In the dark of night, in an ordinary two-bedroom hotel room, one blind youth was meditating while the other slept. Suddenly, the sleeper began to stir. The blind youth sensed the movement, lifted his head, and looked in that direction. Although he could see nothing but darkness, he could hear the sounds around him as if they were thin strings. One hand had already reached for his staff. He thought a thief was approaching. Maybe the silver had attracted too much attention. He thought that one day would be nothing. Perhaps someone had come to steal the map.
But it wasn't a thief who was moving and making noise. It was the chubby youth with green hair in the next bed. At that moment, he was sweating profusely and moving around.
Mais couldn't be sure, but he thought the youth was having a nightmare. He stretched the tip of his staff forward and poked Kasuur.
In the nose.
If Mais had realized where he was poking, he would have stopped so as not to dirty his staff. The staff was too big to fit in his nostrils, but the tip began to fill with snot as Mais pushed it in the middle of Kasuur's nose and hit him on the head. Kasuur didn't wake up either.
"Is something wrong?"
"AAAAAAHHHH!"
Suddenly, Kasuur woke up with a scream. Tears welled up in his eyes. He immediately jumped out of bed and tried to run toward the door. You could see the fear and panic in his eyes.
But there was a weight on him. He thought he had been caught. But not by what he expected. A blind youth had jumped on him.
"Did you have a nightmare?" the blind youth asked. Kasuur jumped out of bed frantically, and Mais rushed towards him. Kasuur nodded, but Mais could not see it. Still, he didn't persist with his question. He assumed it was a nightmare. He didn't know if it was dangerous, but he believed that waiting for Kasuur to calm down would help.
"What was your nightmare?" Mais asked. Kasuur sat down on the wooden floor. Mais took his hands away from him.
"It was that man. I killed him in the village. He was chasing me. He was catching up to me. He was cutting me. He was barbecuing me. It was very scary. "
Deciding to ignore the barbecue for a second, Mais realized that Kasuur's conscience was tearing him apart for killing someone. He said the only thing he could think of at that moment. It was the same excuse he had heard so many times before.
"They wanted to kill you. They killed your friends and family. You had no choice but to kill him."
"I could have caught him. I could have put him in jail. I was strong enough to do it."
This time, it was Mais who nodded. He reached out and touched Kasuur's belly. Then, he came up to her shoulder, peeled off her clothes, and showed her the bandages. Kasuur's eyes fell on his injury.
"We don't live in a just world, Kasuur. In our world, power is justice. You couldn't catch him. Even if you could have, the justice of this world—no, this universe—would not have kept him in that prison."
Mais lifted Kasuur off his shoulder and pushed him back onto his bed. Then, he turned around and headed for his own bed. A saying came to mind that was so absurd Kasuur would believe it.
" If one day you are strong enough, maybe you can write your own definition of justice in this universe." "
Kasuur closed his eyes. He looked like a child who had just been put back to sleep by his parents. He looked up at the ceiling, his fat cheeks buried in the quilt. Then he turned his back to Mais. What Mais found absurd was Kasuur's new dream.
'A world where justice exists.'
***
By the time the Morning Star appeared in the sky as usual and the other stars disappeared from view, the officers at the sheriff's station were ready for a fight. They had not kept the map. Mais himself had carried it for safety. Of course, he could have been assassinated, but that would have been much more dangerous for the attacker, as it would have been something he had been expecting. He believed he would find safer opportunities.
That was one reason why Mais stayed up all night.
The other reason was the orange pill he held in one hand while forcing Kasuur to walk with the other.
Mais was an alchemist.
When Mais was born, his staff had chosen him. When his parents realized the staff's power, they hoped their child would become a mighty expert despite his seemingly meager meridians. Just like the staff's previous owner. But they were wrong. Mais was not that talented.
There was no unique reason for it. He just had slightly above-average talent, which made him unsuitable for the imperial family. Mais couldn't focus on training. Meditation was difficult for him. Even if he had been patient, he wouldn't have improved as quickly as others. Moreover, he was impatient and greedy. He craved power but could not wait for it. It seemed like his fate was sealed from the beginning. So he turned to something else.
Alchemy was not his special talent. Everyone in his family was involved in alchemy in one way or another. It was like a tradition, and Mais was as skilled at it as they were, maybe even more so. He eventually became the 3rd Prince and the greatest alchemical genius in the empire because he practiced it more than they did.
But only he and his family knew about it. Specifically, his older brother Leon and his father Laofeng knew.
Sometimes, Mais would bring small gifts to Lagos, but Lagos probably thought someone else had made them. Mais had never shown his alchemical skills to anyone because of his father's orders. As a result, he was seen as an ordinary person who was smart and liked to read. No one knew he was more than that.
"Hello, you must be the ones the sheriff sent," Mais called out. The young girl in front of him could not hide her surprise when she saw that he was blind. The dark-haired girl looked a little older than them, but she was young. She only looked old compared to their young age.
She was the same girl Kasuur had spoken to yesterday.
Mais could hear her footsteps, but he could not see her. He could not tell how many people were with her.
He pulled the arm of a chubby boy with green hair who was making excuses not to go and pushed him forward. Kasuur started walking in front of Mais, carrying a bag of supplies on his back. Mais grabbed Kasuur by his clothes.
Kasuur looked at her with a frown and was stunned.
"You're here too? Didn't they tell you this would be a dangerous mission?!"
No matter how hard Kasuur tried to get close to her, he knew it would be dangerous wherever they were going. He certainly didn't want her to get hurt or lose her life there.
The girl in front of him just laughed. Her black hair hung just below her shoulders, and brown armor covered her body. The armor wasn't very comfortable, but it was the strongest female armor in town. It was certainly well suited for fighting.
A middle-aged man came out from behind her and the young girl giggled. He had a black beard and was a little taller than her. If Mais could see, he would have realized that this man was among the officers that day.
Behind him, four other people were dressed in full metallic armor. Kasuur was sure they were in the Foundation Establishment Realm. They were certainly not weak in this realm.
"I know you think the sheriff should send someone trustworthy on this mission. The sheriff thought about it and sent his own daughter. Don't worry. Ms. Jong is an Origin Master," said the middle-aged man. Kasuur looked at the girl in shock, but Mais said nothing. When Kasuur made a move to approach the girl, Mais grabbed him by the bag and pulled him back. Then, he held out the pill toward the girl.
"I am Mais. Thank you for accompanying us. I hope you don't mind if I give you a gift."
Jong looked at the green, glowing pill skeptically. She surely hadn't reached this level as an origin master just by sitting around. Mais knew that her father was a level 9 origin master. He realized that she had risen through conflicts and lucky coincidences as well. She had definitely seen an alchemical pill before.
"A Jade Power Pill! How incredible! With this, we are almost certain to complete the mission without any casualties!"
The middle-aged man in the back couldn't help but exclaim. He had once seen someone selling this pill in the Yellow City. The pill, which gave origin masters a sudden boost in strength, was difficult to produce and incredibly valuable. It must be these young boys' heirloom, the middle-aged man thought.
Jong trusted the middle-aged man and bought the pill. No matter how suspicious it seemed, there was no need to worry if they knew the type of pill. Even though the blind boy had been rude to her yesterday, today he didn't seem to recognize her. He wouldn't have bothered setting such a trap for her. Besides, it was likely a family heirloom.
"Hey! You look 16 or 17, but you're already an origin master?"
Suddenly, Kasuur pushed Mais away and came to Jong's side. He gave Jong a puppy-dog look, light shining in his eyes. Mais fell to the ground, but he didn't care. In fact, no one cared.
They didn't pity him because he was blind. Mais was a Foundation Establishment Realm expert.
But Mais was enraged by what Kasuur had done. He almost beat Kasuur up right there in the middle of it.
But he didn't.
He couldn't expect the world to be fair to him or to expect everyone to help him just because he was blind. If Kasuur saw a beautiful woman, he would chase her and be afraid of war. Other people wouldn't recognize him and might see him as an opportunity to kill him and steal his belongings.
Mais knew all this. This was characteristic of the cultivation world. Even if Mais was lacking in cultivation, his father still did not separate his education from his brother's because he did not live in a different world.
Mais did not expect mercy either. After all, he was not merciful to others himself. Especially now that he had killed someone.
He wanted to avoid thinking about it. Now was not the time for intense emotions.
"I'm actually 20 years old. When I crossed over to the Origin Energy Realm and started absorbing origin energy, my lifespan increased. That might be why I look younger," Jong said.
Kasuur nodded in agreement and continued chatting with Jong. Mais asked the middle-aged man to help them get to the bandits' lair once they were all ready. He gave Mais the map and helped him understand it.
Kasuur's quest for revenge had begun, though he didn't seem to care about it at all.