Returning to the Mysterious Era

After mastering the Elephant Herd chapter of the Wind Elephant Fist, Cassius could already feel the strain, that he was unable to make progress as quickly as before. His constitution was of an upper-intermediate grade, making him a genius, but there were quite a few of those in the Wind Elephant Sect. As generations passed down their knowledge, there were at least a dozen such individuals.

However, the only person in the entire Wind Elephant Sect to reach the realm of a martial artist was the sect master, Belon. Everyone else either died prematurely or missed the best time to break through due to the prolonged training. The most difficult part of climbing a mountain is often the final stretch to the summit where it was steep, oxygen-deficient, and a storm of wind and snow fighting against you.

With the help of Pure Black Demonic Water, Cassius felt as if he had gained a down jacket, an oxygen tank, mountain boots, and an ice pickaxe. Compared to other Covert Martial Arts practitioners who were climbing barehanded and alone, his efficiency had increased greatly.

After reaching the summit, ordinary Covert Martial Arts practitioners would have to gingerly climb back down, a process known as breaking through the bottleneck, which was even more dangerous than the ascent.

But with the Rune of Wisdom, Cassius felt as if he had a paraglider, allowing him to leap directly from the summit and swiftly reach the base of another mountain.

While this might result in less tempering compared to ordinary Covert Martial Arts practitioners, it, by no means, meant Cassius was weaker than the others.

He firmly believed in one saying: the stronger the power, the stronger the heart. These two complemented and nourished each other. The character of a skinny and timid boy will be stronger after transforming into a muscular man. A tomboy with a face full of acne will be far more confident after growing into a beautiful woman with long hair.

Making fast progress has never been a bad thing. If properly utilized, it could be synonymous with courage and diligence. And Cassius was confident he could do it.

A few minutes passed, and not only had he executed the Wind Elephant Fist but he also tried the Heart Eye Secret Technique, the Lion's Roar Breathing Technique, and other techniques. Except for the Elephant Soul Secret Technique and the Stone Armour Technique, which were used to train physique, all others could be amplified by Pure Black Demonic Water, though the amplification varied. The most effective was the Lion's Roar Breathing Technique, due to the lower difficulty of the Secret Technique and the fact that he hadn't yet reached its entry level. It could be amplified an astonishing fifteen times, which meant if he just practiced for two hours, he might reach the entry level.

Pure Black Demonic Water was clearly the good stuff. Its only drawback was that there wasn't much of it, and apart from the one that Cassius had absorbed, there were only eight scattered on the ground. It probably wouldn't last him very long.

His gaze darted over to Number Five on the ground, and he walked over. Cassius wore a kind expression.

A minute later, the only thing hard about Number Five, whose entire body was so weakened that even his bones were soft, was his mouth. But just because he was a little stubborn didn't mean he couldn't reveal the secrets of the White Skulls.

He had actually already divulged the secrets of the White Skulls, but he was still muttering about how Number Two and Number Four would come to kill Cassius once they heard the commotion.

Cassius bluntly told him that he had already killed Number Two and Number Four and that there was no chance of them coming to his rescue. If he didn't believe it, they could take him outside later to see the gruesome remains of his two brothers—one had been smashed into a pulp, and the other had been torn in half.

Yes, by comparison, Number Five should count his blessings that he only had both his legs broken.

Thanks to Number Five's information, Cassius gained a deeper understanding of Pure Black Demonic Water and the Demonic Water Ritual. He also realized that the Pure Black Demonic Water before him was a high-level, level 4 crystalline type, which was scarce even within the entire Federation.

As for the White Skulls’ Demonic Water Ritual, Number Five was unaware of its origins. All he knew were some principles and how it operated.

This ritual could extract the life essence from creatures within a certain range, thereby attracting and gathering the chilling aura of an entire Special Zone in one spot, before eventually converging into a pool of high-quality Demonic Water.

Generally speaking, the quality of this Demonic Water would be significantly higher than the Demonic Water normally formed in this Special Zone. A particularly effective ritual could potentially produce water an entire grade higher. The Anta Mountains region, however, was somewhat unique.

Upon learning about these details, Cassius felt a headache coming on.

If he wanted to obtain a continuous supply of Pure Black Demonic Water, it wasn't something he could do on his own. He needed an organization to operate, otherwise, the sheer workload alone would overwhelm him.

Besides, there was also the Rune of Wisdom, which Cassius could use to refresh for another opportunity. However, he needed to hunt down dark creatures to obtain the essence of calamity, and having one person do that was too troublesome…

Finally, there were the antiques with lingering attachments and the energy associated with them.

These three things—Pure Black Demonic Water, the Rune of Wisdom, and the antiques with lingering attachments—all required a significant number of people to help Cassius accomplish his goals.

The Ace of Spades? Cassius might have become the Jack of Diamonds in the assassination department, their relationship was, at best, cooperative, and he didn't trust them much. The Shadowless Clan? They were only in the preliminary stages of contact.

It was time for Cassius to establish an organization in the real world—a group dedicated solely to serving him—so he could free himself from trivial matters and focus entirely on becoming stronger.

In fact, he already had a vague idea of how it would be divided. Three departments would be created based on his needs: one dedicated to collecting antiques with lingering attachments, another focused on hunting down dark creatures, and a third would search for Demonic Water in Special Zones.

He already had the perfect candidate in mind for the third one: Number Five of the White Skulls, known as "Shockwave."

This person was interesting—or rather, single-minded. His sole purpose in joining the White Skulls was to become stronger. He also admired powerful individuals, so when he saw Cassius’s terrifying battle with the Hell Golem, Shockwave came to the realization that Cassius was on a level above A-class neo-humans, perhaps even comparable to, or even more terrifying than, Number One.

The scene of Cassius and the Hell Golem exchanging blows had been deeply imprinted in Shockwave's mind, like a shadow he couldn’t escape.

He also wanted to obtain such formidable power.

Yes, Cassius had killed many of Number Five’s subordinates, and even two of his captain-level companions, but this was a testament to extreme strength. If Cassius offered him a chance to live, he'd naturally switch sides.

Perhaps, under the guidance of such a powerful figure, he could develop a force comparable to the White Skulls. At that point, Shockwave wouldn’t just be Number Five, he’d be Number Two.

All of those thoughts ricocheted around in Shockwave's head.

In the plaza, Cassius glanced at the eight black crystals on the ground, and a thought arose, almost unconsciously. The Demonic Water Ritual was excellent, and the sacrifices didn’t necessarily have to be humans.

They could be neo-humans, or even…dark creatures.

Compared to ordinary humans, the life essence of dark creatures would be unimaginably strong; one may even be the equivalent to a hundred humans. Could dark creatures be used instead of humans? Possibly!

In Cassius's ideal organization, one department would be specifically tasked with capturing dark creatures. Wouldn’t this be the perfect scenario, where one hand helped the other in a seamless operation?

He could extract the full value of dark creatures, first starting with absorbing the essence of calamity, before sacrificing their life essence. These were two different things.

It was a clear, logical, and feasible plan.

After all, Cassius still wanted to use the Demonic Water Ritual, but he had some moral reservations about sacrificing humans since he was of the same species. Moreover, the Demonic Water Ritual required the sacrifice of dozens, even hundreds, of people at a time.

How much more convenient and quicker would it be to carry one or two dark creatures around? Once he found a suitable Special Zone for the ritual, all he’d need was a few experts—discreet, efficient, and quick to respond—to escort one or two dark creatures there. The White Skulls might not even be able to compete with this counterfeit version. After all, using the ritual in the same location twice in a short period greatly diminished the effect.

Cassius could already tell that, even before its official establishment, his new organization would have an enemy: the White Skulls.

Soon after, Cassius managed to persuade the magician Bass to join him, using both reason and emotion to convince him. Truth be told, for a C-class neo-human like Bass, even a small amount of Pure Black Demonic Water from Cassius was enough to make him immensely powerful. The bold are rewarded while the timid starve. In the end, the magician gritted his teeth and agreed to follow Cassius.

It was now around eleven o’clock at night, and the fog had gradually dissipated, revealing the slightly damaged buildings.

Sparse stars dotted the night sky, and as the clouds drifted away, the bright moonlight shone through. The soft white light fell like gauze around them and with the cool breeze, the atmosphere was peaceful.

The White Skulls had suffered heavy losses in this operation. Few survived. Cassius wasn’t the only one responsible for their downfall; Soro, the Silver Spear, and the Silver Organization had also played a part. However, the two sides did not cross paths again.

Following Number Five’s advice, Cassius had already removed some of the important blood sacrifice pillars. Then, under the curtain of the heavy fog, he led the magician and Number Five out of Blue Star Manor and left the Anta Mountains. Halfway down, the three of them unexpectedly encountered catwoman Haisha. Thus, their group grew to four.

Since Cassius had broken Number Five's legs, he was sent directly to a hospital in Anta City. Cassius, on the other hand, visited a nearby pharmacy to buy a special healing medicine specifically for treating fractures. Since he had never used it, it was a good opportunity for him to test it out, which came from an ancient recipe passed down within the Wind Elephant Sect.

It took three days for Number Five to recover halfway. He showed excellent results, though with some exaggerated side effects. The only issue was the rapid growth of leg hair. It grew as thick and black as a monkey’s, covering his legs and feet in dense hair that spiraled upward in a bizarre pattern. The hair even extended to his groin.

The hospital’s doctors and nurses were astonished. Every time they shaved his legs, hair grew back by their next examination. Number Five awkwardly spent three days in the hospital.

On the fourth day, Cassius left Anta City with his three companions and headed to the train station to go to Beiliu County, Baichuan City.

Cassius got off the train and squinted upon seeing a familiar scene he hadn’t witnessed for some time. Behind him, a beautiful woman with wine-red hair stood a little nervously. A man in a magician’s outfit carried another man dressed in loose casual clothes.

This was only a portion of his recent journey's harvest. The other portion was in the inner pocket of his clothes—those enticing, exquisitely translucent black items.

Cassius was very familiar with Baichuan City, so he immediately led the group to a car and returned to the residence he had been away from for several days. The black iron gate slowly opened, revealing the clean and spacious white courtyard before their eyes.

The four entered the gate and made their way into the first-floor living room. Number Five's legs were still not fully healed so they were propped up on the sofa as he lay half-reclined. Magician Bass and catwoman Haisha sat nearby.

Cassius placed the suitcase on the coffee table and glanced at Number Five. "Shockwave, I have something good to show you."

He walked toward the basement and opened the iron door with a clang.

"Huh? Where's the Shadow Demon?"