Legacy of Hatred

There was no time to waste. Liam didn’t know for how long the Inquisitor’s defenselessness would continue, so he unleashed his best technique, and he wasn’t alone.

The Qi blowing from Liam’s battered body lifted a black canvas behind him, darkening the night, but red light joined it. Vast flames flickered wildly in the sky, with Red Boar and his huge hammer at their center.

With the Poisonous Cloud Pill, the Poisonous Breath, the alchemical spell, and Liam’s raw Qi, Red Boar had been unable to join the assault. He had been one step behind in the first place, but he had caught up with it now, and he seemed set on using ranged attacks.

Honestly, Liam knew that one step of the Seven Hellish Steps wouldn’t be enough. Priest Fred had overpowered it with a defensive technique, while Jessica had endured it with her superior Qi.

Inquisitor Cornelius was in a worse predicament than both, but Liam would have preferred to be certain of his final blow. Still, poor teamwork got in the way.

Red Boar’s attack was already coming, and Liam’s brain had long since sent warning signals. He wouldn’t have the time to add a second step before being engulfed by whatever that branching expert unleashed.

There was also another problem.

The fan in its folded form had stabbed the Inquisitor’s left eye, but his hand had also somehow gotten there, grabbing the weapon and preventing it from digging deeper.

That reaction speed was simply insane. Liam was feeding his Qi to the fan after all, and Jessica had only narrowly managed to dodge it back then. Instead, the Inquisitor had properly caught it.

The feat could be another demonstration of Inquisitor Cornelius’ incredible physical prowess. Yet, it could also mean that his Qi was recovering, meaning that Liam’s window was expiring.

A weaker attack on a defenseless opponent was better than a stronger attack on a defensive technique. The Inquisitor would always produce better results anyway thanks to his superior Qi.

Liam had to make sure not to mess up Red Boar’s aim, so he forcefully half-turned, slamming his elbow down. A white sleeve appeared in its trajectory, but that did little to stop what was coming.

A torrent of black Qi blew outward, generating the apocalyptic shockwaves that only branching experts should be capable of summoning. The ground opened as the storm ravaged it, and a figure flew through it, letting the violent gales push him back.

Liam slammed his greatsword and fan to the ground as he left the storm’s boundary, stopping himself and lifting his head in time to see the fiery attack that descended and the roar it launched through the world.

The flames Red Boar had generated had disappeared, gathered in his now incandescent hammer. He swung it down, unleashing a blinding beam.

There was no explosion, not immediately. The ground rose as if solid waves were expanding, pushed by something brewing underneath, before the eruption unfolded.

Liam just flew away, not opposing the process, to put as much distance as possible from that destructive power. He found himself surrounded by yellow fumes when he managed to stop himself. He had returned to the swamp, but his gaze immediately snapped at the battlefield ahead.

There was nothing to see, or rather, Liam couldn’t see much despite his incredible senses. Everything was a mess of twisted air, smoke, and ash, with enough Qi to mess with his perception.

As always, Liam prepared for the worst. Even if Red Boar’s incredible attack had put an end to the battle, the war wasn’t over.

Liam still had some Qi left, but he threw a Qi-Storage pill in his mouth nonetheless, activating his rank 3 healing martial art in the meantime. His energy stopped leaking from his body to condense inside his injuries while his meridians returned to full capacity, only for retches to take over his throat.

Mouthfuls of blood escaped Liam’s lips as he coughed onto the ground. Everything inside his torso felt odd, shaking and filling him with disgust. Something was terribly wrong, and he knew what.

Despite being Liam’s first time experiencing it, he recognized the symptoms of abundant alchemical impurities. His great Master had described them in great detail both in person and in his inheritance for obvious reasons.

At that point, Liam had used a total of eight Qi-Storage pills and one body-enhancing pill. Both were tuned for his quasi-stage, basically making them products beyond what was commonly referred to as the second rank. They were extremely strong, meaning dangerous.

As sturdy as Liam’s cultivation was, he had put it under heavy stress by emptying and refilling his meridians nonstop, leading to hitting his limit and causing a backlash.

’Damnit,’ Liam cursed internally, stopping the Life Qi in a hurry.

That warning given by Liam’s body told him that he couldn’t endure any additional alchemical product. He needed to give his cultivation time to expel the impurities before he could restart abusing himself. He would end like his Master otherwise.

Luckily, the last Qi-Storage pill had still gone through. Liam’s reserves were at full capacity. He just wouldn’t be able to refill them, so he couldn’t waste his energy healing himself.

’If only I were a branching expert already,’ Liam cursed again, this time at himself. He had truly done his best to expand the rooting stage’s limits as much as possible, but he had hit a true natural wall now, one that knew no solution.

Honestly, after how much Liam had contributed to the battle, cursing himself was far from fair. Yet, he didn’t care for such things. He only knew that danger still existed, and that he wouldn’t be able to face it at the best of his abilities.

And the danger even seemed to intensify because Liam’s hair stood on end, a primal fear invading every inch of his body.

The world seemed to agree with Liam since the ash and smoke in the air froze before blowing upward, accompanied by a deafening howl.

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