Legacy of Hatred

Liam didn’t use the fan’s ability. The team he was heading for was less than a minute away, and it showed no sign of wanting to resume climbing, so he had no reason to get there in seconds.

Besides, that speed was a true winning play, especially when enemies weren’t ready for it, and the body-enhancing pill had added another potential surprise to it.

By the time Liam reached his target, the latter was ready for him. The second team had ten cultivators, but only three were rooting experts. They had erected a compound dome made of ethereal heptagons like the one Liam had seen in the inheritance, and golden bullets were already flying at him, but the scene hardly fazed him.

The bullets were incredibly fast, just as Liam recalled them, but he saw them now. His minor roots had increased by a factor of nine since the last time he faced that attack, and he had far more than raw power at his disposal.

The fan saw the bullets better than Liam, but it needed his input for intricate strategies, and his senses were up to the task. The weapon swerved left and right, nimbly navigating through the barrage, not letting anything touch him, until he was in range.

Liam recalled the defensive shockwave and knew about the compound dome’s toughness, so he would use something capable of dealing with both. He lifted the greatsword above his head and just threw it at the team.

While the Church’s team mostly had foundation experts to fuel their combined martial arts, there were still two rooting experts attending to the compound dome. The greatsword wasn’t even a magical item. It had no hope of shattering the defensive technique.

But there were three aspects the team couldn’t have possibly predicted. The first was the dark weapon’s insane weight. It was so heavy that even the fan struggled under it. The second was the throw’s strength.

As for the third aspect, it involved what was brewing inside the greatsword.

With the body-enhancing pill, Liam’s body was nothing short of a permanent rank 2 martial art. Throwing such a heavy object actually made it a clumsy weapon art, and the clash showed it.

The greatsword’s tip slammed into one of the heptagons, which flickered, before a shattering noise resounded. A crack had opened in that ethereal shape, with the weapon stabbed right through it.

Then, a patch of pitch-black darkness replaced the scene, expanding so instantaneously that no one in the team could see it coming, let alone attempt to dodge it.

The affected area was smaller this time. The trip had been too short for Liam to condense the same amount of Qi as before, and the expansion had started in the sky.

Yet, the three rooting experts were in the front, closer to the attack’s origin, and two died on the spot. The third survived, but his figure was riddled with dark, sizzling patches. Half his body had become poisonous to everything else.

Before anyone could catch up with that development, Liam was already among the team, greatsword in hand, having leaped at a foundation expert while the fan was after other survivors.

The main force was gone, and everything had happened too quickly. In mere seconds, Liam was back on the fan, flying after the last team, nothing but corpses and poisonous slime behind him.

With communications from the other teams cut off, the last group of five had decided to retreat, but there was only one rooting expert in their midst, and watching the incoming flying fiend forced him to make a tough decision.

The rooting expert transformed into a streak of golden light that left the mountain range in no time. He was abandoning his companions because relaying what he had seen took priority. He just had to put enough distance before using his communicator.

That never happened. A blur caught up with the golden streak and cut it in half. As fast as that movement technique was, the fan’s ability was faster.

Still, even at ninety-five minor roots, the fan’s Qi consumption remained unbearable. Liam would run dry soon if he kept abusing that speed, but the battle seemed to be over.

The last members of the Church were four foundation experts who had frozen stiff after their team leader had abandoned them. Terror filled their faces when they saw Liam approaching, but no one tried to run. Their legs just wouldn’t move.

Liam could end that with a wave of his sword. Actually, the fan could pretty much deal with the four instantly, but something nagged at the back of his brain when he saw the group.

The sensation was odd, but Liam knew better than to ignore it. His perception never lied. If his brain had noticed something, it had to be there.

Liam jumped off the fan, landing in front of the frozen group, a single swing of his sword cleaving two foundation experts in half. The third said something, but a punch interrupted him, blowing his whole head apart.

As for the fourth, he had tried to retreat, only to fall on his butt, staring in terror at the hulking piece of dark metal descending toward him. Death filled his vision, but it never arrived. The weapon just stopped before it could reach him.

Liam tilted his head to peek past the stretched greatsword at the young man below, a deep frown afflicting his face. There was something there. He couldn’t see it in that bald head, and even that blonde beard didn’t tell him anything, but he knew those blue eyes.

Liam moved the greatsword away and leaned forward, sniffing loudly. The man’s scent was different from what he recalled, but he recognized it. He was just shocked to find it there of all places, especially on such an almost unfamiliar face.

"Adrian?" Liam asked, speaking the last name he thought he would speak in the northern region, the name of his childhood friend.

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