The four circles intersected with each other unequally. Like a venn diagram on the inside of a dome or hemisphere. The circle to the ‘north and south’ did not overlap, while those on the ‘east and west’ overlapped all three of the other circles. Sage took a good look for a few moments before returning to his conversation with Guan Zhenyan. His eyes opened and the man nodded.

“As you can see, the Psionic Crystals are a sort of legacy of their own. Nobody is sure where it comes from, but there is speculation about a Psychic God, or a collective consciousness of the Astral Realm. Whatever the source, it is quite profound. The path is made up of four main facets, while no one knows the actual names for its parts, most have tried to make up names for them based on their effects. The two circles that do not overlap correspond to the ‘Internal’ and the ‘External’. While the other two circles are usually referred to as ‘Perception’ and ‘Manipulation’. Of course, as you advance you’ll see that the names aren’t perfect.

“When you direct energy to one of the four main paths it will bring the symbols within it into greater focus and detail. As you’ve seen, the majority of the symbols are within overlapping areas, so you’ll have to devote power to both of the areas that overlap to ‘light up’ that symbol. Those new symbols also have their own circles which then overlap with others, and so on. As you likely saw, the more energy they have gained the more detailed the symbols become and the easier it will be to study and learn a Spirit Power technique.”

Listening to the description, Sage suddenly realized why the whole thing seemed so familiar to him. Isn’t this thing just like a skill-tree in a game? Unfortunately, ‘putting points in’ doesn’t give new abilities, it just creates a book I can study. Close enough, I guess.

After making this realization, Sage cut right to the point, “Since you’ve told me this much, I’m going to assume that one of my two problems can be solved by unlocking certain abilities? Which path do I take in this spirit tree?”

Guan Zhenyan had already grown used to Sage making up strange names for things, so he figured out what he meant after a moment. He’d also been a passenger in the Universe Ring for years and had been watching the outside world all that time. With that knowledge he had learned quite a bit more about Sage’s methods and also his situation.

“You’re only trapped here because the Cloud Swallowing Thunder Eel will only carry those weaker than itself. Nobody is foolish enough to let a stranger put a knife into their mouth, so why would the Thunder Eel be any different. Since you’ve already become a Nascent Soul if you wish for the Cloud Swallowing Thunder Eel to carry you back you need to make it trust you.”

Sage nodded along with this line of thinking, “So, is there a method to earn its trust?”

“Many. There are also others to dominate its mind or even wipe it clean, though those are far more difficult to do.”

“Alright, for our deal, you must detail the path to all of them later. What about my second problem?”

“Simple enough. In the external path, overlapping with manipulation, the fifth major ring from the right. There is a symbol that is similar to a fire controlling array. It is a Spirit Power Technique that can be used for Blacksmithing. It can also be used on Magic Devices to perform alterations. That one is capable of dealing with a Memory Seed. If you’re skilled enough, that is.”

Sage found the area he was talking about and nodded his head. Guan Zhenyan then explained to him the other paths that could deal with the Cloud Swallowing Thunder Eeel and then Sage had one last question, “Alright, and what is the ‘Divine Egg’?”

“Divine who? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

As Guan Zhenyan spoke, he looked confused and almost innocent, but Sage was unconvinced, “You can pretend all you want, but it’s not going to work. Tell me about that object from the core of the Psionic Crystal deposit and we can conclude our deal.”

“Fine, fine. That object is usually called a ‘Realm Fragment’. With one dimension spilling into another, sometimes the very stuff the dimension is made of comes through. The Realm Fragment brings along with it a great amount of energy from the other realm. That overflow of energy is the source of the Psionic Crystals. The objects in the vicinity of the Realm Fragment are transformed, and in the Astral Realm’s case it creates Psionic Crystals. Those closer to the fragment contain far more energy than those from further out. As you’ve seen the Realm Fragment also contains its own will. That is because it’s from the Astral Realm. That dimension is a place filled with terrifying mental energy, nearly everything there has its own consciousness and mind, the will of that fragment is just a residual imprint from that place.”

Having said his piece, Guan Zhenyan held out his hand as if demanding payment.

“Not so fast. What is the Realm Fragment used for and how do I use it?”

“It only works in proximity to the spilled dimension. It is something like a low spot. The energy pouring from the other dimension is like water and the Realm Fragment collects it, just like how a hole in the ground can form a pond. If there’s no source of water that pond dries up and is just a hole again. When it arrived it brought with it a huge amount of energy and soaked all the rocks nearby. In the future it will take years to form new Psionic Crystals, and that’s if it remains here where the dimensional spill is.”

Sage didn’t find much amiss with what he’d been told. It all sounded somewhat reasonable, especially since he knew nothing about all of this. On the other hand, he wasn’t a fool, “So you’d like me to just put it back and off we go? Then you’ll come up with a story to get me to hand it over to you, since its not worth much, right? No need for the games, just tell me what else it can be used for.”

“Haven’t you ever heard that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure? A Realm Fragment is not something you can use. It carries the energy of another dimension, it’s way out of your league.”

While he hadn’t learned how to put the Divine Egg to use, Sage at least knew it was a Realm Fragment and he was pretty sure Guan Zhenyan wasn’t going to give up any more specific information at the moment. With his curiosity sated, Sage reluctantly stuck to the deal he’d made. Of the four thousand Psionic Crystals, about a thousand of them were a darker color, a purple instead of pink tint, and twice as powerful as the standard ones. Of those, there were nearly a hundred that were even more powerful, they had a deep dark purple, almost black like obsidian, streak through their center. These crystals were ten times more powerful than the standard crystal.

While the deal was to give Guan Zhenyan 1000 Psionic Crystals and equally split the special crystals, Sage took a few liberties. The crystals ten times stronger than normal were called ‘Supreme Psionic Crystals’ and he gave Guan Zhenyan 50 of the hundred. He also did the same with the ‘High-Grade Psionic Crystals’ that were twice as strong as normal, giving him 500 of the thousand. As for the normal crystals he didn’t give him any. He’d handed over half of the higher quality crystals and they had as much energy as 1500 normal Psionic Crystals. If they were valued, Sage was sure they’d be worth even more. Just like a gemstone that was the size of a fist would be worth astronomically more than a pile of the same type of gemstone with a similar volume.

With that matter solved, he sent the crystals to where Guan Zhenyan was imprisoned and moved on to the rest of his spoils. He had the Hoplites search the corpses of the Flares, making sure they didn’t miss anything, and soon there was a pile of metal, leather, and smelly clothing in front of him. Once they were finished, Sage sent the Hoplites back out of the storage basement directly. This storehouse of his was underground and had thick stone walls covered in formations. The occupants of the Universe Ring couldn’t get in here through normal means and he usually kept the whole place under stasis. Which was a good thing, since it kept the bodies from decomposing. He was not excited to be smelling those smells.

As he’d thought, the Flares were practically paupers in comparison to the Hexacrats. There were a few scattered bits and pieces of high-tech devices, but they were beat up from heavy use. He was pretty sure they were scavenged or left-overs from before the ‘Starfall Event’. Unlike the Hexacrats who could manufacture new equipment and research new technology, the Flares were just scavengers and bandits. While he didn’t have a direct use for any of the equipment, he could at least use them for testing when he returned to the cultivator world. Who knows, maybe something will work?

What was more valuable were the bodies of all the Flares. Now that he thought about it, there were still tens of thousands of them in his Inner World, and thousands of them were suffering from the Greenrose Poison. If he’d been sleeping a week, the initial green roses would be half-blossomed into a black color and killing all the affected flesh. He made a mental note to check up on them next, but his attention was currently upon the many bodies. Just as with the Fisher Punk, he was quite sure that each and every one had Psionic Crystals inside their dried up Spiritual Seas.

While he was wondering just how many more Psionic Crystals could be harvested from the few thousand Flares that had died in battle he suddenly felt something else far more enticing. A very familiar thrumming came from deep within his core.

The body of the leader, Beast Kira, was calling out to him. He was suddenly reminded of the many lives he’d lived with deep regrets and a cold sweat rolled down Sage’s back.