Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 229- A Trivial Fatal Injury

Chapter 229- A Trivial Fatal Injury

The voice was deep and powerful. He didn't have to guess to know who it belonged to: Cassius.

Eyes sharp, Feng Liusi gave the man before him a quick once-over.

A towering figure, standing over two meters tall, with a handsome and angular face. His entire body was covered in wounds and blood. Both hands were practically flayed, and much of his flesh, especially around his chest, was torn off. As if it had been blown apart, there was a gaping, black hole the size of a fist through his chest. Feng Liusi could see right through it to a large, broken tree lying behind Cassius.

He looked up, scrutinizing Cassius again.

Are you sure you're not in your final moments? Is your physique perhaps so strong that your death throes are taking a little longer than usual?

Feng Liusi, the culprit behind the injury, was certain he had decimated Cassius's heart. It was impossible for an anomaly like a misplaced heart or some other irregularity to exist.

Just seconds ago, Feng Liusi had used his Secret Technique, Death's Beak, using a spiraling force to accelerate his punch as he hit and blew apart Cassius's heart. The sensation of his fist smashing through an organ was unmistakable.

It didn't matter if a Covert Martial Artist had physical capabilities that far exceeded those of a normal human; the heart was a critical organ for blood circulation and, once destroyed, would spell certain death. There were no exceptions.

He shook his head, reaffirming his own judgment.

With a flick of his arm, Feng Liusi shook off Cassius's grip. Coughing twice, he spat a bit of blood from his mouth. "My Red Falcon Fist has destroyed your heart. What's happening now is nothing more than your body's final moments. Take a look at your chest, you poor fool..."

He knew that when a person suffered a fatal injury, sometimes the brain would block out the extreme pain, leaving them in a state of numbness, their mind still functioning as it had before. Cassius was likely experiencing just that.

Hearing Feng Liusi's words, Cassius reached out and pressed the empty space where his left chest had been, finding a sliver of a smashed organ near the edge. Bringing it to his eyes, he saw that it was a piece of his heart.

"That's a bit of a problem: the central blood supply has been blown apart. But this level of damage only barely qualifies as a serious injury. Although, the missing chunk of muscle in my left chest does affect my ability to use my left arm," Cassius said, lifting his left shoulder. "I probably still have about fifty percent of my strength left."

When Feng Liusi heard this, his whole body froze in disbelief. Was he implying this was a trivial fatal injury?

Had Covert Martial Artists of this new era really reached the point where even having their hearts blown apart was considered a minor injury? Had there been some revolutionary breakthrough in Secret Techniques or Covert Martial Arts in the years Feng Liusi had been in seclusion? Was he just too old and simply unable to keep up with the times? He was utterly baffled.

Feng Liusi found Cassius's priorities strange. The young man had brushed off his destroyed heart, instead focusing on the muscle damage to his left chest, concerned about how it weakened his left arm.

His first instinct was to think Cassius was bluffing or that his brain was simply too muddled from the blow. However, Feng Liusi, despite his strength being depleted, could still sense Cassius's steady breathing and strong bodily functions through his pugilist's external Qi field.

Was it possible he was really fine?

In fact, his condition seemed better than Feng Liusi's own!

What a bizarre situation...

Suddenly, Feng Liusi coughed violently three times. His body instantly reverted from its unleashed state, and he shrank down, his muscles withering to those of a normal old man, his spirit utterly drained.

But Cassius continued to maintain his current form. His blood circulation now relied on the golem heart and its Golem Three Form Blood Circulation, which was governed by the golem life magnetic field. Now that his human heart was thoroughly damaged, switching back to his human life magnetic field could cause an immediate resurgence of his injuries, triggering some kind of chain reaction.

Although likely not fatal, it wasn't worth risking.

***

At three in the afternoon, the sun began to descend westward. Its rays remained strong, occasionally blocked by passing clouds.

"Ten wounds on the chest; two heavy, eight light. Twelve on the shoulders and back; one heavy, eleven light. Six on the lower body, all light. Three injuries on the fists; one broken finger on the left hand, and two broken on the right. Internal injuries in the heart, lungs, and kidneys. The lungs are the most severe as bleeding is already present." Feng Liusi sat cross-legged on the left side of a small wooden hut, allowing his granddaughter to pull out the medical kits to bandage his wounds.

As a Covert Martial Artist, his Qi not only allowed him to ward off enemies but also to examine his own internal condition with great precision. It was a more advanced version of a pugilist's abilities, just with greater detail.

Feng Liusi could tell just how severe the injuries he had incurred from the battle with Cassius were; they put him in the critical range. If the damage had been just a bit worse, he'd be on the brink of death.

This fight had taken a heavy toll on him, and it would likely take months for him to fully recover.

An hour passed. Feng Liusi used the medical kit to treat most of his external wounds while circulating his secret fist techniques. The internal injuries were finally stabilizing, and the bleeding had stopped.

As for the man across from him... Feng Liusi glanced toward the right side of the wooden hut where Cassius sat.

Cassius was also sitting cross-legged, his body more severely injured than Feng Liusi. After all, Feng Liusi had employed his Death's Fang secret move for an extended period, a bloody technique known as the Butcher's Finger Blade, designed to carve flesh. On top of that, Cassius had taken the full force of Feng Liusi's Blood Flower technique and its subsequent energy explosion.

Cassius had endured far more attacks than Feng Liusi, and yet, his recovery was so quick it was almost inhuman.

Under Feng Liusi's watchful eyes, the bruises and welts caused by the Blood Flower were already nearly healed. Not just scabbed over, but healed, which was a significant difference as the latter took much longer.

The muscles under Neve's bandages were visibly twitching, growing back slowly but surely. Though the process was slow, it was undeniably happening. What would normally take days to notice had taken just an hour.

Feng Liusi was well aware of the effects of his Death's Fang secret move. The spiraling force it left behind in the enemy's wounds would force the injury to continue expanding for several days, exacerbating the damage.

In comparison, Cassius's recovery ability was terrifying. Aside from the large, gaping wound in his chest, where the missing muscle made healing difficult, Cassius's other injuries were recovering at an unbelievable rate.

Another half an hour passed, and it was now around 4 p.m. Inside the wooden cabin, the sound of labored breathing gradually returned to normal.

Cassius opened his eyes and met the sharp, aged gaze of Feng Liusi, who was staring at him. "How are you still fine even though your heart was destroyed? And your healing ability is astonishing."

Feng Liusi's voice was full of curiosity and confusion. At nearly seventy years old, he had never encountered such a practitioner of the Covert Martial Arts.

Cassius exhaled a long breath of murky air, lightly pressing his right chest as he replied, "Perhaps it's just a unique talent."

Damn. Such boldness and such a dismissive answer!

Feng Liusi restrained himself from asking his follow-up questions. He disliked vague answers but it wasn't like he could argue with them. He couldn't just outright ask Cassius if he had mastered some special Secret Technique or advanced Covert Martial Arts, could he?

Both topics were taboo among unfamiliar Covert Martial Arts practitioners. Their relationship wasn't deep enough for such probing questions. Unless the other party voluntarily revealed their techniques, asking about them would likely lead to a serious fight.

Feng Liusi knew he and Cassius weren't yet friends nor were they mentor and disciple; they had only known each other for a few hours. While they had fought to get acquainted, he wasn't willing to risk things turning sour.

Besides, he was severely injured, with only about twenty percent of his combat strength left. He probably wasn't a match for the monster in front of him.

Feng Liusi started coughing up blood again. Cassius's punch in the lungs earlier had left him seriously injured. He was still struggling to breathe, and these internal wounds would take months to heal.

While studying Feng Liusi, Cassius suddenly asked, "Blood Fist Senior, I entered the depths of the Loka Mountains from the foot of the mountain, following the Mata River to the Death Canyon. I saw many unusual beasts along the way. Do you have any insight into this?"

"Beasts?" Feng Liusi stopped coughing, unsure why Cassius was asking, but he responded, his words slow, "The Loka Mountains are certainly stranger than other mountain ranges. Many creatures here grow unusually large and fierce, almost as if they've mutated. You often find giant birds, bears, and pythons, along with some bizarrely strong insects in the forest. The closest creatures to Death Canyon would be the Flame Apes, though they fear my aura and wouldn’t dare enter the canyon." He paused, then added, "Why do you ask?"

Cassius gave a cryptic smile and slowly rose to his feet.

An hour later, the forest floor was littered with Flame Ape corpses, their massive bodies sprawled everywhere. There was no blood, no sign of battle. These large mutated apes seemed to have been killed instantaneously.

From the treetops, a fiery red figure swooped down like a tattered cloth, its grotesquely muscled arms swinging like cannonballs.

The figure's right hand blurred, and a green-black arm clamped onto the Flame Ape's neck like a pair of iron pincers, hoisting its massive body into the air. The ape struggled furiously, but it was in vain.

Suddenly, a terrifying life magnetic field enveloped the entire ape, and its own life magnetic field vibrated in response. The two forces clashed, creating a resonance, the vibration flowing continuously into Cassius's body.

"Blood Fist Senior, turn your back to me."

Cassius raised his left hand and immediately pressed it against Feng Liusi's back. In an instant, the vibrations from his body were transferred to Feng Liusi's, stimulating his life magnetic field.

The vibrations coursed through every part of Feng Liusi's body. Though much energy was lost in the process, the effects were still profound. A rare look of ecstasy appeared on his face as he continued to perform a Secret Technique.

At five-thirty in the afternoon, one kilometer from Death Canyon, and next to a waterfall.

The water flowing upstream roared down, mimicking a long white curtain stretching through the air. Below was an oval-shaped emerald green pool, where white birds occasionally perched on several smooth boulders.

The sunset sky was beginning to burn, the base of the clouds glowing a fiery red, and the evening wind swept fallen leaves through the forest.

On one of the rocks within the waterfall, Feng Liusi sat cross-legged, eyes tightly shut. Sunlight shone on him, reflecting a faint red halo. The sound of water crashing filled the air around him.

With the rise and fall of his chest, a Qi field naturally expanded from his body. The surface of the pool rippled in diamond-shaped patterns, like scales spreading outward. His chest heaved, and his breathing quickened.

The ripples on the pool's surface trembled more and more until the water began to bounce as if boiling, droplets were bursting and exploding on the ten-meter-wide surface. When Feng Liusi opened his eyes, water splashed everywhere with a thunderous roar, his terrifying aura solidifying to its peak.

A burst of red steam erupted from his body, and everything around him fell silent. Even the waterfall, crashing relentlessly, seemed to skip a beat. Within the swirling steam above his head, the outline of a vicious vulture slowly took shape.

Feng Liusi slapped the ground with one hand, his body floating as if drifting in midair. Then, he shot upward, reaching the top of the waterfall, where he stood steadily on the flowing water.

There, in the center of the huge rock with cracks slowly forming, was a deep handprint. With a loud crash, the rock shattered into fragments and sank to the bottom of the deep pool.

At the top of the waterfall, Feng Liusi stood, bathed in the setting sun, examining his bare upper body. The dozens of wounds that had once marred his flesh had completely healed. Even the most difficult-to-heal internal injuries had vanished. Not only that, but there were signs of muscle growth on his once withered and aged body—proof that his vitality was being restored.

Unbelievable. Astonishing!

There were Secret Techniques that could restore youth and others that could temporarily return one's peak strength. But Feng Liusi had never seen a technique like Cassius's where it could permanently restore vitality, muscle, and bodily functions in others.

He was well-traveled, having wandered through various sects of Covert Martial Arts in the north for years. He had witnessed all sorts of strange and wondrous Secret Techniques. But what Cassius demonstrated was the most bizarre ability Feng Liusi had ever encountered. It had a mysterious, even demonic, quality, drawing life force from mutated beasts and transferring it into humans!

If a typical Covert Martial Arts practitioner saw this, they'd surely think it was some kind of forbidden technique, but Feng Liusi was quite open to it; his own reputation wasn't exactly spotless.

His secret move Death's Fang—a single finger thrust that caused one's flesh to rot and fall away, resulting in a gruesome death—was no better than Cassius's technique. They were evenly matched, neither able to judge the other.

Feng Liusi glanced at the crimson sky, then at the forest. Cassius's figure was now faintly visible as he ran toward him. Cassius had sustained heavier injuries, so it had taken him a bit longer to heal.

Ten seconds later, both stood on the rocky edge of the waterfall.

"Are your injuries fully healed? Let me know if there's any residual internal damage," Cassius said, brushing the fallen leaves off his shoulder.

Instead of answering his question, Feng Liusi merely shook his head. He fixed a sharp gaze on Cassius and, emphasizing his words, asked slowly, "Hey, kid, do you want to learn my Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist?"