Legacy of Hatred-Chapter 181: Sadistic

There was no passion next. The official beginning of a relationship usually led to fiery times, but Liam’s condition was far from suitable.

It wasn’t just about the still-ringing headache and sense of weakness. Liam would have easily pushed through them since whatever Melissa triggered inside him was far more intense.

The issue was spiritual, emotional. Melissa’s acceptance despite the secret didn’t fix things with the Alchemy Elder, and Liam didn’t feel right indulging in happy times until he faced that.

Melissa mistakenly connected that to sadness over the failed breakthrough, but her response remained on point.

Liam didn’t need what Melissa’s body could offer now. He required emotional support to know that he wasn’t alone in whatever he was going through.

Melissa had to show Liam that she would remain at his side through thick and thin, even when failures made him question his own worth.

So, Melissa did just that, simply sitting beside Liam, holding his hand while he blew dark smoke as far away from her.

The interruption eventually arrived. The boulder began to move, and only one person beside Liam could cause that, so his head went down, guilt already taking over him.

Melissa didn’t have the time to do much. She was too dutiful to intrude on a Master-disciple relationship, too. Yet, her own status had changed, so she did the best she could in that short window.

A familiar touch pressed on Liam’s chin, lifting his face so that Melissa could show him her timid, reassuring smile, before standing up right afterward.

The embarrassment was still there, but the official nature of the relationship kept Melissa’s departure calm. Instinctively, she wanted to uphold a level of decorum not to bring shame to her man, especially when it came to his Master.

In a way, due to the nature of the Master-disciple relationship, Melissa also had to seek the Alchemy Elder’s approval, so she performed a proper, polite bow before gracefully leaving the cave.

Of course, the Alchemy Elder didn’t care for Melissa at all that day. His fury was too great, and seeing the guilt depicted on Liam’s lowered face fueled it beyond reason, but he didn’t let anything leak into his face.

"Master," Liam called once the boulder closed. "Did you consult the Scripture Hall?"

Now, the Elder had a vague plan. Actually, he had two with different purposes. One involved solving Liam’s bottleneck, while the other was about confirming his secret.

The second had to come first since the Elder needed to know all about the issue to hope to solve it, and he had an idea on how to get to the bottom of it. Still, recalling the reason behind Liam’s behavior awakened sadistic traits.

The Elder would still stick to his plan. Yet, nothing stopped him from enjoying the process. He even felt he had earned some payback against his fool of a disciple.

"I did," The Elder confirmed, sighing and shaking his head in defeat. "But disciple, I must admit, what you made me witness today challenged my life experiences." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Liam stole a glance at his Master’s defeated face before his heart plummeted, and his head with it. Melissa might be safe as long as she didn’t know, but his secret was actively hurting the Elder instead.

"All my certainties are crumbling," The Elder continued, his tone growing dramatic. "I feel as if I’ve deluded myself, spending my life believing I had looked upon greatness, only to discover that a mere reflection tricked me."

"Master, you haven’t!" Liam couldn’t help but shout, having to stuff the pipe in his mouth to shut it, preventing it from saying anything else.

The Elder had to turn to hide his smirk, but his occasional peeks at Liam partially eased his anger, replacing it with a tinge of guilt at the obvious distress his disciple was suffering from.

"Disciple, this is what I want to believe," The Elder voiced another dramatic sigh, switching topic. "In the Inner Circles, my expertise was so grand I could have joined the Dragon Palace had I really wanted to."

Like clockwork, Liam began scratching his right forearm at the mention of the Dragon, and the Elder didn’t miss that. Yet, that still didn’t prove anything.

"Disciple, truth is," The Elder mentioned, "Your breakthrough should have succeeded. Despite the few records about something as rare as nine spiritual roots, I’m still certain that foundation experts only need rank 1 resources."

The hiss began to fill Liam’s ears, worsening his headache, but the Elder didn’t stop speaking.

"Of course," The Elder exclaimed, "Things would be different if you had the divine ten spiritual roots that only the Ancestral Beasts’ sons and daughters can possess."

Liam knew that his Master was smart and knowledgeable. If he had already guessed that point, he would probably arrive at the right conclusion on his own.

’Shut up!’ Liam cursed in his mind. ’Master can’t know. No one can.’

The hiss had no murderous drive now. The Ancestral Snake had never cared to hide its bloodline. Liam actually had to beg it to help the last time since it only resonated with Hatred.

However, Liam knew his Master wasn’t a hindrance in his revenge. He trusted him too much even to consider that.

Instead, the hiss was self-inflicted. It rose because Liam hated himself for keeping such secrets. He despised what something he couldn’t control forced him to do, hurting the people he was trying to protect.

Because, as tiny and naive as it was, that was Liam’s only way to protect his Master. As long as he couldn’t connect Liam to the Ancestral Snake, he would have plausible deniability if something happened.

"I forgot that you might not know about them," The Elder faked a chuckle, approaching Liam. "Still, you do meet all the requirements."

Liam heard the closing footsteps but lowered his head even further, almost curling in a ball as he kept puffing black smoke.

"Your inborn strength is almost superhuman," The Elder added. "Your affinity for poison is incredible. Many of the things that should have killed you only made you stronger."

Liam looked ready to rip the skin off his forearm. His teeth threatened to break the pipe’s bit, but he didn’t speak or move even after his Master stopped in front of him.

"And failing to overcome the bottleneck with such a powerful poison," The Elder muttered. "You know, disciple, your affinity even connects you to one of the seven Ancestral Beasts, one with a special enmity toward the Ancestral Dragon."

Liam didn’t dare to look up. Everything his Master had said was right, shockingly so, but he had to remain silent, even if it killed him.

"Everything would make perfect sense," The Elder declared. "So, disciple, do you have something to tell me?"

It took the entirety of Liam’s strength, but he eventually grunted a single word. "No."

No one would believe Liam in that situation. There he was, curled into a ball, unable to lift his shame-ridden face. He couldn’t look guiltier. His lie was so evident that even a blind man would hear it in his voice.

But, as it turned out, the Alchemy Elder had other plans.

"Good!" The Elder scoffed, his voice going back to normal. "Never tell anyone, not even your ancestors."

For a second, Liam believed that his ears had lied to him. He blinked, frowning, straightening himself and lifting his head in confusion, only for something to slam on his face.

The startling event didn’t prevent Liam from checking what the Elder had thrown at him. He found an old, yellowish, and slightly moldy tome in his lap, and browsing its pages led to a sense of familiarity.

’Is this a circulation technique?’ Liam wondered, recognizing some passages. ’Why is it so long and ... deep?’

"That’s a high-grade circulation technique," The Elder revealed without needing questions. "My high-grade circulation technique from my Sect in the Inner Circles."

Liam’s eyes went wide. That wasn’t something he should have or that his Master had the authority to give to him. After all, even the Pale Moon Sect made its disciples burn physical records of those techniques.

"Master?" Liam questioned, finally looking at his half-turned Master.

"What?!" The Elder snorted. "If you are to do the impossible, you need at least that much."

Liam’s confusion was so palpable that the Elder put aside his grumpiness and turned to face him properly, looking down at him with the same chilling gaze that had ignited his desire.

"You need a rank 2 poison for the breakthrough," The Elder stated. "I’m sure of it now, but foundation experts can’t concoct those. No such method exists in alchemy and beyond."

That speech implied that the Elder was now taking into consideration ten spiritual roots instead of nine, and Liam’s sore mind struggled to adjust to that revolutionary change.

"However!" The Elder continued. "Nothing is absolute in the cultivation world, and alchemy is the perfect art to defy the rules set by the Heavens."

The Elder pointed his cane at Liam’s face now, not as a warning, but as an ambitious promise that his voice echoed.

"A method doesn’t exist," The Elder repeated. "So, I, Horace Rauret, will create it!"