PATT!
CRACK!
BOOM!
In the barbarian camp, where fighting had been an ongoing occurrence, there was now a fire. One of the houses was ablaze, billowing black smoke that drew attention. Neither side wanted this. They wanted to finish the job as soon as possible.
However, they both knew that they were not winning the fight. Joro had a sword wound in his back that constantly pained him; it was torture because of the might of Jong's origin weapon. Moreover, the wound in his chest was bleeding and agonizing, even though it was not deep. Jong's armor was shredded. Scars covered many parts of his body. Joro was still one level above Jong and physically stronger.
He turned his head and spat bloody phlegm on the ground. His face was white. He looked sternly at Jong. She was not much different.
"It's a pity you're young. Otherwise, you would have learned a technique and killed me by now. Fortunately, I am not that young."
Learning techniques was not easy. The challenging adventure that began in the Origin Energy Realm certainly required incredible skill and effort. Knowing many techniques was often unimportant. It would be nothing more than a waste of time. One powerful technique could shatter all the techniques you had learned. Therefore, the more time it took to learn a technique, the more powerful it was.
Joro put a hand to his chest as Jong popped the green pill she had been hiding all this time.
His black hair fluttered in the wind as he pulled the green moon pendant off his muscular chest. At that moment, the necklace began to glow.
"It took me three years to learn this technique."
Jong knew this. In the incident, Joro had obtained a technique that allowed her to break through to the Origin Energy Realm. That's why he didn't want to confront her without learning it.
He knew that, one day, he would have to face Jong and that she would come to kill anyone who knew her secret. Jong had to die, but he planned to wait until he was more confident.
Now, however, there was nothing he could do. The light flashed. The brown stains on his green pants disappeared, returning them to their original color. At that moment, Joro's eyes were completely filled with green light.
"Dream of the Green Moon!"
Jong saw a strong green wave coming toward her from Joro. The moment the wave hit her, she bit her lip and vomited blood. The lifeless objects remained undamaged, but everything trembled. Jong knew this was happening because she was starting to lose consciousness, and she had to get Joro down as soon as possible. Otherwise, she might enter the Green Moon's dream in the next wave.
That would not end well.
"I will not let this technique stop me!"
Jong rushed in. She never looked into Joro's green eyes. Her head was bowed. She intended to decapitate him with her next move. With Joro now focused, it might be her only chance.
She could feel the power of the pill. Maybe she could do it, but she sighed bitterly when she realized the pill didn't give her as much power as she had expected. She had put too much trust in a blind boy like Mais.
Jong came closer. Ten meters, seven meters, four meters, two meters, half a meter.
It was the perfect opportunity to swing her sword.
"Too late..."
The green wave was faster than the sword. That's why Joro waited so long. Although an Origin Weapon made Jong quite powerful, it wasn't enough to defeat the powerful Origin Master. The green wave hit Jong.
The origin weapon in Jong's hand slipped. It was so sharp that, even after falling one meter from Jong's hand, it pierced the dirt and stuck in the ground. A green dot appeared inside Jong's pupil.
Joro's green eyes were locked on her at that moment.
"You know, if we hadn't been exposed, maybe we could have ascended to the Core Realm together." How unfortunate for you. I'll go on alone from now on."
"I-I don't think so!"
Flush...!!!
Suddenly, a sharp sword appeared out of nowhere and ended Joro's dream. It came from behind him and reached his neck, slicing it. The blade was not very sharp, but it was enough to kill Joro, even with the scratches on it.
His green eyes shone as his body swung through the air. But the Amulet of the Green Moon was now extinguished. After a while, Joro's eyes went out, too. His body fell. The small, round body behind him was now more clearly visible. His green hair revealed that his legs were trembling despite his brave words just now.
Kasuur was the one who had killed Joro, who had left Mais in fear!
This chubby boy had abandoned his only friend to save someone he had known for only a day.
But Mais had known him for almost two weeks!
Joro is dead. Jong woke up. Gasping for breath, she clutched her neck. In the dream, she had to do whatever Joro wanted. In the dream, a Sage Realm expert was strangling her. This sage expert was only as strong as Joro's will, of course, but there was no way she could resist him, since he had trained in this technique.
"Thank you," said Jong as she pulled the sword out of the ground and flipped her hair back. She decided not to ask how he withstood the waves of origin energy, nor the green dream wave from Joro.
Kasuur just looked at her in admiration. But then he came to his senses.
"Jong! Your friends are attacking Mais! You must stop them. At this rate, someone will get hurt."
'At this rate, they'll die.'
That's what he wanted to say. He had seen how Mais had killed the barbarians in the village. Had he shown any mercy? As stupid as Kasuur seemed, he realized that Mais did not feel as guilty as he did because he had not seen the people he had killed directly. They didn't realize how strong the man next to him was, so they thought it was his enemies who needed help, not Mais.
Kasuur was new to human cultivation. Even though he saw that the middle-aged man was faster than Mais, he did not realize that he was stronger. Kasuur had personally seen what Mais did when the middle-aged man was supposedly only strong.
And hadn't Mais killed a handful of Foundation Establishment cultivators before he encountered the middle-aged man? He would have pulled something out and killed them, too.
In Kasuur's eyes, Mais would not hesitate to destroy anything in his path.
For a child, Mais had painted such an image in his mind.
"They did well."
'...Huh?'
Of course, Kasuur didn't believe her at first. He didn't even understand. But it only took a moment for the jets to drop, turning his expression even more worried and fearful.
Jong was never going to leave Kasuur alive after what he had just heard!
"Take this."
She swung the sword casually and gathered origin energy with her. With a great amount of power, she reached out to Kasuur, who was only a meter away.
Had the sword hit Kasuur, the best option would have been to cut him in two. At that moment, Kasuur's expression shattered completely.
"Fuck you, Jong!"
Kasuur never dropped the bloody sword. The swords clashed.
CRACK!
In one move, the tip of Kasuur's sword shattered. A wave of origin energy hit Kasuur, but it didn't hurt him much. In fact, it caused a glow to appear in his eyes. Jong noticed this.
"You have reached the 10th stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm!"
Even Mais would probably be shocked to hear that. Jong knew that Kasuur could reach the 10th stage, but he had told him not to do so in order to avoid attracting attention. Who would have expected Kasuur to break through his limits in the blink of an eye the moment they emerged?
The waves of weak origin energy were no longer harming him. In fact, they made it easier for him to feel the energy.
"You will still die!"
Jong was still a Stage 2 Origin Master with an Origin Weapon.
She had betrayed people and her father to get stronger faster. Once this was revealed, the kingdom could declare her a criminal. She was directly and indirectly involved in the deaths of countless people.
The sword shattered. Although it was slowed down by the momentary shock, Kasuur still wouldn't be able to stop it. Not even at level 10 or in the Origin Energy Realm!
No matter what, Kasuur was going to die today.
The sharp glow of the Origin sword reappeared. Once again, it moved toward Kasuur to kill him.
FIIŞŞŞK!!!
The sword cut, and dark red blood flowed. However, Jong's beautiful face was far from happy. Her face turned ugly once more as she drew the sword from the body she had pierced halfway through. Kasuur had used Joro's body as a shield. His muscles had not yet relaxed, so his body was still hard and strong.
Kasuur threw the body toward Jong. Then, unexpectedly, he swung his sword from the corpse's waist. Jong did not see the broken sword coming because the corpse blocked his view. The sword cut through his waist.
Joro's headless body split in two in Jong's hands. This time, it was out of anger. Kasuur had used the strength of an Origin Master's body to defend himself and wound another Origin Master. Not even Joro could wound her that quickly.
'Run!'
Kasuur turned around and tried to flee. Of course, he was no match for Jong. He had used the body of another Origin Master to injure Jong, but now that body was shattered, and he had nothing else to use.
"Die!"
Even injured, Jong was very fast. By the time Kasuur took two steps, Jong had closed the distance and swung her sword at him.
Shiver!
The temperature dropped in seconds. Danger bells rang in Jong's mind. Suddenly feeling the chill in the air, Jong took a step back. A second later, an ice sculpture fell on the spot where she had just been standing.
It was the middle-aged man she loved like an uncle!
When she turned and looked in the direction the statue had come from, she saw a young man with gray eyes approaching her in an ice-blue fog. A large, deep wound covered his eyes. Countless bloody scratches covered his face, and the forest path was torn up as he moved. His body was covered from head to toe in blood.
The boy breathing heavily was our little prince.