Chapter 699 - Have You Asked This Old Man's Permission?

Rumble!

The icefield quaked and massive rifts spread at lightning speed. Hail fell like icy swords from the sky.

𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Is it the Southern Dipper lineage? Impossible! White Bird has already burned out, Blood Vulture was forced into a dead end a century ago, and Sonic Snake is eternally entangled with Yumila. None of the three can advance any further! It's absolutely impossible to break past the limit... Could it be an outsider? Like Southern Cross?!"

It guessed the likeliest result. In ancient times, Xiadu's final battle before he had been sealed had ended in defeat because of the sudden arrival of a mysterious outsider, Southern Cross Holy Fist. It was not impossible for another outsider to have come chasing the Southern Dipper's starlight and sided with humanity.

"Ao Yin Kalo! Damn you, Ao Yin Kalo!!! My strength is nearly restored and White Bird's burning mark has nearly been erased. When I break free, it will start the second calamity tide. It will sweep both the World of Calamity and the surface world! I was going to open the remaining two Gates of Heaven with overwhelming power... But now, a new variable... A damned variable!!!"

Bang, bang, bang...

The abyss echoed as white steam burst upward. A massive asphalt scaled arm leaped out of the abyss like a huge mountain. Sizzling magma poured off its scales. It splattered into the icefield and froze, shrouding the land in thick steam.

In the sky, the giant arm accelerated. It charged beyond the Arctic Circle and toward a desolate island in the southern Blue Star Continent!

The air split apart, forming misty veils. Up close, the scales on the arm still bore White Bird’s burning marks. Most had dimmed, but a few still flickered with undying holy fire. They were the scars of an ancient battle where White Bird Holy Fist had burned his life for a strike that maimed Xiadu. Even after two centuries, the marks still blazed hot!

"No matter who you are or where you come from, I will kill you before the second calamity tide! No variables can remain when I open the Gates of Heaven!"

Rumble.

Xiadu's true body pierced through clouds and sped through the stratosphere like a missile. It was moving to kill Cassius!

At the tip of Blue Star Continent, Cassius had finished the first stage of Three Fists as One. Sixty-six tri-colored stars circled him brilliantly like planets orbiting a star.

"The foundation has been laid. Now, it's time for the second stage."

His red pupils glowed beneath his steel mask. Of the fifteen Southern Dipper manuals, six were gone and nine floated in two layers. Red Falcon Fist, Waterbird Fist, and Sonic Snake Fist were at the top. Beneath them, there were six subordinate manuals such as the Decomposition Fist and Spiral Fist under Red Falcon Fist. It was a stable, tiered structure.

Without first consuming Illusory Moon Fist and Azure Wind Fist, Cassius couldn't absorb Decomposition or Spiral Fist, let alone Red Falcon Fist. Strength had to be accumulated like a spring being compressed. Only then it would soar sky-high when released!

"The Three Fists as One I want is a towering tree that flourishes, not a castle in the sky that collapses..."

In the fifth time-travel when Cassius forced the three fist arts together, he could have collapsed without even striking Xiadu. It was similar to studying. Foundations had to be solid. Without digesting the basics, one wouldn't be able to move on to advanced classes.

"Chew through, break down, digest to nothing."

The Golem's steel hand seized a high level manual and shoved it into its mouth. Only by devouring the Six Southern Dipper Volumes and Three Southern Dipper Fists could he forge the supreme inheritance!

Crunch...

Glassy shards cracked as they vanished into his jagged maw. A new tide of energy surged through Cassius's reactor-like body, stirring the island's skies. The second stage of Three Fists as One had begun!

Meanwhile, at the edge of the island, Blood Vulture Dominator Fist hovered in the sky amid storm and lightning. Neither hurricane nor thunder harmed him. A single flicker of an arm allowed him to blink across a vast distance. The whole island was under his aegis.

Storms had begun since Cassius started breaking through. Some ships approached but were soon driven away. They couldn't even get near the island.

Some supernatural forces sensed oddities and came to investigate. Weaker ones perished in storms while stronger ones braved the sky’s fury, aiming to land. However, before they could land, they would hear a bird's cry in the storm. Afterward, their world would spin and darkness would fall upon them. Once they regained clarity, they were already tens of miles away. Such wonders were like an act of god.

These people were lucky to be human, since Blood Vulture only expelled them. Any calamity factions lured over were slain instantly and shredded to a pulp. The whole island was like a black abyss. Anything that came near was either displaced or swallowed up. Calamity forces soon withdrew after suffering heavy losses. Human factions also stopped intruding after multiple failures.

The largest were the Blue Star Empire's official forces. This included Starwatch Tower members gathered on the southern coasts. They were aided by high rank priests and clerics of multiple branches. Their newest priestess was a woman named Andrea. She ranked among the top three of Starwatch Tower. She was so famous for her beauty that she was once known as the Blue Star Empire's jewel. Later she joined Starwatch Tower, became the High Priest's first disciple, and was currently his successor.

Andrea, like her teacher, possessed prophetic arcane powers that could see the root within chaos. Hence, Starwatch Tower sent her to probe Yakasen Island's turmoil.

On March 17, a fleet of iron ships sailed south, stopping at Yakasen Island's stormy edge. At the prow stood a tall woman in a hooded white robe. Her blue hair was tied into a bun and her eyes were a deep blue. In fact, her eyes were a pure sapphire that lacked pupils. Meeting her gaze was akin to seeing one's inner filth reflected in a mirror.

"Priestess Andrea, shall we... go in?" A member in a white hat asked softly.

Andrea's expression was calm as she stared into the chaotic storm. "No, the perimeter suffices."

Her teacher, the High Priest, had sent her but warned to never step into the storm or an infinite power would shred her. Something in this storm could affect the world.

Ten days earlier, the High Priest had sacrificed five years of his life to use five relics. She had glimpsed a vague omen. Andrea had been tasked with going to Yakasen Island and verifying it. Would that source of turmoil affect the Blue Star Empire? If yes, the Empire had to act and not wait to die.

"My teacher gave me four of the Tower's relics. My innate foresight is stronger than hers, so I will glimpse what must be done..."

On deck, aided by priests, Andrea built a large ritual to bear the four relics' power. The ship glowed a brilliant azure. Each corner of the deck held the four relics: Secret Conch, Silver Stone, Glass Tree, and Golden Sword. In the center, Andrea sat at a redwood table with cloth draped over her knees. Upon it lay a plain mirror that she had owned since her childhood.

"Let me see what is happening on Yakasen Island..."

Inhaling the incense, Andrea closed her eyes and infused arcane energy into the mirror. The relics vibrated as blue light blazed. Suddenly, the world stopped and turned a dreamy gray. She opened her eyes and looked at the mirror, which now displayed a bird's eye view of the island. Fury filled the scene. Lightning pierced the earth, winds roared like dragons, and house-sized hail fell like meteors.

"Inside... what is..."

Screech!

A terrifying bird cry shook the heavens. Then, an unimaginably massive red raptor emerged from the clouds, shaking off the harmless lightning that crashed upon it.

Boom!

It landed on Yakasen Island's tallest mountain. Its talon was half the mountain's size, making the kilometer-high summit seem like a mound. Her view dropped to the three colors of divine light tightly swirling around a plain.

Sixty-six crimson, white, and violet stars circled a cloaked, black-armored figure, before whom five glassy tomes floated. Terrifying energy leaked from his body, and it was this aura that twisted Yakasen Island so! These disasters were man-made!

"My god!" Andrea's eyes widened in horror as her heart thumped like a stormy sea. She failed to see the four relics crack as they were drained of their essence. Tears of blood even flowed from her eyes. Mortals who tried to gaze at gods were always burned by searing radiance.

"That is..."

In the mirror, the seated figure opened his blazing eyes.

"Blood Vulture, guard me! Xiadu is here!"

An instant later, an immense shadow plunged down, wreathed in flames and black Qi. An evil that could taint the world was descending!

"Ao Yin Kalo! Die!!!"

Boom!

A colossal scaled arm smashed mercilessly down on the plain.

"Heh, so you came after all..."

Bang!

A blood shadow soared skyward like a dragon. Blood Vulture Dominator Fist’s strike overwhelmed heaven and earth.

"Want to strike at Cassius? Have you asked this old man's permission?!"