The question basically confird enmity, but Liam didn’t attack. He knew sothing Julian probably wasn’t aware of. The Church was extrely close to claiming the inheritance, aning Liam needed that shortcut and soone who knew how to use it.
"Speak," Liam ordered.
"As expected of Master William," Julian praised. "You are a man of wisdom and reason."
"No flattery," Liam responded. "No pleasantries. No long, complicated speeches. Fellow Daoist, get to the point."
Julian’s smile vanished. A faint cold vein even invaded his calm eyes as he tilted his head slightly upward.
"The point, Master William, is that I know my place," Julian declared. "There is no good ending to us claiming this inheritance. Not for us."
That was a point Robert had raised multiple tis, but Liam recalled what Julian had responded.
"Didn’t you say that we might as well earn a grudge with the Church?" Liam reminded.
"I also said we should keep an open mind," Julian stated, slowly waving his sleeve at the vast expanse of Churches. "Master William, look around you. There are dozens of trials we can defeat without driving a permanent wedge between the Church and us."
Julian was taking for granted that Liam had checked the Churches. That was a reasonable assumption, and there was so truth in his hidden ssage.
The city of Churches was huge, and claiming only a fraction of the remaining closed ones could set ordinary rooting experts for life. It was why Liam had chosen to explore them when he thought he had ti, and it could be preferable over earning a permanent enmity by conquering the Cathedral.
Still, there was sothing even deeper to Julian’s statent. The city might be big, but the best trials were in its inner parts, aning closer to the Cathedral and whatever the Church’s teams were doing to it.
The chances of clearing multiple trials as a team of two were slim, let alone without being discovered, aning that Julian had sothing else in mind, which Liam could only connect with that peculiar location.
"Why do you want to take over these magical items?" Liam questioned.
Julian smiled but held back complints. He would stay true to Liam’s request, but it felt good to talk with intelligent people.
"These items disrupt the inheritance’s frawork," Julian revealed, pointing his sleeve at the pillar beside him. "They can carve a passage inside the Cathedral, just like they can open Churches."
Julian didn’t need to say it for Liam to understand. Through those four pillars, the two could steal rewards without going through the trials and leave once they were satisfied.
There was just one big problem with the plan, even before considering the unclear ti limit.
"What about the others?" Liam asked.
"The Fellow Daoists from the Secret Jade Sect wouldn’t have to suffer the Church of the Man like us," Julian announced. "As for Robert, luck is part of the cultivation journey."
That statent sort of confird that Julian had seen the three go inside the Cathedral. The how was unclear, but not his intentions. Clearly, he planned to leave them behind, which could very well make them scapegoats once the Church learned what happened.
Which still didn’t explain Liam’s role in all that, but he could guess.
"Were you waiting to see if I would kill for you?" Liam wondered. "Or was it just a coincidence that you happened to be still waiting when I made my move?"
"It might be hard to believe," Julian said, "But I had planned to wait so more before making my move. You happened to precede ."
’I guess the others went into the Cathedral without alerting the Church’s forces,’ Liam considered, albeit he found it a bit hard to believe. He could understand Robert and Isabel, but he couldn’t imagine Lancelot being sneaky.
And still, that didn’t justify what Julian had done.
"You told you wanted to open the shortcut," Liam exclaid. "That was a lie."
"It was," Julian confird. "You found out, so I’m offering an alliance. We’ll split everything I open in half."
In a different situation, and for a different cultivator, the offer would have been appealing. Liam didn’t know how many Churches a single one of those unique locations could open, but even a handful of the best ones might still award him a couple of rank 3 assets.
But the Cathedral would have that and more, and without having to resort to betrayal. It turned out Isabel’s fears were sound, and Liam even realized another issue.
There was no going back from that stalemate. Liam couldn’t just refuse Julian and go his way. It was too risky for Julian to let soone who knew about his plan walk free, and Liam couldn’t have him ss with the inheritance while he was inside the Cathedral.
Chances were that those who claid the Cathedral would get everything left in the inheritance. Liam wanted that reward, so what Julian planned was akin to stealing from him.
"Master William, be reasonable," Julian stated, since he felt sothing in Liam’s silence. "What I’m offering is a lot, and it’s safe."
But safety wasn’t an option for Liam, and that "a lot" barely scratched the surface of what he needed to survive his impossible odds, let alone overco them.
"Is there a signal or sothing I should look out for?" Liam wondered. "I learned that foreplay is customary before a battle, but I’m not sure if it ended."
Julian didn’t expect that joke from the cloaked expert, and he definitely had no idea that Liam was serious, but that was beside the point. A wave of his large sleeve stirred the silhouettes made of blood into action, which floated in front of his figure.
Before the silhouettes could stop, Liam had already wielded his bow and nocked an ethereal arrow, aiming it at the cultivator those floating blood bags hid.
"Master William, are you sure I can’t change your mind?" Julian asked, making one last attempt at avoiding a fight, only to see an ethereal arrow fly toward him.
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