Chapter 459 - Sonic Snake Swallows Hurricane

Cassius wore a stiff, black combat attire and the cloak behind him was whipped up by the currents billowing toward the sky. Thirty-one Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist acupoints lit up simultaneously under his clothes, glimmering with a deep purple glow.

His entire body was shrouded in thick purple haze that flared upward like flames and radiating a terrifying aura. Cassius pressed one hand on the scales of the giant serpent rising skyward before him. In that instant, the purple fog blanketing a wide swath of the hillside behind his back and above his head abruptly coiled inward in reverse.

The massive vortex of gas poured over the purple-scaled giant serpent. Its form and length swelled at high speed, and its scales grew progressively tougher and more ferocious.

By the time Cassius withdrew his arm, the serpent that had emerged from underground had leaped into the sky, eclipsing the sun and casting a hundred-meter-long black shadow.

Boom! Rumble-rumble!

Two colossal beings fueled by terrifying power slammed into one another in the azure sky. Their sheer size clashing instantly triggered a violent shockwave in the air. It was as though a formation of bombers had dropped a multitude of explosives that detonated in midair. The immense heat nearly ignited the air itself, warping the view all around.

Circles of white turbulence compressed and rolled, forming a mushroom cloud. The sound of the collision was audible up to ten kilometers away.

A sudden downdraft of shockwave hit, making the forest's foliage shudder violently and flattening blades of grass against the ground. A fierce wind kept whipping up the hem of everyone’s garments.

Waves of wind that were sharp as blades cut ceaselessly across Cassius’s firm, pale skin. Regardless, he remained standing upright, eyes narrowed slightly. He paid no heed to the center of the collision between the sonic snake and the hurricane, and instead stared at the Gale Shaman hovering in midair.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Cassius lifted his hand, his fingertip making an icy gesture.

Roar!

The sonic snake suddenly lunged forward, its tail lashing out to shatter what remained of the hurricane's waning vortex. Then it slithered forward with a thunderous force, snapping its jaws at the void.

Cassius had been inspired by how the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Holy Fist elder had channeled his Qi through the Arcane Stone Tablet, spurring his own study in this domain. His endeavors were now bearing significant fruit, enhancing his combat methods to a notable degree.

In general, employing Qi in such a manner was something typically encountered at the extreme combat artist realm. Once Covert Martial Arts Practitioners reached the ultimate threshold just below Holy Fist, with no further rise possible in their basic strength, they began organically researching deeper Qi applications.

To use Qi in this fashion first required a high stage of enlightenment, for only advanced insight could allow one to exert such command. Second, one needed abundant Qi since users needed to be able to endure its terrifying expenditure in battle.

Though Cassius had relied on his Sonic Fang Force to leap into the ranks of extreme combat artists, his Qi was far more robust than that of typical Covert Martial Arts Practitioners at the same level. He had unified three top-tier Covert Martial Arts under his belt, Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist, Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist, and Golem Covert Martial Arts, and each Persona wielded a portion of his Qi.

Hence, Cassius had never hesitated to burn through his own Qi as needed. He feared no one in a war of attrition.

Moments ago, the Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist Qi had formed a colossal sonic snake, but Cassius, deeming it insufficient, poured even more Qi into it. It thus smashed the hundred-meter hurricane the Gale Shaman had been building, then moved on to strike the shaman himself.

He wanted to see precisely what abilities these Totem Temple shamans had received from the Totem King, to dare besiege him so openly.

In his Cold Persona, Cassius was more adept at calculation and cunning tactics. He intended to keep his power level between that of a top-tier combat artist and an extreme combat artist and force these totem shamans to reveal every trump card. Then he would unleash his full power at once, destroying them in a final blow.

If he had been in his Killer Persona instead, he wouldn't have bothered thinking anything through. He would have instantly unleashed all his strength, pummeling them into the earth until they were nothing but dust.

Neither approach was better or worse. They were simply different styles suited for different combat scenarios. When the enemy had unknown tricks, particularly those granted by an Ultimate Dark Form, the Cold Persona was undoubtedly more cautious.

The giant serpent in the sky bore down on the shaman. The black cloak on the Gale Shaman ballooned in the wind. One could see the elder's entire array of totems lighting up in turn, each allowing new combinations of airflow manipulation!

He raised an arm and thrust upward. First, a thick white column of air, three meters in diameter, shot upward from the ground, enveloping the Gale Shaman, then slammed into the sonic snake's body.

Suddenly, a white updraft shaped like an arm formed around the serpent's purple scales, akin to grains of sand, enveloping its entire lower half.

Rumble.

The two forces fought in midair for barely the blink of an eye, and the air column collapsed right away. Though somewhat diminished, the sonic snake continued bearing down like a diving falcon, rippling with sonic waves all over its body.

The Gale Shaman's expression shifted. Rather than stubbornly holding his position, he let himself fall from the sky. He raised his hands repeatedly, each time causing a totem to flash and then go dark.

A swirling wind blade strong enough to sever a tree trunk. Air chains capable of shredding boulders. The upper half of a storm giant, towering over ten meters... All these totem abilities clashed against the serpent, but merely blasted off some of its purple scales.

They still could not stop its crushing momentum as its looming shadow grew ever larger. Its horrifying pressure caused the very air to congeal like amber.

"Damn it, what's this about? Coming straight in with a killing move? Doesn't he fear using everything in one blow and then being killed by Thousand-Beast?!" The Gale Shaman fumed.

If he took the rest of this attack head-on, there was a significant chance he'd be seriously wounded on the spot... Unless he used the power the Totem King had granted him.

However, this was merely their first clash. If he expended his trump card now, then could they truly kill Cassius with only his original strength and the Thousand-Beast Shaman?

Gale Shaman had been watching the dark creature behind Cassius all along. It was obviously a top-tier Cataclysmic Spirit level dark creature that also appeared to obey Cassius's commands. When the initial probing ended, it would become a two-on-two situation. Using his trump card prematurely might let them gain victory, but likely not land a killing blow!

"Thousand-Beast!!!" He roared as he fell.

On the distant slope, Cassius's demeanor remained unchanged. That blow of his had indeed been fierce, drawing on over seventy percent of his Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist Qi. It was equivalent to the desperation strike of a top-tier combat artist devoted to Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist, which explained the Gale Shaman's wretched predicament.

However, it wasn't truly a finishing move. Cassius possessed only two genuine trump cards: his ultimate secret move, Blood Vulture's Beak, and his extreme force, Sonic Fang Force. The latter was a genuine trump card that stood at the extreme combat artist level.

Boom!

Deep in the forest, a giant-like figure barreled through the undergrowth, violently shoving aside and snapping the trees in its path. It threw a ferocious punch at the sonic snake.

Bang!!!

The serpent, which was the size of a small hill, was sent flying, flattening swathes of timber and leaving the forest pulverized into muddy ground. The soil around it heaved like ocean waves, forming terrifying fissures.

Black earth burst upward as though volcanic lava. It soared dozens of meters high before pattering back down, a rain of dirt and broken rock.

Whoosh...pitter-patter.

The clatter of falling gravel and earth was hardly different from a raging storm. Two figures stood revealed under the sunlight, any movement eliciting a sickening crackling from their bones.

The Gale Shaman's robe had been ripped to shreds by an immense force, exposing primitive-looking totem markings. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and he bared his teeth with a savage expression.

The totems on his chest and back shattered with two dull cracks. Grief flickered across Gale Shaman's face. Beside him, a brawny middle-aged man forcefully stretched out both arms. With a loud crack, his entire body elongated by more than ten centimeters.

It wasn't that the Thousand-Beast Shaman had employed some burst technique. This was, in fact, his standard form. Moments earlier, when the sonic snake had fallen like a collapsing mountain, the fearsome pressure had forced the Thousand-Beast Shaman's entire skeleton to compress by over ten centimeters!

As the Thousand-Beast Shaman retracted his arms, the area around his shoulders and upper arms abruptly split in a dozen places, blood gushing out in streams. His muscles had been torn, veins snapped; one could even faintly see bone. His totem glimmered and fur sprang up wildly all over him. His body shifted into a half-human, half-beast appearance.

In mere moments, the Thousand-Beast Shaman transformed into a three-meter-tall werewolf. The wounds on his arms rapidly closed under a formidable regenerative force, sprouting new skin.

Roar!

The Thousand-Beast Shaman threw back his head and roared, glancing viciously at the Gale Shaman approaching him. "Gale, let's go together. His aura's noticeably weaker—this is our chance!"

The Gale Shaman’s eyes narrowed, battle spirit kindling. In the next instant, the two figures shot forward at a breakneck pace, propelled by swirling currents at their backs!

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a dark streak through the forest forcibly carved a path through the trees.

Cassius's black boots landed on a large half-buried boulder in the soil; he applied slight pressure, shattering the tough rock in an explosion. But a black silhouette darted forward like lightning amid the billowing gray dust.

Cassius's gaze was keen, as he spotted the pair from nearly a hundred meters away. He spread his arms, lightly pushed off with his feet, and vaulted forth like a humanoid raptor in a glide. The previously cold and indifferent aura abruptly turned savage and fierce. A domineering, fire-like Qi flared wildly, supplanting the once icy Qi of the Sonic Snake Fist.

Boom!

The three figures collided head-on, sending all trees within a twenty-meter radius flying and shockwaves swirling like a vortex.

Gale Shaman was cloaked by a whirlwind forceful enough to cut through metal and stone, yet a ripple-like crimson Qi with wing-shaped arcs held it at bay. The werewolf-form Thousand-Beast Shaman struck with a punch, which another equally muscular arm blocked with ease.

In an instant, three powers clashed in a contest of might.

Gale Shaman's pupils constricted. The enemy's aura had abruptly returned to its peak. It reminded him of a fist master he had encountered in the southern jungles fifty years ago. That individual had possessed dazzling talent, honing his fist moves to mastery in his later years. He had created a secret art called Seven-Star Fate Realms, aligning his body's interior with the positions of seven celestial stars.

By means of special herbal tonics and training methods, he had nurtured seven tumor-like lumps akin to Dantians, each corresponding to a star in the sky. Every star signified a Fate Realm. Whenever he was seriously wounded and near death, he could detonate one of those lumps.

He would instantly experience a burst of rebounding vitality, recovering over half his Qi. This granted his near-spent body a frightening resurgence of power. In theory, that fist master could regain his fighting strength seven times. The foe before him now seemed to wield a similar tactic but with even more dramatic results as he returned to peak form in the blink of an eye.

Cassius's threat potential soared in the minds of the two totem shamans. Their surrounding totems glimmered, unleashing their full power.

Bang, bang, bang, bang...

The three figures bashed against each other repeatedly like tanks in a mad collision. Their limbs collided with deafening impacts and shockwaves, shaking the earth as though bombs kept detonating in the mountains.

Half a kilometer away, on the branch of a giant tree towering over the rest, a young man with brown curly hair, refined features, and a well-proportioned figure exhaled. His throat felt slightly parched, and his face was a bit pale.

It was Aaron, who had been on track to become Number Four Shadow Hunter but was mercilessly displaced by Cassius and thus remained Number Five. He'd been stealthily patrolling Florence's streets, aiming to find the top-tier Cataclysmic Spirit level dark creature that had injured Radiant Hunter Deleshart.

However, Aaron had spotted a wounded figure fleeing the city, found it suspicious, and given chase. Then he witnessed a brutal fight that could only be called terrifying.

That sonic snake, clad in purple scales, seemed like an ancient primordial beast over a hundred meters long. It had overwhelmed the hurricane, carrying a frightening aura and crushing weight as it ruthlessly ground the earth beneath it.

Such ferocity was practically on par with a natural calamity.

Only seconds earlier, Aaron had been much closer to the battlefield and been nearly caught by that terrifying strike. A frenzied alarm for impending death rang in his mind. He knew that even a glancing blow would leave him a mangled mass of flesh—no, not a mass...a puddle!

When Aaron was fleeing, the very soil in the forest seemed to roll in waves, lifting him a good five or six meters off the ground. Soil erupting from the fissures nearly shot him dozens of meters into the air. No wonder he was now so far away, perched atop a giant tree for safety, eyes unfocused in lingering terror.

"Where the hell did these freaks pop out from? If they fought in the center of Florence, half the imperial capital would be leveled... " Aaron muttered to himself, the shock in his pupils fading slightly.

Swish!

High above, a dark speck rapidly closed in, finally brushing past the giant tree's crown before crashing into the ground and blasting out a crater several meters deep.

A stench of scorched wood pervaded the air. Aaron turned stiffly and realized it was a piece of timber, snapped off and sent hurtling through the air. Glancing at the other side of the giant tree, he found that all its foliage there had been stripped clean. It now stood in bald contrast to his side, which was still lush with leaves. His eyelid twitched...

Suddenly, Aaron felt he might still be too close to the heart of the battle. To avoid being caught in the crossfire by those monsters, maybe he should conduct a tactical retreat.

Let's aim for a small distance of two kilometers away...