Born in Blood



Liam had dispelled his Wraith Form, breathing raggedly with a pale face.

Liam pushed his body to the utmost limit. 

Although five minutes didn't seem like much, it consumed massive amounts of Liam's mental energy and bodily 'Ora'.

Liam took a deep breath and slowly turned around. 

From the Sect gate to where he stood, were a trail of headless bodies. 

Liam was incredibly fast! 

If looked at from a distance, he probably resembled a panther chasing prey.

Those poor Endless Tide disciples hadn't even realized they were being picked off. Not until much later.

The Wraith Form provided unreal swiftness at a decent cost. 

'This settles it. I'll need to buy some Rank 4 materials now,' Liam thought casually.

Liam looted the space rings. 

He spent two days devouring the disciples to get back to full health.

Eating people was much easier now. 

Liam's semi-transformed teeth just ripped through a Rank 3 body like regular meat.

Though, now that he had a Zenith body, the amount of nourishment required to progress was much higher.

Way higher.

Finishing up, Liam made his way towards the nearest prefecture.

'It seems like a period of peace will follow,' Liam thought. 

'Jargon hasn't mentioned anything new within the Main Lands for a while now, other than that Matriarch's coma.'

Periods of peace were most appreciated by Liam, but with how the Temple wanted to expand their territories, there was bound to be subsequent raids on nearby Sects.

As of now, they were merely biding their time.

Soon enough, Liam spotted a massive city that bustled with different sounds, buildings and martial artists.

Truthfully, it had been some time since Liam entered a proper civilization.

Living like a caveman didn't bother him at all. 

Liam changed into a set of plain robes.

Using the King's Eye, he hid away most of his defining features and tattoos, but didn't mask his aura. 

Establishments that sold Rank 4 materials probably wouldn't allow weaker cultivators to enter.

Liam made his way through the gates, paying a small fee to the martial artist in front, then entered the city. 

Large, calligraphed signs pointed him in several directions.

He made his way deeper in, where the stores grew continuously grander and sold more expensive items.

'Rare metals, pills, weapons… there it is,' Liam thought, making a beeline towards a large store with the insignia of a roaring lion on it.

The vast interior, packed with hundreds of martial artists, resembled more of a museum than a store. 

All kinds of preserved Spirit Beasts and magical beasts were on display behind large glass containers. 

Most of them were alive, held together by impervious chains.

A small, inscribed marble board underneath provided a description along with the price.

However, there were only Rank 3 beasts and those below on display. 

"Can I help you, young master?" a young store attendant appeared at Liam's side. 

She was older, but far weaker than Liam, hence the respectful term.

"Zenith beasts. Do you offer them?" Liam asked. 

After a short pause, she nodded.

"Deeper in. 200 Stones if you want to examine them."

Liam gave her the amount.

A moment later, Liam was taken into a deeper section of the building, an underground segment.

Down there, there weren't any live Rank 4's, but merely preserved containers of them.

To suppress something like that required a chain at a similar Rank as them, but such an item was only made by an exclusive handful of Zeniths.

Mainly, members of the Ravenous Leash Sect.

Nevertheless, Liam took a look around. 

Not a lot of people lingered in such a place, and they all looked like important members of larger Sects. Attendants were held closely to their sides.

A few of them belonged to the ruling Leash Sect, even.

"Leave. I'll look on my own," Liam told the attendant, who promptly left.

The Rank 4 corpses were preserved so well, Liam felt like he was silently being tracked by their eerie, hateful eyes.

They were so big that Liam had to creak his neck upwards to properly examine them.

The creatures were separated by element.

A large portion of the space belonged to the common elements, while further up, a handful of darkness and light beasts were under a golden spotlight.

Richer groups hung around that spot. Particularly around the light beasts.

Even Liam was curious about those species.

Due to his living circumstances always being centered around dark regions, light elemental beasts weren't something he'd ever fought against.

Atop a series of large podiums, was a Beam Snake with bright iridescent scales, a Reaper Wolf with white eyes, along with a Ten-legged Rabbit.

They still radiated light due to how well they were preserved.

Buying a normal Rank 4 beast with its body intact cost roughly 23,000 'Ora' Stones, which was a small fortune to say the least.

Light beasts, however, cost a whopping 55,000, due to their rarity and magnificence. 

Darkness beasts were of a similar price, but slightly less, since they were a lot uglier appearance wise.

Liam lost interest in those beasts and moved towards the darkness area. 

His eyes browsed through the available selection. 

Liam had a few ideas of what to make for a higher ranked weapon, but the components that went into it would significantly affect the end product.

Obviously, the Beast Will would belong to a Rank 3.

But if a few qualities coincided, it could make the imbuing stage, and several other processes, much easier.

'Should I go for sharpness?'

'No… my enhancement inscriptions are already good enough. There's no need to overuse that quality.'

'Something flexible?'

Liam pursed his lips, then slowly shook his head.

'Probably not.' 

Liam's fighting style was snappy and quick already. Phantom's Way helped him maneuver his blade in multi-directional ways.

'Rigidity, then?'

Liam hummed to himself in thought.

'That... could work. I need something that could last anyways.'

Looking at the available weapons, Liam chose to buy a Dusk Rhino's horn, tusks and hide, costing him a lovely 29,000 'Ora' Stones.

What Liam planned to make was a blade that could hold his chaos.