Returning to the Mysterious Era-Chapter 692 - Brother, You Smell Great!

As for his Golem Covert Martial Arts, it was not currently among the options for deduction with the Rune of Spirit. It and the three Southern Dipper fist arts followed two different paths; one was extreme physique, the other was Southern Dipper Force. Hence, fusion was difficult from the outset.

Even if it was forced, it would likely require a terrifying amount of Blood of the Spirit that he simply didn’t have. Moreover, as things stood, the Golem Covert Martial Arts had its own evolutionary system.

The evolution called Humanity's Malice was evidently the fuel on the Golem Covert Martial Arts' road to perfection. Cassius had long since planned out his power system. Naturally, he would steadily yet swiftly ascend to the summit.

It was cloudy in a small town in the east on February 16.

Thud!

A half-transparent, ghostlike creature was blasted away by a great force, tracing a bloody arc in midair and crashing heavily at the town entrance.

Upon landing, its crescent pupils showed panic and fear. It was clearly from the Black Moon Clan of the Eclipse Society. The dark creature scrambled backward on all fours, leaving a trail of blood.

Extreme terror was painted on its face as it cried out. "No! Spare me! I beg you, don't..."

Bang!

A black iron boot whipped through the air like a lash, smashing into the dark creature's jaw. The Black Moon Clan member flew off again and bounced on the ground three times like a skipping stone.

"Cough, cough..."

It collapsed, coughing blood. A black leather fingerless glove studded with metal rivets slowly reached down, viciously grabbed its head, and hoisted the creature's upper body.

The strong hands, thick with hair, were rough and savage, forcing the dark creature to tilt its head up and look.

"Ugly vermin, you dare sneak into our Black Oak Town! Don't you know this town has always been under the protection of Golem Sect?! Fool! You dared extend your claws toward our new disciples? You're courting death! Clueless thing, I already sensed that stench on you!"

Slap, slap, slap...

The man raised his fan-sized hand and smacked the dark creature with each sentence. Blood filled its mouth and its fangs were knocked out.

The two-meter-tall, fair-skinned hulk in gloves towered like an iron tower as he cast a broad shadow. His aura was ferocious and the muscles on his thick arms were swollen. One could only see the hulk's bloodshot eyes and the conspicuous "Golem" word on his chest. Two jets of steam sprayed from his nostrils and a mocking cold smile appeared on the hulk's face.

"You look like a dark creature of the Black Moon Clan. You probably don't know yet, but Lord Evil Dragon Damon, one of the Four Kings of our Golem Sect, personally led a team five days ago to assault your Eclipse Society headquarters. Most of the Black Moon Clan and other Eclipse Society members were captured and killed! Lord Damon even destroyed a Moon God statue with his own hands! Hahaha, now you're nothing but a stray dog... And you still dare provoke our Golem Sect? Such gall!"

The hulk kept slapping the dark creature until it was knocked out, eyes full of disbelief and shock.

"Parade it for public shaming! This is the fate of provoking our Golem Sect!"

The fair-skinned hulk, who was the master of Black Oak Town's Golem Sect Martial Hall, easily lifted the Black Moon Clan member with one hand, letting its bleeding lower body drag along the ground as he headed for the main road. The residents of Black Oak Town poured out to see the imposing figure in the road's center drag the monster by the hair like a dead dog.

They cheered in waves, beating gongs and drums, and raising fists to chant Golem Sect's name.

"Good! Great!"

"Golem Sect Martial Hall's master is humiliating this dark creature in public!"

"Beat it to death, finish it off!"

"Hehehe, I love this!"

At last, the dark creature was dragged to the gate of Golem Sect Martial Hall and publicly beheaded by the fair-skinned hulk with a hand-chop. He hung its head on the hall's sign to sway in the wind.

The master considered himself relatively kind by giving it a quick end. If it were other neighboring towns or some city martial halls, they would surely drag the dark creature to the hall's backyard or lock it in a basement. Then, together with all the hall's instructors and disciples, they would ruthlessly "play" with it for days and nights without sleep!

"That sounds quite thrilling as well... Maybe I'll try it next time..." At the gate, the fair-skinned hulk rubbed his stubbled chin and muttered to himself.

Hundreds of meters away, atop the tallest clocktower of Black Oak Town, a tall figure in a black trench coat silently observed everything. Though standing in a conspicuous spot, he seemed to be merged with the environment.

Cassius had spent the day examining the Hongli Federation’s condition, and had seen the frenzy of the Golem Sect Martial Halls' expansion. The massive spread of Golem Sect Martial Halls had greatly squeezed out the living space of dark creatures infiltrating human society.

They had originally been creatures at the top of the food chain. Now, they were being pressured by Golem Sect's cultivators. They were scurrying around like street rats yet were still captured and humiliated. Sometimes, upon finding traces of dark creatures, a practitioner would call friends to go and kill them. If they couldn't win, they would mobilize all members of their Golem Sect Martial Hall. If that were still not enough, they'd summon all the nearby martial halls in the area. Even elders of the Golem Sect would personally step in.

"Though the methods are a bit rough, I appreciate the rich, pure malice."

Cassius could feel his Golem Covert Martial Arts react to it. Golem Seed cultivators in different places were continuously transmitting Humanity's Malice, a kind of Will that transcended space. These Wills were like roaring flames that baked the Golem.

Atop the clocktower, Cassius withdrew his gaze and vanished in an instant.

***

On the night of February 17, at a grove in the suburbs of Panan City.

"Do you know how to be a person?"

"Yes!"

"Then let me ask you a question. What's most important in being a person?"

"It's passion!"

"Hehe, correct!"

As the campfire burned, several sturdy dark silhouettes flickered across the ground. Not far away, multiple dark creatures were chained to tree trunks, miserably dripping blood from their wounds.

Two robust figures in Golem combat outfits gestured excitedly by the fire. One held a knife that gleamed coldly. The blade's edge was somewhat red and seemingly freshly heated. The two chatted as they walked toward the dark creature on the right.

Puchi! Puchi!

Without another word, the long knife thrust through a dark creature's chest and into the tree trunk. The dark creature convulsed like a fish.

"Talk or not! Talk or not! Talk or not..." The attacker growled while frenziedly pulling the blade out and stabbing again. Though undead, the creature was stabbed to the point of hysteria. It nearly collapsed until it finally forced out a voice.

"What do you mean... At least ask! What do you want me to say! Cough, cough..."

Blood spewed from its mouth as immense pain spread through its body. This outburst finally snapped the two before it to their senses. The two brothers, who looked somewhat similar to each other, quickly pulled out the knife.

They glanced at each other, sniffed, and one arched his brow to cue the other to speak. The elder brother leaned in. The dark creature's consciousness was weak but it instinctively turned an ear to listen, desperate to live.

This Golem Sect member was finally getting to the point. The elder brother came closer to the creature's ear with bright eyes. Half his face was shrouded in darkness, and the other half traced by firelight.

"Brother, you smell great..."

"?!"

"?!"

The dark creature's eyes bulged, sensing instant ill omen.

Sniff sniff sniff...

The younger brother, at some point, sidled up and lay on the creature's chest, stabbing an unknown number of times. Sniffing the charred meat aroma, he looked intoxicated as if beholding premium ingredients.

"Mmmmm......"

"No! You can't! Fuck you guys, you can't!"

The whole tree shook from the creature's struggles.

"Why can't we? Since you can eat us, why can't we eat you? Hehehe, I'm so hungry, I want to eat!"

The elder brother's round eyes spun like a psychiatric patient. The younger held his knife and laughed crazily until his shoulders shook. Both were abnormal. They were indeed brothers...

"No! Someone save me!" The creature's roar startled birds in the night woods.

On the other side of the fire, three figures watched without moving. They seemed long accustomed to the antics of the brothers. If the flames were brighter, one would see their familiar faces. Months had passed and Phil, Tifa, and Milo had changed anew. They had grown more mature and cold-blooded as their hands became steeped in blood. Roses needed harsh tempering to bloom brighter. Having received Cassius's gifts, they naturally owed even more effort.

They were uneasy at first when they joined Golem Sect squads specializing in hunting dark creatures. Not only were enemies cunning and dangerous, their teammates were perverse and mad!

However, as time passed, they felt their teammates' crazed conduct was correct. Teeth for teeth, blood for blood! If dark creatures could treat humans as such, why couldn't humans treat them the same?

Soon, they blended into the atmosphere and relished it. Their two teammates' actions were but a minor event. Normally, they had even more perverse fetishes.

"What's tomorrow's task, Milo?" Phil watched the dancing flames and suddenly asked.

Milo took out a small notebook and flipped through it. "Found it. A rich merchant once had a beloved wife in Panan City. Later, his wife was targeted by a dark creature and cruelly slain. The merchant was heartbroken to the point of developing a mental illness yet he was helpless. Months ago, he joined Golem Sect to train, leveraging his original influence to help many Golem Sect Martial Halls expand. A few days ago, the merchant suddenly began to act... He wants the surrounding Golem Sect Martial Halls to help him find 'wives.'"

"Find wives? What do you mean?" Phil raised a brow.

"He means that the dark creatures have to compensate for the long period of time since he lost his beloved spouse. The ones who killed her were of the Blood Race, so he wants the Blood Race to be his wives. No preference of male or female, old or young. In fact, the more the better. He has even built a suburban mansion, or rather a prison, to house these Blood Race wives. When everything is ready, disciples from Golem Sect Martial Halls across the six eastern counties will be welcome to come and 'have fun' at the mansion..." Milo described the whole thing with a strange yet somewhat understanding look.

"He certainly has some ideas." Phil snapped his fingers and nodded.

In the tree's shadow, Tifa remained cold and silent. She was more rational compared with the others. The past two months of Golem Sect's reckless explosive expansion made Tifa faintly sense something.

"Though I don't know why I think this... But perhaps a great war is coming?"

A figure vanished from the tallest treetop in the forest. Cassius had inspected Golem Sect's development and checked on his three cut-rate disciples in the past two days. The more he observed, the more he felt Humanity's Malice tangibly present in the vast underlying subconscious of human society and groups.

Everyone harbored an instinct to seek benefit and avoid harm. Once triggered in some way, it becomes a power that even Ultimate Dark Forms fear. In just over a month, Cassius had gained a preliminary understanding of Humanity's Malice.

When he circulated his Golem Covert Martial Arts, he could sense a hidden blessing that enhanced the Golem in all aspects. Strength, speed, defense, recovery, and endurance were all slowly rising at an accelerating rate. Clearly, this was a result from Golem Sect's continual expansion.

"My decision two months ago was correct. Now both the Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritance and the evolution of the Golem Covert Martial Arts have a path. I should return to Golem Sect and see how Blood Vulture Dominator Fist is recovering. It’s been three or four days, so the life vibration energy I gave him should be about spent. I'll need the Blood Vulture's help for the next breakthrough..."

A figure flashed across the night sky, sweeping toward the southeast.