Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 124 - The Secret is Muscle

Cassius's carriage gave a familiar jolt when it arrived at the Black Rain Manor.

As usual, he first stopped by the Bolt Sect's base, tidied up his room, and then carried his suitcase to the Mission Hall. Unlike regular missions which were directly exchanged at the Black Rain Manor, extra tasks required tokens and the targeted objects to be submitted in the Mission Hall to exchange for special vouchers for dark essence. The special vouchers allowed the marked-ones to go to the Baptism Chapel and get the same enhancements as the ones that came with the regular missions.

About five minutes later, Cassius received his vouchers for dark essence which came in the form of five thumb-sized crystals. It was non-transferable and mystically bound to the marked-ones' auras.

Cassius left the Mission Hall without incident and headed straight for the Baptism Chapel. It was a familiar place with familiar private rooms. A stone pillar stood in the center of the room, with hands spread like a lotus. Cassius went directly up to it and placed the five crystals along with the voucher from the regular mission on it.

He stepped back two paces and watched quietly.

Similar to the last time, a black fog tornado swirled at the top of the pillar. Except this time, it was so intense, he could feel the airflow swirling around him in the private room. After a while, the airflow dissipated.

The deep voice whispered in Cassius's ear once again. "Twelve units of dark essence. Items available for exchange are as follows:

Beast Blood (Ghost Wolf): take the voucher to Black Rain Manor's Daybreak Hospital for a blood injection. This blood offers comprehensive enhancements of speed, strength, defense, recovery, endurance, and explosive power. Comes with a risk of failure (8.5 essence).

Transparent Mercury (Superior): this mercury is related to wind flow and can form highly lethal wind blades after training (7.7 essence).

…

10. Soul Power: can be used to enhance physical attributes, including but not limited to…(Hint: 2 essences is equivalent to 1 unit of Soul Power)."

A quick browse-through showed that there was a significant improvement in quality for the other items available for exchange and would be quite tempting to anyone who wasn't Cassius. After all, those Dao only appeared powerful, but actually had numerous flaws and often lacked long-term potential.

The true Dao was to exchange for a large amount of Soul Power to enhance the Covert Martial Arts as fast as possible. 

"Exchange everything for Soul Power."

"Exchange confirmed. Six units of Soul Power."

A cloud of chaos hung above his head, gray mist descending like low-hanging storm clouds. A gentle drizzle began to fall, like a web of rain wrapping itself around Cassius. As the raindrops touched his skin, a warm current surged into his body like blood flowing in.

Half a minute later, the rain ceased, plunging the private room into silence again. Cassius focused inward, beginning once again to use Soul Power to rapidly enhance his Covert Martial Arts.

The essence of Elephant Soul passed through his mind, the scenarios playing out like a movie.

Boom!

The large mass of Soul Power within him exploded. For a split second, it was as if Cassius were soaking in a hot spring, every inch of his skin feeling overwhelmingly comfortable.

In the next second, however, pleasure morphed into pain as thousands of steel needles stabbed him from all directions, driving through his entire body like a piercing rainstorm. He gritted his teeth at the intense stinging. Powerful energy and blood rampaged beneath his skin, causing wave after wave of intense pain to sweep through him from within.

Each wave was soon followed by a surge of power that steadily grew. Bit by bit, his power began to return. It was unclear how much time passed as sweat oozed continuously from Cassius's body, only to evaporate from the heat. White crystalline salt particles formed in the cracks of his skin.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, his upper body with its bulging muscles bare. Cassius's powerful, pulsing black fascia was a stark contrast to his boiling red blood.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

A pair of bright eyes opened, the private room coming into view. Cassius stood up abruptly, realizing that he had somehow grown taller again and was now around 1.8 meters. As he moved, his joints cracked audibly.

There was a familiar progress bar in the upper right corner.

[Wind Elephant Fist Incomplete: Elephant Herd 67.7% (Total Three Stages)]

[Elephant Soul Incomplete: Prickling 75.9% (Total Three Stages)]

It's not enough… This is far from enough! I need a power that's steady and unshakeable! Cassius pounded his chest with his fist, where it gave a deep and resounding thud. I haven't even reached the limits of human potential. This body is still nothing but a small fry!

He reached out and tore off his already ripped shirt with his large hand, crumpling it into a ball, and stuffing it into the black suitcase. Holding an umbrella, he quickly left, bare-chested.

Time flew by, and a month and a half had already passed.

The light shower turned the seldom-traveled road in the Anta Mountains muddy. A man in a black cloak stood on the dark mountain path, quietly observing the scene before him. Opposite him, five or six men with dangerous auras squinted.

The tall, burly leader sized up the cloaked man, a playful smile glued on his face. He stroked his scruffy beard. "There's been talk at Black Rain Manor lately about a lunatic who's been going all out with taking on extra tasks. That must be you. If you hand over your secret, we might just spare your life."

The burly man sneered inwardly. Spare his life? Not a chance. This guy seemed to have found some loophole in the Black Rain Manor's system with him frantically taking on extra tasks in the past couple of months and completing them all. Numerous Hellsings had been agitated, but it had been hard to track the man down. But they had him cornered this time.

"Secret?" A deep voice came from the cloak's shadowy depths. "So, you think I completed all those extra tasks because I used some kind of trick? Heh heh heh…"

"I'm right, aren't I?!" The burly man took a step forward, his aura menacing.

Click, click, click…

A series of mechanical sounds came from beneath the cloak as the man in black pulled out a ferocious steam-powered crossbow from his back.

"Bolt Sect?" The burly man frowned. 

He and the five behind him let out roars as they transformed into powerful half-man, half-beast monsters, three werewolves and three leopard men. Their bodies and muscles swelled, capable of minimizing the damage from the crossbow bolts.

Unexpectedly, the man in the black robe casually tossed the crossbow aside, letting it clatter to the ground, and ripped off his cloak to reveal a solid pillar-like body. Standing at 1.87 meters tall with terrifying, dark blue muscles swollen to the extreme, his chest rose and fell with each breath, exuding an overwhelming sense of power.

Cassius looked calmly ahead. His pale red eyes were indifferent, but it was merely a facade to hide the fierce bloodlust that lay underneath.

"Didn't you want to know my secret?" He scanned the front but none of his enemies dared meet his gaze, quelled as they were from the intense pressure and promise of danger in his eyes. "Why don't you find out? Try me, and you'll know what my secret really is.

"Hiss…"

The air swirled like a tornado around his mouth as Cassius spread his arms like an eagle, his already massive body swelling even more. The veins in his neck popped out like tree branches and throbbed.

"Awooo!" The burly leader opposite him howled at the sky, his powerful hind legs kicking off as he charged forward with his black mane whipping wildly in the rain. The other half-beasts charged in viciously, right at their leader's heel.

"Die!" The burly man appeared before Cassius and swung his sharp claws down, his green beastly eyes filled with intense murderous intent.

Boom!

"Huh?" The burly man was momentarily dazed and realized he was airborne. Hadn't his claws just been inches away from killing that man?

What was going on? The burly man lowered his gaze slightly and saw the pillar-like man standing on the muddy road, slowly withdrawing his fist. A headless corpse was spewing blood out like a fountain in front of him.

That's my body, so that means I-I'm dead?! The burly man's head spun in the air, his eyes blinking slower and slower.

The last thing he saw was the pair of powerful hands tearing a strong werewolf in half. Amidst the outpouring of blood, a massive shadow shot forward like a cannonball.

"The secret is muscle!!!"