The teen girl jumped into the air like she’d seen a ghost and ran off to fetch the tea set. Wan Ling apologized a few more times while the tea set was brought out. She started to prepare tea for their guests, a very common apologetic offering. Peak Master Lupeng and the two disciples had twisted looks on their faces. Sage noticed the issue, but he could already tell Wan Ling was embarrassed so he didn’t want to break it to her. Peak Master Zhen was the first one to break, “Very interesting! I don’t think I’ve ever tasted soot tea.”

Wan Ling was personally preparing the tea, as that was the way to show the most respect. She was just far too flustered and forgot that her whole body was covered in soot. So much so that it was falling and crumbling off her, many particles dropping all over. Little black dots were scattered around the whole tea set, with more than a few in every cup. Suddenly realizing her mistake she apologized a few more times and then chose to excuse herself. Abandoning her guests was quite rude, but she had already messed up too many times and chose to save what little face she had left by escaping. The mess was his fault, so Sage was the one who had to stay with the guests.

“Forgive us for not being prepared to receive you, Honored Masters. If I might ask, what is the purpose of your visit? If it’s not urgent, please allow us to make it up to you at a later date. Our current accommodations are far from up to the standard, especially not for such illustrious guests.”

Jin Shih took this moment to step forward, he looked every bit the young and refined scholar. His robes were pristine and had large wide sleeves. He also carried a gold folding fan and wore a sort of tall round cap that sloped forward in the front. It was somewhat similar to the different scholarly hats Sage remembered seeing Eastern Scholarly types wear, but it didn’t match any specific era or style. He clapped the golden fan against a palm, “Master, why are we here anyways?”

He didn’t have to say it, but the look in his eyes and the contemptful gaze he fixed on Sage made it obvious that he was asking about the difference in their status. The Peak Master’s were the second most powerful in the Sect, they answered only to the Sect Leader. As their Personal Disciples, they were technically inferior to the Elders, but in practice most Elders deferred to them. For what reason would two Peak Masters visit a lowly Outer Disciple?

Peak Master Zhen gave her disciple a curious look. As a troublemaker herself, she didn’t bother to discipline her arrogant disciple. She quite enjoyed how he would mouth off and act superior. The important point was this disciple of hers was all talk, he was too smart to act arrogant and get himself into trouble. He just loved to cut people down with his words. She looked over at Lupeng. Lupeng in turn waved his hand towards his own disciple.

Cui Shufen had an interesting look, something people would call a ‘babyface’. Despite the serious look on her face, she still appeared quite childish even though it was obvious she was an adult. She was currently staring at Sage with a gaze full of wonder. Only when Lupeng waved to her did she break out of her revelry. A little startled she took a moment to gather herself before pointing at Sage and speaking, “When I read the stars I saw a large movement related to this guy.”

Jin Shih immediately glared at Sage. This time with a more calculating gaze. He looked back and forth between Cui Shufen and Sage a few times. Scrutinizing the look on her face closely, “Master, is there anything special about this guy?”

Jin Shih wanted to belittle the lowly Outer Disciple, but since Cui Shufen said he was somewhat important he didn’t want to question her skills. Instead he turned the criticism towards Sage. Sage on the other hand recognized that look.

Seems pretty obvious he likes this girl and is jealous she is interested in me for some reason. Ugh.

Sage decided to interject, maybe he could make this easier, “I’m nothing special Master Jin Shih. I have little talent, but I studied hard and got ten different profession badges. I was also mutated into a Snake man years ago, but Peak Master Zhen helped me fix that. Unusual, but nothing extraordinary. Maybe, it has something to do with my inventions?”

If I’m getting unwanted attention, might as well put it to use!

He quickly pulled out some of his older inventions. Pointing out the hot water creator, the plans for central heating used in the Palace of Prosperity, as well as the waterpark, showers, floor tile heaters, and the movie theater. Most of them weren’t really new devices, just innovate applications of them that he’d stolen from Earth. Cui Shufen smiled, “They’re the ones that built that Palace of Prosperity! Its so luxurious, so soft and warm.”

The Peak Masters and Jin Shih hadn’t visited the place, but they immediately made plans to stop by after this.

“Those are only my lifestyle and entertainment devices. I’m sure that everyone would wish to have such things in their home, the Palace of Prosperity is created to build the desire for them. The only problem is simplifying their manufacture for large scale. The device I’m working on could help solve that problem as well as an infinite number of others.”

He pointed at the exploded device and then brought out another copy of it from his ring. Placing it down and showing it off, “This is a model made from expensive materials that doesn’t explode. The other model is one of my tests to reduce cost with cheaper resources.”

To the others the device looked like a pair of alchemical furnaces stacked on top of each other with some strange arms and wheels stuck to it. Sage opened a small hatch and put some Spirit Stones into it. The Peak Masters didn’t want to be covered in soot so they immediately threw up a screen of mostly transparent energy between them and the device. Sage didn’t even notice as he ran his fingers over a few array symbols and then stepped back. The lower furnace started to glow with red light and heat. A short while later the upper furnace started to rumble and they could hear bubbling and boiling sounds from within. Then Sage turned a knob and after a few short whistles, there was a sort of chugging sound.

The arm on the side of the device started to extend. As it moved the wheel it was connected to started to spin. Someone from Earth would easily recognize it as a flywheel, being pushed by a piston. The loud whistling and cloud of vapor shot into the air also made it quite obvious that it was a steam engine. In a world where super powered martial artists could control the energy of the world to fly around and level mountain ranges, nobody had bothered with low level and complicated contraptions. The basic level of technology here was abysmal, every problem was solved with Qi and Alchemy.

The four people looked at the device curiously. They obviously didn’t understand the implications of what it could do, so they just looked at Sage again. He nodded his head, “I know it doesn’t look like all that much, but I assure you it can revolutionize the world.”

Then he turned the knob and stopped the piston moving, walking across the yard he grabbed a flat wooden cart and pushed it over. He’d already prepared it for the demonstration for Wan Ling. A simple flat cart with four wheels, two of the wheels were connected by an axle underneath, there was a slot in the floor of the cart and a large lever near the wheels. Sage pushed it over and placed the device on top of the cart. He attached a couple bolts and then ran a chain through the cart and around a gear. There was another gear attached to the flywheel and he connected the flat chain.

“This is just the most simple device, I threw it together quickly to demonstrate.”

Turning the knob again, Sage waited a few seconds and the piston started to work again, this time the flywheel was turning the chain and the wheels of the cart started rotating. It was a pretty ramshackle job, but in this world he didn’t have to have a massive boiler carrying huge amounts of water. Steam Engines here would be many times more efficient than on Earth because of the reduced weight. Formations could create water and fire, getting rid of water and fuel weight. The cart started going faster and faster, but Sage quickly turned the knob to stop the piston and pulled the lever to brake the cart.

“With more refinement we can cheaply make Spirit Stone powered carriages. I know they already exist now, but they’re either pulled by intelligent Beasts, or use very expensive systems.”

Then he tapped the device, “I’m just using a few water and fire arrays. So the cheaper I can get the device to be, the better our profits. No livestock to manage and there will be speeds comparable to Demonic Beasts, not just mortal animals. Also, engines can do many things, not just push carriages. Automatic hammers, looms, crop harvesters, item sorters, mills, there’s endless possibilities.”