Chapter 608: Hope

It became instantly obvious why Liam hadn’t woken up during the stabbing and whatever else Rachel had done to him.

It wasn’t just blood loss and exhaustion, even if they had definitely played a role. Liam already trusted Rachel deeply on a subconscious level, his instincts having long caught up with aspects of her character she had just laid out.

Honestly, that evaluation applied to Rachel’s entire family. Liam liked them. It was why he was racking his brain on how to protect them better.

It was also incredible how Rachel could already boast such achievements. Age wasn’t really visible for cultivators, but Liam believed she could be even younger than him, and her expertise required knowledge in at least two noble arts.

Liam had run himself ragged to the point of collapsing multiple times to achieve his current alchemical skills. So, Rachel had to have put real effort into learning her healing arts due to their steep requirements.

That wasn’t a talent that could go unnoticed, but somehow no one had ever mentioned it, which was too strange to be random.

"Why are you hiding this?" Liam asked. "Are you causing all those problems to create a fake persona?"

"Problems?" Rachel repeated, her face embodying such pristine innocence that Liam almost felt guilty for doubting her. "Is my Honey also blaming little Sister? After she watched over him day and night?"

Liam was pretty sure not even half a day had passed since he fainted. If he had a mirror, he would see himself wearing Grace’s deadpan expression.

"It’s fun," Rachel grinned, throwing her head back to laugh. "I live for that thrill."

’I don’t know what’s more praiseworthy,’ Liam thought. ’Her efforts or the fact that she can suppress her character when it comes to her Tribe.’

"But you are right," Rachel continued, composing herself. "I don’t make a habit of advertising what I can do. It’s safer for me if I’m just a beautiful troublemaker."

Liam couldn’t possibly fail to understand that. His arrival had created the same political problems after all. The Aetacia region would have long since turned against the Dark Heaven Tribe if its daughter risked becoming a powerhouse who could match her parents.

"You are the only one outside my parents who knows," Rachel revealed.

The hidden meaning was evident. Rachel’s search was complete. She had found her match, one of the main reasons behind such efforts, so she didn’t have to keep her talents a secret anymore. At least, she could and had to tell Liam.

Liam kept ignoring the topic, though mostly because his brain was still on something else. He finally saw hope in solving a problem he had remained lost about despite his recent findings.

"How far can you stimulate the body?" Liam questioned, nodding at the needles. "How does this work exactly?"

Rachel caught the seriousness in Liam’s tone, matching it, albeit with caveats. She seized a nearby pillow, using it to replace her lap so that she could move to his side.

"Cultivators have different energy flows from mortals," Rachel explained. "Their energy is also different. They are living beings with Qi at their core."

Rachel reached for Liam’s waist, carefully pulling out the needles in the area, disappearing each time.

"The dantian becomes more relevant the more it grows," Rachel continued, placing her hand on Liam’s waist, drawing circles. "It gives us power. It gives us life, raw life."

Rachel’s hand moved up, dealing with the needles on Liam’s abdomen, until she cleared his chest, too.

"The heart is the second power core," Rachel stated, drawing circles on Liam’s skin once more. "It refines the raw life, giving it quality, spreading it like the heart pumps the blood."

Liam’s neck and face came next, followed by circular motions on his forehead.

"The mind is the third," Rachel said. "It grants life awareness, control, purpose, and will."

Rachel skipped the needles on Liam’s arms and went for his legs, slowly removing them one by one, finishing the job once she reached his feet.

"Flesh and meridians are no separate entities," Rachel revealed, her hand rising again but never leaving Liam’s skin. "They are two parts of one, always affecting each other."

Liam shot Rachel a glare when her hand neared his groin. She smiled but didn’t stop. She didn’t cross the line, either, but her fingers still tried to tempt him, even slowing down when they passed the edge of what they weren’t allowed to touch.

"By tampering with the Qi flow," Rachel added, moving to Liam’s arms, "Certain functions can be enforced. The flesh can draw more energy to heal, use reserves to exert more power, or stop functioning altogether."

Liam was free of needles when the explanation ended, but that didn’t change his condition. He felt clear, fresh, and rested, albeit a bit hungry, which was extremely rare at his level.

With the treatment done, Liam sat up, only for a strange weight to surprise him. He reached for his hair, finding an unknown object, which turned out to be a braid once he pulled it before his eyes.

"What did you do to my hair?" Liam asked.

"Honey," Rachel called, unsure how to approach the issue. "I don’t mind, but is your hair really your main concern? Should I take it as permission?"

Liam glanced at his still naked state, as well as his saluting, strangely shining friend, and promptly donned pants. He also decided that it was better not to know what had happened. He honestly couldn’t see himself getting anything but headaches from that conversation.

"Not even a spank for being naughty?" Rachel whined.

"How much power can you force the flesh to exert?" Liam questioned.

"The flesh’s potential is the limit," Rachel explained. "But, Honey, you are beyond me as a cultivator. My needles’ intent can’t affect you too much. While your lineage grants you far greater potential, it also increases your opposition even further."

Rachel understood the veiled request, so she stopped to brainstorm, finding an answer she seemed unwilling to give. "Adding reagents might lower the opposition and increase the effects, but they’d have to be tailored to you, meaning performing dangerous tests."

"But is it possible?" Liam asked, unfazed by the dangers.

Rachel’s unwillingness intensified under Liam’s firm stare, but she still nodded.

"Is it possible to make it permanent?" Liam added.

Rachel’s eyes went wide, an instinctive gasp escaping her throat. "You’d be constantly burning until there’s not even bones left."

"Rachel," Liam called. "Is it possible?"

To Liam’s surprise, Rachel took Liam’s hand, mustering her puppy eyes, which reeked of genuine apprehension.

"Are you sure?" Rachel asked. "I will trust you if you say so. Just tell me that you know what you are doing."

Rachel acknowledged her shortcomings there. She simply didn’t know Liam enough to understand his limits. At the same time, she didn’t want to fuel doomed recklessness.

"This is how I have to live to hope to have a chance of winning," Liam confirmed. "I can endure more than others, so I must."

A serious second went by in which Liam and Rachel intensely stared at each other, before she flashed him a broad grin.

"Let’s burn together while we laugh at the Heavens," Rachel exclaimed, letting go of Liam’s hand, only to climb onto his lap.

"Rachel?" Liam called, grabbing the hands heading for his chest.

"Honey, little Sister must invent an experimental procedure," Rachel declared. "As a rooting expert for a branching expert while tailoring it specifically for you."

"So?" Liam asked.

"So I must learn how my Honey works!" Rachel exclaimed, seemingly having the time of her life.

"So?" Liam repeated, this time whispering, feeling once again that he had made a grave mistake.

"So I must massage you," Rachel giggled. "Until I commit to memory what your Qi flow and every inch of your body react to."