Chapter 382 - The Unlucky President and Vice-President of the Blood Spirit Society

Half of the fighter jet’s fuel, due to some internal malfunction, was on fire. It was clear that the pilot had completely lost control. At the moment, it was like a giant missile, hurtling toward the ground at an astonishing speed.

There was no doubt about its power. Although the fighter jet looked small from afar, it was actually fifteen meters long, with a wingspan of nine meters and a height close to four meters. Its total weight reached six to seven tons.

This didn’t even take into account the inertia brought by a speed of over a thousand kilometers per hour. Even if its speed was reduced due to loss of control, it was still extremely dangerous. The instantaneous destructive power when this thing crashed was not inferior to a rocket barrage, or rather, like a missile that would only appear in later generations.

Cassius cursed inwardly, slammed his hands on the ground, and used the force to instantly propel himself backward.

When he was in the air, an overwhelming surge of Qi burst forth from his body like a vast lake. His specially made, durable combat suit was torn apart by his physique, revealing a terrifyingly exaggerated muscular upper body, with blue-black veins coiling like tree roots. He had transformed into a two-and-a-half-meter-tall rock-white giant.

In his Golem state, black mist so dense that it was almost tangible gushed out from Cassius's pores. Dark vapor surged from his chest, shoulders, and back into the air, forming a four-meter-high phantom of the Golem's true form. The phantom glanced at the sky, then lowered its head and extended its wall-like broad arms.

It looked indestructible as it shielded Cassius.

Whoosh!!!!!!

The piercing sound of the air being torn lasted only a second.

In the next moment...

Boom!!! Buzz...

The entire world fell silent. It wasn't that there were no subsequent explosions, but that the initial blast was so intense it rendered the eardrums temporarily useless. Cassius could only hear a buzzing sound, as if a wasp's nest that contained thousands of wasps had been stuffed inside his head.

The fighter jet transformed into a massive mushroom cloud of flames upon impact.

Fragments of the jet shot out from the flames at speeds surpassing bullets, destroying the surrounding environment. Air currents surged outward like waves, carrying a scorching heat.

Crackle, crackle...

Golden-red flames leaped and exploded, soaring nearly a hundred meters into the sky. Crackling sounds emanated from the blaze, as if something was undergoing a secondary explosion, triggering a chain reaction.

If one looked closely, they would notice that the spot where the fighter jet crashed was precisely where Cassius had been sitting cross-legged moments ago.

This was utterly absurd. Was this how the Book of the Devil bestowed misfortune upon its users!?

This was murder! This was beyond ordinary bad luck!

If it hadn't been a fighter jet, perhaps it would have been a meteorite. It was obviously aiming to utterly eliminate Cassius!

In truth, this time it was mostly Cassius's own fault. He was too curious, too eager to test his limits. He wanted to see how the Book of the Devil's misfortune would manifest in a safe environment. As it turned out, some costs cannot be dodged with clever tricks; trying to evade danger only led to even more catastrophic outcomes.

The Book of the Devil's so-called misfortune used the surrounding environment to create accidents and coincidences. Therefore, the danger level of the misfortune was linked to the hazard level of the environment. If Cassius had used the Book of the Devil in the city like last time, at most he'd have been hit by a car, buried by a collapsing building, or caught in a sewer gas explosion. It would have been frustrating, but manageable.

But this time, driven by his desire to experiment and confidence in his enhanced strength, he chose an extremely safe and stable environment, leaving the misfortune with no easy means to manifest.

So it had to escalate the accident's severity, resulting in it forcibly bringing down an out-of-control fighter jet from the clouds to strike Cassius. A fighter jet of this size and weight diving toward the ground at full speed was no different from a massive missile. Even for Cassius, a twofold top-tier combat artist, it was extremely dangerous. If he were hit head-on, he'd likely die on the spot.

Fortunately, although the misfortune this time was extremely dangerous, the more perilous it was, the more noticeable it became. This gave Cassius time to react and swiftly distance himself from the crash site.

He managed to escape the core explosion area and only suffer peripheral damage. Even so, he was still injured.

As the flames subsided, the ground was charred black, with greenish-yellow grass ignited and crackling. Only a ten-meter-long "U"-shaped patch of grass remained, lush and green, within a fifty-meter radius. A figure stood before the grassland, his clothes aflame.

The two-and-a-half-meter-tall figure clasped his fists before him, shielding his chest, neck, and face like a fortress. His tough skin was torn, and his strong arms bore occasional wounds. Though they were few, each was a deep, slicing gash.

Scarlet blood dripped from his elbows.

"What immense power. Did this fighter jet carry a large amount of explosives?" Cassius slowly lowered his hands, taking a deep breath of the smoky air. At the same time, the four-meter-tall Golem phantom that was shielding him dissipated, transforming into a cloud of black Qi.

The explosion had shattered the Golem phantom acting as his external armor; its entire upper body had been obliterated. The forearms and upper arms shielding the front were utterly destroyed, along with most of the shoulders.

This was why Cassius's true body only suffered minor external injuries.

"What a ruthless Book of the Devil! It actually adjusts the misfortune's danger level based on the user's strength! It seems that next time I use the Book of the Devil, I'll have to choose an even safer place—a fortress with perfect defense..."

He stood there muttering to himself, clearly misunderstanding what had happened. If Cassius really did as he planned, the next misfortune from the Book of the Devil might not be a fighter jet but a meteorite strike! Or perhaps an accidental detonation of a high-powered explosive test by the Hongli Federation—anything was possible.

However, not realizing it immediately wasn't a big deal. Cassius always thought carefully before using the Book of the Devil; he would surely consider other factors affecting the misfortune's danger level and adjust his plans accordingly.

Rustle, crackle...

Fifty meters away, metal gradually turned black as flames scorched the plane's wreckage. Large patches of surrounding grass smoldered with flames, showing signs of spreading outward under the wind. It was currently autumn, so the wild grass was dry and easily ignited.

Once his arms recovered through life vibration energy, Cassius acted swiftly, using Azure Wind Flow to blast open large pits along the burning edges and quickly creating a firebreak.

From the sky, one would see a large ring of pits each about a meter in diameter, encompassing a grassland area with a diameter of a hundred meters. As the flames spread, they quickly consumed half of the grassland. The other half was already charred black. In the center stood the plane's wreckage like a tower.

At a glance, it resembled some sort of evil deity's ritual. From the ground, one couldn't see the full picture, but from high above, it was entirely visible, bringing an instant sense of shock and horror.

Marvin was currently experiencing such emotions. He was the unfortunate pilot of the fighter jet. An accident had occurred during his mission, and the aircraft had become completely unresponsive. Since he was about to crash headlong into the grassland, Marvin had no choice but to eject.

Now, he was floating in the sky, having been terrified for quite a while. As the air currents stabilized, he gasped for breath and looked down. He was so shocked to see an evil deity's ritual scene that he nearly fainted. After barely regaining his composure, Marvin realized that the wind was carrying him toward the plane crash.

At that moment, his heart nearly leaped out of his throat. Marvin flailed his limbs like a frog, trying to swim through the air as if it were water, hoping to distance himself from that suspicious hundred-meter-diameter ring of fire.

However, it was useless. After a dozen seconds, he stopped struggling and resigned himself. Thirty seconds later, Marvin began to struggle violently again. He had seen an unknown humanoid figure within the ring of fire. Though he wasn't sure if it was an evil deity or a monster, it was definitely not human! That humanoid creature was hurling massive plane wreckage pieces, tossing them fifty to sixty meters away. Some even landed beyond the ring, up to a hundred meters away.

Those metal fragments, larger than two or three doors combined, crashed to the ground with a sound like artillery shells.

Marvin was scared out of his wits, his limbs turning weak. He watched as the vague humanoid tossed half a house-sized plane tail section seventy to eighty meters away into a lake.

A water column surged dozens of meters into the sky.

Marvin stopped struggling and fell silent. He closed his eyes and made the sign of the cross, touching his left shoulder, right shoulder, and forehead as he prayed to the Holy Spirit. He muttered names, likely of his family members. Then he mentioned monsters, malevolent spirits, evil gods, and so on, before referring to the Holy Spirit again. He was probably trying to hypnotize himself to safety.

Below, Cassius ceased his movements within the ring of fire. Though it was admittedly childish, he had been throwing the plane wreckage so far away to vent his anger.

Cassius had thought he had the advantage this time and had victory in hand, only to be slapped in the face. Even if the blow wasn't too heavy, it was enough to sting—truly disrespectful.

Whoosh!

He threw out the last large fragment. Then he stood before a large, dark pit. Of course, Cassius hadn't just been venting anger by throwing plane debris. He had discovered something unusual underground.

Since he was still within the misfortune period of the Book of the Devil, Cassius felt that every coincidence might signify danger. So he proactively approached the pit, peering inside.

"A tomb? No, it seems to be a ruin?"

Cassius frowned. There was probably something wrong below. He hadn't expected that he'd be sitting atop an unstable danger despite choosing a relatively safe and open environment.

But then again, who would build a tomb or ruin beside a lake? Wasn't that prone to infiltration?

Of course, it was possible that the ruins were ancient, and there was no Emerald Lake when they were built. Ancient ruins? This made Cassius think of the Akaba Ruins left by the Aoyin civilization. Could the ruins below be related to that ancient era?

A desire to explore suddenly arose in Cassius's heart. However, that impulse was quickly extinguished.

There was definitely danger below. The sudden appearance of the ruins was likely an effect of the Book of the Devil's misfortune. Recklessly venturing in now might not be wise and could carry unknown risks. He quickly suppressed his curiosity.

At the same time, deep within the black pit, a long corridor extended underground, branching into over a dozen passageways. The leftmost passage led downward, passing through some underground structures, reaching a hall at the end. This was a chamber adorned with wall patterns and motifs from the era of the Hongli Empire.

A pool occupied half the vast space, filled with a nearly dried, viscous liquid. It seemed a long time had passed. Who knew what it originally looked like, but it now resembled sludge.

Two figures lay quietly within this muddy liquid. They had been awakened by the disturbance. The sound of a missile explosion had penetrated the earth and reached the depths of the ruins. The entire hall shook, breaking the silence.

"What happened up there?"

"Don't know..."

"Adam is missing."

"Yes, he probably woke up early and left."

Their conversation was hoarse and awkward, like people who hadn't spoken in a long time. They were still adjusting to their bodies.

Bang bang bang...

More vibrations came from above. The sound was much smaller. Perhaps something was falling?

"Shall we go up and check? Seems someone is causing damage..."

"Yes, let's go together. Those who disturb my slumber can only compensate with blood and life... It's been so long since I've had a feast..."

As the two in the darkness conversed and mentioned feasting, their eyes lit up with greed and bloodlust.

Swish, swish...

The two figures slowly stood up from the pool. On the left was Lotus, the president of the Blood Spirit Society, and on the right was Dino, the vice-president. Both were Indestructible-Rank beings.

Above, Cassius sat cross-legged at the entrance of the dark passage. He was flipping through the Book of the Devil, producing clear sounds. His gaze was somewhat dangerous, as if contemplating whether to burn or tear up this cursed book.

As he pondered, Cassius suddenly sensed movement in the ruins below. Before he could close the Book of the Devil, he looked down the passage.

Footsteps had just come to a halt there. Two pale faces looked up fiercely and malevolently.

When he saw those familiar features and aura, for a moment, Cassius couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

Oh, aren't these old acquaintances?

He recalled that these two had died quite miserably before...