Legacy of Hatred-Chapter 174: Finger

The Alchemy Elder was punctual as usual. As soon as the night descended, he opened his disciple’s cave, too used to the action for his mind to record it.

Yet, something that hadn’t happened in a while unfolded that day. A figure darted outside as soon as the boulder began to move, performing the shortest bow in history before rushing through the rising path.

The Elder was too strong a cultivator for surprise to hinder his inspection. He spotted golden, disheveled hair, redness in the lowered face that had never dared to look up, and even creases in the pale-grey robe that pointed at something specific.

Glancing at the cave completed that picture. The clutter was still there, and it wasn’t even close to being neatly arranged, but the floor had enough room to work with, which barely met a laboratory’s standards.

The Elder soon focused on his disciple, finding him sitting by the piles of ingredients, his long black hair ruffled, his robe loose, wearing an idiotic, slightly dazed expression that couldn’t speak louder.

There was even a faint, darker spot on the floor beside Liam, shaped like a back the Elder knew could sweat a lot. What his disciple had been up to couldn’t be clearer.

And, the Elder felt a bit conflicted. On the one hand, his first instinct was to scold Liam. He might have been the one to tell Liam to spend more time with Melissa, but his grumpiness wasn’t something reason could affect.

However, the Elder also felt proud, no different than a father catching a son with his first girl. It was a natural reaction to his protege’s popularity, planting a rare smirk on his face.

"Did you finally become a boar?" The Alchemy Elder teased, letting the boulder close behind him.

Liam didn’t reply, diverting his face. Nothing about earlier had felt embarrassing. There had only been liberating comfort, as if the intimate moment had been a safe hideout where his true self could exist unburdened by such emotions, but the Elder’s comment rekindled some shyness.

Truth be told, Liam was in a bit of a pickle. The previous intimacy had been an endless succession of sweet kisses and longing looks, occasionally featuring more passionate seconds, leaving no room for thoughts or words.

And Liam now needed words to place whatever had happened under a specific category in his clueless brain.

’Is that what a lover is?’ Liam wondered. ’But Melissa never said we were. But if we aren’t, why did we do all that?’

Thoughts truly were the enemy of emotions, and Liam couldn’t find any order or clarity in that mess. He only knew he wanted that intimacy to happen again and progress somewhere he still couldn’t quite place.

’I even humped,’ Liam recalled, inevitably thinking about how good that felt. ’But isn’t that something animals do? Am I really becoming a boar?’ 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Liam’s simplicity once again became an advantage. His Master was there, so his mind switched gears, focusing solely on the meaningful goal he had achieved that day.

As for Melissa, Liam could only decide to ask her. Next time, for sure, he would voice his doubts and obtain clarity instead of getting caught in something even more confusing.

"Master," Liam called, standing up and approaching the cauldron. "I believe I’m ready."

The Elder didn’t dwell on whether that prompt mindset switch was annoying or praiseworthy. He went for the cauldron, eventually dipping his cane into it to bring a speck of the slimy concoction to his face.

The Elder inspected the green paste a bit longer before licking it, his face becoming solemn as he let his knowledgeable mouth and body experience that substance’s effects.

Liam couldn’t see anything beyond that solemn face, but the inspection soon ended, culminating in the awaited response.

"Disciple, you are ready," The Alchemy Elder confirmed.

Liam didn’t need anything else, and the Elder knew that. They had already discussed the matter and how it had to unfold, so Liam immediately got to it.

After donning simple leather gloves, Liam scooped the slimy paste from the cauldron and stored it in a small rectangular case. Then, he thoroughly cleaned the item before doing the same with himself.

Liam had spent five weeks of his still-short alchemical career focusing on a single recipe, perfecting it for his needs. The theory was solid, and he finally had the skills, so it was time to apply that to reality.

New challenges would arise. Variables that only the complete attempt at that tailored concoction could manifest would show themselves.

Yet, Liam was ready to overcome all that. He had the ingredients, a broader experience, and a greater familiarity with poisons, so it was time to concoct the one that would make him into a rooting expert.

And, something else joined that equation once Liam started concocting, a welcome aspect that would startle him if he weren’t so caught in the procedure.

The Elder had been unclear about that point, and Liam was too new to the field and life to review it properly. Liam only knew that true alchemical mastery required more than endless practice.

Some of that more showed itself now. After the intimate time with Melissa, Liam had learned a new way of touching things, as well as a part of himself.

The new aspect of that normal practice broadened Liam’s mindset, allowing him to consider different ways of dealing with the alchemical variables.

It was as if Liam had gained a new finger. Actually, it was more like he had suddenly learned that it had always been there. His life had simply never given him the opportunity to discover its existence until now.

That was exactly what the Alchemy Elder had intended with his suggestion. He had wanted Liam to experience more of life, escaping his narrow approach so that he could grow as a man, which, in turn, would give him more ideas for overcoming alchemical problems.

Of course, neither the Elder nor Liam commented on that as the days went by. The former remained inside the cave, occasionally throwing general pointers, while Liam alternated between concoctions, the pipe, baths, or proper rest.

And, on the fifth day, Liam slapped the rumbling cauldron’s side, forcing it to expel impurities that rushed upward like a sizzling tide of smoke.

The smoke’s dispersion didn’t end the sizzling. That noise kept resounding from the cauldron until a clanging resounded. Somehow, a crack had opened at the metal item’s upper edge, slowly expanding down.

The item tailored for that exact practice was struggling to contain whatever Liam had concocted, and he never once asked why. The Qi leaking from the expanding crack had already delivered the happy news, but Liam felt dread in response.

The virtual best rank 1 poison in existence had appeared in Liam’s cave, which also meant the deadliest. Despite some rejuvenating sensations, he felt dizzy just from smelling what leaked out, and that was a mere side effect of the concoction’s intensity.

That poison’s proper use involved ingestion. Only then would it show what it was capable of, and that deadly power was exactly what Liam’s cultivation needed to overcome the bottleneck.