Legacy of Hatred

The Seismic Palm was deadly but wasteful in terms of Qi. Liam could have achieved similar effects without using as much energy, but the sudden development didn’t make him forget his main goal, making him rely on a technique everyone knew he owned.

The martial art and the figure it sent flying parted the mist. A crash even followed. The hooded cultivator slammed on the ground and slid over it for a few meters, only for bubbly coughs to afflict him once his body stopped.

A new scent joined the area. Liam smelled blood as a wet patch expanded over the cloth in front of the foundation expert’s face, and he knew why.

The Seismic Palm could be both destructive and insidious. It could have external and internal effects. Cultivators could survive broken bones quite easily, but their organs were a different matter.

The Qi was a magical energy, but it couldn’t replace a heart, not when it came to a foundation expert, at least.

So, the hooded cultivator coughed a few more times before going completely silent, his Qi finally failing to keep him alive any longer.

That death didn’t trigger any emotion inside Liam. Instead, he only considered the development, uncaring about the already closing mist since he didn’t need to inspect anything else to obtain answers.

’The Divine Cult,’ Liam limited his thoughts to those few words while a broader picture formed in his mind.

That black, tight robe belonged to the same force that had kidnapped Liam one year ago. Moreover, the mist carried the Divine Cult’s drug properties, only in gaseous shape.

The drug’s effects seemed more insidious like that, but Liam had built complete immunity to it, basically making it a nutrient for his core with no side effects, but that benefit hardly crossed his mind.

After all, something far greater took priority. Clearly, the Divine Cult had launched an attack on the Evergreen Canyon.

’Is this my fault?’ Liam wondered. ’Did the white mask plan to do this anyway?’

Liam couldn’t be sure, and the answer didn’t matter. He only knew that he was now in a mess, and learning its rules was key to surviving it, as well as benefiting from it.

Liam breathed deeply, letting the poison in the air refill what his powerful Seismic Palm had depleted, while turning toward his companions. He only saw vague silhouettes in the thick mist, but his nape warned him about their attention.

The Qi in the air might be messing with Liam’s perception, shortening its range and lowering its accuracy, but his Seniors were rooting experts. Nothing had escaped Simon and Anastasia, and Liam’s performance had stopped them from helping him, focusing instead on something more concerning.

More silhouettes became visible beyond Liam’s Seniors. At first, only one appeared, but they quickly multiplied until a total of five stood among the mist.

The silhouettes didn’t advance, and Anastasia and Simon also stood still, almost making Liam wonder whether the mist had dulled their minds, only for the latter to prove him wrong.

"Enough with the theatrics," Simon declared before releasing his Qi in a more forceful way compared to what Anastasia had done before.

A rooting expert’s Qi was indeed superior, denser, carrying more energy, and something else Liam couldn’t describe when it washed over him, pushing away the mist.

Simon’s energy release had been enough to clear the area, exposing the five figures wearing identical tight black robes with their faces covered. Four foundation experts were in their midst, with only one rooting expert standing at their center.

"You are infringing on the Swallowing Forest Sect’s official ground," Simon announced. "You are also intruding on a mission sanctioned by no less than six Sects."

Simon calmly inspected the motionless hooded figures before continuing. "I won’t ask who you are, just how you want to die."

Liam had to admit he shared Simon’s arrogance, albeit that only made him warier.

Superior numbers had no meaning when the smaller side had two elite rooting experts. Four of those five hooded cultivators were nothing but fodder in Simon and Anastasia’s eyes.

However, the white-masked man was one of the Swallowing Forest Sect’s Elders. He knew the caliber of the cultivators the mission involved. He wouldn’t have launched an attack that the Divine Cult was bound to lose.

Truth be told, Liam wasn’t alone in his wariness. Even without knowing the full picture, the math didn’t add up for Simon and Anastasia, and their worries turned out to be justified.

Nothing moved, but a shattering noise resounded from the hooded rooting expert, and everything went dark.

Liam found himself immersed in complete blackness, cut off from the outside world in ways that made no sense. He didn’t hear, see, smell, taste, or perceive anything anymore, and the same went for his feet.

Liam knew he was standing, but he couldn’t feel the ground. The event was beyond destabilizing, stiffening him out of fear that a wrong step would hurl him into a bottomless void, only for pain to arrive.

Something sharp dug through Liam’s left side, fighting against his firm muscles and Qi to delve even deeper into his flesh. Yet, his hand snapped back, waving it at the darkness that had hurt him.

The pain receded, or rather, it stopped advancing. Liam even felt something slip out of his injury, as well as some warm wetness on his fingers. He brought them under his gaze, spotting blood on his fingertips.

Whatever had attacked Liam, it seemed he had drawn its blood, but his predicament remained terrible, and it only worsened.

The same sharp pain returned, this time from the right side of Liam’s chest, but he reacted faster, waving his clawed hand at the darkness in front of him, not caring about which abilities he might reveal anymore.

Warmth spread from Liam’s fingers again as the pain receded, but he barely recorded it. The darkness kept blinding him, leaving him at a loss for what to do or what was happening.

If Liam let that continue, his opponents would bleed him to death, and only because his core was dealing with their more insidious, probably main strategy.

The stab wounds weren’t the point. Liam would know it because his expertise matched the hooded cultivators’ battle tactics.

Something numbing had tried to invade Liam after each wound, even slightly succeeding, only for his core to devour whatever substance had tainted the blades that had stabbed him.

The hooded cultivators were relying on poison, but not a deadly one. They seemed to want to put Liam out of commission instead of killing him, which explained why nothing had come for his head, neck, or heart.

So, Liam could last longer than his opponents had planned, but that was no winning plan, and he quickly devised one.

Liam was about to snap his arms down, emptying his sleeves to fight poison with poison, when light fended through the darkness, bringing rumblings and heat with it.

The blinding darkness shattered as if it were made of glass, abruptly disappearing to reveal the real world. Liam became able to sense again, finding a knife-wielding hooded foundation expert behind him, but having to focus on something far more concerning.

Simon and Anastasia hadn’t moved, and hooded cultivators encircled them. Simon was bleeding from his right arm, while Anastasia had two deep cuts on her legs, probably caused by the rooting expert hovering around her.

Still, that had turned out to be a mistake on the Divine Cult’s side since flames were already raging on Anastasia’s palms.

"How dare you scar my legs before my beloved can enjoy them?" Anastasia questioned, her tone conveying the crazed expression she was probably wearing as she joined her fiery hands, unleashing a heatwave so dense that Liam’s feet left the ground.