Chapter 636: Chapter 636
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A huge crystal creature plummeted out of the tunnel and smashed into the underground cave. Shattered rock flew everywhere, filling the air with billowing dust. The cloud slowly cleared as the inter-world passage exchanged air.
Star Horn God, with its huge crystal‑armored body like a rhinoceros beetle, lay prone within a sunken circular pit. Its head was pressed down into the soil by a single hand. Its exquisitely wrought fifth layer of its armor was riddled with cracks that spread like a spiderweb.
When the creature's internal energy had weakened, its mutually destructive technique had been forcibly severed, leaving no trace of the sacred majesty its crystalline body had first displayed. It seemed no more than meat on a chopping block, awaiting Cassius's knife.
The creature's head trembled wildly, as if trying to rise. However, the great hand pressing down on its crown was as immovable as a mountain.
Star Horn God's Will churned violently.
"W‑what... is... this... technique?! Even I cannot halt my Fivefold Starburst once triggered! Yet just now, I felt a force that annihilated everything and severed every star core! Is it some Southern Dipper technique?! Curse that Southern Dipper... curse that Southern Dipper!"
The Southern Dipper lineage was every Ultimate Dark Form’s mortal foe. The Southern Dipper lineage, backed by many Holy Fists, had forcibly barred the Ultimate Dark Forms from fully invading the surface world. They possessed a special lethal force that targeted the immortality of Ultimate Dark Forms, cutting through them like a scalding blade through butter. Many Ultimate Dark Forms had fallen thus.
And now, it was the creature's turn...
It too would become a lost soul felled by Southern Dipper hands!
Star Horn God was unwilling and bitterly regretful. It had been manipulated. Had it not been gravely wounded a century ago, its weakness might never have been found and shattered so swiftly. Had it not been dragged into the surface world but stayed in the World of Calamity, it could have retreated calmly and spread news of the new Southern Dipper Holy Fist.
However, there were no ifs. What happened, had happened. Its current wails were merely the fantasies of a beast awaiting slaughter. Its fate had long been ordained.
Atop the crystal back, Cassius sensed the creature's Will.
"Forcing me to employ Thorn Sonic Death Armament... You may be proud. The last to push me this far was Xiadu. To die beneath the power that could cleave Xiadu's true body should honor you!" He raised his head slowly, offering the creature a final comfort tinged with pride.
Cassius slowly spread his arms, the motion lithe and powerful.
"Perish now, creature of utmost evil... Receive holy purification!"
His flame‑red eyes instantly started to glow with sacred white light that lacked joy or sorrow. He lifted his arm, curling all five fingers into a fist. White flames wreathed around them as he drove a punch downward. It cut straight through the air toward Star Horn God.
As the fully charged Southern Dipper Waterbird Fist crashed down, Thorn Sonic Death Armament detonated within the creature, ravaging its "immortal" vitality and driving it to the brink of death.
The Ultimate Dark Form, Star Horn God, was defeated!
A violent shockwave swept out, scouring weeds and rubble alike. Cassius stood atop the crystal corpse, one fist clenched tight. The Southern Dipper Waterbird Fist Qi enshrouding him like white steam boiled like scalding water in a kettle.
A profound realization and affirmation sprouted deep within him, bringing him into harmony with the Holy Fist path. It was the clarity of walking the right path and knowing one's purpose. It was the sublime thrill of a hidden dragon breaking through the abyss and causing a grand tide.
Just as mastering the Heart of the Dominator Fist required sweeping aside the champions of one's era to prove a ruler's Qi, to seize the Heart of the Holy Fist, one must ceaselessly purify what one deems evil and steadfastly believe in the righteousness of their path without a flicker of doubt.
Cassius had purified Star Horn God, an Ultimate Dark Form. It was, without doubt, a creature of evil. Naturally, his Holy Fist path had gained an unprecedented affirmation. Moreover, Cassius already possessed a deep foundation and had grasped the power and Qi of White Bird Holy Fist in the final battle of the fifth time-travel.
As such, his breakthrough came like water flowing downhill.
The sound of mighty rivers surging came from Cassius's unmoving body. White Qi burst from every pore until the entire cave was drenched in Southern Dipper Waterbird Fist Qi. The Qi moved slowly, matching Cassius's Will and forming a vast, dense white funnel vortex. The surrounding walls were coated in a layer of white lustre.
A heart formed from countless battles, a holy and elegant style, a majestic Will of the Fist, and hundreds of purifications. A throbbing Heart of the Holy Fist emerged within the vortex. It shone white, like a brilliant star fallen from the night sky.
The transcendent heart began to beat with a sacred, unique rhythm. White light began seeping through the dark earthen walls. Worms and insects swarmed closer as though hurrying to make a devout pilgrimage to the cave.
Cassius suddenly raised his head, opened his mouth and inhaled. The vast white vortex disappeared into him, together with the Heart of the Holy Fist and all. Everything vanished into his body in a flash. Cassius shone white all over, like a living saint.
"The Heart of the Holy Fist and the Heart of the Dominator Fist... At last both are mine... Only the Heart of the Ultimate Fist remains."
"Fortunately, in the fifth time-travel's great war, three Southern Dipper Holy Fists infused their power and Will into my body. In that brief span, I saw the path ahead and knew how to proceed..."
He sank into his thoughts, sensing the two rotating Wills floating within his Qi. Each was something every Covert Martial Arts Practitioner feverishly sought all their life. Now, Cassius possessed two.
"Now, breaking into the Holy Fist realm will be as easy as flipping a page! But first, I must raise my body to Ultimate Dark Form level and perfect my Golem Covert Martial Arts. Otherwise, this body may not bear Holy and Dominator Fists together and collapse..."
Cassius took a deep breath, suppressing his fluctuating emotions.
"Also, the cost of using Thorn Sonic Death Armament is heavy."
He glanced down at his right hand, which was now covered in dense thorn‑like cracks. The cracks had even spread across the right half of his body. It looked as though further use would make his whole body disintegrate.
Clearly, Thorn Sonic Death Armament was a double‑edged sword, harming foe and wielder alike. Even though Cassius had the perfect Rune of Life for the seamless fusion of the Southern Dipper Forces, used it only briefly, and possessed a strong Southern Dipper foundation, he still suffered a fierce backlash.
After all, the Thorn Sonic Death Armament was meant to slay mountain‑sized immortal Ultimate Dark Forms. Its lethality was extreme beyond extremes. Cassius had long suspected that fully mastering the weapon required all three Southern Dipper Fists at the realm of Holy Fist and the body of an Ultimate Dark Form.
Of course, once his body broke through to Ultimate Dark Form, he would meet the usage threshold. Though he would not be able to unleash its full power, the weapon's side effects would be greatly reduced before a body of Ultimate Dark Form caliber. Thus, any wounds inflicted would be at an acceptable level where recovery was possible, giving Cassius more leeway.
A figure sat cross‑legged atop Star Horn God's body. A powerful aura rose as Cassius's Golem Covert Martial Arts fully activated. The Golem Breathing Technique, heart rate, and blood flow aligned instantly, forming a strong yet uncanny life magnetic field. Visible waves of black Qi gathered behind Cassius, outlining a towering, burly Golem.
The Golem Qi roared like flames, inspiring fear and awe.
The armor‑clad Golem's hand turned into a knife‑edge and plunged into the creature's immense head, causing crystal shards to explode like sand.
Concentric ripples formed in the air like currents. For a moment, they seemed to shape a fanged jaw of a fierce monster. Then, it greedily bit down!
Impact, breach, absorption... Then came endless satiation and scorching heat.
Cassius's eyes blurred for an instant as his body shuddered from the vast life vibration energy flooding into him. He felt as though he was soaking in a scalding hot spring. A warmth pleasurable even to Holy Fists seeped through every pore, nourishing every cell in his body.
Suddenly, his joints cracked and his whole skeleton glowed. It was not just his bones, his blood vessels and pores also swelled with a crystal translucence like colored glass.
Seated cross‑legged, Cassius opened his eyes, sensing his Golem Covert Martial Arts on the verge of breakthrough. The amassed essences of Ultimate Dark Forms had met every condition.
There were five in total. Moon God's flesh, True Progenitor of Blood Yumila's Blood of Immortality, Seranar King, Star Horn God, and Pale Origin. At last, every element was achieved.
Golem! The colossus Golem would now descend again upon the world!
In the haze, Cassius's eyes, burning with pitch‑black flames, seemed to behold a phantom emerging from darkness. Its mountainous silhouette came from the boundless mist, with a presence as tyrannical as a demon king.
Each step made heaven and earth resound and moved mountains and seas. Its bony spiked long tail dragged across the ground, as a casual sweep ploughed deep ravines into the earth. Its monstrous camel‑toed feet cracked mountains and parted waters. Huge hooked barbs at its joints and heavy, archaic sharp scales lent it the force of a wild beast. Black iron armor that looked like an ancient knight’s armament covered its body, with spine‑long rows of spikes interlocking like shark teeth.
Clearly, it was a war machine!
A blood-red disc hovered above its head. Its glow flowed through the armor's seams like droplets of blood. Cassius's heart felt whole as he reached toward the phantom.
"After endless years, it's complete at last..."
The Golem's giant shadow merged with his body in an instant. Dense Golem Qi surged out, forming a massive black cocoon in moments. Just as during the fourth time-travel, when Cassius sought life in death and created the Golem Covert Martial Arts, this was his second time entering a cocoon state. Furthermore, the cocoon this time was colossal, occupying nearly half the cave. It stood in the center like a giant mountain.
A heap of shattered crystal lay beside the cocoon, faintly betraying the dead creature's former grandeur.
One lived, one died. The victor would devour all of the vanquished and thereby ascend.
The cave was silent save for a massive heartbeat that made one's scalp tingle. With each breath of the inter-world passage, air currents laced with calamity brushed the cocoon's surface, sparking tiny glimmers.
At a glance, it resembled moonlight drifting in darkness. As time passed, the moonlight gathered until it looked like a galaxy filled the cave. It was stunningly gorgeous.
At last, the cocoon's surface cracked. A pair of huge silver palms burst through and braced themselves against the cocoon walls. The cracks spread rapidly across the cocoon.
Finally, the cocoon's top exploded, revealing an armor‑clad head as vast as a mountain. Its entire form was silver. It looked ferocious and brutal, yet inexplicably refined. Though sacred silver, it exuded supreme malice toward all beings.
The Golem, an Ultimate Dark Form!
"The evil of all life, the demon among demons... After this, there is nowhere in the world that is not open to me. No one can obstruct my path. Though ahead lie dragon dens and tiger lairs, and though Ultimate Dark Forms abound, I shall leap mountains and cross chasms as though walking on level ground!"