Born in Blood



Liam stuck himself with the shadowy pin, which shot into his body.

There was no pain, but a tight constricting feeling securely wrapped around his Chaos Pearl.

Liam tried taking out a strand of chaos, but nothing happened.

'Hopefully this is enough.'

'How does he plan to arrive at the Main Lands, though?' Liam thought as the acolytes cheered and the Elders remained silent.

'It will probably take months unless—'

RUMBLE.

Behind the temple, the silhouette of something rising through the ground caused the island to shake. 

Everyone felt a tinge of alarm when they saw what came out, but calmed down when the Elder's hadn't moved from their place.

It was the Monolith Lion.

Only, there were no traces of Wild Fang's influence on it. 

It was just a little bit smaller, but all of its brown and yellow fur had been transformed into pure black.

With wide steps, it stopped right in front of the Temple's army, and Unforgiven Shadow perched on top of its furry head.

Liam's eyes widened with shock.

Everyone was pretty much in the same boat.

'How is that possible?'

The Unforgiven was breaking every cultivation law before everyone's eyes, and quite frankly, it was getting ridiculous. 

Formations, inscriptions, and even forging. 

The guy had it all!

Usan didn't deign anyone an explanation.

In large groups, herds of people started to climb up the beast with excited expressions.

Liam was no exception, but he waited until the front parts were taken. 

He wanted to limit his exposure to people, especially since riding through on a freaking lion would no doubt gain a few nasty looks.

Eventually, Liam made his way up.

He was somewhere around the back of the lion, his view similar to what someone would see off a seven story building.

'I need to get my Ravenous Leash Arts fixed soon. Maybe I can do something similar at one point.'

Once everyone had settled down, the Monolith Lion began to move.

No…

It began to run.

Slowly at first.

Very fast right after.

It leaped over the island cliff in a wide arc, then began to plunge into the ocean below.

WHOOOOOOSH!

SPLSHHHH!

Waves flew everywhere from the wide point of impact, sending violent ripples throughout the ocean.

If there weren't Inertial Repelling Formations covering the Monolith Lion's back, everyone would have already flown off.

That said, people started to laugh very loudly and cheered.

Most of the new acolytes had never experienced something this mighty.

They were dregs of society, forced to resort to crime for a few scraps.

The older acolytes and Elders just loved the thrill that came with an edge of danger.

Liam was just quiet.

…But he couldn't help but chuckle lightly under his breath.

It did feel exhilarating, he wouldn't lie.

The island slowly grew distant.

The Monolith Lion took wide strides to swim through the ocean separating the island from Ilali's main soil.

As the cheers continued, Liam checked one of his space rings.

There were roughly 27 Parasite Worms there, wriggling as though they were alive, along with another 14 Abyssal Needles.

The former was much easier to make, hence why there were so many.

Liam hadn't actually tested them.

There was no one to attack, after all.

Pretty soon, the Monolith Lion emerged from the water and ran straight towards the center of Ilali.

The speed that it was going at was alarming, bulldozing through the forests, leaping over hills and clawing up massive mountains.

Usan didn't bother being discreet, either, choosing to traverse through a main 

It would take just a few hours to reach the Main Lands.

The surrounding Sects were obviously alarmed by the sudden rumbling noises that spread across their lands.

Their first thought was:

'We're being attacked!'

Dozens of Rank 4 Patriarchs of small-sized and mid-size Sects shot out of their homes to see the source of the invasion…

…Just to see a massive lion – atop of which were loudly cheering humans – whiz past them and head towards the Main Lands.

Before long, that giant lion faded into the distance, the ground slowly stabilizing as it disappeared.

"What… did I just witness?" one Sector Patriarch uttered under his breath.

The Rank 5 aura resonating from that lion was alarming.

All those who saw the event instantly consulted their neighboring Sectors.

News travels faster than light.

Since whoever commanded that beast didn't attack them, it meant that something was occuring within the Main Lands.

Something important.

Thus, they made preparations to venture into the Main Lands themselves.

Like this, important figures and high ranking martial artists gathered from all over Ilali to understand the volatile situation.

Even Rank 5 cultivators were no exception. Them and their thousands of disciples prepared for migration.

The winds of change were blowing over the region.

Meanwhile, Liam began to change his features and stature to something less… well, like him.

Using a special dye, he changed the color of his hair to a lustrous black.

His cheekbones sank a bit, and his lips grew thinner.

Thicker muscle padded his arms and body, making his form sturdier than usual.

Slightly increasing the density of his muscles was also possible.

Liam's Transfiguration could swap out certain qualities to different areas.

Liam basically converted his blood into muscle.

And that actually gave him a significant boost in strength.

Liam had tested these abilities with the Ashura Form, and similar to his Shadow, it was much more difficult to control.

"Is it just me, or do you look… bigger than usual?" Krel came up behind Liam, along with Jargon and a few other Shadows.

Appearance changing wasn't exactly the newest thing for the Sect, but a significant change in stature wasn't really possible.

"I've been lifting."

Liam's terse response made the others laugh.

After one and a half hours, a civilization grew visible across the horizon. 

Structures and towering shapes of different design and length formed a grand circular formation, built around seven different domains.

This was the Seven Clans.

And this was the Main Lands.