Returning to the Mysterious Era
Chapter 528 - Xiadu Appears!

Chapter 528 - Xiadu Appears!

Whiz! Whiz!

A blood‑red meteor chased after a dark‑crimson meteor. Their long tail‑flares slashed at the sky, bursting the air apart.

Cassius had not held back, and he would never hold back! If it had been only Whale King Arlington, Cassius might, out of respect for the man's unflinching will and courage, have spared his life in appreciation since it was a clash within the Covert Martial Arts community.

But Holy Fist Demon Phoenix was different. Cassius despised the man from the depths of his heart. Holy Fist Demon Phoenix hailed from the Gate Organization and held the deputy‑leader seat.

Cassius had a long‑standing enmity with the Gate organization, making them his sworn foes. And he was merciless toward his enemies. Moreover, this mere extreme combat artist dared style himself as a Holy Fist!? Who granted him the nerve, the audacity, the courage?

Cassius's body, Qi, and force had all reached extreme combat artist level. Even so, he would not claim the title of Holy Fist. He had always revered that highest realm of Covert Martial Arts. Holy Fist was not only a realm but an honor. It was a sacred badge, the ultimate dream of every Covert Martial Arts Practitioner through the ages.

Cassius had yearned for it. On that stormy night when he and Feng Liusi left Death Canyon, he had been shaken by the Holy Fist's existence. This Demon Phoenix's self‑proclaimed title sullied Cassius's cherished vision. Thus, his punch erupted instinctively and wrathfully at full force!

Ding!

More than eighty red and purple acupoints lit up like stars, forming two intertwined monsters; a Star Python and Blood Vulture. Cassius's blond hair whipped wildly, his cloak flapping hard. Taboo energy crawled inch by inch through his body.

Clatter‑clatter... Hiss...

It was like a glacial waterfall meeting a molten lava river. Reverberating Force and Death's Fang Force became twin torrents crashing together in his overlapping meridians. The miniature Rune of Life on the back of his hand as the terrifying, explosive power unified.

Sonic Fang Force, the Southern Dipper's extreme force!

This was Cassius's most lethal technique. Even Blood Vulture Beak and Sound Nest Convection ranked a step behind it. The Golem state of Golem Covert Martial Arts was more like an exaggerated buff, boosting his base might to synergize with other fist techniques rather than serving as a fatal strike.

In short, this punch of Cassius embodied absolute violence. Deep‑violet and blood‑red Qi streamed from his flying body, each claiming half the sky and casting a gorgeous, mysterious hue.

The twin tail‑flames intertwined behind him, spiraling upward to pierce the clouds. In a single breath, the whole firmament seemed painted by the two colors. The purple-red flood spread forward like white cloth dunked in dye.

Swish!

Holy Fist Demon Phoenix glided forward again. The wings behind him had grown to fifteen meters with densely layered feathers.

He actually did not fear Cassius; even though Cassius had just defeated Whale King Arlington, that only made him somewhat stronger than Arlington. Arlington himself had become an extreme combat artist only in recent years. He lacked depth, experience, and Will.

There was a considerable gap between him and Demon Phoenix, especially in Qi. Holy Fist Demon Phoenix had been the Gate's deputy leader for over a decade, meaning he had reached the extreme realm more than ten years ago.

His boundless Qi had kept pushing toward that fabled Holy Fist tier. A year earlier, he had reached an impassable bottleneck. Thus, Demon Phoenix's Qi realm could be called the foremost beneath Holy Fist! How could that not make him proud and confident? He was the man closest to Holy Fist! Demon Phoenix believed he deserved the title of Holy Fist!

So even at the tournament's finale, seeing Cassius beat Arlington had not shaken him. When trying to rescue Arlington, he had looked down from on high, clearly self‑assured. Whether it was his speed or his Qi just beneath Holy Fist, he believed he stood invincible.

Yet the face of this man whose eyes were above the heavens and confidence bordering on arrogance changed color the moment that Cassius fused the Southern Dipper forces. His calm, irritating mask shattered, replaced by shocked doubt.

Boom!!!

Terrifying force surged forth, turning everything beneath Cassius's fist into a violet‑crimson waterfall. The forces howled, tearing the air, packed with cavity bubbles.

Sonic Fang Tornado!

Demon Phoenix's eyelid twitched; things suddenly felt beyond control. The pursuer indeed could throw only one punch, yet this punch was fierce enough that he had to treat it seriously.

Scree!

A demonic phoenix surged from his body, its wings beating violently and sending rings of high‑heat flames. At first the phoenix was merely human‑sized but it expanded rapidly with each wingbeat. A few blinks of an eye later, the phoenix was a giant comparable to the blue whale that Arlington's Qi had once formed.

But it kept growing! A few blinks more and the phoenix was five times the whale's size. Blood‑red pillars erupted from Demon Phoenix's torso, arcing up to reach the fiery phoenix above. At a glance, Holy Fist Demon Phoenix seemed far stronger than Whale King Arlington!

"Go!" He raised a finger, directing the flaming phoenix to block Cassius.

Boom!

The phoenix's sky‑blanketing wings flapped, whipping up violent gales. The colossus dived like a mountain toppling sideways.

Cassius, streaking forward, let his gaze flicker, seemingly daunted for an instant by the phoenix's might. Then his left eye started to spew a red glow while a purple light glowed in the other. His face was void of human emotion as he became an indifferent, absolute killing machine.

Bang‑bang‑bang‑bang‑bang‑bang!

The heavy clouds were swept aside by the raging wind, revealing a blue dome.

Whether viewed from above or from the ground, one could see destruction that seemed caused by a flash flood. A violet‑crimson torrent surged downward, slamming deadly destruction into the phoenix.

The Sonic Fang Force collided with Demon Phoenix's Qi and a chain of violent explosions erupted.

Boom‑boom‑boom!

The colossal phoenix seemed to bathe beneath the waterfall, displaying its towering form and never‑ending flames.

Were they evenly matched?

Cassius's muscular right arm was aimed at Holy Fist Demon Phoenix. His coattails were now tattered, but a slightly mocking smile curved his lips.

Your Qi has reached the pinnacle beneath Holy Fist, yet your Will has stepped onto none of the Holy, Dominator, or Ultimate paths.

How peculiar... Is it unwillingness or inability?

At first, the sky‑filling Qi of Demon Phoenix had startled Cassius; its sheer volume exceeded even his, who practiced three first-rate Covert Martial Arts. However, its quality was only average. Rather, it was the normal level of an extreme combat artist who had not found his own path and stalled beneath the Holy Fist bottleneck.

Though Demon Phoenix had advanced further than Arlington in Qi, it was less polished and more fragile than Arlington. That was the gulf among extreme combat artists: Qi imbued with Will from the path of Dominator, Ultimate, or Holy Fist was markedly superior.

Demon Phoenix belonged to the ordinary kind. He had been an extreme combat artist for more than a decade, his Qi at the pre‑Holy Fist bottleneck, yet he had touched none of the three paths. It was truly bizarre. He relied solely on quantity of Qi.

Realizing this, Cassius's misgivings vanished. The reserve energy he kept for defense roared out, released in full.

Boom‑boom‑boom‑boom!

The mountain‑sized phoenix wailed as its supposedly everlasting red flames dimmed and faded. The violet‑crimson cascade blasted away half the phoenix's body and then engulfed Demon Phoenix entirely!

Whoosh! Bang!

Crushed by the torrent, Holy Fist Demon Phoenix traced a long parabola and slammed into a mountain peak.

Rumble.

The summit shattered and house‑sized rocks broke and tumbled from the cliff. They never even reached the foot of the cliff as they were minced mid‑air by dense Sonic Fang Force, turning to sand.

One could see a huge hole torn in the thick white clouds from afar. A violet‑crimson river had poured through from the sky. It detonated the air along its course, enshrouding the whole mountain. That splendid river was both beautiful and deadly. Its dense specks looked like glass, or amber, or shattered gold.

The vast forest was annihilated as the soil scoured clean. On the cliff, Holy Fist Demon Phoenix was curled into a ball, wrapped in black‑red wings as he endured the horrific assault of Sonic Fang Force.

Fine cracks spread over half his body like a porcelain doll dropped on stone, threatening decomposition. Demon Phoenix was indeed stronger than Arlington, yet only by a few minor steps, not an insurmountable gulf.

Had he truly set foot on the Holy Fist path with Qi at that bottleneck, Cassius would not have dared claim certain victory. Of course, that did not mean he would have lost. It meant the foe might have fought to a draw or retreated safely. It would have been a stalemate. Cassius may be stronger, yet unable to finish him.

Bang‑bang‑bang!

The cliff burst and the ground sank! Cassius's single blow was actually both Southern Dipper forces roaring out without reserve. The punch would cease hammering down when the Southern forces were spent.

In turn, Holy Fist Demon Phoenix was close to collapse. Beneath the phoenix wings, his refined pale face twisted, teeth gritted. If he had been able to glide and accelerate a few more times, he would have escaped easily. However, he had miscalculated by a move and been pinned by that single punch.

He didn’t go all out when he fought Arlington moments ago.

But the moment the thought flashed through Demon Phoenix's mind, his face went ghost‑white. A section of the phoenix wing around him was cracking apart. It seemed unable to withstand the torrent of Sonic Fang Force.

"Damn it!" He glanced at the terrifying figure above, then at the gold ring on his right hand.

His face betrayed his reluctance and dread as he pressed the ring to his forehead. Immediately, the Gate Fragment in his mind resonated.

Buzz‑buzz‑buzz...

Crack‑crack‑crack...

The sound of something breaking arose. Had the gate shattered? Or opened?

Wuu... Wuu...

A ghostly howl rose from the depths of the world. The sound only grew clearer with every moment, like a massive whale surfacing from abyssal seas.

Swoosh!

A phantom portal appeared beneath Cassius's Sonic‑Fang cascade, hazy like a mirage. No one knew where it led. Carvings of religious beings adorned the frame of the portal.

"Ka‑ka‑ka..."

Both wings behind Demon Phoenix were nearly destroyed. He had thought that, as the best Qi wielder below Holy Fist, he could outrun and toy with Cassius even while hauling Arlington.

However, matters had spun into uncontrollable peril, placing him on the brink of death. The Sonic Fang Force cascade was about to crash down.

He roared at the portal, "Xiadu! Save me!!"

Ding!!!

At that moment the world fell into uncanny silence; even the air seemed solidified. Rocks no longer rolled, leaves ceased to stir.

All of heaven and earth blurred, fading like a monochrome oil painting.

The portal opened with a click, and a beautiful, slender jade‑white hand reached out to hold the frame. It exuded a profound, shadowy evil, as though the deepest malice lurked beneath the exquisite skin.

Creak...

The portal opened fully, and a figure shrouded in black robes slowly stepped out. For a moment, even the blazing sunlight dimmed. That person resembled a black hole devouring light, drawing every gaze into an abyss.

Simply by standing still, he made one instinctively sense he was the source of sin, the executor of evil, the will of nightmares. He brought forth calamity and despair!

Mid‑air, Cassius, sheathed in a dreadful aura, felt unparalleled excitement. His Qi and force surged madly; the left half of his face looked feathered like a bird of prey, the right scaled like a python.

He eyed the black figure below.

"Xiadu? Xiadu! Xiadu... Hahahahaha!" Cassius clenched both fists and plunged like a purple-red meteor.

"This is our first meeting, so do take care of me!"