For the next few years, Sage would be traveling. He had a few options on how to accomplish this task and he chose the slowest. Linking to a Warp Worm, he had it burrow down quite deep and pointed it in the direction of the Dou Kingdom. The number of dangers it might encounter so deep underground were drastically reduced in comparison to traveling through the sky where Demonic Beasts would pick you out from miles away, or on the ground where you could stumble into a creature’s territory without realizing it. Sage even took this idea to the next level and slowly raised a hundred Warp Worms. He had a couple dozen of them travel along with his linked worm, creating a small herd of the big worms, a full three feet in diameter. Moving as a pack, they would definitely discourage attack, and if they did run into trouble he could release another 60 or so of the beasts and overwhelm their enemies. Having the enemy suddenly quadruple in number would be enough to terrify, if not defeat, most threats.

While the worms were burrowing, Sage lived within the Universe Ring and only had to devote a tiny portion of his attention to the outside world. Now that he was a wanted man, it was time to make some drastic changes. First things first, time to change his appearance and get a new identity. Even if he was heading two Kingdoms away, there was still the matter of his enmity with the Fu Clan. They had already killed him and if he were to be seen again, they would think he had ‘faked’ his death. They would most likely send another hit squad and be far more thorough in making sure he was dead. His chances of escaping like last time would be reduced. Better to have a new start.

Conveniently, many years ago he had already created a fake identity in the Dou Kingdom. Long ago, on the run from a destroyed Lang Clan he’d registered himself at the Black Dog Mercenary Company. Ling Sheng from Flying Wind Province. It was a province on the other side of the kingdom from 10,000 Wave Province. At the time he’d just picked it at random since it was far away and hard to verify his claim. Thinking of the names from the perspective of their romanization, they were quite similar. On the other hand, the characters were very different. His real name, Lang Sheng, the characters meant Mantis, and Sage, respectively. His new identity, Ling Sheng, the characters meant Bell, and Life. Quite the drastic difference.

To go along with the new name, he’d need a new look. He had practiced the Living Canvas technique to quickly make coloring changes, but that wasn’t enough. Far from it. It couldn’t even change his bone structure, let alone his blood, aura, spirit power, and soul signatures. While the people that could sense such things, let alone link them to him were few, it was better to be thorough. He first checked the Timeless Master’s Library and then the scroll from Peak Master Zhen, entertainingly named ‘How to be a Little Birdy’, wondering if anything fit his needs. While there were some decent disguising techniques, they weren’t as good as his first plan.

That plan was two fold. He would merge with a Demonic Beast again and transform his body. In the process of merging with a new intelligent being, if he were successful, his mind and soul would be altered, the two parts becoming a new whole. The first time, with the Twin Ringed Soul Serpent he had been lucky and the even split between man and beast had been manageable. The second time, the toad with the hypnotic eyes had overwhelmed his mind. Two parts beast, one part human, and many parts insect, his will was muddled and he became more of a monster than a person. The Silver Liberator Butterfly had allowed him to consume those other wills and joined them into a whole. From what he understood at the time, that power was still within him, and hopefully he could use it once more.

Before merging with a new beast he would dispel his Human Seal and after the merge he would create it anew. His appearance as a human was, by default, shaped by his subconscious, but with extra effort he could alter it. Most beasts would subconsciously include traits that were similar to their beast form when they were sealed or grew powerful enough to transform on their own. Making his own Seal, Sage could just alter it slightly and end up with a very different human form. The alteration process took quite some time, just as applying the human seal did, so it was not a method to create a quick disguise, but it was perfect for his current needs.

After these changes were done, he was going to use his identity as Ling Sheng to gather information about the Dou Kingdom, build his reputation, and then use that reputation to gather other mercenaries. The Black Dog Company was basically a kingdom wide Mercenary Guild, and within that guild he could form his own team, creating a group that would serve as the basis of his power, backed with the rules of the Black Dog Company. The Black Dog Company was one of the Four Major Businesses of Dou Kingdom, the four groups that were second in power only to the royal family. The Eastern and Western Coalitions were made up of many large clans, sects, and companies. While impressive, a whole coalition was actually only equivalent in power and influence to one of the Four Major Businesses.

The Four Major Businesses of Dou Kingdom were very neutral in their dealings, following strict rules to ensure they only did business and didn’t interfere with government or other sources of power. They had the support of the royal family, and the two Coalitions had formed because of their jealousy of the Four Major Businesses. It was rumored that the royal family were the ones that had a hand in the formation of an Eastern and Western Coalition instead of a single force of opposition. Instead of turning into a rebellion, the two coalitions were competitors and the royal family acted as a mediator. Or at least, that was as much Sage had found out when he was last in the Dou Kingdom for the Thunder Mountain Bridge Tournament.

In the Universe Ring.

Sage was working on the first part of his plan. He only planned on merging with a single beast this time, but that didn’t mean that beast was going to be simple. After returning to the Holy Flame Sect he’d done lots of research, built a few factories, and taught them the concept of the assembly line. During that time, he’d also had the Prosperity Company collecting insects and beasts from stores around the province and delivering them to him. He was building up the diversity of creatures within the Universe Ring. He’d also made purchases at the auction for the same reason. He’d learned his lesson that a complete merge should be done sparingly as the dangers were immense. To that end, he wished to create a more powerful and perfect creature to merge with.

In addition, it was about time for a new generation of insect helpers. The Steel Silk Centipede, Chameleon Mantis, Emerald Dragonfly, Warp Worm, and Charming Lance Beetle were quite capable and each had their strengths and weaknesses. The same goes for his ant colonies. A mass of many small creatures could be just as powerful if not more so than a single huge one. Having many options was quite a strength and the different creatures had acted as a good surprise to his foes. On the other hand, there was just too many of them to focus on. It was time to come up with a new multi-purpose pet that he could focus his efforts on instead of a whole stable of different things.

Sage brought out a scroll, the title on it was ‘Forging the Forest’.

Time for a new breeding program.