Chapter 549: Sleep

The rank 3 smoking powder had been the first of Liam’s concoctions once he had achieved confidence in his new state, but nothing meaningful had come out of it.

Admittedly, Liam had concocted nonstop, with his Qi reserves threatening to run out only after he had moved to rank 3 products.

Even then, Liam’s meridians had improved with his body. One rank 3 concoction had been enough to empty them in the past, but he could now handle four or five in a row.

So, Liam hadn’t taken many smoking breaks nor focused on them. It was part of the reason why he had yet to develop his first branch fully, and his unique talent added a complication to that steep natural hurdle.

The scene in the reddish canvas had changed greatly after three weeks. Tens of tiny protuberances had joined the first incomplete branch, making the upper side of Liam’s core look quite cramped.

That wasn’t even enough to be called a start in Liam’s case. Just like in the rooting stage, the branches’ development wasn’t uniform or individual. He would probably develop hundreds of protuberances before a single one reached completion, if not a clean one thousand.

’Though my reserves are deepening quite meaningfully,’ Liam felt as he watched his cultivation quiver under the poison he breathed.

The improvement was gradual, but it was there, and it was decent. The many protuberances still signified deeper reserves, reinforcing Liam’s standing in the branching stage.

It wasn’t quite at the level where Liam could add another rank 3 martial art to his max output, but he was getting closer to that achievement earlier than he had expected. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

’I guess my growth is still quick on average,’ Liam concluded, the new smoking powder claiming all merits.

With Grace, spirit stones had a fixed amount of energy, being somewhat unsuitable for her new level. Instead, Liam’s smoking powder was perfect for the branching stage, and he had even made it as deadly as his ingredients allowed.

The dizziness from the first days was no more. Liam only felt light-headed when smoking now, but the nutrients remained aplenty, probably being far more than what ordinary branching experts were usually forced to use.

’To think I didn’t even want to learn alchemy,’ Liam mocked himself. ’Master should have hit me more.’

If Liam hadn’t been an alchemist, he would have had to commission one or eat the poisonous ingredients raw, getting far lower returns in terms of growth or facing immense delays.

That probably was what most branching experts experienced, with Grace among the most well-off due to how easy it was to find her nutrients. Instead, thanks to alchemy, Liam could partially avoid that common hurdle.

’It will be even faster with the swamp,’ Liam thought with some helplessness.

Liam’s plan in the northern region had been to concoct a batch of poisonous powder and a Master’s Pride with the Demoness’ remaining ingredients after becoming a branching expert.

That version of the Master’s Pride could have worked both as a weapon and as a training area that the pipe couldn’t match, but getting stranded in the southern region had changed Liam’s plans.

Safety was the swamp’s flaw. Liam didn’t have the privilege of setting it up whenever and wherever he wanted. With the Church, the two he had killed after teleporting, and his general ignorance about the region, he couldn’t risk staying still in the open for months on end yet.

That was why Liam had opted for a bigger batch of the smoking powder in the end, at least when it came to the Demoness’ remaining ingredients. He had prioritized stable growth over a quicker but riskier one.

Of course, that hadn’t stopped Liam from making three Master’s Pride with his venom. The Church’s encirclement had been a wake-up call. Cultivators often only had one trump card. It was what the name implied, but the quality of Liam’s enemies forced him to have many.

’I also need more diversity,’ Liam calculated, the scenes from the encirclement playing in his mind. ’I’ll still do different poisons once I find rank 3 ingredients, but not weaponizing my venom more would be stupid.’

Liam wasn’t only thinking about a rank 3 Qilin’s Idea. His venom had a specific effect, but its shapes could differ. He just had to create the product.

Horace’s inheritance even gave Liam plenty of recipes to tinker with. The deadline had simply pushed him to focus on more familiar ones to fill his arsenal as quickly as possible.

’There’s even the Qi-Storage pills ...’ Liam cursed internally. ’Maybe I should try to invent a cheaper version, even if it can’t refill my meridians.’

Liam had finally started to fight like an alchemist, even adjusting his products and combat style to his divine talent. However, reaching the branching stage had partially wiped the slate clean.

The collection of poisons was still there, and the same went for the healing products. The former was somewhat usable despite its rank 2 power, especially when in combination, but the latter was completely unsuitable for Liam now, and there probably was no fixing that.

Rank 3 ingredients were rare, and the entire world might not have enough of those to fuel the wasteful abuse of Qi-Storage pills Liam had relied upon until recently.

Liam had actually already excluded the Qi-Storage pills from his plans. Yet, Master Vermillion had given him the idea of adding them to his poisons to apply his core’s deadly nature twice.

With that and the venom, Liam would have three factors working to surpass the Heavens’ realm, potentially creating products that could overcome the Dragons’ alleged immunity.

Of course, Liam had never faced that immunity for himself, but he had to believe that it was as incredible, if not more, than he feared. Perfection demanded such wariness.

Which was why Liam was willing to invent theoretically useless but cheaper ways to store his Qi. As long as the new product worked as an ingredient, he could experiment in that field.

’The body-enhancing pills will probably get far more expensive instead,’ Liam thought, storing the pipe to lie down on a mat. ’With what my body can likely endure now, there’s no saying how far I can push that product.’

That wasn’t Liam’s first time brainstorming the topic, and it wouldn’t be the last. Reaching the Dark Heaven Tribe promised to give him a more realistic idea of what he could expect from the area and the branching stage in general, so he planned to rest and get there as soon as he woke up.

However, for the first time in Liam’s life, sleep didn’t arrive.