High-pitched noises resounded through the hall as the world in Liam’s vision became golden.

Just like the incredibly fast movement technique the rooting expert in the crossroad had shown, the bullets shared that speed, instantly reaching Liam, almost giving him no time to react.

Actually, Liam could only react because he had already seen that incredible speed, so he knew that there was no matching it. His feet released a thunderous noise as he shot toward the nearby altar, crouching behind it to use it as cover.

The barrage of bullets slammed into the white wall, with a few entering the crack of blackness, and Liam studied those impacts to add details to what his perception had started to understand.

Individually, the bullets weren’t too dangerous. They didn’t exactly pack a punch, either. They were more heat than a physical blow, which was probably part of the reason behind their incredible speed.

However, that heat was bound to burn, and the damage could become widespread and deep when a whole barrage of those bullets was involved. In short, they could definitely kill.

But Liam’s finding cover did little to improve his situation. Actually, things only worsened.

Liam jumped on the altar as soon as his senses gave the alarm, his feet releasing thunderous noises together with the streaks of golden light that reached his cover.

Three rooting experts had rushed toward Liam’s hiding spot, so he had left it, relying on the Lightning Step to leap at high speed toward another altar.

Despite the speed, Liam perfectly captured the changes in the battle formation, as well as its troublesome aspects.

Several rooting experts still had their arms raised, golden light already accumulating in their palms, some bullets even flying toward his previous position.

Three rooting experts were behind that firing line, spread out, wary of the still dispersing yellow smoke above or whatever else could fly in their direction. They probably were tasked with defending the group and the altar.

Further behind, two cultivators had their eyes closed and a hand raised before their mouths, reciting an incomprehensible chant that connected them to the injured on the scene, covering them in a golden halo that seemed to be tending to their wounds.

That was a comprehensive battle formation, one with no openings to exploit or flaws to widen, made perfect and insurmountable by the sheer number of capable and prepared experts involved. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

It seemed the Church had its full set of techniques and spells, which was hardly a surprise for Liam at that point, especially when he had much bigger things to worry about.

The perfect battle formation and the general danger still couldn’t make the top of Liam’s priorities since the seven white-wearing cultivators sitting on the floor were keeping the incomplete concentric circles active.

The group was still overtaking the coffin. The process was slow but inexorable, and Liam had to stop it somehow before it was too late.

Liam snapped his sleeves at the group while jumping from altar to altar, zigzagging through the hall as his feet kept releasing thunderous noises.

Three more Cloud Pills flew out while Liam felt the three cultivators outside the battle formation giving chase, their figures becoming impossibly fast streaks of light that cut through the streets below the altars.

While fast, that movement technique seemed to lack maneuverability. The three could only run in straight lines, so Liam’s erratic jumps kept him safe for now.

The pills exploded, but only because a cultivator in the frontline had shot them with his golden bullets. A humming shockwave even followed, blowing from the formation to disperse the cloud they created, not letting a single wisp of yellow smoke reach the rooting experts.

And Liam had to admit that he didn’t know what to do. There just wasn’t any solution to his predicament. His Pills weren’t working, his arrows would be stopped, and the situation probably would only worsen in melee if he even succeeded at getting there in the first place.

But running around wouldn’t achieve anything, either, so Liam’s switched to the offensive.

Instead of heading for another altar, Liam jumped down, using that very structure to cut the line of sight from the firing squad. Three streaks of light immediately converged on him, and he matched that by making a yellow pill fall at his feet.

A yellow cloud expanded, but was quickly cut by the three golden streaks. Yet, it also lingered longer in the air, which was exactly what Liam wanted.

Liam was at the center of the expanding cloud, a trembling membrane covering his cloaked frame. The three cultivators had surrounded him and had launched palm strikes, but the attacks had already bounced back on his defensive technique.

As expected, that incredible movement technique was all speed and no power. It didn’t allow chaining other attacks like Liam’s Lightning Step did. The trio had basically just slammed on him, which the Qi Repulsion could easily handle.

Liam also knew the trio would have been too fast to stop themselves.

The three were stuck for a second, their arms lifted or having snapped back, and two things happened in that brief window. The yellow smoke did its thing, infecting the rooting experts, while Liam summoned something from his space-ring.

The wooden knife Liam hadn’t wielded ever since becoming a rooting expert appeared in his left hand, having transformed after the long period immersed in the Alchemical Refinement.

The weapon was still in the first rank, but it had reached its peak. Its crack was no more, and its color had changed, remaining dark but gaining ominous yellow shades.

Liam’s injured hand itched while holding the weapon’s handle, which confirmed its injured state and reaffirmed his decision not to rely on the Metal Hand.

Besides, a proper weapon had unique advantages in close quarters, and Liam wanted all the deadliness he could find while saving Qi and resources.

Liam had the initiative, so he swung the knife at the trio around him, spinning on himself, using the single fraction of a second of an advantage to cut them all.

The injuries were superficial at best. Liam hit one thigh, one palm, and one forearm, prioritizing making the blade touch everyone rather than giving his everything to take one life.

But the goal was still to kill, and the knife maximized it. After all, for the Alchemical Refinement, Liam had used a powder based on his rank 2 venom. His magical item had improved through it, as well as gaining some of its properties.

And before the trio could retreat or launch attacks, painful screams escaped their mouths as their tissues started melting.