Having killed someone far more important than he imagined, it was no wonder there was so many marked objects amongst his possessions. If he could go back he would have hid his face and made sure to secure an escape route instead of letting himself get cornered like that. He’d gotten used to dealing with people less powerful than himself and as soon as people stronger than him showed up he got caught unaware and had to go all out to protect himself. Seems I’m still inexperienced in the world of Cultivators.

Lin Bao. It was the name of the important figure he killed. He was the grandson of a big shot, but Sage knew little else about him. He was tempted to gather information, but that would only draw attention to himself. If he was the one looking for a murderer, the obvious suspects would be anyone that had been looking for information about the deceased. Sage had no prior relationship with the man, and had never seen him before that day at ‘Strange Creatures’. That was also his first time at the shop, so nobody knew him nor would they have an idea how to track him. He’d been in Red Knife City to gather information and wasn’t wearing the Sect uniform so he was just an anonymous stranger. The only sad part was that he probably couldn’t return to Strange Creatures for at least a few years, just to be safe.

It also taught him the importance of a disguise. Most of the identity hiding techniques could be seen through by someone of higher rank, but at least it would be a start. Sage put it on his list of things to do and continued to categorize the treasures. Besides a few rare spirit plants, the rest were standard fare. Piles of spirit stones and pills. The pills were the standard supporting drugs as well as cultivating pills. They were very common among young geniuses. The kind of thing Sage never qualified for. For a genius cultivator the first three ranks could be said to merely be accumulating energy. Qi Building, Qi Condensation, and Sea Forming. Gathering Qi, condensing it into a liquid form, and expanding the capacity till it was like a sea. Each stage required more and more energy. Spirit stones were useful to break through the barriers of each stage and for replenishing energy, but cultivating pills for the most part were huge piles of energy.

They were made from special materials and refined to be gentle nourishment for internal energy. Spirit stones were much more violent, which is why they were saved for breaking barriers, powering devices, and emergencies. That said, Sage was no elite. Those geniuses were too great, which is why they needed the pills to supply enough energy to keep up with their progress. For normal cultivators, they weren’t at a deficit of energy. The energy they gathered had to be carefully cycled through the body, converted by their Qi Cultivation art, compressed and carefully integrated with their existing energy in the Dantian. It was a very complicated and delicate process, since a single mistake could cause a drop in cultivation, or even permanent damage to their body. A normal person wouldn’t have the problem of refining and building the energy so quickly they needed pills to supply more.

So, the pills were valuable, but only a few people actually used them. At least for the standard cultivation pills. There were tons of exotic or unusual ones with special abilities that affected the body in different ways or that could assist in the process of cultivation. While they weren’t so useful after reaching rank four, they were popular among rich folks. They would use them to cut down on the amount of time they would have to train every day. At that rank, cultivation required understanding and comprehending the natures of things far more than it did gathering energy.

Putting away the Pills, Sage sorted them into the ‘sell’ pile inside his ring. He wanted to add the corpses of the wolves from that Beast Tamer, but he was worried they’d be recognized so he had no choice but to butcher them and sort the parts into his material collection. Thankfully he’d gained enough spirit stones to completely recover the ones he’d spent on starting his business. He hadn’t recovered the gold, but gold wasn’t so important to him anyway. Once the business took off, he’d probably be constantly looking for ways to convert gold into spirit stones anyways.

With his spoils sorted, Sage had to decide on what to do next. Just a quick glance at his notes for the future were daunting. He’d piled up so many ideas and avenues of progress that he had no idea where to start. Even just studying the materials from the Hidden Domain, the weapons and clothing from the Soul Taming Abode, or the various special objects he had were huge tasks. That isn’t even counting all the ideas he had regarding insect breeding and formations. He still had only barely scratched the surface of the gains from the Timeless Master’s Cave. He wanted nothing more than to just go into seclusion and start work.

‘Going into seclusion’ was a special status for cultivators. There were many times when they were at the verge of a breakthrough or other mystical development and in order to improve they would have to lock themselves away in solitude to complete the process. Such opportunities could be very rare and if they weren’t grasped there was the chance they would never improve again. So, a cultivator could go into seclusion and essentially exempt themselves from their duties to the Sect. Once they exited seclusion they would of course be expected to attempt to make up for anything important they had missed, but for the most part it was like sick days. The only difference being they were sick years, or even sick decades in this case. In fact, their return would be celebrated as more often than not a cultivator would return with more power and their responsibilities would increase.

The problem for Sage was that he still had some matters to handle. After a couple days of rest and planning, Sage got back into action. Well, a sort of action. His main concerns were actually Wan Ling and the Palace of Prosperity. He’d only been gone a few weeks so the business was still just getting off its feet. Sage usually liked to keep a low profile, which for him also meant not being a burden on his friends. It was for this reason he’d never relied on their positions as Elders for his own advantage outside of a few occasions, like when he’d first merged with the serpent. This time though, he was willing to make an exception.

There were six people gathered around a table and they’d all just finished eating dinner and having a few drinks. It was only at this point did Sage nod his head to one of them. That one was Wan Ling, the elegant and demure looking lady took out a small object and placed it on the table before placing a spirit stone on it to activate it. The room was suddenly shrouded from outside interference and eavesdropping. The other four people looked around and then back to Wan Ling and Sage.

“I’m very sorry to spring this on you all so suddenly, but we aren’t just here to have a pleasant dinner. I have some ulterior motives.”

The group seemed perplexed, each of them checking the other’s faces to see who else might have been in on this, but finding them all just as confused. That said, even if they were confused, none of them were scared. They were actually the few people that Sage considered his friends in this world, so of course they wouldn’t be on guard. Three of them were Yuan Hu, Geng He, and Qui Hou. Sage’s three roommates from long ago that were now Sect Elders. The last was actually Wan Ling’s uncle, Wan Yuhan, and a Beast Tamer that Sage had befriended long ago. Besides the people in this room, Sage also had some attachments to his many teachers, like Alchemist Tang Deng and even Peak Master Zhen, but they were seniors to him so he didn’t wish to approach them as equals.

“Don’t be worried, there isn’t some great trouble being dumped on your heads. I would like your help, but there are also rewards involved! None of you may know this, but I recently started a business. It was a failure.”

The group had been listening quietly, but now it seemed like the silence suddenly multiplied. Qiu Hou scratched his head before blurting out, “Ehh, I know nothing about business. Why are you asking me?”

Geng He shook his head and pointed the fan in his hand over at Wan Ling, “I’m sure Brother Lang brought Wan Ling. Be more patient.”

Hearing this, Qiu Hou suddenly seemed to understand, for a moment. Then he started to point at Sage. Before he could ask another question Yuan Hu, the most ferocious one, reached over and slapped the back of Qiu Hou’s head, “Yeah, don’t be so impatient! Silly monkey.”

“Who are you calling a monkey!”

“You! That’s who!”

The two started bickering, just as they always did. The mischievous monkey and the tyrannical tiger. At least that was what Sage and Geng He called them back when they lived together. Their personalities seemed perfectly matched to make them argue. Sage let them fight for a few minutes before he finally cleared his throat.

“Ahem! Anyways, back to the point. I was upset and worried about trying again, but then I met Wan Ling. Thankfully, she had some great ideas that have helped give my business a second chance. That brings me to why I called you all here today.”

Next came the dramatic pause. He wanted to let them recover from the distraction of the argument and also to prepare for what he said next.

“While I think we have a great plan, just the two of us may not be able to handle it all on our own. I brought you all here to ask for your help, and also offer an opportunity. Please join our company!”