Chapter 117: Red
Liam felt as if he had stepped into a completely different world, and quite suddenly at that.
A re step had been enough to teleport Liam into a blood-stinking red area that expanded as far as the eye could see. The flourishing forest had transford into an imnse marsh, with only distant patches of leafless trees.
Everything was so radically different that Liam couldn’t help but peek behind him, wanting to check whether the forest was there or had ever existed in the first place.
And Liam saw the forest, which acted as a green barrier around that vast, red world. Yet, it felt distant now, as if a layer of sothing zood it out, creating a stark separation from the marsh.
The Pale Moon Sect’s barrier had never affected Liam, so that was his first real ti witnessing that noble art’s capabilities, and he had to admit that they were incredible. Formations could hide entire worlds, and Liam knew they didn’t stop at that.
’What would have happened if I tried to cross it without the key?’ Liam wondered, making a ntal note to ask his Master once he returned to the Sect.
In the anti, a vast assortnt of different sensations assaulted Liam’s perception, updating him on that new place, which didn’t go uninterrupted.
Maxwell stuck to the strategy he had devised and rushed ahead, forcing Liam and Joel to follow. They had to get deeper into the marsh to put so distance from the other teams, leading to a hurried advance.
Needless to say, Liam’s senses kept gathering information. Vast lakes expanded everywhere. Tall grass rose from water and muddy ground, and silence descended at the trio’s passage. That strange ecosystem was very much alive and aware of that invasion.
Qi also perated both lakes and ground, hiding the more powerful presences inside the forr, but Liam kept focusing on that widespread red color. Everything in that environnt carried degrees of that shade, from the paler water to the darker trunks in the distance.
The air reflected that monochromatic feature, enveloping the vast marsh in a red halo. Even the sky gained traces of that color, as if Liam was watching it through reddening lenses.
However, the place’s stench remained the most glaring detail. Liam slled blood everywhere, so pungent and invasive that he felt as if he was bathing in it. The distinct scent was also eerie, as if speaking to sothing deep inside him, which responded.
’Puny humans,’ Human words hissed in Liam’s ears, ’Devoured by their greed.’
’What did you just say?’ Liam questioned in his mind, noticing the haughty disdain inside the hiss.
Sadly, the hiss receded as quickly as it had arrived, providing no answer.
’You know,’ Liam sighed in annoyance. ’This would be much easier if we could just talk.’
That wasn’t only about wanting more than a one-sided relationship with the Ancestral Snake. Liam knew that there could be more to his bloodline. After all, he had already unleashed abilities that went beyond his comprehension with Crazy Uncle and during the test for his talent.
Also, hatred aside, the knowledge of an Ancestral Beast couldn’t be trivial, especially since it might involve the Dragon King.
To be fair, Liam would be happy with anything besides the foreign killing urge, but the Ancestral Snake didn’t care for his wishes that day.
Despite the hard-to-navigate environnt, Liam, Joel, and Maxwell experienced no difficulties crossing the marsh. Their hurried steps often splashed water and mud everywhere, but their advance also remained uninterrupted.
Still, as the distant trees drew closer, the Qi in the area grew denser. The marsh also began to change, turning into a proper swamp, gradually losing decent footholds.
It wouldn’t be long until the group would have to dive into those shallow red waters to continue advancing, but Maxwell stopped right before reaching the leafless trees, and Liam and Joel followed suit.
"The innermost zones start here," Maxwell declared. "These areas should feature main packs rather than the scattered creatures we went by."
Clearly, Liam hadn’t been the only one to notice the predators hiding along the way, but Joel and Maxwell’s re presence had deterred attacks. Yet, the swamp ahead promised to be different.
Actually, Liam already heard movent compared to everything he had crossed earlier.
’Around two hours to reach the inner zones,’ Liam calculated, glancing at the sky. ’If it’s in every direction, Lucy might be able to cultivate here.’
Manually creating nutrients wasn’t the only way to feed cores. Suitable Qi-enhanced environnts were rare, but they existed and could serve as a valid alternative.
’Should I be looking for poisonous bogs?’ Liam wondered.
"We must slow down now," Maxwell continued, interrupting Liam’s train of thought. "We’ll go deeper before starting to hunt magical beasts, but let’s avoid alerting them in the anti."
Maxwell threw a glance at Joel, who nodded, before looking aningfully at Liam. He even began to advance, ready to abandon the muddy ground to enter the shallow waters, until Liam’s evident confusion stopped him.
"Brother Liam, do you have sothing to say?" Maxwell asked.
Liam knew his role there. He had to follow orders and avoid dying. Moreover, the place featured threats he probably couldn’t defeat, while his companions were far stronger cultivators.
So, Liam had been ready to remain silent and abide by Maxwell’s directives, but his face couldn’t hide his thoughts. He was too expressive to conceal his doubts, which Maxwell’s question forced him to voice.
"Senior Brother, if we have to avoid alerting the magical beasts," Liam ntioned, "Shouldn’t we kill the scout ahead?"
"What scout?" Maxwell asked.
"There," Liam said, pointing at a spot among the trees ahead. "Behind the seventeenth tree in this direction."
Maxwell and Joel couldn’t help but follow Liam’s arm, only to see nothing but still, muddy waters and leafless dark-red trunks. The trees didn’t even progress in a straight line, so they had no idea which spot Liam was highlighting.
"Brother Liam, I don’t see anything," Maxwell admitted, looking back at Liam.
"I don’t see it, either," Liam revealed, "But I hear it. It’s moving, so I don’t think it has noticed us yet."
Maxwell looked back at the array of trees, only to see and hear nothing at all. He didn’t even spot ripples in those calm waters, making him doubt the validity of Liam’s statent.
However, instead of denying Liam’s claim, Maxwell glanced at Joel, silently asking for his opinion.
"Junior Brother, are you sure?" Joel whispered, unable to vouch for Liam blindly. He had confird his sharp perception himself, but his claim remained quite ludicrous.
"I think it has just stepped on solid ground," Liam nodded, before the sounds he heard made him frown. "It has five legs?"
That doubtful statent removed Maxwell’s every hesitation. He waved his hand, and a luxurious bow materialized, already secured in his palm.
"Brother Liam, I want you to tell
exactly-," Maxwell began to say, only for Liam’s expression to interrupt his statent. Liam’s eyes had gone wide, almost shining as they inspected every inch of the bow.
"Are you by chance proficient with bows?" Maxwell coughed, pretending not to notice that blatant excitent, which Liam’s following series of nods did little to hide.
"Here," Maxwell said, handing his bow to Liam. "I’ll lend it to you. It’s a rank 1 weapon, but its Qi consumption is quite high."
Liam didn’t hesitate to seize the bow, holding it as if it were the most precious item in the world. The item had tal engravings on its notches, a silver string, and an immaculate dark-brown color, but no arrows.
That turned out to be a non-issue since the weapon drew Liam’s Qi as soon as he touched the string, sending it to the arrow rest to create sothing bright. The process initially startled Liam, making him retract his fingers, only for him to try again and see it through.
After the bow finished drawing enough of Liam’s Qi, an ethereal dark-green arrow ford, already knocked on its string. Liam only had to pull it to fire it.
’Will it fly straight?’ Liam wondered, testing the string’s weight.
"Brother Liam, if you are unsure-," Maxwell began to say, only for the dark-green arrow to shoot ahead, whistling through the air, piercing the water’s surface far in the distance.
The arrow seed to have missed, hitting nothing but empty water, but sothing eventually beca visible, resurfacing from behind a distant tree, floating lifelessly.
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