There was a lot that Sage, and the research team, wanted to know about Gu. At the same time, Bear Three was someone at least at his own level of strength, but with what seemed to be more power and influence. Much of what he wanted to know about Gu could be explored on his own, so he didn’t want to waste days of the man’s time asking what would likely be basic questions. He could likely gather all that information from a few books in a fraction of the time and avoid indebting himself more to the man.

A servant leads him out of Bear Three’s manor, taking him through the imposing stone hallways and up a flight of stairs where the building is back into a style that he’s more used to. Carefully crafted wooden everything, floors, walls, ceiling. The rice paper sliding doors were quite nice. The servant this time wasn’t covered from head to toe and after his long chat with Bear Three it seemed they were not as worried about him being dangerous as before. The veiled fear was now replaced by immense respect and nobody would dare to even meet his gaze.

That’s boring. Does Bear Three like having a house full of drones, or is this just a different type of scared?

Whatever the case, Sage was first shown to a secondary building that was to be his from this point on and also brought past another building where Guan Zhenyan was staying. Then they walked him to the main gate and to a side building full of guards and servants that he could recruit as an escort at any time.

Sage refused the offer, not wanting to become a spectacle in town. Instead, he walked out by himself and took a moment to look over this new home of his: Stormport City. It lived up to its name, as he could see storms out in the distance over the water. To the west of the city there were many mountains, rows that got taller the farther away they were from the port. To the east was an ocean, one that seemed to be constantly embroiled in stormy weather. The immense city of Stormport was wrapped around a lagoon area that was somehow unaffected by the storms out on the sea. At the center of the city was a massive castle-like estate that should be the local ruler. Sage was currently on the west side of town, mid-way up the closest mountain and the estate he was in front of was large, but not quite a bit smaller than the city lords. Or at least that’s how it looked from the outside. The massive tunnels he’d walked through and passed by underground seemed to dwarf that other building, so it fit with his theory of Bear Three being the most powerful person here, but not being public about it.

Trying to stay inconspicuous, Sage walked into town, refraining from using any of his vehicles and wanting to experience how different the culture was. For the most part it seemed quite similar to the Tianxia Empire, except every single person seemed to have at least one little worm somewhere on their person that would help them with their everyday tasks. He stopped at an herbal shop and found a type of grass they produced on the Inner World. Then he sold some of that grass to the shopkeeper in order to see what the currency here was like. Most surprisingly was that he didn’t have to use the Heart’s Tongue to communicate: they spoke the same language and used the same writing system as in the Tianxia Empire. He’d thought that Bear Three and his servants were just well trained because of their interactions with Guan Zhenyan, but it seemed that there was more at work. There had definitely been groups in the Depths that used other languages, but this Xuanyuan seemed to be much closer to Tianxia than he imagined.

He sent some of the coins to the Inner World and they quickly adapted a few presses to change the simple metallic coins they already owned to match. It would take some effort to modify or forge identification tokens that Sects usually used, but altering coins to match those of a different nation was a simple thing for them. With the local currency now determined, Sage stopped at a clothing shop and purchased an assortment of clothing, both for himself and in various other styles to send to the Inner World. Not only would they have some new fashions to play around with, they also used it to prepare disguises for the Purple Mist Sect. He tried a few of the street foods along the way, buying a few too many once more so they could have some study materials. He stopped at one stall every block or so, otherwise his large purchases might have drawn too much attention.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

After walking around town for a few hours, enjoying the architecture and getting samples of all the local cuisine he backtracked to a specific building he’d seen along the way. It was the largest bookstore he’d seen along the way, which was also somewhat surprising as they didn’t use scrolls, jades or tablets to store knowledge, but actual books. Heading up to the door he was surprised when a small boy bumped into his leg.

“Sorry, Sir! Forgive me, I tripped!”

The kid looked somewhat dirty, and the situation stopped Sage in his tracks for a moment before he reached out and grabbed the boy by the collar as he was attempting to run off. Sage lifted him up into the air by the scruff of his neck and the look on the kid’s face was like that of a kitten caught in the cream. Sage held out his other hand, “Return it.”

The boy pulled open his vest and a black worm the thickness of a thumb poked its head out and hissed. It had a body like an earthworm, but it split open at the end into four jaws and had a set of eyes reminiscent of a snake. With just a stare, Sage moved a bit of law power and the worm instantly went quiet, cowering in the boy’s belly band. The kid quickly brought out the pouch he’d stolen from Sage’s waist. Sage deftly opened it with just one hand and poked the coins inside checking they were all there. It was just a few coins that he’d been using to make purchases of street foods, not using a Storage Bag or making them appear out of thin air from the Inner World as he was trying to blend in. The coins meant nothing to him, but he never imagined he’d run into this sort of cliche event here.

Should I lecture him about stealing? Is that when the sob story starts? Or will the sob story be a setup that leads me into a bigger trap when I go to rescue his other orphan siblings?

Sage shook the bag and then set the boy down. He decided to stay out of it, shooing the kid away without asking any questions. The boy took off running, stopping at the corner of an alley and glancing back before disappearing around the corner. Sage was no saint. He was here to lie low for a while and build up his strength. In a few decades the Realm Heart would mature and hopefully push him to a new level. Then he could return to the Tianxia Capital and finish the deal with Guan Zhenyan. Stepping into the book store he realized his own curiosity was still guiding him.

I suppose I’d rather learn about the world and its customs than get tangled up in the lives of others. Does that mean I’ve become some sort of impartial observer, or am I just afraid of getting attached to more people that I’ll eventually abandon anyways? Isn’t that what they call Karmic bonds?

Catching a pickpocket sent him on a bit of an introspective journey. Such a thing might have only lasted a few seconds for someone else as they walked into the shop and their regular business snapped them out of it. Unfortunately, the downside of the Inner World was that Sage lived his whole life as a sort of game in the outside world now. He got up from the ‘control room’, where teams of people were observing everything that went on outside, and went back to his room that was just next door. It was strangely reminiscent of a ship, with the captain’s quarters being beside the ‘bridge’ so he could be called into action at any time, even if the connection to the outside was all just filtered from his own perception and bond. He only had to walk across a hall and enter a whole team of people waiting to assist him.

That ten second walk into the shop turned into nearly three hours that Sage used to sit and contemplate on his attachments to the world. At the beginning of his time here in this world he’d been excited by the idea of supernatural powers, only to realize he got unlucky with ‘talent’. Then he struggled for years just to find somewhere safe that he could fit in. Then he’d stumbled into a path forward, one that gave him strength and led him to more lucky opportunities. It also led him into danger and he’d slowly crawled his way up. The Tiankong Clan helped him form new connections, much more than the sort of frat roommate friends he’d had in the Holy Flame Sect. Training them like younger siblings gave him the confidence to connect with his new family and open his heart up to rebuild the Lang Clan.

Yet, here he was, after raising a family for hundreds of years he had grown disconnected. That boy was like nothing more than an NPC in a game, a questline he didn’t wish to follow. There was a whole world at his beck and call. He could alter their lives with a whim, and bring disaster to a whole world when he was injured. There were simply too many people under his purview.

If I stop to care about each and every last one of them, how can I ever get anything done? Is this how gods feel?