Chapter 609: Chapter 609

"Yes!" All members of the Golem Sect answered in unison. They showed not the slightest shock at the downfall of the Ripple Order. Since the Golem Sect Master had taken action, the Ripple Order's destruction was only natural. It didn't matter that the Ripple Order ranked among the world's top forces.

Cassius slowly turned toward the lakeshore. There, a whole complex already under construction stood out conspicuously. "Have the headquarters construction speed up as well. Ignore cost in money and materials; we want efficiency. Finish everything within half a month. The latter half of the Federal Combat Championships will be held at headquarters."

The Golem Sect headquarters had been under construction ever since his return from the time-travel half a month ago. Work went on around the clock. More than a dozen professional crews worked in shifts, helped by many robust disciples of the Golem Sect. Thus, rebuilding proceeded at great speed. Original content can be found at novel fire.net

Moreover, Cassius had supplied the layout and blueprints from the start, so copying them saved tremendous time. Half a month later, two-fifths of the entire complex was already complete. The reason for still situating headquarters beside God's Tears Lake was that the environment was truly excellent in every respect.

There was a lake with an island, small hills, and stretches of grassland all around. It was close to convenient, fast highway access. There was even a railway station several kilometres away in the southern outskirts of East Sea City.

Of course, an even more important reason was that Cassius had grown accustomed to it. He had spent a considerable amount of time at Golem Sect headquarters during the more than two years of the time-travel. Cassius especially enjoyed cultivating quietly on the lake. At night, the rippling water, the gentle cold breeze, and the reflections of a real and a mirrored moon created a scene of two moons. It provided a fine atmosphere for practising martial arts.

"Go, pass my orders down. Also... These colossal statues I brought back are to guard headquarters. I'll place them at key points around us. If there are no enemies, they're simply ordinary statues. Should foes attack, they will tear any intruder apart. Normally, unless you go crazy and assault them yourselves, they will not react..." While speaking, Cassius slowly rose to stand atop the statue's head.

"Alright. I'm heading to the island for secluded cultivation. If there's anything important, report it now. If not, carry out the plan..."

After waiting a few seconds, no one spoke. Cassius lifted off and drifted toward the lake's centre like fluff in the wind. In scarcely two or three blinks, his figure vanished from the island.

Simone raised his head yet remained silent. He had intended to give the Sect Master a brief report on Princess Katie. But now, it seemed unnecessary.

As a high-ranking Golem Sect member, Simone understood the southeastern maritime situation. Princess Katie had come to the Hongli Federation under the Black Ops Agency's protection because of the Ripple Order. However, the Ripple Masters' headquarters on Eternal Island had been wiped out by the Sect Master. The source of Katie's fears had been eradicated, so nothing more needed to be said.

Of course, Princess Katie was still useful. A Yale Kingdom royal princess becoming a Golem Sect disciple would aid the sect's global publicity and growth. Such a minor matter need not waste the Sect Master's time.

Simone would oversee its progress from start to finish.

Thud, thud, thud... thud, thud, thud...

One after another, the towering stone statues of pale rock began to walk slowly over the ground, each step gouging a pit and making the earth tremble. They dispersed from the lakeside—some toward the forested hills, some back into the lakebed, others near the Golem Sect. They acted as silent guardians.

Most disciples waiting in the distance near the car lacked the rank to meet the Sect Master firsthand. They looked somewhat tense at the three towering statues striding abreast several dozen meters ahead.

Each statue's step landed with a dull boom that numbed their soles. Fortunately, the trio ignored them, merely seeking a spot and then standing motionless once satisfied.

Within the crowd, Katie pressed her red lips together, the corners turning pale. Her body shook with instinctive fear, the garment on her back seemingly soaked with sweat. After all, she had only just had her entry-level breakthrough. Her Will of the Fist was weak and barely stronger than a normal person's.

"What on earth are these..."

If an ordinary person suddenly saw a few two-storey-tall stone giants walking toward them, they would probably react the same.

The Golem Sect is truly a terrifying and mysterious organisation... Katie thought to herself. She labeled the Golem Sect in her mind as sinister and demonic.

"The Golem Sect is truly a powerful yet benevolent righteous force!"

Princess Katie gazed at Simone in ecstasy. She had just heard the news of the Ripple Order's headquarters being annihilated from Simone! The Golem Sect Master personally acted and slaughtered the whole Eternal Island!

Now, the Golem Sect planned to dispatch people to take over the island. She was a disciple of Simone, a high-ranking member of the sect, and also a princess of the Yale Kingdom! If she linked the two and acted as a bridge, wouldn't there be great benefits?!

All at once, the relief of no longer being afraid, the joy of foes destroyed, and bright visions of future success merged together. Princess Katie's face almost twisted with happiness, showing a slight loss of composure.

She drew in a deep breath.

"Teacher, the Golem Sect has been spreading and teaching body-strengthening Covert Martial Arts to the common folk, promoting an uplifting spirit! Right now, the endeavour is booming in the eastern Hongli Federation. However, I think it's still not enough. We can grow even faster. The eastern archipelago nations, with nearly a hundred million people, can fully adopt Covert Martial Arts and a martial ethos! Especially the Yale Kingdom—surely they would gladly embrace the Golem Sect's martial arts..."

The more Princess Katie spoke, the more excited and promising it seemed. Now that the Ripple Order was gone, she would likely be called home as a marriage pawn to another nation. After all, Princess Katie was already twenty. No matter how doting her father was, he could not oppose the royal family's collective interests.

However, Katie refused to let her fate be manipulated so easily. Teacher Simone had said something she always remembered.

One's own destiny is best grasped by oneself!

A gentle breeze brushed his face as Cassius opened his eyes on the lake. Thin white mist drifted across the lake, blurring the view. He slowly stood, and a gentle wave of Qi surged out, sweeping over God's Tears Lake. The mist dispersed, revealing a crystal-clear surface. Sunlight poured down, flowing over the gently rippling water.

"Three Fists as One, Three Fists as One..." Cassius murmured softly. Since returning from the time-travel, he spent each seclusion pondering that last punch of the great battle. He kept recalling and savouring it, feeling its artistic conception and subtleties. This time was no different.

Though unlike before, this time Cassius had an insight, as if touching upon a shortcut. The key to Three Fists as One lay in the complete mastery of the Holy Fist, Dominator Fist, and Ultimate Fist.

And mastery depended on condensing the Heart of the Holy Fist, Heart of the Dominator Fist, and Heart of the Ultimate Fist. Cassius had already achieved the Heart of the Dominator Fist, so only the Holy and Ultimate hearts remained.

These two Wills of the Fist could be raised bit by bit by inscribing the Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritance, but that seemed too slow like a long-term trickle.

When he thought back to how he had broken through to Dominator Fist, Cassius found a seemingly workable path that required testing. That path was to kill in Ultimate Fist style while in the Cold Persona, and kill in Holy Fist style while in the Main Persona.

The targets had to be strong, preferably combat artist or higher. Each kill would affirm Cassius's mimicry of the Ultimate Fist and Holy Fist. It would be a cycle of continual killing, continual affirmation, and continual learning of the Will of the Fist. That could accelerate mastery of the Heart of the Ultimate Fist and Heart of the Holy Fist.

Currently, aside from the Covert Martial Arts world, the Gate Organization held the most combat artists. Those in the Covert Martial Arts world were his future allies; unless they wreaked real havoc, he preferred not to strike them.

He had no such scruples with the Gate Organization. He hoped the Gate Organization would revive more ancient deputy leaders. The more he had to kill, the quicker his Will of the Fist could develop.

"Gate Organization, you should just become the nourishment for my growth..."

At the same time in Anta Mountains, sunlight pierced through the gaps of a tree canopy and scattered on the ground as specks of gold. In a clearing, some hunters were taking shelter in a small cabin.

A black-robed figure walked through the clearing. His robe was extraordinarily wide, almost completely hiding his form. The cowl covered his head and face, with only a few fiery red strands of long hair falling at his pale chin.

The robed man halted in front of the wooden door and lifted the cowl. A fair, handsome face appeared, but a wide black cloth band stretched across where his eyes should have been, entirely covering both eyes.

The wooden door opened with a creak and a gust of wind slightly lifted his robe. A sharp cross sword at the man's waist came into view.

Inside the dim cabin, at least ten pairs of keen eyes flicked to the doorway. Their gazes swept over the robed man's body and slowly withdrew.

"Eye Devil, your Spiral-Eye Sword was really taken from you?" A cold, eerie voice sounded from the cabin's left side. The unpleasant tone carried a hint of provocation.

Eye Devil lightly rested his right hand on the hilt, fingers rubbing its patterns.

"Death Scythe, perhaps you, too, could try being besieged by two top-tier combat artists and see if you can escape alive?" Eye Devil tilted his head slightly toward the vague twisted outline on the side. There was a person there.

"Or do you mean to challenge me now while I lack the Spiral-Eye Sword and my strength has dipped? Give it up, Death Scythe. As long as I live, you'll only be fourth among the Five General Kings! Oh, maybe you'll drop to fifth before long?"

"You—!" The shadowy outline in the dark seemed about to lunge forth.

"Enough! All of you shut up! Black Rain Manor takes priority. Hold any grudges until this operation is over. After that, do as you please." The figure by the rearmost window slowly turned his head. He was a burly, muscular elder who looked seventy or eighty, yet the exaggerated muscles on his body were still as hard and full as armour.

The elder with a head of white hair folded his arms. A crane-beak emblem was conspicuously marked on his right forearm. It belonged to the Shadow Crane Sect, once a famous Covert Martial Arts sect in the United States of Yana over forty years ago. Yet the Shadow Crane Style had been exterminated overnight.

Rumour had it that a defector of that generation, having completed their cultivation, returned for revenge. He had forcibly massacred the entire sect down to the last. That returning disciple surpassed his predecessors, pushing Shadow the Crane assassination methods to its extreme! He had even broken beyond that limit, creating an explosive assassination boxing style. The fighting style's destructive force then multiplied.

That disciple who had wiped out his own sect back then had now become the Gate Organization's First General King. His hands were stained with an untold amount of Covert Martial Arts Practitioners' blood.

"Eye Devil, I know you're eager to retrieve your lost Spiral-Eye Sword, but the big picture comes first. Let's handle the Black Rain Manor matter together. When the dust settles, we'll help you deal with those two foes." Shadow Crane looked toward the doorway.

"One is the Black Ops Agency's butler, Reaper Amos. The other is the recently emerged Golem Sect's master, Blood Fist Cassius. Both are top-tier combat artists and no easy prey. Don't split your focus; prioritize this side. When it's done, the five General Kings will act together with you. Then in the Covert Martial Arts world, none can stand against us..."

"Understood." Eye Devil paused briefly, then nodded.

"Good. Come and join the council." Shadow Crane spoke as he walked to the cabin's center.

Half an hour later, the discussion neared its end.

"Everyone should be clear by now. The revival of Black Rain Manor is highly unusual. We are far from the only ones coveting it. Totem Shamans near the southeastern seas, the Eclipse Society, and those Blood Race groups are also moving. Although we once cooperated with them, everything now depends on our own abilities..."

Shadow Crane swept his gaze over everyone's faces and continued.

"Furthermore, never think that defeating other contenders means we can reap benefits easily. This revival is exceedingly perilous. It has dangers accumulated over tens of millions of years. Long-sealed cursed items that will erupt alongside the treasures..."