Chapter 580: Scorpion

A scorching sensation tried to overwhelm Liam’s brain, as if lava had replaced his blood. His skin and muscles shook, quivering chaotically, sending his knees to the sand.

Liam’s control over his body receded, slipping away and causing erratic paralysis, leaving his expression stuck in a feral smile caused by a change related to his very existence.

The fifth branch had neared full development during the trip to the forbidden zone, but the process was instantly finalized. The hundreds of protuberances that were growing above Liam’s core also shook, stretching as immense vitality flowed through them.

It almost seemed the sixth branch would fully develop, too, but the sudden growth ended, Liam’s core having finished devouring the foreign substance that had invaded him.

The shape that had stabbed Liam’s shoulder was a tail of tough, yellow chitin ending in a sharp aculeus belonging to a creature that didn’t take long to reveal itself.

As the aculeus left Liam’s flesh, more sand rose before falling from the huge yellow figure that had been hiding in that isolated patch among the rocks.

The creature was a giant scorpion over one meter long without accounting for its tail. With the latter, it reached up to two meters in height, even standing slightly above Liam.

Given that Liam was on his knees, the scorpion’s sharp pincers were right in front of his face, ready to stab him or directly crush him.

"Big Brother!" Rachel cried from above, her worry genuine, her hands already reaching for her bracelets.

’Come on,’ Liam uttered an internal grunt, urging his body.

Naturally, the scorpion was a level three magical beast, one Liam had read about in Rachel’s summary and had purposely sought after reaching the forbidden zone.

The reason was also obvious. The scorpion used venom, albeit not the most powerful in the Great Quiet Desert. It actually was among the weakest, mainly because it focused on paralyzing prey rather than killing it.

That was why Liam had chosen the creature as his first target. With his affinity to poison, he was almost certain he could endure that venom without problems. Yet, a level three magical beast was nothing to scoff at.

The immediate boost to Liam’s cultivation vouched for the venom’s strength. It was an incredible nutrient at his current level, but it remained poison.

Liam’s ability to survive the venom and benefit from its power didn’t save him from its effects. He didn’t have an instantaneous immunity to those substances. That was why Horace had initially considered his predicament hopeless.

The paralysis endured even as the scorpion threw its pincers forward. Liam’s head was about to get squashed or worse, only for another eruption to follow.

Sand and rocks flew upward, clouding the area, before waves of a black energy blew the debris away. Rachel had to retreat higher into the sky, but she heaved a sigh of relief when she gazed at the scene below.

Liam was on his feet, chunks of his skin still quivering. Even his hands were trembling, but they still clung to the greatsword, pointing it at the figure a few meters away.

The sudden swing of the hulking piece of metal had pushed the scorpion away, even opening a crack in one of its pincers, on top of blowing up the environment.

Liam had mainly welcomed the aculeus as a test of the scorpion’s venom. Now that he had confirmed its value, he could move to the organ that produced it since alchemy would greatly increase its effects.

With no complementary ingredients to speak of, Liam could only add more poison to create the alchemical product, further increasing its deadliness. He even already had some in the form of the centipedes he had stolen.

Nevertheless, the main goal had revolved around the greatsword. Liam hadn’t trained much with it after leaving the border, only focusing on the alchemical spell, but that was as good a chance as any.

Actually, Liam planned to use those hunts to master all his new abilities and perfect his fighting style again. That was why he had avoided raining fire from the safety of the sky, engaging instead in melee combat.

As the ruler of that small domain, the scorpion didn’t want to retreat. That was its hunting area, a place it had conquered after many battles.

Yet, magical beasts possessed a level of intelligence, and their animal instincts also provided them with a sixth sense cultivators could only dream about.

Now that the ambush had failed, the level three scorpion had to decide whether to engage in a fight to the death. Such was the mindset of a predator, after all, but its instincts categorically rejected that option.

The fact that Liam had decided to hold back despite the danger didn’t reflect in his aura. All the scorpion saw was pure death expanding on its former lair, turning it into a toxic environment no one but that sword-wielding cultivator could survive.

So, the scorpion retreated. A level three magical beast had actually chosen to escape a branching expert, but Liam couldn’t allow such an outcome.

The now-slimy sand gained a foot-shaped hole as Liam charged forward, unleashing the Defying Stomp. The scorpion’s sprint had surpassed his top speed, so he had needed a martial art to compensate.

The Defying Stomp was incredible, but the scorpion actually reacted to that speed burst. It suddenly turned to place its pincers in the way of the slashing greatsword.

Liam had basically cleaved through everything with his weapon, and his momentum couldn’t be greater, but the pincers stopped it. Deep spiderwebs of cracks opened on the yellow chitin, spurting blue blood, but the attack was successfully blocked.

Also, the successful defense gave the creature a chance to counterattack.

Liam moved even before the attack came, but it hit him anyway. It was simply too fast. The scorpion’s tail had snapped at his face, and he had narrowly dodged it, the aculeus scraping his cheek.

A scorching sensation invaded Liam’s body again, but the infection was lighter now. He could move, which was why his hand snapped up, grabbing the tail before it could retreat.

"I needed this," Liam exclaimed, letting go of the greatsword, long black talons growing from his fingers as he swung his hand upward.