"So, are you going to explain to me how you became Majors?"
After sitting in the Captain's office for a while, Evra had grown eager to hear more about the twins' journey here. After the inheritance, the twins had never stopped by the Yellow City. Yet, Evra had stayed there for some time. That was why, even on the same route, they had arrived here much earlier.
Furthermore, Evra had stopped at many points along the way to observe his surroundings. Looking at the twins' status was enough to believe they had come directly here. Even if the military was more generous with ranks due to the approaching war, they still should have needed to stay in Magnolia City for a while to become Majors.
Mang looked at his brother and laughed. Hang ran his hand through his short hair and bowed his head. He was smiling, and his face was flushed. Mang began to explain.
"At first, we decided to come to Magnolia City because of our father. In the past, City Lord Inuaki and our father, John, embarked on some adventures together and became close friends. My father told us that if we didn't know what to do, we could come here. Lord Inuaki gave us a place to live, made our identities legal, and gave us the rank of Captain, but with our cultivation level, becoming Majors wasn't difficult."
Mang laughed once more and pointed at his brother.
"Once things started going well, someone went ahead and got a girlfriend right away."
Evra looked at Hang in surprise. Although the man tried to look serious about it, his face was already flushed. It was clear they weren't very accustomed to such things. Evra had heard from his father that these twins had been trained in survival their whole lives and hadn't had much chance to socialize. It seemed their father's death had also set them free at the same time. Evra wondered if this had been John's wish.
"What stage are you at?"
When they parted ways, each of them was at the 7th stage of the Core Realm. It was a gift given to them by the inheritance, but they and Evra had obtained different inheritances. Evra knew he had obtained the true inheritance, but he didn't know what the twins had acquired.
"The 10th stage of the Core Realm. We don't mind explaining. Our inheritance was observing a Tao Tree formed from the False Dragon's Tao Comprehension. Our rapid progress is based on the direct understanding we gained regarding certain Taos. We still need a bit of a push to reach the Sage Realm."
A Tao Tree. Evra knew that very high-level experts could create such things, but he found it surprising that a transcendent entity could create something like this. These kinds of things were legendary.
Evra scratched his head in embarrassment. Since they had shared what they gained from the inheritance, he felt he should say it too, but he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to explain it.
The twins noticed this as well. With a light chuckle, Mang raised his hand.
"You don't have to explain to us what you won in the inheritance. Since it brought you to the Sage Realm, it must be quite special anyway." Mang shook his head. "But I have to be honest. You are really in the Sage Realm. That is something incredible."
They still seemed unable to believe that they could reach these levels. Evra laughed too. Only last year, he was in the Origin Energy Realm. No different from the Captain's grandchildren. Now, he was a Sage.
John had remained at the boundary of the Core Realm for hundreds of years. His children reached this boundary very early and would perhaps cross it very early too. Wuma had likewise stayed at the 2nd stage of the Sage Realm for hundreds of years, and Evra had almost caught up to him.
'Wuma...'
Milena was in the city. Should he mention this to the twins?
Evra sighed. His conversation with the twins continued, but Evra never mentioned Milena.
Meanwhile, the girl who caused Evra a headache had collapsed on the streets of Magnolia City in torn and dirty clothes. Like a beggar, a piece of cardboard in front of her was filling up with bronze coins, but Milena didn't pay much attention to the money as she continued to drink her liquor from her glass bottle. Her eyes were actually on the mansion across the street. Even the gate, guarded by two Origin Masters, made the importance of this place clear. Milena hadn't had trouble finding it either.
If she hadn't run into Evra, she could have waited a few more months in Faye Town to develop her cultivation and her understanding of her techniques. But since Evra was here, and since he still viewed her as his friend, Milena thought she could carry out this risky endeavor at least while he was around.
People on the street looked at the dirty clothes and the bronze coins in front of them. Wasn't there a beggar here just a moment ago?
The Origin Masters had noticed this too. To be honest, they had already let their guard up even against a beggar, but it was already too late. While they were still looking ahead, Milena entered the building. The mansion was designed in a very simple style. Staircases rose from both sides of the door. In front of the staircases, a seating area was arranged, and many corridors could be noticed on the sides and ahead. Milena took another sip of her drink, and after looking around, she vanished from where she stood and appeared on the upper floor.
"Who might you be?"
At that moment, Milena was standing in front of a 10-year-old, slender blonde girl. The girl was in comfortable clothes, and as she looked at Milena, she couldn't see her face fully due to the shadow, but she could see the small axe hanging on her leg and the alcohol bottle in her other hand. At that moment, fear seized her body. She realized she didn't know this person at all.
Milena smiled. Only half of her smile was visible in the shadow.
"I'm going to ask you to take me to your father's library, little lady."
'What if I don't want to?'
The little girl wanted to ask this. Don't be fooled by her being just a little girl. Absurdly, this little girl was already in the Core Realm!
Milena found this surprising, but she hadn't known Commander Zhao had a daughter anyway. She knew he used to have a wife, but that woman had died. Her having a daughter hadn't been included in Milena's research.
"Don't even try."
Milena released a piece of her aura. She was at the 5th stage of the Core Realm. At this point, the little girl knew she couldn't defeat the woman in front of her. She bowed her head. She had to do the wise thing to survive.
"You made the right choice, kiddo."
The young girl walked ahead. Milena took a sip of her drink as she walked behind her. She looked at the young girl's figure. Her walk, her steps—despite being only at the first stage of the Core Realm, she already possessed body control that showed the structure of Core movement techniques. She looked very young. Therefore, Milena thought she was around 10 years old, but when she really thought about it, perhaps if she had come here next year, this girl might have caused her trouble.
Perhaps.
"It seems the most talented cultivator of Magnolia City spends her time cultivating alone behind closed walls. What's your name?"
"Jingyi. Zhao Jingyi."
"You really are Zhao Tianyu's daughter then. Wow, it's as if my research was so bad that I missed an entire child."
Jingyi laughed at this. Milena raised her right eyebrow. The fact that this girl could laugh even in such a situation made her tense.
'What else did I miss?'
"I'll leave as soon as I get what I want. You can be sure it's not even that valuable."
Milena could see the door she assumed to be the study at the end of the corridor. At that point, tension gripped her heart much more intensely.
Zhao Jingyi stopped. At that moment, it felt like Milena's heart was about to stop too. Was she the one holding Zhao Jingyi hostage? Or was the exact opposite happening?
"Why did you stop?"
Milena asked with calmness anyway. She lifted her drink and drank the entire bottle without taking her eyes off Jingyi. At that moment, Milena's aura began to break its restraints.
Zhao Jingyi turned her head slightly and focused on Milena's rising aura. Then she looked at Milena's face. The young girl's face was already flushed.
Her aura had already reached the Sage Realm.
"My father isn't home. But that... doesn't mean there are no Sages in the house at all."
When Milena turned her head, an old man was standing at the top of the stairs, looking toward her.