Legacy of Hatred

Killing a mid-stage branching expert was a great achievement, but Liam had a long list of priorities that came before any celebration.

First, Liam looked north, suppressing the instinctive hiss about to escape his mouth. Andrew hadn’t been the only one to sense the overlords’ attention, and Liam couldn’t disregard it, either.

A true catastrophe would unfold if even one of the two overlords decided to move. Creatures at that level could uproot the entire forbidden zone, vastly surpassing the topography-altering destruction the Demoness had caused.

The world seemed to share Liam’s alertness. The very air tasted tense, as if frozen, awaiting those fearsome beings’ decision.

Still, the contender was no more. Liam’s last attack had depleted almost all his poison, limiting it to Andrew’s corpse and what had splashed from it. A new infection had started, but nothing at a level that could set off the overlords.

Of course, animals abided by their own rules. The invader’s disappearance didn’t necessarily imply stillness, but Liam had something working in his favor.

That forbidden zone had two separate rulers, likely wary of each other. One moving would force the other into action, and only cataclysmic destruction could result from that, uprooting the very domain they owned, which was why nothing happened.

Liam sighed in relief when he felt the distant but terrifying attention recede, moving to the next order of business.

Strength left Liam’s body as he stopped the Primal Urge, his attention already going to his pulsating red canvas.

The Demonic Art put cores, roots, and branches under heavy stress, forcing them to squeeze themselves dry to unleash Qi wildly at the cost of their integrity.

However, Liam found nothing wrong with his cultivation. The light quivering soon subsided, his core interrupting any wild Qi release, restoring complete control.

Liam felt some fatigue down to his very existence, but no damage was done. He had just pushed his cultivation a bit. His most intensive alchemical sessions would likely do far worse than the Demonic Art now.

The fatigue extended to Liam’s body. His pants were in pieces, and bloodstains tainted him, but no actual injury existed, either inside or outside. He only felt the ordinary exhaustion of having pushed physical prowess beyond its limits.

The exhaustion was also slight, proof of how much the breakthrough had improved Liam’s body and confirming that he could push it far, far further.

The only drawback that didn’t fade involved Liam’s mind. Hisses and screams from the auditory hallucination resounded in his ears, including the higher sensitivity the hyper-clarity had left behind.

Yet, the issue was annoying rather than debilitating. Liam could bear the drawback as a rooting expert, let alone now.

With the check-up done, Liam moved his attention to the weapon in his right hand. He was still wielding the Black Bow, and its condition confirmed his past worries.

Nothing had broken, but Liam spotted rough patches on the bow’s previously perfectly smooth frame. The string was the worst offender, featuring deeper marks that almost counted as grooves.

’It’s corroding,’ Liam sighed internally.

The greatsword wasn’t a magical weapon, but it was made from a rank 3 material. The alchemical spell also didn’t affect it. The spinning required to condense the Qi stopped its properties from leaking out, avoiding any form of corrosion.

Instead, the Black Bow was a rank 2 weapon, and Liam’s new technique actively enveloped it during the nocking. It was also a poison concentrate, being among the most corrosive energy Liam could summon.

Truth be told, Liam wasn’t even sure the Black Bow could endure the Sky-Splitting Bolt now that he had access to the branching stage’s Qi.

At the very least, the weapon was bound to struggle, accumulating damage when paired with the new technique, meaning it would definitely snap sooner or later, especially as Liam got stronger and better at wielding his poison.

The issue had no solution. Liam had even expected it, hence his shameless request to the Dark Heaven Tribe, so he moved to the next item on the list, storing the bow while summoning his green jade.

The battle had highlighted much that Liam needed to note down. He had been correct in believing that he could kill stronger cultivators within the same stage, but the topic had plenty of nuances.

On the plus side, Liam’s poisons were extremely effective already. His ability to use what he infected as a replacement for his energy also solved the lack of endless Qi-Storage pills to consume.

As long as Liam poisoned the world, smaller Qi reserves wouldn’t affect him. He would be able to continue fighting at full power despite his techniques’ high energy consumption, his only limit being structural.

Yet, there were negative parts. Liam’s poisons were effective but limited in their forms. Andrew’s armor had protected him from most of Liam’s arsenal, so he had to diversify it to have a way to infect his opponents no matter their defensive methods.

Liam had also felt the absence of body-enhancing pills deeply. What was normal to others was extremely limiting to him. He could have been able to do far more if he had pushed his physical strength to the breaking point.

That applied to the greatsword, too. If Liam’s slashes had been stronger and faster, the armor would have posed no issue. He even risked getting to the point where he couldn’t swing the alchemical spell once he learned to stuff more Qi into it.

’I need to become better at using the greatsword at the very least,’ Liam thought. ’But the body-enhancing pill’s absence must be solved. It’s like I’m trapped in a body I can’t fully use right now.’

Even without alchemical products, skills could deliver results, but they required training to build.

’Not yet,’ Liam repeated the Ancestral Snake’s words in his mind at that point.

It would be easy to connect Liam’s inability to swallow cultivators to his current level. Chances were that his Qi had to evolve again before he could perform such a feat.

However, Liam had received vague hints about a seemingly fitting topic. Both his great Master and Archbishop Ignatius had made comments about his dantian’s nature. They had been brief, almost casual, but Liam couldn’t help but review them now.

’Because you would be dead, quite literally,’ Liam recalled his Master’s words before moving to the Archbishop’s comment. ’Alchemy is a better fit for your core, for now.’

The old Liam would have failed to put together the pieces, but that similar hidden meaning pointed in a specific direction, one he couldn’t stop seeing.

’Will my core truly evolve?’ Liam wondered.

Liam couldn’t dwell on the matter since another item in his list of priorities arrived, accompanied by footsteps that drew his feral gaze to her beautiful figure.

Rachel kept her distance from any black spot in the ground, kneeling a few meters from Liam, cupping her fist, but failing to lower her head, her bright eyes unable to leave him.

"Rachel of the Dark Heaven Tribe kneels to the bloodline of the Ancestral Snake," Rachel declared. "May our alliance be as strong as our mighty ancestors’ and bring chaos to the Heavens."