Chapter 457 - Holy Fist? You're A Fraud!

Cassius stood blocking the back gate of the manor, completely cutting off the trio's escape route.

They were combat artists with immensely strong Qi and bodies, capable of leaping over walls or even shattering them with a single punch. However, that offered no advantage.

The three had rushed toward the rear exit to rendezvous with the Northern King two kilometers away at the dark creature test site. Merely darting around aimlessly like headless flies would be worse than battling this powerful enemy in a life-or-death clash.

The Northern King was clearly the strongest among the Gate Organization members assembled in Florence at the moment. He was one of the seven most central "General Kings" in the organization.

𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

He was ranked below only three individuals. The first was, of course, the Gate Organization's enigmatic, eternal leader, Xiadu. Another was this generation's first General King. The last was the post of deputy leader, typically filling the leader's role most of the time—a figure called Holy Fist Demon Phoenix.

The "Holy Fist" title did not necessarily denote that person's true strength but served as a positional designation. Whenever the strongest member of the Gate Organization took the role of deputy leader, they were called "Holy Fist," much like the seven "General Kings" in the Gate Organization.

In truth, the name "Holy Fist" was meant to signify a hopeful ideal; an aspiration among Covert Martial Arts Practitioners to peer into higher realms. But in terms of raw strength, this current deputy leader of the Gate Organization, Demon Phoenix, was far from worthy of being called a true Holy Fist. His strength still fell below the Holy Fist threshold.

In fact, he could only come very close in this lifetime and never fully reach that level. This was because to follow the path of a Holy Fist or Dominator Fist, one had to merge body, Qi, and spirit into one, entirely mastering their own Will of the Fist!

Additionally, they required a belief in their own invincibility, letting no one stand above them. Should they submit to anyone, stifling their ambition or dimming their bold spirit, they would never attain that singular inner epiphany!

Every deputy leader of the Gate Organization reached the pinnacle of strength in the known world, yet none had ever broken through to the realm of Holy Fist. Over dozens of eras, Holy Fists had occasionally emerged but they absolutely never belonged to the Gate Organization.

One might even say that their first footstep toward becoming Holy Fists could not be taken. What did it mean to completely master one's own Will of the Fist? Where did Will of the Fist come from?

Naturally it came from the fundamental Covert Martial Arts that one had painstakingly trained in for decades. And where did Covert Martial Arts itself originate? It was humankind's means of strengthening themselves, developing the hidden potential of the human body for better self-protection. First and foremost, one had to honor and affirm their own humanity. That was the root of all roots.

Meanwhile, what was the Gate Organization actually doing? They drew closer to dark creatures; in truth, they were not a human faction.

Each deputy leader of the Gate Organization effectively ran the organization's operations. No matter what claims he made about preserving his human identity, even hypnotizing himself would not help. His subconscious knew perfectly well what he had done and what he planned to do. That knowledge would be fed directly into his Qi.

Even if every deputy leader raised their body, Qi, and mind to something close to the level of a Holy Fist, it made no difference, for they could never unite them. That little difference was an immeasurable gap akin to being separated by the heavens and earth. A Holy Fist no longer had the limitations of flesh, and their strength could grow boundlessly.

Hence, the Qi was them, and they were the Qi. As long as that Qi remained, the Holy Fist endured!

Even if their physical lifespan ended, and they aged naturally, the Holy Fist could still preserve their consciousness and maintain a sense of self through their Qi. Indeed, this was not some ethereal soul state, for Qi was a tangible, observable force.

A Holy Fist still had a body, but it was formed entirely from Qi—body, energy, and spirit fused into one. Without a conventional biological form, Qi could uphold their Will of the Fist to the fullest extent.

Comparing a strength below the Holy Fist with that of a Holy Fist was not just a matter of a few times or a dozen times difference—it was hundreds of times more extreme!

Hence, the Gate Organization's deputy leader daring to claim the title of Holy Fist was undeniably audacious...

Behind the manor, Hu Yue and the other two found themselves surrounded on all fronts. Ahead was a cold-faced, muscled man emanating strands of lethal menace, and behind stood a top-tier calamity-class dark creature with six totemic arms. The air itself felt weighed down by a stifling aura, making it difficult even to breathe. Tension and anxiety seeped through the atmosphere as these three Gate Organization members found themselves in dire straits.

The deadly dark creature behind them posed a grave threat, and the man blocking their path in front felt equally dangerous. But they could not shrink back. They had to decide swiftly.

Hu Yue and Luo exchanged glances and immediately lunged forward, unleashing their formidable Qi through ferocious combat moves. A phantom blue shark swiftly maneuvered through the air behind Luo. Its tail swished powerfully, and its jaws revealed rows of sinister teeth.

Hu Yue vaulted high like a cannonball, displaying a unique spinning swinging-hand slash. As his arm swept through the air, it traced the arc of a waning moon. A white crescent moon of Qi immediately merged with his silhouette, shearing the atmosphere with ease and slashing downward like a flaming wheel of wind.

Cassius remained motionless, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint sneer.

Boom!

The ground collapsed with a roar, and a black figure streaked away like lightning, leaving the air echoing with the sound of a violent shockwave.

Rumble!!!

Screee!

A raptor's piercing screech reverberated like rolling thunder. A colossal, crimson vulture plummeted from the sky, its talons clad in a tough, scaly armor, and the claw tips glistened as though dripping blood.

The claws came straight down on the fearsome shark's head, nearly enveloping its entire skull. It sheared the shark's head at an angle on the spot. A mass of azure Qi disintegrated there and then, turning fleetingly translucent.

Spreading its razor-edged, savage wings, the blood vulture slashed at the air as if wielding a hardened warblade.

Clink!

The white moon shattered on contact with the wings, scattering fine white sparks in the air like drifting willow catkins.

Bang! Bang!

Only one of the three figures remained standing. The other two flew off, slicing through the air like floating clouds before smashing into walls and rolling across the ground.

One could see the blood from those two men's mouths trailing in the air, stretched into a visible line by their incredible velocity, settling only after a moment.

Tap!

Just then, Xue Shi, who had been a bit slower because of his serious injuries, skidded to a halt. He was less than five meters from Cassius, his face blank with fear plain in his eyes.

Xue Shi no longer advanced; instead, he retreated step by step.

The towering, fearsome figure stepped forward slowly, arms spreading while a wild shriek rang out behind him. Clouds of crimson steam swirled around him like gauzy robes, rising and twining inseparably. At times, it resembled layered wings, while sometimes, it took on the form of frenzied flames or rippling scales.

Cassius strode over, wreathed in a bloody air.

"I can hear it. The wailing of the weak..." He lowered his head slowly, his crimson eyes glancing idly at Xue Shi. "Your screams...sound particularly awful."

Crack!!!

A headless corpse stood there in dumb silence, thick blood spurting from its neck like a fountain. A head with vacant eyes twisted midair, trailing a long streak of blood in a parabolic arc before dropping down.

Xue Shi's severed head fell face-up, his terror-ridden expression still frozen on his face and pupils brimming with panic. His mouth gaped wide, seemingly still mid-scream. Yet death had come so swiftly that Xue Shi never even had time to wail. His head had been lopped off mid-motion, halting, just as Cassius wished, that dreadful cry for good.

His headless body collapsed with a soft

thud

.

Cassius did not so much as glance at it. He only turned slowly, focusing on where Hu Yue and Luo had been flung. A trace of amusement glinted on his face.

Nearby, the Evil Mother wore a similarly surprised expression as she joined him, casting her gaze to the left. Thick red Qi rose like a column of water from the cracks in the gray brick of the wall.

Two muffled bangs rang out, and the masonry exploded outward under some immense force. Two figures enshrouded in swirling black-red mist emerged into the sunlight.

Hu Yue's suit and Luo's combat attire had been shredded from that earlier collision, revealing their muscular upper bodies. They both had a blue crystal disk around their neck that was continuously radiating streams of black-red mist. The airflow swirled, coursing from their hearts through their bodies. Dense black-red vapors gushed forth from each of their seven orifices, representing a kind of Qi.

Half-concealed in the haze, a malevolent phoenix rose into the air, each flap of its wings generating bizarre ripples like searing flames.

The air around them sank beneath the pressure, scattering dust from the ground.

Cassius noticed that their crystal disks were nearly identical to the one once used by Yang Yan. Now that he had seen them in action twice now, he gleaned some insights. These crystal disks consisted of some special material with excellent properties for channeling and storing energy, like a sponge that could absorb many types of special power.

For instance, the disks in front of him appeared to contain the powerful Qi of some individual. Likewise, Yang Yan had once employed it to store the calamity of dark creatures.

If he compared Yang Yan's usage to that of these two, it was evident that storing calamity from dark creatures in the disk was still quite crude, since it required "consumption" by crushing. But storing the Qi of combat artists was a much more refined practice with these present disks.

These crystal disks allowed them to store a powerful member's Qi, which the Gate Organization members could temporarily release and absorb in a crisis, enabling them to manifest strength far beyond their usual level.

Cassius recalled how he had once wondered about compressing large amounts of Qi into a Golem Seed for his subordinates. Then, in a pinch, they could rouse the seed to unleash a vast quantity of Golem Qi and crush their foes in an instant. It was a similar principle.

"Interesting," he remarked, narrowing his eyes and watching as the pair's aura intensified. "But if you think simply taking in some foreign Qi to boost yourselves will guarantee your survival, you're far too naive."

Cassius crushed a brick beneath his foot and advanced. "Come on, draw in all the outside power you can. Push the strength bestowed by others to its limit. Show me how far you can go..."

His tone carried a hint of disdain as he measured their Qi.

"The Holy Fist Demon Phoenix pumped enough Qi into these disks to rival his own blows! Perhaps it won't kill you outright, but it'll be more than enough for the two of us to escape..." Hu Yue growled fiercely, lifting his head.

He and Luo truly had not wished to use the crystal disk's power unless necessary. The Qi of others was never free of cost. It came with an enormous price, particularly when it was Qi from a combat artist stronger than themselves.

Forcefully absorbing it to unleash its power would hamper their progress along the path of martial arts afterward. Qi represented a combat artist's Will of the Fist and mental experiences, so it had a distinctive "infectiousness." Each combat artist's Qi differed and adopting someone else's Qi would make their core impure. It was akin to adding black ink to a bowl of clear water.

It would drastically impede any future advancement in martial arts. Put plainly, the Gate Organization's crystal disks were only external storage devices that came with severe side effects. Cassius's Golem Seed, by contrast, had a biological adaptability; once the Golem Qi was released and finished, it could reabsorb any leftover Qi from the host, allowing repeated use. Consequently, it did not hamper the user's future growth.

Beneath the sunlight, Cassius's expression stiffened slightly. He picked up on the first words Hu Yue had uttered: Holy Fist Demon Phoenix.

Could the Gate Organization be hiding a Holy Fist among them!?

Shff! Swoosh!

Hu Yue and Luo vanished from sight in an instant. Intense black-red Qi swirled around them like congealed amber, forming a thick, solid Demon Phoenix apparition that hurtled toward Cassius like a fired shell.

Boom! Boom!

Two dull blasts overlapped at the same instant. A fierce gust of air blew outward from the center of the battlefield, like waves smashing the shore. Tiles and earth within a hundred-meter radius were shattered inch by inch, as if numerous aerial bombs had descended in a massive explosion.

Three figures came into view at the collapsed center.

Hu Yue and Luo both remained in mid-punch, each resembling a humanoid Demon Phoenix. One had thrust forth rending claws, while the other had jabbed downward with a spiraling drill-like beak!

Yet these two attacks, far exceeding their normal strength, had been blocked. A towering figure had spread his arms and seized those meteor-like blows.

The wind rushed around him as Cassius slowly raised his head.

His expression was ferocious beyond measure, revealing razor-sharp pale fangs. He fixed his gaze on the Demon Phoenix behind the two opponents, fury glinting in his eyes at having been toyed with.

His emotions bubbled like a volcano about to erupt as he snarled.

"You frauds! You dare call that Holy Fist!!!"