Despite having devised such an efficient method of copying down books in the past, Sage was not ever able to copy down all the books in the Million Skills Library. In fact, they were quite on guard against such things happening. He was forced to read and study just like everyone else as they were not keen on their knowledge getting spread so easily. The more lax they were in giving their disciples copies to study, the more easily that precious knowledge would spread in the world. If their knowledge was so easy to pick up on any street corner, why would anyone want to join or respect the Holy Flame Sect and its accomplishments?

Unfortunately, there was no way the Holy Flame Sect could detect him now. Most cultivators had very powerful memories and it wouldn’t be hard for them to remember everything they read in detail, but there was a lot in the transfer of techniques that went beyond what mere text could convey. This is why the different forms of scrolls, jades, and tablets had developed to transfer information directly into one’s consciousness and convey the great subtleties and feelings that were vital for understanding certain techniques. Normally, making a copy of these simple but very important magical tools would be easily sensed, but Sage had a whole hidden world to do whatever he wanted.

Not only was he able to memorize all the information he read, but he could also copy it down to a Jade Tablet and record the whole experience into a Memory Sphere without a single person in the library having any idea what he was doing. He didn’t wait for the other Peak Master’s to speak with him, nor did he meet with his friends in the Sect. He didn’t waste any time working towards his goal. Eventually word of his return would spread and he was sure he’d run into Peak Master Zhen as well as Yuan Hu, Geng He, and Qiu Hou after that. There was no sense waiting around in a hotel for a few days for them to come by to visit.

He had become far more impatient and eager to act than in the past since his shift in perspective. Now that he treated the Inner World as the default flow of time, the real world became more like a game. A game that didn’t have a pause button, but was running at quite a slow speed. With such a comparatively limited amount of time, he was more eager to use all of that time as efficiently as possible.

Some time later, near the center of Holy Flame City.

A pair of Holy Flame Sect disciples waved to one of their friends, who ran over with an excited look on their face. The three ladies exchanged greetings, but the new arrival was so excited she rushed the formalities.

“Sisters, have you heard?! There’s a monster in the Sect!”

The two women were surprised for an instant and then they spun to survey their surroundings, suddenly on guard against a hidden foe. The other girl had a big grin on her face, “Not one that will eat you, but a new person that is too unreal to be human.”

Hearing this clarification, the other two women relaxed their guard while also stepping forward and pinching their friend’s sides. The girl squealed from the playful assault and she fought off their fingers while stepping back. Then the two women stopped the attack and gave their friend a stern look, “Aren’t you going to keep talking? Explain properly, Shishe!”

Finally having the captive audience she was looking for, the girl smoothed out her uniform and puffed up her chest. She was about to throw her hair back and strike a pose, but then she noticed the glares of her two friends and she coughed awkwardly, “As I was saying. There’s a new monster.”

“You said that already. Is it a new genius in the Sect? What did they do?”

“This is an old monster, not a young genius. During this season’s exams, he’s passed the test for every Profession.”

“Every Profession? How is that possible? Why would an old monster want to get a bunch of one star badges?”

The girl’s smile is even bigger, “It’s not just one star! The reason everyone is calling him an old monster is because last season he passed seven one star examinations. This season he passed twelve two star exams!”

“Twelve!”

“Twelve. Wait, aren't there seventeen Professions?”

“There’s more than seventeen Professions.”

The two girls started to correct each other, but the gossipy girl wasn’t about to get her limelight stolen yet. Like any good gossip, she loved to see the looks of surprise and interest on their faces and she still had a good detail to spill.

“You’re right, there are only seventeen Professions in the Holy Flame Sect, but this old monster knows eighteen of them! In addition to the twelve, he already has a two star Weaver, three star Blacksmith, Tailor and Tamer badge. He even has a five star Formation Master badge, but that’s not the biggest news. They also say he’s a Seal Master, a forbidden Profession!”

While the three girls were busy throwing a fit, a pair of cultivators were sitting on the third floor of a nearby teahouse. The building was completely open to the air, without any outer walls or windows. The whole building was like a multi-story porch, ringed with wooden railing and with a multitude of wooden beams to hold the three story building in the air. Of the man and woman, the man was trying to hide his adoration for the woman, but was not succeeding on this front. He kept stealing glances towards her, while the woman was perfectly calm and watching the people walk down the streets.

The man had a youthful edge to his features and the details of his uniform as well as his demeanor was very fitting for a gentleman scholar. He waved his wide sleeves and something appeared in his hand. It was a squarish baton that looked to be made of gold. Then the man flicked his wrists and that ‘baton’ unfurled, showing its true nature to be that of a folding fan. An extremely expensive and overly exquisite folding fan. Somehow, the paper or fabric portion of the fan had been constructed out of gold foil and it didn’t just tear away into tatters at the first disruption. That extremely thin golden foil somehow maintained its integrity as the man waved his fan.

“Have you heard that news yet, Lady Cui? That old monster certainly seems like an interesting person. Shall we go to meet him?”

The woman, Lady Cui, was pulled out of her reverie by the man’s question and then she sent him an annoyed glare, “We’ve already met him long ago. Master Lupeng already brought me to visit him weeks ago. It’s that same fellow who turned his lower body into a snake and then got chased out of the Sect all those years ago.”

The young man sat up slightly, “Really? That guy is back? He had so many badges in the past didn’t he? It seems his talent has grown since then.”

Lady Cui snorted and shook her head, “It’s not just talent. Lang Sheng is already a Nascent Soul.”

“What!? How can one person be so lucky?”

“That person you can’t even bother to remember, surpassed you long ago.”