Chapter 554: Lie

Even mere conversations among cultivators followed rules, if anything, out of politeness.

Liam’s request had not only been impolite. It had also sounded unbelievably arrogant, as if he disregarded the danger the Dark Heaven Tribe posed.

That wasn’t exactly true, but it wasn’t completely false, either. Liam didn’t disregard or underestimate his predicament. His life had simply twisted his sense of danger.

High-stage and mid-stage branching experts could only appear as the most ordinary of Liam’s challenges. Compared to all his other impossible odds, they were the easiest to overcome.

Truth was, Liam hadn’t realized his own shift in perspective. It had been gradual, culminating in seeing what would make most cultivators despair as nothing more than routine.

In the past, such statements would have earned Liam countless shouts. His apparent disregard was insulting, but the branching stage provided an unexpected benefit.

Liam’s presence revealed his intentions. His stance was in the open for fellow branching experts to inspect, so the married pair saw the truth. He had meant no offense. He genuinely despised foreplay.

Of course, cultivators could still turn a blind eye to that truth, engaging in the endless wordplay they seemed to like so much, but the married pair decided otherwise.

Amber straightened, her gaze sharpening. Even her grumpy husband relaxed, firm sternness replacing his fury. The two were willing to get to the point, which put them at a crossroads.

Liam was inside the Dark Heaven Tribe. The environment heavily disadvantaged him. He might be a branching expert, but the married pair knew he had just faced the breakthrough, implying limited preparation.

However, no cultivator who reached the branching stage was ordinary. The achievement itself was worthy of respect, no matter how recently it had happened.

Also, Liam’s unique profession turned the pair’s advantage into a liability. Amber and her husband were likely strong enough to suppress him, but it was unclear how much of the oasis would vanish in the process.

A poison master was a walking deterrent. Liam’s sole presence inside the Dark Heaven Tribe put it at risk. He could make victory not worth pursuing, if not completely catastrophic.

Unbeknownst to Liam, Amber and her husband were affluent and resourceful. They had tried to heal their daughter on their own, only to fail miserably.

Liam couldn’t be ordinary since his poison as a rooting expert had defeated two branching experts. Three months hadn’t been enough time for the married pair to try everything, but their daughter would have still died if Liam hadn’t come.

"Deals aren’t an issue," Amber eventually said. "The Dark Heaven Tribe stands to benefit from an allied master alchemist. However, do you realize what you’ll entangle yourself with?"

The cultivators outside the cloaking dome confirmed what Rachel had hinted at. Politics had joined the fray, and many had seen Liam enter the Dark Heaven Tribe.

Killing the two Young Masters had started a conflict, and Liam was in the middle of it now.

In theory, Liam could just leave. No matter what the Dark Heaven Tribe claimed, the other Tribes would probably still try to blame it since extorting it would be more beneficial than hunting a lone expert.

Even a single deal could allow that strategy, but Liam had asked for a foothold, meaning a prolonged cooperation that would inevitably force him to navigate the area’s politics.

Now, Liam was the one at fault. His murders had put the Dark Heaven Tribe in that mess. Death had created the excuse for conflict that mere theft wouldn’t have.

Nevertheless, the married pair couldn’t force Liam into cooperation. That risked pushing him into the enemy Tribes. He might be guilty, but the Invincible Oasis and Red Sandstorm could overlook that as long as he helped them extort the Dark Heaven Tribe.

The warning was a way of probing Liam’s intentions. Amber was willing to welcome him, but he had to be all-in instead of just reaping benefits.

Still, Amber had misjudged Liam’s character, although it would have been hard for anyone to predict. His approach to life was extremely simple. He didn’t see himself as being at fault. The two Young Masters’ Tribes were the ones that owed him compensation.

Also, two Tribes meant twice the benefits when plundered.

"I don’t plan on staying for long," Liam warned. "But the Dark Heaven Tribe showed me respect. As long as our relationship is genuine and fruitful, I’ll support it against the dangers it may face."

The promise was no small deal. Just like that, the Dark Heaven Tribe had gained a third branching expert. Its military power had skyrocketed.

"There won’t be dangers," The husband half-scoffed. "No matter what accusations the Invincible Oasis or the Red Sandstorm throw at us, they’ll walk them back once they learn their Young Masters insulted master Dark Wanderer."

That politeness couldn’t be more opposite to the previous fury, and the wit it hid was also nothing like the loud stubbornness.

Liam had killed the Young Masters as a rooting expert, but only the Dark Heaven Tribe knew that. Now, the latter could lie, claiming the Young Masters had insulted a branching expert, making their death justified.

The next step seemed already set in stone, but an unexpected variable was right around the corner.

As always, Liam was the first to sense it, or rather hear it. He tasted a sweet, appealing scent as footsteps reached his ears. His skin caught the imperceptible tremors running through the stone floor, eventually turning his head toward the entrance.

Amber’s younger version stood on the room’s edge, a cheeky smile on her childish face. Rachel wasn’t as naked as before, but she still left little to the imagination with her yellow top, short pants, and transparent, open skirt. Her slim, toned waist and firm, sensual legs were perfectly visible.

Still, Rachel’s smile faltered when she met Liam’s gaze. She even gulped, her breath growing irregular.

Rachel couldn’t forget Liam after the deep impression he had left, but the man sitting before her was completely different. He was still Liam, but everything about him had been improved.

In Liam’s case, the glow-up went beyond what the breakthrough normally caused. He had indeed become a superior being, his presence alone proving that, but his skin almost shone, and his frame reeked of power.

Liam’s looks hadn’t changed, but Grace would drool if she were to look at him now, and not only from her mouth. He was more of a beautiful beast than a handsome man, too fearsome to approach, but too magnetic to look away.

"My beautiful flower," The husband exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear, his cheerful voice seemingly foreign to his huge frame. "You should be resting."

"Rachel, you mustn’t intrude on meetings," Amber added, her tone sterner instead. "You are to be confined to your quarters until your father and I decide on an appropriate punishment."

"My love, our Rachel has already suffered enough," The husband argued, laughing.

Before Amber could say otherwise, Rachel rushed toward her father, squeezing his arm.

"Oh, Father dear," Rachel said dramatically. "The Heavens blessed this unfilial daughter with the greatest father in the world."

"Nonsense, nonsense," The husband chuckled, unable to hide how happy he was. "I’m the one who has been blessed with the two most beautiful flowers of the desert."

Amber seemed to lose any desire to argue when her husband shot her a loving smile. As for Liam, a chill ran down his spine, the strange development acting as an ominous premonition.

’Is that how I’ll end up once Grace and I have a daughter?’ Liam gasped internally. ’Do I already look like that?’

Before Liam could review how he had behaved in front of Mairis’ families and Adrian, Rachel moved the attention back to him.

"Father dear, I couldn’t stay in bed knowing my savior was here," Rachel announced, squeezing her father’s arm even tighter. "Have you rewarded Big Brother already?"

The mood instantly changed, tension building in the air. Amber inspected Liam again, while her husband never stopped looking at Rachel.

"What do you mean by savior?" The husband asked.

"Young Master Chester and Young Master Jacob had captured me," Rachel lied in a childish tone. "They said I was meant for their harem once they were done with me. It was Big Brother who saved your unfilial daughter from that terrifying fate."

’What kind of lie is this?’ Liam wondered. ’And didn’t they know the details already?’

The assumption turned out to be completely wrong.

"Did they really dare to utter such words to my daughter?" The husband asked, everything still rather calm, but with something violent brewing underneath.

"They-" Rachel muttered, pretending to sniff, hiding her face in her father’s muscular arm. "They said they’d teach me the difference between men and pigs."

’Wasn’t she the one who called them pigs?’ Liam recalled, but his mind stopped dwelling on those trivialities. It was too late anyway.

The husband’s dark eyes went wide, veins twitching on his temples. His anger was so intense that he stammered the first part of his deafening announcement. "T-to war!"