"You're amazing! He was one level higher than you, yet you still managed to kill him in one move. Even more impressive, he was much older than you! You know what? The longer you cultivate, the stronger you get! You know that, right?!"
In the middle of the forest, surrounded by trees, in the arms of the fat boy, the beautiful girl with shoulder-length hair kept talking. Normally, Kasuur would have kept up with her. He would have praised her and found reasons to praise himself, but at that moment, he was in no mood.
"You're wrong. We weren't on the same level."
The girl began to ask her questions, putting Kasuur in the crossfire. Burdened by the technique he had used and the guilt of killing the sheriff, Kasuur retreated into his own world.
His arms and chest were covered in blood. A few drops were on his face. He didn't notice, but he knew. This blood did not come from the young girl.
"I really killed him, huh?"
That was all he could say. As he carried her in his arms, he didn't feel heroic or villainous.
His heart was gripped by uncertainty.
***
The area around the hut was completely empty. Mais and Kasuur had cut down the trees and decided to make a field instead. Kasuur was unhappy about this. Building a field meant they would stay longer.
Mais did not care about this at all. Since transitioning to the Core Realm would be more difficult for Kasuur than it was for him to transition to the Origin Energy Realm, Mais thought that perhaps he could help Kasuur see a Trace of the Tao and then transition him to the Core Realm. Kasuur would have a more solid foundation than if he did it through a pill.
Mais sat cross-legged in front of the hut. A white cat with three tails sat on his shoulder. The cat was licking herself and her three tails. Mais's eyes were closed. Two clear spots were visible in the center of the sword wound.
His eyelids did not have the contrast of darkness.
After finishing his meditation, Mais waved his hand. Instantly, a cauldron appeared in front of him. He stood up, placed the cauldron on the ground a few meters away, and arranged the wood around it. After a few tries, he placed the cauldron on the firewood in such a way that it would not fall, demonstrating his progress.
Then, a lighter appeared in his hand, and he lit the fire. He let out a sigh.
'It's getting harder and harder to use such unstable fires.'
At any moment, in a gust of wind, he could produce a poison pill, and he and Kasuur were using them.
He had to set the fire in a stable place before it became dangerous.
'Hmmm?'
Suddenly, he turned his head. He looked toward the forest. He couldn't see anything, but he could smell the wind and hear a thin girl's voice. Kasuur's voice was gone.
He reached back with his hand. His staff was still there.
"It's me! Don't strike me!"
The young girl was, of course, surprised after feeling the waves of origin energy emanating from Mais. He was only in the third stage of the Origin Energy Realm. Compared to Kasuur's energy, Maria was much more certain about this energy. What would happen if someone at this level attacked Kasuur? Perhaps this fat youth was afraid of her getting hurt.
But she realized something more important too late: His scarred face and eyes. The moment she saw his gray eyes, she understood how he had noticed them. Even with his back turned, he could hear them. He could smell the perfume she had put on before leaving the city on the wind. It was not unexpected that blind people had better hearing and sense of smell.
At that moment, the young girl realized something else. They both looked younger than her, but how old were they really? Kasuur was fat, so it wouldn't be surprising if he was older than her, but this blind boy looked so small.
"He's blind and looks like he hasn't even turned ten yet," she grumbled.
Mais extended his staff forward once more. A stern expression appeared on his face.
"That girl. Who is she? Where did you find her?"
His cold-blooded question caused Kasuur to break out in a cold sweat. Only he knew how much security Mais provided.
When had he slept before him?
When had he gotten up after him?
When had he turned his back on him?
When had he pushed his trusted staff away?
Did Mais even trust the powerful Sage Beast beside him? When Kasuur first saw Mais approaching, he thought he had fallen into a monster's trap. That's why he was blinded.
He was wrong.
Nine months later, he understood Mais's distrust better. Especially when facing his enemies on the day Kasuur abandoned him, Mais was much more careful.
Mais did not trust Kasuur.
"What is your name?"
Kasuur didn't care about the man he had just killed. Now, he needed to gain Mais's trust.
The young girl looked at him. She wanted the young man who had saved her to come back to the city with her. She wanted to introduce him to her father and welcome him into her family. She had already put what she had been through behind her. During the quiet nights when her pursuers hunted her in hiding, she had plenty of time to move on.
She could see how much Kasuur cared for the blind boy. She knew she shouldn't mistreat him, even though she didn't know why. Besides, she had no reason to treat him badly.
"Maria, Lady Maria."
Not even the slightest expression moved on Mais's face. He didn't move his staff at all. Maria thought for a moment that he had turned into a statue.
She looked at the fat boy holding her. He wasn't considered to be that cool. Especially with that belly. His cultivation wasn't unimaginable. He might have talent, but Maria had heard that there were better ones. No matter how you looked at it, he didn't seem special. But at that moment, Maria thought her fate had changed dramatically.
"Someone wanted to kill him. I saved her—"
"Did you... kill someone? "
Mais wasted no time in asking the question that mattered most to him. Kasuur froze. He stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say. He didn't know what to say.
The smell Mais had smelled before they arrived was not Maria's perfume; it was the smell of blood. The fact that Mais said he had saved the girl helped him figure it out. If the blood belonged to the girl, then there was an enemy who wouldn't let her go. If the blood belonged to Kasuur, then there was a war. If the blood belonged to someone else... Mais didn't believe that Kasuur could hurt someone so lightly.
"I...I...did what I had to do. Why am I training so hard if not to fight?!"
Hearing Kasuur babbling in an attempt to save himself made Mais angry.
"You killed someone to be a hero!" Mais shouted. But Kasuur didn't hold back either.
"It was Jong's father! He was going to come after us. He wouldn't give up! He was our enemy!" Kasuur shouted. He raised his head and tried to look proudly into Mais's eyes. But he remembered again that Mais could not see him. If he did, he would only see Kasuur's forced pride.
Mais spread his arms and pointed around him.
"Who is our enemy, Kasuur?! Was it he who put us in this situation? Which loved one did he kill? Which of your things did he steal? Do you think he can follow us forever? He's human! He's human! Humans get tired!"
Even Maria was shocked to hear such words from someone so short and young. She realized she couldn't say anything. She also noticed that the arms holding her were shaking. At that moment, she realized they were shaking from pain. Kasuur, who held her in his arms, understood the bitter truth and knew why he had killed him, no matter how much he denied it. Maria began to guess herself.
Children are not prejudiced and do not think they know more than anyone else. It was easier for them to read their own hearts.
Mais turned around. He threw a few plants into his cauldron. There was a terrible coldness in his voice.
"It felt great, didn't it? The power of that technique I gave you. Trying it on a human being."
Maria had seen it, too. Even she had not mastered such a powerful technique.
And in her healthy state she was much stronger than Kasuur.
'It was a core peak technique!'
It couldn't be a sage technique. She knew it would be much more powerful. More importantly, she didn't believe that an origin master could master a technique that not even a core cultivator could.
These techniques were named as such for a reason. A core technique is called a core technique because it is usually only mastered by Core Realm cultivators.
Only a peak-level one could cause such horror. Maria couldn't say with certainty that someone from the Core Realm would be able to counter that attack.
At that moment, the blind boy and the fatso became even more remarkable.
"You don't even realize that you're holding a core expert in your arms. How will you be able to live?" Mais asked. He sounded much calmer, but Maria could tell he was still speaking with the same emotion.
"Leave the girl here. I will treat her wounds."
Kasuur and Maria sat in tense silence while Mais continued talking with his back turned. He asked Kasuur to gather some herbs. Kasuur put Maria down and left. Before he left, Mais warned him not to bring another woman.
Maria was still in shock. A blind child in the third stage of the Origin Energy Realm understood her level of cultivation. At that moment, she remembered the words from a Taoist history book that her father had made her read. These words threw her into tremendous doubt.
' Could this... Could this be the Traces of the Tao?'