Returning to the Mysterious Era-Chapter 407 - Transforming into the Golem

The Pale Lands stretched vast and barren, with hills, rivers, and an endless plain dominating the horizon. A normal person with clear eyesight might barely discern objects two to three kilometers away. For Cassius and his companions, as expert combat artists, their vision reached farther and sharper. Yet, no matter their enhanced perception, the curvature of the planet naturally limited their sightlines.

However, in the Pale Lands, even the natural limits of vision became meaningless. The relentless rain of ash obscured everything, reducing visibility drastically. Even for Cassius and his group, they could barely see beyond a hundred or two hundred meters. Beyond that, they could only rely on sound—loud noises, to be precise, as even the ashes falling to the ground produced a faint, rustling sound.

The three figures stood outside Ash City, resembling lone bamboo stalks on the flat terrain. The dense ash fragments falling from the sky looked like floating willow catkins or drifting snowflakes. A slight gust carried the ashes into visible waves, their movements mesmerizing. The ground below was blanketed in a fine white layer, and the sound of ash settling created an eerie sense of desolation.

Cassius gazed into the distance, the snowy expanse stretching endlessly toward the horizon. Stones, grotesque trees, small hills, and plains were all covered in a silver-white shroud. It resembled the deep chill of winter, yet the Pale Lands lacked the biting cold; instead, they radiated an inexplicable heat.

It was like a fiery toxin—sinister, pervasive, and relentless.

Reaching out, Cassius caught a fragment of falling ash in his hand. The moment it touched him, the ash disintegrated, and two streams of energy coursed into his palm. One was the Pale Fiery Toxin, while the other carried a denser concentration of calamity aura. The true danger of the Pale Lands wasn't its dark creatures or powerful Cataclysmic Spirits—it was the environment itself, steeped in calamity.

Here, the concentration of calamity was so high that spirit bearers could only endure half the time they could manage elsewhere. By comparison, Ash City, with its relatively lower calamity levels, felt like a beginner's zone.

Sizzle...

A sizzling sound broke the silence. Ghost-Man and Iron Knight were holding small, finger-sized dark green stones, which glimmered faintly as they warded off the calamity aura in the ash.

Cassius immediately recognized the item. Ghost-Man had already mentioned it to him. The Sanctuary Stones provided by the Black Rain Manor were mission-issued items designed to protect marked-ones in high-calamity environments.

However, these stones only lasted ten hours and were scarce and expensive, a disposable tool with no comparison to the reusable defense arrays of the Towers of Refuge.

Five minutes earlier, Ghost-Man had reluctantly handed Cassius one such stone. It was clear he didn't have many to spare, and the gesture already seemed like a painful sacrifice.

Yet, as the ash fell upon them, Cassius tucked the Sanctuary Stone into his pocket without using it. He exhaled softly, his breath carrying a hint of warmth as his Golem Covert Martial Arts activated automatically. The Golem life magnetic field spread outward from the core of his body, permeating his muscles, bones, and skin like a liquid.

When it reached the surface, his skin transformed, appearing covered in black scales. The ash falling on these scales was repelled; the fiery toxins and calamity aura were blocked entirely. The environment now felt no different from Ash City.

Ghost-Man and Iron Knight exchanged startled glances before turning to Cassius. His body, covered in large black scales, resembled a totem from ancient rituals.

"Not enough. I need even greater resistance to the calamity," Cassius murmured. Following a trinity process involving breath regulation, heart rate, and blood circulation frequency, he fully unleashed the Golem Covert Martial Arts.

Immediately, the Golem Qi surged through his body, erupting like boiling water from beneath his skin and forming a black vapor around him. The vapor spiraled upward, forming a massive black column that pierced the skies.

Startled, Ghost-Man and Iron Knight instinctively retreated several meters. They could feel the oppressive aura emanating from him, a sinister and overwhelming presence.

Whoosh...

The black vapor twisted into a vortex, from which an enormous figure began to emerge. It finally took shape, standing amidst the ash rain.

The creature's grotesque features included a bony, spiked tail, hooked barbs, sword-like scales, enormous feet reminiscent of a camel's hooves and terrifying muscles bulged with veins. Standing amidst the rain of ashes was a four meters tall golem, though it wasn't slender, but like a tall majestic tank. Its protruding knees and shoulders resembled ancient knightly armor. Its back formed a menacing triangular shape, lined with interlocking spines that looked like the teeth of a predator.

Its joints gleamed sharp and rigid, while its armor-like muscles radiated a heavy menace. This was clearly a machine of war, born for slaughter.

Ghost-Man instinctively gripped his scythe tightly, his body tensing to suppress his fear. Iron Knight raised his left arm defensively, his massive sword locked against his elbow in preparation for battle.

Pssshhh...

Two streams of gas rushed out from the golem's nostrils, winding like snakes.

"Relax, both of you. This is merely another form of my fist technique willpower. In the Calamity World, our bodies are composed of Qi. By aligning fist technique willpower with Qi, one can alter form," the golem spoke, its voice resounding like a great bell.

Hearing this, Ghost-Man's wariness gradually faded. He had once briefly encountered a combat artist from the world of Covert Martial Arts and had witnessed their techniques in action.

Their Qi surged and roared, and with a single punch, it naturally manifested as a projection of their fist technique's willpower. Cassius's case was similar, except that his fist technique's willpower was far more sinister, exuding an overwhelming and malevolent aura.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The massive golem stepped forward, each step causing the ground to tremble faintly. Its inhuman visage displayed a contemplative expression.

Cassius had discovered that the Golem Covert Martial Arts were particularly suited for the Calamity World. By channeling his Qi into the golem form, he could maintain this transformation with minimal energy expenditure—just a fraction of what it would require in the real world.

In this state, his resistance to high-concentration calamity aura increased exponentially, reaching twenty times his original capacity. This allowed him to move freely in low-calamity areas like Ash City for two hundred hours and in the Pale Lands for one hundred hours—approximately four days.

With his mobility, four days would be more than enough to reach a new Special Zone.

"It seems that the Golem Covert Martial Arts, while imitating the traits of dark creatures, also inherits some of their characteristics, such as calamity resistance and a strong deterrence against low level dark creatures," Cassius mused to himself. "However, this is ultimately a Covert Martial Art, not an actual dark creature. It still can't survive directly in the World of Calamity like they can..."

After adapting briefly and familiarizing himself with the form, he turned to Ghost-Man and Iron Knight, saying, "Let's move. I'll take the lead."

Thud!

The Golem took a step forward, leaving a deep footprint. With just a few strides, it covered dozens of meters, steadily advancing through the falling ash.

Behind him, Ghost-Man and Iron Knight exchanged glances and shook their heads with wry smiles. Cassius's demonic appearance was genuinely unsettling.

However, the two were experienced and composed enough not to lose their cool. After a brief adjustment, they followed suit, stepping into the Pale Lands.

The ash swirled in the sky, falling as a layer of white dust. The World of Calamity, despite being distinct from the real world, followed the same cruel law of survival of the fittest. Mindless, low level dark creatures behaved no differently than wild beasts.

The ground was covered in a sprawling forest of withered, gigantic trees. Their trunks weren't single, solid forms but tangled vines resembling twisted, greenish-black human arms. The surface bristled with dense black thorns.

The treetops were particularly bizarre—not branches or leaves, but root-like appendages swaying like tendrils. At their tips, tiny hand-like structures resembling those of human infants glowed faintly as they swayed in the air.

A flock of bat-like dark creatures flew overhead. These creatures had bodies resembling human infants, malformed heads, and wings formed from layers of flesh membranes. Black liquid dripped from the ends of their wings, falling to the ground and igniting into flames.

They flew in formation over the forest, heading toward the direction of the burning river. Occasionally, one or two flew too low, triggering a reaction from the forest of dead trees. Black tendrils shot out like serpents, writhing wildly through the air like seaweed drifting in the current.

One tree's sudden movement triggered a chain reaction, setting the entire forest into motion. From a distance, it resembled a rolling black ocean, teeming with countless struggling claws flailing in despair.

Several of the bat-like dark creatures were caught and instantly dragged into the writhing forest. Within seconds, not even bones remained.

The surviving bats flapped their wings desperately, disappearing into the ashen rain. Not far away, the flock descended, landing near a river.

However, this wasn't a river of water, but a river of flame. It was a molten-like white fire, silently burning the surrounding air.

These bat-like dark creatures replenished the black flames on their wings by immersing themselves in the liquid white fire. Many dark creatures in the Pale Lands relied on this fire, either by bathing in it, drinking it, or lying in ambush near its source.

As fifty or so bats immersed themselves in the fire, a lizard, about two meters long, crouched nearby amidst the firethorn grass. The lizard was grotesque, with a head at both its front and tail. Its back was covered in tumor-like protrusions shaped like human faces frozen in screams.

Green smoke wafted from the holes in these protrusions, merging into the air.

Whoosh!

The lizard suddenly leaped into the flaming river, shooting green poison darts from the protrusions on its back, piercing several of the bats instantly. Both its heads snapped forward, tearing into the infant-like bodies of the bats.

Its serrated jaws shredded its prey with savage delight, ready for a feast.

But the lizard had miscalculated. It saw the bats as prey, yet they were merely bait.

From the depths of the liquid flames, a massive, three-meter-tall figure burst forth. With a single bite, it tore the lizard in half.

Standing upright on two legs, the creature revealed a carapace studded with countless eyes emitting an eerie glow. Its claw-like hands grasped the lizard's two halves, ready to devour them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A thunderous sound, like tanks rolling, approached rapidly from the distance.

The carapaced centipede-like dark creature froze and turned its head in confusion.

Bang!

It was as though a train had slammed into it. Its upper body flew off, leaving only a mangled lower half in the flaming river. The upper half rolled on the ground, still twitching.

A massive, camel-like foot stomped down heavily, crushing it into pulp and embedding it into the ground.

Amidst the white rain of ash, a towering, iron-clad figure stood like an immovable mountain.

Its mere presence radiated a domineering, dangerous aura that quickly spread along the riverbank. Hidden dark creatures in the grass and river, startled, let out low growls before fleeing in all directions.

The Golem Cassius transformed into lowered its head slightly and absorbed the life vibration energy of the crushed centipede.

He was clearing the way for Ghost-Man and Iron Knight. His lingering aura deterred any Wild and Savage Beast level creatures from approaching, saving them unnecessary trouble. At the same time, he was testing the intimidating presence of the Golem form.

After several encounters, Cassius had a clearer understanding. The Golem's aura was slightly stronger than the most powerful Cataclysmic Spirits but still far from matching the Dark Ultimate Form. It could only intimidate Wild Beasts and Savage Beasts.

Still, he found this incredibly practical. There was no need to waste time or Qi on insignificant creatures, conserving his energy for real battles.

Cassius relaxed his grip after finish draining life vibration energy of the centipede.

The Golem strode forward, entering the tendril forest.

As he passed through, the forest remained still, the trees motionless. When Cassius exited, the tendrils still showed no reaction.

However, two minutes later, Ghost-Man and Iron Knight entered the forest. Instantly, the tendrils lashed out wildly, flames whipping about as if hell itself had come alive.

The sudden attack left the two battered. Ghost-Man's robes and mask were damaged, and Iron Knight's armor bore black scorch marks. Eventually, they managed to escape the forest, catching up to Cassius.

"You two..."

Cassius glanced at the disheveled Ghost-Man and was speechless. He realized that it might be better to guide them like a babysitter.

"Stay close to me. I sense the Graveyard of the Undead is nearby," he said.

The Golem moved forward at a steady pace, neither too fast nor too slow.

Ghost-Man and Iron Knight exchanged embarrassed smiles before hurrying to follow.

Time ticked by. Five to six hours had passed since they left Ash City. They had ventured deep into the Pale Lands.

They stood atop a hill on the southeastern edge of the Pale Lands.

The trio gazed into the distance, where black light intertwined with a bloody mist, twisting upward like two serpents.

Even from afar, the decaying and dangerous aura was palpable.

"We've reached the Graveyard of the Undead," Cassius said.