It was a world of pure white. It seemed to stretch on forever. No matter how far you walked, you could count your steps to infinity. The sky and earth blended together. When you lifted your head to see the horizon, you saw nothing. The horizon was indistinct. But within this horizonless world, there was a stain. It was a small but significant blemish within the infinite expanse.
It was none other than Kasuur, with his green hair and fat belly. Maria was no longer with him, and he wandered around aimlessly. He knew what he had to do but was completely incapable of knowing how to do it. Fortunately, his wounds began to ache again at the next point. He couldn't run much.
The pain was really bothering him. It had been a long time since the gash in his stomach had opened. John thought he would collapse and be eaten by monsters. That wasn't the case, though. Kasuur slowly recovered and even rescued Maria from a powerful sage. Although the sage had been blocked at the time, Kasuur had still saved her.
Now, he was in this white space, his mind confused.
"Where am I? Ah, the Legacy. I'm in the Legacy, right?"
At that moment, Kasuur drifted in and out of a daze. This had been happening constantly since he arrived. He sensed something strange in the air, but then he guessed it was one of the benefits added to help him complete his task. After all, he was only in the Core Realm. The test was designed for a Sage.
It was designed to last at least a Sage's lifetime.
Still, Kasuur believed that time here did not actually consume his life.
The Horizonless World was the fourth gate. Kasuur entered it while holding Maria in his arms. The voice of the test echoed in their heads.
Information was transmitted to him. It was information for the first test. Kasuur and Maria only had to take one test. They were both relieved by the news. After everything that had happened, they couldn't endure more trials.
They only realized how hasty they had been in thinking this way when they entered the white universe. The tests imprisoned them there. They were imprisoned independently of each other. They could only leave if they succeeded:
'Create a technique above your own realm and obtain the legacy.'
Kasuur continued walking through the infinite white world. He knew he had to create a Sage technique, but he also knew it was impossible. Mais had once told him how a technique was created. It had actually just been small talk in passing. After staying there for a while and thinking about how to create a technique, he remembered that conversation.
Mais had told him that only a sage could create a technique.
Kasuur was only at the tenth level of the Core Realm. Although he could use techniques from the Sage Realm, creating one at that level was beyond his ability.
One could only achieve a technique in the Sage Realm after seeing the Tao's trace. There was also no guarantee that a technique created by a Sage would be in the Sage Realm. Most of the time, the technique wouldn't be at that level. The ability to create a technique is obtained in the Sage Realm. Have you ever thought about that? Then why do techniques start in the Origin Energy Realm?
There was a simple reason for this. Most techniques created by sages only exist at the Origin Energy Realm level. For their techniques to exist in the Sage Realm, they must either have a very high understanding of the Tao or a special affinity with it. Very few people are like Wuma. He obtained his Drunken Sage Transformation from his addiction and its harmony with the Blood Tao. When he first created the technique, it was only a simple Sage technique. Over 200 years, Wuma was able to transform it into a high-level technique.
Kasuur clearly did not have that much experience. In this void, he had been walking aimlessly for days or weeks.
'How long will this continue?'
The answer was clear, and Kasuur knew it. Until he created a technique.
'So what do I need to create a technique?'
He understood the Tao of Earth. He had to create a technique based on this understanding.
At that moment, he reached out his hand. An artificial sword appeared in his hand. It flowed as if forged from infinite whiteness. Kasuur realized that the drowsiness he had experienced since arriving was intended to inspire him. This legacy was both a pit of madness and an opportunity. No one else could grasp the Tao so easily here and perhaps create a technique.
Maybe the horizonless realm was helping him because he was in the Core Realm. Or maybe it was an opportunity given to everyone.
Creating a sword technique was Kasuur's greatest chance. But even that chance was small. When Kasuur swung his first sword, he didn't know what to do. So he began to apply the only sword technique he knew:
The Eternity Slash.
He had done it once before. It was just a peak core technique, but Kasuur wanted it to show him the way. After performing the technique, the energy in his core diminished but immediately refilled. It was as if he didn't need to think about the energy in his core in this world.
Slowly, under a glimmer of inspiration, he began to enlighten. Days passed without his noticing. His body remained unchanged, but his mind felt the passage of time at a gentler pace. He could vaguely sense the flaws in his movements. Step by step, he changed them.
Weeks passed, and Kasuur felt as if a long time had passed. Still, he continued to swing his sword and refine his technique. He never stopped. He never ate. His body felt nothing except his mind, but Kasuur's mind was dying. At this rate, even enlightenment could not protect this young mind.
Kasuur didn't understand, but Maria understood the test at that moment in her boundless world. They were doomed to succeed, but the true results would only become apparent after receiving their rewards. Would their minds remain as clear as before after the test was over?
This test offered a reward regardless of one's ability, and one paid the price regardless of ability.
Kasuur understood something at this point. By constantly swinging his sword, he reached the stage of great success in the Eternity Slash weeks later.
He began to see something:
Thin green threads stretched into infinity. There were very few of them, but they were there. They were there. Sometimes, as Kasuur swung his sword, it intertwined with these threads. It changed everything. Just like when he fought Jong back then. Kasuur felt himself accelerating at that moment. It was as if it belonged to something beyond the world, but it seemed incomprehensible to someone as simple as him.
But Kasuur was determined to reach this incomprehensible thing. It was his hope, and he was tired of being there. He had to leave.
He wanted to go home.
At that point, though, he wasn't even sure where home was. But he didn't have time to think about that.
He had to think about the sword. He had to think about the green strings he had passed through, get caught up in their flow, and understand them.
And so the weeks turned into months. Although the enlightenment protected his mind, its effects still worked to some extent, and Kasuur was too young to endure such pain. He felt as if he were about to lose himself. Yet, the enlightenment he had entered had become much deeper. The green strings were also much more distinct. He didn't know what they were, but when he became intertwined with them, he felt as if he could rule the world. Everything seemed under his control, and with that, Kasuur broke a barrier.
He reached the stage of feeling in the Tao of Earth.
This was unexpected, but it gave Kasuur more than he had wanted. He stopped swinging his sword at that moment, but the green threads did not disappear completely. They continued to exist faintly. He realized that the power was still there.
He had created a technique, and the horizonless world was fading away.
The last thing he needed to do was name it.
Kasuur knew this wasn't just an ordinary technique created in the Sage Realm. To fully master it, he had to reach the stage of feeling the Earth Tao. Thus, the strands didn't vanish, and Kasuur could merge his sword with them to accelerate whenever he wanted. He could cut off his enemy's head.
"I'll call this Kasuur's Slash. Or no, no! the Threadcutter's Slash is better. Mais better not make fun of me."
And so the world began to shatter. The world, which had been white before, was now filled with faint threads in Kasuur's vision.
He didn't know the source of this yet, but one day he would learn. Now it was time to finish the legacy and return.
It was time to meet Maria.