Legacy of Hatred-Chapter 111: Face

In theory, unlimited access to alchemical ingredients didn’t necessarily mean that a disciple could seize them all, far from that, actually.

Even in the face of privileges, cultivators were supposed to show restraint to avoid their greed from affecting their reputation and ruining their image.

Taking the Sect into consideration was also important. Cultivators had to be wary not to go overboard to avoid angering the very entity providing that privilege.

Moreover, respecting certain limits would demonstrate a demeanor suitable for leadership. It could basically be a test of a cultivator’s character, which Liam failed.

It wasn’t that Liam didn’t realize the potential repercussions. He definitely couldn’t consider them all, but that was beside the point. The Sect was using him, so he felt completely justified in getting as much as he could from it. It was only fair.

Besides, Liam had long since grown disillusioned. He had no delusions of loyalty toward the Pale Moon Sect, especially since he would have to leave it one day. The mission with the wolf and the latest stunt had proven as much.

So, Liam abided by his Master’s teachings, seizing everything he could now that he had the chance, not planning on giving anything back. He needed that much to hope to survive anyway, and the privilege also enabled another crucial matter.

Liam’s cave changed overnight. Actually, a radical transformation happened in a matter of hours. The orderly tidiness he had established vanished, replaced by tens of pouches of different sizes that cluttered the place.

Liam had begun concocting even before those new ingredients arrived, so the Elder had been the one to receive them, and looking at them now gave birth to quite conflicting feelings.

On the one hand, the Alchemy Elder was livid. The neighboring Sects’ ploy angered him beyond reason. They actually had the gall to come after his disciple, and he was powerless to stop them. The Elder couldn’t even change the Sect Leader’s mind.

Such was the curse of weakness. Ploys didn’t have to be smart or properly arranged. They only needed the strongest party behind them, which was the case in the current situation.

It wasn’t even that the Pale Moon Sect was particularly weak. It simply wasn’t strong enough to oppose the pressure of its five neighboring Sects.

The best the Alchemy Elder could do was swallow his anger to avoid getting in his disciple’s way. Still, that vast assortment of ingredients slightly cooled him down, feeling like a deserved reward for what Liam had to face.

However, the Elder also realized that Liam had gone overboard. The mission was only two weeks away, so Liam couldn’t possibly make use of all those ingredients. Many weren’t even part of his recipes. Liam had simply taken them because he could.

Of course, the Elder knew better than to address that to basic greed. There was no ploy behind it, either. Liam was too simple and a far cry from a political mastermind to think that deeply. He had probably just seized everything because it was the easier choice that required no calculations.

Still, that also meant that the Pale Moon Sect’s alchemy division was inoperative. The issue only concerned rank 1 concoctions, but it was an issue nonetheless. Liam had basically taken hostage a whole branch of the Sect, even affecting fellow apprentices.

That wasn’t sustainable, but it didn’t need to be. Liam would only enjoy those privileges for two weeks, which were too short to trigger a general rebellion.

Naturally, the Alchemy Elder knew that he had been the one to give that advice, so he only had himself to blame. Yet, he obviously didn’t. He actually felt some pride instead.

Liam’s approach was simple, extreme, but effective, and the Elder could see another side of it when he glanced at the other end of the cave, where a black flame shone under the cauldron.

The arrival of that pile of ingredients hadn’t distracted Liam at all. He had kept concocting something the Elder knew he had put off until now.

Due to a lack of finances, Liam had focused on the Qi recovery elixirs, amassing experience and, possibly, contribution points.

Yet, the temporary privilege had given Liam access to more than what Melissa had bought him, so he hadn’t hesitated to start his preparations for the breakthrough.

And the Elder had to praise that smart decision. Two weeks weren’t enough to learn anything new. Liam could only make more of what he already had, but there was a limit to how much he could carry during the mission.

Liam had plenty of time to fill his sleeves and pouch, so he could pour every other second into the work on the final goal of overcoming the bottleneck.

Liam was deceptively intelligent, and that wasn’t all. The concentration he had wielded since he had started concocting had been perfect for the practice, and his zeal was almost concerning.

Those features found the perfect match with Liam’s talent. His miraculous condition granted him unmatched physical resilience that could withstand a far higher number of successive concoctions.

The same went for Liam’s higher Qi reserves. He could fuel the alchemical flame far longer than anyone else, and his core even granted him a deep specialization no amount of study would be able to match.

The way the Elder saw it, Liam only needed time, time to grow accustomed to the cultivation world, time to improve, and time to amass wisdom. Once he did that, he had a shot at becoming the greatest and strongest poison master the Kingdom had ever seen.

Actually, Liam had to achieve at least as much. After all, he was Horace Rauret’s disciple.

The black flame eventually waned, a wave of dark smoke blowing out of the cauldron. Liam promptly stood up to peek inside, clawing through the burnt remains to absorb as much information as possible.

Many would be sad, seeing the event as a waste. After all, Liam had destroyed a precious ingredient just to learn its critical point.

However, Liam’s face featured no disappointment. It was stern and calculative, aware that the sacrifice had been necessary for a greater goal. That was the demeanor of someone with experience in handling resources, a skill that an alchemist had to have.

"Did you keep track of time?" The Alchemy Elder questioned.

"Three seconds and a half after reaching temperature," Liam nodded, already moving to clean up the cauldron so that he could switch to a different ingredient.

The Elder didn’t interrupt Liam nor try to help. That was his challenge to overcome. The Elder would point out glaring alchemical mistakes, but Liam was otherwise on his own.

Yet, the Alchemy Elder felt some undeniable satisfaction at the scene. He had truly found a worthy disciple, and, as a Master, there was something that he could do. The news had remained contained, mostly because the Elder and Liam hadn’t made it public, but it could help in the mission.

"Disciple," The Elder called, interrupting Liam’s hurried reaching for his pile of logs.

"Master, what is it?" Liam asked, a bit taken aback by the numerous pouches that had materialized in his cave without him noticing.

"My name might not be as great as it was in the past," The Alchemy Elder announced, "But I still concoct the best alchemical products in the area, which every neighboring Sect purchases."

Liam looked conflicted, until he tilted his head and expressed his confusion. "Master, should I really spend this time listening to you brag?"

"You ungrateful, formerly illiterate, fool of a disciple!" The Alchemy Elder cried, his bottled-up anger finally exploding. "I’m telling you to use my name if things get tough! If they know you are my disciple, they might give me face and let you go!"