Returning to the Mysterious Era
Chapter 433 - Path of the Dominator Fist

Chapter 433 - Path of the Dominator Fist

At first, Cassius did not wish to alert the enemy prematurely or openly clash with the Gate Organization yet.

After all, even if Yang Yan and Zhu Hun were killed, plenty more Gate Organization members would carry out their plan; what was inevitable would still come. Furthermore, if he showed hostility prematurely, it would only alert the Gate Organization to take him more seriously. Yet, plans could never keep pace with the unexpected, and since events had already developed to this point, Cassius certainly would not back away.

He had already resolved to destroy this test site.

A fierce glint flickered in Cassius's eyes as he glanced at the three people in front of him. Zhu Hun stood in the middle, dressed in a black cloak. There was a mysterious white-haired man on his left and a nobleman in ornate clothing, armed with a rapier, on his right. Each emanated a formidable aura, all beyond the level of a typical Shadow Hunter. Among them, Zhu Hun was the strongest, the rapier-wielding noble second, and the white-haired man the weakest.

Moreover, there was the gravely wounded Yang Yan, who was struggling to stand. Altogether, four powerful fighters had fanned out in a defensive formation in the underground hall. Their four auras converged, faintly locking Cassius in place.

Air swirled in the hall, producing a low whistle through the passages. Gusts pummeled the nearby walls with an echoing crackle.

Cassius's golden hair billowed as the wind coursed along his sharply chiseled features. He regarded the scene before him and suddenly recalled his past time-travel where he, Feng Liusi, and Saint Feinan had encircled Blade Demon Garoro.

It seemed Cassius was in the same position as the Blade Demon of that time. Without realizing it, Cassius had grown strong enough to become the target of a group attack. However, he was certain that he would not become a second Blade Demon. Even when surrounded by enemies, beset by peril, and faced with innumerable elites, he would emerge victorious, not defeated! This was not mere arrogance. Without an unshakable conviction of invincibility in one's heart, one could never achieve the invincible fist. It was the fist of a champion that vanquished all in his path, overpowering all opposition, crushing them utterly, and remaining undefeated throughout.

"Overbearing fist... an invincible fist..." Cassius murmured. At times, inspiration of fist techniques came in a moment of uncertainty. Just like now, as he faced four foes at once yet believed fervently in his ability to dominate them.

Bang! Clang! Hiss! Whoosh!

In the blink of an eye, all four adversaries struck simultaneously from different angles! Once they sensed Cassius's formidable Qi, they wasted no time, unleashing their most lethal attacks right from the start.

Despite his severe wounds, Yang Yan forced his mutated body to use the Molten Fist. Scorching heat seared the air, setting his entire being ablaze. His clothes became aflame as an invisible translucent fire wrapped around him. His skin turned a deep crimson.

Yang Yan sprang forward and struck out with a palm. He seemed to compress every ounce of molten energy and heat into that single blow, unleashing a terrifying burst.

At the same time, Zhu Hun made his move. He stamped the ground and shot off like a cheetah, two identical translucent silhouettes trailing close behind him, echoing his every move. When he vaulted into midair, they accelerated further, catching up with Zhu Hun's main body. The three merged into one, unleashing a single palm strike as though multiple hands had fused into a single blow, leaving a dense black afterimage.

A trio of explosive roars echoed in the air, the force accelerating in stages. The two from the royal family and the council were hardly outmatched by their compatriots. Both were elite fighters shaped by long, arduous training.

The white-haired man suddenly flung his arms outward, splitting his clothes open. One could see his powerful chest with two enormous, veined arteries protruding from near his heart and branching into both arms, which were now double their original size. The skin turned a dark bluish-black while the bones hardened like steel. His elbow joints jutted forward like hammerheads. He lunged with both arms in a forward elbow thrust toward Cassius.

Meanwhile, the rapier-wielding noble attacked with a deadly elegance. His jade-white palm brushed his hip, producing a sword of fine steel that slashed the air, leaving a silvery gleam behind. He put one foot in front of the other, twisting his right hand to send the blade's tip straight forward and propelling his entire body in a forward thrust. The immense power gathered in that rapier’s tip caused it to vibrate with a terrifying metallic hum as it tore through the air.

At that moment, time seemed to freeze. All four combat artist-level fighters launched themselves into the air, locking onto Cassius's vital areas with their deadliest techniques. Murderous intent flared in their eyes as their Qi surged in waves.

"Releasing Qi externally... I see now!" Terrifying crimson light exploded from Cassius's eyes. His entire outfit ballooned as a torrent of scarlet Qi surged out of his body in one great rush. It was like a water-filled balloon had been punctured.

"To not hold back a single drop and exert it all outward... I understand now..." He murmured to himself, and in the next moment, the ground fractured beneath him as he launched himself skyward with a roar.

Swoosh!

A black silhouette hurtled out of the crimson haze, appearing before Yang Yan. Ignoring his foe's horrified gaze, Cassius threw a single punch with a thunderous bang, obliterating Yang Yan's skull in midair.

His body flickered again, and Cassius materialized in Zhu Hun's path. The fist, still wreathed in crimson haze, met the threefold soul-extinguishing palm strike head-on. Cassius’s terrifying force pierced through the three layers like a collapsing mountain and onward to Zhu Hun.

Crack, snap, crunch...

Cassius's blow pulverized the bones in Zhu Hun's arm and blasted away half his shoulder, leaving a fan-shaped spray of blood behind him.

Cassius then pivoted to the side, and thrust both palms horizontally. His right palm clashed with the white-haired man's savage elbow-based combat technique, snapping the steel-like bone at the joint with a crack. Simultaneously, his left arm brutally shattered the rapier of fine steel and slammed into his opponent's chest.

Another sharp crack resounded as ribs snapped and his foes hurtled backwards.

Boom, boom, boom...

A scarlet mist exploded in the air, forcing the wind to swirl into a vortex. Cassius touched down gently, twisting his feet in a steady rotation. He stood firm with blood dripping from his palms.

Behind him, the four formidable adversaries collapsed wretchedly to the floor. One was dead, and the three were wounded! The already-injured Yang Yan had died instantly, Zhu Hun had lost his right arm, the white-haired man's right forearm was severed at the elbow, and the rapier-wielding noble spat blood as his chest caved in, his organs seriously damaged.

"I finally understand... This is the path of the Dominator Fist! To give it your all, without holding back. There is no concept of using seventy percent against the enemy and saving thirty for yourself. When you strike, use one hundred percent of your power—or even a hundred and twenty!" Cassius stood within the churning red mist, his gaze growing more intense.

"Cough, cough... Ugh..." The three survivors on the ground struggled back to their feet, expressions pained and miserable. One kept coughing, while another spat blood outright.

They all turned their eyes to Cassius, who stood tall like a statue. There was terror in their eyes. The four of them had gone all out, yet they had been dismissed in mere seconds. There was no suspense; this was absolute strength crushing them. The force of Cassius's overwhelming conviction filled the entire hall. It completely suppressed everyone's Qi and aura on the scene.

The rapier-wielding noble's eyes were bloodshot. He stared at that towering figure in the swirling crimson mist, his arm quivering uncontrollably as he clutched the broken hilt of his rapier. Letting out a scream, he bolted toward the rear passage, his fighting spirit shattered by Cassius's single strike.

"We lost..." Zhu Hun chuckled bitterly, overcome by despair at the thought of failing the leader's command. In that moment of hopelessness, he glanced at his long-time partner's corpse. He saw it begin to dissolve, turning to mist and drifting down the corridor.

Densely packed black patterns emerged on the walls at some point, spreading like roots or a spider's web. At first glance, it was as though they were standing in a cavern on the brink of fracturing. Those primordial-looking murals were filled with an array of totems.

Zhu Hun's expression changed drastically. "Something's gone wrong with the transformation pool!" But a moment later, his face was ashen once more. His own life was on the verge of ending, and Yang Yan was already dead. What difference did it make even if the experiment malfunctioned?

"Totems?" Cassius's gaze grew sharp as he recalled encountering two shamans from the Ten Thousand Mountains during a previous time-travel. In a flash, he vanished, knocking the white-haired man unconscious while subduing Zhu Hun. Grabbing them both in one hand, he dashed deeper below toward the experimental grounds. He headed for the level containing the transformation pool and the dark creature cells.

A few minutes earlier, right after Zhu Hun had left with the white-haired man and the rapier-wielding noble, the two high-profile figures from the royal family and the council had continued to study the transformation pool's experiment.

The otherworldly image in the slab's reflection grew ever more horrific, with mud-like black fluid piling higher and higher until it had consumed all dark creatures, leaving a short interlude. Then a mountain peak appeared, upon which a colossal bronze gargoyle towered between heaven and earth, inscribed with dense patterns and tiny runic symbols. Those runes formed groups of totems, and those totems collectively built the gargoyle's form, a sight too overwhelming for words...

The bald elder and the suited elder held their breath, fear of the unknown flickering in their eyes. A moment later, that fear morphed into greed. What if they, too, could wield such power...

They would have no need for the Dark Hunter Organization! Immortality would be within easy reach...

The mirrored scene continued advancing, replaying what had appeared before. The land, split in two from a central vortex, revealed the colossal bronze statue on the left, with a myriad of totems spread across that black fluid carpet. On the right was an old man sitting cross-legged like a desiccated corpse, encircled by sixty-six glowing crimson stars that flickered in and out. A wave of intense scarlet spread outward, fending off the black totems.

A sense of desolation, eeriness, epic grandeur, and human insignificance flooded the two observers' hearts. They were about to glance at each other when they saw a sudden abnormal change in the mirror. The deep void at the center erupted with black sludge a hundred times faster than before.

It surged in all directions like a tidal wave. In a flash, the situation changed. The black torrents seemed to amplify the bronze statue, as all the black totems on the ground lit up as if drawing power from the surging black sludge. Meanwhile, on the old man's side, the black fluid hammered relentlessly against the lava-like scarlet energy, causing the entire crimson field to dim.

The sixty-six stars hovering around the old man flickered rapidly, as though about to wink out. Their stalemate turned into a landslide as the black totems surged forward while the crimson territory shrank to half of its original size. The only reason it remained half was that the old man himself still occupied that dividing line, even though he was on the verge of being encompassed by totems.

At that point, the slab's vantage froze in place and began to take effect. Practically at the moment it tried drawing the black fluid, the seemingly eternal, unmoving bronze statue lifted its head. Rumbles echoed as a pair of colossal, ancient eyes landed on a certain spot in midair.

And that spot was precisely the location of the slab's viewpoint.

Roar!!!

A bellow that shook the earth resounded across the entire realm! At that very moment, the dense totemic designs lit up, as if transforming that dark land into daytime. The watchers' vision instantly glowed.

A second later, the slab lost control, spinning in circles. The vortex in its "eye" opened. At first it was only as large as a typical fist from a standard experiment, but then it quickly grew to the size of a head, then a barrel... Eventually, it expanded to encompass the entire transformation pool, its edges wreathed in a menacing gray haze. It seemed as though a colossal eye was peering through the vortex’s haze at them.

Whoosh!

Black sludge cascaded down like the opening of a dam to flush out sediment. It instantly filled more than half the chamber where the transformation pool was located. Nearly everyone present was engulfed by the black sludge, save for a young man on the outer edge who was jostled aside by a colleague, narrowly avoiding disaster. He let out a shriek and stumbled backward in a panic.

The sludge in front of him began to bubble and churn as if it was boiling. The screams of utter agony coming from it cut off abruptly. The young man stood there helplessly, uncertain of his next move. He glanced toward the passage exit.

He quickly realized that he needed to report to Zhu Hun. However, just as he was about to move, the sludge in the transformation pool receded swiftly, as if devoured by a whale, leaving the chamber suddenly empty. The remnants revealed a group of around ten staff members standing in place, their clothes intact, as though they were statues frozen mid-action.

The young man's breath caught, a sense of dread welling up inside him. He stepped backward.

Creak, creak, creak!

All of them turned their heads in unison, their gazes fixed unblinkingly on the young man.

Slow, eerie, and fanatical smiles spread across their faces, while black lines crept up their necks, across their cheeks, and even into their eyes. The walls bore similar totemic patterns, branching like roots, spreading throughout the underground facility, reminiscent of countless clinging vines.

"No, no, no!!!"

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