Born in Blood



After killing the Spirit Beasts, Liam exited the forest and made his way to a distant village.

On the way there, he killed a few more Spirit Beasts.

A pack of white wolves that had mental attacking capabilities, near-invisible snakes that blended into the surroundings, and a pack of small-sized elephants that ran faster than tigers.

Although magical beasts were stronger in most aspects, Spirit Beasts were way more diverse.

Nonetheless, all Liam could do was analyze them until he found a darkness attuned Spirit Beast to forge with.

'Primordial Forging's main ability isn't powerful on its own. It was when I was weaker and relied on my weapons, but I barely use its function anymore.'

Although using a magical beast's innate ability was amazing in its own right, he wasn't skilled enough yet to bring out its full potential.

Not to mention, Liam had gone through an endless amount of changes since learning how to forge from Rogan.

With his six-armed form, Liam really didn't imagine the need for swords. He had extreme physical prowess that could chip and shatter any weapon with ease.

Unless he learned how to make special weapons similar to that level (or at least near it), Liam's usage of blades were more like a necessity for his half-Ashura form.

After another week, Liam arrived at the village.

Changing his appearance and swapping to another set of clothes, he paid a small fee at the entrance to enter.

The village itself was nearly the size of the peasantry back in Ucladd, but with way better living conditions. A few buildings even sold inscribed weapons and spells.

Liam found an insignificant dwelling place and bought a small room for the day.

The first thing he did was make sure the place was secure enough and not spied upon.

Concluding that it wasn't, Liam took out the body of the disciples he killed. He inspected the contents of their rings first, and their clan's martial arts were indeed inside.

Liam took them out and put them aside for later.

His gaze shifted to the dead body laying on the floor, then to his Chaos Pearl.

'If this works…'

Liam willed out a minute piece of his chaos and spread it towards his mouth.

As the chaos passed through his body, it reacted with his muscles and transformed bits of him into a full Ashura. He felt a threshold. If passed, he would transform fully.

He felt a surge of strength… but also felt like his ability to think straight and clear dimmed. Thankfully, it was still mild. A full transformation was way more drastic.

As the chaos reached his mouth, Liam's teeth sharpened and grew razor-sharp.

Liam semi-transformed his body!

Before he could lose himself any further than he did, Liam grabbed the disciple's shoulder and ripped off a chunk, then threw it in his mouth!

The taste wasn't anything new.

Liam's palette had experienced a vast range of taste. From raw magical beast, to vampire Nexus', to human flesh. All of them were disgusting and horrid, but for Liam, it was another Tuesday.

Liam's teeth ripped through the stubborn Rank 3 flesh. It had the consistency of rubber, but he made sure to reduce its size before he swallowed.

As the flesh reached his stomach, Liam felt a change.

The reason why Liam was eating another human was because cultivator's had something called Lifeforce.

Vampires consumed each other's Lifeforce to grow stronger.

Ever since Liam gained blood manipulation abilities, he wondered how he could increase his blood purity and improve his control over it.

At the same time, he wondered how his Chaos Pearl would expand and grow stronger.

The answer was simpler than he thought.

All he had to do was become a cannibal!

Cultivators also had Lifeforce, and so did every other living creature. He hadn't tested out his hypothesis on magical beasts or Spirit Beasts just yet, but he was sure it would yield the same results.

The only drawback was that Liam had to eat them shortly after their death, and with their blood and raw parts intact.

A small price!

As the flesh melted in Liam's stomach, he felt the Lifeforce spread and nourish his body. It wasn't enough for a drastic change to take place, but Liam continued chewing.

Eventually, he ripped off the right side of the disciple's arm, then began wolfing down his flesh.

As he gulped down the entire limb, Liam wasn't satisfied.

He ripped off the left side and ate it right after.

It still didn't sate his hunger.

Liam ripped off the disciple's head with two of his arms and pulled out his eyes with two others.

He threw the organs in his mouth as though they were a snack, then began gnawing away at the head. The taste had actually become quite nice as he continued to eat—

Wait… four arms?

It took Liam a full minute to realize what happened. He pulled himself out of the trance with a loud curse and swallowed what remained in his mouth.

Liam quickly undid his semi-transformation before he became a full Ashura. His teeth receded and the two extra arms protruding from his waist withdrew into his body.

'When did I lose myself?!'

Liam cursed again when he realized half the disciple's body was missing, melted away in his stomach.

All that remained was a lower body that looked cruelly torn apart, organs and viscera vomiting out from what was left.

Liam quickly realized he needed to stop regarding the Ashura transformation as a blessing.

It was a double-edged sword, and he could easily cut himself with it.

…That said, his Chaos Pearl was a tiny bit more expanded, and his blood purity had also gone up by a small amount.

A double-edged sword indeed.

As for how he knew his Chaos Pearl grew bigger by eating other humans, it was an instinctive piece of knowledge that came with his new race.

Liam erased any trace of the body being in the same room as him using his darkness, including the blood and viscera, then began running towards the edges of Ilali to find the Temple of Shadow.