The marketplace of Blackstone still reeked of blood. The corpses of Xuan Zhi’s and Fang Cheng’s men lay cooling in the morning sun, their bodies sprawled like discarded rags across the cobblestones.
And Liam stood in the center of it, looking calm and composed, with Silverleaf in hand, while two titans of Blackstone glared at him with venom burning in their eyes.
Xuan Zhi’s face twisted, disbelief etched across every line. His lips curled as he jabbed a trembling finger at Liam, his voice hoarse with rage, "You... what are you? No mortal could have done this! Tell me, boy — what sort of monster hides behind that face?"
Liam said nothing. His gaze slid coldly over the Xuan patriarch, unmoved by his fury.
Fang Cheng’s eyes narrowed, his heavy brows drawn low. His voice cut sharply into the tense silence, "Tell me the truth. Are you of the demon race? Is that why you came to Blackstone? To toy with us?"
Liam met his eyes without flinching, but still he didn’t answer. Words were useless here. No matter what truth he offered, they had already written their own stories in their minds. He was a demon, a hidden elder, a threat that had to be extinguished.
As he stood in the midst of their glares, Liam’s thoughts sharpened like blades. He had been thinking about something while walking around the market and purchasing research materials, and he felt that the mentality he approached this world with, was flawed from the very beginning. He had treated it cautiously, like a guest tiptoeing in another man’s house. But this was no place for caution.
In this world, only names carved in blood carried weight. Only those who made others tremble with fear were granted space to grow.
If he wanted to stand here, unbound and unbroken, then he would have to forge a name that shook the foundations of this empire. A name whispered in dread.
And that path began with anyone who dared stand against him.
He shifted Silverleaf in his grip and began to walk forward, his steps slow but deliberate. Each one rang across the stone like a drumbeat. His calm face betrayed nothing, but inside, fire burned.
Fang Cheng and Xuan Zhi exchanged a glance. Their frowns deepened. They could see it clearly: this mortal intended to fight them both head-on.
Arrogant. Insane. But also... dangerous.
"Very well," Fang Cheng muttered, drawing the halberd strapped to his back. Its spear-tip gleamed with condensed Qi, vibrating faintly in his grip. "Let’s see what tricks you truly have."
Xuan Zhi’s face twisted into a snarl. His aura exploded outward once again, his robes whipping in the surge of power. He raised both hands, runes flickering faintly along his forearms.
"You killed my sons. For that, even death will be too kind."
The air thickened, the cobblestones trembling under the weight of two cultivation giants preparing to strike.
Liam exhaled, steadying his grip on Silverleaf. His telekinetic field pulsed outward like an unseen tide, mapping every detail of the battlefield.
The storm broke, as both men attacked as one.
Fang Cheng surged forward, his halberd thrusting in a blur. The strike carried the weight of a collapsing mountain, its edge filled with enough power to cleave a boulder in two.
At the same instant, Xuan Zhi raised his palms and unleashed a barrage of glowing talismans that burst into chains of energy, each whip-like strike lashing toward Liam’s body.
The street shook under the combined assault.
Liam reacted instantly. His telekinesis wrapped around Silverleaf, accelerating its slash as he parried the halberd head-on. Sparks erupted as steel met invisible force, the shockwave rattling windows. At the same time, his free hand clenched and the lashing chains slowed, tangled in the crushing grip of his will.
But it wasn’t enough.
Fang Cheng’s brute force pushed him backward, his boots grinding against stone, while Xuan Zhi’s chains snapped free one after another, cutting into his telekinetic barrier like serrated blades.
Liam gritted his teeth, the pressure hammering his skull. He forced himself forward, retaliating with a telekinetic blast that shoved both men back for a heartbeat. He lunged, Silverleaf carving a lethal arc.
Fang Cheng spun his halberd, catching the strike with the shaft, his arms shaking from the impact. Xuan Zhi darted to the side, his fingers forming rapid seals before sending a volley of glowing blades of energy streaking through the air.
The fight spiraled into chaos.
Silverleaf sang as Liam deflected, dodged, and struck in rapid sequence, his movements guided by his telekinetic sense. Yet for every strike he made, Fang Cheng’s halberd met him with relentless, crushing power, while Xuan Zhi’s spells peppered him from afar, forcing him to split his focus.
His telekinetic field strained, the weight of two experienced cultivators pressing in from both sides. His mind throbbed under the pressure. Sweat streaked down his temple.
But his eyes never wavered.
He ducked a halberd swing, countered with a knee to Fang Cheng’s chest, then spun and deflected a barrage of talisman-blades, sending them scattering into nearby stalls in bursts of fire and splinters.
The marketplace had become a battlefield. Stalls collapsed, flames licked at wooden beams, and the air rang with the sound of steel and shattering stone.
Still, the two men pressed him, driving him into the defensive. Fang Cheng’s relentless close-quarters pressure forced him to constantly parry, while Xuan Zhi’s long-range spells battered at his barriers.
Minutes dragged like hours. Liam’s chest heaved, his focus beginning to fray. Every clash rattled his bones. He could feel it clearly now: if the fight continued , he would lose.
No... worse than lose. He would be broken, captured and paraded as prey before the very people he had sworn to make tremble.
That thought burned hotter than fire.
I can’t let that happen.
His jaw clenched. His eyes narrowed, blazing with resolve. If brute force wasn’t enough, then he would gamble everything.
He exhaled sharply, his telekinesis shifting. Instead of lashing outward at his enemies, he turned it inward — wrapping it around himself.
The shift was immediate. His body lightened, the crushing weight of gravity peeling away. His boots lifted from the bloodstained cobblestones. Slowly, steadily, Liam rose into the air.
Gasps erupted from every throat in the marketplace. The crowd, hidden in alleys and behind ruined stalls, stared with wide, disbelieving eyes.
Fang Cheng froze mid-strike, his halberd trembling in his grip. Xuan Zhi’s spell fizzled in his palm, his jaw dropping open in shock. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on n0velfire.net
The mortal — the man they thought to corner and break — was floating above them, suspended in midair like an untouchable god.
Silverleaf gleamed in his hand, its edge catching the sun as he looked down at them both, his expression cold and imperious.
For the first time since the battle started, Liam allowed his presence to spread fully. His aura — the resonance of the Myriad Armament Constitution — poured outward. It was time to go all out and use everything he has to his advantage.
Every weapon in the square trembled again and they started floating into the air, beside Liam.
"You wanted a monster?" Liam said, as his eyes burned like steel. "Then look up."
The entire market held its breath as Liam hovered above the two strongest men of Blackstone, looking down upon them like judgment itself.
Fang Cheng and Xuan Zhi looked at the figure in the sky, and for the first time, they felt doubt. They both had the same question in their head.
Liam’s gaze was ice cold. Slowly, he raised his hand... then brought it down like a judge passing sentence. The weapons around him shrieked as they blitzed through the air like falling stars — and he shot forward with them, leading the storm.