He was instantly sent flying, causing his body to contort as if it might snap. He crashed through several thick stone pillars in the plaza, finally smashing into a wall at the edge of a building.
"Ugh!" Peacock spat out a mouthful of crimson blood.
His eyes rolled back, pupils dilated, and before he could regain his senses, a sharp pain shot through his scalp. A pair of massive hands lifted his limp body like a rag doll, suspending in mid-air.
Peacock hazily regained consciousness, only to be confronted with a terrifying face. The visage grinned widely, exposing ghastly white fangs and bulging veins across half of its face like tree branches. Its dark pupils seemed like vortices leading straight to hell.
"A... a monster!!!" Peacock screamed in terror. He was looking at a demon!
"Monster? What nonsense are you spouting?" The face before him seemed puzzled, the smile fading and replaced by a beguiling tone. "I'm human! Can't you tell?"
Five fingers thicker than carrots dug into Peacock's head, fitting perfectly like a millstone. The other massive hand slowly reached out.
"You! What are you going to do?" Peacock's pride and will as a combat artist had been utterly shattered by that punch. His current terror made him seem even less than an ordinary person.
"Purity is too low..." The man's sharp brows dropped as he lost interest. "At least put up a fight. How can you admit defeat so quickly? Oh, right, maybe I've become too strong..."
The golden-haired man muttered to himself like a madman, the red glow in his pupils intensifying.
"Hey... hey... you..." A sudden unease arose in Peacock's heart. "Ahhhhh!"
Searing pain tore through every corner of his body. The man’s massive hands had grabbed both ends of his body, and started twisting in opposite directions like he was wringing a towel.
Crack, crack, crack...
Bones shattered and muscles tore as they were forced out of his body. Peacock's body was twisted into a pretzel as blood poured down. 360 degrees, 720 degrees...
He was finally stretched into a red-and-white rope, and casually flung onto a stone pillar. It was impossible to tell his head from his foot. His death was so gruesome it made one nauseous just to look at it.
Although Peacock was a combat artist, he was so old and frail that he was on the verge of losing his rank. Cassius could already contend with him back when he was a pugilist, let alone now as a top-tier combat artist. Killing him was as easy as eating or drinking.
"You dare to slander me as a monster? Did your perception grow muddled from fear? Someone who can't even make basic judgements doesn't deserve to live..." Cassius shook his head, muttering to himself, his eyes filled with deep disappointment.
A sudden whooshing sound came from behind. His gaze sharpened; he spun around and roared as he threw a punch. He forcefully halted the charging black giant python that was barreling toward him like a truck!
The python roared back.
Cassius delivered an uppercut, the terrifying force sending the python flying.
"You're the real monster!" Cassius kicked off with his toes, his body shooting like a cannonball into the air as he executed a spinning whip kick.
His right leg sent the house-sized python flying until it crashed heavily into a building.
Cassius used the recoil to land on a stone pillar. He glanced at the gray columns standing in the square before leaping down and lightly uprooting one with both hands.
His arms bulged as he exerted force and swung. The eight-meter-high pillar whistled through the air and slammed into the python in the ruins.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
Cassius hurled stone pillars like they were cannonballs.
The ground of the square trembled repeatedly as stones flew everywhere. The impact of each falling pillar caused vibrations that made one's feet tingle.
Roar!!! Roar! Roar...
The python's roars gradually weakened, until finally
The python exploded. Nearly a thousand snakes scattered, each bearing eerie human faces on human heads. However, they couldn't move and had become lifeless corpses.
Cassius stood at the very center of the oval-shaped plaza, his golden hair dancing wildly as he spread his arms.
A sound like shattering glass echoed from the sky. The once pitch-black night sky cracked open, and a beam of golden light shone through, enveloping Cassius. The darkness dissipated and the sky returned to daylight, revealing a deep azure hue with clouds floating by.
The surroundings brightened, revealing a plaza. The traces of destruction resembling the trails of a tank remained, but the bizarre human-headed snakes were nowhere to be seen, as if they had been mere illusions.
Peacock's corpse hung on a stone pillar like a ribbon, swaying in the wind.
Cassius could have asked Peacock about the Gate Organization, but he didn't. He already knew as much as he could. In the era he had visited, Black Peacock's status was evidently above Peacock's. Cassius had simply wanted to unleash his pent-up stress, using the combat artist Peacock as an outlet. A momentary release was enough.
A gentle breeze blew as he looked up at the sky. The previously overcast weather had inexplicably turned clear; it was now morning.
Cassius stood there, quickly recalling the information from before his time-travel. Since he had experienced so much during the time-travel over such a long period, he had somewhat forgotten the events in the real world.
After a moment's thought, some memories resurfaced. He had joined an organization called Ace of Spades, which had business conflicts with another group called Duststorm. There seemed to be traces of dark creatures like Dead Blood behind Duststorm.
For instance, those rumored immortal bio-human squads. Ace of Spades had recently discovered Duststorm's antique transit warehouse, located in Mensa Village, Black Sand City in Beiliu County. Therefore, they dispatched high-level personnel from the antique and assassination departments to destroy and seize that warehouse.
Cassius had already seen the warehouse. It was inside the Mensa Cathedral. The guards originally stationed there by Duststorm had been killed in advance by Peacock. Since the antique transit warehouse occasionally housed an ancient antique containing a Gate Fragment, it attracted the covetous eyes of experts from the Gate Organization.
Of course, that fragment had been absorbed by Cassius. This had triggered his transformation into a dark creature during his time-travel. Fortunately, he had exerted all his power to turn misfortune into strength and created a new Covert Martial Arts.
As his memories gradually coalesced, Cassius began to plan his next actions. Unlike before, he now had a strong sense of purpose.
Gate Organization!! Xiadu!!
These two names had been deeply branded in Cassius's heart because he had a Gate Fragment in his mind, and the core members of the Gate Organization could use a compass and other means to roughly locate the fragment. Who knows what other bizarre methods they might have?
Moreover, Cassius had a grudge against them. The combat artist Peacock from the Gate Organization had nearly pushed him to the brink, and Xiadu, the leader of the Gate Organization had been behind the Wind Elephant Sect's annihilation. Additionally, there were the memories of the Ultimate Fist elder at the end of his time-travel...
With all those actors combined, Cassius naturally stood on the opposite side of the Gate Organization.
Although he had now reached the level of a top-tier combat artist, it was still not enough. Cassius needed to attain Holy Fist-level strength to feel at ease in facing the Gate Organization.
However, besides the Gate Organization, there was also Duststorm who likely had the Visit NovelHub for more amazing novels and chapters.
If the two vice presidents hadn't died, Blood Spirit Society's President Lotus could use his Amalgamation to dominate the entire battlefield, including the Gate Organization represented by Blade Demon Garoro.
The Kupan Demon Box contained the Book of the Devil, which would give them precious knowledge. Cassius couldn't bring it back from his time-travel, but he could now seize it in the real world.
He exhaled slowly. When he glanced up at the top right corner of his vision, his lingering attachment energy was insufficient. He touched the Wind Elephant Tusk Pendant; all three nodes of Li Wei's lingering attachment were completed. That meant it was no longer a legendary antique.
He needed to collect more antiques and continue his time-travels. All the above goals required Cassius to establish his own force. He needed to build a strong, vast, and loyal organization. Ideally, he would quickly control the underground world of Beiliu County, the entire Six Eastern Counties, and carve out a territory belonging to himself.
If he had power, subordinates, money, and authority, the efficiency of doing anything would greatly increase. If Cassius wanted anything, he only needed to give an order, and hundreds would search for it. Resources, intelligence—everything!
The thing he needed to give in return... would probably be the Golem Seed that could change people's destinies.
If he set the Golem Seed as the foundation for supernatural power, life vibration energy would be a precious reward. Pure Black Demonic Water could enhance cultivation efficiency, and the Book of the Devil could extract and transfer secret techniques. A colossal organization with astonishing cohesion, rapid expansion, and formidable combat power had begun to take shape in his imagination.
Cassius slowly turned his head and found Red Fang, a high-ranking member of the assassination department, and several gunmen hurriedly approaching on the distant street.
A smile involuntarily curled up the corner of his mouth.
Controlling the underground world would start with taking over Ace of Spades.