Liam's eyes lit up in excitement. His incredibly long shot seemed to have borne fruit, making him restless.
That excitement brought Liam's gaze to Lucy, but she kept her head lowered. The Disciplinary Elder also didn't hesitate to turn, so Liam had to put aside that matter to follow him.
"Clean this mess," The Disciplinary Elder ordered while crossing Erik. "And tell Disciple Kyle to work on his footwork."
"Yes, Disciplinary Elder!" Erik shouted, not daring to raise his head, either, which was a common trend as Liam walked behind the middle-aged man.
Anyone the Elder crossed reaffirmed their polite bows. Liam couldn't look anyone in the eye as he climbed the path, eventually reaching the point where the circular boulders began.
'Now that I think about it,' Liam realized during the climb. 'Carl had worn a similar stance back then.'
Liam made a mental note to ask Lucy about those bows while the climb continued, the structure eventually claiming his attention.
Those paths didn't have much to study, but the braziers and their oddly colored fire were interesting enough, allowing Liam to notice the numbers carved in the rock under each one of them.
Also, the paths widened and grew emptier the higher Liam went. The more space was available, the fewer people occupied it, but Liam could blame the late hour for that.
Eventually, the paths ended in a vast plateau where the first building Liam had spotted earlier stood. Stepping there also revealed a few huts he hadn't seen before, as well as a slightly elevated and tiled square area.
Liam couldn't linger in his inspection of those additional structures since the Elder headed directly for the main building. Its entrance featured two thick pillars with a short staircase at its base, which led to an immense, open hall.
Liam knew he had never seen such a tall ceiling. He even had the youthful urge to reach the handrail at the hall's edge to peek at what promised to be the most breathtaking scenery he had ever seen.
However, the Elder moved in the opposite direction, heading for the mountain's slope, which the building seemed to have dug into.
Multiple wooden, sliding doors stood there, and the Elder opened one to lead Liam into a corridor. According to Liam's calculations, that was already inside the mountain, but the place featured no rocks or unique cold.
The walk ended there. The Elder seemingly opened a random door in the corridor, leading Liam inside a small room illuminated by a single lantern hanging from the ceiling, before leaving him with a single order.
"Wait here," The Elder said before returning to the corridor and closing the door behind him.
Liam did as ordered, but his eyes kept darting left and right. The room looked utterly ordinary, nothing Liam had never seen before, but he kept spotting traces of magic. Even mere wood felt otherworldly now that he knew it was the home of cultivators.
The Elder didn't take long to return. After a few minutes, he entered the room carrying a small vase with a strange white flower growing from it. Except for two leaves, the plant didn't have anything else.
"Pour a drop of blood on the soil," The Disciplinary Elder ordered, sitting cross-legged before placing the vase on the floor.
Liam was still on his feet, and that question awakened troubling memories. Everything felt eerily similar to the test he had performed with Carl, and he knew how that had ended.
"What?" The Elder asked as soon as Liam showed the faintest trace of hesitation.
"My blood does strange things," Liam admitted.
"I want to see them," The Disciplinary Elder declared, giving Liam no room for negotiations.
Liam sighed internally. His life wasn't in his hands anyway. It was forfeited the moment the Elder had appeared, so he could only comply and hope for the best.
After mimicking the Elder's sitting stance, Liam ran his forefinger on one of the blades on his belt before squeezing it over the vase.
A drop of blood quickly fell in the soil, mixing with it, but nothing unfolded. Liam's hopes surged, only to crumble in the next second.
The plant moved on its own, its leaves twitching, and its flower's petals opening even further, only for black veins to immediately expand all over it.
And, right in front of Liam's eyes, the flower withered and died, crumbling into dust that released a trail of dark, smelly smoke.
Liam got ready to hear the predicted terrible judgment, but the Disciplinary Elder remained stern, even leaning toward the dispersing smoke to smell it.
"A poison core," The Disciplinary Elder announced, seemingly talking to himself. "How rare."
Liam didn't understand that announcement, and the result's similarity with what had happened with Carl kept him silent. He would say something wrong if he tried to speak, so he only checked the cut on his finger, wondering why his blood had such effects.
That confusion didn't go unnoticed, but the Elder didn't address it yet. Instead, he leaned forward to grab Liam's right arm, pulling up his sleeve to expose the dragon-shaped burn.
Liam was about to worry, but the Elder didn't give him the time. The man immediately let go of his arm, looking down at the now-empty vase, lost in thought.
"Uncle," Liam called when the silence became too much to bear, "Sir, can I become a cultivator?"
"You already are," The Disciplinary Elder revealed. "You are at the foundation stage, which seems quite advanced, too."
"Is that good?" Liam asked.
The Disciplinary Elder finally lifted his gaze, studying Liam's face. Much about Liam sounded impossible, or at least unrealistic, but the Elder couldn't see any lies on his face.
"Do those who awakened your core truly tell you nothing?" The Elder questioned, and Liam opted for a silent shake of his head.
"The core is like a seed," The Elder explained. "However, unlike plants and trees, cultivators need specific nutrients to grow it, nutrients that match their dantian's nature."
Liam's brain connected some dots at that point, and his mouth voiced those conclusions. "I have a poison core, so I need to eat poison to grow it?"
"Correct," The Disciplinary Elder confirmed, glad that Liam was only ignorant and not stupid, which deepened his internal conflict.
Meanwhile, Liam realized something. Pieces of a vague puzzle finally fell into place and came together, creating a relatively complete picture.
'Don't tell me,' Liam thought, 'Did the Divine Cult's drug help me?'
Liam had already suspected that his current strength couldn't be the result of mere physical training, no matter how torturous it was. There had to be more, and Liam had finally understood what.
"Awakening the core is the first stage," The Disciplinary Elder described, "It's like planting the seed. Next is completing the foundation, like watering the seed until its main roots are fully developed. We call those spiritual roots."
"So," Liam guessed, "I've developed my main roots?"
"You have Qi in you," The Disciplinary Elder revealed. "I don't know if you completed your foundation, but you have a lot of it."
"How can you tell?" Liam asked.
"Higher stages of cultivation allow you to sense such things," The Disciplinary Elder explained. "There are also perception-oriented martial arts that produce similar results."
Liam nodded, but couldn't help but ask his next question. "Sir, if I'm already a cultivator and my foundation is good, what's the problem?"
"The problem is that the Pale Moon Sect doesn't accept disciples so late after the recruitment period," The Elder stated. "You'd be behind your peers, and no Elder has the time to catch you up on things."
Liam was ready to promise the world, but the Elder ended up speaking again first.
"But, it is quite fortuitous for you to come here," The Discipline Elder declared. "The Pale Moon Sect is famous for its alchemy division. It's almost as if the Heavens brought you here."
Liam arched his eyebrows. The Elder had lost him with that last statement. Luckily, the former spotted that confusion.
"A poison core requires poison to develop and flourish," The Elder explained. "However, as your cultivation level increases, you won't be able to find natural poisons powerful enough to push your core's growth even further."
That made sense. In general, a bigger plant needed more water and sunlight than its smaller version. Liam could understand the same applying to dantians. He simply didn't know what the alchemy division had to do with it.
Of course, that was because Liam had no idea of what an alchemist was or did, which the Elder eventually realized.
"Alchemists specialize in the production of medicinal pills and elixirs, but also poisons," The Disciplinary Elder stated. "I'm saying that if you want to embark on the cultivation journey, you must become an alchemist."