Chapter 637: Scar

The alchemical flame had been the beginning. It was the foundation, the origin of the theory.

Initially, Liam had only been able to extend that theory to simple barriers, specific series of hindrances concocted to counter equally specific attacks.

The alchemical spell had been a sort of turning point. While the theory’s application remained limited to a constantly accelerating spin, it definitely belonged to a higher realm of skills.

Then, the breakthrough happened.

Through the branching stage’s superior Qi, Liam had been able to employ that obscure skill more reliably and with greater results. He had gained better fuel and an intent that could reshape the world. His very thoughts could have material effects.

A true understanding of what the branching stage offered followed. Liam had learned to turn what he poisoned into fuel for his techniques, as well as creating the snake arrows and head. The Poison Art had been born that day.

Lastly, a proper specialization in poisons had happened, with Liam concocting with nothing but poisonous ingredients. The process was ongoing, and it probably knew no end, but he had still improved enough to see tangible benefits.

With alchemy’s innate flexibility and Liam expanding his whole approach to poisons, more and more ideas could become reality. Liam just had to get good enough to implement them, and he had just touched upon a new threshold.

The attack was nothing short of a dense but isolated rain. It wasn’t fast by branching experts’ standards, propelled only by gravity, but that wasn’t its purpose.

Just like the many similar techniques Liam had faced, the shards’ individual power wasn’t great. It couldn’t be when he had to split a single attack’s energy into so many pieces.

The prey was also no pushover. Liam had fired against the biggest army of cultivators he had ever seen. His attack might have caught many experts by surprise, but the rain’s falling speed gave them plenty of time to react, especially when it came to the best among them.

Liam felt Qi surge in the distance. Unnatural lights also cut through the night, shining like multicolored beacons. Faint tremors even hit his skin, confirming clashes.

The scent of blood was the only missing sensation, but that was within Liam’s calculations. He had never planned his arrows to pierce anyone in the first place.

Sand rose in the air, dispersing immediately due to the powerful auras that got into action. The hornet’s nest was successfully poked, and the drowning was already happening.

The Poisonous Cloud pill was Liam’s first weaponized concoction, and he had never stopped improving it. Together with the smoking powder, it was the recipe he knew best, so applying part of its effects to the third layer of Qi mastery was nothing short of instinctive.

The distant army had easily dispatched the rain, but Liam saw most of it had been mere blocking, since trails darker than the night rose in the distance.

The rain’s purpose wasn’t to draw blood but to poison the world.

’It worked,’ Liam thought. The shards had indeed exploded, spreading the infection his Qi carried, marking the successful creation of a new technique.

Of course, there was a limit to what Liam’s Qi could do, even when unleashed through such a widespread attack. Things would have been different against the world alone, but his target had cultivators, and many of them.

Deafening shockwaves soon exploded, blowing away the poisonous trails. A cacophony of attacks followed, likely dealing with what Liam’s Qi had infected.

Despite the distance and vague clues, the picture was clear in Liam’s mind. By now, he could read cultivators as he did with animals.

The branching experts had acted first since they experienced the world at a different pace. They were also more experienced and didn’t need to fear the rain as much as their underlings.

The rooting experts had moved next, but the damage was already done. Someone must have suffered something, especially mentally. Liam wasn’t sure whether anyone had died, but that gathering definitely had.

The army just couldn’t remain still while someone capable of launching such attacks was hunting it. They had to erect defenses while searching for that threat or change location, ensuring that no one followed them.

Truth be told, Liam had the opportunity to run circles around the army there. Since his attack had theoretically come from the sky, no one had spotted him, so he could escape to harass that foreign threat another day.

The strategy likely wouldn’t inflict much actual damage, but it would keep the army on edge, eroding its mental state. It would also affect the timetable, either delaying the planned attack and leaving it exposed to the desert’s harshness for longer or pushing it to launch its assault before it was ready.

However, Liam had far bolder plans, as proven by the miniature black star that had begun to shine between the fingers pulling the bowstring.

The Sky-Splitting Bolt was indeed unreliable at that distance, but forcing the army’s main players to use their power had highlighted them, becoming bright dots in Liam’s perception.

The chaos the rain had caused was also the perfect opportunity to perform the rank 3 weapon art’s ritual-like gestures. Liam had actually finished them before anything could settle.

A dark trail cut through the desert, or rather, it suddenly materialized, as if it had always been there. A black line as thick as a man’s chest had stained the night, connecting Liam’s dune to the impossibly distant encampment.

The faint, impossible-to-discern distant voices had already grown louder during the rain, but actual shouts resounded now, almost allowing Liam to memorize some of them.

Yet, Liam focused on what his nose and mouth captured. He smelled blood now.

Of course, scents and shouts were the last of Liam’s problems. The scar the Sky-Splitting Bolt had left on the world was bigger than ever, almost twice the size he had mustered when he was a rooting expert, and it pointed directly at him.