After Mais exposed the stone, a few sages in the city somehow learned of it. Core Realm experts were not permitted to touch such an item. Only sages could claim it. And the ordinary sages weren't stupid, either. They knew what it was and how valuable it was. It certainly wasn't something to be left to them. While some had ulterior motives, the few lower-stage sages didn't pursue the stone. Besides, there were only a few sages in the city. Only powerful experts pursued the stone. That was exactly what Mais had expected. He really didn't want to deal with Core Realm experts.
"Don't come home today," Mais said calmly. He had grown accustomed to Kasuur's chatter, but after listening to him ramble on about nonsense for a while, Mais intervened and told Kasuur not to come home. Kasuur was now drenched in sweat and had just returned from training with the tenth-level core expert who was training him for combat. While learning how to wield a sword, Kasuur's instructor was trying to slim him down; however, it seemed as if Kasuur was growing fatter by the day. The old man had never seen anything like it in his 60 years.
"Why? Are you going to take a girl home?" Kasuur teased him. His fat body was also accompanied by a terrible sense of humor. He was so warped that he thought a ten-year-old could take a girl home. The problem was, Mais had actually brought home beautiful girls. Just not in the way Kasuur thought.
Mais didn't say anything. Instead, he tapped his staff on the ground and slowly walked away. Kasuur watched him, confused, as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a white cloth. Kasuur simply wanted to understand Mais's thinking, oblivious to the storm he was dragging behind him.
***
When Mais returned home, the servants hurried to greet him at the door. Mais had been in the city for over a month and had at least learned to find his own home or tell people how to find it. Of course, there were those who tried to tease him and give him the wrong directions, but you could say they were influenced by Mais's unstable mood.
"Sir, you shouldn't be acting alone like this. What if something happens to you?" the old lady said as she left the house. She had a limp in her step. Mais only knew that she had been a soldier in the past. She had stopped cultivating. She was... injured.
"How lovely! Now you can stop serving this blind master."
The old lady immediately became alarmed.
"Please don't say that! You're still young and have many years to live."
At these words, Mais could only laugh bitterly. Youth didn't guarantee a long life. Maybe it brought death closer.
"Please excuse me from the maids today. I need to be alone."
Anika, the old maid, paused after hearing this. Mais paused with her. She didn't want to hit her head on the wall on the way home.
"Did I do something wrong?" Anika asked. Mais shook her head softly and held out her hand, waiting for Anika to take it. Anika froze for a second, but then she took Mais's hand and walked toward the house with her head bowed.
"No, some guests are coming to the house today, and I don't want you to be affected by them."
Anika couldn't say anything. She dismissed the maids and prepared to leave. Before leaving, she had prepared some snacks for Mais. Mais was sitting in the large armchair eating them. Anika gave her a worried look.
"Are you sure you'll be safe?"
Mais was blind and very young. Even though Anika hadn't been with Mais for very long, the child had already won his affection.
The blind boy stared at the table and smiled at her words.
"Don't worry. I'm not alone."
Anika left the house with a doubtful expression, and Mais settled into a more natural position. The next moment, she felt a breeze blow across her face.
WOOSH!! WOOSH!! WOOSH!!
Three different people appeared in three different armchairs across from Mais in the living room. The calm, dignified, middle-aged man sitting across from her had sharp features. While his features were sharp, his expression was so calm that he resembled a scholar. Of the three, he had the most restrained aura, but he was undoubtedly far more dangerous than the other two.
His black-and-gray hair was pulled back into a ponytail. His brown eyes gave him a confident air. His skin wasn't very dark, but it was tan enough to raise suspicions that he was Maria's father. If Mais could look at City Lord Baro, he might think that Maria's mother had quite white skin.
Another familiar figure sat in the seat to the right. He had gray hair that flowed down his neck and wore a gentle smile. However, this kindness seemed rather artificial and cunning. His face was sunken, a sign of his difficult life. Though thin and indistinct, he too possessed powerful waves of Origin Energy. No matter how hard he tried to conceal it, he couldn't escape Mais' detection of his power.
The other man was someone Mais hadn't seen before, but there was something familiar about his appearance. He had brown hair and a similarly ferocious glint in his eyes. Judging by his charismatic appearance, it wasn't hard to guess who he was.
Of course, to Mais, who lacked these clues, this man was a complete stranger.
"Ah, so you've been watching this place all along, Yahut? A weaker greed would not have been expected from you," said Sufkro. His tone suggested that he was addressing the man across from him and that there was a vague affinity between them. Perhaps it was more of a rivalry.
"Of course I'll rush to claim the energy crystal that appeared in the city. It's just a shame it's of low quality. If it were medium quality, my chances of reaching the Origin Heart Realm would be much higher," said the man named Yahut. He exuded a wild and bloodthirsty aura. After the birth of his son, Evra's older brother Malehit, he had settled in this city and often sought opportunities to thrive deep in the forest, fighting Sage monsters.
"It's funny how you're still dreaming of an energy crystal when I'm here! It would be a waste to give such a gift to you old skeletons. How about we give it to my daughter instead? She'll be the youngest Sage in the city!" Baro smiled as he spoke, but the two men beside him looked displeased.
"Beep! Declined!
"Dream on!"
They both quickly refused and returned to their arguments.
TAKK! TAKK! TAKK!
At that moment, a noise distracted all three of them. They turned their heads toward the boy lying on the couch. Disrespectfully, he tapped his stick on the ground three times, attracting the attention of these powerful men. He was quite at ease in their presence and didn't even greet them. With a gentle smile on his face, he looked at no one in particular, as if gazing into eternity.
"Since the stone belongs to me, why don't you ask my opinion to add meaning to the meaningless conversation you're having?"
His thin vocal cords betrayed his age, revealing him to be a child. However, his unusual ease in the presence of the three Sages cast doubt on the matter. Yahut, the stranger to Mais among them, spoke with a touch of curiosity but without restraint, unleashing his wild blood aura upon Mais.
"Do you think you could hide an energy crystal from us if we asked you to?"
Mais, in turn, completely ignored the blood aura, turning his head in the direction of the voice and saying,
"Those are rather bold words for someone who's never done anything but see the Trace of the Blood Tao."
Mais showed no mercy in his words, and Yahut clearly didn't like it. He had no intention of taking this disrespect lightly, but he couldn't attack such a young child directly. That would have been shameless and immoral. Besides, he had never been good at verbal arguments.
Mais's superiority over him was a simple coincidence. This was because Mais's understanding of the Blood Tao was more advanced than this savage man's. Don't get me wrong. Neither of them had reached the feeling stage, but while Mais was still making progress, Yahut had already reached a dead end.
Even Baro sat up more seriously as they felt the cold air emanating from Mais's body, and Sufkro frowned.
"So, what do you want?"
Mais smiled. It was similar to the one he had when he stole servants' wallets and valuables in the imperial palace.
"Then we can discuss the terms of our deal."