Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 158 - Heart Eye Secret Technique Acquired

Cassius heard a low, hoarse voice in the cramped, private room. It was as cold and echoing as always. "Marked-one, offer up your tribute."

Whoosh...

A black mist swirled into a small tornado, covering half of the room. Moments later, the air currents dissipated, and the offering vanished.

"Fifteen units of dark essence have been extracted. The following items are available for exchange..."

Cassius didn’t hesitate. He immediately chose to exchange for Soul Power. Instantly, the sound of pattering rain filled the private room.

A thick layer of gray-black mist covered the ceiling, resembling low-hanging storm clouds. Cold raindrops fell and hit Cassius’s body, sliding off like silk. At once, a familiar sensation spread across his skin. Warm currents of air seemed to burrow into his muscles and bones.

This was the Soul Power.

But Cassius had his doubts. No one knew if this rain, aside from containing Soul Power, also carried the cold aura that Mi An had warned could affect one's mental state. Cassius suspected that Black Rain Manor had manipulated the rain, just as how deeply flawed the supernatural paths of the Hellsings were. Black Rain Manor had no reason to offer Soul Power without some hidden drawback. Based on his own experiences, Cassius was fairly certain that Black Rain Manor had tampered with the power.

As the rain poured down, Cassius’s gaze shifted slightly. He pulled out a pre-prepared bottle from his pocket; he was planning to collect some of the rainwater infused with Soul Power to take back to Mi An for examination.

That was easier said than done.

The Soul Power rainwater quickly evaporated. Even if it was sealed in a bottle, it would turn intangible and disappear. Still, Cassius wanted to try. The thought of Black Rain Manor possibly affecting him was deeply unsettling, much like when he was parasitized by the Shadow Demon.

Perhaps due to his practice of the Wind Elephant Covert Martial Arts, Cassius had always pursued a kind of single-mindedness for his body. If the Shadow Demon’s parasitism hadn’t been so deeply rooted, and if he couldn’t find a way to rid himself of it, Cassius would have abandoned it long ago.

The negative effects brought by Black Rain Manor were similar.

Seconds passed, and suddenly the door to the private room swung open. A shadowy figure flashed through the hall. In a few seconds, Mi An, who had been waiting near the circular intersection, received the bottle.

He opened it as quickly as possible, but to his disappointment, the rainwater had completely evaporated during the journey. Cassius's expression darkened. At that moment, his body felt like a furnace, with torrents of searing heat coursing under his skin and leaving stinging pain in its wake.

This was why Soul Power had to be used inside the private room.

Once the human body came into contact with this power, the bones, muscles, and fascia would become activated, making the blood flow extremely vigorous. Any slight movement would cause the blood to run wild.

If an ordinary person made any big movements after being exposed to this power, they would bleed from all orifices and die instantly. Cassius, however, was far beyond an ordinary human. He had taken three significant steps toward surpassing humanity. But even so, the intensity of sprinting all the way here had dealt considerable damage to his internal organs. Beads of hot sweat fell from his broad back like threads, soaking his clothes.

Cassius exhaled a breath of murky air, stabilizing the turbulent blood in his chest, and wiped away the blood flowing out of his nose.

"If we can’t extract it, let’s head back to the small building."

"Wait, there's some residue of the aura in the bottle. It's faint but it's there." Mi An quietly sensed it, stretching his hand out to catch a drop of rainwater. He opened his eyes and glanced at Cassius.

"It's as you suspected; the rainwater infused with Soul Power does contain a special aura that can negatively affect emotions." Mi An's expression grew serious. Sure enough, not everything was going to go smoothly. The Black Rain Manor had indeed manipulated the Soul Power rainwater.

Anxiety rose slightly in Mi An's heart, but he quickly suppressed it. Soul Power wasn't something the northern Covert Martial Arts could afford to abandon. So right now, it didn't matter if the rainwater infused with Soul Power had issues or not; they had to first take down Black Rain Manor. After that, they could study and separate whatever needed to be researched or isolated.

Mi An glanced at Cassius's unusually flushed complexion. Without delay, he led everyone back to the small building.

At 2 p.m., the sky in the Rainy World remained as gray and misty as ever, with the light rain tapping against the windows outside.

On the second floor, Cassius sat cross-legged in the center of a quiet and simple bedroom, chest bare. His crimson, bulging muscles rippled like waves, and beads of sweat the size of beans dripped onto the floor. The sweat on his skin evaporated due to his scorching body temperature, and white steam rose from his shoulders and neck, shrouding his entire face.

Seven to eight strong men around him watched Cassius's bodily changes with feverish eyes. Their sharp, eagle-like gazes were fixed on the shifting fibers and blood vessels of his powerful muscles.

"The changes that usually take tens of days, months, or even years have been condensed into just a few hours! This is truly eye-opening, an absolute eye-opener..." Hardy, an old man with a goatee, marveled, shaking his head in awe.

"Hardy, I know you're impressed, but could you stop getting so close and blocking Duomo's and my view," Mi An said, faintly displeased. The bald strong man beside him also looked annoyed. Hardy had positioned himself so close to Cassius that his wrinkled old face was only a palm’s width away from Cassius's solid, door-like chest. Watching those crimson muscles rapidly change and reorganize was akin to seeing a stunning beauty undress, with Hardy constantly clicking his tongue in admiration. He was just short of reaching out to feel the changes with his hands.

Seven or eight representatives of the northern Covert Martial Arts around them shared this kind of gaze, but the oldest, Hardy, was the most excited.

"Sorry, sorry. I just... I just had to confirm something. But I have my answer now."

Hardy’s figure flashed like a phantom as he returned to his original position. He sat cross-legged, stroking his goatee. The group formed a ring around Cassius.

Cassius’s expression was slightly strained. A massive amount of scorching heat radiated throughout the room, causing the temperature to rise noticeably. There was also a faint sizzling sound, like burning grease, coming from his skin.

Hardy’s tone was deeply sincere. "Mi An, we must get our hands on Soul Power, whether it's for us old folks to live a little longer or for the younger generations of our sects." Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Mi An remained expressionless. The elders of the northern Covert Martial Arts all had various motivations, but the old man in front of him was definitely looking out for himself. Winged Serpent Hardy was undoubtedly afraid of death; his dedication to health and healing arts made that abundantly clear. Of course, Hardy’s thirst was a good thing. His high position in Winged Serpent Fist would translate to a very proactive sect. Not to mention, sending more people over would also reduce the pressure on the other sects.

Crack, crack, crack...

Suddenly, a series of popping sounds, like beans cracking, echoed through the room.

Mi An looked up to see that Cassius had finished absorbing Soul Power. He opened his eyes and stood up.

Standing at 1.9 meters tall with a broad frame, his muscles were now powerful yet compact, distributed in streamlined patterns across his body. His pale white skin looked as if it was covered by armor. Compared to the previous Cassius, his muscles had actually shrunk quite a lot.

He was still robust, but he no longer had that bloated appearance which looked seconds from exploding. Cassius's physique was now more of a streamlined bulkiness, still strong but not as overwhelmingly so. It was like the difference between a grizzly bear and a tiger.

"His muscles look much more condensed and powerful..." Duomo glanced over at the abdominal muscles, sensing that their density was likely beyond what he had imagined. The muscle strength, toughness, and defense hadn’t decreased with the size reduction and instead had actually gotten stronger.

"How do you feel?" Mi An asked immediately.

Cassius exhaled slowly. Instead of replying right away, he glanced at the progress bar floating in the upper right corner of his vision.

[Wind Elephant Fist Incomplete: Elephant Herd 76.4% (Total Three Stages)]

[Elephant Soul Incomplete: Bug Bite 66.8% (Total Three Stages)] → [Elephant Soul Incomplete: Bug Bite 72.8% (Total Three Stages)]

The Elephant Soul Secret Technique had improved by six percent, leaving only about four percent of room for further enhancement. It wasn’t that Cassius didn’t want to continue advancing, but if he pushed it any further, he'd most definitely burst. The safety threshold was five percent, and Cassius had already pushed it by going another percent. He had now reached the absolute limit. He couldn’t go any further.

The excess Soul Power in his body had been expelled, squeezing out of his pores, and dissipating into the air.

"Not bad," Cassius answered Mi An’s question. "But I've done this so many times that I’m more or less used to it. Feel free to try it yourselves when the time comes."

Mi An nodded slightly. "Of course." He slowly got to his feet. "Shall we head down to the empty room downstairs for some sparring? With such a significant enhancement, you'll need to refine your control, won't you?"

Cassius turned his head to look at him. Their eyes met. "Sure."

Without delaying for another second, Cassius and Mi An left the room on the second floor. The representatives of the northern Covert Martial Arts remained behind, engaging in a heated discussion.

In a room on the first floor, off to the left, Cassius and Mi An sat facing each other in silence.

Cassius already knew what Mi An's intentions were. This was just a matter of handing over a deposit, for instance, the Heart Eye Secret Technique. Cassius had already proven the effects of Soul Power. Now, it was Mi An's turn to fulfill his end of the deal.

"Let's skip the small talk and get straight to the point," Mi An spoke in a measured tone. "The Heart Eye Secret Technique is one of the important techniques of the Three-Eyed Mad Lion Sect. Duomo should have already told you that the 'Three Eyes' in our sect’s name comes from this very technique. While important, it's not so critical that we can’t trade it away for the right price. After all, it’s not the core technique of our Covert Martial Arts.

"The Heart Eye Secret Technique is a skill that primarily trains a person's five senses. Once these senses are honed to their utmost peak, it’s possible to unlock a vague sixth sense, which allows for a certain degree of foresight in battle," Mi An said, glancing at Cassius before continuing.

"The sixth sense is the ability to acquire information in ways beyond the usual logical patterns. It’s a method of understanding things without relying on intellect or the five senses. The sixth sense manifests in many forms such as in premonitions, physical reactions, sudden insights, dreams, mental images, instincts, persistent impressions, kinaesthesia, and telepathy." Mi An paused slightly before continuing, "The Heart Eye Secret Technique that we practice focuses on premonitions, physical reactions, instincts, and kinaesthesia, but mainly on premonitions and physical reactions."

Premonitions? Physical reactions?

Cassius felt the urge to comment. Mi An made it sound quite scientific as if it had been systematically explored. But if Cassius thought about it, over time, some Covert Martial Arts sects would inevitably try to explain their techniques using modern science. Maybe they could, one day, develop a mature and effective methodology, although it didn't mean it would translate into success. After all, many aspects of Covert Martial Arts defied scientific explanation.

Mi An then proceeded to explain the specific processes and key points of practicing the Heart Eye Secret Technique.

The Heart Eye Secret Technique consists of three stages. The names of these stages were quite straightforward: First Left Eye, Second Right Eye, and Third Heart Eye.

The first stage, First Left Eye, trained premonitions, which involved sensing the opponent's movements in your mind. The second stage trained physical reactions, enabling your body to follow the judgments made by your premonitions in a split second.

There were certain risks for practitioners of the Heart Eye Secret Technique at these two stages, as the sixth sense was vague and inconsistent. Therefore, one must never become dependent on the Heart Eye Secret Technique, otherwise, you might find yourself caught off guard at a critical moment.

Finally, there was the third stage of the Heart Eye Secret Technique. At this level, you develop the true Heart Eye. This was when it felt like you’ve gained a third eye, to the point that you could even visualize images in your mind, like having a condensed and blurry god’s perspective. This allowed you to analyze and counter your surrounding enemies' various attacks.

Cassius realized that he had severely underestimated the Heart Eye Secret Technique of the Mad Lion Sect. It was on a different level compared to the Midak Balance Disruption technique. If he were to integrate the two, the Heart Eye Secret Technique would undoubtedly serve as the foundation, with the Midak Balance Disruption technique being incorporated into it, rather than the two techniques sharing equal weight.

Additionally, Mi An also discussed some of the drawbacks of the Heart Eye Secret Technique—although it might be more accurate to say that it wasn’t as powerful as Cassius had imagined. The Heart Eye Secret Technique actually originated from a characteristic state of combat artists: an aura or Qi formed by force.

One of the effects of this aura was that, as long as a combat artist was within its range, they could instantly sense an opponent’s moves and respond accordingly.

The effect of the Heart Eye Secret Technique was not just similar; it was exactly the same because the predecessors of the Mad Lion Sect had used the basis of this very state of aura to create the Heart Eye Secret Technique.

This meant that if a practitioner of the Heart Eye Secret Technique reached the level of a combat artist, the technique’s effectiveness would inevitably decrease. However, a combat artist who has trained in the Heart Eye Secret Technique would certainly have stronger premonitions than one who hasn’t.

This is because if everyone reaches the level of a combat artist and has premonitions through their Qi, the effect becomes less pronounced. But at the pugilist level, where you have the premonition abilities and others don’t, the effect is highly significant.

Mi An’s instruction greatly benefited Cassius. Not only did the old man teach Cassius the Heart Eye Secret Technique, but he also shared some of his knowledge about Covert Martial Arts, including the many experiences of the old masters.

Listening to Mi An’s lecture, Cassius nodded slightly. He also recalled the ability Duomo displayed in the Alphama Mountains, which seemed like a breath-locking technique. It seemed like a good time to ask now.

"Mr. Mi An, I have another question."