Born in Blood



Liam stood exactly where he was as everyone around him began to migrate towards the center of the island.

He couldn't help but constantly inspect his ring and look at Wild Fang's dead body.

So much power.

Dead.

Stored in a ring.

Reduced to food.

…How the mighty fall.

Slowly, the Isolation Barrier unveiled itself from the top.

The warm rays of dawn spread over the horizon and lit up the sky in a million shades of amber.

Outside, everything was still the same. 

Nobody else witnessed the events of today due to the Isolation Barrier. 

Before the attack took place, a few members of the Temple had blocked the entry ports to the island.

Liam let the wind caress his face.

Things were going to change after this victory.

The Temple had defeated a large-sized Sect and claimed the entire island, including all the Sectors on it.

Their resources had surged above and beyond the norm.

'They could definitely make their way into the Main Lands,' Liam thought.

Liam hoped they wouldn't. 

For one, he enjoyed peace.

A steady rise in power was obviously what he preferred rather than a constant state of battle.

Both were viable, since he'd gain strength either way, but still.

Another was the fact that he had yet to use his Rank 3 mental sphere to its fullest.

The crueler inventions he could make, the improvements to spells, the spells themselves, the Shifter, the Black Hole, the Ravenous Leash Arts.

But that wasn't the most important goal for the moment.

Wild Fang's corpse was.

He needed to devour and congest the Rank 5 body.

'My Blood is currently at the beginning of the Rank 2 middle-tier.'

'And my body is edging towards the middle, too.'

Liam wasn't sure what would happen once his Blood became Rank 3 and beyond.

At those realms, items and spells had specialities that made them stand out from the norm.

So, what would his ichor – which was already pretty strong on its own – be able to do?

Grinning broadly, Liam began to run towards the Temple's underground chambers first.

Thankfully, the battle between the two titanic powers didn't take place towards that area of the island.

It was utterly empty.

Everyone was looking towards the Elders and the Temple Patriarch for what to do.

But Liam already knew his goals.

As he made his way towards his quarters, Liam's mind drifted to what Usan might want to talk about.

Since he knew about his corpse devouring abilities – and was kind enough to give him a Rank 5 body – he probably knew a lot more than just that.

'Oh well.' 

'If he wanted me dead, I would have been already.'

'Since he started with a gift, he's smart enough to know I won't truly work together with him otherwise.'

Liam arrived at his quarters and entered. 

First, he took out Wild Fang's body and laid it down.

Rank 5 bodies didn't suffer decomposition.

The same went for Rank 5 Spirit Beasts. 

In fact, most of the wounds were slightly healed compared to before, but otherwise still prevalent.

Liam practiced caution when dealing with the power of a Rank 5 cultivator.

As the bodily ranks went up, so did the Lifeforce contained in their blood, flesh and muscles.

That was the same reason why Liam was nourished more when he ate cultivators with Rank 4 bodies and Rank 3 cores.

And if he wasn't careful…

Well, he'd explode.

'I should probably begin with a finger or something.'

Liam took out a Dusk Blade and grabbed Wild Fang's index finger.

Then, Liam raised his blade and swung as hard as he could.

SHIG.

Liam furrowed his brows.

The blade barely went in.

It drew merely a drop of blood.

Liam applied more force and used his blade like a saw.

It took him a solid two hours to rip out the finger, and by the end of it, the edges of his blade were a little bit dull compared to before.

That was fine, though. 

Liam wanted to make improvements to the weapon, anyway.

'Now…' Liam thought, holding the finger. 'Do I go all-out or bit by bit?'

Consuming the whole thing in one gulp wasn't really wise.

He didn't know the exact measurement of power contained in the flesh of a Rank 5, even in small amounts.

Eventually, he fully transformed his teeth and began with a small, precise, slow bite.

Crunch. Chomp. Crunch. Crunch.

'Damn it, it's so… chewy!' Liam cursed, his face twisting and turning as he viciously gnawed on the finger.

Truthfully, the taste wasn't that bad.

Liam was used to eating disgusting filth. 

But a Rank 5 body was different due to how pure and dense it was – like a juicy beef steak without seasoning.

He made sure to break it apart thoroughly. If he didn't, it would take way longer for his stomach to melt it.

Gulp!

Finally, Liam swallowed.

Liam didn't waste a second and began to cultivate the flesh, making sure to spread the nutrients evenly throughout his body.

A few hours passed.

Liam's skin had turned red all over, exuding hot mist.

His ragged breathing had also turned warm and steamy.

His muscles rapidly twitched and pulsed in random places.

His veins seemed to expand as the blood running through them boiled.

Liam didn't expect the effects of devouring just a finger to be this great!

It was just a finger! 

Yet, amazingly, there was just as much nourishment that came with it.

Liam's Blood was progressing at an amazing rate, nearly 13% into the middle-tier with just that amount he ate.

And it was still rising in percentage!

But being too fast was also a problem…

…What would happen if Liam eventually devoured the entire body?

'Is my Blood really going to advance to Rank 3?' Liam thought as his body slowly calmed down.

His skin had slowly reverted back to normal, and his body slowly stabilized.

Liam stored Wild Fang's corpse. 

'There's no way I'm taking another bite until the Lifeforce dwindles down.'

'This is clearly a long term thing.'

'In the meantime… I've been itching to invent something new for a while now. Brainstorming ideas wouldn't hurt.'

And the Rank 5 battle had given Liam a morbid idea.