Liam flew east on the fan, but all was not well.

Eating another Qi-Storage Pill had refilled Liam’s body, but the fan was sucking him dry at an unsustainable pace to show its true speed.

The rank 3 weapon was nothing short of incredible. Liam crossed entire mountains in seconds, but he was barely holding on. If it weren’t for the fan actively helping him, he would have already fallen off.

Liam also had the elixir he had drunk earlier on his side, but he just couldn’t endure that consumption, and for reasons beyond the mere Qi-wise price of such speed.

The Seven Hellish Steps was a marvelous technique, a true cheat move. It forced the Qi within a cultivator to clash to generate an energy release far beyond the sum of its sources, having the drum-like stomps as triggers.

Yet, there were limits to what bodies could contain, and the same went for the meridians. According to the description, at seven steps, the rank 3 martial art could match rank 4 techniques, and Liam had used three of those as a rooting expert without even being at the stage’s peak.

The body-enhancing pill had helped, but the damage had been nothing short of lethal. On top of all the flesh that had exploded, Liam felt his body crumbling from the inside, and that was the best aspect of his terrible condition.

Liam’s incredible meridians had finally lost the battle that even the high-grade circulation technique had been unable to win. The pathways for his Qi were broken in countless spots, continuously leaking energy.

Fixing meridians wasn’t as easy as healing flesh, but Liam couldn’t think about that now since there was an even worse aspect.

Grace was in Liam’s arm, not arms. Everything below his left shoulder was gone, blown to pieces by the very attack he had unleashed. Still, the missing limb hardly claimed his attention.

Blood kept gushing from Grace’s caved-in chest. She was awake but lost, unable to focus, her lips parted, her head hanging weakly, her half-closed eyes unfocused.

Grace’s Qi was trying to suppress that injury, but to no avail. Dominic might have fought a whole battle without a heart, but she didn’t have access to that superior energy.

A violent cough struck Liam before he could do anything about the situation. He almost lost his balance while he puked blood on himself, but his voice brought a spark of awareness to Grace.

"L...iam?" Grace weakly said, red bubbles bursting between her lips. Her head was still hanging from her neck, but her eyes had gone to Liam.

"Grace!" Liam cried, not even noticing the drops of blood he spat.

More awareness seemed to return to Grace. A peaceful expression spread on her pale face. Her lips curved slightly, creating a weak smile.

"T-hank ... you," Grace struggled against her condition to finish her line, "For this ...life."

Grace closed her eyes afterward. Her figure lost any tension. Her arm slipped from her waist and hung limply.

Liam heard something snap in his mind. He lowered himself, using his knees to help support Grace, sliding his hand forward so that it was free to summon something.

An overwhelming herbal scent invaded Liam’s nostrils, becoming the only fragrance in the world. Archbishop Ignatius’ inheritance had delivered eight rank 3 alchemical products, and one was a healing pill.

Maneuvering with one arm was beyond complex, but Liam shone in those situations the most. He threw the rank 3 healing pill at himself, catching it with his mouth, and pushing it to his lips.

Then, Liam let his knees support Grace while he pressed her jaw against his torso so that her mouth would open, planting his lips there, pushing the pill inside with his tongue.

Liam forced Grace’s mouth to close when the pill was between her teeth, and his perception caught it. Soothing energy that didn’t belong in the rooting stage spread through Grace on its own, without needing her input.

At the rooting stage, a rank 3 alchemical product could very well be deadly. Its properties could be overwhelming, turning a good thing into a fatal dose.

Still, even if only at twenty-five minor roots, Grace was a peak-rooting expert, and Liam didn’t know what else to do.

Liam experienced the longest second of his life, his eyes glued to Grace, until he heard her loud gasp. She inhaled sharply. Her eyes were still closed. She was still unresponsive, but she wasn’t dead, so nothing else mattered.

Liam did a quick scan of the area as he pulled Grace closer to his chest before diving down. In that burst of speed, he had almost reached the very beginning of the mountain chain, toward its eastern edge, getting closer to the previous Outer Circle.

Imperfections didn’t matter now. Liam picked the first empty place he found and resumed supporting Grace on his knees to use the stone tablet, creating a small underground room and sealing it.

Liam didn’t hesitate to place Grace down, gently, but with inevitable anxiety, which the fan shared. It flew left and right, hovering above Grace and whining to no end as Liam opened her robe to check her chest.

There was more blood than skin, with tears deep enough to show cracked bones. However, beneath that mess, Liam heard a beating heart, and he could see tissues healing with his bare eyes.

Liam moved to Grace’s waist next. He basically had no Qi left in his body, what his core produced and sent there leaking from the wounds in his meridians, but he salvaged a wisp to send it to Grace’s reddish canvas.

Grace’s cultivation had gone into overdrive, screaming in pain, struggling to process the alchemical product she had ingested. Yet, nothing was broken or breaking. She might have to detox for a while, but nothing permanent.

Liam finally heaved a sigh of relief, falling to his butt. The fan sensed something through the mental connection and spread itself in front of his face, and he gulped and nodded.

"She is fine," Liam reassured. "She will be fine."

The fan seemed to inspect Liam for a while. His mind was open to it. The weapon might not understand the specifics, but it realized what had happened, and something in its behavior changed ever so slightly.

Liam couldn’t focus on that in his condition. He stretched his hand toward Grace, wanting nothing more than to hold her, only for the wisp of black Qi leaking from his arm to halt his gesture.

The damage to the meridians made Liam dangerous to be around, so he crawled away, eventually falling to his back, stuffing a rank 2 healing pill in his mouth before collapsing.