Chapter 606 - Top Ten Ultimate Dark Forms

After the experiment ended, Cassius came to a concrete conclusion. The expansion of the inter-world passage would not succeed overnight, and it could not be achieved in a short time even if Cassius stayed here himself.

Besides, the large quantity of bait needed for fishing was also a problem. Even all the Ripple Practitioners on Eternal Island would likely still be insufficient. Fortunately, there were plenty of factions in the surface world that had inherited calamity power.

For example, there was the Eclipse Society, the Totem Temple, and the Blood Race. If Cassius needed bait, he could simply take them. In the future, every calamity-powered group wiped out by the Golem Sect could be used as bait. The Golem Sect had to set up a long-term base on Eternal Island, transport corpse bait back and forth, and monitor the passage's exact condition. The process would continue until the bait truly hooked an Ultimate Dark Form.

Cassius, who had been standing quietly in the cave, slowly turned and walked toward the exit. Behind him, the gigantic vulture wings of scarlet Qi snapped together. They turned into a streak of fiery red light, shrank rapidly, dove into Cassius's back. A faint crimson vulture emblem sank into his skin.

Half an hour later, a black-coated figure hovered silently above the beach on Eternal Island. An invisible outline of flame along his body effortlessly kept him aloft. Several sturdy white wooden crates meant for supplies floated beside him. Inside lay countless Covert Martial Arts Secret Techniques from the ancient ruins' armory.

Cassius's time was precious; although he remembered these ancient manuals, he had not copied them one by one as the Golem Sect's foundation after returning to the surface world.

Rather than spend time that way, it was better for Cassius to make another trip to Eternal Island and fetch all the manuals directly. The Golem Sect planned to host the Federal Combat Championships on October 1. How could it proceed without an extremely enticing gimmick?

Since the Golem Sect had only burst onto the scene recently, it would be hard to gain clout across the federation in a short time. He might as well be straightforward and lure people with profit.

The tournament's champion, runner-up, and third place would all receive varying numbers of ancient lineage Covert Martial Arts. The top ten would likewise obtain powerful arts. In fact, he didn't need to be stingy. The gimmick could be even grander. Everyone in the top ten could receive at least one formidable Covert Martial Arts worthy of becoming their sect's core inheritance! Such news would probably set most Covert Martial Arts sects in the Hongli Federation ablaze with excitement.

It's fine if you don't know me. You only need to recognize my money!

Even if they didn't know the Golem Sect, they surely recognized genuine Covert Martial Arts.

He would display a dozen manuals outright on the tournament's opening day. If he was feeling confident, he might even dump the crates of ancient arts onto the stage.

The attention-grabbing stage-opener would be enough to make the entire federation's Covert Martial Arts world remember the Golem Sect. Such a move would benefit the Golem Sect's further growth and expansion.

The manuals being handed out hardly mattered. After all, in Cassius's plan, the entire surface world Covert Martial Arts community would ultimately heed his orders. A living Dominator Fist had supreme authority.

Cassius looked at the heavy stone statues on the sand. The statues were variant minions infected by the Golem's aura. Endowed with immense strength and startling might, they could be put to good use in the Golem Sect. It was better than letting them slumber unused on Eternal Island.

Mentioning the Golem reminded Cassius that the Book of the Devil had once said the Golem ranked fifth among the Ultimate Dark Forms. Totem King Kassares and True Progenitor of Blood Yumila were among the few who counted as equals.

Yet even counting them, only three of the ten seats were occupied. So where were the other top ten Ultimate Dark Forms? And the Golem itself?

Cassius had once been sucked into the Well of Sin by Xiadu's avatar and had surveyed the World of Calamity from an almost godlike vantage. However, no other top ten Ultimate Dark Forms had appeared, nor any trace of the Golem itself. It made sense; had the other top ten still existed, humanity could scarcely have clung to a fragile stalemate. They would likely have been annihilated long ago.

He had once pondered the situation. First, those Ultimate Dark Forms might never have been born. Each Ultimate Dark Form was the pinnacle of a dark creature's evolutionary path, enthroned upon its own seat. They resembled a rank, a title, a crown.

Perhaps the Ultimate Dark Form Golem had never been born, yet its supreme calamity drifted like a divine concept. The concept of the Golem might have existed first, prompting dark creatures to evolve until one could bear that mighty concept and become the Golem itself.

Thinking so, would that not make Cassius the first Golem? These statues would then be objects infected by the calamity aura from the concept of the Golem. They were not tainted by a corporeal Golem.

Second, the other Ultimate Dark Forms had never shown up, or had died. The World of Calamity was a special underworld formed by the Endless Calamity's invasion of the surface world. Then, where had the Endless Calamity itself come from? What was its origin? Why did it invade humanity's surface world?

Perhaps the reason those other top ten Ultimate Dark Forms had not appeared lay hidden within those three questions. Cassius possessed too little information now and could only make simple guesses.

Third, the Ultimate Dark Forms might have been absorbed by Xiadu. Why was Xiadu so powerful? Even before being sealed, Xiadu was the concept of calamity itself, formless, colorless, supremely vast!

Perhaps Xiadu was a monster born from the fusion of those Ultimate Dark Forms. Or Xiadu had absorbed them, making itself unrivaled. Xiadu's true body was sealed by the three Origin Seas behind the Threefold Gate. Perhaps that was the ultimate product of their fusion.

Cassius floated in midair with several thoughts flashing through his mind. He was a curious man, keen on exploring the unknown. The feeling of stepping through history's ruins, searching for ancient legends, and brushing off dust to uncover the truth bit by bit brought him immense satisfaction.

Cassius would keep doing so, until he too would become a mysterious legendary marvel in those ruins of history. Later on, his successors would unearth everything about him.

"The Ripple Order is gone, yet the Eclipse Society, the Blood Race, and the Totem Temple remain. After more than a century, has the Moon God of the Eclipse Society revived successfully? Has Yumila escaped with the Blood of Immortality? Did the Totem King leave the Totem Temple through some unknown means?"

Cassius gazed at the boundless blue sea in the distance and muttered. "It really gives me something to look forward to. At last, the surface world will not bore me too much."

He suddenly raised both hands. An invisible force lifted the heavy stone statues on the beach, causing them to float silently behind him.

"I shall drive you into a corner and relish your resistance..." His low voice, like a whisper, faded into the sea breeze.

Cassius suddenly darted away. He flew toward the shoreline with the white crates and the massive five-meter stone statues in tow.

Rumble...

The sound of air whipping past grew ever louder.

On the choppy blue sea, around five nautical miles from Eternal Island, a black-hulled freighter was steaming ahead at full power, leaving a wide wake behind it.

Whoosh! Boom!!!

A gust of oppressive wind swept overhead, shaking the entire sea. On deck, the crew were knocked to the floor by the blast. Unluckier ones fell straight into the sea. They quickly mounted a rescue amid loud shouts and frantic scrambling.

Otto, now in a white suit, raised his hand to point skyward. "Father, look at the sky!"

The elder beside him looked up sharply. He saw white clouds cleaved down the middle, revealing a slit of blue sky. A black speck was shrinking rapidly in the direction of the Hongli Federation until it vanished.

A crewman from the Yale Kingdom who wielded arcane energy for reconnaissance shouted loudly. "There were a bunch of stone giants flying up there!!!"

Evidently, Cassius’s speed this time was slightly slower than before so he had been vaguely spotted.

The white-haired elder suddenly realized something and waved frantically at the captain. "Quick, quick! Head to Eternal Island! Get to Eternal Island!"

His face was flushed as he grew excited. The freighter sped up and reached Eternal Island's pier. The place was eerily quiet as unmanned boats rocked on the water.

The Ripple Order who should have been patrolling were all gone. Instead, a strange atmosphere pervaded the surroundings.

Crew members disembarked, whispering nervously. "What's going on? There’s not a single person?"

Otto and his father also stepped ashore quickly. They looked around the pier and decided to check inside the buildings. A team of about fifteen set out, entering the pale-yellow coastal buildings.

When they turned the corner into the street, everyone was startled. They froze where they stood and cursed with one voice.

"Holy—!!!"

They saw Ripple Practitioners in splendid robes lying silent on both sides of the main street. Their bodies were bloody, dyeing every robe scarlet.

A crewman's eyes bulged nearly out of their sockets. "D-dead... dead, a-all of them dead?!"

After half a minute's pause, they crept forward to examine the corpses. It was a horrific sight. All the bodies had been crushed to death by immense pressure. Bones had exploded, and organs had been shattered. Blood-shot eyes stared wide as though unable to rest in peace.

Some Ripple Practitioners were embedded wholly in the ground. The wretched, gory scenes turned their stomachs and chilled their spines.

The elder walked on, too shocked to speak. Otto muttered beside him as though explaining.

"Green robes, red robes, even silver robes! Elite Ripple Practitioners, Bloodthirsty Ripple Practitioners, even Ripple Masters!"

A Ripple Master, after all, was a powerful figure in the Ripple Order, second only to a Supreme Ripple Master. If they visited the eastern archipelago nations, kings, prime ministers, and presidents would greet them with utmost respect. They would bow at least several degrees lower.

Only the Yale Kingdom and the Tuke Archipelago Federation, the two biggest eastern island nations, had first-rank figures qualified to speak a few words with a Ripple Master. Even then, they could only occasionally exchange words on near-equal terms.

Yet now, people of such rank lay on the ground in pools of blood. Their dog-like deaths seemed no different from those of the ordinary Ripple Practitioners. They had been crushed like ants!

"My heavens, what on earth just happened?!" Otto spoke with blanched lips. He involuntarily remembered the roar similar to a jet engine suddenly ringing out in the sky.

Every Ripple Practitioner in the complex had simply tried to look up when a colossal invisible force crashed down! Whether they were ordinary Ripple Practitioners or Ripple Masters, they had all been crushed on the spot beneath that force. It was an outright massacre! Someone or something had mercilessly wiped out the Ripple Order. It had destroyed one of the world's top forces!

No, it was still too early to say that. The key lay in the island's center, where the mother tree stood! They had to go and see!

The entire group hurried toward the center of Eternal Island. When they saw pale yellow wood chips covering the ground and the mother tree reduced to a jagged stump, everyone fell speechless.

They only knew that the Ripple Order had truly been annihilated that day!

Good heavens!

Exultation appeared on every face. The Ripple Order had ruled the island nations for millennia. After thousands of years, they had been like deities themselves. Now everything was over. Those gods were gone!

"Hahaha... hahahahaha..."

The white-haired elder laughed, his laughter growing louder as it echoed through the sky.