The Red Road Forest had once again shown no mercy to its adventurers. Among the countless geniuses who had entered its depths, only a few had managed to survive. Almost all of the capital's young talents had perished. Currently, no one from the first gate remained among the survivors returning to Yellow City; of the remaining four gates, only Daniel was from the capital. Furthermore, it was known that all the Sage geniuses, save for the prince of the Mond Clan, had died. While this situation might not destabilize the capital, the families of these fallen geniuses were not without influence, and minor conflicts were bound to arise. This would inevitably cause Baro a massive headache.
It still seemed unbelievable to Mais that John had managed to survive a confrontation with one of those geniuses—a Sage of the 4th stage. Even while wounded, his opponent had resorted to a forbidden technique. In such a situation, Kasuur's failure to give John the sword would have been a fatal mistake. Likewise, not fleeing from the battle would have been disastrous. If Kasuur hadn't saved Maria, she would have died. He had managed to enter the inheritance and seemed to have been forged anew by his trial. Mais admitted that all of this had played a crucial role in Kasuur's development, and he couldn't deny that the boy had done a remarkable job.
In contrast, Mais felt he himself had acted quite selfishly, though he knew he had no other choice.
"Was it really right to let the twins go? Their father tried to kill me. At least, that's what I think," Kasuur said.
But in truth, there was no "I think." Kasuur was right. Mais did not doubt this, yet he felt no need to kill the twins. They were not responsible for their father's attempt on Kasuur's life. Moreover, they had obtained a portion of a Transcendent's legacy; they could be useful in the near future. Although they had chosen not to return with the group and instead stay to bury their father, Mais didn't think they would ever return to Yellow City. There was no longer any significant connection tethering them to that place. Perhaps they would eventually return for their father's possessions, but there was no rush.
"This will cause quite a stir," Ulam remarked. He was embarrassed to admit that he felt a surge of excitement. He had advanced six levels in an instant—a feat that, under normal circumstances, would have taken years. Now, it had taken only ten short days. Of course, the life-threatening risks he had taken were the price of such effort.
"Not really. After all, this incident didn't claim as many geniuses as the Flaming Bird Incident," Daniel said. At those words, Maria flinched for a moment, but she managed to suppress the reaction before anyone noticed.
At that moment, Maria acted as Mais's companion, helping him navigate. Evra had wrapped his father's remains in clothes taken from other corpses and was carrying the burden on his back. Daniel and Kasuur were somber, while Ulam was the only one who seemed relaxed.
"Are your wounds alright?" Daniel asked the stout boy beside him. Kasuur bore many injuries and occasionally limped. The inheritance had not healed him as thoroughly as it had the others.
Yet, Kasuur was healing at an abnormal rate on his own—a fact no one but Maria had noticed.
"I'm fine. I just need some rest."
"Who doesn't?" Daniel replied. He was happy to be alive, but he wasn't sure how he would explain the deaths of so many Sage geniuses upon his return to the capital. Malehit, in particular, was a significant loss for the clan. With their young talents gone, their future looked bleak. Had Darius survived, Daniel could have shifted the blame, but facing the clan elders for the deaths of his own group would be difficult.
"It's getting dark. We should set up camp."
Everyone halted at Maria's suggestion and began preparing for the night.
Under normal circumstances, lighting a fire in the Red Road Forest would be foolish, but they were now four powerful Sages side by side. One should not underestimate them just because they had recently entered the realm; the levels they gained were merely a bonus compared to the insights of the inheritance.
Still, what they were doing was risky. They could openly fight the power that had defeated Sorgon, perhaps even slaying such a monster without injury. But what if they encountered an Origin Heart monster like the one Darius had faced? Ulam carried an amulet from his grandfather, but the old man was only at the 1st stage of the Origin Heart Realm.
A wild fire burned in their youthful hearts, and they decided to test its strength.
So, they lit the fire. Daniel climbed a tree, resting his one remaining eye as he dangled a leg from a branch. On the ground, Evra laid his father down. Exhausted, he closed his eyes by the fire, speaking to no one. Ulam stayed by his side. Usually cocky, the young man stayed close to the flame, knowing he was now the weakest of the group.
Mais leaned against a tree. Maria and Kasuur had gone for a walk nearby. As he listened to the darkness, Mais thought of the man left inside the trial. That man wasn't his friend or master, and Mais wouldn't risk his life for him, but he realized that anyone imprisoned in the False Dragon's inheritance must have been put there by the Transcendent Devil herself.
He needed to learn more about the past. This legacy was becoming far grander than he had anticipated.
'Where did they go?'
He turned his head, pushing his thoughts aside. He could no longer hear Maria and Kasuur. He knew it wasn't wise for them to stray too far.
"I'm going for a walk too. I'll be back soon."
"Hmm, be careful."
Mais took his cane and ventured into the forest, moving toward the sound of rustling. Even cultivators with sharp ears struggled to decipher whispers in such a place. It was suspicious that Maria and Kasuur had suddenly left together, acting as if they were hiding a secret.
Mais couldn't hide his presence easily, as he couldn't see which way others were looking. However, if he kept enough distance, his hearing—sharper than that of most cultivators—would allow him to eavesdrop without being seen.
'You shouldn't hide anything from me.'
He had to leave the dead behind and focus on the secrets of the living.
He leaned against a tree, crouching low to disappear into the grass. He filtered the sounds of the forest until he caught their voices. No one in the group was better than Mais at distinguishing sounds.
"Let's go back once we've collected enough water from the river. I want to sleep by the fire," Maria's voice drifted through the air.
"Don't you think it's dangerous to light a campfire here? We should be hiding in the trees," Kasuur said, his squeaky, adolescent voice unmistakable.
"Don't you have a new sword? You're a 4th-level Sage. That should be enough."
A new sword. Mais knew Kasuur had rejected his old weapon. This new blade had to be at least a mid-level Sage weapon, but Maria's tone made Mais certain: it was a peak-level Sage weapon at the very least.
"Still..."
They spoke of trivialities for a while. Maria was clearly changed—far more so than Kasuur. Mais had been too preoccupied with Evra and Ulam to notice them before. He had assumed they were the least likely to have gained anything significant.
Was he wrong?
Maria fell silent. She was twitching frequently, as if haunted by deep trauma. This was no secret; the entire group had noticed her sudden radiance of killing intent that would trigger their instincts, or her outbursts where she struck trees with her bare fists. She desperately needed rest, but what had she endured to end up like this?
"Let's go. No need to linger."
As Maria turned to leave the riverbank, Kasuur grabbed her arm. Mais strained to hear the fragmented words.
"Maria, about what happened during the test... are you okay?"
These words commanded Mais's full attention. However, because he could not see her expression or hear her voice clearly, he couldn't be certain of her thoughts.
He missed a portion of the exchange.
"...I'm not a genius like you. My pride is worthless! I! I... I'm tired!"
Maria wrenched her arm away and ran. She didn't want Kasuur to see her face, but Kasuur saw something else: a foreign, reddish tint in Maria's flowing black hair—a mark that had not been there before.
Mais quietly withdrew from the forest. Whatever had occurred in the trial shared by Kasuur and Maria would eventually come to light.