Born in Blood

Liam didn't know how much time had passed.

He'd drifted on a fine edge between life and death.

The cracks on his mental sphere were very much there.

All Usan did was press them together so they didn't fall apart.

Another grim detail Liam realized was the numb pain that ran across his body.

They were the black and red energies, clinging to Liam's body. Whatever that filthy Half-head infected him with.

And the spots where it resided, Liam felt a slow but steady agony.

Everything else, though, got better. 

He'd been getting baths by Elder Jane and Aki during his slumber, and he no longer resembled a desecrated corpse.

It was time for him to awake.

Liam opened his eyes and instantly winced, painfully aware of each little ache that ran across his injuries.

Liam lived for one reason alone.

Transfiguration and his blood.

And dumb luck.

'If the rune didn't work, I'd be six feet under right now,' Liam squeezed in a thought, then sat up with squinted eyes.

He was in a large hall room, lying on a soft bed, wrapped in tight bandages.

Surrounding him were Elders, familiar and foreign. 

Elder Ryu, Aki, Orisa, Jax, Verium, Jane, along with Krel, Ruth, Maeve, Adrian, Jargon and finally, Usan.

But there were too many new faces that Liam didn't recognize.

The Temple had grown.

Liam's gaze brushed past Usan. The man looked much skinner compared to before.

His cheekbones were poking through, and his white hair had noticeably lost its luster.

Most of his powerful aura had waned.

Everyone was silent, with different expressions on their faces.

Loud sounds could definitely damage Liam's mental sphere, and they didn't want to worsen his condition any further.

Jargon looked proud and elated.

Ryu had a broad smile on his face.

The rest of the Elders were happy to see Liam alive.

Others looked at him expectantly.

Ruth put up two fingers as a greeting gesture.

Krel gave a firm nod and a smile.

Though, everyone felt their hairs slightly perk up at his sight.

Riddled on the bed with countless injuries, bandaged head to toe...

Yet, they still felt like Liam was a threat to their lives.

"Had us worried, kid," Usan spoke in a low voice and a slight smile on his skinny face.

"You're doing worse than me, and I don't even know how that's possible. Can you fill us in?"

Liam groaned and winced.

His face went through a series of pained expressions as he stabilized his thoughts.

A cracked mental sphere did not mean death. It was fixable with time and rest.

It was more like a head injury, like being hit on the back of the skull with an iron hammer.

Essentially, that's what Liam felt like.

"Inheritance was broken down," Liam said with a strained tone.

"Some maniac with half a head wanted revenge against the Eternal Sword and tortured those who entered his inheritance."

"Almost made me explode."

There was a contemplative silence as everyone digested Liam's words.

A Celestial's inheritance...

Broken into?

How?

Explode?

"How?" Usan voiced, arching his brow.

"I'm not sure myself," Liam replied. "But I'm guessing it has something to do with this black matter in my body."

"Can you not cure it?" Liam asked with furrowed brows.

Usan paused for a second, a bitter look on his face.

He shook his head.

"I tried... but couldn't succeed. Anytime I tried to forcibly remove it, it rooted itself deeper into your nerves."

Liam grimaced.

His Chaos Pearl and core was just fine, thanks to the layer of goblin flesh.

It acted like a shield. And due to its regenerative properties, it wasn't as affected against the black substance.

But the rest of his body was an entirely different story.

In short, if Liam was composed purely out of white strings, there were black threads tightly interwoven with them.

Even if Liam transformed his body composition to something else, the black threads would still follow it.

'It's the whole deformity problem all over again.'

But even worse. 

"If it hasn't killed you yet, you're okay. Just work on getting your mind fixed," Usan said reassuringly.

"What happened while I was away?" Liam asked, flinching at another pang of pain.

"I'll fill you in," Usan said with a serious voice. 

"But there's someone that wants to meet with you, and he can't take no for an answer."

The door to the space creaked open. 

Hand of Light walked in with a grave expression, along with North Star and Yar'wei.

The Rank 6 powerhouse himself and his sons were here.

They looked the exact same.

A year or two was nothing to high ranking cultivators.

Kuan glanced at Liam with a severe, assessing look. 

A pure sense of superiority and authority radiated from him.

But his presence didn't pain Liam.

North Star and Yar'wei glared at him too, but it wasn't as intimidating as the giant that was Hand of Light.

Liam's sense of power was skewed due to being around a powerhouse. 

Even Rank 4 cultivators could potentially kill Liam if he wasn't prepared.

Kuan said nothing for several seconds. 

Silence. 

"Tell us what happened," Kuan said severely. "Why is Reyan not here?"

Liam heaved a long sigh.

He took his time when answering.

Usan wanted to speak for him, but Kuan glared at him not to. 

The air grew tense. 

All eyes were on Liam to see how he would respond.

"The inheritance was a trap. The Eternal Sword's 'anatomized will' was broken into by an old man with half a brain."

"Said Eternal Sword had done that to him thousands of years ago and left him to die."

Silence.

Kuan's face was as hard as ever. "And Reyan?" he asked.

Silence. 

Liam paused, then flinched again due to a sudden pain.

"The last Trial was a duel to the death," Liam responded, rubbing his temples. 

North Star and Yar'wei grimaced simultaneously.

"And?" Kuan said with a deep voice. "Continue, boy."

Instantly, Liam felt annoyed. He flinched in pain again, and his intrusive thoughts came out as a consequence.

"And I cut off her limbs and severed her head."