The flames on the three-pronged dagger were extinguished by the cold, yet the blade remained sharp. It left a small cut on Mais's cheek. As they all fell to the ground floor, pieces of the roof fell too, followed by screams.
"Aaah!"
"Run!"
The pieces fell and they all landed on their feet. Amidst the dust and smoke, the screams of the servants could be heard. Mais instantly lunged forward. This was his opportunity, especially since no one else was in a stable position. He was very fast and agile. A large piece of the roof stood between them.
Mais pierced through it.
As he swung his wand through the air, he realised that the power he possessed was even greater than Maria had anticipated. Yet the young lady did not hesitate. Her Sai escaped her grasp and reached for Mais's neck. It was engulfed in flames, with a power akin to the Origin Heart Realm!
DING!!
A sword intervened, deflecting the Sai. At the same time, Kasuur pushed Maria away with all his might. His staff went between them and hit the ground. Mais turned towards Kasuur.
"Move aside, Kasuur."
At that moment, Mais's palm made contact with Kasuur's. With a single push, Mais sent Kasuur flying into the air and he disappeared into the smoke. Maria saw it all.
"Stage 7!"
Stage 7 of the Sage Realm. Maria and Kasuur were both at Stage 6. He was almost at Stage 7, but still behind Mais.
If Maria hadn't made progress with her understanding of the Tao recently, she wouldn't be at the same level as Kasuur.
But this didn't explain why Mais could push and throw him around so easily.
"If he had tried to improve his cultivation instead of being lazy, he would already be at Stage 7."
At that moment, Mais lunged forward again. He struck the ground hard with his staff, scattering all the dust and smoke.
"Anika! Take Valeria to safety!"
"Call my father immediately!!"
Anika went straight to the back room. The other maids tried to flee into the street. Mais didn't see them or know who they were. He didn't care either way. He pulled his cane back and looked in the direction that opened onto the street. Maria noticed him. Her eyes widened.
"NO!"
Mais waved the stick.
CRASH!!!
A cold aura passed over them. An icy path appeared. Or rather, a mist. After all, Mais was the master of the Cold Tao, not the Water Tao. With a single swing, it froze everything in its path with tremendous force. It wasn't the ice that killed the maids. In fact, they were simply frozen. Their blood, cells, muscles and tissues were all frozen. In a cold enough environment, an intense cold could freeze ordinary people instantly. This would mean certain death.
"What have you done?"
Maria could never have believed that Mais could kill people so easily. Mais was just a child, as was Maria. But now he had killed all the servants except Anika.
Mais wiped the blood from the wound on his cheek with a sharp frown. It had trickled down to his lips.
"I'm surviving."
A wall of the house had been broken. There was no need to ask who had caused this destruction. A fat child emerged from the rubble. He raised his head and looked at the dead with pain. Then at Mais. A new, cold aura rose around the little, blind boy. It was clear that he had started using a new technique.
"Are you mad, Mais?!"
Mais remained silent. At that moment, he twirled his wand. A cold aura rose with it. Maria reached out, and Sai, who had been impaled on the wall upstairs, suddenly flew towards Mais. However, Mais easily deflected this move by turning his Bo.
PIRCCCCK!!
"Ah!"
The other Sai blade suddenly plunged into Mais's leg, and he was unable to stop it. He groaned in pain. There was no time to remove the blade, though, as he felt Maria's fire. A fiery fist was approaching. He only noticed it when it was right in front of his face.
Mais let out a heavy breath.
BANG!!!
Mais flew backwards and shattered the stairs. Blood flowed from his mouth. Kasuur let out a sigh of relief. This should have stopped Mais. Yet he was surprised. After all, Maria had unleashed the flames so easily that it didn't seem like the Sensing stage of her Fire Tao. However, he only realised the problem when he turned to Maria.
She didn't look happy. She was looking at her hand in pain. The flames had gone out and her fist was bruised up to her elbow in places. Some areas were so badly frozen that she felt the skin might tear.
"This... Maria, have you reached the Stepping stage?"
Kasuur was surprised. Not just because of Maria, but also because of Mais. Freezing Maria's arm and extinguishing her fire with his breath... If this wasn't the Stepping stage, then what was? But he was sure that Maria hadn't reached that level yet. After all, she had only reached the Feeling stage very recently while with Kasuur. So was this her technique?
"Not because of her technique. It's because of her physique."
Mais emerged from the rubble. He spat out a mouthful of blood and took a few steps forward. That really wasn't enough to stop him. His clothes were now covered in dust. Apart from bandages, there was nothing else on him. Despite this, it didn't seem as though a new wound had been added to the existing ones. Only the wound on his leg had worsened. The punch to his face had merely thrown him back.
It didn't look like there was a new wound. It was just the wound on his leg. The punch to his face had only thrown him.
"You have a Fire Body, don't you? That's why you can control flames even though you're only in the Sensing stage."
The only characteristics of a Fire Body weren't just the increased speed of grasping the Tao and the limited increase in cultivation. A person with a special body was also always one step ahead of others in their understanding of the Tao of their element. At least in practice.
This was why, this morning, Pima had control like Oneness with the Body, even though she only had an understanding of the Lightning Tao in the Stepping stage. This was the harmony between the body and the Tao.
'Still, she was only supposed to be able to control flames. Shooting fire out of thin air... Maria's ancestor, from whom she inherited her body, doesn't seem like an ordinary person.'
Of course, it wasn't the same for everyone. After all, not every ancestor would have had the same level of understanding of the Tao that they passed on.
Mais took Sai off his foot. At that moment, he realised that Sai was struggling to escape his grasp. He could feel the blood on Sai. Blood unlike anyone else's. This made Mais smile.
Mais threw Sai back at Maria. Much faster, of course.
"A mid-stage Origin Heart Weapon. No wonder you wounded me. Still, that's not enough."
Although this weapon alone gave Maria attack power in the Origin Heart Realm, it wasn't enough. Maria felt Mais was bluffing. However, she wasn't entirely sure, as her arm was aching terribly.
Unlike her, Kasuur believed these words. But he hadn't even started using his best technique yet. Even he wasn't entirely sure he could stop Mais at the moment.
"I don't just have a weapon!"
Yes, in that infinite world, Maria had created a Sage technique. Normally, it was just a mid-stage Sage technique. But things changed with Maria's Fire Body.
As the other Sai reached Maria's hand, Maria smiled.
"I'm sorry for destroying your home, Mais."
Maria wasn't at all remorseful, though. She knew this attack could even take Mais's life, but she had to defend herself. Moreover, Mais could protect himself with his Cold Tao. Maria simply felt that she would have time to escape after this blow.
The twin Sai looked at opposite ends in Maria's hands. At that moment, she bent her knees, deciding to do something she should never have dared to do:
Confront Mais directly.
Because Mais was blind, his weakness had always been indirect attacks, but if he knew where to attack, Mais was no different from anyone else. This was a direct confrontation with his true self.
Sparks appeared at the tips of Maria's twin Sais and she whispered,
"Flames of the Horizonless World..."
White flames erupted from the tips of the Sais and spun in a circle in the air. They were connected. Normally, this would be considered a mid-level Sage technique, but Maria had managed to transform it into a peak Sage technique despite being unable to unleash its full potential during her first use of this technique in the Sensing stage!
Furthermore, with the Sai's support, Maria's attack reached the second-stage Origin Heart Realm!
White flames merged within the circle. At that moment, a white mist also emerged from the tip of Mais's Bo. Mais sensed the danger. Bells were ringing in his head. He knew he needed to change his plans while Maria was using such an attack. The warmth of the flames dispelled all the coldness that had permeated the house. The servants' bodies melted and collapsed to the ground.
'These flames... are so different.'
At that moment, Mais was much less fortunate in terms of technique. Flowing Frozen Body was a technique that he could not use with his Bo. This meant that he could not borrow Bo's unique power. Yet Maria could strengthen her technique through Tao Understanding. So why couldn't Mais do the same?
Mais hoisted the cane onto his back. At that moment, the cold around him responded to the flames of Maria's embrace. Flowing Frozen Body was a mid-level Origin Heart Technique. With Mais's understanding, it had evolved to a higher level. This upgrade alone brought Mais's attack power to the second stage of Origin Heart.
It was still incomplete, but that wasn't the only thing Mais possessed.
BOOM!
At that moment, white flames erupted from Maria's circle of fire like a volcano and leaped onto Mais. At that moment, Mais lunged towards Maria. His hands were deathly pale from the cold when they touched the flames.
At that moment, his body changed once again.
HISSS!!
The collision of his cold hands with the Flames of the Horizonless World caused a loud hissing sound. Maria's technique was a perfect match for Mais'. After all, Mais had to attack directly with his body, while Maria had kept her distance. Kasuur could see everything with his own eyes. At that moment, he drew his own sword. He knew himself. He still believed he had the ability to stop it.
But at that moment, a white light flashed. Before he could react, a white, three-tailed cat approached him from behind, bit his hand, snatched his sword and fled. Kasuur couldn't react against the Immortal White.
'That should be enough.'
Maria was using this technique in battle for the first time. She had to admit that her power exceeded her expectations.
Yet, at that moment, a figure emerged from the flames. A child bathed in white flames. The child's hands flowed through the air and passed through the centre of the circle between Maria's hands, shattering it. At first, Maria didn't understand how Mais had managed to block her attack. But then she saw everything in Mais's eyes.
Fire. Mais had become an 8th-stage Sage with the help of Tao.
Feeling the Fire Tao must have been an unparalleled achievement for someone of his age. Yet Mais had easily shattered records. By reaching the Sensing Phase, he had become somewhat resistant to Maria's attack; however, with his own technique, he had only just managed to pierce through it.
At that moment, Maria's arm was almost irreversibly paralysed by numbness. All Maria could do was look at Mais's face. Mais shoved a pill into her mouth. It was incredibly fast. Maria couldn't even react.
Then Mais struck Maria on the shoulder, knocking her unconscious. Standing half-naked in the middle of the ruined house, he felt utterly exhausted. His wounds had reopened. But he had no other choice.
He had to fight to survive.