As Kasuur drew the damp forest air into his lungs, he crushed dry branches beneath his feet. The depths of the Red Road Forest were a graveyard for the weak, but Kasuur was tired of living at the mercy of others. He was not like the others; he was a Sage.
Despite the weight pulling him down, energy surged through his core and flowed through his veins like an impatient river. He felt powerful enough to crush every obstacle in his path. As he moved his bulky frame through the forest, Kasuur made no effort to hide. His green hair was too bright to blend into the greenery of the forest, not to mention his massive physical presence. He had already drawn his sword from its sheath. His gaze roamed his surroundings indifferently. It was as if he were in his own backyard.
"Just one," he whispered to himself. "I can do this."
Suddenly, a massive shadow burst from among the trees. It was a Bone-Armoured Wolf, apparently in the sixth stage of the Sage Realm, with its back covered in hard layers of bone. In appearance, it resembled the smaller Sage Beasts, yet it was more than twice Kasuur's size. It was a terrifying sight — a monstrous creature that Kasuur had never hunted before. The wolf leapt towards Kasuur, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.
With an agility that defied his massive frame, Kasuur activated his first technique: Rhythmic Acceleration. It was an intermediate-level Sage technique with which Kasuur had achieved the 'Minor Success' level. He hadn't bought it from Mais, but from Evra. The young man had sold the technique to Kasuur as he was leaving the city. Evra had obtained many Sage techniques from his father and older brother. Of course, Evra also possessed a copy of the technique himself. Kasuur had bought the technique cheaply because Evra didn't know its true value. Just 5,000 gold.
Of course, he hadn't paid for it all by himself. He hadn't spent much of the generous allowance Mais had given him, nor had he spent much of his past salary. On top of that, he had barely managed to cover the cost using gifts from various merchants.
Once he was penniless, naturally, he hadn't been able to figure out how to support himself. He doubted his salary would be enough, and he didn't want to beg Mais. Fortunately, Mais later moved in with him and took over the expenses
The energy in his body focused in his legs, beating in time with his heart at a steady rhythm. With every step, a force built up that shook the ground, propelling him forward faster than before. Kasuur slipped free from the wolf's claws as though he were as light as a feather. For a brief second as he passed the beast, his speed reached a level beyond what the ordinary eye could see.
As the wolf turned back in shock at having missed its prey, Kasuur raised his sword.
"Don't make me run after you," he said in a deep voice.
Everything around him slowed for a moment as a force cut through the wind and its accompanying auras. Kasuur used the first technique he had learned: the Eternity Slash was enough to end everything.
The sword's movement was too fast for the unfortunate wolf. Kasuur had already reached the seventh stage of the Sage Realm. Moreover, when he used this technique at the Great Success stage, its power reached the ninth stage. And that didn't even take into account the sword's might. The wolf had no chance. It saw only a blue light. The moment the sword met the wolf's bone armour, its hard layers tore apart like paper.
When Kasuur ended the effect of Rhythmic Acceleration, the massive wolf collapsed to the ground, split in two right where it stood. One move, one strike, and a decisive victory.
Kasuur slowly sheathed his sword and took a deep breath. His legs trembled under the strain of Rhythmic Acceleration, but his pride suppressed any fatigue. As he knelt to gather the monster's valuable parts, he felt he was no longer just a friend of Mais's, but a warrior walking his own path. Still, it would have been better if he hadn't had to do this again.
On the journey back to the city, he thought about how much he could earn from these materials. It was fortunate that he'd brought a bag with him. He drained as much of the monster's blood as possible and put the body in the bag. Even so, blood was dripping from the bag as he entered the city, and everyone was looking at him with disgust. Needless to say, running for miles with that corpse on his back didn't exactly smell great. However, the power of that terrifying monster, which had released its aura during the run, had also seeped into Kasuur. Just as the scent of blood was distinct, so too was the aura of the Earth Tao that the monster had attained, which had also permeated Kasuur. Kasuur wasn't projecting his own Tao Understanding outward, but because of the dead monster, people thought there was something strange about him. Something celestial.
Yet they couldn't understand it. They couldn't sense it. They couldn't grasp what made Kasuur strange.
Kasuur entered the city and walked straight towards the Yellow City branch of the Four-Leaf Guild. The Four-Leaf Guild was one of the nine major guilds of the Forgotten Kingdom. Of these, only the Four-Leaf Guild had made trade its primary purpose. Of course, with their cultivators and power, they were on an equal footing with the other eight communities, but to them, what mattered was always knowledge and money. Seizing the throne and similar matters were insignificant to them; after all, they weren't a family, they were a corporation.
The largest building in Yellow City was undoubtedly the Four-Leaf Guild building. Covered in dark yellow stripes, the front building truly stood out in the area, overshadowing all the other commercial institutions. This massive building had been constructed in a separate section for this reason.
Kasuur knew that the building in front of him was just the first of many. The Four-Leaf Guild had a general shopping area at the very front that anyone could enter. All sorts of things could be found here; even the nobles shopped in this area.
Two buildings stood side by side at the back. One sold weapons and techniques for Origin Energy and Core Specialists. High-quality ointments and simple pills made by Master Alchemists were also available here. The adjacent building sold the same items for Sages. These buildings stood side by side, and there was no strict enforcement of the transition between them. Once Core Experts had saved enough money, they could move between the two areas and purchase Sage-level items to accelerate their progress. Moreover, the current leader of this branch of the Four-Leaf Guild was merely a tenth-stage Core Expert.
Meanwhile, the rear building was reserved for high-ranking experts and guests passing through, and only the branch leader could enter. It was also used to communicate with higher authorities.
Kasuur naturally headed to the section designated for the Sages. There were many staff members there, each of whom was in the Core Realm. This was actually a surprising sight. Core Experts could guide small families and ensure that their children behaved like those of noble families in the city. Yet here they were, merely sales consultants or cashiers.
Although Kasuur found this surprising, he wasn't actually focused on these Core Experts. He simply wanted to sell the Sage's corpse that he was holding. So, he began to haggle fiercely with the Core Experts. No one there cared that he was a Sage. Strangely, they saw him as a child rather than a Sage. They were offering far less than he expected: just one thousand gold!
They must have seen Kasuur as an easy target.
"Damn it! This is a Sage's corpse!"
"You've ruined the corpse! What do you expect me to do?!"
"Have you ever seen a Sage's corpse in your life?! And it was at the sixth stage! Come on, a thousand gold pieces is nothing against a monster like this!"
"Alright. I can give you two thousand gold pieces, but anything more is absolutely out of the question. If you had brought a solid corpse with its blood, I might have offered you ten thousand gold, but in this condition, I can only offer you two thousand gold at most."
These prices were unbelievable, and a few nearby Core Experts were also in awe of Kasuur's ability to hunt down a Sage so easily. People who could sell things in this building were extremely rare, even in the city, and such people rarely needed to sell anything. After all, it would be difficult for them to acquire the things they wanted to buy here. One of them was an old man with grey hair standing off to the side. He had stood at the pinnacle of the Core Realm for many years and no longer harboured any hope of advancing beyond this stage. Although he felt no jealousy, he couldn't help but imagine haggling over the sale of a Sage's corpse.
"How tragic that I won't be able to experience moments like this."
But he hadn't realised he wasn't alone.
"Never say never."
At that moment, he turned his head and saw the blind young man who had come to the sales section. His own daughter was by his side.