Returning to the Mysterious Era-Chapter 478 - Changes To Golem Covert Martial Arts

Boom!

A loud humming noise echoed in his ears, and his vision blurred for a moment. Cassius suddenly discovered that he was looking at a vast and ethereal sky.

A valley of jagged boulders and towering peaks lay below him. It had a massive black lake in its center.

Is this... the World of Calamity? Cassius thought as he looked upward to see a wash of inky darkness mingling with black clouds and gray fog across the sky. It was silent, desolate, and cold.

A faint moon silhouette appeared high up in the thick clouds. He felt a gust of fierce wind in the high skies, as though something enormous was descending from above.

Hu~

The air churned, scattering the clouds and fog in all directions.

Rumble... Rumble... Rumble...

A gigantic blood moon sank down, covering half the sky. It was surrounded by swirls of faintly crimson mist. The black water of the lake churned wildly below, as though pulled by the moon's tide. Pitch black fluid rose in thick layers, stretching out in every direction.

Countless human hands emerged on the lake's surface, struggling in agony with every ounce of their strength. It looked like a field of eerie, swaying black trees. As the blood moon grew larger above the valley, the turmoil of the Demon Lake intensified.

Suddenly, a sharp, long bird cry pierced the air.

Whoosh!

An elegant water bird zipped through the air from an impossibly distant place. It appeared as a small white dot, light yet powerful, skipping close to the ground as if skimming on water, then gliding higher and higher into the sky.

Buzz!

The blood moon trembled, and a massive halo emerged around it like a ring blocking the sun. A mysterious, terrifying power rose into the heavens. Clouds and mist scattered completely, revealing the monstrous face on the huge moon.

It was a deeply distorted human face that seemed to cry, wail, and laugh all at once, like countless faces merging into one expression that encompassed every emotion.

"Hahahahahaha..." The blood moon began to laugh, and its unnerving voice shattered the dense clouds. Blades of blood-red light condensed into existence like swords slicing the heavens.

Everything turned scarlet as explosions shook both sky and earth. Fierce gales howled and swelled, twisting into towering tornadoes that connected heaven and earth. Mountains collapsed, and massive boulders fell from thousands of meters above.

When Cassius could see again, the jagged mountains surrounding the Demon Lake had been leveled, leaving bare, smooth cross-sections behind. Some mountains had been over a thousand meters tall, others even several thousand, yet now they all stood uniformly a mere two or three hundred meters above the lake surface. Everything above had vanished without a trace, as if devoured by an enormous mouth.

Tweet!

A white figure glided downward, casting a huge shadow with its wide wingspan. It was a white water bird whose wings were layered with metallic, spine-like feathers. Though they appeared heavy, its movements were still graceful and light.

The bird's talons held a massive object: half of the blood moon's body, at least five times larger than the bird itself, now reduced to a near-death state.

Splash...

The water bird swooped over the lake's surface and dropped the gigantic remnants of the blood moon into the water. Then it skimmed the surface and flew away toward the distant horizon.

The bird seemed covered in wounds, yet it was still in far better shape than the blood moon. The outcome of their battle was obvious.

Hovering in midair, Cassius watched this shocking scene and realized something at once. This memory was imprinted on the Moon God's leftover flesh—its final recollection.

It showed the moment it was slain by a Southern Dipper Holy Fist in the World of Calamity. Cassius saw how, in a fleeting instant, a single metallic feather fell from the bird and stabbed into a mountaintop. A second later, the peak of that mountain was blasted flat, leaving only rubble behind.

"So that was the Thorn Feather Force from the Southern Dipper Water Bird Fist? How incredibly overbearing..."

He was still deep in thought when everything shifted again, as though the scene were half-real, half-illusion.

Suddenly, Cassius possessed a powerful body. He had become a ten-meter-tall Golem, towering like an iron fortress in the forest. His body appeared to have muscles layered like steel armor.

Simply by breathing through his nostrils, he stirred up the soil on the ground. The Golem turned its head, gazing at the peak of a mountain. There, a miniature blood moon, only ten meters in diameter, floated serenely.

The moon seemed to hold an intense allure for Cassius, as if the very origin of the Golem clamored to devour it. It was convinced that consuming the moon would bring tremendous benefit.

Cassius paused for a moment, then in a flash of black, he sprinted toward that mountain peak. He had no idea how long he ran, but a colossal figure shot up to the ledge of the mountain like a cannonball. It spun once in midair before landing solidly.

Thud.

The Golem slowly stalked toward that tiny blood moon and stopped just half a meter away. Cassius silently regarded the bizarre, crimson sphere, which seemed to contain layer upon layer of human faces. Some were agonized, some were insane, but all were pressing against its surface.

The sight was extraordinarily grotesque, yet the Golem hungered for it. Finally, Cassius could resist no more. He reached out and pressed a hand against the surface of the blood moon.

Ding!

The sphere shattered instantly, scattering into countless sparks of red light. The lights glimmered like fireflies, drifting once around Cassius before melding into the Golem's body. In that moment, the immense Golem was encased in a cocoon of crimson moonlight. It hovered at the top of the mountain, battered by fierce winds.

After an unknown length of time, cracks began to form across that cocoon of moonlight. A final snap shattered the cocoon, transforming it into endless moonbeams.

A powerful figure stepped out of that starry glow. Though it was still a humanoid Golem, its form was more compact, its armor sturdier, and its silhouette more imposing.

Most notably, a faint blood moon disk floated behind its head like a halo. A crimson glow shone on the Golem's armor, giving off a flowing red radiance as if blood was trickling from its joints.

Creaking noises rang out as the Golem lifted its head. Its scarlet eyes glowed slowly, exuding a chilling intensity.

Buzz!

The air trembled, and Cassius returned to his senses in reality.

He realized he was still sitting in his office. His expansive Golem Qi from earlier had withdrawn, leaving the air clear again. In his palm, the blurry chunk of flesh had turned to ashy soil, slipping through his fingers.

Rustle...

It trickled into the iron box, filling about a third of it.

Is it done?

He clapped the ash off his hands and closed the iron box. After a few seconds, he activated the Golem Covert Martial Arts again. A blurry red moon formed behind his head, bathing him in a veil of faint crimson light. It only took Cassius a glance to understand.

The Moon God's true form had been a gigantic blood moon. It was also called the Soul Moon, the Spirit Moon, or the Moon of Emotions. After devouring its living resonance, the Golem Covert Martial Arts had gained a similar ability.

When the Golem's blood moon disk illuminated him, his mind and spirit was fortified, and his Qi flowed freely, under perfect control. Furthermore, when Cassius slew an enemy, part of that enemy's collapsing mind and despair would be absorbed by the moon disk. After the fight, it would release a special beam to gradually refine his Qi, making it denser, fiercer, and stronger over time. Though weak, it worked subtly, bit by bit.

Cassius did not have high expectations of this. He knew that soul jades from the Howling Canyon or the Eternal Flame combined with Pale Seeds were far more effective for refining Qi. Still, multiple methods did no harm. After all, this was not the only remains of the Moon God. If he absorbed enough, the ability might eventually see a big boost. If that happened, the refining effect would become noticeably stronger.

He chose not to force anything; letting it unfold naturally was enough.

Right now, Cassius was still far from the Holy Fist bottleneck. His Qi had not reached the limit of what a human body could contain. Once he reached that limit and began to refine and compress his foundations, he could accumulate a terrifying depth of strength. Then, breaking into the realm of Holy Fist might let him soar to new heights.

Cassius noticed even more changes in the Golem Covert Martial Arts. Deep potential and desire stirred within it, ready to burst forth. The Golem was no longer just an Ultimate Dark Form—it had mutated.

It was like a once-docile lamb picking up a weapon and taking a life. After tasting blood, it realized the fragility of mortality and let its confidence and ambition swell. As it emerged from the shadows once more, the lamb had transformed into a wolf.

Yes, the Golem Covert Martial Arts had absorbed life vibration energy from an Ultimate Dark Form for the very first time. An invisible shackle had been shattered. This meant that Cassius could absorb the essence of other Ultimate Dark Forms in the future. And what did that imply?

The Waterbird Holy Fist had defeated the Moon God, but it had not been able to kill it. Southern Dipper Force was effective for fighting immortal foes, but direct confrontation was not the same as total eradication. If one wanted to kill a monster that lurked in darkness, a specialized monster hunter was best. However, erasing every trace of that creature would require another monster in the darkness!

Now, the Golem had begun to evolve into just such a being. A breaker of the food chain, rather than merely its apex consumer. If Cassius could truly cultivate the Golem Covert Martial Arts to its pinnacle, it would become the nightmare of all Ultimate Dark Forms!

Slam!

He slid the window open and tied up the curtains. Cassius stood by the window in the office, gazing down at the green shrubs and colorful flowers in the flowerbed. He took a deep breath of fresh air.

The status bar for his technique appeared in the upper right corner of his field of vision.

[Golem Covert Martial Arts: Qi Embodiment 83.6% (Total Three Stages)] → 87.1%

The progress had risen by about 3.5%, which was roughly half the gain from devouring the extreme Cataclysmic Spirit level skeleton. Considering how much harder it became to advance as the technique deepened, it was a better outcome than it looked. Achieving half the increase garnered from that extreme Cataclysmic Spirit level foe with just a rotten chunk of Moon God flesh was impressive.

He cared far more about the Golem Covert Martial Arts itself, which now hinted at the ability to completely devour an Ultimate Dark Form. That evolution was even more precious than simply filling the progress bar to the max.

Knock, knock, knock...

Someone rapped on his office door.

Cassius composed himself and went to open it. Outside stood Vice Director Odo, while employees bustled back to their posts, their chatter filling the hall. They complained about nearly dying. Some had almost had a heart attack, while others said they nearly wet themselves.

Cassius shook his head ruefully. It had indeed been careless of him. At his current level, any refining or advancement radiated over a broad area, threatening to harm those caught within.

If he was not careful, people could easily be hurt or even killed accidentally. He had no desire to harm his subordinates, so he would have to be more cautious.

Half an hour later, Cassius returned to his office after handling all that needed attention. He had just received a black, gold-embossed invitation to an event that was quite grand. It could even be described as top-tier. It would be attended by royal aristocrats, council officials, and upper-level members of the Dark Hunter Organization. The Chief Mechanist himself had sent the invite, hoping Cassius would attend.

The destruction of the Eclipse Society's branch by the Treatment Ward had stirred matters up recently.

Four Cataclysmic Spirit level foes had been beheaded!

Cassius, as Director of the Treatment Ward, had become the talk of the city's elite circles, drawing widespread curiosity.

From his initial competition for a Shadow Hunter position, to becoming the Number Two Shadow Hunter, to serving as Director of the Treatment Ward and leading a victorious mission, Cassius remained distant and mysterious to those in the upper ranks of the Dark Hunter Organization.

Even after eliminating the Eclipse Society, he stayed at the Treatment Ward headquarters without a single visit to the Dark Hunter headquarters.

His tremendous achievement had made waves for quite some time, yet no one had heard from him. Hence, the Chief Mechanist was the first to issue an invitation, taking the chance at this banquet to finally meet and converse with Cassius. They also needed to discuss the rewards to be granted by the Dark Hunter Organization's main office.

Cassius set the ornate black invitation on his table. Of course he planned to attend. It was time to request that bronze key from the Dark Hunter Organization's central vault.

Cassius had never forgotten his reason for coming back in time. Once he obtained the bronze key, he would leave Florence and journey to the Alphama Mountains, where he could secure the Book of the Devil, the fake-death pill, and a slumbering nest of high-ranking Blood Race in a certain labyrinth.

They were all priceless treasures.

Only after acquiring them would he travel to the southeastern part of the Hongli Empire. There, he would reunite with Ghost-Man and Iron Knight to accomplish his final objective...

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