Chapter 495 - Opportunity For His Qi To Reach Extreme Combat Artist Realm

The sky was blue with bright white clouds, and the scenery was radiant. Golden light shone brightly between the gaps in the clouds. Wind churned the air, transforming the sky into a vast, rolling ocean.

Rays of sunlight flowed down the mountainside through the dense forest and finally reached Mirror Lake. The lake shimmered with rippling reflections of the lush greenery. At a glance, it looked as if a green carpet was spread down from the mountain into the water, and continued to thrive beneath the lake's surface.

It truly was a rare sight, and it was no wonder that the cities of Bright Mountain and Mirror Lake later became famed vacation retreats; the scenery already provided a perfect foundation.

Splash... splash...

Several small white boats drifted quietly on the sparkling waters of Mirror Lake, with faint silhouettes of people moving about on them. They were fishermen from the small town beside Mirror Lake who made their living primarily by fishing its waters. Occasionally, they would ferry visitors from the city around Mirror Lake for a tour.

Plop, plop.

A fat fish was hauled up onto a boat. The fisherman, his skin bronzed from sun and wind, was overjoyed, proudly showing off his catch to his nearby companions. However, his excitement had barely begun when the chaotic calls of startled birds erupted from the distant forest.

A swarm of black bats suddenly swept out of the woods at alarming speed. In the sunlight, the bats revealed their hideous and fearsome appearances. They were considerably larger than ordinary bats, with sharp snouts, fangs, and blood-red eyes. Not only that, they looked highly aggressive.

Whoosh...

Additional swarms of bats burst from the woods, circling overhead in the sky. Immediately, the fishermen on the boats showed expressions of alarm.

Their town, located near Mirror Lake and the Alphama Mountains, had long been rife with tales of demons living in those hills. Rumor had it that the Alphama Mountains were home to half-human, half-bat monsters that feasted on human blood and possessed immense strength. A telltale sign of their presence was if a large flock of bloodsucking bats appeared to choose a target.

"Quick! Jump into the lake!!!" An experienced old fisherman shouted loudly.

Several people immediately leaped into the water. However, the sun-bronzed fisherman, still busy with his catch, hesitated and moved too slowly.

The swarm of bats dove from the sky, surrounding him at once and lifting him into midair. A half-humanoid figure of the Blood Race appeared faintly within the cloud of black bats.

It hoisted the fisherman with one hand, ignoring his pleas and struggles as it sank its fangs into a major artery. Yet after merely puncturing the artery and letting blood spill forth, the pale-faced Blood Race spat in disgust.

It split the fisherman in two with its razor-sharp claws, killing him in midair. Several pieces of the corpse fell back down onto the boat.

"

Ugh

, what foul, disgusting blood. As expected, these tough-skinned brutes are worthless. Only tender young girls taste good..."

Hovering in midair, that Blood Race glanced indifferently across the lake, as though crushing a fisherman was no different than stepping on an insignificant ant. It raised an arm in a beckoning gesture, then soared toward the plain on the west side of Mirror Lake. Several nearby groups of bats followed at once.

Half a minute later, the fishermen who had jumped into the lake climbed back onto their boats. They gasped for breath, their faces deathly pale from the relief of having narrowly escaped doom.

A few wore expressions of grief, clearly having known the man who had been slain.

"Peter, if you had only jumped a second sooner... maybe..." an elderly fisherman lamented, glancing at Peter's boat, half of which was stained deep red, and scattered with bits of flesh and innards.

"

Sigh...

" another fisherman sighed.

Much of their sorrow lay in Peter's demise, though part of it stemmed from their own helplessness. Who could have imagined monsters like that in the Alphama Mountains who could slaughter a living person as easily as stepping on an ant? If they had been the target, they would just as surely have been helpless.

Feelings of impotence, danger, and dread welled up within them.

Suddenly, they heard heavy, decisive footsteps coming from where the bats had just disappeared off to. The fishermen, still on edge, panicked like spooked birds, some jumping back into the water without so much as a glance.

The lead fisherman turned, only to see it was not the bat monsters. Instead, it was a group of young hunters in gray hunting attire. Each looked vigorous and battle-ready, armed with metal weapons. Their bright blue eyes reflected firm resolve.

These young hunters were leading a group of black-clad figures behind them. This group resembled a dense, stormy cloud, solemn yet crackling with explosive energy.

One after another, tall, muscular men in black strode forward, their heavy boots leaving deep imprints in the ground. Some wore boxing gloves, and others carried cruciform swords or executioner's blades, but they were all dressed in similar outfits. On their chests was a bloody crucifix emblem, sharp-edged and dripping with blood.

They were noticeably bigger and more robust than the younger hunters leading the way. Each stood at least six feet tall, with well-defined muscles and rough hands. Black, menacing tattoos beneath their necks lent them a fierce presence.

Their faces varied: some bore cruel, hardened features, while others had manic eyes, and still others looked as cold as blades or brooded like a deep abyss. They all exuded a daunting pressure and an aura of formidable power. Just a distant glance would make most people's legs quake.

Tap, tap, tap...

They halted near Mirror Lake, and one figure stepped forth slowly. It was Odo in his youthful form, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and clad in a sleek black combat outfit that accentuated his graceful demeanor.

Though he wore a smile, he held a wretched captive who struggled incessantly in his grip. His five fingers were curled like an eagle's talons, clamped tight around the prisoner's neck. He lifted his palm, suspending that Blood Race effortlessly in midair.

"Did you see how your two friends died just now?" Odo asked sweetly, then answered himself, "They were eaten. One got tossed into a mist of blood like a meat grinder and ground to pieces inch by inch. The other one was torn apart by nine serpents.

Tsk, tsk

. What a brutal approach..."

"But me, I'm different. I won't be so crude," he went on, a hint of light flickering beneath his glasses. "I'll give you a chance right now as long as you behave and tell me why those Alphama direct bloodline Blood Race sent you out here and where exactly their gathering points are in the mountains. I'll give you five seconds—five, four..."

"I'll talk! I'll talk!" that Blood Race croaked in a raspy voice.

In no time, Odo obtained the information he desired.

"I told you everything! Aren't you going to keep your promise and let me go?" the Blood Race asked breathlessly, terror etched across its face. It showed none of the earlier arrogance and ferocity from when it had slain a fisherman without a care.

Now, the roles had reversed and it was the ant; an ant that could be crushed at any moment by the man before it.

"Let you go? Since when did I say I'd let you go?" Odo asked suddenly, his expression turning impassive and his gaze ice-cold. "I merely said I'd give you a chance to answer me truthfully. I never promised you anything. Don't fill in blanks yourself. No need for all those tears. Don't overthink it..."

When he finished speaking, he offered a deeply unsettling smile. "Oh, wait! There was something. I promised not to be as rough as those two. So, please... Die a bit more gracefully."

Smack.

Odo flicked his palm, sending the Blood Race hurtling into the air. Two beams of white light suddenly flashed beneath his glasses as his hands slashed through the air with brutal speed, producing a hazy, dreamlike moon image in the swirling currents.

That graceful arc of moonlight glimmered for an instant, and Odo did not so much as glance at the Blood Race in the air. He turned on his heel and walked toward the center of the formation.

Behind him, the Blood Race's horrified, struggling expression froze in place, as if it had been turned to stone. The next moment, its entire face shattered like building blocks, fragmenting into two-centimeter cubes of bloody tissue.

Crack, crack, crack...

Its entire body disintegrated and fell into the water. At that instant, the hazy moonlight Odo had unleashed with his arms broke apart with a resounding crash.

Clink!

A large area of the lake near the shore seemed to resonate with the moonlight, forming neat ripples. It resembled countless shards of glass or ice layered together.

Below the surface, chunks of the Blood Race's remains tumbled through the water, releasing swirling trails of blood. Its general outline formed a rough phantom of a crimson moon. Seen through the vivid fractals on the surface, it possessed a strangely enchanting, illusory beauty.

"My lord, I extracted the information. The Blood Race stronghold is located..." Odo reported the details to Cassius, who was in the formation.

Meanwhile, Fog Man and Nine-Serpent watched with disdain, though envy faintly flickered within their scorn. That sly old Odo certainly knew how to please the Director of the Treatment Ward, despite once having been far less powerful. He had risen above them by earning the lord's favor and receiving his teachings.

Hmph.

One day, they too would earn the lord's favor!

Setting aside their bizarre competition for attention, Cassius listened carefully to the intelligence Odo had extracted.

𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

After pondering for a moment, he noticed that certain critical locations hardly differed from his recollection during his third time-travel. Overall, they were still scattered around the underground Ao Yin ruins—some in caves, others in small settlements. Certain Blood Race groups lived even closer to the core, and directly in the outskirts of the ruins.

This time, Cassius had arrived with a band of followers for a clear purpose: to eliminate the high-ranking Blood Race that hid in slumber within the ruins. Additionally, he intended to acquire the fake-death pill and its recipe, providing a safeguard for Ghost-Man and Iron Knight from the Black Rain Manor as previously promised.

His thoughts swirled in his mind as he glanced toward Mirror Lake in the distance. With a wave of his hand, he directed the group onward.

His training in the Qi Embodiment chapter of his Golem Covert Martial Arts had reached 87.1%, leaving only 2.9% until 90%.

In other words, once he filled that 2.9%, he would raise his Qi realm to the level of an extreme combat artist. At that point, both his body and Qi would reach the extreme combat artist threshold, placing him squarely before the realm of the Holy Fist.

Cassius could then embark confidently on his journey to the Eternal Archipelago in search of the third Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritance, unafraid of any looming threats.

Tap, tap, tap...

The fishermen could only watch them disappear swiftly into the green forest as they exchanged uncertain glances. They seemed helpless and anxious, yet their gazes brimmed with hope as they turned toward the distant Alphama Mountains.

Though the black-clad individuals hardly looked like heroes, it seemed as though they had come specifically to eradicate those bat monsters in the Alphama Mountains. Moreover, they had brutally executed one of the Blood Race before the fishermen's eyes—the same being that had arrogantly killed Peter a moment ago.

Perhaps this imposing hunting force would eliminate many more of these marauding monsters. Standing on their boats, the fishermen quietly lowered their heads in prayer.

***

A few hours later, in the Alphama Mountains with their dense forests and rugged terrain...

A squad of four Mercury Hunters forged a path through a forest clearing using machetes. They hacked away the branches and brambles, forming a rough trail.

They vigilantly scanned the surroundings; it was evident that this was territory frequented by the Alphama direct bloodline Blood Race deep in the Alphama Mountains.

Crack!

A branch blocking the way was severed. The four of them emerged from the trees onto lush grass, spotting a small body of water that might better be called a pond. The shores of the pond had broad sightlines and footprints of birds and beasts scattered over the ground.

They edged nearer to the water, intending to leave a marker.

Suddenly, the water in the pond splashed, and several half-human, half-bat monsters sprang forth, their eyes brimming with a bloodthirsty impulse to kill. The four Mercury Hunters sprang backward, unleashing a barrage of crossbow bolts that momentarily held those Blood Race at bay.

They then placed a wooden cross-shaped stake on the ground and turned to leave at once. They seemed not in the least to consider these Blood Race a real threat.

"All yours! We're off to the next spot to set up more markers." One of the Mercury Hunters called into the forest path they had just opened.

Roar!!!

The direct Blood Race that had dropped back into the water roared in fury, exploding out of the pond once again with savage speed.

But just then, several dark figures shot forth like arrows from the woods. They left deep boot prints on the ground as they thundered forward. Their immense speed and power were akin to a bear pouncing on prey.

They intercepted the Blood Race in midair, ramming into them and clearly dominating as they sent the half-bat monsters crashing back into the pond.

Water splashed everywhere, and the dark figures whipped up a gale as they plunged into the pond!

Bang, bang, bang! Clang, clang, clang! Crack!

"Aaah!!!"

A series of agonized shrieks rang out. At one point, a severed arm hurtled out, landing on the shore in a bloody tumble.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Three dark figures leaped from the pond, their black garments dripping with water and traces of blood. They were led by a tall, bald brute with a face full of coarse lines and an exaggerated scar across his left eye.

He raised his hand, revealing the twisted, hideous head clutched in his palm. He held it before his face and stared at it for a moment before breaking into a grin that bared a row of decaying teeth.

"Quite a looker, I must say. I'm getting a bit excited..." He exhaled heavily, glancing at his two companions. "My old urges are flaring up, and I can't hold it in. You two go ahead. I'll catch up as soon as I finish here."

His grin was remarkably lewd.

"

Ugh...

Fine, you and your nasty quirks."

"Hurry it up. Don't slow us down..."

The other two seemed used to this and showed no surprise. They grumbled insults and left, though one picked up a leg from the ground and the other grabbed a hand.

"

Hmph

, the two of you aren't any better off with your own twisted fetishes..." The bald brute watched them depart, muttering indignantly.