Born in Blood

Chapter 430 Euphoric

A few days passed.

With Usan's passing out of the way, Liam had been crowned Sect Leader of the Temple.

There was no grand ceremony of any kind.

Well, they tried to host one, but Liam instantly denied it. He had matters to attend to, and problems to solve.

Other than that, there were a few things of note.

The defeat of the Dual Empire had spread across the human world.

History books were being filled with new pages, recording the event for future generations to visit.

The 'Black Blade' had also been credited for being a part of it, which was another mark of infamy on Liam's name.

Besides that, there was peace and quiet, with the Temple's steady growth.

The Couragists and Fearists were no longer referring to themselves as such. They had been indoctrinated.

Kuan had also held up his end of the agreement.

A corner patch of the Main Lands had been given to Liam and the Temple of Shadow.

In fact, it took roughly 20% of the entirety of Ilali.

That was more than what the Seven Clans had!

This obviously put the Temple of Shadow on a greater standing compared to the rest of Ilali.

It was a force to be reckoned with now.

However, the Luminous Light Clan had left Ilali all together.

Now, they lived within the Dual Empire's lands!

Ever since the war had concluded, Echoria had been strangely silent, despite their alliance with the two empires.

Even Aiho, Neren, and the Imperial Legion hadn't commented on it.

The silence was worrying. An enemy you couldn't see or hear was the most dangerous kind.

But with all that out of the way, Liam entered his home and had Nooran and Kerian enter with him.

'I'll be out of commission for a long time. At least with an updated King's Eye, I could prepare for what's to come.'

Whether or not he could actually use his abilities was a different thing altogether.

But it was better to be safe than regretful.

The human-sized tick was abhorred at Liam's sight.

Not only was Liam a direct cause of her Empress dying, but he was wretched enough to pull her forces to her side.

"You're scum of the earth, you know that?" Nooran snarled as Liam studied her illusionistic ticks. "Both of you."

Liam didn't respond. He'd been called worse.

"I'd rather serve a just tyrant than a drama queen," Kerian retorted.

Since Kerian was an expert on Abomination, Liam asked for her expertise on the topic.

Although she wasn't specialized in mental Abominations, the tick was an entire rank below her.

After two and a half weeks, Liam's understanding of the King's Eye and mental sphere had grown significantly.

Through a process of trial and error, Liam could now pinpoint where exactly the 'data scales' of the mental sphere were.

They had certain characteristics that separated them from the rest.

Thus, through learning those characteristics, Liam could figure out what that person feared the most!

Except, the King's Eye still wasn't powerful enough to 'trap' such a person in a good enough illusion.

With the usage of a single spell, they could blow the illusions away with ease.

'Things'll be different once it advances, though,' Liam thought, smiling. 'Speaking of which…'

'It's time.'

To eat a Rank 6 cultivator!

Except this time, the figureheads of the Temple, and hundreds of Elders, would guard his unconscious body.

The Self Tribulation would render a person powerless unless they woke up.

If they ever woke up, that is.

There were a few more details Liam had learned about the trial during the past few years.

Firstly, as long as the Tribulation wasn't centered around a time based task, there wasn't any time limit restricting him.

During that time, his body and core would naturally be nourished, even without any external support.

Secondly, similar to the Struggle Tribulation, the more difficult the Self Tribulation was, the more powerful his mental sphere was going to be.

It was a fine between blessing and curse.

'I just hope Mind Edge works… but that could just make my life even harder.'

Liam entered his vast underground basement, followed by hundreds of Elders.

Then, he sat down in the center.

Liam glanced at all the people present.

A few seconds of silence passed.

"I don't feel comfortable eating in front of someone else."

There was a short silence, but the Elders left a moment later.

Liam took out the Rank 6 corpse and laid it down, heaving a sigh.

Liam grabbed the woman's hand.

'A fingertip.'

'Just a fingertip should be fine.'

'Wait, what about the nail?'

'Can I even dig into her?'

It sounded wrong.

Liam grabbed a finger, then slowly gnawed at the tip of the Empress' nail.

KRSH!

A few of his teeth were instantly cracked.

Liam groaned and clicked his tongue in annoyance. 'Not this again.'

Thankfully, Kerian was a Rank 5 cultivator, and the one most capable of damaging a Rank 6 body.

Liam requested her presence.

A moment later, she arrived.

Then, she approached and inspected the Empress, a disdainful look on her face.

"Don't burn it," Liam said. "I don't want anything to go to waste."

Kerian nodded.

Then, she used her Physique Enhancer, transforming into a fire wraith with vicious looking claws.

However, her fire slowly subsided.

Using the sharp edge of her claws, she scratched the base of the Empress' index finger.

A full hour passed!

The skin was incredibly rigid and hard.

Eventually, droplets of blood seeped from the wound.

However, they weren't wasted.

Below the Empress was an inscribed glass container, which absorbed the ichor and stored it.

Eventually, the fingertip came off.

Liam took the tip and nodded. "You can leave now."

Kerian nodded and left.

'I should start with the blood first.'

Liam patiently gathered all the droplets of blood from the container.

Then, he sipped it like wine.

Liam's eyes constricted to a thin line and his skin went red.

His blood burst with new energy washing through each individual cell.

It felt euphoric.