Born in Blood



The disciple twisted his neck and countered with a fierce palm strike.

But it was just a second late.

An impervious chain wrapped tightly around the disciple's neck, buzzing with red energies as it yanked him forward.

It would have pierced through instantly, but a Rank 3 Magus' reflexes were extremely fast.

Even as he was jolted forward with a near-crushed throat, the disciple activated what seemed to be his most powerful martial art form.

Time slowed down.

Around the disciple, wind gathered and condensed, forming nine palms, each roughly the same length and size as himself.

Liam saw everything happen with his powerful consciousness.

It wasn't as powerful as a Rank 3 Magus, but Liam was a maniac.

There wasn't a day that he hadn't trained his mind through three different methods.

Seeing the powerful wind-made palms, Liam was unwavering. 

Those attacks would definitely break a bone or maybe two… or maybe more.

But Liam yanked harder.

In an instant, Liam's Shadow swirled and wrapped around him. 

Obsidian Skin and Cartilage Brace were also activated, densening his bones and coating his skin in a defensive layer of darkness.

Although hurling his second Dusk Blade was the correct course of action, the wind palms were backed by a Rank 3 core.

The Blade wouldn't pass through. 

Even if it did, the palms would strike first.

However, the chaotic energies buzzing with Liam's Dusk Blade were still wrapped around the disciple's neck.

As the two forces were about to collide, three things happened back to back.

First, the palms struck Liam's body full force. 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

CRACK!

Instantly, Liam's shoulder, knee, right rib and hip bone suffered severe cracks.

Liam semi-transformed his muscles just before they landed. 

But the brunt of the martial art form – although weakened – was still strong.

Secondly, the Dusk Blade exploded with chaos.

BOOOM!

Even with the disciple's throat being crushed, the attack didn't kill him.

It managed to tear away at his skin and flesh on his face, but there was still ferocious life in the man's eyes.

But what happened after was unexpected.

Thirdly, Liam spun around just as the disciple came into range, his leg stretched out to perform a wide roundhouse.

Even as the nine palms landed on his body, Liam didn't stop his kick, which is why he suffered so many broken bones.

…And on the back of Liam's heel, was a shape made from purely chaotic energies.

A blunt spike.

That spike landed flat against the side of the disciple's already injured temple.

KRISH!

The force of the attack was too much. 

Even for a Rank 4 body.

As the kick landed, the side of the man's head let out a disturbing crunch.

But that was just from Liam's hardened kick.

Instead, the Focused Havoc spell literally tore a hole through the man's head, caved it in, then detonated in his brain.

A muffled boom rang out as the Palm disciple's skull contained the explosion.

THUD.

And just like that, the disciple had died, his head looking like a deflated balloon.

Liam heaved a long sigh as he reeled back his Dusk Blade and stored it.

He sat down and examined his wounds with a slight scowl.

'What a waste of a good pill,' Liam thought, popping a black drug in his mouth.

As it digested, the cracks on his bones snapped into place and reformed.

He let out a soft groan, but by the end of it, everything was back to normal.

Meanwhile, outside, the sounds of a titanic battle were echoing throughout every corner.

Liam instantly exited the accommodation and climbed atop of the building.

The six Elders had begun fighting.

Massive explosions, whirlwinds of condensed air and beams of water were being exchanged with massive… wind palms?

These people and their palms!

Though, Liam had to admit the destructiveness in those attacks were extraordinary. 

Even more so when used by a Zenith.

Those palms mid-air looked like meteors as they struck against the Temples' Elders.

Liam spotted the Berserker Hound there too.

He roared like a wild beast as he disregarded every wound and rushed into every attack.

'So that's where he got the name from.'

'Might as well help,' Liam thought.

Although Liam would have loved to watch Zeniths fight, there were palm disciples and acolytes fighting all around the streets of the Sect.

Minute amounts of ichor exited Liam's fingertips.

They swirled and formed into crystalized threads as he stretched his hands in wide gestures.

There was a reason Liam had picked out this particular Blood Arts compared to all the others.

It worked extremely well with his King's Eye and fighting style.

And, well, they were nigh-invisible to the naked eye and even mental energy to the weaker few.

Such that Liam named it the Sanguine String Arts.

It even had an attack range of about 25 meters. 

Those closer to that range were susceptible to much more lethal attacks, which weakened over long distances.

Weaker cultivators didn't stand a chance if Liam's presence was unknown.

…And it was now unknown.

A short distance away, a weak Temple acolyte was having trouble dealing with a Palm disciple, having lost all the fingers on his left hand and backed into a wall.

Just as he was about to get killed, a faint red line appeared on the Palm disciple's neck. 

And a moment later—

SPURT!

His head separated from his shoulders, rolling on the ground with an open mouth.

A martial artist with a Rank 3 body had been killed just like that!

Like so, Liam simply made gestures above the building he was on, spotting acolytes that were facing difficult adversaries.

Opponents with Zenith bodies were obviously harder to kill.

Liam couldn't decapitate them, but severing off their ears and fingers was much easier.

'I haven't figured out the Blooder's Art yet. I'll tinker with that soon enough.'

'There's still the Art's special cocoon ability to remake first.'

As time passed, more than 90% of the Nine Palm Sect had been killed off.

Pretty soon, the battle was coming to an end.

Looking towards the distance, the Temples' Elders looked in a decent condition compared to their opponents.

The Nine Palm Patriarch and his Elders looked bloodied and bruised.

Some even missed a hand or limb.

After a few more deafening exchanges, the battle concluded with the Temple's triumph.

And not even taking a break, the Elders immediately began flying towards the Golden Crane Sect.