When the seekers of the False Dragon's legacy returned to Yellow City, they could no longer be counted in the dozens. Only a handful of young people remained. Only one survivor from the capital, and not everyone from Yellow City had survived.
When they entered the city gates, Evra laid his father's body on the ground. He was aware that the curious guards were trying to figure out whose body it was, but they wouldn't try to look under the covers. They wouldn't dare.
At that moment, a drunk man caught Evra's eye. There weren't many buildings or people in front of the gate. Only the guards let the arriving carriages in and did their jobs. What was this old, drunk man doing here?
"Hey..."
Evra was startled when the drunk man suddenly called out to him. At first glance, one would think this man would be afraid of him. After all, people generally tried not to get involved with cultivators. Despite this, the man spoke directly to him and even took a few steps toward him. Still, he didn't neglect to keep a certain distance between them.
Evra felt something familiar in this man's face. He was a black man and his clothes didn't look very neat. Despite everything, he couldn't figure out where he recognized him from.
"Jalal. Jalal, he came with you... where is my son?"
It wasn't an order, nor was it a curious question. Was he worried? Evra thought Jalal's father was a man who didn't care about him. But even though the old man was drunk, he had come to the city gate for his son. Did that mean he was worried?
'Haha...'
What was he thinking to himself? Clearly, the man had run out of money.
Still...
"We lost Jalal," he managed to say at that moment. He had never imagined this moment. He felt he could do nothing but bow his head and apologize for failing to protect the weak link. He wasn't sure what the old man thought of him bowing his head. He didn't want to raise his head at that moment.
Then he heard footsteps. When he looked up in surprise, he saw the old man raising a beer bottle to his head. Then he shook his head from side to side.
"Oh, is that so? Then we'll see each other again."
The old man left under Evra's astonished gaze. Evra stared at him in surprise for a while. Then he hoisted his father's body onto his back and started walking towards his empty house.
Baro was silently looking out the window in his room. He was thinking about what had happened. He knew this choice could spell trouble for him. Still, he was confident he had a chance to get through this unscathed.
"Milena has left the city."
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him. Baro hadn't failed to notice her. He just hadn't been so guarded around his own daughter. He turned and looked at his young daughter. It had only been ten days since she left, but Maria looked devastated. Her eyes were lifeless, and there was a look on her face... a look reminiscent of the past.
Baro understood immediately. A surprised smile appeared on his face. You can imagine how surprising this was for a man who rarely smiled.
"You've awakened your body."
Maria nodded. In her helplessness, she had indeed managed to awaken her body. But this wasn't surprising. Especially considering who her mother was.
"I heard Yukimura entered the state," said Maria. The expression on Baro's face fell again at these words. He slowly stepped out from behind his desk and approached his daughter. He placed his hand on her cheek. There was tenderness in his eyes.
"You look tired," he said. Maria tilted her head slightly and pressed her face against her father's hand. Rough and broken hands.
"Maybe I look like I did when my mother left."
These words hurt Baro. He slowly withdrew his hands from his daughter's cheek. He knew she had been sad, perhaps angry, since learning what had happened, but he had thought he wouldn't see these emotions surface for a while longer. What had changed?
"Didn't things go well with the inheritance?"
"I'm tired!"
Suddenly, a shout caught Baro off guard. At this point, there was only pain on Maria's face. Tears began to flow.
"I thought it wasn't real."
She hadn't been in the Boundless World for just three or five days.
"I thought I was talented."
Maria quickly stepped in front of her father. She fixed her eyes on him. Now, with her aura from the Sage Realm dancing around her, Baro could see how much she resembled her mother. But there were changes in her appearance.
"There are red streaks in your hair."
"I awakened the fire body. But I was trying to die."
Maria hadn't stayed there like Kasuur for a few weeks or months. Years. She was only 16. Her mind wasn't ready for this. Still, she was forced to go through life and survive.
"When my mother and you inherited the Flame Bird's legacy, what was your test?"
She hadn't understood back then. How could a young girl who had never inherited anything know? Now she understood the price of all this. There was a sad expression on Baro's face. The reason his body had aged so much was linked to that test back then, and Maria knew at least that it was the most important test of that time.
'It was me.'
Maria turned around and started to leave the room.
"I'll reach your mother again," Baro said. These words froze Maria. "Maybe not today or tomorrow, but I will definitely reach her, and then we will be a family as we should have been from the very beginning."
Maria left the room without showing any more tears.
Ulam was the real winner of this inheritance. He seemed to have lost nothing and gained so much. He had also gained a wonderful experience. His grandfather praised him at length, and then his father pulled him into his room and gave him a long speech about how proud he was of him. Now, Ulam didn't seem so weak next to his father. Of course, he was still only a Core Expert. And he wasn't very powerful among Core Experts either. His inheritance hadn't given him any techniques, making him a 7th-level Core Expert without any techniques. He didn't stand a chance against the old men and even some younger ones weaker than him, but he was still at the 7th level. It shouldn't take him too long to learn Core techniques and even the techniques of the Sage Realm.
While he was invited by his father to his father's room, the feast had already begun on the lower floor of the building. Sufkro had invited the city's leading figures to celebrate his son's success and wanted to show off with his son. The voices were rising, and Sufkro's subordinates had already started welcoming the guests downstairs.
Ulam was actually a little nervous. He felt as if he had achieved nothing. At least not in terms of his level of training. His heritage had not given him nothing. Even now, he could feel a hungry presence stirring within him, one that actually disturbed him. That presence was powerful. The purple smoke in his body kept him under control. Plus, there was that light incident in the forest. Ulam knew something would come of it. It must be related to his heritage.
"...My son is a genius like the others! When you go to the capital, don't let them crush you! After that, they will continue to try to put more pressure on you. I will prepare a lot of pills for your journey. If necessary, I will give that boy a few hundred more soldiers and prepare a special training process for you. Although what you need right now is more techniques, we'll take care of that too..."
Sufkro's weary face seemed to have regained its radiance thanks to his son's success. His sharp jawline was visible, and it seemed as if the gray in his hair had diminished. Ulam smiled. He knew his father had been a very unhappy man, constantly chasing success. He had tried many things to improve himself, but either he had grown tired of these pursuits or he lacked the talent. Now he was very happy that his son had succeeded in his place.
He raised his arms with a huge smile.
"Come here, let this old man give you a hug. Let him try to make up for being a shitty father, at least a little."
Ulam laughed and hugged his father. He wasn't a shitty father. He had been proud of Ulam many times, even though Ulam was unsuccessful and untalented. He had stroked his head and hugged him. He hadn't made him feel bad. He wasn't a bad father. Ulam loved him.
The hug ended, and Sufkro looked out the window. Baro and the other sages didn't live very far away. Neither did Mais and Kasuur. Sufkro could sense their presence secretly. It was his gift.
"There are too many sages in the city now. Daniel Gama will leave, of course, but there will still be many young geniuses living here. You must be careful. You must focus on becoming a sage before you go to the capital."
Ulam nodded and then reached for the wine glass on the table.
GULP!
Suddenly, he felt something change. His heart beat violently once, and Ulam felt that hunger again. Much more intense, much more powerful. Everything around him had disappeared. Only he existed. He felt the purple mist enter his blood and tried with all his might to stop that presence. Yet this effort also clouded Ulam's mind. Was the mist doing this? Or was it the effect of that presence inside him, the hunger? Then he saw flashes of light. There was a flash of light in front of him. It was bright and large. The hunger began to increase at that moment.
Unlike before, the lights did not disappear this time. Ulam reached forward. He did not just stand there. He could feel the hunger and smoke filling every particle of his body. At that moment, he slowly touched the light. The light entered Ulam's body through his finger, calmly, without escaping.
At that moment, Ulam could feel his body gradually becoming stronger. With incredible power. The cores formed one after another within seconds, and then six of them divided the Tao Mark within that light. Ulam entered the Realm of the Sage at tremendous speed and made progress.
Afterwards, everything returned, but Ulam did not have the chance to enjoy his progress. The pleasure he had felt moments before took on a much calmer form and began to be suppressed by the smoke again. Within this calmness, Ulam saw that his hand, pointing at the light, had entered his father's back up to his wrist. His fingertip had pierced his father's heart.
"How... why..."
Sufkro found himself asking in pain as blood spurted from his mouth onto his chin. He couldn't even see his son. Ulam pulled his hand away from his father's body in fear. He took a few steps back in panic. After that, he just watched with wide eyes as his father's dead body fell to the ground.
PATT...!
"Sir? Is there a problem?"
Suddenly, voices came from behind the door. The guards from the banquet downstairs had arrived. At that moment, Ulam panicked. He suddenly opened the window and threw himself outside at tremendous speed.
He left without anyone noticing. He entered an alleyway and buried his head in his knees against the cold wall. Power and fear were the new elements flowing through his veins. In horror, he looked at his bloody hand. The fresh blood flowing over his skin was drying and sticking to his flesh. It seemed to seep from his skin like a permanent mark that would never fade from the young man's eyes.
How he was trembling.
Ulam realized he had killed his own father.