Legacy of Hatred

The world came to a standstill, albeit not due to any technique or Qi. All those who had been watching the clash from afar held their breath, unsure what to make of the scene.

The massive, upward current had dispersed soon enough, rising too high for its own good, stretching itself thin until it became nothing more than harmless air.

Everything the current had lifted mostly remained in the air. Even the biggest boulders had turned into dust by then, which hovered like a vertical, dim cloud.

There was also something odd that didn’t want to fade. A black line connected the ground to the sky, like a trail that had scarred the world too deeply for it to vanish.

A figure was on one end of that trail, kneeling with her face pointed at the sky. She didn’t move, and her state was unclear from a distance. A distraction even arrived before the inspection could become thorough.

A bleeding body fell from the sky, motionless, sprinkling red drops at his passage. He looked about to crash head-first into the ground when a tiny blur caught him mid-air, managing to soften the otherwise lethal landing.

The landing still lifted some dust from the circular groove around the man-made mountain where Jessica was kneeling. Yet, even that dispersed soon enough, restoring the complete stillness.

A few silent seconds went by, almost stirring the audience into action, when a hoarse hiss resounded from the groove around the man-made mountain. Bubbly coughs followed, alternating with those animal cries.

Everything soon went quiet again, but the silence only lasted a single second now. Hoarse breathing and scraping noises resounded from the circular cavity until the figure that had fallen in it became visible.

The rooting expert was actually alive, sort of. Blood leaked from his open, foaming mouth. His torso was a mess of torn flesh, and his right arm hung limply from his side. Even his legs seemed completely useless, leaving red trails on the ground.

There was something between the man’s teeth. A pipe leaked black smoke as he clung to the flying fan that dragged him over the man-made mountain, slowly reaching its top.

The fan succeeded at bringing the rooting expert to the same circular platform where the branching expert was kneeling, but he slumped down as soon as he reached the destination.

High-pitched whines resounded as the fan darted left and right above the man’s lying figure, seemingly worried. Yet, smoke kept rising, and something else eventually moved.

The rooting expert lifted his trembling left arm before slamming his fist on the ground, pushing himself up. He slowly sat down, the fan pushing on his back to stop him from falling.

Then, the man reached for his kneeling opponent, who fell back as soon as he touched her, revealing her state to everyone.

The woman had a fist-sized hole on the top of her head and nothing to seal it. That was a channel that ran as far as her waist, coming from the other side, as if she had been impaled.

Most importantly, there was no life in that impaled figure. The branching expert was dead. A rooting expert had actually killed her.

Liam flinched at the cries that reached his ears, frowning, squinting his eyes to endure the debilitating chaos in his mind. He was in a sorry state, the worst parts invisible to the public.

Even after the complementary poisonous substances had flared and the infection from the rank 3 Cloud Pill, Jessica had still managed to launch one last devastating spell.

Liam had prioritized unleashing the Sky-Splitting Bolt despite the danger, and the weapon art had cut through part of the destructive gale, but everything else had hit him.

The body Liam had just healed had crumbled once more, its condition worse than before. His innate strength and the Primal Urge had kept him in one piece, but so much of him was unresponsive now.

The Primal Urge wasn’t active anymore, so Liam was also dealing with the backlash. The Core-Sheltering Pill had protected his cultivation, but his body and mind were suffering.

Nothing had broken. For once, the Primal Urge hadn’t crippled Liam. That was partially because he was beyond rooting experts now, so his body could endure that suicidal strength better.

However, a lot was due to the battle itself. Liam simply hadn’t had the chance to push himself beyond his physical integrity. Jessica had never let him.

The current damage came entirely from the exchanges. Just like with Dominic, facing a rank 3 spell with body alone had basically put Liam out of commission, but a rank 2 healing pill was already inside him, dealing with the worst injuries.

The sense of weakness was the main issue. Liam had made full use of his rank 3 arsenal, even letting the fan devour his Qi basically nonstop. With no less than four Qi-Storage Pills, he had dealt with that insane energy consumption. Still, his meridians and cultivation didn’t enjoy being emptied and refilled so abruptly multiple times.

It was a strain beyond the physical. It affected the glass-like representation that was Liam’s cultivation. His very being felt weary, brittle, as if the faintest breeze could shatter it.

Liam was no stranger to that feeling. His cultivation was incredibly resilient. It was the most resilient in the world, so he didn’t fear clogging it with alchemical impurities, but there was no product for his current state. Only genuine, natural rest could fix it.

And then, there was the state of Liam’s mind, which always was the worst part of the Primal Urge’s backlash. The hyper-clarity had remained, but only to make him experience all the pain and exhaustion that his body had accumulated, pairing it with the deafening hisses and auditory hallucinations in his ears.

Such was the price to pay for the demonic art. It was sheer torture that never led to insanity. The Primal Urge wanted Liam to experience all that suffering in its entirety and extreme detail without any solace.

Still, Liam had made improvements even in that regard. Be it due to how used he was to that torture, his transformation against Dominic, or his current standing at eighty-three minor roots, he could endure everything a bit better, moving to the next order of business.

Liam didn’t have the privilege of resting. He felt the countless gazes on him and recalled why he had chosen to escape now in the first place. The border was a mess, and he still had to leave it as soon as possible before more problems popped out.

Of course, Liam didn’t forget about his prey. He had succeeded at that impossible hunt, so he began undressing Jessica’s corpse with his barely functioning arm.

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