The new stand attracted everyone’s attention, but no one moved just yet, too caught up in a multilayered mutual inspection.

Lancelot still stared at Liam, while Isabel warily stood at his side. Robert also shared that feeling, his expressive eyes darting over his teammates while always returning to the basin.

Instead, Liam looked at the tome, then matched Lancelot’s heated stare, before glancing at Julian from under the hood, the gesture earning him his gaze.

"Fellow Daoist, I apologize for acting so late," Julian smiled, cupping his fist at Liam. "I believed my intervention was unnecessary."

Julian was right, and his performance was perfect, but it smelled off nonetheless, and for reasons Liam didn’t need to think about to understand. After all, he had gone through a similar reasoning.

Secrets were powerful, especially in terms of weapons. They could catch enemies by surprise or directly prevent the latter from attempting anything, wary of what their potential target possessed.

Liam had done the same with his poison in the Pale Moon Sect, but had opted to pursue his greed now instead. Still, there were ways to achieve both in an uncompromising way more suitable to Liam’s drive.

The Black Bow disappeared, replaced by a long pipe that Liam didn’t hesitate to place in his mouth. Black smoke soon blew from under his hood, drawing four pairs of eyes to it.

Liam had already revealed his space-ring, and Lancelot and Isabel had seen him use the Poisonous Breath. The valley’s audience had, too. With the Roaring Thunder Sect’s public seal of approval, everyone was bound to look deeper into Master William.

That still only led to suspicion, not certainty, but it was beside the point. Instead of hiding behind uncertainty, Liam preferred to make a silent statement.

Long gone were the days when Liam had to pretend that Krosstoen’s mountain was haunted to protect it. He didn’t even need the infamy he had created in the Pale Moon Sect to prevent ploys against him.

Liam now possessed something the entire cultivation world respected. He was a capable alchemist, and the dangerous smoke he breathed announced his specialization.

It was a simple warning. Liam was merely telling his team to behave with him, not to get on the bad side of a poison master.

Liam jumped down after the single puff, continuing smoking while nearing the stand. The second basin featured a huge problem, the biggest one, forcing a review of the previous battle.

Lancelot had been exceptional, but that was to be expected, and Liam believed Isabel couldn’t be much weaker. She hadn’t revealed much, but she remained a core disciple of a Sect near the Inner Circles. She probably had complete, all-around sets of powerful techniques and items at her disposal.

Julian had shown his cunning stance, which was hardly blameworthy. That was how cultivators, especially lone ones, behaved among strangers. Liam didn’t like it, but that was the norm, and he was doing something similar through different methods.

Instead, Robert had been the true surprise. The way he had danced among the battlefield, his sudden, calculated sprints, his devastating blows, and his fighting style that didn’t match anything Liam had learned were genuinely praiseworthy.

For all of Robert’s complaints, he had reeked of nothing but pristine confidence, which his performance had surpassed. Despite the Divine Cult and the Disciplinary Elder’s training, Liam felt inclined to believe that Robert had him beat in hand-to-hand combat.

And all those capable figures now had to contend with the single reward the trial had provided.

"Truly a trial of greed," Julian announced, also jumping down the elevated area to approach the second stand. That prompted Lancelot, Isabel, and Robert to do the same, creating a wide circle around the indistinct tome.

The flowers that had symbolized the path to the next trial hadn’t appeared, and the five open doors didn’t seem to be it, meaning the inheritance was probably waiting for the team to decide what to do with the reward.

Basically, the trial wasn’t over yet.

Lancelot threw a smirk at Liam before raising his hand in reassurance, closing the distance from the basin. He checked the tome, browsing through it, only for its mostly blank pages to reveal its nature.

"It says it’s a rank 2 martial art," Lancelot exclaimed, "And that’s it. It needs to be bound to reveal its contents."

"Such inscriptions often limit the knowledge to the binder," Julian added, confirming the point everyone had already suspected, actually worsening it.

Despite the trial being tuned to the team’s numbers and the team itself having overcome it at its greatest difficulty, only one person could own the reward.

More than the battle itself, that was the trial’s true challenge. It was a hurdle that could shatter the team and ruin its opportunities to overcome the rest of the inheritance.

"Sister and I forfeit any claim over the martial art," Lancelot suddenly declared, taking a step back. With what the Secret Jade Sect had given the two, they didn’t need another rank 2 technique. It wasn’t their goal anyway, and the sacrifice could go a long way in salvaging their team’s unity.

"I can also renounce the reward," Julian declared, "As long as I can seize the automatons’ breastplates."

A series of curious looks fell on Julian, at which he smiled and reached for the nearest somewhat intact breastplate on the floor.

"Fellow Daoists, look at this," Julian explained, showing the intricate symbol in the heavy breastplate’s insides. "These are Archbishop Ignatius’ own inscriptions. I can learn a lot from studying them. I couldn’t ask for a better reward."

Despite the untrustworthy behavior, Julian’s statement made perfect sense, so Liam and Robert ended up inspecting each other, knowing that only they were left.

Robert studied the smoke blowing from under the hood, feeling the danger in his guts, but remaining firm on his feet, his expressive eyes showing clear readiness.

"I want the martial art," Robert declared.

Liam didn’t speak, but his stance was clear in his mind. He wanted the martial art, too. Actually, he desired everything the inheritance had to offer, both out of sheer greed and because anything less might make the difference between life and death in his impossible journey.

Yet, perhaps due to a simplicity that had remained despite the mostly-gone cluelessness, Liam saw more than a single option there.

"Can’t we just share it?" Liam asked, pointing at the inscribed tome.

"Haven’t you heard Julian?" Robert wondered. "Only the binder can access the martial art."

"I have, but ...," Liam said, delaying his following words to choose them carefully and breathe in more poison. "Can’t the binder just tell its contents to the others?"

Eyes blinked among the realization that dawned upon the team. That could indeed be a possibility, one so obvious that everyone felt stupid for not having considered it. Robert and the others had been so stuck on the trial’s nature that they had failed to think outside the box.