Chapter 559: Centipede

Liam didn’t need warnings or explanations to learn that the army had reached its destination.

An eye-catching rocky formation eventually appeared, standing a few hundred meters above the ground and far vaster. Narrow channels also ran through it, reminding Liam of the Crimson Warrior Sect.

Of course, natural structures alone couldn’t prove anything, but evident elements marked the rocky elevation as a valuable, inhabited location.

Red banners hung high inside the narrow channels, seemingly marking the right path and its affiliation. Moreover, the Qi seeping past the rocky formation was shockingly dense, clearly hiding cultivation-related resources.

Liam expected the usual unnatural vibe to surround the area. After all, formations seemed to be the preferred and most common defensive method among those forces.

However, nothing of the sort stood out, and it wasn’t hard to guess why. The likely culprit had hopped out of the tent before Liam and was now standing at Uriah’s side in front of the deployed army.

’It’s probably useless since she is here,’ Liam realized.

Masters in the noble arts were rare and priceless, wielding unique freedom in the cultivation world. They were a privileged class of experts that most forces wouldn’t try to suppress, even when they failed to secure them.

Liam had benefited from those privileges ever since leaving the Pale Moon Sect, only suffering due to his lackluster cultivation level. Still, he could probably make a living as a wandering expert now that he had reached the branching stage, meeting no real opposition.

Of course, forces still hired those masters’ services, especially when setting up homes for their forces, but Amber’s affiliation created an unsolvable problem.

On the one hand, having Amber nearby simplified gaining access to formations. Her prices might be exorbitant, but her availability wouldn’t be an issue.

Nevertheless, just as Liam had antidotes for his poisons, Amber likely could undo her formations. A force requesting her services would leave a permanent weakness in the Dark Heaven Tribe’s hands.

Potential enemy Tribes couldn’t accept such flaws in their defenses, explaining why Liam couldn’t perceive any formation around that rocky structure.

There obviously were other defenses in place. The dense Qi in the air hindered Liam’s senses, but he felt danger. Something was crawling underground, and the army’s deployment had caught its attention.

’Is it a living being?’ Liam wondered, gazing at the layer of sandy rocks beneath him. ’Is it more than one?’

Liam limited himself to a simple inspection, pipe still in his mouth while he stood between the married couple and their army. He was an outsider, so he couldn’t assume leadership positions. He was also a branching expert, forcing him to take some spotlight, but that wasn’t his mess to manage.

Which made Rachel’s position quite strange since she stood at Liam’s side instead of her parents’.

’This isn’t where she should be,’ Liam thought, glancing at the spear-wielding beauty beside him.

Cultivators cared about appearances a lot, and Rachel siding with Liam instead of her family was a declaration, both to her underlings and anyone else who happened to watch.

The latter didn’t take long to arrive.

Movement happened inside the rocky formation before cultivators poured out of the narrow passages. In a few minutes, around a hundred foundation and rooting experts wearing red belts had arranged themselves in defense of the structure, their leader arriving last.

Rather than from the ground, two powerful auras appeared near the rocky formation’s top, crawling past a passage before climbing down the slope.

Liam’s gaze flashed with greed at the sight of the huge, shining orange body. A massive, six-meter-long centipede with a flat, almost two-meters-wide head crawled through the enemy army, an old woman easily balancing herself on its back.

The woman looked thin and frail, her grey hair long and disheveled, her face littered with wrinkles. However, her dark eyes mustered a venomous glare full of ominous vitality, which her cultivation level fueled.

’High-stage,’ Liam sensed. The old woman was Uriah’s match, but the centipede still claimed his full attention. After all, it was a level three magical beast, and it was poisonous, but it lacked the inscribed collars he had seen on the lizards.

"What is the reason for this?" The old woman questioned, her hoarse voice echoing through the tense silence. "Has the Dark Heaven Tribe gone mad? Was killing my Jacob not enough of an insult?!"

Unsurprisingly, Liam’s murders hadn’t gone unnoticed. The tracking methods Rachel had warned him about had probably played a part in that. The old woman was simply blaming the Dark Heaven Tribe.

Still, despite not possibly knowing about Liam’s involvement, he received a fair share of looks, and not only from the enemy leader. Her underlings inspected him more than necessary, with many including the beauty at his side.

’Why am I tasting envy?’ Liam cursed internally. He was about to claim ownership of the murders to play his role and change the topic, but Uriah beat him to it.

"You dare ask the reason, old hag?!" Uriah shouted, the enemy army shrinking under the pressure that accompanied his voice. "Since when did the measly Red Sandstorm Tribe harbor the desire to enslave my daughter?!"

Strangely enough, the old woman’s wrinkled face paled. She didn’t have the upper hand in terms of raw power, but she had the home advantage. Still, all her venomous confidence seemed to have shattered at those words.

"Wait! Uriah!" The old woman called in a hurry. "No one in my Tribe would ever-!"

"Are you calling my daughter a liar?!" Uriah shouted again, his irrationality reaching new levels. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

The old woman gulped, inspecting Rachel, only to find her grinning fearlessly. Sadly for her, everyone in the Aetacia region and beyond knew about that crazy family.

"It was but a scuffle among Juniors," The old woman said, smiling. "And my Jacob has already paid the ultimate price for his foolishness. There’s no need to escalate this incident."

The polite, even submissive words only added fuel to the fire. Liam saw the veins on Uriah’s forehead twitch before every rock in the area started to shake.

"You crazy, overprotective-!" The old woman didn’t have the chance to finish her line since the rocky formation behind her exploded, tides of debris washing over her army.