The village was a place full of people who lived on their own, far away from people and powerful communities. They had farms and fields. People worked there and made a living for themselves. They didn't even know where the next town was. So Kasuur, despite his talent, did not have a good education in a good place.
But there was one good thing about it. No one came to tax them. They were weak. There were very few cultivators, and it was difficult for them to even begin to cultivate because they had no leaders to show them the way to cultivate. Even the few who were in the Beginner Realm were already over 50 years old. The army didn't want them.
Mais was brought here. The population of the village was about one hundred. It was a small place. 15 or 16 buildings or less. But the people were friendly. They welcomed Mais well. Just as they had welcomed Kasuur, a little baby, many years before.
Kasuur was a baby when he came to the village and he was too weak to react or say anything to anyone. Mais was 8 years old and could do many things by himself. But he was also blind, and apparently it was not a long-term blindness. The old women who took care of him, bathed him, fed him, understood how sad he was. An 8-year-old child should not be so sad.
If it was from birth, wouldn't he have gotten used to it by now?
"One of the aunts who bathed him asked, "Your body is so hard, are you cultivating? Her husband was an old man in the Beginning Realm. But he was already 59 years old. Mais was only 8 years old. The cultivation of an 8-year-old child didn't make sense, but she couldn't help but ask.
The woman had a white veil covering her hair and was wearing a long shalwar. She was not sure of the rudeness of her words, but she wanted to ask anyway. Her curiosity got the better of her.
And she was right. The gray-eyed boy sitting on a wooden stool in the black stone bathroom nodded. The old woman scrubbed his body with all her might, barely able to remove the dirt. The stiffness of his body could be attributed to other causes, but not to the wound on his face. Despite the size and the scarring, Mais was still alive. That's why she wanted to ask this question. A normal person and an 8-year-old would definitely be dead.
And there were the muscles that had hardened with his entry into the Foundation Establishment Realm. Mais' hard body was not because he was in the Beginning Realm, but because he was in the Foundation Establishment Realm. Apparently, they had experienced this before.
Mais couldn't stop thinking about the chubby boy who had saved him. Could Kasuur be in the Foundation Establishing Realm?
"Who's the strongest in the village?"
This was clearly a question that could lead to misunderstandings. Especially when it came to setting a goal. But the old woman did not misunderstand him. She shook her head, trying not to show that she had been scrubbing her back for longer, so as not to look Mais in the eye.
She answered Mais' question with a smile. The question came from a place of pride.
"You guessed it, didn't you? Even though he is only 10 years old, Kasuur is already the strongest in the village. I have no idea about the level of the cultivators. But I do know that he defeated the village chief three years ago. The old man began cultivating 30 years ago. At that time, Kasuur had only been cultivating for 3 years. He was only 7 years old! "
Mais frowned. Of course, he knew a lot about cultivation. He knew that people needed a guide to cultivate. To learn how to build a foundation, or how to start cultivating. Mais knew many of these things, but even though he knew them, his cultivation was not based on them. It was based on the Tao in a way that even his father did not understand. He did not use a cultivation method. It was the Tao itself that advanced him. The technique Mais used for cultivation had only worked recently, when he had stepped into the Foundation Establishment realm. And in the past, it had helped him reach the 5th level of the Beginning Realm.
Mais had a very simple understanding of the cultivation techniques. He thought that this was because he started his cultivation with the Tao. After all, he had only experienced the cultivation techniques of the Foundation Realm.
If Kasuur had reached the Foundation Realm without any cultivation techniques or guidance, it would mean that he was no different from the man who first discovered cultivation and invented the realms.
What was such a genius doing in this village?
The 2 aunts washed and rinsed Mais, and gave him new clothes. Mais threw his old clothes into the Treasure Palace. He knew that the aunts would search for the old clothes for a while, but he didn't think that they would think that he had thrown them into a ring-shaped palace with a huge room.
Then he smiled and thanked the aunts. The aunts were even more pleased to see that he looked better, even though he was blind, and had lost his former resentment. Probably any other child his age would have gone crazy in the same situation.
"You finally left the house. You didn't look so dirty."
Mais heard Kasuur's voice. He was standing at the other end of the grassy country road. He was leaning against a part of the house he had just left. Mais smiled at him. Then he walked towards him, using Bo's staff as a cane. This time he walked more smoothly. This surprised Kasuur.
"Surprised?" Mais asked. Kasuur made a face. He was sure that Mais couldn't see it. But at that moment he didn't understand how he had noticed that he was surprised.
"I can still hear your voice, I can tell you're surprised," Mais said with a laugh. Kasuur sighed when he heard that and nodded. He started walking with Mais. In the middle of the unknown forest full of green grass and trees, ordinary people who did no harm to anyone, Mais was sad that he could not see their faces. But what was even sadder was that he often stumbled while walking. Too pathetic to even walk on a straight path. Kasuur walked near him and stopped him from falling many times. No one could understand how much it bothered him.
"Does my face look that bad?"
Kasuur stopped. Mais kept walking. He had that smile on his face that had never changed since the beginning. He didn't show his sorrow. Kasuur frowned. He didn't know how to answer.
Finally, he decided to be honest.
"Gray eyes and a big scar. When you smile, you look scary and cold. If you don't smile, you look like you want to slaughter my whole village. Neither option is very good, huh?"
Mais said nothing but just shook his head from side to side. The boy's jaw worked well, but he didn't even know what a sword was. Where the hell did he fall?
" Oh, I really went blind hah... "
Mais forgot about the sword and the existence of the Genius. He looked at the sky again and sighed in pain. He could no longer see the blue. He wiped the smile off his face. He needed more training to hide the weakness.
"I'm sorry, do you want to tell me what happened? A bear attack? A tiger? Maybe a lion? A lion would be good, actually. I think they're just made up to scare children."
Mais shook his head from side to side. It was really not easy to explain what had happened to this idiot. He decided not to bother.
"A sword did it. A strong and sharp sword."
Kasuur raised an eyebrow and looked curiously at Mais. He put a hand on his stomach and began to scratch it.
"What is a sword?"
Mais sighed. These people were like fossils from long ago. Maybe not adults. They might have known what a sword was, but a child of Kasuur's age did not.
And yet he wanted to teach this boy who had grown up in this ignorant village. Kasuur had saved his life. It was not difficult for Mais to explain what the sword was.
And not just the sword. He explained the spear, the chain, the boomerang, and all kinds of weapons. He spoke of martial arts and techniques. He talked about the vastness of the world and fairy tales. He talked about the reality of lions and many other kinds of animals. Mais talked for hours as Kasuur took Mais's arm and they walked around the village. Kasuur's reactions made him laugh. The people around them were happy when they realized that Kasuur had managed to make this grieving boy laugh.
"So the person who made this scar on your face and blinded you was a powerful cultivator and swordsman?" said Kasuur.
Mais nodded. A faint smile appeared on his face. What would Kasuur think if he knew that his best friend had done this to him? Perhaps he would find it strange. And it was strange.
He heard the sound of Kasuur hitting his belly. It sounded hard. He raised his head to the sky and tried to look like a proud sage, even though his belly would not allow it. And yet Mais was blind. In the darkness, he felt nothing but this boy's pride.
"The sword sounds so wonderful. One day I will heal your wound with my own sword," Kasuur said. Mais turned his face, which had been grimacing at him. He wanted to see how ignorant he looked when he said those stupid words. Kasuur understood that Mais was trying to look at him. They both looked at each other foolishly.
" Hahahaha...!!!! "
And the next moment, they both burst out laughing. While they were laughing like crazy, Mais slapped Kasuur on the back and brought his finger to his face. He could understand where those violent sound waves were coming from.
"Fool! The sword was made to kill. How can you heal someone with it? If you want to heal someone, you have to become a healer."
Of course, the finger was not pointing at Kasuur's face, but into the air. After all, Kasuur was not standing still, and the voice did not show a clear face.
Mais continued to laugh and Kasuur scratched the back of his head. His stupidity had embarrassed him. Mais just kept a smile on his face and tried to satisfy his curiosity as he looked at him with his head down and hollow eyes.
"How far along are you in your cultivation, Kasuur?"
Although Kasuur had no support, he must have known the names of the two realms he was in from the few books he had read. He must have known what stage he was at.
Kasuur lifted his head and then nodded, looking into the darkening sun. He was counting on his fingers in a way that Mais could not see. He was especially careful to be quiet so as not to show that he was counting on his fingers. The other children in the village had already stopped counting on their fingers. He didn't want Mais to find out and make fun of him.
"I think... It must be the 7th level of the Foundation Realm."
PUUFFFF...!!!
If Mais had eaten anything at that moment, he would have spit out everything he had eaten, but when he heard those words, he could only spit it out. Suddenly, he turned his head up. The stupid boy must have only half learned to read. Still, could this boy really have gotten that far? He wondered even more about what he looked like. He had met many geniuses in his life. Now it was undeniable that Kasuur was one of them.
Could someone so different from him exist in this world? While Mais lived on his intelligence and insight, Kasuur existed on his talent. His talent was a shield that covered his stupidity and ignorance. Just as for Mais, his intellect was a shield for his talent.
He was stronger than Mais. Very strong, especially considering his blindness. He just had to be very inexperienced.
They talked for a while longer, and then Mais turned to this boy. He thought he saw the fire burning in him, and for a moment the fire in his own heart came alive. It was as if he had found a way forward, blind and unskilled. At that moment he stopped thinking. He turned to the young man beside him, but his eyes looked much farther away. Those hollow eyes held a great sea of ambition. Mais wanted to throw Kasuur into that sea of ambition. Whether he could swim or not.
"Kasuur, would you like to travel the world with me?"
A question that would change both Kasuur's and Mais' lives. Not just theirs. A terrible question that would affect the history of many people and cultivators.