Chapter 515 - Holy Fist's Corpse, Southern Dipper Waterbird, Mask of Purity

Waves rolled onto the shore, producing a sound like windblown sand scraping together. Moments later, they receded, leaving behind a mass of shattered white foam. The slightly salty sea breeze ruffled a cloak's hem.

The moonlight stretched the two figures' shadows on the flat, open beach.

"Tomorrow, I will look for Arlington to confirm our meeting with him once again. If possible, I will set the time to depart in approximately three to four days. Holy Fist Demon Phoenix would likely have arrived in East Sea County by then..." The masked man said, glancing toward East Sea City.

"Would three or four days be too rushed? East Sea City is hosting an International Covert Martial Arts exchange tournament, and has invited experts from the Hongli Empire's Covert Martial Arts community and other countries' communities. Presumably, many combat artist-level figures will attend, and even some powerhouses on the level of a General King might appear. Whale King Arlington is brimming with strength, so he will definitely be everyone's target. At that point, faced with multiple General King-level experts, I fear that even Arlington would not find victory so easily..." The Fourth General King thought for a moment and offered her suggestion.

"Heh heh heh..."

The masked man suddenly let out a laugh. It was sharp and chilling, like the cry of a night owl echoing through the mountain darkness. It was a stark contrast to his earlier voice, which had been flat and emotionless, as still and lifeless as stagnant water. The Fourth General King, a senior member of the Gate Organization, felt a chill run down her back. She slowly shifted away.

"How can a group of General King-level experts threaten Arlington or someone like me?" the masked man shook his head slowly, his words tinged with absolute confidence. "The last known fist technique master in the Hongli Empire's Covert Martial Arts community died twenty years ago. There’s no one of the same strength, and no way to stop Arlington at his level..."

He turned and gazed silently at the Fourth General King beside him. Those deep, fathomless eyes beneath the slits of his mask sent an involuntary chill down her spine. "Before I absorbed the Soul-Blood Covert Box, I could, at most, take on two of the six General Kings at once. If one of them was the Second, I might have even been at a disadvantage. But now, after merging with the Soul-Blood Covert Box and crossing that threshold... Everything has changed. Even if all six of you came at me together, I'm confident I'd stand unshaken. I'd strip each of you down to your weaknesses, one by one, until I crush you and turn the tide decisively in my favor."

"You, no, even the other General Kings... none of you truly grasp what it means to be an extreme combat artist. That realm stands just a step below Holy Fist. It is already the highest pinnacle a mortal can attain! You actually believe that a mere handful of General King-level fighters could trouble Arlington?

Heh heh heh...

" The masked man sneered, appearing on the verge of mania. "It seems I need to let you properly experience it..."

"Wha—"

Boom!

The Fourth General King had barely uttered a single syllable when a sudden burst of pain radiated from her abdomen, and a powerful force sent her flying.

Whoosh!

She plunged straight into the forest like a swift black meteor.

Crash!

Dozens of thick trees snapped in succession until she finally slammed into a trunk wider than a person's body and came to a stop. A straight path several hundred meters long had been carved through the woods. Everything along the way, whether large trees or brush, had been forcibly knocked aside.

"Cough, cough...cough, cough..."

The Fourth General King coughed violently. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, making her red lips appear even brighter. The pain was excruciating and she felt as if her spine might snap. Her abdomen burned where the punch had landed, her internal organs twisting in sharp pain. She couldn’t tell if they had ruptured.

Is the First General King out of his mind?! He almost crippled me in one punch!

The Fourth General King knew that the First General King often lost clarity after he had absorbed the malevolent object. He would forget things, become irritable, and was prone to paranoia. Yet she never expected that his mania could reach this level. He was practically like a madman who resorted to violence at the slightest disagreement. Even then, she still had no idea how she had provoked him.

Back on the beach, the masked man's dark pupils had turned blood-red under the pale moonlight, making him appear even more eerie and deranged. He stomped the ground with one foot, and the entire beach shuddered like a landmine had gone off, sand erupting skyward. In the next instant, he vanished from sight, crashing through the thick trees like a cannonball, carving a narrow, brutal path straight through the dense forest.

"That bastard First General King...once the Deputy Leader arrives...I will definitely..."

The Fourth General King leaned weakly against a tree trunk, muttering curses under her breath while her clothing was in tatters. However, her complaints died mid-sentence. At some moment, a statue-like figure had emerged from the darkness behind her. A large hand reached out from beneath a flowing black robe and came to rest on her head, five fingers squeezing slightly.

It seemed as though, in the next second, it would crush her skull like a watermelon. The Fourth General King was so terrified that she did not dare utter a word. Cold sweat streamed down, soaking her robe, revealing her trembling silhouette.

"Kill her!"

"Eat her!"

"Violate her, then kill her!"

"Why can't we kill her first, then violate her?"

"I love skeletons! The white ones look the prettiest..."

Behind her, the black silhouette mumbled to himself nonstop as if in a dream. Each sentence took on a different tone and emotion. Some were wildly excited, some cruel, some cold, and some deranged. It was as if countless contradictory voices were speaking simultaneously, each voicing its own opinions.

It was as though dozens of personalities resided within the masked man's body!

"Shut up! All of you shut up!!!" A furious roar broke the manic state. The masked man's blood-red eyes were again devoured by darkness, reverting to a cold, dark hue.

𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

He took a deep breath, withdrew his hand, and released the trembling Fourth General King. The Fourth General King sagged against the tree trunk. At that moment, she truly believed that the First General King was going to kill her in the most brutal way possible, perhaps even in a torturous execution.

His speed was too great, and his strength too overwhelming. There was no way for her to resist. Was this the gap between a top-tier combat artist and an extreme combat artist?

The Fourth General King was convinced the First General King was on the verge of madness. The malevolent object known as the Soul-Blood Covert Box had corrupted him to a dangerous degree, splitting his personality so severely that he could kill his own allies...

Nearby, the masked man, who had returned to normal, clenched his fist. That was the price of pursuing extreme power; there would always be gains and losses...

If not for the replica of the Mask of Purity calming his spirit, he would have already been completely lost. He had yet to become a regular extreme combat artist. If he wanted to fully step into that realm, he had to resolve the hidden dangers of using the Soul-Blood Covert Box, which meant finding the original Mask of Purity!

However, the mask was inside the ruins on the Eternal Archipelago. He also needed two other crucial items. One was the inheritance of the Southern Dipper Waterbird Fist that Holy Fist Demon Phoenix sought to obtain. He believed that his prolonged failure to break through to the Holy Fist realm was due to the way he trained in Covert Martial Arts. For that reason, Holy Fist Demon Phoenix wanted to get hold of the Southern Dipper Waterbird Fist, a Covert Martial Arts legacy left by a Holy Fist-level master, hoping to find an opportunity for a breakthrough.

Meanwhile, what Whale King Arlington desired was the Holy Fist's corpse that was left in the Ruins. The Qi and traces left behind by a Holy Fist were invaluable.

Of course, these two items were only possibilities. The First General King had pieced the information from scraps of memory fragments, and their accuracy remained uncertain. Only the Mask of Purity was confirmed to be within the Eternal Archipelago's ruins. Therefore, the First General King had gone to great lengths to form this alliance.

They would have to explore the dangerous and bizarre place from his memories. The First General King gazed far into the sky at that pale crescent moon. "I have to obtain the Mask of Purity. It belongs to me!"

***

On August 2, the international exchange tournament proceeded as planned. This time, the Hongli Empire's Covert Martial Arts community stood with greater confidence. They were no longer as anxious or uneasy as before. After all, the esteemed Blazing Light Fist Victor was present, and an alliance had been formed with Seven Evil Stars Jed.

The various large and small arenas inside the tournament venue were hastily replaced the previous night with several massive circular platforms constructed from steel. Arm-thick guardrails lined the edges of each arena.

Many seats near the arenas were cleared, and all spectators were placed in a row of buildings behind the fighting platforms. The seats were set along the second, third, or fourth-floor walkways, allowing them to watch from above.

The buildings were specially modified to provide some protective measures without obstructing the view, and had also been additionally reinforced. Clearly, these preparations were for combat artist matches.

A figure in a trench coat quietly watched from the fourth observation tower. A few combat artists who were about to go onstage were warming up around several arenas. They came from different sects and even different Covert Martial Arts communities. At present, they were loosely divided by nation into three powers: the Hongli Empire, the United States of Yana, and a coalition of many smaller nations led by the Blue Star Empire. The Blue Star Empire, being far from the Northern and Southern Reef Continents and less advanced in oceanic travel, had sent fewer representatives from its martial sects.

Time passed minute by minute, and it was around nine in the morning.

An elder from the Eastern Covert Martial Arts community stood on the opening stage near several platforms and officially announced the beginning of the combat artists' matches.

"Arena One, Hongli Empire's Evil Eye Fist Romy versus the United States of Yana's Flame-Steel Sect, Bacai. May both elders take their places at Arena One..."

"Arena Two, the United States of Yana's Bitter Sword Sect Bin versus the Blue Star Empire's Three-Hand Sasha."

"Arena Three...Serpent Fist Sect from the Gukas Kingdom..."

The respective experts stepped onto the steel arenas, each radiating a powerful aura. Their deep gazes locked onto one another, auras unleashing and clashing.

Subtly, one could sense that the combat artists' Qi had already been activated.

"Begin!"

The moment those words faded, all that was left on several platforms was a flurry of afterimages as the experts, clad in tight combat attire, clashed.

Fists and kicks slammed into one another, sending a ring of white bursting through the air. As they advanced and shifted positions, the entire platform quaked and thundered. When their fists met, it was like artillery shells clashing. This was what it meant to be a combat artist—a fighting machine, as unyielding as steel.

In the observation towers, younger Covert Martial Arts practitioners watched intently, holding their breath, their eyes filled with envy and longing. Some clenched their fists, faces tense, because a senior from their own sect was fighting in the arena.

As time went on, the fights quickly reached a boiling point.

Various Covert Martial Arts experts revealed their trump cards, unleashing killing moves. Massive fists, crackling with power, whipped up gusts of wind, followed by the shrill whistle of fighter jets in the sky. One expert's punch missed, striking the guardrail instead, shattering the connected railing around the platform. Another expert's kick landed squarely on his opponent, sending the unfortunate combat artist flying as if he were soaring through the clouds. He crashed through a wall and tumbled into the observation tower.

A chorus of shock, admiration, and disappointment echoed through the building. This time, the tournament truly showcased fierce martial spirit.

Soon, two hours passed, and it was eleven o'clock.

Several rounds of combat artist-level matches had taken place, and many sect elders and masters had gone onstage for their matches. Some left triumphant, some crestfallen, and some left with broken bones. However, neither side showed restraint, and no one had died so far.

That was until one in the afternoon, when the first fatality occurred.

The deceased was an elder from the Eastern Covert Martial Arts community of the Hongli Empire, a practitioner of the Red Arm Fist, which later became one of the Eastern Nine Sects during the Hongli Federation era.

The killer was Miro, the sect master of the Flame-Steel Sect from the United States of Yana. His fist techniques were ruthlessly fierce, relying on brute force. Once he gained the upper hand, he was rarely forgiving.

Since the Red Wrist Fist elder kept retreating, he was eventually beaten to death. Tension surged through the competition. A combat artist-level fighter had been killed, and he was on the host side, further fuelling the conflict between the Hongli Empire's Covert Martial Arts community and the United States of Yana's community. The matches that followed quickly grew increasingly vicious, with several bouts ending in severe injuries.

In the first observation tower, the venerable elders of the Hongli Empire's Covert Martial Arts community began bristling with fury. Their luck in the draw truly had not been good this time, as they kept facing powerful fighters from the other two sides, with their contestants frequently suffering serious injuries. In fact, the only fatality so far had been from their side. They very much wanted vengeance, but they lacked the fortune of an easy matchup, and no one had gained a decisive advantage so far.

It was difficult to kill an opponent in the arena without a significant gap in strength. If the opponent reacted in time, it was possible for them to quickly surrender.

At two in the afternoon, a dark cloud covered the bright sun above.

"Arena One, Blue Star Empire's Blood-Rock Hassan versus the Malhar Kingdom's Nine-Forged Steel Fist Zack. Both fighters, please head to Arena One..."

The host stood on the prominent opening ceremony stage, announcing the matchups. Once he read the first line, he stared at the paper, stunned.

However, he promptly continued, raising his voice to announce the rest.

"Arena Two, Hongli Empire's Golem Sect, Odo, versus..."

"Arena Three, Hongli Empire's Golem Sect, Nine Serpents, versus..."

"Arena Four, Hongli Empire's Golem Sect, Hermit, versus..."

By coincidence, the three commanders from the Golem Sect were all scheduled at the same time. They were facing two fighters from the United States of Yana and one from a small nation. Before stepping onto the stage, Odo and the others glanced toward the fourth observation tower. A dark silhouette there gave a slow nod.

The meaning was clear. They were permitted to go on a killing spree and unleash their fist techniques without restraint! Only then could everyone witness the power of the four fist techniques...