Chapter 581: Permanent

The greatsword wasn’t exactly big on cutting power. Sharpness wasn’t its selling point. It still cleaved quite well, but that mostly came from the might generated by swinging such a heavy tool.

Instead, cutting was the rank 3 Phantom Talons’ sole purpose. They were a simple martial art that lacked the apocalyptic might branching experts usually wielded. In a way, they were just sharp blades that could only do one job, but they were excellent at it.

The scorpion was basically armored, its innate defenses surpassing the level three bear’s hide. However, Liam was a branching expert now, so his rank 3 martial art could show its full power.

The black talons struck the chitin and cut through it, meeting some resistance that Liam’s physical strength easily overcame. He severed the armored tail cleanly, seizing its sharp side for himself.

Still, that wasn’t the end.

While the Phantom Talons only cut, Liam had manifested them through his Qi, and its properties carried through. Sizzling noises resounded from both ends of the severed edges, the poison corroding the chitin, even making the blue blood boil.

There was no avoiding that. Using mental filters to remove the Qi’s poisonous nature would weaken the talons, and Liam needed their full power against a level three magical beast.

That was why Liam had made the cut as far as possible from the aculeus. The tail’s tip was where scorpions made their venom, and he needed to keep that part as intact as possible.

The scorpion’s toughness worked to Liam’s advantage there. He saw the sizzling slow down almost right away, but only the back of his mind registered the event. That even applied to the part still attached to the creature’s body since the other was already in his ring.

The magical beast hissed while resuming its retreat, but Liam was already in pursuit, his feet releasing thundering noises as soon as his hands returned to the greatsword.

The apocalypse branching experts were known to unleash followed.

Rocks shattered and erupted into the air. Debris crumbled into dust that failed to hover due to the constant shockwaves blowing it away.

The thundering noises resounded nonstop, often accompanied by spurts of blue blood and yellow shards.

Truth was, the scorpion wasn’t much of a fighter. Its unfathomably fast tail and its venom were its main weapons. Without them, the creature was stuck in a defensive stance, and its incredible reaction speed only delayed the inevitable.

The pincers kept accumulating cracks until they were no more, leaving the body exposed. The latter suffered from the same destructive process, its armor gradually shattering, until it came to a complete standstill.

Liam felt the death as soon as it arrived, halting his swing as it was about to slam into the creature’s side. Black Qi stopped leaking from his figure as he laid his greatsword on his shoulder, his senses absorbing every detail of the carcass at his feet.

The greatsword alone wouldn’t have been able to accomplish so much so quickly. While the scorpion was a mess of cracked chitin and oozing blood, its general shape was intact. Only its pincers were mostly in pieces since they had been its main defense.

Yet, Liam’s weapon had far more than weight. He had coated its edges with his rank 3 venom, and his Qi had leaked nonstop, delivering a two-faced assault far greater than the mere slashes could achieve.

The carcass showed it as clear as day. Faint sizzling happened everywhere, with the soft flesh under the cracked armor melting into a gory puddle in multiple areas. A darkening process was also unfolding, expanding despite Liam having turned off his black Qi.

That result proved Liam’s choice of a weapon correct once more. Poison masters only had to draw blood to use their insidious deadliness, and the greatsword could overcome most defenses, even against stronger opponents.

The venom and poison had also played well into Liam’s strategy. He hadn’t forgotten his near-death experience against the level three bear, making him wary of potential abilities. It was why he had opted for that lengthier but safer offense, removing any dangerous variable.

Still, there was a drawback.

With the black Qi, rank 3 venom, sacrificial play, powerful techniques, and innate poison resistance, Liam’s victory had never been in question, especially after taking out the scorpion’s main weapon on his first move.

But a level three magical beast was a treasure on its own, and Liam couldn’t see much worth preserving. With him keeping the tail, only the core was left.

Liam still stored the whole carcass in his ring, planning to let Uriah reexamine it and salvage whatever he could, but his mind remained on the battle.

’If I had the body-enhancing pill ...’ Liam thought, comparing the current battle to his experience from the rooting stage.

Liam’s physical strength was already insane after the breakthrough, but his resilience had also increased, meaning he could withstand an even more extreme physical boost.

Chances were that the yellow chitin wouldn’t have been able to stop Liam’s greatsword at all with that boost. Even the Phantom Talons might have been superfluous with it.

Yet, achieving that boost was the issue. The Primal Urge would still work, but it wasn’t suitable for Liam anymore. Even his rank 2 body-enhancing pills had surpassed it since he had tailored them to the quasi-stage.

Ordinary cultivators would never think in such terms. Such physical boosts were dangerous after all. Liam had broken himself almost every time when relying on them.

Nevertheless, that also was the best edge Liam could think of. Since he was so resilient, he should abuse himself right before the point of crumbling down. He had to live at the upper threshold available solely to him to make full use of his inborn advantage.

’It’s just not possible, right?’ Liam considered, casually swinging the greatsword in the air. ’Even excluding tests, the most I can see myself concocting is one or two pills due to the ingredients’ scarcity.’

That number actually went down to zero in the Great Quiet Desert. Nothing in Rachel’s list suited that project, but the quality of Liam’s enemies had improved once more.

’I need to maximize all I have just to have a shot at surviving,’ Liam reviewed. ’And it can’t be just one trump card. It must be my baseline prowess.’

The nearby overlords had already suggested the cultivation world’s spike in danger. Andrew and Daniel were also stronger than Liam. Even now, he would need two body-enhancing pills for those potential battles, and the number was bound to increase.

’I wonder,’ Liam thought, stopping the training slashes to scratch his head with the greatsword. ’Can I somehow make the empowerment permanent?’