Chapter 558: Trust

The headache-inducing shenanigans knew no end.

Rachel always struck up conversation with Liam, somehow never running out of things to involve him in despite the floating tent’s limited resources.

The topics ranged from wine and food to jewelry and clothes that Rachel sought Liam’s opinion about, using those excuses to learn about his tastes while sharing bits about her life.

The jewelry and clothes part also came after Liam’s enduring silence about his own life, forcing Rachel to learn about him through indirect methods. She never changed attire, but that wasn’t out of self-restraint or decorum.

Uriah and his conflicting anger kept Rachel in check, on top of being the other side of those shenanigans. He scolded Liam whenever he tried to refuse Rachel, but his fury skyrocketed once he accepted her attention.

Basically, Liam was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t, but things eventually clicked, turning his headaches into bittersweet warmth.

As dysfunctional as it may look, that was a family, a crazy one, but such were cultivators. Once Liam realized that, he completely relaxed, even finding the chaos amusing.

The mental tranquillity also enabled more thorough information gathering. Liam had shed all hesitation, so he moved ahead with his planning, obtaining everything he could after a week, on top of something else.

’I can ask Uriah for new cauldrons,’ Liam thought as he watched the receding expanse of scorching sand. ’Maybe even a pipe. I can retrieve the minerals once I go hunting poisonous magical beasts.’

The plunder of the Invincible Oasis and Red Sandstorm Tribes would come first, but Liam had already decided on his next steps. Now that knowledge had arrived, he had drawn the best course of action.

’And I need to learn about formations from Amber,’ Liam pondered. ’I can’t remain this ignorant when they are so strong.’

Liam planned to do the same with inscriptions from Uriah, to be ready against future threats and to expand his mindset so he could add that knowledge to alchemy.

Sadly, there was an order to things. While the family had welcomed Liam, his requests would involve rank 3 items and specialized knowledge. Fighting together had to come first before he could ask such questions.

Naturally, Liam hoped to get something from the plundering, too. He was actually rather eager, and it would also be his first fight as a branching expert, which brought his thoughts to his latest achievement.

The number of protuberances above Liam’s dantian had crossed two hundred, but one had stopped growing. The first branch that had sprouted had fully developed, but Liam struggled to rejoice.

’Four weeks since I became a branching expert,’ Liam calculated. ’I’d say two and a half weeks if I smoke nonstop ... That’s over half a century.’

Liam’s smoking powder was by no means weak, which added to his concerns. He couldn’t make a stronger one unless he used better or more rank 3 poisonous ingredients, but that still wasn’t his main worry.

Even in the best possible scenario, with none of the normal hurdles of a stage, two and a half weeks per branch meant twenty-one branches a year.

Given that Liam had to develop a thousand, the most favorable and unrealistic math saw him smoking for fifty years before reaching the peak of the branching stage.

Of course, Liam had the swamps. At the same time, his requirements would gradually increase, and it was virtually impossible for him to spend all his time cultivating.

’It’s unsustainable,’ Liam agreed with Grace’s past evaluation. ’I wonder if I’ll eventually be able to endure raw rank 4 ingredients. They would hasten my growth, if I manage to find them.’

Still, as Grace had once warned long ago, Liam would only stumble if he focused too much on what was too far away. Sadly, she wasn’t the one with him now.

Liam leaned further beyond the curtain, keeping the fuming pipe as far from that entrance as possible when someone who had become a familiar presence by now reached his side.

"Big Brother, the desert can be beautiful, can’t it?’ Rachel exclaimed, her arms behind her back as she also leaned past the curtain. "It’s a pity few have the privilege to look past its deadliness."

Rachel was right. Liam had already noticed as much as soon as he teleported, and plenty of his smoking sessions happened on the tent’s edge, gazing at the endless sea of sand.

There was also another reason for that habit.

"Careful," Liam warned as he brought the pipe to his mouth, doing his best to blow the smoke far away from Rachel.

While Liam’s core devoured most of the poison, his smoking powder remained a rank 3 product. Even its leftovers could be deadly for a rooting expert.

But Rachel showed no fear, pursing her lips as she inspected Liam’s face, a fearless grin eventually broadening on hers.

"I’m aware of your poisons’ prowess," Rachel exclaimed. "Little Sister can’t possibly forget."

Grace reached Liam’s chest, but Rachel was taller, surpassing his shoulder, allowing her to approach his ear when she stood on her toes.

"And I can’t speak like this in front of Father dear," Rachel whispered sensually. "But my legs grow weak whenever I recall it."

Liam watched Rachel straighten, remaining at his side. She matched his gaze with a meaningful look accompanied by a suggestive deep, slow breath, her stance accentuating her ample chest.

"So, Big Brother," Rachel continued, her casual, playful tone not matching her tempting expression at all. "Let’s find the time to be alone once we go back."

A glare promptly arrived from inside the tent, but Liam was used to it by now. If anything, his attention remained on a confusing detail.

’She still smells honest,’ Liam thought.

Liam had already accepted that Rachel’s acting skills matched Grace’s, but he had expected his superhuman senses to catch something by now, especially after the breakthrough’s improvements.

Yet, as playful as Rachel was, she also felt genuine. Liam knew better than to believe that after what the Young Masters had shouted. She probably had made a profession out of that act, and he didn’t mind it since she never touched him, but it remained odd.

Put simply, the way Liam saw it, Rachel had no reason to do it anymore, and his lack of hesitation made him address that matter.

"Why?" Liam asked. "I already plan to stay with the Dark Heaven Tribe. You don’t need the Big Brother, little Sister, or everything else anymore."

"Did you dislike my hospitality?" Rachel questioned, battling her eyes, the monster inside the tent ready to explode at those words.

"No," Liam responded honestly. "I’m just confused. I understand you can’t trust me yet, but I won’t go back on my word."

Liam would literally fight the world for the Dark Heaven Tribe now that he had decided to side with it. Also, the conditions truly couldn’t have been more perfect.

Besides, Liam would be the one to benefit the most from the imminent fights since he didn’t have to share his gains with an entire force.

"Dark Wanderer makes us feel distant," Rachel pouted, seemingly heartbroken. "Do you want us to feel distant?"

’Does no one in the cultivation world respect relationships?’ Liam cursed internally. Rachel knew about his Dao partner, but she was disregarding her, as Grace had done in the past.

Still, the unstable bomb of muscles and rage inside the tent prompted Liam to respond quickly.

"It’s safer for you all if I don’t say my name," Liam went straight to the point, repeating what he had already told Amber.

Rachel looked intrigued, the statement taking her by surprise so much that she didn’t muster any dramatic act. She inspected Liam again, gulping, before refocusing on the scorching horizon.

"Big Brother, then," Rachel chirped. "But I won’t call anyone else that now so that you can be sure that you are special in this little Sister’s heart."

’Maybe this is revenge for poisoning her,’ Liam considered, due to the dangers those comments exposed him to. ’Or she is using me to tease Uriah.’

"But you are wrong," Rachel continued, her voice somber, wistful. "I trust you. Big Brother is the first man after Father dear I can say I trust."

Liam blinked, inspecting Rachel, who had gained a more mature vibe. He reviewed all their interactions but couldn’t find anything worthy of building trust.

"If you want to know why," Rachel grinned, bending forward and looking up at Liam. "Ask me once we are alone."

Rachel lingered in her stare for a second before hurrying inside. In her place, the angry shout that had been building up until now arrived. "Dark Wanderer!"

Liam shook his head, bringing the pipe to his mouth, ignoring the heavy steps approaching him, summoning his long jade instead.

’I developed the first branch,’ Liam sent to Grace, wanting to summon the only female attention he desired. He would listen to her reply after he finished dealing with the furious husband.

Two weeks later, the army reached the Red Sandstorm Tribe.