Chapter 589: Spells

As angry as Liam was, he hadn’t lost his mind.

Ever since the battle against Dominic, Liam had learned to keep the Primal Urge’s insanity in check. His mind was a mess of hisses, auditory hallucinations, and tides of information captured by the hyper-clarity, but he remained in complete control.

Which was why Liam couldn’t help but stop before the apocalyptic scene he had caused and its outcome.

Poison was spreading everywhere, especially from the toxic river. Its fumes were infecting both ground and air, accelerating the swamp’s expansion, but a man stood beyond it, surprisingly still in one piece, sort of.

Andrew’s skin was in pieces. Cracks covered him all over, as if he were made of clay, which wasn’t much further from the truth.

The cracks eventually led to debris. Shards and dust fell from Andrew’s figure, revealing intact skin underneath. Even his loose robe was fine, having gone through the same shattering process.

It turned out the cracks were part of a defensive membrane, and Liam instantly read its power.

’Rank 3,’ Liam thought in his hissing brain. ’And it’s a spell.’

The Seven Hellish Steps was Liam’s strongest martial art. He had used three steps in his last attack on top of condensing the built-up energy through the greatsword and the Primal Urge’s physical empowerment, but Andrew was almost entirely unscathed.

Only one dark stain was on Andrew’s chest, but his Qi immediately suppressed the infection. His skin soon started to pale, regaining its normal tanned complexion.

The technique that had blown Liam’s arm when he was a rooting expert had failed to inflict any meaningful damage, and there were many reasons for that.

The opponent obviously was the first reason. Even against the Inquisitor, Liam had needed to poison him through the rank 3 Cloud pill before inflicting any meaningful damage.

Andrew was probably weaker than the Inquisitor since he had no advantages from powerful bloodlines, but he remained a mid-stage branching expert. Moreover, he had used a spell.

Liam could finally use the Seven Hellish Steps’ true power, but it was a martial art. While his Qi’s nature still leaked through, the technique’s power would be inferior to a spell made for a specific element.

Of course, Liam could use more steps. At seven, the technique was supposed to touch upon the leafing stage in terms of power, but Liam definitely couldn’t use that yet unless he wanted to explode.

That led to another reason. The Primal Urge was too weak for Liam now. It could express more power through his superior Qi, but it remained a technique that didn’t suit his level.

The physical empowerment had enabled Liam to endure three steps with as little as a few superficial injuries, but that wasn’t even close to what his body could truly unleash.

Liam’s core was proof of that. The Primal Urge should have sent his cultivation into overdrive, but his dantian, roots, and branches barely quivered, easily enduring that higher output.

As for why Liam had used the Primal Urge instead of the body-enhancing pills, he honestly wasn’t sure they would have had any effect. While stronger, they were alchemical products, meaning his now-superior cultivation could have suppressed their effects instead of letting them affect him. They weren’t exactly healthy after all.

Still, Liam wasn’t the only one going through similar reasoning. Andrew actually shared his surprise.

"A low-stage branching expert broke through my Soil Skin," Andrew announced. "Without suffering much of a backlash. Am I correct to suspect your true identity?"

Liam didn’t reply. He knew exactly what he had shown, and branching experts weren’t stupid. He might have been fine with just hisses in the past, but wielding proper fangs had clearly been too much.

Sadly, Liam had been unable to help himself. His Master was too precious to him, but it seemed his opponent still hadn’t realized that point.

"Dark Wanderer, I apologize for provoking you," Andrew exclaimed. "But shouldn’t we stop this? Our grudge isn’t deep. There is no need to fight to the death."

Fights were expensive for cultivators. Insulting someone’s Master was among the worst offenses an expert could commit due to how sacred the master-disciple relationship was, but Andrew had tried to stop the battle first.

That was akin to acknowledging Liam while offering an apology. Andrew was also right. No real harm had been done. The two could easily settle that small scuffle with words and compensation.

Naturally, that only applied to normal circumstances.

"Not deep?" Liam hissed.

The comment only reinforced the insult. After all, if Andrew thought that the offense could be solved so easily, he had no idea of its true weight on Liam’s heart.

And the response was Hatred in a manner that even Andrew couldn’t dismiss.

The slimy patches all around Liam shuddered. The river started to boil, and the toxic fumes shook, as if going into a frenzy.

The swamp was coming alive, and there was no ignoring it.

"Do you truly want to see this through?" Andrew snorted. "Fine!"

An earthquake ran through the area, the event separate from the swamp’s quivering. Cracks opened everywhere as soil and rocks moved, converging toward Andrew and enveloping his figure.

The defensive layer around Andrew accumulated more and more soil until his small frame couldn’t contain it anymore. His figure grew, even changing color, completely transforming in a matter of seconds.

Andrew was no more. A seven-meter-tall humanoid shape had replaced him, its surfaces smooth and brown, as if they were polished ore.

The humanoid shape had sharp holes for eyes, fingers, and toes, but no other details covered him. He was a true puppet, but there was no underestimating its power.

’Another rank 3 spell,’ Liam calculated. ’And the amount of Qi used ...’

Liam couldn’t dwell on his thoughts since his hyper-clarity warned him about the incoming attack. He swung the greatsword with all he had, its edge meeting the two giant palms about to slam into him.

An instinctive warning suddenly resounded in Liam’s brain, but even the Primal Urge’s hyper-clarity failed to make him react in time. He just felt an explosion inside those giant brown arms before his body flew away, blood spurting from his broken skin.