Born in Blood



Liam looked slightly stupefied. 

Hadn't he transferred from a different realm? That meant that Kivler was most probably right, and that other realms did exist.

On that note, inheritances were another topic Liam had learned from the general knowledge class. 

They were basically a separate dimension that ancient higher ranked cultivators left behind for various reasons. 

Some were close to dying and needed an heir to carry on their life's work, others had various methods that they didn't finish by the end of their lifetime, and needed someone to complete it for them.

From what Liam learned, there were countless inheritances scattered around the world, each with its own level of wealth, techniques and treasures.

At the same time, they weren't free handout establishments. Most inheritances had difficult tests, trials and other requirements to even participate.

But Celestials… inheritances left by them were an entirely different kind, and undoubtedly scarce, hidden and world changing.

Entire countries were presumably built upon these inheritances, capable of altering the political landscape of the world with ease.

Veila had actually mentioned a visit to an inheritance site one day, as a trip of sorts for the students.

"You already know how higher ranked cultivators can't stay in the same place as Mortals," Kivler explained.

"For one, the resources are too little for their needs. Can you imagine how slow and arduous their progress might be?"

"And it's not anything similar to ours, we can imagine. That's why their lifespans are so long. Progress gets harder once you go up the ranks."

Liam nodded in understanding.

"Do you think the Ashuras are still alive, then?" he asked.

Kivler had a pensive look.

"That's up for debate… but I'm sure there are. That's not my point, anyway."

Liam raised a brow.

"So what's your point?"

Kivler smiled.

"That there is a different realm for Celestials to exist in all together. It can't be that they're so scarce and so little in number here."

"The Opposition doesn't want people to cultivate, right? And it especially won't want those powerful people lingering around such fragile lands."

"I can't even imagine what a battle between Celestials might look like, but devastating would be a good word."

"If we somehow tap into those realms, we can gain more knowledge and insight into the secrets of the cultivation journey."

Liam eventually nodded in understanding. 

…But all of that was theory. Not to mention, there was no way for Kivler to truly find out his answers through mere studying. 

"The only way to know is to get there," Liam said.

Kivler looked at him with an assessing gaze.

"Aye, lad," he heaved a sigh. "I suppose you're right." 

Thereupon, the classes for the day had ended. 

Liam instantly went back to his lodging, thinking over his learnings of the day.

'It's time I begin inscribing.'

He didn't have any lectures for the next week, which meant he could finally start practicing his inscriptions and forging.

He spent most of his time learning the former, but had multiple Rank 3 darkness magical beast corpses in his ring, freshly bought and carefully preserved. 

He entered his basement and began with Blood Weaving first. 

Closing his eyes, he entered his sea of consciousness. 

Waves of mental energy sloshed around his mind, but with a raising gesture, a large blob separated and started to float above.

Liam's spiritual form closed his eyes. 

The blob of mental energy started to change slightly, reflecting flashes of light. Gradually, it increased in luminosity, filling Liam's mind with light.

When he opened his eyes, the blob now looked like a dim, liquid sun. Obviously not as bright, but it was luminous nonetheless.

Cold sweat trickled down Liam's forehead. Imbuing meanings within mental energy was much more arduous than he imagined, and he was attempting the most simple form of it.

It was the 'brightness enhancement' inscription. The inscriber had to create a simple circuit that consisted of simple but colorful lines, illuminating a sword or an item.

This simple exercise was also the first assignment that Richard had assigned to the class. The first person to succeed would even receive ten thousand 'Ora' Stones.

To make it, Liam had to take in the intensity of brightness, the range of colors it was to be, how it interacted with the surroundings, how long it would last, and if the line was straight or flowing.

…And that wasn't all of it. 

'So much for simple. No wonder techniques and spells are so expensive and difficult to make. Something like this takes this much effort.'

Coming back to reality, Liam took out his wakizashi, forming a long cut on his bare thigh, then floating the droplet of blood in front of him.

His expression was strained, although considerably less than the last time, as he refined the droplet. After all, his mental capabilities improved by leaps and bounds compared to then.

He began refining the droplet of blood with his mental energy, causing it to glow. 

After half an hour of onerous refining, he absorbed the droplet of refined blood into his mental sphere.

A migraine ensued like usual, though weaker in strength.

Within his sea of consciousness, the droplet slowly muddled through the golden walls by force, adding a heavy weight on Liam's mind.

When the droplet fully immersed into his sea of consciousness, Liam began to conjoin the blob of mental energy with it.

As the two liquids started to join together and mix, more weight pushed against Liam's head, making him grit his teeth in pain.

Slowly, the droplet started to glow luminously, but the red from the blood overpowered it. If anything, it only increased in sharpening the crimson hue.

Although he considered padding it with more mental energy to lessen the pain, he eventually decided against it.

'Doing that will convolute the meanings. I have to endure.'

Liam waited for half an hour for the energies to steady and fully mix, before pulling out the droplet through the tip of his right finger, and taking out a small silver dagger.