Chapter 626 - Personas Unified, Final Holy Fist

On the night of September 30, the stars felt lonely against a pitch‑black sky on the top floor of a skyscraper in East Sea City. Moonlight filtered through the bronze‑tinted large windows and fell on a brown leather sofa.

Beside the glass, a tall figure sat cross‑legged upon a soft black mat. The moonbeams that fell upon him failed to trace a clear outline, leaving only a blurred silhouette. It was as though the light had been devoured by a bottomless black hole.

There was a slow, faint breathing.

Hu...

The nearly inaudible respiration stirred the surrounding air. A careful eye would notice that both the moonlight and the air currents were pulsing with an eerie, breathing rhythm. Everything seemed to orbit that dark figure.

It was not just the floor; the entire building lay within a special domain where the air was subtly warped. The ripple even radiated outward, expanding in every direction as if it meant to swallow the whole of East Sea City.

Such environmental changes belonged solely to the Holy Fist realm. Cassius resembled a massive celestial body, with planets, moons, and stars all compelled to orbit him. This invisible wave spread across the whole of East Sea City, yet no one appeared to notice. Even certain Covert Martial Arts experts of the Eastern Nine Sects slept on undisturbed. There wasn't a hint that suggested they were shrouded by an unknown energy.

Cassius's current realm was far beyond ordinary imagination. The gods of ancient myth were, at best, only similar.

Swish.

In the darkness, Cassius opened his eyes and drew one final, deep breath. The unseen wave blanketing East Sea City drew back at an unimaginable speed, funneling into Cassius like water down a drain.

After a silent heartbeat, he raised a hand in the moonlight and pressed it to his faintly glowing chest. The interlocking coiled snake mark burned and spun as a lively aura rippled outward.

Cassius was mildly surprised to feel the Rune of Spirit fully recovered. In the fourth time‑travel, he had forcibly over‑clocked the rune to draw nine portions of Blood of the Spirit and forge his formidable Golem Covert Martial Arts. The rune had then entered an overloaded state where its recovery time was uncertain.

By Cassius's reckoning, he could normally use the rune once for every time-travel and each return to reality. Three such opportunities had been lost since the overload. One within a time-travel, and twice in the real world.

Now, at last, the rune seemed usable again. A ripple stirred in Cassius's heart, but calm soon returned. Having reached the Holy Fist realm, he could forge a path ahead even without the rune. That was the absolute confidence he had in his prodigious talent, superior insight, and the depth amassed through multiple time‑travels. The rune's recovery was merely wings on a tiger.

As his thoughts flickered by, Cassius glanced to the upper‑right of his vision.

Rune of Wisdom ∞: ▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆▆...

A long, solid block, followed by a brief ellipsis. Focusing, he peered at that trailing dot. Immediately his field of view blurred, as if a screen had frozen. Everything suddenly went black.

Startled, he probed further and realized neither his eyesight nor his time‑travel ability was at fault. The progress bar of the Rune of Wisdom was cascading downward in frenzy, eclipsing all light.

One line, two, three...and it just kept increasing!

In short, there were so many that they packed the entire view. Absorb essence of calamity, brew Blood of the Spirit. Such were the terms and function of the Rune of Spirit's ouroboros.

When he thought back to the fifth time-travel and two real world encounters, Cassius suddenly understood. The rune had devoured far more essence of calamity in the fifth time-travel than the fourth time-travel. Cassius had re‑entered the Ao Yin Ruins to battle the direct bloodline Blood Race, annihilated the invading Totem Temple, and crippled the Eclipse Society.

When he thought back to the frenzied slaughter in the World of Calamity where the Golem Sect had rampaged for two years, he had also used the rune to purify sacred spring water and Soul Power. Furthermore, he had repeated the feat upon his return to reality not long ago. Finally, Cassius also caused the fall of the Serenar King! That was a bona fide Ultimate Dark Form!

The rune had a limited time to absorb because he had to make haste to the final battleground, so there was a colossal amount of essence of calamity jammed within the rune. Who knew how many years of normal use this essence might buy?

Cassius restored his visual display with a thought. He calmed himself and resumed studying the Rune of Spirit. Half an hour later, Cassius reached a major conclusion. The rune could not be used lightly. If it was used, it must be for something huge.

Indeed, something colossal. He had now attained the legendary Holy Fist realm. It was virtually the peak of Covert Martial Arts. The pinnacle every practitioner dreamed of. All manner of profound fist theories, brutal techniques, and terrifying skills were second nature to him.

One could even say Cassius's insight itself was a cheat‑code. He was a miniature Rune of Spirit. It would be child’s play for Cassius to refine any Covert Martial Arts Practitioner’s mediocre art. In mere moments, Cassius could craft a brand new art, rooted in the original art yet vastly stronger. It might emerge as second‑tier, or even first‑tier, depending on how much effort Cassius chose to invest.

Thus, employing the rune merely to tweak certain arts was meaningless and offered him little gain. Arts like the Southern Dipper Fist possessed too perfect a core and too firm a framework, since it embodied the full comprehension of a top Holy Fist. Even the rune likely could not revise such a foundation.

What Cassius desired was not another style like the Southern Dipper Fist but another crucial thing. He wanted the key to merging three fists into one. Namely, the three core principles. The principles sprang from the Golem Covert Martial Arts to partition and balance Cassius's three personas. The Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritance could never have been wholly trained by one person, yet the principles had granted him that chance.

At present, all three Southern Dipper Fists had reached their peak. In other words, the development of the three core principles had hit its ceiling. At this juncture, there was a crucial step. If personas could divide, they could also unite!

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Cassius's persona had split into three in the beginning, achieving an uncanny balance. He had then trained three paths to their respective limits. Now, perhaps it was time to reunify the three personas and return to the start. Cruel and manic, cold and silent, grand and magnanimous. The Killer Persona, the Cold Persona, and the Main Persona would fuse anew into one Cassius.

It was just like a towering tree laden with branches reverting to a single seed. Only when Cassius's Personas unified and the three Southern Dipper Fists were woven into one would true Three Fists as One happen.

Persona Integration, Final Holy Fist!

During the climactic battle of the fifth time-travel, Cassius had forcibly entered the Three Fists as One state, but it had been incomplete. His body was lacking, his Qi was borrowed, his technique unfinished, and his personas unfused. It was a truncated, deficient version.

Victory over calamity was impossible with that version. Only perfection could sever and end everything. Therefore, Cassius's plan was crystal clear. He would employ the Rune of Spirit to deduce phase two, the final phase of the three core principles. It would reunite the three personas and command every mutation of Covert Martial Arts.

Such an extrapolation demanded a terrifying amount of Blood of the Spirit and would assuredly exhaust the rune. Once started, the rune might not be usable again for millennia. Thus, it was destined to be a one-time use.

Cassius had just tested it. The vast essence of calamity within the rune could fill his vision, yet still fell short for phase two. It seemed he needed to focus more on gathering that first. He would keep expanding Golem Sect, slaughter dark creatures worldwide, and even invade the World of Calamity to defeat several Ultimate Dark Forms. Frankly, the essence from an Ultimate Dark Form was the fattest haul. A single one could equal many years' worth from the surface world.

Cassius’s eyes glinted. "Perfect. I will soon push my body past an Ultimate Dark Form. I'll use the corpses from the Black Rain Manor battle as bait at the inter‑world channel on Eternal Island to lure one over..."

His calculations were set. He had long awaited the ultimate breakthrough of his Golem Covert Martial Arts.

Five minutes later, Cassius stood beside the window with a glass of red wine floating at his side. His power was indeed beyond imagination, but that did not mean he'd lost interest in everything else. Fine wine and good food still pleased him. Perhaps in a century or so, he would tire of them but at least for now, his mindset remained youthful. Sipping his wine, Cassius gazed downward.

East Sea City was bustling in the night. Even late into the night, traffic still flowed ceaselessly. Rows of lights intertwined with the moonlight overhead. The Hongli Federation's growth was prosperous and its economy stood unrivaled. As the number one metropolis, East Sea City's development was exceptionally advanced.

The world at large resembled the 1950s, yet East Sea City alone could pass for the twenty‑first century. There were skyscrapers, concrete roads, endless traffic, and neon lights. By night, the city was even more alluring, like a lady beckoning from the dark, radiating a mature charm. The multicolored lights twinkled like pearls adorning a lavish evening gown.

This flourishing city would be hosting the greatest martial tournament in history the next day. Originally, Cassius had planned to stage it at Golem Sect headquarters outside town. However, he later chose to only have the finals to be at headquarters, and keep the earlier rounds in East Sea City for better publicity.

The Federal Combat Championships had already had a global reach. Beyond the Hongli Federation's own sects, Golem Sect had invited Covert Martial Arts masters from the world's two other great powers and famed minor nations to attend. They might not all compete, but they could spar and share knowledge.

For certain hard‑to‑court sects and experts, Golem Sect's invitations carried a trace of Cassius's aura. The masters of those factions were shocked, and promptly altered plans to grant Golem Sect face. They rushed from all corners of the globe to East Sea City.

Thus, the scale of the tournament kept swelling. The city authorities were highly supportive as well and the Black Ops Agency played a huge role. They had sensed Golem Sect's operation at Black Rain Manor ten days ago. Top forces from across the world had converged on Anta Mountains, only to be utterly destroyed.

In the end, only Golem Sect had emerged from those mountains alive! Even the gathered might of the top factions had perished there. Golem Sect was the strongest amongst the strong. It was strength itself!

At the window, Cassius drained his wine.

"I recall the tournament especially invited the Eastern Nine Sects—no, Eight Sects now. I wonder if they'll attend... They should, I suppose. I left a bit of my aura on all eight letters and made it extra rich, too. Hopefully it didn't scare them to death. That would be troublesome..." He muttered darkly.

"Tomorrow, if the Eastern Eight Sects do show, let Simone host them. Simone was from East Sea City and once the top disciple of Cloud Dog Fist. They'll have common ground..."

***

Time flashed by and October 1 arrived.

The biggest martial tournament in history was about to commence in East Sea City. Police patrolled the streets, while key zones were cordoned off with yellow tape. Citizens gawked and chattered beyond the tape while the tournament grounds blazed with activity.

Sects from every corner of the world strolled through the vast venue entrance. Even some foreign sects, clad in exotic garb and looks, appeared one after another.

The welcome lasted from seven to ten in the morning. Near ten, as greetings wound down, the homegrown Eastern Eight Sects arrived at last with uneasy eyes and unsettled hearts. After all, the tournament was hosted by their rival, Golem Sect. Who could say what traps might await?

And indeed, only half the sect masters had come. There were rumours that the other four masters had suffered mental injuries upon receiving the invitations and were in urgent medical care. Clearly, Golem Sect harbored ill intent and were likely targeting the Eastern Eight Sects. They could only improvise a response and try to weather this ordeal.

Their grand procession reached the hall entrance, which was already filled with an impressive number of sects. However, their arrival instantly drew Golem Sect's notice and a figure stepped forth within the hall to greet them.

Simone burst into hearty laughter, arms wide in exuberant welcome. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Federal Combat Championships! We are all old friends, no need for introductions. Allow me to lead the way. This way, please!"