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Born In Blood Chapter 191-200

Born In Blood Chapter 191-200

Chapter 191 Stock

 

Liam’s eyes widened at Krel’s statement.

“You can do that?”

Krel nodded casually.

“Only as a group. Rarely do we hunt, and it’s out of necessity. The Rank 4 parts provide a steady source of income for the biggest hideout of the Temple. It’s a black-market proxy through which we receive resources and techniques from the outside, otherwise we would have died out a long time ago.”

Liam was immediately interested.

‘Elder Aki used something called Vicirum metal, so there wouldn’t be any reason for them to withhold the materials. Unlucky.’

Rank 4 magical beast parts were incredibly valuable, and coveted by inscription masters, alchemists and forgemasters alike.

Even in the academy, he didn’t have the chance to forge or practice with them.

That privilege was strictly available to year three students.

“Can I come too?” Liam asked. “I’m sure I won’t weigh down your group.”

Liam wanted to see how his abilities fared against Rank 4 beasts.

At the very least, a Rank 4 center of power was required to fight a Zenith ranked magical beast on even grounds.

However, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Liam had several advantages.

Krel chuckled amusingly.

“Those hunts are only done between the squadron leaders… but if an Elder vouches for you, I’m sure you can break that rule.”

Liam nodded, inwardly happy.

Elder Jax gave him his respect.

That had to be worth something.

Krel showed him a few more places after that.

An Armory selling shabby armor and weapons – barely at the peak of Rank 1 – and techniques that weren’t really usable for Liam’s standards, in addition to a dueling arena and a pill store.

It turned out, the Temple worked with the same merit point system as the academy and every other work-based organization.

The system ensured the acolytes and disciples worked hard to achieve a higher status within the underground.

Fortunately, the pills would greatly help Liam’s progress.

They were a collection of the items the Temple stole from minor Sects above ground.

Similar to the hunts for Rank 4 beasts, small, mid or large-scale raids like those happened only with the high ranking members – the Shadows and stronger Disciples – and it only occurred when any suspicion of them was minimal.

“What are the Elders doing right now?” Liam asked as his gaze swept the surroundings. “I don’t see why they can’t personally hunt the Rank 4 magical beasts or take care of the lower-ranking Clans above.”

Shaking his head, Krel grew stern.

“They’re in charge of much more important matters. Besides, if a mysterious Zenith came and decimated a Sect, it would attract attention from the Main Lands.”

Krel didn’t add more, leaving Liam to guess as to what those matters were.

‘They’re probably figuring out ways to strengthen themselves until the Patriarch’s return from seclusion. The pressure from Elder Jane’s hall was enough to shatter my mental sphere if I didn’t use Thicken.’

Eventually, Liam and Krel arrived at a large base with inscribed mission boards all over them, filled with groups of acolytes and disciples going through the missions.

In the middle, was a large table set with an ethereal black map of the entire island.

Amazed momentarily, Liam briefly sifted through the missions and the rewards given upon completion.

Most of them were resource gathering quests, but here and there, an assassination mission with stern requirements were available.

With his level and expertise, they were relatively easy to do.

“That’s everything. Oh, and before I forget,” Krel fumbled around with his ring and took out a parchment paper which he handed to Liam.

“You’ve been tasked with making three shortswords around the second Rank by the end of this month. They don’t have to be inscribed, but if they are, you’ll be rewarded greater.”

Liam let out a grunt in response.

The Elders already wanted to make use of him… but he expected just as much.

He took a look at the parchment, which had a crude drawing of the required shortswords and the merit rewards it came with.

Since Liam’s specialization was with darkness Spirit Beasts, they gave him more leeway with the weapons’ rankings.

‘At least it gives me more merits compared to most missions they offer. They were considerate enough not to force me to inscribe for them.’

Though, finding the Spirit Beasts still depended on him.

Liam stored the parchment and gave Krel an understanding nod.

“Good luck.”

Before leaving, Krel gave Liam the date for the next hunt – two and a half weeks.

‘I better prepare until that time. I’ll ask Elder Jax for permission a few days before the hunt.’

Liam shifted his gaze to the missions again.

The first thing Liam wanted to do was get the tasks over and done with.

‘I’ll kill two birds with one stone. I can find the Spirit Beasts and use them to make the three shortswords.’

Though, he wasn’t sure if Spirit Beasts functioned the same way as magical beasts did with the Primordial Forging method.

Shifting through the various missions, Liam settled on one and accepted it.

It simply required him to bring back three Rank 3 Spirit Beasts of any element or type, which fit like a glove for his needs.

Scanning the ethereal map in the center of the room, Liam memorized the layout and arduously made his way out of the underground.

‘Damn it, this walk is too long. The Shadow users have it easy when they can just blend into the ground and teleport large distances.’

When he finally arrived the crevice, Liam grimaced as he saw the same shadow formation that radiated danger.

‘Wait, does my token work too?’

Liam gripped his token by the edges and slowly slid it over to the mass of shadows.

As the token made contact, the formation momentarily dissipated.

Liam instantly left through the narrow gorge and ran towards the wilderness, using Vanishing Steps and Fleeting Foot to increase his speed.

Higher ranked Spirit Beasts weren’t that rare where the Temple’s main base was, so Liam didn’t have to walk far.

‘I should stock up on human bodies while I’m at it.’

Chapter 192 Hideout

 

Liam didn’t think the Temple would be so lax with the fact that he casually ate human beings.

Who was to say the acolytes were safe from his savage cravings?

Coupled with how he was a foreigner with a mysterious background and new to Ilali, letting out that secret was bound to stir trouble for him.

‘The Temple may hate the current governors of Ilali, but they still love the people and its lands.’

That was the exact reason why the Temple wanted revenge – too many lives were lost during the Imperialists and Dual Empire’s attacks, and the Unforgiven Shadow was out for blood.

‘As long as I don’t overeat and target rogue criminals, the secret should be safe… but these petty thieves and murderers aren’t enough to fully nourish my body.’

Liam shrugged.

Beggars couldn’t be choosers.

‘Maybe once they trust me enough, I can request the bodies of lesser ranked cultivators to eat. Their enemies, of course.’

Pulling himself out of his musings, Liam finally arrived at a Rank 3 Spirit Beast den.

It was a group of Spiked-fur Hounds in the third Rank.

Like their name suggested, their tufts of bone-white hair were spiked and razor-sharp.

They looked like a mix of porcupine and wolf, with their growls subtly vibrating the air around them – laying around a patch of green shrubbery surrounded by thick plants.

The entire place smelled like piss.

At this point, Liam took just a minute to analyze the swiftest way to exterminate the pack of beasts.

Although the top-side of the wolves were armored with the spikes, their maws and undersides were left unprotected.

Liam hid his presence the best he could.

Although his smell was maskable to cultivators of a lower or similar Rank, magical beasts and Spirit Beasts had powerful senses of smell.

Liam unsheathed his blades and decided to take the wolves by surprise.

Slowly, Liam crouched and cocked his knees.

As darkness tightened against the soles of his feet, Liam let go and launched himself ten meters in the air.

WHOOSH!

As he fluttered over the wolves like a kite, eight needles appeared in between each of Liam’s fingers.

In one swift motion, he flicked the needles towards the weak maws of each wolf, raining down a barrage of death.

As the needles pierced through the jaws of the beasts and exploded, Liam lithely landed in the center of the pack, his blade finding its mark on the group’s alpha.

Specifically, cleaving its maw in one instantaneous slash with his katana.

‘So sharp!’ Liam thought as he inspected the upper-tier Rank 2 blade. ‘It severed through a Rank 3’s Spirit beast’s body like butter.’

It didn’t really matter if Liam cut the beast’s jaw off.

He would make the weapons from their hardened fur anyways.

Low-pitched whimpers rang out from the other beasts as dark smoke filled the area.

Their mouths were pierced and corroded with darkness, taking away their ability to roar.

Enraged, the wolves turned around and did their best to aim their backs at Liam.

As wafer-thin furs shot through the air, Liam already began blurring, activating the first forms of his martial art and severing the wounded muzzles of the beast’s.

A few spikes smashed against his body, but barely pierced through Obsidian Skin.

In less than ten minutes, Liam cleared a pack of Rank 3 Spirit Beasts.

Storing them in his ring, Liam continued moving forward.

///

Another hour passed, and Liam was done with gathering the necessary materials to forge with.

‘It should be enough to make three shortswords or more. I’ll try to look for Spirit Beasts of the darkness element as well.’

Liam felt his hunger growing stronger.

‘I’ll take care of this first.’

After memorizing the map, Liam could instantly spot the ghetto regions of Ilali.

Little nooks and crannies that were suitable for fugitives and wanted individuals to hide in without attracting attention.

Liam would know where to look. After all, he slept more on the floors of random caves and dungeons than a soft bed.

It didn’t take long for Liam to find a gushing waterfall that led to a ravine downstream.

Water-type Spirit Beasts and magical beasts inhabited the area, but Liam saw how their numbers dwindled near the waterfall.

Liam smiled.

Silently, he began climbing the rocky edges that led horizontally to the large waterfall, intent on making his way to the center.

The stream of cold water surged over his body, drenching his lengthy hair and shredded clothes.

As he reached for another handhold, Liam’s hand went through the wall.

‘There it is.’

Smiling, Liam swung his body through the veil of water and landed on solid ground, rolling as he steadied his footing.

Right ahead were a series of large tents that were covered by a steep concave, lit by the orbs of natural light – a hideout with enough space to fit a total of 100 people.

Voices and laughter entered his ears. Ragged-robed martial artists walked this way and that way, but nobody had seen him enter.

From what Liam heard, the group had just attacked a small-sized village and gotten away with it.

Most of the men were drunk out of their minds and were boasting of their ‘grand’ accomplishment.

’26 cultivators,’ Liam thought with a broad grin as his mental waves spread through the air. ‘Their strongest isn’t even a Rank 2 Magus. They have women as hostages as well.’

Slowly, Liam’s body split with three states of darkness and formed an identical clone.

There was too much to clear on his own, and he reckoned it was good practice for his control over the Shadow Clone.

Liam gave his body-double a pair of blades and got to work, activating his Dark Wraith body and increasing his speed as he ran.

A group of men sitting around a large table – guffawing with drinks in their hands – saw a blurry, smoky, jet-black figure blink past them with a gust of wind.

A moment later, their heads flew in the air dramatically with a spurt of blood before finding space in Liam’s rings.

Chapter 193 Smile

 

Slowly, the laughter echoing throughout the concave was dwindling in volume.

In truth, the volume didn’t change, just that the people lessened in number.

In the span of twenty minutes, Liam had killed over 32 men and women that died without knowing how or why.

There wasn’t any need for him to use his darkness.

His element would only erase their flesh and blood, leaving no trace whatsoever and lessening his provisions.

Liam limited himself to using a spell only when one of them was going to shout for help.

The Shadow Clone was doing well on its own.

Liam had to keep it close to him as he moved further in, deliberately slowing himself down so he didn’t lose control over it.

The clone’s blade wasn’t as sharp as Liam’s, but it was enough to kill those with Rank 1 bodies.

Eventually, the strange silence was noticed by the stronger cultivators who exited their tents, half-naked and confused.

As their horrified eyes swept through their base, the once lively hideout was now covered with streaks of blood but no bodies.

…Except two figures – one of which was pure black with a blank expression, and the other radiating pure danger – making a beeline straight towards the group.

Before they could even take out their weapons, Liam used the first form of his martial art and decapitated the group of four in one slash – storing their bodies just as fast.

Liam heaved a sigh, cold sweat dripping from his pale face.

Using spell after spell and controlling the Shadow Clone stressed his mind by a lot.

‘That should be everyone. Only the hostages are left.’

Liam’s hard gaze shifted to the tent that the four leaders came out of.

He entered inside, and a group of women – covered with bruises and wearing tattered clothing – looked at him with fear in their eyes.

They trembled at Liam’s blood covered figure, holding each other for support.

“W-will you let us live?” one of them managed to blurt out.

Liam remained silent.

Regular humans would barely provide him any nourishment.

Their Lifeforce was incredibly weak since they never absorbed ‘Ora’ in their lives.

‘…But they saw my abilities.’

Liam said nothing and smiled warmly in response… but the grip on his blades subtly tightened.

Giving them a painless death was the least he could do.

///

Since the hideout was an effective cover, Liam simply chose to devour all the bodies there.

There were a total of 51 bodies!

Only 26 of them were fully cultivators – the rest had Rank 1 or Rank 2 bodies with varying cores, minus the human hostages.

Liam semi-transformed his teeth and began wolfing away at the human flesh, careful not to lose himself in the process.

With each limb, organ and heart devoured, his Chaos Pearl, blood, body and core expanded and strengthened.

It took him four hours to devour all of the bodies.

Granted, he took pauses and waited for most of the bodies to digest in order not to lose himself, spending those breaks in cultivation.

As Liam’s stomach ingested the last corpse, his body experienced a change.

It entered the upper-tier of Rank 3!

He could feel a noticeable change in his physical strength.

Liam’s physique didn’t change much. He was still lean but a tiny bit more muscular.

‘I’ll only see a major change once I enter the fourth Rank. Until then, I’ll have to eat, cultivate and use pills to quicken the process.’

The average age for a Rank 4 body was about 25 to 26 years of age, not considering the usage of elixirs and pills.

Liam was a few months away from becoming fifteen!

He had cut so many corners due to his favorable circumstances and unorthodox techniques, giving him an unbelievable edge.

‘The gap between the upper tier and the fourth Rank is massive. Unless I work hard enough, it might even take me a full year to advance.’

Liam cleaned away any traces of his stay, including the blood from those he killed.

He mentally took note of the waterfall.

It was well hidden. Enough for him to consume other humans in privacy.

‘I’ve done enough. It’s time to return.’

With that, Liam made his way back to the Temple.

///

Squeezing through the tight crevice and completing the boring run back inside, Liam finally arrived in the underground.

The first thing he did was head to the Mission Hall and report the mission completed.

Receiving his merits, he went to the pill store next.

Although the merits themselves were not enough to buy items that significantly bolstered his progress, they were still buyable through ‘Ora’ Stones.

A stern, scar-faced lady helped direct the surrounding acolytes on what pill to buy.

There was a large inscribed board built atop a pillar in the center, fixed with all the names, Ranks and uses of the pills available.

Liam briefly sifted through them.

‘Raven Tongue potion, Flame Spider pill, Bone Boiling elixir… the first one helps with the prolonging of mental energy, the other with the protection of the core, and the third softens the bones for faster cultivation.’

In truth, the Shadowfire cultivation technique was much deadlier compared to other methods of expansion.

If used for long periods of time, the corroding effect would potentially remain permanent, maiming the organ.

For that exact reason, Liam used it for a total of thirty minutes every day, even though he could use it for far longer.

Liam bought all three items, costing him a total of five thousand ‘Ora’ Stones, then made his way back to his new accommodation.

Some female acolytes his age and older looked at him with blushes, to which he frowned and glared in response.

‘Why did that make them blush even more?’

Liam scowled, forgetting the corruption effects given by the Dark Star.

Shaking his head, he entered his accommodation and made sure to lock the door.

The ‘Ora’ density in his home was far better than before, raising his chances of entering the liquid stage of the core before the one year mark.

Without delay, he prepared for the coming months.

Chapter 194 Stages

 

The Visionary Sect within the Main Lands was special one.

Unlike other renowned Clans that lived within the Main Lands, venerated for their destructive and amazing martial arts, spells and techniques, the Visionary Sect didn’t even fight.

They were a small-sized Sect consisting only of Oracles.

This made them incredibly valuable to the Seven Clans that governed Ilali, giving them insight on any major event of their country or, rarely, the world.

It helped that the Visionary Sect was neutral with all of the Clans, and their services were available for all to use. For a price, of course.

Exactly five months ago, the female Zenith Patriarch of the Visionary Clan, Raijen Shi, had a vision before succumbing to a coma:

She opened her eyes to a world of pure light.

Star-like adornments flickered endlessly from above.

Radiance was endless, the source of which was a giant, majestic, thick tree in the center that connected the sky and ground together like a sturdy pillar.

Everything was tranquil.

…Then a bud of darkness grew in the depths of the earth.

It was tiny at first, barely noticeable and insignificant.

But then it blossomed into a thorny, cruel tree, its roots sprawling from the ground and spreading into the light around it.

It consumed the light, starting with the earth.

Like a cancer, it grew and grew, its sinister aura making its way to the majestic tree.

Raijen had to pull herself out of the vision.

Every second she spent watching and observing was pressure that tightened around her mind – pressure that would burst as soon as she opened her eyes.

But she continued watching.

She had to see where it led.

More buds of darkness grew around the majestic pillar, becoming thorny trees, which eventually began merging towards the center!

Just as the two forces of light and dark were to meet… Raijen was forcefully yanked away from the dream.

Countless cracks surfaced on her Rank 4 sea of consciousness, making her grimace and cough a mouthful of blood.

She was in a small room filled with runes and energies, circulating around her mental sphere and body.

The floor itself was riddled with arrays, yet none of them seemed to lessen the damage on her centers of power.

Raijen cursed weakly.

Twice she had a vision that made her knees weak.

The first was many years ago, but it was brief and extremely vague, like the rapid flashing of horrid images she half-remembered.

“…Has the Temple of Shadow returned?” she whispered under her shivering breath, devoid of strength to lift her arms.

Her eyes drooped as her body regressed into a malnourished state.

‘I… I must… inform the Clans.’

That was Raijen’s last thought as her vision grew dark, and her consciousness faded to black.

///

Liam finished up forging the three shortswords for the Temple.

Only one of them was Rank 2, with the other two blades at the low and high ends of the upper-tier of Rank 1.

There wasn’t much he could do there, and it wasn’t really his fault.

Spirit Beasts functioned the same in his mental sphere as their counterpart, which was a relief to say the least.

Beasts of varying elements had body parts that differed in property, and Liam’s expertise rested with darkness elementals.

‘It should be good enough for their standards.’

Liam didn’t really feel the need to inscribe them.

The back-to-back forgings took a full day away from his schedule, and the inscriptions would take another week.

He stored the weapons for later and began to consume the pills he bought the day earlier.

A week quickly passed.

Liam’s schedule was jam-packed.

Between studying Spirit Beasts, learning how to make a spell, memorizing Blood Arts and cultivating, Liam couldn’t afford to waste a second.

Making a spell, body-tempering method or any technique in general had its own stages.

The first was the Visualization/Conceptualization stage.

This was the most important and simultaneously difficult part of making a spell.

If Liam wanted to make a body-tempering method that combined both of his forms, he would have to incorporate his Ashuran strength and physicality with his human intellect and mental energy.

To do that, Liam would have to understand his Ashuran state down to the very nerve, and the connections it had to his human side when he transformed.

Honestly speaking, Liam didn’t think that was possible for his current level of strength.

‘Techniques that complicated can’t be made with a Rank 2 sea of consciousness. I’m not even sure a Rank 3 mental sphere can make that possible…’

‘But if the King’s Eye improves, I can get a better understanding of the spells I already have.’

This wasn’t considering the amount of issues something like that entailed.

It definitely wasn’t safe, nor was it going to be painless.

After that was the Testing/Polishing stage.

Hypothetically, if Liam were to inscribe that body-tempering method, there was no chance whatsoever it was going to work on the first try.

Any spell or technique was the same.

Even back on Earth, things had to be tested out countless times before being approved.

Liam’s technique had to be rigorously tested and polished before he could even think of cultivating it.

‘How I can test something of this caliber is beyond me, though.’

Only after he could pluck out the countless issues with the technique, was when Liam could move to the last stage.

The last and final phase was the Utilization stage, which simply meant that the technique could be used without issue, and only required Liam to iron out and perfect it.

Liam lowered his sights and chose to work on a simple spell for his chaos instead.

However, he finally figured out part of the Blood Arts!

After a solid two weeks had passed, Liam grew confident enough to change some of the Links connected to the Rank 2 Blood Arts.

Sitting cross-legged and bare, the tips of Liam’s fingers had a blood-red tattoo on them, running from the tip to the base.

Tensing his slender fingers, wafer-thin strings of blood shot out from the tip and flew across the room!

Liam smiled broadly.

It worked!

…Only, they lacked any power or tensile strength, weightlessly landing on the ground like confetti and melting back to liquid.

Chapter 195 Generosity

 

Despite that failure of an attack, Liam kept his smile, just less wider than before.

Over the course of two weeks of working himself down to the bone, he was confident enough in tweaking the vampiric writings of Niveh’s Blood Arts.

Before that, he made absolutely sure to heavily practice the same Meanings on his own, just to gain a steady hand.

To start with, he isolated the writings that were specific only to vampires.

The art worked just fine for him without those parts.

Making a few minor adjustments on the Links, Liam finally managed to attune the technique to his body.

‘The only problem is how weak it became. To make it stronger, I’ll have to add my own Meanings.’

‘Only when I fully master the String Arts, I’ll move on to the Blooder’s.’

Before Liam could throw himself back into his studies and cultivation, his Jade began blinking.

‘Ah, is one month already over?’

“I hope you are well, my liege,” Jargon’s deep voice rang out from the other side as Liam answered the communication device.

Over the course of five to six months, Jargon had already become an inner disciple of the Gushing River Sect, and he had advanced to the liquid-stage of Rank 2.

His martial arts had grown to a decent level, enough to catch his Elders’ attention.

Not all Blood Troupe members had reached similar heights, but they were doing well in their own regard.

Even the regular workers had made thriving businesses, while those who became disciples were steadily growing their strength.

“I’ll start with the most important news,” said Jargon. Liam appreciated that about the man. How he cut straight in and wasted no time.

“There was recently a Royal envoy from Echoria spotted heading towards the Main Lands.”

Liam snorted derisively.

Took them long enough.

Thankfully, Liam had already sorted out his circumstances with the Temple.

If the Seven Clans couldn’t find the Temple for centuries, neither could the Royals.

Still, Liam decided to cut back on leaving the underground.

“Other than that, rumors say the Patriarch of the Visionary Clan had entered a coma after her latest vision.”

Liam shrugged at that bit of news, albeit he was intrigued at what exactly could do that to a Zenith.

His experience with Oracles made him dislike the profession. Liam wished for the same thing to befall her followers.

After giving Liam the rest of the news, he quickly hung up.

‘The abrupt arrival of the Royal and the Oracle’s coma had stirred up superstitious rumors. Are they connected somehow?’

Liam shrugged. It didn’t concern him too much.

///

After a few more days of cultivation and studies, the day for hunting a Rank 4 magical beast finally arrived.

Liam had left towards the Temple early morning after lightly training his centers of power.

He made sure to rest well the night before.

His opponent was going to be a Rank 4 magical beast. He wasn’t taking any chances.

Although the Temple wasn’t sternly guarded, Liam had to go to the higher Ranking Shadows if he wanted to meet with the Elders.

He entered a more exclusive-looking area consisting of larger versions of his pyramid.

There were only fifteen or so buildings there, but the density of ‘Ora’ there was thick.

Liam met with Krel at his large pyramid first. The man’s expression was steeled with a battle-ready aura.

After all, a Zenith was a Zenith.

Human or beast, they were all monsters.

“Elder Jax has already given you permission,” Krel said as he noticed Liam creeping up behind him, gesturing him to enter his house.

“I knew you’d ask him, so I went ahead and saved you the time. Oh, and the materials for your tattoos are halfway done.”

Liam gave Krel a thankful nod as he entered the space, not bothering to look at the decorations or furniture.

“I hope you don’t mind me using your space, senior. Your generosity is appreciated.”

Instantly, Liam sat cross-legged to absorb ‘Ora’ into his bones.

The higher ranking Shadows were going to gather shortly, and he had a few minutes to cultivate.

Krel was shocked at Liam’s lack of hesitation. Merely a wink and the kid was already on the floor.

Shaking his head and chuckling under his breath, Krel got ready himself.

It wasn’t long before Liam sensed a large group of people approaching the building.

Krel left the room and Liam followed him outside, where five people were waiting for them.

“From left to right, Maeve, Ruth, Iris, Aiden and Oro,” Krel told Liam their names as they approached, before whispering the last part:

“Don’t focus on their words too much. They’ll make you go crazy if you do.”

Liam raised his brows.

“Is this the kid?” a tall woman with raven-black hair and large dark eyes asked. She tilted her head curiously. “He’s not what I had in mind. I expected someone uglier.”

“Lucky bastard is what he is,” another woman cursed with a frown.? Her hooded eyes were dark red and her wild hair a similar shade. She was the tallest from the group.

“An Echorian of all people receiving darkness just pisses me off!”

“Ruth! Don’t curse the boy… he’s also an acolyte,” a shorter, kinder-looking woman with curly blonde hair said. Her irises were azure and a kind smile was on her face. “I’m Iris.”

“Why are we babysitting him? He’s gonna get himself killed,” a tanned, thick-bearded and muscular man gave Liam a stern glare. “Don’t expect me to look out for you.”

“Look at his eyes… he’s probing you all as of this moment!” a slim, middle-aged man with short, dark-green hair laughed loudly. “You’re good in my book, lad. Name’s Oro.”

Several glares shot Liam’s way at Oro’s words, but he smiled awkwardly and made a respectful gesture in response.

“Don’t forget why we’re gathered today,” Krel said with a stern voice.

“Liam will come along as support. He can pull his own weight, don’t try to defend him. We’ll be entering the Deep Ends, so make sure you’re all prepared.”

Despite their initial quips and teases, their expressions instantly grew stern and focused.

Liam was no exception.

Chapter 196 Poison Lizards

 

Three hours passed since the group left the underground.

They all wore large black cloaks that shrouded their bodies and hid the tattoos on their skin.

They chose to leave during the night. The silver moon strung high above, and the air carried a cold gust of wind.

That meant that there were more Spirit Beasts compared to before, but lesser martial artists and surveillance surrounding them.

Despite the earlier seriousness that radiated from the group, Liam quickly figured out their personalities.

Oro was the jokey type.

His jokes were cringe, but they helped relieve the invisible tension hanging in the air.

Ruth, the red-haired woman envious of Liam’s element, cursed as much as she breathed.

Iris was silent most of the time, her hardened gaze sweeping the surroundings.

Krel and Adrian were the same. They were the real ‘adults’ of the bunch.

Maeve, on the other hand, made constant small talk with Liam.

Instantly, Liam realized how perverted of a person she was.

Most of her questions were related to women, and at one point, Liam wanted to cut her tongue off.

Liam was close to fifteen, the average adult age in Echoria.

The same standards applied in Ilali and basically every other region of the world.

Although Maeve had a relatively youthful and beautiful appearance, she was a lecherous old hag in reality.

‘I should just transform and rip her apart right now.’

Liam heaved a sigh to calm himself, shifting his attention forward.

The deeper they went into the wilderness, the more Rank 3 Spirit Beasts grew in number.

Worn down but severe signs here and there warned them of entering a Danger Zone, but that did little to deter them.

Passing by different magical terrains and habitats, a large, dark dungeon entrance at the foot of a towering black mountain eventually grew visible.

Instantly, Liam’s instincts warned him of the danger ahead.

Liam’s constricted eye scanned the closest beast thoroughly, even before the group arrived.

It was a 4 meter long lizard, lined with sharp, green, blue and yellow scales that ran from the tip of its long, spikey tail, all the way to the crown of its triangular head.

It had muscular, claw-like protrusions on their limbs, and yellow, vertical eyes that were as still as stone.

Not only was there a Rank 4 beast deeper inside the dungeon, hundreds of peak Rank 3’s skittered this way and that way, running over and across each other within the enclosed space. Tapping and hissing noises echoed inside.

Their forked tongues were almost always licking the ground or the walls of the dungeon. Even each other at times.

Liam recognized that trait in another species of magical beast.

Tongue Lizards could monitor their prey by using their sensitive tongues to sense the slightest vibrations on the ground.

However, unlike those Tongue Lizards who were of the earth, the species in front of Liam was of the water element.

Liam passed that information onto Krel, who raised a brow in response.

“What makes you so sure?”

“I study them,” Liam responded casually. “It’ll be safer if we move above the treeline and spread further apart. They’ll be less wary of us, since they can’t sense anything in the air.”

Krel paused for a moment, then nodded firmly.

He gave out the order and gaps were created between each of the Shadows, and they began jumping between the tall trees.

Eventually, they arrived a short distance away from the dungeon entrance.

Usually, the higher ranked a magical/spirit beast was, the stronger and larger its pack was.

Naturally, they resided in areas that held the highest density of ‘Ora’, and they bred rapidly to raise their numbers. Most of the time, it was by order of the pack alpha.

The group unsheathed their weapons.

Krel dual-wielded sickles. Inscribed and crescent-shaped, they were coated in an acidic mixture that gave it a green sheen.

Ruth took out a giant hammer from her ring, nearly twice the length she was. The head was rectangular shaped, and made from a mixture of black and white metals.

Adrian wielded a triangular, spiked mace, the chain of which wrapped tightly around his right arm.

It was an upper-tier Rank 2 item, covered with enhancing inscriptions that bolstered its durability and destructive qualities.

Iris held an inscribed bow, Maeve a longsword and Oro a glaive.

Liam himself took out the Rank 2 upper-tier katana he made, with a mid-tier wakizashi to pair it with.

That garnered him a few strange looks, as they didn’t know of his inscribing or forging abilities, but it wasn’t the time to ask.

“We’ll take care of the lower ranked lizards first. It should be okay to split and cover more ground, but if the Rank 4 comes out, instantly regroup. Ration your mental energy and save your most destructive spells. They’re poisonous, so be careful not to get hit or scratched.”

Krel gave stern orders for the group to abide by. Liam was to attack from a distance using his spells, and only when he was signaled to.

Everyone exchanged a knowing nod.

There was no way the pack leader wouldn’t know if its underlings were dying.

Though, in some cases, the Rank 4 beast wouldn’t come out unless the threat was severe enough to need its presence.

Their pride of facing animals of their own strength level was just unmatched.

With narrowed eyes, Krel tightened the grip on his blades and spoke firmly:

“Let’s begin.”

On his mark, the Rank 3 cultivators had activated their Shadow abilities.

They semi-blended in with the darkness and shot towards the dungeon cave with enhanced speed.

‘It looks like not even they can fully immerse themselves into the shadows.’

Liam couldn’t help but feel momentary jealousy, but he quickly shook his head and began running in.

He was given the far right side of the dungeon entrance to clear.

There were dozens of Rank 3 Poison Lizards littering the grounds, though they were unmoving like statues.

Activating his Dark Wraith body paired with his first martial art form, Liam used Vanishing Steps and blinked from one side to another, hurling an Umbral Needle between each swing of his blades.

In the span of a breath, more than eight lizards had been killed.

Chapter 197 Dead

 

Steadily, the group pushed forward.

Ruth’s hammer and Adrian’s mace made the ground tremble and shake at times, crushing the poisonous lizards like they were grapes.

Iris’ bow gave her the ability to control the arrows she shot.

Paired with her wind, the arrows were like bullets that pierced through the lizards’ brains in an instant.

Maeve’s longsword cut through the air with a burst of flames, burning groups of lizard’s alive.

Krel and Oro’s attacks were speed oriented, and their shadows were like another hand to fight with.

The former’s sickles always lined up against a lizard’s neck, decapitating them in one swing, and the latter’s glaive easily tore apart the lizards.

By then, the lizards stopped being stationary and fought back.

Hisses accompanied with streams of green liquid flew through the air, melting through the terrain and plantlife it came in contact with.

To Liam’s eyes, those attacks weren’t anything special. He dodged left and right while ducking in between the shots of liquid, then swung his blade and hurled a needle in response.

In the next few moments, another eight lizards were severed in half and corroded.

Flicking the blood off his blades, Liam shifted his attention to the others.

The entrance was pretty much cleared.

In their wake, were squished, burned, decapitated lizards that stank with a nauseating stench.

Maeve whistled in approval seeing Liam’s handiwork, but thankfully didn’t add any comment.

Giving a forward gesture, Krel was the first to start running in the giant mass of lizards, with Adrian and Ruth to his sides.

Iris and Oro followed behind, with Liam at the group’s rear.

Lizards surged forward like a tidal wave, stacked atop each other.

BOOM! CRACK! SHING! BOF!

Ruth and Adrian let loose their destructive weapons followed by supportive attacks from the rest of the group.

The ground shattered like a pane of glass, and bloody pieces of flesh and viscera flew in every direction. Liquid poison fell on Liam’s skin, but he was too focused to pay attention to it.

‘It’s like they want the pack leader to come out!’ Liam cursed as he hurled his needles between every opening he could find.

The Rank 3 cultivators were incredibly fast paced in their approach.

Unstoppable arrows, raging arcs of red fire, devastating strikes of earth and destructive spells tore through the dungeon floor.

Liam barely managed to match their tempo, but considering his inferior Rank, he was doing just fine.

SKREEE!

With a cacophony of screeches, the remaining lizards desperately scurried deeper into the dungeon.

Running down a slope that led to a larger clearing and a bigger area.

“Look at ’em, they’re running to mommy!” Oro joked, shooting a condensed orb of water from his hand that exploded and blew apart the lizards.

Iris and Maeve picked off a good number of them before they all abandoned their dungeon space.

Only a few survived the offensive, and even those were maimed and in no condition to fight.

“The real fight starts now,” Adrian said sternly, looking at Liam in a new light after seeing him battle.

Even Ruth wasn’t as cold towards him as before. “Don’t try anything valiant,” she added.

Liam responded with a terse nod. Tired of their scrutiny, he followed behind Krel as the party traversed the passage leading to the ‘boss’ room.

And there it was.

The ‘boss’ – a Rank 4 Poison Lizard was in the center of the spacious underground dungeon.

It looked at Liam’s group with no particular emotion in its eyes, but its hostile aura couldn’t be hidden.

Behind it were small-sized ‘Ora’ crystals studded into the jagged and rocky terrain, oozing world essence.

It was nowhere near the size of even a small-sized ‘Ora’ Mine, but good enough to expedite the evolving of a magical/spirit beast.

‘That explains why the lower ranked beasts were above while it remained below. It was hogging all the ‘Ora’ for itself,’ Liam realized.

There was a tense silence in the air as man and beast entered a staring contest.

Slowly, the Shadows spread apart, encircling the Zenith beast.

Since they were seven, Liam had to pair with someone due to his lower Rank.

He chose Krel as a duo due to his superior strength.

The silence was a bit unnerving.

Usually, magical beasts attacked straight away.

Spirit beasts were presumably no different.

Yet the one in front didn’t move a muscle, even as the Shadows encircled it from all sides.

“Something’s wrong… this isn’t supposed to happen,” Liam uttered to Krel with narrowed eyes.

Perhaps he was thinking too deeply about it since it was his first time attempting to hunt a Rank 4 beast, but his instincts were usually on point.

“Whatever it is, it works in our favor,” Krel dismissed the notion, tightening the grip on his blades.

Making a countdown gesture with his hand, Krel began casting his most destructive spell.

The others did the same, ‘Ora’ gaining around their figures, hands and weapons.

Wind churned, fire raged, earth trembled and water grew.

Only Liam was on the edge.

‘Why isn’t it attacking? Can’t it sense the threat it’s under?’

Although paranoid, Liam didn’t disobey Krel’s orders to cast any long-range spells he could.

Five needles formed between his fingers. Liam purposely didn’t form more needles for one single reason.

Why wasn’t the lizard attacking?

As the spells were ready to cast, Krel gave a single nod.

WHOOSH! RUMBLE! CHOOM!

Liam waited for the cluster of powerful spells to lessen in effect before throwing in his needles.

If he used them instantly, it would have been blown away or doused by the destructive streams of water.

Nonetheless, he threw them in the mix.

Plumes of fire and dust began to cloud the space.

The next moment, wind helped blow the smoke away, revealing a shocking scene.

The Rank 4 Poison Lizard was dead.

Its eyes were slashed, blinding it. Most of the spells were focused on one spot, which helped pierce through small openings in its scales. The more destructive attacks revealed the grimy muscle and viscera underneath.

A Rank 4 magical beast’s body was incredibly rigid and powerful, but not even they could withstand so many spells one after the other targeting one point.

It wasn’t brutalized beyond recognition by any means, but definitely dead.

It had died without even casting a single attack.

Pale smiles formed on the group’s faces, except Liam, who still fell unsettled.

Slowly, the smiles died down on their faces as something began to separate from the furthest wall of the dungeon.

Chapter 198 Shifter

 

Liam watched with grave eyes, his senses screaming danger.

Everyone shared his expression and panic as the entity stuck to the wall slowly separated itself.

In reality, it was always there… but it intelligently bided its time and watched keenly.

Liam couldn’t even sense it for some reason, neither with his consciousness nor the King’s Eye.

Its Rank 4 aura had been static throughout the entire raid on the dungeon, like it was one with the shadows.

A look of realization and shock fell on Liam’s face.

‘Was its presence the reason why the lizard couldn’t do anything?’

Liam’s mind raced as he quietly cursed under his breath.

Obviously, the first thought of action in everyone’s minds was to run towards the exit and never look back.

…But the slope was plugged with a series of giant boulders that fell from the ceiling during the barrage of spells.

They were stuck!

Slowly, the mass of blackish substances surged forward and took a form.

Loud cracking of bones, sloshing of liquid and wet squirming noises rang through the cave.

A large central piece of it was parallel to the ground, growing in size and lengthening horizontally.

From the main body, four limbs were starting to grow from its sides.

The ends of the muscular limbs became vicious claws.

A moment later, a long, spikey tail sprouted from its back end. Adorned with colorful scales from rear to end.

It took the same form as the lizard the group had just killed!

Darkness.

It was of the darkness element, Liam realized.

It remained unnervingly still, just like the lizard before it.

However, this time, a growling noise echoed from its vibrating throat, and its vertical eyes swept over the group with a hostile gaze.

Liam looked to Krel from the side.

The man’s expression was of hardened calm, but still severe.

The other Shadows mirrored his look.

However, it wasn’t like they intended to hunt a Zenith without getting into a fight.

Still, they remained where they were.

Any attempt at regrouping from that distance would cause the beast to attack, but they weren’t too worried.

“Shifter,” Krel muttered with a frown and a soft voice, his gaze still at the ‘lizard’ in front. “It’s a bloody Shifter.”

Liam narrowed his gaze. “A what?”

“A shifter,” Krel repeated. “can change its form freely into whatever it consumes. It can even take over their special abilities… probably.”

“It’s so damn rare that it’s been reduced to a myth. It must have consumed the lizard’s partner and commanded the pack behind the scenes.”

Liam’s eyes visibly widened with amazement and shock, his incredulous gaze shifting back to the lizard in front.

He didn’t believe Krel’s words.

For something like that to exist, several laws of cultivation were broken. The Opposition clearly wasn’t doing its job as the balancing force.

‘No. There has to be a drawback with each of its transformations. It can’t be so blatantly overpowered.’

Liam had a relatively decent understanding of the Opposition ever since his transformation into an Ashura.

Having another center of power slowed down his progress rate.

If a magical/spirit beast had an amazing defensive ability, it would usually lack speed or vitality.

Incredible vision would often lead to weakness in another sense, and so on.

Still, the King’s Eye didn’t lie to him.

At first, the Shifter’s aura was pure black, which slowly changed into a dark shade of green.

‘It really did take over the Poison Lizard’s powers.’

However, it wasn’t nearly as potent and powerful as the regular Poison Lizard.

It was more of an imitation of its strength.

Strangely, smiles appeared on the groups’ faces.

They had heard stories of the great Shifter that consumed children at night and walked among the humans during the day.

Something like that had to sell for a high price!

Only Liam remained stern.

“I’m buying myself a better hammer if we live through this,” Ruth said with a maniacal smile.

“If,” Maeve reiterated with a soft chuckle. “Just try not to die.”

“All you care about is that damn hammer,” Oro laughed, uncaring of the Shifter’s severe gaze.

Meanwhile, Liam had a different train of thought, a dark glimmer in his multi-colored eyes.

‘I need to study it.’

Suddenly, the long silence was broken by a piercing shriek and hiss.

BLERGH!

Abruptly, the lizard lurched forward at Oro, the closest person to it, and spewed wild vomit from its mouth.

Grimacing, Oro’s body flickered with his shadow tattoos and churned with wind, giving him just enough time to dodge the pounce and poisonous vomit.

The dark-green liquid melted through the solid rock Oro was just standing on, making the man laugh.

‘They’re all crazy.’

Krel suddenly leapt forward and Liam had to match his movements, blades tightening in his grip.

The other Shadows didn’t sit still either.

It wasn’t their first time hunting, and they’d been through life and death situations before.

Iris began shooting wind-powered arrows that tore through the air with a whistle.

Maeve enhanced those attacks by giving them a flare of fire, exploding upon contact with the beast.

Oro himself threw orbs of condensed wind that sent little shockwaves rippling across the Shifter’s scaled body.

SKREEE!

Ruth, Adrian, Liam, Krel – the physical side of the group – had to get close to tear apart the Shifter’s defenses.

Four were up close, three provided support from behind.

BONK!

Adrian’s mace brutally smashed against the Shifter’s scaled head.

The lizard recoiled in pain but trashed its body and tail in response.

WHOOSH!

Liam felt a powerful gust of wind as the scaled tail whizzed by an inch away from his body, causing his hair and clothing to flutter violently.

Krel managed to slash away at the reptile’s tail with his sickles, but it barely left a mark on the hardened scales.

Momentarily, the group fell back to avoid being smashed away by the thrashing beast, Krel shouted orders nonstop and the group abided.

Pieces of rubble fell down from the dungeon ceiling, the structure threatening to collapse.

As the thrashing came to a stop, Ruth made a wide leap into the air and raised her hammer above her head.

Earth gathered around the hammer’s face to form a sharp spike, which she attempted to bring down on the Shifter’s head.

BOOOM!

…However, her devastating attack struck the ground instead as the Shifter’s form morphed into a giant white wolf that swiped its paw against her body.

Chapter 199 Plan

 

Ruth’s reckless attack had made the dungeon’s structure even more unstable than it already was. The ground was a chaotic mess of jutting rock, and the ceiling was starting to chip and shatter.

Just before Ruth’s body smashed against the dungeon wall, Liam’s chains shot from his wrist and wrapped tightly around her waist.

Liam felt himself getting pulled – and the chain nearly snapped – but Krel’s firm hand on his shoulder gave him the strength to yank Ruth back.

The red-haired woman had a broken right arm and a pained grimace on her face, partly due to Liam’s corrosive chains tightly wrapped around her body.

After she was safely pulled to him and Krel, Liam released the chains and shifted his attention forward.

The Shifter had now become a towering wolf with lush white fur, but its body had been marred with countless cuts and bruises. The accumulated damage from it’s lizard form had carried on over.

In fact, parts of the Shifter’s aura dulled ever so slightly in Liam’s eyes. Not to mention, there were no longer any powerful scales armoring the wolf’s body.

“It has a limited number of times it can switch!” Liam shouted that bit of information to the group. “It doesn’t have its scales anymore, target its weak spots!”

The other Shadows took wide strides backwards as they heard Liam’s words, hurling every inscribed item they can at the beast while casting minor spells in between.

ROAR!

With the Shifter’s thunderous roar, liquid rapidly gathered around its throat and condensed, creating a loud whirring noise.

Fifteen needles formed in between Liam’s hands, which he instantly shot at the beast’s mouth. Iris did the same with her arrows, with Maeve and Oro helping with their own.

Liam cursed. Although the best course of action would be to dodge and avoid the sphere altogether, but Ruth was injured, pinning them in one spot.

The attacks on the Shifter’s mouth helped reduce the effect and take away its … but not enough to stop the attack from taking place.

Pointing its maw towards the group, the basketball-sized sphere of liquid shot at them at the speed of a bullet.

In a desperate attempt, Adrian and Krel activated a defensive spell. A layered dome of solid rock formed around the group just in time to collide with the liquid.

BOOOOOM!

As soon as the two forces met, the wall was blown apart like a wooden door, sending rock-made shrapnel flying in every direction.

Pieces of it ripped into Liam’s pale and bruised flesh, piercing through the Obsidian Skin and Cartilage Brace defenses.

The Dark Wraith body helped avoid most of the bigger rocks, but Liam still couldn’t turn his entire figure into mist.

Thankfully, the others were doing much better than he was. Ruth’s condition was getting better, but she still lacked the strength to carry her hammer with the usual amount of strength.

“Dodge!” Krel shouted as the wolf roared again, running at the group with murder in its blood-red eyes.

Curses flew through the air.

Liam activated Vanishing Steps and flung himself away from the wolf’s trajectory.

It was absolute chaos, and they had to face it head on.

With one of them injured, their chances of winning the clash against the Shifter lessened significantly.

Large pieces of rubble fell down from the roof as the Shadows were constantly dodging the wolf’s pounces and swipes, sneaking in a heavy attack now and again.

It was a battle of attrition.

The Shifter was losing its strength as it used more of its water beams, but the Shadows were starting to feel their mental energies lessen.

RUMBLE. CRKH. BOOM.

Liam grimaced.

‘Enough of this!’

“Oi! I have a plan!” Liam shouted with a deeper voice that didn’t match his quiet personality. That attracted the wolf’s attention, making him the Shifter’s target.

“You two oafs take care of the rubble plugging the entrance!” he ordered Adrian and Ruth.

Despite Liam’s inferior Rank, age and status within the Temple, the two didn’t feel any disrespect from his words.

In fact, they felt absolutely compelled to comply with his orders, not knowing why.

“Make sure to use every remaining spell you have on its underside!” he ordered the rest with a domineering tone.

As Ruth and Adrian rushed towards the slope, Liam’s body multiplied.

He used the King’s Eye and quickly made the Shadow Clone look as similar as possible to himself, before running like the wind, spamming Vanishing Steps and his Dark Wraith abilities.

Krel and the rest watching were shocked at that sight, but it wasn’t the time to stare blankly.

They began to charge and use every single spell in their disposal, while Ruth and Adrian began to smash away a clearing to the surface.

Liam was leading the beast towards the furthest wall of the dungeon, into the makeshift ‘Ora’ Mine.

Obviously, his speed compared to a Rank 4 wolf-type beast was like a toddler running away from an adult, but that wasn’t his plan.

The Shadow Clone was obviously slower than him, and the wolf didn’t know the difference between the two figures it ran after.

Eventually, the Shifter had enough and pounced on the closer version of the two.

It clamped its giant mouth over the Shadow Clone and bit into it with one large bite.

Instantly, the Shifter looked like it regretted that decision.

It whimpered in pain and tried to spit away the darkness-made human, but the mangled clone had clung to the wolf’s corroded tongue with all its strength.

At the same time, the Shifter was too distraught to realize a short figure had slid under its body.

Liam felt like time slowed down.

His back slid across the jagged floor and his vision was filled with the wolf’s exposed, weakened underside. It was still thrashing around, oblivious of Liam’s presence.

Liam pushed himself off the ground in one swift motion, launching himself at the wolf’s underside as he pulled back his fists and swung.

Liam’s chest began to heat up as chaos churned from his pearl, spreading evenly across his now hardened body.

Liam’s hair lengthened and turned white, another two pairs of muscular arms forming on his hip and waist, his teeth sharpening.

Chaos gathered on his fists, and all six of them formed when he struck dead center at the wolf’s chest.

A bang louder than any of the crashing rubble sounded through the dungeon, and the Shifter’s giant body collided with the ceiling.

Chapter 200 Octopus

 

The wounded Shifter that initially looked so mighty and powerful was launched in the air.

It smashed against the ceiling and rained shattered chunks of rock as it fell down semi-unconscious.

In truth, Liam didn’t blow away the Shifter’s body an incredible distance away. He had arrived in a section of the dungeon where the ceiling was much lower compared to the rest.

The underside of the beast’s mangled flesh still had the firm imprint of six fists on it.

Liam couldn’t tear into the Shifter’s flesh, even with his full Ashura body.

Instead, his target was the beast’s internal organs.

Fighting against Janice gave him insight on how to effectively damage a Rank 4 body.

The skin and muscle was too rigid and powerful.

The internal organs, however, were much softer compared to the rest of the body.

Spirit/magical beasts were the same.

Their muscles, scales, hides were much stronger than a human’s, even if they were the same Rank.

However, the same problem applied to them.

As long as Liam sent a powerful enough shockwave that traveled through their figures, it would discombobulate and stun them.

Obviously, the beast in front of Liam wasn’t killed, merely wounded.

“Oi! The path is cleared, come back before you get cru—” Krel’s voice was overpowered by the cracking and crushing of stone.

Liam was too focused on the Shifter to pay attention to his words.

As the wolf fell down, the Shifter began to rapidly reform again!

Grimacing, Liam was afraid it was going to morph into another beast… but instead, it shrank down to a Rank 3 beast’s size.

Just one or three meters bigger than the norm.

What was left of the Shifter was a large… sea creature?

It was a bloody octopus!

Roughly twenty large tentacles lined with sharp, black spikes protruded from its lower-half, and its egg-shaped head was covered with six eyes on each side. Its patterned black skin was bumpy, slimy, dripping with black ink.

It was liquid darkness, Liam realized… a different kind.

Unlike Liam’s darkness that erased things, the Shifter’s darkness had imitation properties, losing its ability to corrode.

No wonder it was so smart.

Octopuses had nine brains!

Though, Liam was sure that the Shifter was affected by whatever form it took. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so easily fooled by Liam’s Shadow Clone abilities.

His multi-colored eyes were filled with shock and amazement as he saw the creature falling down.

RUMBLE.

Meanwhile, the dungeon’s entire structure was going to tumble down any second.

However, Liam would be a fool to let something so valuable slip from his grasp, especially since it was so weakened and easy to grab.

He was still in his Ashuran form, and Liam could grab it even with his human body. Still, he needed the speed and strength of the former when dealing with a Zenith.

Before he lost himself to his bestial instincts – which steadily grew and began to fill his mind with violent thoughts – Liam cocked his knees and shot upwards at the Shifter.

The ground below him shattered as it sent him flying.

Midair, Liam’s six hands clamped firmly on each of the Shifter’s countless tentacles, which were incredibly squishy and soft.

It almost slipped past his grip, but the sharp teeth on the surface of its tentacles helped hook into his hardened skin.

It was still alive, squirming as its mouth released wet, slimy sounds. Its six, jet-black, fish-like eyes converged on Liam’s unamused face.

Four of its tentacles rose and shot towards Liam’s body in an attempt to pierce it, but in the next second, a series of quick and powerful jabs landed on its oval head.

‘It’s so weak!’ Liam thought with a smile as his punches landed on the Shifter’s slimy skin, making it ripple and bounce like jelly.

With each strike, small amounts of blue blood spurted from its mouth.

Liam vaguely figured out the drawback to its insane abilities.

In its most basic form, the Shifter’s defenses were incredibly weak against sharp weapons. Enough that even a Rank 2 weapon could cut and severely wound it.

However, to weapons utilizing sheer force – like Liam’s gauntlets – it absorbed most of the shockwaves his fists carried.

But if it consumed another beast – using its intellect to set a trap or take it by surprise – it would take their strengths, abilities, and possibly instincts, which was amazing in its own right.

He didn’t deign thinking about the topic in his Ashuran state more than he already did, since his thoughts were becoming murkier by the second.

With one more punch to subdue the Shifter for good, he shot back towards the entrance he entered through.

Falling boulders and large pieces of rubble blocked his trajectory.

Liam’s shoulder slammed into the pieces of rock that threatened to crush him while briskly avoiding the giant chunks of earth that continued to fall.

As he got close, Liam realized the Shadows had already left through a narrow opening made by Adrian and Ruth’s mace and hammer.

Liam didn’t blame them for leaving.

With them gone, he didn’t have to suppress his power.

Chaos gathered around Liam’s legs.

He planted his two feet firmly on a boulder midair, then kicked as hard as he could.

CRKH! WHOOSH!

The boulder exploded, and Liam was sent flying at incredible speed towards the narrow passage.

A moment later, a rumbling louder than any other so far thundered from above.

The dungeon’s ceiling was crashing down as a whole.

As it slowly lowered itself to the floor, Liam turned into a streak that tried to reach the wall opposite him.

Just like it seemed that he would be crushed like an ant, Liam landed on the tunnel’s entrance and kicked the ground again, beaming through the passage and reaching the other side.

Liam survived by the skin of his teeth. He undid his transformation mid-flight, bumping into wall after wall like a flaccid piece of flesh.

With his physique weakened, the limp tentacles flopped freely and curled around his body like a coil.

He felt the spikes dig into his bruised flesh and touch parts of his bone, his body rolling, tumbling and eventually crashing limp against another Shadow.

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Born In Blood

Born In Blood

Score 9.1
Status: Ongoing Type: Author: Artist: Released: 2023 Native Language: English
His mother died when she gave birth to him, his father a physically abusive alcoholic. Life is not kind to Darius King. Darius would have dreams of being in a world of magic, but alas, his dreams would always end. He hated life, and life hated him, so he ended both his and his father's. When reincarnating into a peasant-like lifestyle as Liam, in the town of Ucladd, Darius realizes he has entered the world of cultivation! With his ambitious, ruthless, and curious nature combining into one, he paves a bloody path to power. Shifting his gaze from the Earth towards the Sky, nothing will stop him on his path for strength. “I will touch the stars... or die trying.”

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