It didn’t take long before the three from the Chain Ocean Palace had their energy stores drained, were paralyzed, and then trussed up in cocoon-like bundles of webbing. Two of the Purple Mist Sect members picked up the, now four, hostages and carried them like suitcases, one on either side. The other six Purple Mist Sect members spread out, searching the area for any witnesses or evidence that was left behind as well as collecting the Formation Cores. Sage sent the whole Flying Ship to the Inner World and then started running off to the north.

In a copse of trees a few hundred yards away, a person wearing dark purple armor dropped a small dark sphere into the crevice between a pile of rocks before running off.

Sage arrived at the entrance of a cave, and the four hostages were carried in behind him. A few moments later, the other six Purple Mist Sect members reached the cave and disappeared inside. A few minutes later screams and grunts of pain resounded from its dark depths. Then the group of nine walked back out of the cave and pushed a large boulder over to block the entrance. Then the eight members of the Purple Mist Sect disappeared and a huge leaf the size and shape of a canoe appeared. Sage jumped on top of it and it shot off into the distance, flying very low to the ground.

In the Tianxia Capital it required a special license for flying on each level, which Sage hadn’t purchased. He only risked this quick flight so he didn’t leave a trail behind. This was also the reason why the Red Comet he was riding on was carrying a few large backpack sized objects in front of where he was standing. These things were Magical Tools created to help block different forms of tracking.

As for those from the Chain Ocean Palace, they were alive and well inside the cave. After a little ‘negotiation’ they agreed to pay Chu Shuai’s debts with the Flying Ship. All it took was waving their storage rings in front of them and a short sentence, “It would be quite the shame if we had to take ownership of these rings to pay the debts.”

Choosing to keep their lives, they signed over the Flying Ship so Sage tossed their Storage Rings onto the ground and left them in the cave. The paralysis should start wearing off within the hour and then it was only a matter of time before they recovered enough to break free and exit the cave. Sage flew off to avoid this initial chase and then quickly switched back to the All-Terrain Steam Coach to start ascending once again.

On the Inner World, the Flying Ship they’d taken was studied and compared with the methods they’d gained from the Holy Flame Sect and the Clear Sky Academy. There were some subtle variations in the offensive and defensive variations, modifications which were applied after the initial construction of the Flying Ship. This meant that either the Chain Ocean Palace couldn’t build its own Flying Ships, or at the very least they couldn’t produce enough of them to satisfy all of their needs.

The construction methods for Flying Ships in the Holy Flame Sect were actually at the same level as those found in the Clear Sky Academy. The only difference was that the Clear Sky Academy had dozens of different variations while the Holy Flame Sect only had three. Each of the variations had slightly different performance parameters and also materials required for their construction. These Flying Ships were all at a similar level of overall performance, with slightly different specialties. The main bonus of the many variations was merely the materials required. Since each Flying Ship took large quantities of rare materials, the more options for construction there were, the more Flying Ships could be built.

This confiscated Flying Ship was of a variation they hadn’t seen before, so it was a great research piece. After the research was completed in a few years, they started to retrofit it, adding and altering the offensive and defensive arrays as well as fitting additional propulsion systems and weapons. There were only a handful of true Flying Ships on the Inner World, specifically because of the high level materials required to build them. The Airships that were everywhere on the Inner World combined many Magical Tools to create lift and propulsion, as well as using arrays to strengthen materials so they could be extremely light. Flying Ships on the other hand were more like a single giant Magical Tool and their immense size required an equally large amount of materials to construct. They weren’t just flying vehicles, they were flying fortresses. The Flying Ships from the Inner World were just too radical in their design, so Sage preferred to keep them a secret. Now that he’d been ‘gifted’ one of a more traditional style, he could leave it with the Lang Clan.

Guan Zhenyan was quiet about this appropriation of his, which meant that the debt Chu Shuai owed was not related to an important item. Instead he got a calmly worded invoice, “Chu Shuai’s debt amounted to 3 million Spirit Stones, which has now been added to your debt instead.”

Sage didn’t pay attention to this part as the man had always been nickel and diming him in the past. There was probably a charge for tens of millions on that ledger for when Sage injured and captured him. Instead, Sage had a different question to ask this ‘employer’ of his.

“I need a list of every one of the debtor’s names, locations, abilities, and what they owe. Don’t try to be mysterious anymore. If you want this job to be completed properly, I need to properly plan and prepare. It would be even better if you marked the debts that are actually important. If we continue antagonizing the Chain Ocean Palace we should focus upon acquiring the most important things first. I know you want to try and obfuscate which items are actually important to you, but if you keep doing that there’s no telling if we’ll ever get them back.”

Guan Zhenyan’s projection appeared on the seat next to Sage, smoking his large pipe and looking at him with a lazy smile. The man kept staring at him for a full minute, which may not seem like a long time, but when someone was staring in complete silence it certainly felt like an eternity. With another large puff of smoke, he finally spoke, “You’ve grown quite bold. Do you think I trust you?”

“I trusted you once. You saved me from a gilded cage and then locked me with chains of debt instead. Then you chose to succumb to my rebellion and have been using me to hide ever since. You’ve already swindled me out of a Realm Heart, so don’t pretend like you haven’t benefited from our relationship. I promised to finish this task for you long ago, but if you insist upon being mysterious it really will take centuries to complete.”

Another cloud of illusionary smoke rolled over Sage’s face and then a rolled up scroll appeared on the seat beside him, which wasn’t an illusion. Guan Zhenyan waved his pipe down at it, “Sign this Blood Contract and you’ll get your list.”