Returning to the Mysterious Era
Chapter 527 - The Sole Overlord! Arlington Defeated

Chapter 527 - The Sole Overlord! Arlington Defeated

Roar!!!

A blue giant whale appeared dove down from the sky like a massive steel airship. Its body was covered with dense, eerie patterns that resembled fish scales. Scorching blue light spurted from between the scales, scattering into countless sparks.

The whale crushed everything along the ground, leaving a trench nearly ten meters wide! Surging blue Qi swept millions of tons of lake water from the lakebed, causing a flood. It flattened and submerged in its path as it followed in the whale’s wake.

On the ground, Whale King Arlington leaped up, tracing a long, narrow arc through the air like a meteor. Both feet landed on the whale's head. It was like he was riding a high‑speed train straight at the airborne Cassius!

Cassius spun in midair, looking down at Arlington's awe‑inspiring strike while he was upside‑down. He showed no shock, no dread, no fear—only appreciation.

"Not bad at all. It is the same type of ultimate secret art as Blood Vulture's Beak... Unstoppable and dominating. That is precisely the true essence of Feng Liusi's Blood Vulture's Beak."

Cassius continued to spin until he was right side up. He raised his arms; the lingering bloody Qi like the fearsome and savage wings of a bird of prey.

Scree!!!

The piercing call of a vulture reverberated through boundless space. At last, wings that darkened the sky descended and engulfed Cassius.

The Blood Vulture's wings burned as the densely packed scarlet Qi writhed and morphed like a viscous mixture of liquid and solid. It resembled overlapping scales opening and closing, yet also looked like high‑temperature flames warping the air. Death's Fang Force surged and gathered behind Cassius's head.

The force coalesced into a spinning scarlet vortex that was comprised of tightly interlocked teeth.

Rumble!

Cassius hovered mid‑air with his arms spread, his whole body venting a violent mist of red. He radiated dazzling crimson light like the setting sun falling below the horizon.

Ding‑ding‑ding‑ding...

All forty acupoints lit up, issuing crisp, pleasant sounds. The points resonated, forming a three‑dimensional Blood Vulture tattoo across Cassius's frame. For a moment, the once‑dim pattern shone brilliantly!

"Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist..."

"Ultimate secret art, Blood Vulture's Beak!"

Boom!!!

The vortex tunnel above his head burst open like a floodgate opening as a torrent of scarlet blood gushed out like a waterfall. A huge elongated head emerged from the cascade with menacing scales, blood‑dripping from its iron beak, and scarlet eyes. The Blood Vulture's head looked more like a dragon!

Scree!

Its beak yawned wide, revealing rows of spiral teeth and a bottomless black void. It bent and swallowed Cassius whole with a gulp before hurtling downward in fury!

Trailing the bloody waterfall, they dove straight at the giant blue whale! Crimson covered most of the sky while blue swept the ground.

It felt like two figures with two streams of Qi each occupied a hemisphere. They feared nothing and faced each other head‑on! Such were the overlords on the path of the Dominator Fist! Their pride, confidence, and dignity forbade a single step back!

Once upon this road, there was no restarting and no turning around. They could only advance, never back! Even if they were shattered to pieces, they would advance; even if they plunged into an abyss, they would advance!

Thus, at this moment, the two battled not only for victory but for their paths. After this fight, only one overlord would remain. The other would fail, and all their effort would vanish to nothing.

Fight and kill! Who was the overlord? Who was the strongest?

In this moment, their Wills were honed to a razor’s edge. All stray thoughts were cast aside, leaving only the pure idea of winning.

Whoosh!

The Blood Vulture's Beak plummeted like a falling star.

Boom!

The Whale King soared like a fired cannonball.

Bang!!! Bang, bang, bang... bang... bang...

Explosions, explosions, and yet more explosions. The wind howled like blades, and shockwaves capable of flinging a person a hundred meters surged all around. Flying gravel hit with bullet-like force, and shattered Qi caused explosive flames.

The earth quaked, and the sky trembled. The Blood Vulture slammed into the Whale King's head. Each burst of power raised another raging wind. Cassius's punch met Arlington's punch head-on as fists equally thick and powerful smashed together!

Scarlet Qi and dark‑blue Qi entwined and tore at one another. The pair seemed frozen mid‑air in a stalemate.

However, the outcome had already been decided before the battle began.

"You lost." Cassius's lips, stiff as a statue's, suddenly moved as though delivering judgment.

The burning scarlet wings behind him flared wide in a V, their sharp tips slicing through the air.

Swoosh!

The wings beat.

Swoosh!

A second beat.

Whoosh‑whoosh‑whoosh... whoosh‑whoosh‑whoosh...

The wingbeats followed one after another.

With every stroke, the vulture's pupils, locked against the blue whale's, grew a shade redder and brighter. Feathers across its body suddenly flared, and violent streams of scarlet Qi gushed from its skin. They lent the vulture terrifying piercing momentum like missiles propelled by fuel.

Bang!

Multiple sonic booms rang out, each louder than the last.

There was one final crack as the Blood Vulture ended the stalemate and drove down like a nail. It pierced the blue whale inch by inch, shattering nearly half the colossal body and causing its Qi to detonate.

Rumble... Rumble...

All the lake water exploded; some vaporized instantly, some burst into fine droplets and mist. It swept across the plain, sprinkling over every corner.

Torrential rain fell from the sky, heated by explosions to fifty or sixty degrees. Spectators who had retreated behind the hillside shielded themselves, bracing against the storm.

At the battlefield's center, Arlington went flying and slammed into a distant peak.

Bang! Whoosh... boom!

The mountain's summit collapsed as massive boulders taller than a man broke apart.

Clatter‑clatter...

The giant blue whale disintegrated, its Qi receding swiftly like tidal waves. In the deep hollow of the peak, a battered blue figure half‑lay among the rocks, teeth clenched and blood seeping from the gaps.

"I... have lost..." Arlington laughed softly, somehow sad and desolate.

His body was covered in wounds, the left half grotesquely so. His left hand and shoulder were gone, as pale ribs were exposed to the air. The femur of his left leg was faintly visible, its bloody cross‑section wrenching to behold. Dense teeth kept gnashing and dissolving, colliding with the mighty blue Qi. They ceaselessly sapped Arlington's remaining strength.

"I have lost." Head bowed, Arlington repeated himself, blood‑stained black hair covering his eyes.

Ka‑ka‑ka...

A cracking only he could hear sounded within him as something vanished. It was neither strength nor skill but a will. A drive and resolve that had let him walk forward tyrannically. To a fist technique master, it was more precious than visible strength.

Crack.

In the forest, a black figure alighted on the crown of a giant tree. He balanced on the tip of a branch, quietly suspended above the green sea of foliage.

Cassius slowly looked up at a sky that had been dyed red. Even the clouds were soaked with Qi, driven and ruled tyrannically by his will, as though the world had turned blood‑red.

At that moment he recalled the Ultimate Fist elder he had met in the Ao Yin Ruins. So this was how it felt to build a world of one's own with Qi? Was it this exhilarating sense of unrestrained strength?

It drew him in involuntarily; it was truly unforgettable and intoxicating. He felt like the sole sovereign, dictating everything.

For a moment Cassius closed his eyes in enjoyment. The path in his mind grew clearer than ever, seemingly within reach if he but lifted a hand.

The nature of strength, the essence of the Domineering Fist, concepts that usually required long meditation, flooded into his mind. The aura around him grew ever more domineering and terrifying.

In the sky, strands of blood‑tinged Qi were drawn from the heavy clouds. They turned into fluttering ribbons, pulled by a force to converge into his body. The streams formed a vortex, a twisting tornado hundreds of meters long that descended on Cassius.

"Huuu... Shoooo..." Cassius inhaled sharply, drawing the end of the scarlet tornado straight into his nostrils and back into his body. Suddenly, he became translucent as crimson glowed bright beneath his skin.

Ding! Pop‑pop‑pop‑pop...

A series of cracking sounds rang out as four more acupoints of the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist lit up. Forty‑four radiant scarlet acupoints now blossomed upon his body.

Death's Fang Force, Stage Five!!!

Scree!

Cassius seemed to hear a brisk, joyous raptor cry in his ear. Pain and itching spread as Death's Fang Force Stage Five affected organs and tissues, causing fine cracks. However, they were soon repaired by his regenerative ability. After several cycles, the discomfort eased until his body had fully adapted.

"So this is the benefit of defeating another overlord?" Cassius muttered, gazing at his scarlet hands, "With a bit more adaptation, Reverberating Force will resonate to Stage Five too... Truly a generous gift..."

He suddenly turned, his eyes spanning hundreds of meters to the collapsed peak, where a battered, coughing figure was lying. But there was also another unfamiliar figure.

The newcomer had long blood‑red hair and features so handsome they were almost androgynous. His eyes were amber gold, brows sharply arcing to his temples. The right half of his pale face had a faint red wing‑shaped marking, like a totem.

A bird? A raptor? A phoenix? A Demon Phoenix!

It was Holy Fist Demon Phoenix, the organization's deputy leader, its number two!

Slender and tall, he wore a tight white trench coat whose extended tails almost brushed the ground. White gloves covered his hands and a gold ring with flame patterns graced his right thumb. He stood about 1.85 meters tall and exuded a dangerous aura.

White boots stepped elegantly over the rubble. Holy Fist Demon Phoenix stood over the grievously injured Arlington as he murmured. "Fourth's intel was wrong. The First did not die by Whale King Arlington's hand, but by..."

He slowly turned, golden‑amber eyes meeting Cassius's gaze. "This man's hand."

"Dozens of days ago, the dark creature test site in Florence was destroyed by a mysterious force. Many core members went to investigate and were slain one by one. Only the Northern General King escaped mortally wounded, relayed key data, then died of his injuries..."

Holy Fist Demon Phoenix’s long eyes narrowed to a golden slit. His curled thick lashes seemed aflame, as dark‑red Qi drifted from his lids.

He stared deeply at Cassius, as if to memorize his face and await a chance to tear it apart. "Next time we meet, I will avenge the First General King."

His somewhat sharp lips moved, as though conversing with Cassius across the gap.

He gripped Arlington's right shoulder, slowly enveloping Arlington's body with rich Qi. A weightless feeling that could lift one to heaven filled every limb.

"Heheheh, are you trying to steal my spoils?"

Hundreds of meters away, a huge tree quaked as Cassius shot like a cannonball toward the summit.

"You cannot chase me. Speed is my forte, and with your Qi in chaos, you can at most throw one punch at me..."

Now a blood‑red blur, Holy Fist Demon Phoenix vanished, leaping from peak to peak. Each time his feet propelled him, Qi at his shoulders formed great wings that allowed him to glide.

Every time he glided through the air, the wings grew another half‑meter. After a dozen glides, the wings behind him spanned over ten meters.

His speed went up with the size of his wings. He was soon so unbelievably fast that even Cassius seemed unable to keep up.

Thus, propelled by the Blood Vulture, Cassius dove and threw a fist at the accelerating Holy Fist Demon Phoenix.

"Since I can only swing once for now... take this punch!"