Three years ago.

Sage’s body was convulsing with pain and scrambled neural signals. He had no control over it, voluntary or involuntary. His heart had forgotten how to keep pace and his lungs weren’t breathing properly. If he wasn’t such a high level cultivator he would be dead already. At Sage’s level, as long as his core and soul existed, he could continue to live on in some form or another. Repairing a destroyed body was difficult, but not impossible. Those at the Nascent Soul level completely fuse their soul and core, making them even more difficult to get rid of. Even if he had already learned to detach himself from the pain, he was still helpless to resist Guan Zhenyan’s newest poison. All the while, he was mentally describing just how it affected him to the man. He even had to delve into the pain for a while, experiencing it in order to give a detailed report.

Finally, after a few hours the poison had died down enough to allow him to regain control of his body. Carefully climbing back up to his feet he gritted his teeth, “The poison has run its course. Now hand it over!”

Nine years. Nine long years of ‘testing’ a new poison every week.

Guan Zhenyan had an exceedingly smug and lazy smile on his face. Like he was a cat that just ate all the cream. It was a look that Sage had seen many times and grown to hate. No matter how harsh his regulations or demands were, he would always don that smile that showed how little he cared for Sage’s comfort or opinion.

“Ahh, it seems you’ve earned the required amount. Ten million and one thousand Spirit Stones. Alright, here you go.”

A small golden ring flew out of Guan Zhenyan’s hand and Sage snatched it out of the air. Then he turned around and, with an unstable gait, limped his way out of the manor and back towards the tiny woodshed he stayed in. That bastard is such a stickler. Six months ago we made a deal to sell the resources from my Inner World. I should have had more than enough, but then he came up with a bunch of extra fees and charges that put me just short, forcing me into six more months of being poisoned.

While his business deals and transactions sounded above board and legitimate, Sage learned that it was all an act. Guan Zhenyan turned into a mobile phone provider, tacking on dozens of small fees and service charges for things that Sage never asked for. Charging to protect him from other occupants of the city, taxes for living in the city they were in, special fees for staying on the raised manor platform, and worst of all a licensing fee. Guan Zhenyan called it an ‘honorary disciple’ fee for allowing Sage to use the poisons he’d developed. Initially Sage was supposed to be earning 50 to 100 thousand Spirit Stones every time he was poisoned. Suffering on a weekly basis, he should have been able to get the Universe Ring back in less than four years. By creating the poisons he’d been inflicted with he could resell them for up to a million. Only, Guan Zhenyan was ruthless. After all the ‘fees and costs’, Sage only ‘earned’ a fraction of that. He even screwed him over with the Inner World deal. Guan Zhenyan purposely left out a few key ingredients for the deal they created. They agreed to equally split the output of the Inner World, but Guan Zhenyan left out a vital material and later charged Sage a huge fee to purchase it for him.

Then, when they finally made the sale, he also charged a fee for ‘finding a buyer’, and ‘negotiation’. Tens of millions of Spirit Stones were involved in the sale, but Sage only got a few. A more magnanimous person might have given him back the Universe Ring, but Guan Zhenyan made him suffer another six months.

Once he was in his ‘home’, he disappeared from the little woodshed and entered the Universe Ring for the first time in many years. The last time he’d been there, he had Guan Zhenyan riding along and watching everything. The first thing he did was head to his library and make a copy of everything to keep in his Inner World. Well, the second thing. The first thing he actually did was to visit his bathroom and take a hot shower and a very long bath. He’d been living in a tiny old woodshed for nearly a decade, bathing with a bucket and rag. Even if his mental state had reached such a level that he could sit in complete stillness for years on end, it didn’t mean that he no longer enjoyed simple comforts.

Once he’d made a backup of all his accumulated knowledge, Sage felt a bit more relaxed. He’d put most of his valuable possessions inside the Universe Ring and without access to it for 9 years, he’d felt extremely vulnerable. Next, he moved many of his valuables over to the Inner World. Even so, he couldn’t move all of them. The Universe Ring let him put things into stasis, completely preventing their decomposition or any leaking of energy. On the other hand, the Inner World moved at a vastly accelerated time. Not only would things spoil and age, they would do so many times faster than normal. Anything that was delicate or fragile had to stay in the Universe Ring or be stored in special preserving treasures.

After that immediate business was handled, Sage checked up on the Hoplite society in the Universe Ring. He allowed the majority of them to move to the Inner World, only keeping a few that had no desire to leave. There was a hundred square miles to work with in the Universe Ring, but it was nothing compared to the Inner World. Instead, the Hoplites just had to keep his manor area clean and do some landscaping.

Next, a more important task. He prepared a hall with a huge table and worked with the Hoplites to prepare a massive feast. He even had those on the Inner World create elaborate and spectacular new recipes. They worked for many months perfecting them, yet for Sage only a few days had passed by. With everything ready, he summoned Tao Ba.

The pot-bellied boy wearing all white arrived a few minutes later. Pushing back his snowy white hair and looking at Sage like there was something on his face, “Oh, so you still remembered I exist, huh?”

He looked to the left and right and then stared at Sage’s forehead for a moment, “Where is the mighty Guan Zhenyan?”

The look on his face looked apprehensive, and he seemed to be forcing himself to act respectful despite the obvious displeasure he had saying it. Sage merely smiled and held up a finger to his lips, “Shh. He has a seed inside my spirit, but he isn’t watching right now. I struggled for many years and finally got the Universe Ring back from him.”

Tao Ba looked like he shrugged off a weight, “Oh good, that man is such a bore. You are so much more fun.”

Without even any hinting Sage already bowed low, “Please come with me, Great One! I’ve already prepared for you a feast like no other to make up for being away for so long!”

Suffice it to say, Tao Ba was very pleased with all the bootlicking and happily took part in the feast. Sage even went so far as to throw together a movie projector from his experimental parts and put on a show while Tao Ba was eating. Being forced to work for your landlord and paying endless fees and taxes without any control was far worse than just a little butt-kissing. After a night long feast and party, which Sage had some of the occupants of the Inner World come out to enjoy, he finally sat Tao Ba down and made his pitch.

He checked carefully to make sure Guan Zhenyan wasn’t watching before he leaned in, “I need your help. Please help me get away from that man!”