Returning to the Mysterious Era-Chapter 639 - Ill Let You Hear The Waterbird Again

At this moment, Xiadu finally understood. Its current opponent was an unprecedented variable, simultaneously wielding the strength of an Ultimate Dark Form, a Holy Fist, and a Dominator Fist. Had it been only a Holy Fist plus an Ultimate Dark Form body, Xiadu could have dismissed it as the result of some powerful physical transformation technique. That wasn't enough to shake it.

However, for both Holy Fist and Dominator Fist to coexist in one person... It was nearly unimaginable. By all reason, it should have been impossible! Holy Fist and Dominator Fist were two separate paths. When humans reached the pinnacle of Covert Martial Arts, they had to pick one road from Holy, Dominator, or Ultimate Fist.

Even the mighty White Bird Holy Fist could not practice Dominator Fist or Ultimate Fist while retaining his Holy Fist realm. He could only follow one route to the end. It was well known that the different paths would clash fiercely.

Such a clash could shake the very foundations of one’s Covert Martial Arts and prove fatal. A dual cultivator might collapse by himself without any enemy attack and die on the spot. From every angle, a Holy Fist practicing two paths simply should not exist.

In the countless years Xiadu had lived, every Holy Fist it met had walked only one road. Yet the Golem Sect's master Cassius had shattered this near-law common sense. He was an anomaly among anomalies that possessed the Dominator Fist, Holy Fist, and an Ultimate Dark Form body.

One could not help but wonder whether Cassius might also walk the Ultimate Fist path and perfect all three paths.

Most importantly, he was a Southern Dipper heir!

If the Holy, Dominator, and Ultimate Fists merged, and the Southern Dipper's Red Falcon, Waterbird, and Sonic Snake also fused... Could that overturn the entire situation and pull the world back from disaster? Might it even smash the current order and grant humanity total victory?

Granted, Xiadu was confident that once its true body was fully unsealed, it would return to its conceptual-level might. However, it still had to guard against Cassius's rise. Thus, Xiadu's avatar chose to flee without hesitation and pass on this critical intel rather than self‑destruct and trade one avatar for some damage.

Whoosh!

A dreamy black after‑image streaked away in the opposite direction. As before, Xiadu's avatar resembled a well of calamity. It spewed endless calamity energy that turned into all manner of ferocious monsters and hellish demons charging at Cassius.

Over the sea, billowing black smoke swept like a tsunami. Legions of aberrant, grotesque, wicked, demonic forms howled and clawed within the smoke. They carried a savage, bloodthirsty lust. Even an enormous beast would be gnawed to bare bone by these fiends.

A dull voice came from beneath the Golem's metal mask. It was calm yet icy, like a bloodstained blade. Its chill made one shudder, striking fear into the heart.

"Xiadu... Bringing me dessert, are you?"

Bam!

The giant, which had stood still, surged forward without hesitation. Its vast body rammed straight into the hellish army ahead. They were all demons. How could they harm the demon among demons?

The Golem's life magnetic field expanded explosively over the sea. This was the power Cassius had gained after his body broke through to Ultimate Dark Form and the Golem Covert Martial Arts reached perfection. The Golem could freely project a terrifying life magnetic field that slew all weaker beings within range!

It could be viewed as a vast instant‑kill zone for cannon fodder. Numbers never worked on the Golem; they only made it stronger. If health points existed, the Golem would be constantly healing as it reaped the crowd, gaining the upper hand.

The mountain‑sized Golem pushed into the black smoke, holy light and demonic flames flickering wildly on its body. A visible vast ripple spread across the air like heat waves, leaving only death in its wake. The countless aberrant monsters were never a threat. A single unseen wave toppled them all silently.

Their uniform collapse was eerily neat. Strands of life vibration energy from their bodies turned to thick and thin bands that streamed into the distant Golem. It was like a massive school of sardine being sucked into a whirlpool.

In mere moments, Cassius passed through the onslaught unscathed, one‑shotting a sea of evil creatures like it was nothing. In fact, the Golem's aura and condition were slightly better than at the start. The Golem's one red eye and its white twin looked down from the clouds at the fleeing Xiadu.

A cruel grin slowly surfaced.

"Run, run farther, Xiadu... Still haven't noticed? You're trapped in my dual Holy Fist and Dominator Fist Qi World. You have no chance to pass your intel on. Now I'm chasing you like a cat with a mouse, and you're still clinging to a sliver of luck, aren't you?

"Then let me tell you the truth and erase that last hope. The cruelest despair is not being hopeless from the start but having hope lit then snuffed out again..."

Cassius sounded exactly like a villain. He relished the feeling, especially when the target was Xiadu. In truth, when he battered the mindless avatar, Cassius hadn't opened his Qi World since beating an unresponsive sandbag was dull.

But once Xiadu's mind arrived, everything became delightful. He had instantly deployed his Qi World. This time, Cassius meant to utterly humiliate Xiadu, the Gate Organization's millennia‑old leader, the origin of all calamity!

Even Cassius had only just discovered how strong a dual Qi World could be. The Qi world of an ordinary Holy Fist could hardly bind an Ultimate Dark Form. Yet with Cassius's Holy Fist and Dominator Fist energies combined, the Qi World formed a mighty barrier like a binding ritual. Any foe he wished to trap would be locked inside for a duel.

And now, Xiadu was within that dual Qi World. All its efforts to stall, flee, or send vital messages were futile. Its struggles made him a clown and that was exactly the pleasing scene Cassius desired.

In the distance, Xiadu, straining to escape the Golem, suddenly stopped. Its heart was filled with the anger of being toyed with, together with a hint of shock. It hadn't noticed that the surroundings had been replaced by a Qi World!

Xiadu's mind had arrived too late. The avatar had been nearly shattered and had expended too much power. Hence, even Xiadu's mind had failed to detect the change.

"Hahaha, Xiadu, how do you feel now?"

Whoosh.

A human figure flashed closer. Scarlet Qi and white holy light trailed behind them like a gorgeous, mysterious veil. It was a saintly scene paired with utmost mocking words. The contradiction felt surreal.

Cassius had always stood opposite Xiadu, especially after the fifth time-travel's battle when he learned it was White Bird Holy Fist's self‑immolation that had stopped Xiadu's final plan. Cassius admired him and mourned his fall. It deepened his resolve to oppose everything Xiadu did.

Cassius wanted to serve justice upon this Well of Sin! He wanted to humiliate and destroy it.

"There's no escape and nowhere to hide. This time, it is your avatar that has reached the end of the road. But next time, it will be your true presence, and even your true body!"

Qi flames burned in Cassius's eyes as though it could engulf everything. His Will was unbreakable and his conviction unshakable. His right arm rose slowly with the graceful power of a soaring waterbird.

Cassius stared calmly at the figure ahead.

"Over a century ago, you heard the waterbird's final cry. Alongside it came your plan's failure and terrible wounds. Now, a century later, I'll let you hear the waterbird again. This time, it will pierce your heart... Xiadu, I keep my word!"

Swish, bang‑bang‑bang‑bang‑bang...

No sooner had he spoken than two blurred figures tangled like rockets. They fought madly; Qi and calamity were at their sharpest as fists and feet became vicious claws. Explosions rang over the sea, forming tsunamis. Cracks opened on the earth below, like a dragon was tunneling deep underground. Clouds amassed then burst, turning into howling gales.

The sky, sea, and earth; everywhere was a battlefield. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Boom!

A mushroom cloud spread over the sea as a force compressed the seabed below to be as hard as concrete. Rain poured as the shock wave faded. Only two silhouettes remained in view.

The clash had only lasted a few seconds. As brief as a blink, the violent sounds were gone, leaving the bare result.

Xiadu's black‑robed body stood rigid with its powerful arms frozen mid‑strike. A raptor's claw had been thrust straight through its chest. Cassius stood behind Xiadu, quietly looking at it mercilessly. A single punch through the back!

To the victim, it was the most humiliating and brutal death. It meant your strength failed; the foe reached your back and you couldn't react. Life and death had been decided between the two.

Cassius yanked his arm free, turned, and did not pause.

"I'll let you hear the waterbird once more..."

Xiadu's avatar had a huge cavity in its chest. Then its whole body split apart, and searing holy white light burst from those countless cracks. Terrifying Holy Fist Qi and perfect Thorn Feather Force surged out, forming a phantom steel waterbird that engulfed it.

Chieu!

The waterbird flapped skyward, pierced the clouds, and vanished. Only a faint, clear waterbird cry echoed at the horizon.

Ash drifted down as the dual Qi World faded.

In the true world, Cassius stood expressionless on the chaotic sea with his arms folded. He roughly grasped his own strength from that battle. Nothing could truly threaten him in the surface world now unless Xiadu's true self acted.

But the earlier probe had confirmed a few things. White Bird Holy Fist's ultimate strike had caused Xiadu immense trouble. His true form could not act freely for some time. Xiadu would appear only for events on the scale of reopening the Gate of Heaven and lifting seals. Even losing a Holy Fist avatar could not compare with unsealing a gate.

Cassius reckoned the Gate Organization would now shrink back everywhere to avoid his blade. After all, Xiadu had to beware an enemy of unknown strength. Therefore, the Golem Sect's time for rapid growth had come. The whole Covert Martial Art world would soon fall under Cassius's control.

In the time-travel, he'd recalled every Golem Seed which granted Cassius the priceless chance to wield Three Fists as One. If nurtured well in reality, it could serve as a trump card for Cassius later.

Cassius let his hands drop and streaked toward a shore at the east of Northern Reef Continent.

"Now it's time to act..."

At the same moment, in the Arctic Abyss, there was a place called the legendary Devil's Mouth that devoured all light. Magma and permafrost clashed deep within, bursting with terrifying noise.

In this life‑forbidden abyss, a tall figure sat cross‑legged like a statue. Any snow landing on the figure was swept away by an unseen force.

A faint evil aura lingered in the air.

Rumble!

A great commotion suddenly echoed from the abyss, as if magma would erupt—yet also like a colossal Will was awakening. Holy Fist Evil Heart snapped his eyes open and flashed to the mouth's edge. He sensed the leader's consciousness awakening.

At the moment, he had to listen calmly for orders. However, he heard words he never expected. The abyss quaked, as though ten‑thousand voices echoed within.

Xiadu's vast Will surged out of the mouth.

"My avatar has lost contact. It must have been defeated..."