Chapter 410: Chaos
Cultivators were superior to magical beasts, but there were nuances. A creature at the same level as leafing experts had to be nothing short of a natural catastrophe, with resilience and endurance that made it nigh-immortal.
Everything about the border between regions suddenly made a bit more sense. It wasn’t just politics making the area lawless. Those lands had a proper monster that would take a fellow leafing expert to eradicate, if not a whole team of them.
The more advanced systems and higher population of cultivators had already proven that trend, but it suddenly dawned on Liam how deep he was in the cultivation world. After all, he had reached lands where level four magical beasts actually existed.
"Let’s go," Liam eventually said, refocusing on the mountain in front of him. "Do you know the way?"
Lucas merely nodded, and he and Troy shot ahead, diving into the forest occupying the slope rather than flying on their swords. Liam and Grace followed closely behind, listening to every word that escaped Lucas’ mouth.
"We know the general location," Lucas explained. "Apparently, the eastern Mercenary Guild had been keeping track of the area, but a spy from the northern Messengers Guild leaked it to everyone."
That short explanation summarized how messy the political environment was. It was a true, total mess, which had reached the critical point in the presence of rank 3 ingredients. After all, such things basically didn’t exist on any market.
"Are we on our own?" Grace wondered, but the current run through the forest already gave Liam an answer.
"Sister, I’m not even sure we’ll have each other," Lucas laughed in excitement. "The magical beasts have gone into a frenzy. It’s chaos."
Liam had already felt as much, but the echoes of another vast shockwave washed over the area. Leaves that had just sprouted fell as branches trembled all over. He was getting closer to an apocalypse he knew well, and it was oddly good that it was still unfolding.
If branching experts were busy fighting, they couldn’t go after the rank 3 ingredients.
"Do we know what ingredients?" Liam asked while no one slowed down despite the nearing threat.
"Rainbow Roses," Lucas revealed.
"Which colors?" Liam questioned.
"What do you mean?" Lucas wondered.
"Violet, indigo, and blue," Troy responded, making up for his companion’s ignorance.
A tremor ran through Liam’s gaze. Rank 3 resources were generally unfindable, which was why he had jumped at that opportunity, but things had become personal now.
Rainbow Roses were an odd plant. They could bloom in seven distinct colors, each with unique properties.
While the blue and indigo versions were still valuable, Liam wanted the violet since it carried poisonous properties. With it, he might secure some batches for his still-distant breakthrough.
Liam’s interest didn’t go unnoticed. It caused a slight but noticeable shift in his presence, and Grace took it upon herself to address him before their friends could.
"Which one?" Grace asked, not adding anything else so that Liam’s reply wouldn’t reveal more than necessary.
"Violet," Liam said.
"Brother Liam, Sister Grace," Lucas smiled again, a hint of seriousness leaking from it. "I suggest we focus on getting there first."
It didn’t take long for Lucas’ warning to ring truer than what Liam’s perception had already acknowledged. Rather than just climbing, Lucas and Troy cut diagonally toward the other side of the mountain, wanting to join the fray unnoticed, only for the true scale of the chaos to appear.
It was a cloudy morning, but black dots littered the sky. All kinds of birds, many radiating Qi, flew wildly, even bumping into each other to escape what was afflicting the mountain’s slope.
Smoke and debris rose beyond the trees’ level. Sounds of battles blew away chunks of the environment in the distance, the destruction stretching as high as the mountain’s peak.
The ground trembled to no end. The continuous earthquake was still minor in Liam’s location, but it was chaotic, stemming from multiple epicenters.
However, the mountains further north-west had it far worse.
The following mountain had a giant crater on its slope, and booming noises kept resounding all over it, with more coming from beyond it, a few even happening in the sky, sending apocalyptic shockwaves everywhere.
Liam saw chunks of the sky twist, entire patches of trees rise and fly away, massive cracks appear down the mountains, and more. If he focused, he could even catch tiny, indistinct figures darting among that distant chaos.
The branching experts had kept their distance from the ingredients’ location to avoid destroying them, but it was unclear for how long they would remain away.
Liam couldn’t even directly keep track of that because problems appeared on the horizon.
"Cultivators ahead," Liam warned, knowing he had been the first to sense that, but it didn’t take long for his companions to catch up. They were heading in that direction, and Lucas didn’t change course.
Soon, shadows began to move among the trees at the group’s sides, converging toward them but remaining ahead, stepping out of the trunks to appear on their path.
The newcomers were a group of six, three rooting experts and three foundation experts. They wore brown robes featuring an emblem with two crossed swords, identifying them as members of the Mercenary Guild.
"You rascals from the Heavenly Sword Cult!" One of the rooting experts, an elderly man, shouted back at the group. "Haven’t you caused enough damage already?! Stop intruding in the Guild’s business!"
"You are mistaken, old man," Lucas laughed. "That was our shameless Brothers. We are just taking a relaxing stroll to expand our understanding of the Dao!"
Naturally, the blatant lie didn’t fly.
"Stop at this moment!" The elderly man ordered. "Otherwise ...!"
The elderly man completed his threat, but Liam didn’t hear it. He didn’t care, and everyone was bound to see his answer anyway.
The brown team had arranged itself in three columns, the foundation experts in the back, the rooting experts in the front. The elderly man was in the central one, peeking at the group behind him, giving him front-row seats to what happened to his right.
The elderly man didn’t actually see anything. He just felt the wind blowing on his face, prompting him to stop. His companions followed his lead, with a few exceptions.
The foundation expert to the elderly man’s right kept advancing, only for his body to crash onto the ground, his severed head bouncing away. The rooting expert before him was nowhere to be seen, but the elderly man found her when his perception warned him about a threat ahead.
Liam had somehow arrived in front of the Guild’s group, a dark-yellow knife in his hand, a brown-wearing woman at his feet, her face melting from the stab wound on her forehead.
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