Chapter 583: Chapter 583

Storm winds herded a vast belt of cloud across the pitch-black sky for hundreds of kilometres. The clouds piled in dense, oppressive layers. Every now and then, a white lightning bolt would fork across the sky, branching into hundreds of serpentine bolts.

The black mass of clouds spun clockwise faster and faster, hollowing out a circular eye at its core. A crimson shaft descended down the eye, sheathing the whole of God's Tears Lake and repelling everything in its way.

A domineering figure slowly rose to his feet amid the terrifying surge of scarlet Qi on the central isle. Sixty-six Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist acupoints blazed like stars upon Cassius's powerful frame. They radiated an aura of utmost strength, supremacy, and tyranny.

The pressure was like looking down on all creation by right of birth. It felt as though whoever approached would be forced beneath him forever, with no hope of overturning that verdict.

"So that is the way it has always been..." Cassius muttered.

That grand whisper drifted across the isle, over the lake and even touching the distant Golem Sect halls. Every disciple of the sect who heard the words stamped it into their minds.

"It's the sect master!"

"Is the sect master about to pierce the legendary realm?!"

"Beyond mortality and into sovereignty! The sovereign among fists!"

At once, every gaze locked on God's Tears Lake.

"A body and heart of dominance, and a will of sheer tyranny..."

Cassius stood at the isle's heart with a thick, dreadful aura. His will was pure and untainted, as his strength climbed ever higher. He raised both arms and swept them wide like a raptor taking flight. It was the starting stance of the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist.

Crackle... Crackle...

The sixty-six acupoints across Cassius's body turned utterly translucent. Bone, muscle, skin, blood vessels; all vanished from sight.

Slender crimson threads of Death's Fang Force erupted like lightning, stretching to their utmost in the air. There were sixty-six such arcs, the colour of fearful blood. They swelled in a blink from the size of a thumb to an arm. In another blink, they were thicker than a man.

In moments, Cassius's body vanished within the roaring torrents of Death's Fang Force. The beams lashed out like lasers, shooting madly in every direction, raking the night heaven. Where they passed, solid matter, living or inert, spiralled apart. Even the black mass of clouds was sliced by the crimson rays.

Cassius flung his arms wider still, no longer trapping his Qi within his flesh. "Let the Qi pour outward and compress it, only then is one invincible..."

He hurled it all outward, squeezing it beyond himself. It ballooned in all directions at break-neck speed. The Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist Qi surged outward in layered waves, sweeping up all that eyes could see. God's Tears Lake and a vast belt around the Golem Sect sank beneath that Qi. It became a crimson ring sea of energy.

Yet it still expanded, still swelled, and still spilled! Was the trademark of the Holy Fist realm not precisely the self-propagating, transmissible Qi? Power that grew limitlessly without respite each passing instant!

Cassius had done it; he had become the origin of Qi!

High above, a vast arched door appeared in the crimson column within the eye of the clouds. The white stone arch was carved with religious patterns and tiny runes that wriggled like golden tadpoles. There were flowers, birds, insects, fish, mountains, rivers, and the sun and moon. The ripples of water, flapping of wings, scales of beasts, drifting mists all were captured too.

All manner of forms and data were condensed upon it. It contained all things and was immeasurably complex.

It was sacred, solemn, reverent, and secretive.

"The Gate of Heaven, the Root Gate, the Sacred Gate, the World Gate..."

A string of historic names for that door flashed through Cassius's mind. Though he had glimpsed it before, never had his blood boiled like now.

This was the moment he craved!

Thud... thud... thud...

Three heartbeats overlapped in resonance, sending tingles through Cassius's body and mind. His Heart of the Dominator Fist blazed like a scarlet sun. The gate seemed to exert a fatal attraction upon it!

Push it open, step inside, and your world will forever be changed!

That phrase surfaced unbidden, spoken by a majestic yet icy voice like a machine's.

His vision blurred, and a pale golden stairway ascending skyward appeared before him. It led right to the gate within the clouds.

Cassius turned into a fierce scarlet raptor as he winged upward, leaving a faint blaze behind. From afar, a red dot shot skyward like a meteor. It rammed straight into the golden Gate of Heaven.

As he climbed the stairs, memories flickered through his mind like playing a film. Plain or profound, joyous or painful, each turned to a slender thread, twisting into a stout rope.

Scenes of training, epiphanies of fist principles, blood-soaked frenzies, and moments of Covert Martial Art ascension joined the weave. They all surged into his consciousness. This was the road to the Gate of Heaven, the road of life, the road of martial arts. Most of all, it was Cassius's personal path—everything he had become.

Every Holy Fist was unique, impossible to replicate. Even wielding the same art, each found a different ascent!

This is me... Reliving obsessions, probing history's truths again and again. Acting alone and fighting alone. Everything I have forged through each time travel was carved by my own toil and blood. None of it was gifted or trained for me by another. Since it is mine, I will never let it be taken!

Memories skimmed past again and again, yet his eyes held no confusion, only growing clarity and brightness. Cassius at last truly understood himself. His true self was natural talent itself!

Bearing an unprecedented potential and an unmatched Qi, he slammed into the Gate of Heaven! A single hum rippled to every horizon as golden light blanketed the land.

On the ground, many voices cried out.

"Is this the holy glow of a deity?"

"Hahaha! I've broken through!"

"So that's it—that's it!"

Back in the Golem Sect, disciples wore varied expressions, but awe and zeal dominated. Many who had stalled at bottlenecks resonated with the spectacle and broke through on the spot. Some seasoned powerhouses gained deep insights simply from witnessing Cassius ascend to Dominator Fist.

"I can't sense his aura anymore..."

At the rim of the isle, the four elders looked in every direction. After Cassius charged through the gate, he seemed to vanish. Even the bond formed by the Golem Seeds had gone dead. None knew what unfathomable place he had reached.

While they pondered, the sky changed again.

Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding...

In the dark sky, crimson stars lit one by one within the Giant Falcon constellation and instantly joined together. In barely a blink, all sixty-six stars shone. They formed a lifelike Blood Vulture with its wings unfurled.

Scarlet beams burst from the falcon's twin eyes like searchlights. Within them flickered something almost human.

"The stars—they're moving! It's... it's coming down!"

A disciple pointed skyward in terror.

The stellar Blood Falcon came alive, folded its vast wings, and dove from the night!

Starlight rained down and a single figure returned from the heavens. He drifted, trailing a ribbon of saint-like red light behind him.

Cassius, who came back from the gate, was plainly changed. He no longer seemed of flesh and blood but a faintly vibrating silhouette, feather-light in his descent.

Cassius drifted down until his toes grazed the lake.

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A vast inscrutable ripple spread in less than half a breath, sweeping the lake and beyond. All felt a soft breeze brush their faces and shut their eyes reflexively. When they opened them again, dawn had broken!

Elder Odo lifted his head to the sky first. "What—?"

White clouds drifted as pure blue stretched into the distance, and a golden sun hung in peace. A breeze flowed; all was warm. Green forests and gentle flowers swayed around them. The air was scented and moist. Turning around, Odo saw God's Tears Lake ripple a deep cerulean under the sunlight.

Beside him Blood-Mist voiced the elders' shared bewilderment. "How is it daytime?"

Odo bent dazedly, plucked a wild bloom of white and yellow flowers. Tiny black insects, sesame-small, crawled in its core, sipping nectar. He sniffed; the fragrance was light and lovely.

"It is real, not an illusion," he said.

To his right, Blood-Mist crouched and splashed the lake's clear water.

It was cool to the touch. Ripples formed and algae was faintly visible. All testified to reality.

Blood-Mist rose slowly, flicking water from his hands. "This is truly the shore of God's Tears Lake."

He turned and shared his verdict with the others. Suddenly, a vast voice boomed behind them.

Blood-Mist whirled back toward the lake. The other elders squinted hard the same way. They saw the vast rippling surface of the lake warp. A gigantic human face surfaced, with hollow eyes staring at them.

The eyes of all four bulged to near bursting. They staggered back, instinctively ready to flee. Yet turning around, they beheld the sunlit golden buildings of the Golem Sect. Their roofs, tiles and streets assembled into another gigantic face gazing coldly at them.

The huge face spoke slowly, "Odo, look at your hand."

Stunned out of wits, Odo raised his hand. The yellow-white flower he still held had changed. Its petals had twisted into a tiny human face. Worse, the small insects on the pistil had been altered too! Their shells, smaller than sesame seeds, now bore raised human features staring back.

Odo shuddered, flung the flower away and looked up. "Th-this... this!"

Everything around had changed—every object now bore a face.

Soil, blossoms, leaves, trees, birds, fish. Even a droplet of water or a grain of mud. Faces were everywhere, on everything. Looking up, they saw a colossal face across the entire blue sky whose dreadful eyes fixed on them.

The sheer number of faces caused their hearts to nearly stop. The four elders shivered as terror flooded them. A droning blast roared in their ears as every face spoke at once.

"Qi blankets the sky and earth, heavy as rock, moving like a waterfall. It fills all space, from the blue sky, the drifting clouds, to the light they scatter. The sparkling God's Tears Lake, the Golem Sect on its shore, and even the ground beneath your feet... They are all my Qi, all at my Will!"

"Can you feel it? To shape nature by human ability, to rival nature with human strength. This is the realm of Holy Fist!"