Expecting to be told off, or at the very least hear a barrage of questions, Guan Zhenyan seemed genuinely taken aback by Sage’s question. Wanting to drive home the point, Sage added fuel to this fire, “You let me beat you up so you could hide inside the Universe Ring. You must really be in a difficult situation. We may not be Master and Disciple, but you still bailed me out of a difficult position and gave me access to a few impressive poisons. Is there any way I can help you?”

Sage was not the same person he was thousands of years ago. He no longer saw every interaction with the terrifying people in this world as a contest of domination. In the past he’d always chosen to ‘play the pig to eat the tiger’, hoping to make himself appear as an insufferable butt kisser in order to avoid aggression. If you made yourself seem like a pile of dung, even those wishing to steal from you would have to be careful not to step on you.

Such an approach was also a double edged sword. While it discourages others from taking advantage of you, it also makes you into a pariah. Only people looking for minions would bother to interact with such a person. No one looking for genuine friendship or seeking assistance from a trustworthy party would ever speak with you. It was actually a rarity for Sage to have met the few friends he had along the way because of this repulsive attitude he used to keep himself safe. Those few friends had mostly come about by spending too much time with him, which let them realize he was putting on an act. At that point, he could only give up the charade.

Given that he was already at the mercy of this man, Sage chose to attempt to restore some of the goodwill between them. Guan Zhenyan was taken aback for a moment, but then he laughed, “Nice try, kid. You already owe me, but you’re too weak to help me right now. Just do as your old man says and soon enough you’ll be wishing to never have met me.”

The event he’d seen before came to pass, Guan Zhenyan and Tao Ba disappeared, returning to the Universe Ring without any input from Sage. That sight made him even more pleased with his decision to move most of his things over to the Inner World. The preservation ability of the Universe Ring was very useful, but for everything that wasn’t an herb or plant that needed to be kept in stasis had already moved over. Along with those warnings from Tao Ba in the past, it became even more apparent that he was just a tenant for the Universe Ring. He was little more than a customer renting a storage unit. If the real owners, whoever they might be, wanted to, they could easily deny him access and take everything he had. It was somewhat chilling to find out that the item he’d relied upon so fully in the past turned out to be such an unknown variable.

Left alone in the tomb with his ancestor, Sage took a deep breath to calm his nerves and dispelled the Foresight technique. He turned back towards the stone casket and bowed his head, “Forgive me for my outburst, Ancestor.”

“I don’t know how you came into contact with that sleazeball, but I still reached an agreement with him. By bringing him here, you’ve done me a service. On the other hand you’ve also let an outsider into the Clan Tomb, so we’ll just consider your reward and punishment for this event to balance each other out. Now, back to what we were talking about. My time is limited after all.”

Sage kneeled down at the side of the casket, showing his acceptance of his ancestor’s decision. Even if the being in the casket wasn’t overwhelmingly powerful, he still owed him for saving his life in the past, so he accepted the role of the dutiful descendant without any reservations. Especially since his ancestor hadn’t yet asked anything dangerous of him. If the ancestor asked him to put his life at great risk, he might have to rethink his stance, but so far that hadn’t been a concern.

“That waste of flesh was right about one thing. You still aren’t strong enough to offer either of us any assistance. You need to treat that dejection you feel at being left out of the conversation as a challenge. You need to become a Saint before you’re allowed to even hear a word about our world.”

“I understand, Ancestor. How can I become a Saint? The Lang Clan has no path to follow past Core Formation. We’ve only been lucky enough to stumble upon a few lucky opportunities. Do I really have to just rely on luck and hope to make it before I die of old age?”

“There are rules in this world, and those who attempt to pass down a heritage related to laws will have their life taken away. The ones who set up these rules are powerful beyond what this world can even contain. Also, most of the set paths to study the laws require very rare and expensive materials, they usually just detail the most efficient and effective way to use those materials to get the greatest results. Then they can guarantee the practitioner will receive the same enlightenment as those who came before.”

On the Inner World, Sage’s Soul Clone was already analyzing all of the Ancestor’s words and suddenly let out a loud yell, “Eureka!”

He was so excited he blurted out a word in English, a language he hadn’t used for years. That was because he found a possible loophole in what the Ancestor had said. Those who pass down such a heritage have their life taken away, but what if they’re already dead? Then he could only nod his head at the forethought of the leading powers of the world, of course they would find ways to always find enlightenment of the same law. Then the future generations could stand on the shoulders of their ancestors and keep building upon a single base of knowledge.

“Don’t waste too much time seeking petty revenge. There is always a better chance of enlightenment when putting one’s life on the line. Head to the Merciful Mollusk and tell them you’re to head to their headquarters. You’ll advance much faster there. Understand?”

Sage didn’t really know what might happen, but he gave a nod of confirmation. He clasped his fist in front of his chest and saluted the casket, “I will do as you ask once my affairs are in order. There are still some opportunities I need to collect first.”

“Good. Now send the new Clan Leader down here once you leave.”

After another salute, Sage turned and descended from the dais. He was on the way towards the door when he felt a slight flicker of law energy behind him and he remembered the other five daises. Instead of leaving he walked over to the second one and climbed up the steps. Unlike the other times he was here, there was no wall blocking him off and he walked up to another stone casket with an equally beautiful and detailed person sculpted to be laying atop it. This time, the occupant was a beautiful young woman with fearsome features. A soft voice carried out to him, “I hope the path you’ve chosen doesn’t make things worse for the Clan. Good luck, Child.”

Then before he could answer a Storage Ring flew into his hands and he was gently shunted off the dais, pushed off the top level and deposited on the ground at the bottom of the stairs.