Chapter 642 - I’ve Already Decided To Kill The Totem King

Cassius was in a phase where both his strength and confidence were soaring. After slaying Star Horn God and Xiadu's avatar in succession, a fatal aura was fermenting in his chest. Though not yet fully formed, that aura had begun to show its outline.

When confronting an Ultimate Dark Form, his Will blazed like fire. That was a form of self‑confidence for Cassius. To put it bluntly, after his Golem Covert Martial Arts reached its peak, his mindset had completely changed. He no longer regarded Ultimate Dark Forms as opponents but as prey. His mutated Golem body was like a king cobra that devoured every other serpent.

On the lake, Cassius's shadowy eyes flickered as he murmured to himself. "Blood Vulture Dominator Fist and Totem King Kassares ..."

If he was to enter the World of Calamity next, he would probably have to search where Blood Vulture Dominator Fist and the Totem King had faced off. He had a hunch the situation would be grim.

During the Black Rain Manor incident, the Totem Temple's behaviour showed they had lost contact with Totem King Kassares. It indirectly indicated the Totem King had encountered something major in the World of Calamity, something surely tied to Blood Vulture.

Perhaps they were severely wounded, slumbering, or mutually crippled... None of the possibilities that flashed through Cassius's mind were optimistic. He even thought that if it were a mutual destruction, Blood Vulture Dominator Fist would likely be more grievously injured. That was not pessimism nor distrust, but a conclusion drawn from objective factors.

Their battleground was an origin of calamity. Blood Vulture Dominator Fist was effectively fighting away from home. It meant contending with the Totem King while also being drained by the origin of calamity.

During the fifth time‑travel, Cassius had seen their standoff through the Arcane Stone Tablet. Back then, Blood Vulture Dominator Fist had been faintly on the back foot, and after the Hongli Empire's ruin, the human side had deteriorated sharply. All in all, nothing looked hopeful.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"I wonder how many Holy Fists still remain in the World of Calamity... Has the barely balanced standoff already collapsed? If many Ultimate Dark Forms are freed and a calamity tide sweeps the two worlds again, a disaster even bigger than the Hongli Empire's fall may arise. Furthermore, there's no longer any White Bird Holy Fist who can burn everything to turn the tide ..."

Cassius sighed, yet the light in his eyes did not dim at all. He had decided to act and strangle every crisis in the cradle. He alone would butcher two Ultimate Dark Forms first and decide later.

On October 11, the Golem Sect operated as usual. Many disciples patrolled by God's Tears Lake. However, the black figure who had meditated for days next to the lake had vanished. It was unknown where he went.

In the southeast sea of the Hongli Federation, within a nearly split underground cave of the ruined Eternal Island, Cassius walked alone through the open space. His gaze swept slowly over the dense network of huge cracks and terrifying footprints. There was only a heap of tiny shattered crystals on the ground.

Expressionless, Cassius walked toward a cave wall where the large pitch‑black inter-world passage loomed.

"I wonder if I can meet a wounded Ultimate Dark Form. That would make the fight much quicker..."

Ssssi... Pop!

There was an echo of a colossal beast squeezing through the ravine, but only a tiny human figure came through the passage. Cassius glanced at the gloomy sky and the desolate, lifeless black‑and‑white tones around and roughly guessed the region to be between the Silent Rain Zone and the Pitch Black Mountains. Or rather, this was the buffer belt between those mountains and the Crystal Sand Sea. After all, Star Horn God was from the crystal race that came from there.

Regardless, none of that mattered. Cassius was no longer his old self who entered the World of Calamity timidly. Back then, he had to time every entry lest his Qi‑body be driven to madness by calamity. He'd also had to watch the moon phases nonstop.

Now, having reached at least the extreme combat artist realm in all three paths, he could stride through previously forbidden zones, ignoring Blood Night and Moon Halo Night. Should even the third‑stage Lightless Night fall, Cassius would feel no fear.

Indeed, he would welcome it. It was better if a Lightless Night arrived and Ultimate Dark Forms delivered themselves as ingredients as they rampaged! Such was the confidence that successive breakthroughs had gifted him.

As for the omnipresent calamity corruption, it no longer posed any threat to a Holy Fist. Only when Holy Fists fought Ultimate Dark Forms did it grant the latter a bit of a home‑field advantage. It let them fully utilise their immortal trait.

A cold smile flickered around Cassius's lips. "With my strength now, an ordinary Ultimate Dark Form will still be killed even if it absorbs the calamity to heal... Perfected Death's Fang Force, perfected Thorn Feather Force, and the short‑term use of Thorn Sonic Death Armament are enough for such prey..."

His whole body shot upward without the faintest sound. It was as if a close‑fitting Qi Field around him blocked all harmful things such as calamity while sealing his mighty Holy Fist aura inward. That way, his prey would not sense him before he drew near. On the other hand, he would also avoid luring too many Ultimate Dark Forms that might warn each other and try to mob him en masse.

High in the clouds, a tiny figure cut through the air. Many flocks of grotesque dark creatures danced in the wind. They paid no heed to the black streak that flashed past them. When an unlucky creature drifted into his path, it was smashed to bloody mist with a

bang

. Nearby creatures were startled yet sensed no danger or enemy. Some flew far away while others flapped down to fight over their brethren's blood and flesh.

A gigantic black bearded‑whale cruised in the skies over the Pitch Black Mountains. Its massive body and fins were covered in barnacle‑like pimples. Those pimples were black yet periodically turned lustrous white as a white bone mouth would probe outward like a hermit crab poking its head out to seek food. If a dark creature passed, the sharp bone mouth shot out, seized it, and retracted to chew. Many of such horrifying creatures floated nearby.

Whoosh...

Something seemed to flash by the creature. The black bearded‑whale opened its mouth, aiming at a flock of raptor‑like dark creatures above the clouds.

Vrrrm...

Immense suction drew in a vortex of air, dragging the mass of dark creatures toward it. Not a single one slipped past the bloody jaw.

Zip.

Something tiny seemed to have shot into it as well.

Thud.

The whale shut its jaws, about to enjoy the feast. However, half its rear suddenly exploded as a phantom vulture with burning wings appeared, and one flap of its feathers burst the whale apart. A great amount of blood rained down.

Roar!

The giant whale gave a dying howl. Its potent immortality failed to act before it fell lifeless. Meanwhile, Cassius's face did not change. The whale and the bony pimples upon it were obviously symbiotic organisms. The bone mouthparts were a dark creature colony parasitizing the whale. The World of Calamity possessed its own bizarre food chain. Of course, Ultimate Dark Forms sat atop it.

In the bloody rain, Cassius sensed something.

"There's a faint totem flavour here..."

The whale itself lacked the totem taste. Instead, the bone parasites bore a weak totem energy. As he sped along, he killed nearby dark creatures periodically not for sport but to feel out remnants of Ultimate Dark Form energy in the area.

Each Ultimate Dark Form's life magnetic field and calamity energy formed a huge source of pollution. By merely sitting still, it would continuously infect nearby dark creatures, turning them into loyal acolytes. For instance, the old Seranar King left every infected creature with a Seranar eyeball.

Cassius needed these traces to locate where the Totem King and Blood Vulture Dominator Fist had clashed. An origin of calamity was another clue. The denser and stronger the dark creatures, the nearer one was to an origin.

With these two gauges, he could keep adjusting his course and close in on the area. The World of Calamity was so dim that passing time was barely perceptible. Cassius kept sweeping over the land, searching for the Totem King's trail. Meanwhile, he watched for other Ultimate Dark Forms. However, the world was vast and such forms were scarce so stumbling upon one was as rare as a needle in a haystack.

Days passed until a Blood Night came. Dark creatures seethed and beasts rampaged.

On a narrow plain of the Ten Thousand Mountains, Cassius met a massive beast tide rampaging from the hills. Following habit, he casually slew thousands and deliberately crushed several Cataclysmic Spirit level ones to sample fuller data.

Turns out, the casual slaughter actually yielded something. The tide contained a high proportion of Totem energy. Only one Cataclysmic Spirit level beast used another energy. The rest wielded Totem energy. Crucially, some Totem‑powered creatures felt newly born. That clearly signified a nearby origin of calamity!

Since Blood Night had fallen, many creatures around the origin had rioted. If Cassius flew against the tide's direction, he might reach the origin itself.

His eyes glinted as he stood atop a small black peak. He darted down to meet the tide head‑on, racing along the gaps among the dark mountains. He soon broke through the tide and followed the trampled path they had taken. He did not know how long he'd flown.

Suddenly, he planted a foot on a peak and halted. He could see black viscous matter in the distance, covering the ground like muddy swamps. Even the dense mountains were coated as if in black chocolate. The asphalt‑like mixture exuded a strong calamity aura.

Further off, tumor‑like giant eggs writhed slightly on the sludge's surface. Inside, dark creatures were being born.

"An origin of calamity..." Cassius uttered the words softly. His calm eyes gradually brightened. A restlessness like magma before an eruption spread.

"Totem King Kassares...I have come."

Whoosh.

The black figure shot forward like an impossibly fast arrow. Mountains in his sight reeled backward as the distant origin drew steadily nearer. Many powerful dark creatures of the zone jerked their heads up. Red predatory eyes fixed on that arrow and low growls rose.

Rumble...

The air shuddered as nearby mountains seemed to shift. A human figure descended, along with an unimaginably huge crimson phantom vulture. It occupied almost the whole sky above the zone, masking none of his Holy Fist Qi. The vast red glow illuminated the origin's surroundings too.

There, two silhouettes were locked in silent confrontation. A human stood motionless, like a torch about to burn out. Opposite, a huge form covered in eerie totems held a staff as though clutching a world tree. Clearly, the standoff involved neither the Totem King nor Blood Vulture Dominator Fist. Rather, it was another totem‑powered Ultimate Dark Form and an unknown human Holy Fist.

Once upon a time, some suggested that the Totem King was not the source of totems, but merely their strongest wielder. Thus, the totem race likely held other Ultimate Dark Forms as well.

Cassius, aflame with crimson light, descended slowly from on high. "So it isn't Kassares but another being... That's rather disappointing. Though, I have already decided to slay the Totem King. Once the sword is unsheathed, it cannot return without blood. State your name—who are you in the Totem race?"