddenly emerged from the shadows. On the left were ten muscular men, their Qi surging powerfully, black tight combat suits outlining their burly figures. On the right were ten of their own kind! Their bodies emitted black smoke and their outlines blurry. The dark shadows were slender and tall, their pupils showing a scarlet hunger.

"Destroy their bodies! Don't annihilate their core! I'll repeat: the usual weak points are the heart and head; the more formidable weak point is the head!" The captain of the strongmen squad shouted loudly.

"Yes!!!"

"Understood!!!"

The other nine roared as they charged like a group of wild beasts. Their footsteps thudded heavily on the ground.

The two Blood Spirit Society members guarding the gate were shocked. They barely managed to manipulate their blood to form weapons in their hands by the time they were surrounded by the strongmen. The two fiercely swung their blood weapons, drawing red arcs in the air, trying to force back their opponents.

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

Massive, powerful fists struck out, colliding with the blood weapons in mid-air and sending golden sparks flying. The Ace of Spades members were not simply wearing gloves; beneath the leather were alloy gauntlets with conical blunt studs on the surface.

They punched their way through, forcibly shattering the blood-formed weapons of the Blood Spirit Society members. The two still wanted to resist, but four big men had already gotten within range. They grabbed the two's arms and used joint-lock techniques to immobilize them.

Then, two more big men, under the terrified gazes of the Blood Spirit Society members, pulled out two specially made shotguns. They pressed the two dark muzzles, larger than eye sockets, against their chests and pulled the triggers. The bullets pierced through their bodies with a loud

boom

.

Such high-powered firearms fired at ultra-close range would penetrate and destroy the heart, even if the Dead Blood's heart had bone plate defenses.

The Blood Spirit Society members thudded to the ground. The captain of the strongmen squad took out a bottle thinner than a pinky finger from his pocket and poured the liquid onto the corpses. This was a special liquid infused with the aura of the Golem, which could effectively prevent the Dead Blood's main body from escaping the corpse.

Although the Dead Blood's main body was weak after leaving the host and couldn't move very far, it was troublesome to find them afterward. Hence, it was better to handle it now.

"Let's go!" The ten members of the Ace of Spades didn't pause as they crashed into the tall iron gate not far away. It only took a few impacts to open the gate of the Golden Coral Hall, and the group of strongmen excitedly rushed in.

However, while the Ace of Spades were delayed a bit at the gate, the Shadowless Clan were completely unhindered. Ten Shadow Demons leaped up the corner, effortlessly crossing the three-meter-high wall.

When they landed, they merged into the darkness like pools of ink and moved rapidly within the shadows of the Golden Coral Hall. Occasionally, streetlights lit the inside of the hall, creating bright gaps between the shadows of buildings. Sometimes, one could see black shadows leaping from shadow to shadow, diving like fish into the shadows of another building.

Swish, swish, swish!

Deep inside the hall, the previously sleeping Blood Spirit Society members were awakened by gunfire. They rushed out of the buildings and made their way to the main gate. Their arms were soaked in blood, with red marks that climbed upward to form tattoos that resembled tree roots.

This was the blood energy of the Dead Blood. It was capable of transforming into various weapons that were harder and sharper than ordinary weapons. Moreover, if one was wounded by these blood weapons, they would suffer severe bleeding, and the wounds would be hard to close.

"Someone dared to fire shots at the Golden Coral Hall, they're courting death!"

"Damn bastard, woke me up! I'll drain his blood and flesh, making him wish for death!"

"What bad luck, is it another gang fight?"

Five or six Blood Spirit Society members strode quickly, loudly complaining as they hurried toward the gate.

Their nerves were still quite sluggish upon awakening, so they didn't even notice the abnormal surroundings. By the time they did, it was too late. A series of slender black shadows suddenly emerged from the shadows on both sides of the street. There were a total of ten, their pitch-black claws glinting with metallic luster.

The Shadow Demons rushed them, waving their claws to form dense shadows in the air. The Blood Spirit Society members were seriously injured in an instant as claws cut deeply and tore off large chunks of flesh. Some unlucky ones had their entire arms torn into pieces.

"Attack!"

Although the five didn't know why Shadow Demons were attacking them, they had no choice but to fight. They wielded long knives and swords made of blood, striking with a speed and strength far beyond normal humans.

They obtained significant results instantly. Some Shadow Demons that got too close had half their bodies torn apart. Other Shadow Demons were also injured. However, the seemingly heavily injured Shadow Demons dissolved into pools of black liquid that merged into the shadows. Once they were in the shadows, they reassembled, causing their injuries to disappear. When they came back out, they were a slightly lighter hue.

This was the Shadow Demon, possessing the immortality of dark creatures. It had two forms: host form and main body form. The host form was a human whose body had undergone multiple mutations, making it stronger but easier to kill. The other was the main body form, with abilities similar to phasing through attacks. Unless a single strike exceeded its limit, the Shadow Demon could consume energy to regroup and repair its body until its energy was completely exhausted.

Clang, clang, clang!

Weapons continued to clash with claws. The marks of battle were clear after just a single round of slaughter. The shadows on both sides of the street wriggled, and the ten intact Shadow Demons emerged again, while the Dead Blood's healing speed had slowed down.

This was not only due to numerical superiority but also because every time a Shadow Demon's claw struck, the vortex of the Black Demon's Hand would forcibly absorb strands of the Dead Blood's vitality. Once or twice was not obvious, but now, after hundreds of repeated injuries in the melee...

The accumulated vitality theft was already considerable.

"Kill!"

The ten Shadow Demons didn't give the enemy a chance to breathe; after fully healing themselves, they pounced again. The Dead Blood of the Blood Spirit Society let out desperate screams as they fell under a sea of claw shadows.

A minute later, five shattered bodies lay on the ground. Ten black shadows crouched, pressing long claws onto the corpses. A gurgling sound came from the air.

It was as if some invisible monster was voraciously devouring.

Creatures like the Dead Blood were exquisite delicacies for the Black Demonic Vortex. They were like nectar and ambrosia. Even with ten Shadow Demons sharing five corpses, the vortex of the Black Demon's Hand still showed a significant acceleration. The rotation became faster, and the suction stronger.

It was as if a big mouth was constantly pulling in vitality, chewing the surrounding air and crying out, "So hungry, so hungry, need to eat more!"

Tap, tap, tap...

More Blood Spirit Society members arrived at the entrance of the passage. They stopped in their tracks, as their pupils contracted and breath halted.

Their companions' shattered corpses lay on the ground. Ten blurry black shadows stood up, thin and tall, claw tips dripping with blood and almost dragging on the floor tiles. These monsters turned their heads, and pairs of scarlet eyes lit up.

"

Heh heh

, more food delivered to our door..."