Legacy of Hatred-Chapter 201: Extreme

What followed was straight-up hell, finally giving the terrible time inside the Divine Cult a worthy contender.

The new training regimen wasn’t cruel. It lacked Divine Cult’s soul-crushing and mind-breaking methods, but Liam found it far more arduous, with no drug-induced oblivion saving him from its most terrible aspects.

From dawn to dusk, Liam’s routine didn’t really change. He had the combat lessons, followed by the weapon training, ending with a not-so-solitary series of concoctions.

For whatever reason, Liam and Melissa had even developed the habit of exchanging a quite deep kiss before the former poured the entirety of his attention into alchemy.

The two never really did anything meaningful together beyond that. Still, the gesture remained an intimate declaration of their unique relationship, of the connection that they would explore more once their routines allowed it.

And if things ended there, Liam would genuinely struggle to find a better way to enjoy his life. However, the night always arrived, and with that came torture.

The Alchemy Elder’s zeal reached levels Liam could have never predicted, an intensity so extreme it could put the Divine Cult to shame. His demands for utmost perfection became straight-up obsessions that leaned into madness.

No matter the concoction’s stage, the Elder always interrupted Liam at the slightest mistake, forcing him to start over.

Even in a concoction’s most crucial phases, the Elder’s interrogations never stopped resounding, forcing Liam to split his mind to answer them. Of course, losing control meant starting the procedure over.

Moreover, whenever Liam was about to reach his limits, the Elder forced him to stay awake, either by virtue of his cane or by directly ordering him to smoke more or chug down elixirs.

Lastly, there was no real fixed end to the night lessons. Liam’s exhaustion even built up to the point when he failed to notice when his Master left, since he collapsed asleep before customary goodbyes could unfold.

As for the Alchemy Elder, his extreme zeal was a calculated move. He knew what he was doing despite not enjoying it one bit.

First of all, that training method was slower. Interrupting Liam at each mistake would limit his growth, only allowing him to learn the next phase after he achieved acceptable levels of perfection.

It was akin to preventing Liam from learning the number two until he mastered the number one. That approach had been fine with the alchemical flame due to its crucial role in the field, but it limited the experience gathered when it came to concoctions as a whole.

Instead of allowing Liam to master an imperfect yet successful concoction, the Elder prevented him from completing it until he could get it perfectly right.

Nevertheless, what should have been slower matched Liam’s endurance perfectly.

Liam’s vaster foundation and now-abundant Qi circulating through his body allowed him to perform an unthinkable number of concoctions in a row, something ordinary cultivators wouldn’t even dream of having the stamina for.

Liam’s growth speed became average, but bore far greater results. He learned at the same pace as every other mediocre apprentice. However, once he did, he was perfect at it.

Moreover, the more mastery Liam amassed, the easier it was to add new pieces of perfection to his expertise. His growth only slowed down initially before picking up speed at levels he had never experienced.

Another issue with the extreme approach involved the ingredients. That constant interruption of half-concoctions wasted so many resources that Liam’s cave emptied in no time.

Yet, Liam had an advantage there, too, one that he was always too tired to ask about. His Master literally owned the alchemical market among the six Sects, so his stashes never ran dry.

As for the third and greatest issue, it involved the strain on Liam’s core, which was what the Alchemy Elder disliked the most about the new extreme approach.

That danger was something the Elder had accounted for even before suggesting the extreme training routine. After all, despite his grumpy persona, he had been the loudest supporter of his disciple’s breaks.

That sounded contradictory, but the situation had changed, which was one of the reasons why the Elder had arranged that date. He had wanted his disciple to enjoy one last break before the strenuous training.

As for what had changed, it was none other than learning about Liam’s true talent, as well as his nemesis.

The Elder believed that Liam’s core could endure that additional strain. It riddled his disciple’s face with evident traces of exhaustion, but he trusted the ten spiritual roots’ firmness. They wouldn’t be called divine otherwise.

However, more than that, the Elder knew that his disciple had to improve quickly. Actually, he had to grow as fast as possible because the peaceful times might not last.

The world was big, especially the Outer Circles, and Liam was only a foundation expert. As impossible as his feats were, no one truly of note would take an interest in him just yet.

Yet, Liam had just killed another being he shouldn’t have been able to kill, and chances were he wouldn’t stop there. Moreover, he had the right cards to replicate the achievement in the superior rank.

A foundation expert killing a rooting expert could shock six Sects, but a rooting expert killing a branching expert might spread the news as far as the Inner Circles.

And the Elder knew what the Inner Circles held. If anyone from there actually decided to start an investigation, Liam’s secret would be done for.

Even if that didn’t happen, once Liam became a branching expert and killed an even stronger cultivator, the very Dragon King might get involved.

The Elder believed his disciple had been too clueless to consider it, but he would have to leave the Sect one day, probably sooner than he expected.

That would be for Liam’s safety, but it also meant that his time with his Master would be cut short early. The extreme approach was a way to make the best of that brittle, peaceful time together.

And what the Elder was doing didn’t escape his awareness. He was grooming a monster, knowing full well that Liam had to become one just to hope to survive what awaited him.

Hence, the Alchemy Elder suppressed whatever displeasure he felt and let that routine continue for weeks on end, even months, trusting that the disciple who had made Horace Rauret feel pride wouldn’t break.