Chapter 675 - Another Boost Of Power

The ever dominating Golem life magnetic field descended like a gaping maw. Cassius's current realm was at the Golem Covert Martial Arts' Mental Unification stage, so the life magnetic fields left by the dead Ultimate Dark Forms could no longer obstruct him. A fierce wave of aura expanded in visible rings of air that rippled across the land.

The first to disintegrate were scattered limbs and chunks of flesh. The life magnetic fields within them were instantly absorbed and devoured whole. The scaly skin on the limbs dried and cracked, while bones turned to powder and flesh to ash. They lost all their vitality in mere moments.

At the upper right corner of his vision, the numbers of his technique status bar flickered rapidly. Cassius did not even glance at it as he turned to examine Wild Coiling Bull. His magnetic life field howled like a dragon, wrapping around the corpse and absorbing the field he had yet to fully devour, The trailing numbers of the technique status bar flickered quickly and indistinctly.

Cassius dragged his life magnetic field to one last place: a complete Ultimate Dark Form corpse that had been torn apart alive by Blood Vulture Dominator Fist. This time, it took a bit more effort. After a brief moment, a far weightier life magnetic field returned to his body.

Hoo...

A stream of searing white breath curled from his nose and mouth.

"Let's use it to progress directly. I cannot allow any accidents to happen in the Ultimate Fist training to come. Even with Blood Vulture Dominator Fist guarding me, I must be strong enough myself, or any sudden change will be troublesome..."

Cassius dropped cross-legged to the ground, eyes closed like a statue. He remained motionless, letting rain fall upon him. His aura was withdrawn until he resembled a corpse.

Swish...

A blood-hued shadow appeared near Cassius. Blood Vulture Dominator Fist stood quietly to one side, arms relaxed. He seemed like a stooped and skinny old man, but it was only an illusion. Should anything approach that might endanger or affect Cassius's breakthrough, it would meet Blood Vulture Dominator Fist's fury, which even Xiadu's projected avatar could not withstand.

As such, Cassius was utterly unafraid. All the life vibration energy he had at the Ultimate Dark Form level was forced into the Golem Covert Martial Arts' Mental Unification progress. Not a drop was spared.

He could almost hear splashing sounds in his ears, as if rivers were coursing within his body. The technique status bar finally started to slow.

[Golem Covert Martial Arts: Mental Unification 79.3% (Final Stage)] -> 84.9%

The black numbers blurred to a halt.

There were three boosts in total, 1.2%, 1.4%, and 3.0%, which came from the residual flesh, the remaining parts of Wild Coiling Bull, and a complete Ultimate Dark Form respectively. Altogether, they brought a 5.6% increase to his Golem Covert Martial Arts. However, it was a pity that it remained just shy of 85%. Still, it was close enough. An extra 0.1% would not bring Cassius a huge enhancement.

Sizzle...

At that moment, Cassius's statue-like body was at an absurd temperature, like a terrifying lump of magma. The rain evaporated before it could even reach him. A swelling, mushroom-shaped cloud of white steam had formed around him.

The ground around him cracked as quartz crystals congealed in the soil. A moment later, within a shroud of white mist, Cassius opened his eyes.

His body blurred as he rose to his feet. A strong, powerful hand reached out. It was a hand that had torn apart countless dark creatures. An exceedingly terrifying strength gathered in his palm, stronger than before by far. Cassius could now handle a double-digit siege of Ultimate Dark Forms far more easily than a few hours ago.

Tap, tap, tap...

Footsteps came slowly through the white mist ahead. Blood Vulture Dominator Fist's form only appeared once he was near. He looked quietly at Cassius. Cassius raised his head and met his eyes. Both grinned at once, with blood-red light rising in their eyes.

Whoosh! Boom!

Cassius and Blood Vulture vanished instantly, becoming two blood streaks that collided at high speed. Their equally powerful fists slammed together, triggering a violent explosion.

The wind howled and the rain was swept away. In the middle of a huge crater, two figures, still holding their punching posture, slowly withdrew their fists and met each other's eyes.

Blood Vulture Dominator Fist nodded slightly and said, "Your next elevation will bring you to perfection. It should be enough to roam the World of Calamity unimpeded..."

Their recent clash of fists had been a test. They had understood each other the moment their eyes met. Blood Vulture Dominator Fist wanted to test Cassius's strength, while Cassius wished to confirm his assessment of his strength.

"Still a bit short? It seems perfection of the Southern Dipper Fist will bring an unimaginable leap. The gap between imperfect and perfect is vast..." He murmured to himself.

However, he wasn’t even the slightest bit gloomy. Instead, it was unusually expectant. He had already been first below perfection before this elevation. Now with nearly a six-percent increase and still not at that peak power, he should have felt disappointed.

However, seen from another angle, Cassius was cultivating three fist arts simultaneously. If he perfected all three Southern Dipper Fists, there would be three outrageous surges!

Thus Cassius, though he had not reached perfection this time, rejoiced rather than worried. The more he felt the great and arduous gulf between imperfect and perfect, the more outrageous his strength would be when all three fists were perfected. This was how the strong ought to think. Ever expectant, ever brimming with ambition...

Whoosh!

The winds swelled, lifting their coat hems again and again. The collar of Blood Vulture Dominator Fist's coarse cloth robe shook as well.

"Let's go, Blood Vulture. We can begin the Ultimate Fist training..." Cassius said, looking at the moon above, which had been restored to a normal yet slightly dim hue.

"From now on, whatever you say, I'll do." Blood Vulture Dominator Fist spoke softly, showing absolute support. Cassius's safety would be his to ensure until he reached perfection.

At the same time, across hidden places in the World of Calamity, the Ultimate Dark Forms and Holy Fists facing off resumed their endless grinding stalemate. However, this time, the generally disadvantaged Holy Fists had renewed their iron wills. Xiadu's Will had just traveled across realms, affected the blood moon, and even used its true body's giant hand. Almost every powerful being had witnessed it.

However, the struggle had ended. The Holy Fists all witnessed the blood moon dimming, the giant hand withdrawing, and Xiadu's Will fading away. Such an undignified retreat clearly signified that Xiadu's foray had achieved nothing and very likely ended in failure. Though they did not know what had failed, the fact that Xiadu failed was inspiring in itself. Xiadu had met a problem he could not solve. It was enough to swell the Holy Fists' momentum.

Thus, for a brief time across the World of Calamity's battlefields, the tables had turned.

The balance between calamity and humanity had been completely broken since Xiadu's true body had freed itself and White Bird Holy Fist burned himself out. The outmatched Holy Fists desperately needed hope.

A ray of dawn in the dark abyss was enough to drive one mad. They were hoping that this glimmer would keep blossoming and grow ever brighter to at last become the sun, burning away all within the abyss.

***

Everlasting penance was the path of cultivating the Ultimate Fist. It was a path of extreme self-tempering, carrying through one's path and duty. It involved painful cultivation to temper the mind and body until the spirit and flesh were equally strong. Strength came from oneself, and was unrelated to anything else.

Cassius possessed a Golem physique, and his cultivation had long reached the late stage of the Holy Fist. This meant that the harsh environments in the real world and even the most dangerous environments in the World of Calamity could not temper him in the slightest. What Cassius truly needed were certain terrifying life-forbidden zones.

These zones that may have come from origins of calamity formed extremely special terrains. They were natural hells. This included the Demon Lake, the River of Sin, the Vale of Trees, and the Black Abyssal Sea.

Among them, the Black Abyssal Sea's special sealing ability was unbelievably strong. Even White Bird Holy Fist, the strongest among the three Southern Dipper Holy Fists, had been suppressed by the Moon God's curse and the Black Abyssal Sea's seal.

The Black Abyssal Sea's seal, also called the Dead Abyss seal, was a horrible suction exerted by a bottomless chasm in the Black Abyssal Sea. It tugged at the target's every cell at every moment, practically tearing a person limb from limb on the spot.

This level of tempering was absolutely intense and completely thrilling. Even Cassius, with a Golem body, would gain no advantage once he was caught by it. Yet that was exactly what he wanted, wasn't it?

The more dangerous and extreme it was, the more it could temper and clarify his heart. Of course, everything had to proceed step by step, so he had to be careful to only increase the intensity after adaptation.

Cassius could not go straight to the Black Abyssal Sea. He would begin his training in other life-forbidden zones first. After some thought, he chose the River of Sin as the first target, mainly because it was closer and could be reached quickly.

The River of Sin was a river originating from a rotting swamp. It was the River of Sin that had created the region known as the Rotting Marshes after millions of years of staining the land with calamity energy.

The River of Sin contained something called the power of decay. It emanated from beneath the riverbed, and accelerated the decomposition of all living things in the water. Originally, the power of decay was fearsome but not yet terrifying. This was, until one day, when the riverbed shifted and connected to an origin of calamity. Calamity energy and the power of decay reacted chemically and a dreadful factor called calamity-decay power formed.

Any dark creature that fell into the water or even approached the riverbed would be melted away by calamity-decay power and become a pool of toxic black liquid. Even top-tier Cataclysmic Spirit existences dared not approach the River of Sin.

But today, two figures flew through the sky like blood-colored meteors. Swarms of flying dark creatures fell wherever the meteors passed. Their corpses shriveled as their life force was forcibly drained. A dozen minutes later, the meteors halted and descended upon the marsh.

Blood Vulture Dominator Fist and Cassius looked ahead at a dense purple-black mist. It seemed composed of countless invisible tiny worms that bore life-like traits. A dark creature moving near the mist was accidentally drawn in. It screamed, then fell silent.

When the mist receded, only a gruesome pool of black water remained on the ground.

"Good place." Cassius looked at the scene before him and commented expressionlessly. "Let's head in and see."

The two strode directly into the purple-black mist. Terror radiated outward, and the dreadful haze retreated in fear. The mist visibly grew denser and thicker as they walked. They halted only when the mist was nearly liquid.

Tap, tap...

A massive wave was scouring the land before Cassius. Overlapping wails of ghosts and wolves arose, as if countless demons howled within the waters.

"Do you need to acclimate a bit more? The River of Sin is still somewhat dangerous..." Blood Vulture Dominator Fist stood at Cassius's side, a scarlet Qi shrouding his body. He was, after all, a Holy Fist and not an Ultimate Dark Form. He wouldn't foolishly tank everything with his true body. That would pit his weaknesses against their strengths.

"No need. I can feel it... the River of Sin is still a bit lacking..." Cassius did not dally, leaping straight into the river as he transformed into Golem state.

He began immersing himself in the calamity-decay waters. His steel palm scooped a ladleful of river water. When he clenched his fist, it burst into powder. The spray splashed upon the silver armor with a sizzle, yet caused little harm. It only dimmed the demonic flames of his body slightly.

"Not enough! This is far from enough! My Golem Covert Martial Arts is already at late stage. This trifling stimulus cannot harm me. I need a denser, more dangerous place. If this is the River of Sin, I must bathe at the origin of calamity. The combination of calamity and the River of Sin should have some effect..."

The massive Golem stood in the river and began to wade upstream against the current. The roaring waters battered the Golem's heavy chest like waves split by reefs, posing no hindrance at all. His pillar-like legs accelerated, smashing through the river. He charged toward the most dangerous place of the River of Sin.

"I must complete the Ultimate Fist in this time-travel. After that, I'll consider other things. Life vibration energy and Golem Covert Martial Arts progress can be gained in the real world in a short time. However, the final missing pieces of the three Southern Dipper Fists will require at least years of Ultimate Fist training. A second large-scale calamity tide is about to arrive in the real world, and Xiadu will surely act. I don't have that much time, so the Ultimate Fist must be completed within this time-travel...

"When the three fists are complete, I will use the Rune of Spirit. I wonder what effect that will produce?"