Legacy of Hatred-Chapter 176: Breakthrough

Instead of a specific taste, a disgusting texture, or repulsive reactions, pain was the first sensation that spread through Liam’s brain.

Something cool but scorching spread on Liam’s tongue, descending through his throat to expand in his abdomen. Sweat accumulated on his face as his very body boiled, but heat had nothing to do with the experience.

The Boar’s Touch carried no warmth. Its corrosive properties had merely carved through Liam’s tissues, generating sensations his body could only record as heat.

Sadly, that was only the beginning.

As Liam felt eroded from the inside, the corrosive liquid melted into his tissues, infecting him to deliver the true nature of its deadly aspect.

Liam’s mouth was the first to be affected, albeit in ways he couldn’t really inspect. It began to fail to respond to his inputs until he stopped feeling it entirely.

The throat came next. Liam tried to gasp, only for no air to flow down his nostrils. It was as if an immovable boulder had replaced his neck, closing all its channels and paralyzing it, too.

Then, it was Liam’s abdomen’s turn to escape his control. He stopped feeling anything there, and the convulsions that followed threw him on the floor, where he could only writhe powerlessly.

Liam couldn’t feel much, but the development didn’t escape his understanding. He had even prepared for it when studying that recipe. His body had become an unresponsive cage that was suffocating him. He was dying, and quite quickly at that.

However, another process had also started as soon as Liam drank the Boar’s Touch. His core had never been more alive due to the tides of a rejuvenating sensation expanding inside it, flowing into its ten roots.

Liam’s core was drawing power from the deadly poison, weakening its effects to use it for another purpose, and he knew he had to help it.

Luckily, the Qi worked on a layer beyond the physical. The meridians it needed to flow didn’t need nerves or other aspects that the poison was affecting.

As long as Liam was conscious, he could focus on that magical energy and force it to abide by his needs, which he had obviously studied before tackling that dangerous process.

Liam willed his core to work even faster, accelerating what it had started on its own. His Qi’s circulation accelerated, stirring it to interact with the poison at a greater pace without drawing any additional energy from his foundation.

The dantian processed the poison even faster like that, flooding the ten roots and filling them to the brim, only to keep pushing from within.

Something debilitating slammed on Liam’s awareness, as if a heavy hammer had hit him on the head, only for the pain that followed to be deeper than anything he had ever experienced before.

It was something that affected the very core of Liam’s being, as if he were nothing more than a brittle glass structure. His Master had warned him about that. That was his dantian’s integrity, something ethereal but also undeniably real.

Yet, another feature had stood out. The pain was merely a blowback that updated Liam on his core’s brittleness, meaning that the Qi had hit something that had sent it back.

Just like waves crashing on rocks, Liam felt as if his Qi had slammed on a solid, insurmountable wall, split into ten different locations, the cracks on his roots’ tips.

That was the bottleneck, which wasn’t something cultivators had to overcome. The process was called the breakthrough for a reason.

Liam pushed past his wavering mind to keep flooding his foundation with Qi, wanting to create waves of energy powerful enough to pierce through that insurmountable wall.

An even heavier, debilitating blow landed on Liam’s consciousness. His mind spun to no end as he felt his entire foundation shake due to the blowback that had ensued.

The glass structure was trembling to no end, but also holding strong. It was brittle, but also more durable than it looked. Its tremors hurt Liam’s very soul, but it wasn’t at risk of shattering.

However, that was even truer for the bottleneck. Liam had clearly felt how the more powerful energy waves had failed to make a single dent in that insurmountable wall. It was thick and firm beyond reason, not even hinting at what could pierce it.

So, Liam made a conscious decision. He needed more power, the entirety of what the Boar’s Touch could provide, to hope to pierce through that hindrance.

Liam summoned all the Qi reserves in his body, circulating them until the poison stopped applying its effects. The paralysis even began to recede, bringing awareness to more physical pain, but he ignored it.

All the rejuvenating power the Boar’s Touch had been able to provide was now in Liam’s foundation, ready to make it burst, pushing on its glass-like structural integrity, and he sent it at the insurmountable wall.

Liam failed to sense what followed. His mind didn’t go dark, but profound pain filled the entirety of his perception, preventing him from witnessing the clash.

The tremors on the glass structure had never been more intense, but nothing cracked, and everything slowly settled. Liam’s awareness returned, but a sense of profound pain lingered. That ethereal representation of his cultivation also had weakened, making it more prone to shattering.

Nevertheless, Liam focused on his foundation, but dismay joined the pain. His weakened foundation was there, intact but exhausted, featuring none of the liveliness or firmness it usually showcased.

Still, most importantly, it was only a foundation. Liam saw his core, ten roots, and nothing else. The cracks on their tips were still there, but nothing had grown from them.

’Did I fail?’ Liam wondered, those thoughts worsening his hurting, numb mind, only for more to assault it.

Liam felt weak and frail due to his foundation’s condition. It was bad, but not as terrible as the Primal Urge’s drawbacks. Nothing looked damaged permanently, but the same didn’t apply to his body.

The first attempt to breathe made Liam cough to no end, spitting blood and updating him on what he had ignored earlier. The Boar’s Touch had carved through his body, leaving injuries that went from his tongue to his stomach.

If that poison could corrode through metal, it was only natural that Liam’s tissues had suffered similar injuries while his core absorbed its energy.

That was no small injury. The wound was no bruise or broken bone. It was debilitating in ways that felt permanent, as if Liam had forever lost pieces of himself.

And everything kept hurting. Even as Liam succeeded at breathing, the inflation of his lungs pressed on his internal injuries. He gulped, but he felt as if needles were stuck inside him everywhere.

A strange warmth also spread from Liam’s abdomen, adding a physical weakness to his bad condition. He felt off, as if he was still dying, just slowly now. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

But Liam wasn’t alone, and a familiar voice entered his ears, sounding like more hammers were slamming on his already hurting mind.

"Disciple!" The Alchemy Elder cried, hurrying to Liam’s side. "Disciple, eat this!"

Liam was lying belly-up, and his face turned to his right, finding a familiar pill resting in his Master’s palm. He ate it without hesitation, gulping despite the pain the action triggered, feeling soothing energy immediately spreading over the imaginary needles inside him.

The cultivation world had magical methods at its disposal, and flesh was comparatively easy to fix and regrow. Whatever damage the Boar’s Touch had carved through Liam’s body began to heal, quickly stabilizing him.

Liam’s abdomen stabilized first, followed by his throat and mouth. He felt able to gulp and breathe normally again, but the miraculous recovery didn’t affect his mind or sense of weakness.

Those two came from Liam’s foundation, which was harder and more delicate to fix. Luckily, at least this time, it only needed rest.

Nevertheless, the bigger problem had yet to show itself, or rather, too much had happened for Liam to realize it yet.

"Impossible," The Alchemy Elder muttered, snapping Liam back to reality. "How can such a thing be fair?"

Liam forced himself to sit up, and his pounding brain slowly caught up with the main issue. His Master was inspecting him from head to toe, so he did the same.

The lack of black goo or noticeable changes felt normal to Liam. After all, he had already seen his cultivation. He had failed to grow new roots, meaning that he was still a foundation expert.

However, Liam’s thoughts finally moved past that failure, realizing what his Master’s speechlessness was all about.

The theory had been solid. Liam had used the virtual best rank 1 poison in existence, even tailoring and enhancing it through his core’s nature. He believed the breakthrough had also lacked glaring mistakes on his side.

Liam should have become a rooting expert, except he hadn’t.

"Should-," Liam said, his voice hoarse, forcing him to clear it a few times before speaking again. "Should I have used more poison?"

The Alchemy Elder couldn’t help but meet Liam’s eyes. Despite that near-death, terrible experience, Liam was still focusing on his growth. He should have been traumatized, but there he was, already looking for solutions.

The Elder felt truly, unmistakably proud now. Liam’s resolve could put most cultivators to shame. He was the worthiest disciple the Elder could have asked for, so he deserved to hear the sad truth.

"Quantity would just kill you," The Elder responded, shaking his head. "It would apply its effects for longer while your core is busy drawing power from it."

That made sense. Liam actually felt a bit stupid for asking the question. That was the reason why he hadn’t smoked before the attempt, but his sore mind justified his temporary dullness.

Yet, the reply finally pointed Liam to the main issue. If quantity could fix it, it meant that only quality could, and nothing better than the Boar’s Touch existed, not in the first rank.

"Disciple," The Elder called as understanding dawned upon Liam and made his eyes widen. "You need a rank 2 poison to reach the rooting stage."