Returning to the Mysterious Era-Chapter 355 - The Most Terrifying Insanity

From the description alone, it appeared nearly perfect. It was fast to cultivate, easy to practice, and devastating in combat.

But Cassius didn't believe the world offered such convenient opportunities.

Any powerful Covert Martial Arts came with its own drawbacks. Even the Golem Covert Martial Arts Cassius had created, which was solid and profound like a rock foundation with diverse functionalities and outstanding effects, had inherent risks within its three core principles.

Cassius had almost exhausted all his energy during his last time-travel, barely managing to temporarily resolve the issues within the three core principles.

He had managed to maintain a relative balance between his Killer Persona and his Cold Persona.

As for the two Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritances, while undeniably powerful, their cultivation conditions were extremely stringent, requiring the practitioner to have a high degree of compatibility.

In those cases, it was the technique choosing the person, rather than the person choosing the technique.

Moreover, practicing the Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritance required a high level of cultivation because both the Death's Fang Force and Reverberating Force were overwhelmingly potent. Covert Martial Arts practitioners below the level of a combat artist could hardly endure the pressure, and even pugilists who had reached the Major Culmination stage could barely manage, often risking death from body implosion.

This was why Feng Liusi had difficulty passing down the Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritance to the Red Falcon Fist sect—it required far too stringent foundational conditions.

Additionally, just because one was at the entry level the Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritance didn't mean everything afterward would go smoothly. Feng Liusi himself was an example. His training had led to Qi deviation, with the fist techniques gradually influencing his personality over time. In the end, he had even sealed himself away, falling into a hollow state.

And this Black Demon's Hand? Cassius had already felt something was off as he read through it. It was too simple, too smooth, too powerful. This wasn't how a normal powerful technique should behave.

After all, Cassius was a top-tier combat artist, having once traveled alongside Covert Martial Arts masters like Feng Liusi and Saint Feinan. His experience had gradually sharpened, and many things couldn't escape his eyes.

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Under the moonlight, he carefully reread the secret manual.

Finally, he found some hidden clues.

"In the center of the palm, a Black Demonic Vortex forms, like a rotating gravitational wave, naturally drawing in external life force energy, absorbing it into the vortex, accelerating the rotation...

"The faster the rotation, the stronger the pull, creating a positive cycle..."

Cassius' eyes narrowed, and suddenly he recalled something. "It seems to have missed a detail here. If the Black Demonic Vortex draws in external life force, could it also indiscriminately affect the internal life force?"

"The vortex absorbs external life force, but it may also draw from the internal life force. The faster the vortex spins, the greater its power, and the more it might drain from the practitioner's own life force. It could potentially weaken the practitioner's physique and shorten their lifespan," he murmured.

A few days earlier, when Cassius had met Jilan, the two had briefly conversed in an abandoned church. From their discussion, Cassius learned that Jilan had joined the Gate organization in part to deal with the severe side effects of his own Covert Martial Arts.

Moreover, the first time they had met, Cassius had noticed that something was wrong with Jilan's body; his aura seemed weak and fragile.

It seemed his suspicions were likely correct.

"In that case, I shouldn't cultivate this. The Black Demonic Vortex is a double-edged sword—the deeper the cultivation, the faster you die."

"Besides, overindulgence leads to disaster. The two Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritances are already enough to focus all my effort. While Black Demon's Hand is indeed unique and powerful, it still falls short of the Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritance. Investing the same time into Black Demon's Hand wouldn't yield as much as investing into the Southern Dipper Covert Martial Inheritance, not to mention the drawbacks of Black Demon's Hand. Furthermore, it seems the technique is incomplete..."

Cassius read through it carefully a few more times and discovered even more.

After much thought, he concluded that it wasn't worth the risk. Just as he was about to put away the Black Demon's Hand, an idea suddenly crossed his mind. Cassius turned slightly, glancing at the shadowy figure to his left.

"If I can't practice it, what about the Shadow Demons?

"The Black Demon's Hand doesn't involve physical training or acupoints in the human body. Its core lies in the Black Demonic Vortex. Theoretically, any creature with hands could practice it. Of course, there's one prerequisite—the creature must be capable of thinking, at least at the level of a human child..."

Cassius looked at the Shadow Demons, and the Shadow Demons looked back at him.

Their gazes met.

"Can it practice? We'll know by testing," Cassius thought there was no need to overthink it. He could simply control the Shadow Demons to attempt it.

As for whether this would result in the destruction of the shadowy figure, Cassius wasn't too concerned.

The Shadow Demon was a spontaneous creation of his, something like an idle chess piece. Its existence or absence wouldn't affect his primary actions.

Without further hesitation, Cassius flipped to the first page of the secret manual.

Following the diagrams and annotations, he instructed the Shadow Demon to begin training.

Using Qi from the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist, Cassius manipulated the Shadow Demon, making it sit cross-legged like a human, continuously adjusting the strength within its body.

Cassius, meanwhile, lounged on the sofa, leisurely sipping tea.

From time to time, he glanced at the scene unfolding by the window.

After half an hour, a change finally occurred.

The Shadow Demon's arms trembled, as if something was writhing beneath the surface of its black Qi, gradually flowing toward its wide palms.

The Shadow Demon's body was different from a human's, especially its formidable arms. They were long enough to nearly reach its knees, and its mutated claw hands were capable of grasping an entire human head. Though its muscles appeared lean, they were unusually strong—its primary combat limbs.

Thus, it seemed to have an advantage when practicing hand-based Covert Martial Arts.

This was the benefit of its innate foundation.

Cassius could see the black Qi, like small snakes, winding their way along the Shadow Demon's arms, finally gathering at its palms.

The energy began to spin slowly in the center of its hands, attempting to form a vortex about the size of an eye.

The secret manual of Black Demon's Hand hadn't mentioned such phenomena, likely due to the unique nature of the Shadow Demon's body. After all, it was a dark creature capable of transforming into shadow; its anomalies were understandable.

As time passed, the transformation continued.

The surface of the Shadow Demon's arms bulged with thick veins, resembling vines coiled around a tree trunk. Its pitch-black body had lightened somewhat, while its arms had become even darker. Especially its palms, which now looked like black obsidian.

Any light that touched them was instantly consumed.

After an unknown amount of time, everything finally ended.

Cassius slowly opened his eyes while sitting on the sofa and stood up. Step by step, he walked toward the Shadow Demon and sat down cross-legged in front of it. He controlled the Shadow Demon to extend its palm while his own palm pressed forward as well. In midair, the two palms fiercely gripped each other.

Immediately, Cassius felt a suction force emanating from his palm. It wasn't very strong, quite weak actually, but it was abnormally steady, slowly siphoning off a sliver of life force from his skin. In the grand scheme of things, this was almost negligible. Nevertheless, it had managed to plunder successfully.

It's important to note that Cassius' body was now comparable to that of a top-tier combat artist, his physique terrifying, and his vitality and Qi were robust and stable. Even so, the Black Demon Vortex managed to forcibly extract a small portion of his life force, which was no small feat. If it had been an ordinary practitioner of Covert Martial Arts, it might have siphoned a significant amount of life force. As for an ordinary person, they would have been completely drained.

"The effect is decent, but the intensity isn't enough..."

Cassius rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and suddenly, his eyes lit up as if he had thought of something interesting.

"What would happen if I injected life vibration energy into the Black Demon Vortex? Is the life force required by the vortex the same as life energy? Maybe it's worth a try right now, Shadow Demon..."

He immediately gave the order.

The Shadow Demon clone acted at once, drawing out a portion of life vibration energy used as a barrier layer and channeling it into the vortex between its arms. Instantly, the Black Demon Vortex buzzed, and the suction force surged. The slow-moving whirlpool suddenly began spinning wildly.

Cassius felt a slight itch on the skin of his palm where it touched the Shadow Demon. He could distinctly feel that the suction force, now several times stronger than before, was plundering his life force.

"It actually worked?"

Cassius sensed the Shadow Demon clone again, noticing that the Black Demon Vortex's rotation speed had increased four or five times. This situation persisted for several seconds before gradually slowing down, eventually returning to its previous state. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the vortex was still spinning slightly faster than before.

"There's some effect, but it's not significant..."

After pondering for a while, Cassius speculated that the life force required by the Black Demonic Vortex and life vibration energy were partially similar but mostly different. Thus, using life vibration energy to accelerate cultivation was wasteful. It would be better used as a burst technique.

The Black Demonic Vortex was like a gear, while life vibration energy was like a consumable fuel. It could cause the gear's rotation speed to surge instantly, but once the fuel was exhausted, the gear would return to normal.

Cassius hadn't anticipated such a change, but it seemed acceptable. The Shadow Demon's Black Demon's Hand could unleash unexpectedly powerful bursts, which could be highly effective in sneak attacks against similar beings. If this special Covert Martial Arts technique was cultivated to a higher level, combined with life vibration energy from an Undying or even Indestructible Rank, the resulting burst might even play a significant role in battles at Cassius' level.

"Shadow Demons are dark creatures, and the Black Demon's Hand is an evil technique that drains life. It makes sense for dark creatures to cultivate such evil techniques..."

Cassius sarcastically commented to himself before turning around and heading to bed. Only the shadow by the window remained, diligently training.

Before sleeping, Cassius reflected on the recent events and increasingly realized the importance of life vibration energy. It was useful in many situations. Since he was about to collaborate with the Black Ops Agency, he figured he might as well ask for some benefits—such as tracking the movements of dark creatures. He planned to kill a batch of them and store life vibration energy in preparation for the future.

The next day, Cassius woke up on his soft bed. Sunlight streamed through the half-open curtains, making the room extraordinarily bright, and the floor reflected a faint glow. Looking around, he found the brightness somewhat piercing to the eyes.

He slowly got up and saw that the Shadow Demon by the window was still training, maintaining the same position as last night without moving an inch.

"Shadow Demons, like most dark creatures, don't seem to need rest. Unlike humans, they don't get lazy or need sleep. They're natural candidates for cultivating Covert Martial Arts—able to spend all twenty-four hours a day training without feeling fatigue or negative emotions like boredom. I should take full advantage of this..."

Cassius silently praised it, and with a casual gesture, he commanded the Shadow Demon to merge back into his shadow. He even rewarded it by allowing it to continue training within the shadow, maximizing every second of its time.

In truth, Shadow Demons were not as tireless as Cassius claimed. On the contrary, they were inherently lazy beasts, naturally impatient and fond of getting something for nothing. After all, their so-called growth in strength essentially came from consuming others. The reason Cassius' Shadow Demon was so obedient was because the Golem's magnetic field had practically dulled its instincts, wiping out its self-awareness and turning it into a fool.

It would only follow its master's commands and carry out his tasks, even pretending to enjoy things it disliked.

Thus, Cassius was a bit domineering, insisting that his perspective was the only one that mattered.

Of course, this had always been his nature, and he never regretted it. For instance, he often blamed his more brutal tendencies on the Shadow Demon, seeking some sort of psychological comfort and self-deception.

However, this wasn't entirely Cassius' fault. The intense side effects of the three core principles had driven him somewhat neurotic.

As we all know, madness isn't scary, nor are strong people inherently frightening. It's the strong madmen who are truly terrifying!

In the pursuit of strength, something must always be lost—whether it's rationality, original intent, or emotions. These become the psychological weaknesses of the strong. To fill these gaps, one must either reach an incredibly high state and let go completely or, like Cassius, develop a self-justifying logic that allows him to convince himself, forgive himself, and even move himself.

By finding a firm reason for his actions, no matter how irrational that reason might seem, his heart would find peace. And with that peace, he could continue.

Only then could he become a truly powerful individual, strong in both body and mind!