Legacy of Hatred-Chapter 123: Ant

’What does Melissa have to do with this?’ Liam wondered, his confusion deepening as a timid thought followed. ’Why have I thought about Melissa?’

Liam shook his head to push those strangely embarrassing thoughts away and refocus on far more pressing issues. Enemies had appeared, and he wasn’t allowed to kill them yet for some stupid reason.

"So, Senior Brother," Liam voiced, waving the bow at the other team. "When can I kill them? Do we set a specific word or something?"

Joel was on the verge of bursting into laughter, but managed to suppress that reaction this time. Instead, Maxwell was at a loss for words. He couldn’t believe that Liam was asking such things right in front of their opponents.

Needless to say, the blue team was also speechless. Liam’s sudden, deadly attack had alerted the trio, even confirming the murderous rumors around him. However, the following idiotic questions almost ruined Liam’s infamy, and the male rooting expert didn’t hesitate to exploit them.

"He must be the miraculous genius," The blonde rooting expert announced. "Is the Pale Moon Sect grooming assassins now? Is it preparing to start a war?"

The claim couldn’t have been more ludicrous. It was an exaggeration of an exaggeration, reeking of the smelly ploys Liam didn’t know how to handle with words.

Yet, those ploys weren’t for Liam to handle. Actually, his backstage role allowed him to witness something interesting once again.

"My Junior Brother might have poor manners," Maxwell announced, taking a single step forward, "But he has ignorance on his side. What’s your excuse?"

The guardless sword hovering above Maxwell’s shoulder advanced with him, drawing the blue trio’s gaze to its fearsome, sharp tip, removing the fake smiles to reveal the wariness they hid.

"Fellow cultivators," Maxwell called, "Was it arrogance or delusions that brought you here despite my presence?"

The area tensed as a dangerous vibe enveloped Maxwell. The intense, powerful Qi circulating through his body became more evident, and the tinge of coldness that seeped into his blue eyes hinted at how he planned to use it.

"Should I feel insulted that you thought you were enough to take me on?" Maxwell continued, taking another calm, steady, but spiritually heavy step forward. "Or should I pity you for your stupidity?"

Being good with words could create problems in a world so reliant on appearances and face. Reputation could go a long way for cultivators, but everything paled before superior strength. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Liam didn’t even need to understand Maxwell’s words since their result perfectly showcased their purpose. The wariness the blue trio donned couldn’t be more self-explanatory. Strength had silenced whatever ploy those cultivators had tried to concoct.

The Disciplinary Elder had tried to do that with Liam. Joel had done that with Cecilia, and Maxwell had now done that twice. Strength reigned supreme. Everything else came later.

And, in Liam’s mind, becoming stronger than others sounded easier than learning that complicated way of speaking. Yet, he also acknowledged the additional requirement the feature demanded.

Strength alone wasn’t enough to prevent outward enmity. People had to know about it to respect it and reject any ploy out of fear of losing their lives.

Liam wasn’t weak, and his feats had made him quite infamous, but rumors alone couldn’t suffice. He needed reliable witnesses beyond his fellow Brothers and Sisters, and that mission could be the perfect stage to achieve that.

The only problem was that leaving enemies alive went against Liam’s idea of fairness, but that conflicting strategy could wait for when he had the freedom that only safety could provide.

’Kill first,’ Liam decided. ’Think later.’

The general wariness was more evident in the two rooting experts. The blonde man and brown-haired woman had a better understanding of Maxwell’s strength, and that knowledge led to deeper fear.

Nevertheless, it turned out the Rising Waterfall Sect’s disciples had been ready for that predicament.

The blonde rooting expert threw a glance at his brown-haired companion, and she suddenly waved her hands upward, her Qi accompanying her gesture.

Liam instinctively fired the arrow, only for it to dive into the wall of red water that had risen to cover the blue team, dragged upward along the unnatural current until it vanished.

Maxwell and Joel didn’t react to the technique, aware of its purely defensive properties. Still, their faces turned grim when an item rose from behind the wall, shooting through the air and surpassing the leafless trees before exploding into a bright blue light.

The explosion made no noise, but that bright lump of light kept hovering in the air, staining the sky and acting as a signal.

The watery wall crumbled at that point, splashing back into the swamp and revealing the blue trio’s defensive stances. Confident smiles had even reappeared on the group, knowing that their mission had succeeded.

"What now, Pale Moon Sect’s Head Disciple?" The blonde-haired rooting expert sneered. "Do you still think us arrogant?"

"It was delusion, then," Maxwell calmly claimed. "You were indeed stupid enough to believe you would survive the arrival of reinforcements."

The brown-haired woman abruptly waved her hands again, two currents of red water rising from the swamp to cross themselves in front of her.

Despite the quick reaction, the woman still found the guardless sword’s tip pointing at her forehead, trembling a mere centimeter away from her skin, trapped in the currents she had created.

Nevertheless, Maxwell suddenly materialized in front of the woman, digging his hand in the crossed currents to grab the sword’s handle, promptly slashing it at her.

Those crossed currents were powerless against Maxwell’s hand and direct wielding of that weapon. Yet, the blonde rooting expert came to his companion’s aid, slamming into her to push her away and become the slash’s target.

The blonde rooting expert had crossed his arms, which had gained a metallic luster, but the sword easily cut his skin, carving a bloody vertical wound on his forearms and lower torso.

The defensive technique had saved the blonde rooting expert’s arms, but he had suffered an injury anyway, and the assault wasn’t over. As soon as Maxwell completed his slash, he let go of his sword, which tilted upward to fly behind those still-crossed limbs.

Nevertheless, the red water under Maxwell’s feet blew outward, creating a spherical wave that tried to push him away. His hand promptly snapped at the rising sword to slash a path through that technique. He succeeded, but so did the blue team.

Maxwell remained in his position, but the expanding wave had allowed both blue rooting experts to create some distance. He found them several meters ahead, already donning defensive stances, their anxious faces reeking with resolve.

"Brother Joel, try to keep up," Maxwell exclaimed, before glancing at the blue foundation expert on his left.

The spherical wave had pushed the black-haired foundation expert away, too, but he had been unable to use it to put more distance from that terrifying opponent.

Actually, the sudden technique had made the foundation expert lose his balance, leaving him with his butt in the shallow waters and under Maxwell’s terrifying cold gaze. If Maxwell wanted to, he could kill him on the spot since his two stronger companions were too far away.

"Take comfort in the fact that I don’t stain my sword with ants’ blood," Maxwell declared, ignoring the foundation expert entirely to launch himself at the blue rooting experts.