Returning to the Mysterious Era
Chapter 519 - Death of the First General King

Chapter 519 - Death of the First General King

The Fourth General King was not sure. Yet the gray Qi that erupted outward like a wild fountain in the middle of the battlefield proved that person's identity.

He was the First General King, who had only just returned from the United States of Yana across the ocean, the same First General King who absorbed the Soul-Blood Covert Box and soared in power to the realm of an extreme combat artist. The very person whose might was on par with Holy Fist Demon Phoenix of the Gate Organization.

Such a top-tier master in the world was actually fighting at a disadvantage and had been chased all this way, only to be caught in the end.

Who was hunting down the First General King? Was it the Chief Mechanist, the leader of the Dark Hunter Organization? Or had Whale King Arlington broken their agreement and turned his back on him?

A deep shock and a flurry of doubts swirled in the Fourth General King's mind. However, before she could make her next move, the battle below changed rapidly. A massive charred crater in the dense forest was emitting wisps of white smoke as though fire still smoldered.

The earth cracked inch by inch around the crater as the broken, ruined bodies of Demon Bears lay scattered.

It looked as if a powerful missile had exploded.

The secret move, Blood Vulture's Beak, had swept through, causing terrifying devastation to the surroundings. At the same time, the swarming Demon Bears, which had been besieging the Flying Swallow Sect from all sides, also suffered a catastrophe as they were annihilated by the dreadful shockwave.

They only saw a flash of red light that filled the sky, and all the towering three-meter animals froze in place like a puppet. A shockwave had rippled through the air, and all the Demon Bears held in stasis collapsed into powder as if they had been made of sand.

The special serum provided by the Gate Organization had given them impenetrable bristles and hide, which proved somewhat effective in resisting the fists and kicks of the Flying Swallow Sect's disciples.

However, when they faced the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist's Death's Fang Force, especially unleashed by the secret move Blood Vulture's Beak, they were more fragile than paper.

Nearly half the Demon Bears perished from the initial explosion and many others were gravely wounded. Half their bodies had disintegrated into fragments, and the other half showed sickening cross-sections where their organs still twitched. They could only collapse on the ground, gasping weakly as they waited for death.

In contrast, the dozen or so Flying Swallow Sect disciples were trapped in the innermost ring of the encirclement. The Demon Bears were piled atop one another, forming what looked like an unbreakable iron wall.

That iron wall had nearly spelled their doom. Now, however, it saved them. The Demon Bears had shielded the Flying Swallow Sect disciples from the shockwave caused by the Blood Vulture's Beak with their own bodies. There was not a single disciple injured or killed, so they all stood there baffled and staring around in disbelief.

On the battlefield, one core disciple who had recently been knocked down by a Demon Bear and left in utter despair struggled to his feet. His heart pounded violently, and he panted for breath, his face flushed as he glanced around.

Five or six Demon Bears stood frozen in place like statues, their faces still twisted in the same fierce expressions as before. It radiated a strange, chilling horror beneath the moonlight.

The core disciple staggered backward in fright, bumping into one of the Demon Bears behind him. He spun around and saw that the Demon Bear he had collided with had collapsed right on the spot.

It then dissolved like a mass of weathered sand falling away. A gust of wind swept by, and all the Demon Bears in sight turned into swirling dust.

The core disciple looked around, and found the Demon Bear that had knocked him down. He saw that the bear's entire back had been vaporized. In mere moments, only a third of its body remained. By a twist of fate, that Demon Bear had ended up saving him. It had bowled him over and used its body to shield him from the strike...

However, the core disciple certainly did not feel grateful to his saviour. He quickly activated his Covert Martial Arts and ran toward the last remaining group of Flying Swallow Sect disciples.

Boom!

Behind him, a ring of shockwaves burst out as an imposing surge of Qi blasted outward. A dark silhouette shot straight into the sky from the deep crater, his clothes tattered and his cloak in rags. Even the pale bone mask covering his face now bore two or three hairline fractures.

His hands were drenched in blood, revealing the bone beneath. A surge of gray Qi burst from his body, colliding violently with the Death's Fang Force on his forearms and creating clouds of white smoke.

"Why do you have to chase me so relentlessly? I was indeed at fault for disturbing your cultivation earlier, and I was wrong to speak arrogantly at your doorstep. I'm willing to offer you my apologies..." The First General King spoke in a loud voice, panting heavily as he tried to steady his breathing.

He had always been someone who could yield when necessary. Even though he was one of the few extreme combat artists in the world, he could still cast aside his pride without hesitation. After all, saving one’s face could never compare to saving one’s life.

They had sprinted for nearly fifty kilometers, exchanging blows amidst forests and mountain ridges as they ran. Sometimes, a single palm strike could blast away half a mountain peak. The aftershocks of every blow could topple an entire stretch of forest. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The more the First General King fought Cassius, the more alarmed he became as he was forced into a complete disadvantage. He had no advantage when it came to the refinement of his fist techniques, the destructive force of his punches, the depth of his Qi, or even the strength of his body.

His only slight edge came from the diverse Secret Techniques and Explosive Techniques left behind by the many experts whose blood essences were preserved in the Soul-Blood Covert Box. The techniques each possessed their own intricate advantages in combat. Some replenished Qi and stamina, some enabled rapid healing, some hardened muscle tissue for defense, and some made the fists strike faster and harder.

It had taken the First General King several years to combine all these elements into something he called the Seventy-Seven Secret Technique. All these Secret Techniques formed the First General King's unified offensive and defensive system.

However, even the Seventy-Seven Secret Technique failed to gain him the upper hand against Cassius. At most, it merely gave him a broader arsenal of counters, allowing him to endure a bit longer under intense pressure and flee a bit farther in a drawn-out fight.

The First General King stood at the edge of the crater beneath the moonlight. Two bloody holes marred his shoulder and chest, emanating what looked like evaporating red mist. His heavily wounded body began to heal at alarming speed. Steam rose from his exposed bones as tissue regrew.

The Thirteenth Secret, Blood Core, created six reservoirs of blood and Qi within the body. When his injuries were severe, breaking one of the cores allowed wounds to heal swiftly.

Hiss... whoosh... hiss... whoosh...

Pores all over the First General King's body kept opening and closing as though they were countless tiny mouths, greedily drawing in oxygen and power while expelling waste. All those synchronized breaths fused into a sound much like an elephant trumpeting.

Vortices whipped around him as air currents swirled in chaotic spirals as he passively let the Thirty-Second Secret, Air Apertures, activate. The more intense the battle, the fiercer these apertures breathed. They continuously replenished his oxygen and stamina.

Glints of light flickered across the First General King's body. Clearly, different Secret Techniques were being triggered, either passively or actively. In an instant, more than ten Secret Techniques were operating in unison, allowing him to recover at incredible speed.

Tap, tap, tap...

A figure in a trench coat emerged slowly from the edge of the forest. Cassius's sharply chiseled face remained expressionless, colder even than the pale moonlight illuminating his features. He regarded the First General King with eyes that held neither joy nor sorrow, as if he were already looking at a dead man.

After chasing him all this way, Cassius had mostly figured out the First General King's strength. It was at the low end of an extreme combat artist, and slightly stronger than the totem version of Evil Remains that was under the Totem King's command. However, he was only barely at the threshold of an extreme combat artist.

Cassius had tested the First General King with repeated exchanges through forests and over mountains, steadily increasing the force of his attacks. He gradually forced out all seventy-seven of the First General King's Secret Techniques; there were indeed many, but none truly stood out as exceptional.

In simple terms, there was nothing among them that posed a particularly terrifying or daunting threat. In Cassius's view, they were all somewhat mediocre. His opponent had dabbled in everything yet excelled in nothing.

Such a combat artist was undoubtedly devastating and suffocating against weaker opponents. However, when faced with someone stronger, he could barely retaliate and only attempt to flee. In terms of genuine danger, he was less of a threat than a glass cannon might be. Hence, after probing him repeatedly, Cassius became certain of his foe's maximum potential.

At last, he resolved to end the First General King right then and there, provided that the First General King had no suicidal trick left for mutual destruction.

If not, then he was doomed...

The First General King had recovered to nearly eighty percent as he stood in a clearing blasted open by the waves of their battle. Fear flickered in his gaze as he looked at Cassius, as though he sensed the killing intent rising from him.

The First General King spread his arms, revealing pale, newly grown flesh. "You truly are stronger than me, but you've seen it yourself as we fought all the way here. You can't kill me. I may not be outstanding in direct offense, yet I possess over a dozen ways to survive... Even if I withstand your finishing blows, I could restore myself to nearly full strength in less than half a minute."

Cassius let out a faint smile, his aura growing ever more powerful. "Are you sure you want to keep going? Why do you persist in this illusion? Did my choice to hold back cause you to underestimate my true strength?"

In that moment, Cassius's blond hair flew wildly, and his coat flapped loudly. The sound of colliding river currents roared from within his body, as though two rivers were rushing together, merging at the ends of his meridians. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Glaciers clashed with magma, and a miniature Rune of Life gleamed brilliantly on the back of his hand.

Boom!!!

Death's Fang Force and Reverberating Force fused into one, transforming into Sonic Fang Force. A nightmarish energy erupted, shooting a pillar of Qi upward, almost blowing apart the clouds overhead.

The First General King's expression changed dramatically, for he sensed an unprecedented threat. It was one even Whale King Arlington and Holy Fist Demon Phoenix could not evoke in him.

A lethal force crashed down from above, as though a giant hand had pressed upon him.

"Seventy-Seven Secret Technique!" He shouted, instantly going all out as the blood in his veins started to combust into vapor.

Light sparked across every part of the First General King's body, revealing all sorts of mutations that had come from practicing his Secret Techniques.

In an instant, he transformed into a hideous monstrosity, riddled with densely packed orifices and sporting two bulging tumors on his shoulders. His fingers grew razor-sharp, like the edges of knives. Then, a thin membrane stretched between his fingers, its purpose unclear.

Though his appearance was horrifying, the First General King's Qi was now truly at its peak. His mask shattered, revealing a ghastly visage beneath. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of overlapping human faces, combining into a bizarre creature.

Some were male, some female, some old, some young. There were even inhuman faces and twisted beastly forms. The blood that the First General King had absorbed from the Soul-Blood Covert Box bore a dreadful cost, manifesting not just in his psyche but in his physical appearance as well. He had transformed himself step by step into a monster for the sake of power.

"How could I die here? The expedition to the Eternal Archipelago is about to begin, and the Mask of Purity is practically within reach! If I wear that mask, my mind and appearance will be restored. Even using the Soul-Blood Covert Box again would carry no side effects... My strength would experience an enormous surge in the near future... Equaling, or even surpassing Holy Fist Demon Phoenix! I cannot possibly die here!!!"

The First General King roared madly as his entire body erupted with torrents of gray Qi, surging like floodwaters and blanketing hundreds of meters around him.

"You want me dead!?" The First General King's eyes glowed red with blood. Driven by an unprecedented will to survive, he unleashed an unheard of level of strength. He even swallowed all five remaining drops of blood from the Soul-Blood Covert Box, leaving no reserve and channeling every last ounce of power he could summon.

Molten heat roared from every pore of his body as he charged forward, each step leaving a massive crater beneath his feet until he hurled himself at Cassius like a jet-propelled rocket. That comet-like blaze shook the very heavens.

However, to Cassius, it resembled nothing more than a moth rushing toward a flame.

Hsssssssss...

The dreadful sound within his body could no longer be restrained, as it started to make the surrounding air vibrate. The horrific extreme force surged forth, manifesting as a purple-red waterfall. The waterfall howled as it tore through the air. A tornado formed entirely from crimson fangs churned within the purple bubbles.

Boom, boom, boom! Rumble, rumble! Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...

The two figures slammed into one another with devastating force.

For an instant, heaven and earth seemed to freeze in a deadlock, yet only a few blinks later, the outcome was decided. The purple-red tide that covered half the sky roared onward, obliterating the gray mist that claimed the other half.

It crushed everything before it in a perfect display of sheer brutality and destruction. The First General King was forced backward in midair as that purple-red waterfall engulfed him, slamming him ferociously down into the earth.

Thud, thud, thud!

Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom...

"Aaaaaaaah! Damn you, Arlington! I'll haunt you even in death!!!"