Legacy of Hatred

The ability to prepare the alchemical spell mid-fight had been Liam’s main focus in the recent period. It was the only field that could show some quick improvement, and its power was undeniable.

As Liam had predicted, two weeks had been too short a time to improve the alchemical spell meaningfully. He had only managed to increase the energy he could accumulate and its casting speed.

Still, every little bit helped. If Liam hadn’t focused on the alchemical spell, he wouldn’t have been able to condense that much Qi during the few exchanges since the Inquisitor’s appearance, and the results showed it.

The patch of all-devouring energy soon faded, revealing its effects on the world. Nothing had reached the other fights, but a sizable chunk of charred soil had turned into a toxic slime.

Even part of the air carried poisonous stains, but Liam only had eyes for the sizzling figure at the end of his greatsword.

Inquisitor Cornelius finally showed traces of damage. Part of his robe had disappeared, revealing the melted dark skin that had replaced most of his chest. He was also covered in dark-green spots, some of his invisible Qi now carrying those colors.

The damage wasn’t too extensive. Even with a poisoned cultivation, Inquisitor Cornelius’ innate defenses had been enough to block the alchemical spell partially, also preventing the greatsword from piercing his heart.

However, poison was an insidious weapon. Its true threat was the damage over time, and there were three of those infecting Inquisitor Cornelius.

The dark-green poison from the pill had rank 3 power and affected the dantian and its channels. The alchemical spell had delivered a condensed version of Liam’s Qi, also having rank 3 strength, which forced anything it touched to become toxic.

The venom on the greatsword came last. While it only had rank 2 power, it was already Liam’s second time applying it, and Inquisitor Cornelius was busy fighting off two more poisons now.

Moreover, the venom’s power was connected to Liam’s cultivation. He always changed it when he experienced improvements, and he had ninety-six minor roots now. What his glans produced existed beyond the Heavens.

But, even with all that, Liam didn’t show an ounce of complacency. Forcing his way through the humming shockwave had left him covered in blood leaked from his exploded skin, but he only had the next attack in mind.

Since so much of the Inquisitor was busy fighting off the multilayered infection, his innate defenses were at their weakest, enabling attacks Liam could rarely employ.

Liam snapped his right sleeve at the Inquisitor, yellow needles shooting out of it. They were mere Qi-enhanced metal, barely meeting the requirements to be considered rank 2 materials, but that was far from the point.

Of the six needles that left Liam’s sleeve, only two crossed the Inquisitor’s Qi and stabbed him. They didn’t dig too deeply, but that was already enough. A poison master only needed to draw blood.

Those needles came directly from the workshop Liam had set up in his brownish ring. Containers filled with poisonous powder held common or basic Qi-enhanced items that went through the Alchemical Refinement there, benefiting from the time manipulation in that ethereal space.

That was a side-project Liam had started ever since the battle cages. It was his way of solving the issue of purchasing increasingly more powerful and expensive tools to apply his poison with.

The project wasn’t perfect by any means. The Alchemical Refinement was a mere imitation of what formations and inscriptions could do, making it highly unstable and unreliable.

Yet, Liam had gradually improved the field’s outcomes by tinkering with the required powder that used his venom as its main ingredient. His goal was to stabilize it completely, creating something new like his Master had done with the compound concoctions, and he wasn’t there yet, but his stashes of tools had increased nonetheless.

Just like the wooden knife had been, those needles intrinsically carried Liam’s venom, but the project had a second-order effect. By making those tools rank 2 materials, they had been able to endure the application of additional poisons on their tips.

’Paralysis and pain,’ Liam thought, knowing exactly which poisons from his collection the needles that had hit their target had carried. Naturally, they just had rank 2 power, but he wasn’t done.

The needles had also added another wave of the rank 2 venom, and Liam exhaled afterward, his breath being pitch-black. The rank 2 Poisonous Breath engulfed the Inquisitor, aggravating his condition even further.

Liam was doing everything almost simultaneously. Except for the dark-green spots, he knew Inquisitor Cornelius’ Qi had the power to fend off everything else, so Liam planned to do as much damage as possible in that defenseless window.

The tactic employed with Jessica was also at play. In battle, Liam only used poisons that would join forces instead of conflicting with each other, and it seemed to go somewhere.

Golden light suddenly shone through the black cloud, only for a figure to escape. Inquisitor Cornelius had turned into a blur, retreating at high speed, but his technique failed after mere meters.

Inquisitor Cornelius crashed into the ground, rolling a few times, before forcing himself up. He stood on one knee, holding his chest, more dark-green spots popping over his figure, but the danger wasn’t over.

A giant shape flew at the Inquisitor. The greatsword filled his view, but he didn’t fear. He was unbelievably strong, and his simple punch was enough to deflect it, but someone was hiding behind it.

Liam had followed the greatsword on top of the fan but let it slide under his feet now. The weapon folded to turn into a knife that headed straight for the Inquisitor’s face, and there was no dodging it.

The Inquisitor could only lose his left eye. Still, that wasn’t the end, since a drum-like sound resounded as soon as Liam landed on the ground, his hair fluttering wildly in the gales of black Qi blowing from his figure.

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