Sage’s hopes were short lived. After striking the Bronze Soldier a few times, he realized there was zero damage caused, all he did was expend his energy to buy a few seconds of time as the Bronze Soldier walked back over. Sage was already feeling tired after just a few strikes so he quickly tried something different, using another tactics from the Serpent’s memories. He lifted himself high into the air, standing up on his snake tail till the Bronze Soldier’s head was at the same level as his waist. Once he was up high he rapidly struck downwards, tackling into the Bronze Soldier. He struck his shoulder into the soldier to disrupt its balance and then rapidly wrapped the soldier up with his body.

Coiling around and around, trying to capture the Bronze Soldier’s limbs. This was a move the serpent used on smaller foes, entangling them with its body to keep them immobilized while their venom took effect. It was the main tactic for larger snakes like pythons, but they used the hold to suffocate their targets instead of just to buy time. Sage was surprised at the strength of his body, the Bronze Soldier was wrapped up and unable to pull itself free. As his tail finished coiling around the Bronze Soldier’s legs the puppet fell down and brought them both down to the stone floor of the training room.

Sadly, Sage still lost. While he was able to immobilize the Bronze Soldier he never actually injured it. The soldier continued to struggle until Sage finally grew too tired to keep up the hold. At that point, Sage was beaten till he was black and blue before the Bronze Soldier finally walked back out of the room.

“That’s enough. Come back out.”

Sage had already collapsed to the floor, exhausted and feeling like a piece of tenderized meat. When he heard he could exit the training room, he was glad it was over yet also disappointed. He knew he hadn’t put on much of a good showing for himself, he could only hope it was enough to not get himself killed. Slithering his way back out into the courtyard, he moved to the bench from before and sat down again. After a few moments the bird from before flew out from a cloud in the artificial sky. Landing on the bench the bird transformed back into the old man in a sitting position.

“I can tell how worried you are. Relax. Those tests were not for me, they were for you.”

The old man obviously could tell Sage was confused, even though Sage didn’t show it in his eyes or face.

“I already told you, to my Master this world is only a quaint memory. I knew everything I needed to about you the instant you walked into the cave. While you aren’t a suitable inheritor for Master’s true legacy, you qualify to carry on a part of his teachings. Those two tests were part of your rewards. Those tests were arranged to point out your weaknesses.”

Sage was enlightened. No wonder they were such strange tests. Releasing aura and fighting purely with the physical body? Should I start tempering my body and training my aura?

Before Sage had much time to ponder on the meaning, the old man cut straight to the point, “I’m sure you’d figure it out eventually, but I’ll save your time. Releasing aura isn’t as absurd as you think it is. It is a good way to train and observe the state of one’s cultivation. The purpose this time was to show that your cultivation technique is trash. A technique that forcefully changes the element of your Qi is misguided and inefficient.”

Sage reflected upon this information. It hadn’t seemed like a problem in the past, but after this test, Sage realized he was constantly leaking energy on a small scale because of the Verdant Firebrand. Such a state couldn’t be good for cultivating. Cultivating at its core was about accumulating energy. It was like he was trying to fill a huge tank with water and his tank had a hole in the bottom of it. The old man’s talk suddenly caught Sage’s attention, would he be gifted a good cultivation technique?

“I can see you getting your hopes up. Sorry, you aren’t that lucky. Master is not of the same element as you and he never bothered to pick up techniques for the lower ranks. You’ll have to rely on yourself to find a better one. The first lesson is that the Cultivation Technique is the most base level strength of a cultivator. Without a proper Cultivation Technique you can never be truly powerful.”

The old man only let this news sink in a short moment before continuing, “The second test is not about wanting you to become a better martial artists or a body cultivator. The true lesson is that while outside assistance is powerful, sometimes you can only truly rely on yourself. No matter what your possessions, skills, or helpers can provide you must also be strong on your own. Weapons and Treasures can fail or be stole, skills can be countered, and your helpers might betray you or get separated from you.”

“The test of the physical body only is something a friend of my Master was quite fond of. He once said ‘The worst feeling is being disarmed. Being at the mercy of your enemies without a weapon to protect yourself. That is why I train my body. These fists of mine can never be taken away!’. Master said he was simple-minded and had a one-track mind, but even so he was very powerful. Your body is already quite strong, so you wouldn’t go wrong by training it, but don’t forget the real lesson is to always focus on your own strength. The true people at the peak did not just get there because of their possessions.”

The old man really didn’t give Sage much time to digest all this information, rapidly disseminating everything in a manner far different then every other teacher he’d had. They always liked to ration out knowledge in little chunks. Either they wanted their students to have the time to understand it bit by bit, or they enjoyed being superior and having their student hang on their every word. Sage suspected it was probably a little bit of both, but either way it usually seemed pretty effective. This old man on the other hand just smashed the words on wisdom down on his head and tried to shove it all into his ears. Fortunately, Sage was pretty capable and despite the abruptness of the lessons he understood and made a note to reflect on it later.

“You have already gained one gift, the knowledge of your weaknesses. Time for the second rewards.”

The old man reached over towards Sage, extending a hand and pointing a finger towards him. Sage instinctively tried to avoid the finger moving in his direction, but he felt like he couldn’t even move his body. The hand and finger were moving slowly, but Sage felt like he was trapped in molasses. Everything slowed down and when the finger touched against his forehead he had only been able to move his head a quarter inch. When the finger touched him, Sage felt like a bomb went off inside his brain.