Old and young. The twins stood opposite each other by the door. They both knew their weak bodies couldn't help Mais.
'He's a stage 10 Core Expert.'
This was equally unbelievable. One had to remember that Mais was only ten years old. At his age, he was practically a Sage!
Compared to him, this duo was nothing. Core Experts were respected wherever they went in the city, but now they could be torn apart by the effects of this battle. They had to leave.
Hang opened the door, but there was no white light behind it this time. Instead, there was a black, bottomless darkness. Despite the battle behind them that would cause their deaths, they couldn't move without hesitation because of the darkness.
"Go!"
It was only Mais's shout that calmed them. Without looking back, they stepped through the door.
At that moment, two humans and a young monster were left alone. Mais didn't want this battle to end quickly. To defeat the old man, he had to avoid direct confrontation.
"You said you're from the Gama Clan. I'm sure you're not a member of the clan's distant branch.'
No more than two seconds had passed since Mais had spoken when, with the wind blowing violently in his face, his hair stood on end. His body shifted, dodging the fist coming towards his face by millimetres.
But the fist still managed to reach Mais, cutting his cheek with a gust of wind that travelled beyond those millimetres.
His face contorted in pain. He instantly swung his staff with force, striking Thenns's body. The old man was knocked back a few steps by the blow, which Mais noticed. Nevertheless, he didn't feel at ease, and rightly so. It was as if a demon had entered the old man's body. The old man had no intention of leaving him alone. He immediately pursued Mais and swung another punch.
"You came here to fight. Not to talk."
Each blow was at least as powerful as a 5th stage Sage realm attack, and even though Mais could dodge them, the wind waves that accompanied them constantly cut him.
'Damn it! This is the Stepping Stage of the Wind Tao!'
The old man was definitely only showing a fraction of his abilities. Nevertheless, this fight was proving difficult for Mais.
However, as the pair entered flatter terrain, the fight shifted slightly in his favour. He clearly had no experience of countering the old man's blind fighting, and was unfamiliar with the environment. However, if they fought on completely flat ground, his disadvantage would be significantly reduced.
Therefore, when they entered the surrounding wheat fields, Mais felt much better.
Suddenly, Little White appeared behind the old man. He had jumped from a distance to ensure the old man didn't see him approaching. However, at that moment, the Thenn suddenly turned around and casually struck Little White with the back of his fist, sending him flying.
Under normal circumstances, Little White could have slowed down the Thenn's attack and protected himself with his heart weapon, which he had obtained from the peak of a mountain, but he hadn't expected this at all.
Mais was taken aback and immediately approached the old man. He whispered as he swung his staff straight out.
"You're not completely blind."
Thenns had turned his back on Mais. He wanted to strike the Immortal White. This left an opening behind him. Mais attacked at that moment. The blow from the staff passed through another shadow. The old man crouched down and swung his staff.
Even though Mais had seen the staff coming, it was too late. At that moment, he could only raise his own weapon into the air to protect himself.
THWACK...!!!
Mais was thrown backwards, leaving a mark on the ground. Then Thenns smiled and shook his head.
"My father was Tera. He was the leader of the Gama Clan, and as his first and most talented child, I should have become patriarch. My brother Lyonel probably became patriarch in my absence. Indeed, he never wanted the leader of the Gama Clan to be blind."
Though late, Thenns had begun to answer Mais's questions. But that didn't mean he just stood there and started brewing tea.
Thenns had a short, dirty beard. If Mais could see him, he would see that this man was not very clean. Having lived in this barren land for a long time, the man was not enjoying a very peaceful period. Not very clean decades.
Now, as he fought Mais, he felt as if he was breathing life back into the dry bones caused by those decades. He stamped his foot and moved at tremendous speed towards Mais, who was being dragged across the field. When he pulled his hand back, the origin energy had transformed into a massive dagger. Although Thenns was still using the power of the Sage Realm, the level of his technique had reached the Origin Heart Realm.
Each of these low-level techniques had been perfected in his eyes!
This demonstrated the immense power of Thenns' attack at that moment, which was at the peak of the Sage Realm.
And Mais stood there. He seemed about to fall victim to Thenns' excitement, but Mais was not without talent. Even as he stood there, an eerie, spine-tingling aura began to emanate from him.
Right then, the little monster stepped between them. The imaginary dagger made of origin energy collided with the three tails of the Immortal White.
Instantly, a layer of ice formed around the tails.
CRACK!!!
Thenns was surprised by the result of this clash. The energy dagger of origin shattered before his eyes, revealing one of the Immortal White's sharp, ice-covered tails directly in front of him. Although the old man managed to dodge the attack, an ice fragment took a large chunk out of his beard. His beard now barely exceeded his chin.
"Ah, I keep forgetting about this little cat."
Thenns' staff reappeared in his hand and he swung it powerfully towards the cat. At that moment, Little White tried to defend herself, but she was only a Sage. Increasing her speed was not something she could do with her scarf. The old man could accelerate quickly enough to hit her whenever he wanted.
CRACK!
When Mais's staff collided with Thenns' cane, the sound of breaking wood echoed in all directions. Mais had stepped between the cane, which was swinging towards Little White, and the cat. The moment the staffs collided, the old man realised he was struggling to pull his cane back.
Little White was astonished by what he saw. The staff was frozen.
"Is this an Origin Heart Technique? You must have developed a fairly high level of understanding of Cold Tao."
'Not as much progress as you've made in Wind Tao, though. I thought you only obtained vague images thanks to the wind.'
The old man only smiled at these words.
Mais's technique was actually an intermediate Origin Heart technique. It was the highest-level technique he knew. It was the Flowing Frozen Body technique, which he had developed to the 'major success' stage. It required an understanding of the Feeling stage of the Cold Tao, and if mastered, could raise one's power almost to the level of Stepping. However, Mais had not yet perfected the technique. Despite his immense talent, he had only been studying it for a few years. Moreover, he was only at the Core Realm.
The old man pulled back his staff. As he began to swing it, sparks emerged from the frozen areas and, as the ice melted, flames enveloped the staff. Mais couldn't see this. However, he could feel the heat and realised that what he had expected was not real.
'Has he reached the stepping stage in the Fire Tao too?'
This was not a common trait for an Ascended.
At that moment, Mais stood before this man, who possessed the powerful force of a Sage. But the man before him, though he possessed the cultivation of a Sage, was more akin to a Core Heart Master. He harboured a terrifying power within him.
When Mais and the Immortal White faced this man, Mais believed they would win. Now, however, he realised that he had been a little too careless.
There was a monster before them.
An Ascended...