"You were in the Core Realm just a moment ago. Now... you are different."
The old Sage spoke at the top of the stairs. Zhao Jingyi stood beside Milena in astonishment. She was also surprised by this sudden change. She could sense a tremendous feeling of danger and the smell of alcohol from Milena.
'Is this a... transformation technique?'
Zhao Jingyi had met very few experts in her life, but to think that today she would encounter someone using a transformation technique, and a genius at that... her mind was filled with curiosity.
Jingyi tried to slowly back away and put distance between herself and Milena, but suddenly she stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn't move. At that moment, she noticed the pain in her arm, and when she turned her head, she saw the hand. Milena had caught her. Jingyi hadn't noticed even the slightest movement.
'I have no chance.'
Jingyi realized at that moment that there was a chasm between her and Milena. She was a hostage, and there wasn't the slightest chance of escape.
The old man also looked surprised. He had seen Milena's movements, and it had helped him make an inference about her power.
'Though her aura too... hmm.'
"This is the power of a Sage."
Milena's power was that of a Sage. Even though she was still just a Core Realm expert, she had somehow reached the Sage Realm.
But I cannot explain the absurdity of this to them in just a few words. After all, reaching this stage with a technique was not that simple. The old man could not clearly see Milena's cultivation realm. The origin energy radiating from Milena's body was enveloped by her wild and unstable aura. In this case, understanding her cultivation level would require an extraordinary perception of origin energy.
And they didn't have time to understand how this girl had attained the Sage Realm so quickly either.
"Let me go, old man, or I might not be able to guarantee whether this girl leaves here alive."
Milena looked young. She hadn't worn a mask while coming here. After all, she wasn't planning on staying in the city any longer after getting what she wanted. Unfortunately, things were not going as planned.
The old man, however, didn't look very worried. In front of him was a genius as powerful as a Sage, and next to her was someone she wanted to protect as a hostage. All of this seemed to be to the old man's disadvantage, but this man was not tense. This, on the contrary, tensed Milena.
The old man shook his head.
"If accessing a Sage's power were this easy, would people value us this much?"
Milena didn't find time to try and understand the words. In the next second, the old man vanished from where he stood. The only thing Milena saw was a fist covered in wrinkled skin extending toward her face and filling her field of vision.
'So fast!'
Milena instantly ducked her head. As the fist passed over her ear, Milena didn't realize that the terrifying impact of the force had torn away a small piece of her ear. Milena quickly retreated. Blood slowly flowed toward her chin.
The old man, on the other hand, had already caught young Zhao Jingyi with his other hand. Even Jingyi was astonished. She hadn't even been able to see what just happened. She only understood what occurred when she saw Milena's bleeding ear.
CRACK...!
Zhao Jingyi looked behind her. Right before her eyes, there was a huge fissure in the wall. Perhaps the more accurate sentence was that there was a huge fissure where a wall was supposed to be. This was an effect caused not by the old Sage's fist, but by his wind.
'Is this the power of a Sage?'
Zhao Jingyi had fought with this old man before while being trained by him, but the old man had never shown his true power. Jingyi was witnessing a Sage's capabilities for the first time.
"I know you!"
At that moment, Milena wiped the blood on her chin. She didn't look very tense, but she was. She was drunk and didn't dare to tense her body. That would be a move that weakened the ability she possessed. She had to be looser and more fluid. This was one of the rare things her father had said about the technique. Yet, knowing the identity of the man in front of her and witnessing his capabilities, Milena couldn't ease her mind.
The old man seemed surprised for a moment. Then he chuckled and tilted his head slightly. He offered a mocking smile.
"Well, who am I then?"
"The Thief of the Ren Crown, the Outcast of the Outer State, Priem."
Outcast Priem. This wasn't actually a well-known story in these regions of Bosua State, but everyone in the Outer State knew this man's story.
A thief who betrayed his own family and stole his family's treasure, forcing them to face the Outer State Lord, and then fled.
The smile on Priem's face vanished.
"I didn't expect you... to know me. But do you think this will change anything for your fate?"
Priem was a thief, and his movement techniques could be considered unmatched in his realm, despite him being a man in the first stage of the Sage Realm. In the Core Realm, he used to be known as an unmatched genius just like Milena. Thanks to this, he was able to escape from the Outer State. The Outer State only said he was exiled to protect its honor.
Don't look at his old appearance. Priem was actually only in his fifties. His appearance was solely due to letting his beard and hair grow. His white hairs were the result of the tense chase he experienced while escaping the Outer State.
In the next moment, Priem appeared in front of Milena once again. He didn't care about Jingyi's safety. The wind hitting the young girl's face along with his sudden movement didn't displace her, but it blew her hair backward. At that moment, Zhao Jingyi's eyes widened to their limits, and she watched Priem's movements with a gleam in her eyes.
Milena didn't run away this time. Nor did she respond to the punch with a punch. Instead, she just pulled her head out of Priem's way and swung her own hand toward the man's face, but not in the form of a fist—flat, open-palmed, and with her nails aiming for Priem's neck.
Milena's nails weren't particularly long or sharp, but Milena knew that fighting this way gave her an advantage while using the Drunken Sage Transformation. Not hard and direct, but fluid and sharp.
This fighting style surprised Priem for a moment. He quickly pulled his fist back, lightly pushed Milena's attacking arm with his elbow, and completely deflected Milena's fingers from their target with the outer palm of the same arm. In the next moment, Priem swung his kick so fast that Milena couldn't even react. With the impact of the blow, she fell from the upper floor of the mansion down into its salon.
CRASH!!
"Master Priem..."
At that moment, Zhao Jingyi showed no signs of fear; on the contrary, she was focused on this fight with absolute concentration. It was perfectly normal to understand that she couldn't see much, but even she could see that Priem was playing with Milena.
Priem raised the hand with which he blocked Milena. There was a superficial scratch on the back of his hand. Yet, blood was flowing.
"That technique of yours..."
At that moment, Priem's interest-filled eyes locked onto the blood, and then he understood.
"Hahaha!! Now everything makes sense! And here I am, trying to understand why a young girl who is only in the Core Realm would try to rob a Sage's house! Moreover, that technique of yours! Now everything makes sense!"
Through the dust, Milena rising to her feet could be seen. Zhao Jingyi immediately leaned against the railings, trying not to miss a single thing. Milena's nose was bleeding, and with one hand she was holding her stomach, the target of the kick she took from Priem. The nail of one of her fingers with which she attacked Priem was broken. Whereas it seemed like there was no damage on Priem at all.
While one was a real Sage, the other was clearly fake.
Priem looked down at Milena and then raised the hand from which Milena had drawn blood. The drop of blood was barely noticeable now. But not to Milena.
Milena was not stupid. She knew what had been understood by now. At this point, she should have tried to escape with all her might, but at that moment, she felt a more powerful aura entering the house. The master of the house had arrived, and Milena's hopes of escape seemed to have come to an end.
Priem's words entered her ears at this exact moment.
"You are a Blood Taoist."
At this point, Milena made eye contact with Priem, who was looking down at her with an ugly expression. At the same time, a young-looking, black-haired man stepped into the salon.