“Looks like I have to be going. What are we going to do about…”

Wan Ling shook her head, “I can handle the rest. I can use the bankroll from the Casino to do most of the remodeling and changes. Go ahead.”

There wasn’t much of value inside Sage’s house apart from the Insect Shed out back so he didn’t have a problem leaving her there to keep working. The plans for the devices he’d made were all kept in his storage ring and each device was mounted in a protective cover with an array that would destroy the rest of the device if it was tampered with. He planned on them being widespread enough later that even if others copied the idea it wouldn’t even be worth anything. Of course, that was in the future, for now he had to use anti-tampering arrays that were more complicated and expensive than the devices they were protecting. Until the name of the businesses were popular and widespread he had to keep the devices secret. Once the business had recognition people would frequent it regardless of whether the devices that it was based on could be found at other places. That was called ‘brand recognition’, right?

Sage left his home and moved quickly to answer the summons. His relationship with Peak Master Zhen was a somewhat complicated one. Before meeting her, he’d only ever seen a Peak Master from afar and never actually interacted with one. After going on the expedition to the Saffron Swamp, she was now privy to more than one of Sage’s secrets. After he discovered the books on Seals in that library, he’d suddenly been in danger. Thinking back to it now, if he was part of a ruthless or dark sect it was quite probable that moment could have been the end of his life. Even if he hadn’t said anything or turned in the discovery he might still have lost his life along with anyone else that had been seen moving in the area. Seal Masters had been wiped out long ago and even the usage of Seals was outlawed.

Not only did Sage see the information on Seals he was even given clearance to practice using them which put under Peak Master Zhen’s power. Sage wasn’t too worried about these things because at the time, he was already under her power. Each of the Peak Masters was a rank 6 existence, somebody who could kill him with a wave of their hand. For the Peak Master to have a little bit of blackmail leverage on him in addition wasn’t really much in his opinion. All it meant was that if Sage were to secretly escape and run from the Sect the Peak Master could release information to the world condemning him as a Seal user. Again, not that big a deal. If a huge Sect like the Holy Flame Sect wanted him they could just put a bounty on his head. Being a Seal user would only add a few more people who hated Seal Masters to the list of those who would be hunting him.

Later, when Sage returned from the Timeless Master’s Home, he asked for Peak Master Zhen’s help. He told her an abbreviated and much edited version of the events that transpired, showing the Human Seal to her and explaining the sets of techniques he turned in to the Sect. It also explained his own new Cultivation Art and with the Peak Master’s help they could pretend like he had been cured of his strange transformation and return to being a normal Disciple. It put him further under the Peak Master’s control, but from the way Sage saw it that meant he had some connection to a Peak Master.

Contrary to what most people aimed for, Sage knew that being the most powerful individual only served to make you a target. Just like when he had searched far and wide for a Sect that would take him, Sage knew that being part of a group made him safer. By making himself someone under the control of the Peak Master he would be one step closer to having an even more powerful shield. Of course, the problem was that he had to figure out how to be valuable to the Peak Master and not just an expendable piece that would get sacrificed needlessly. All he had to do was prove his worth to the Peak Master and he could open up new paths to power, even if they were only adjacent to real strength. The old man in the Timeless Master’s Home told him that his own personal strength was the most important, but he didn’t say other forms of power were wrong or bad just not the most important. Sage was happy to chase any and every form of power he could get his hands on. Whatever benefited him the most, he would seek after.

He had a lot of time to think. He was currently climbing a long winding pathway up the side of a mountain. Making his way towards the home of Peak Master Zhen, unsurprisingly it was on the peak of a mountain. Each of the Peak Master’s had been taken a whole mountain as their own and could do with it as they wished. Most of them chose to build varying styles of building or homes near the peak of each mountain, though it wasn’t a rule. Some lived at the base and others midway up. Peak Master Zhen was quite ‘traditional’ with her home despite the mischief she enjoyed causing among the Elders and other Peak Masters. A narrow trail wound its way up the mountain, circling it at least twenty times before it finally ascended to the peak.

The crowning peak of the mountain rose up in front of Sage. A few hundred feet below the true peak the road he was only led directly towards a large cave. A huge character was carved into the stone above the cave entrance, saying simply ‘Zhen’. It was lofty and imposing like most normal people thought of Cultivators, living above the clouds, a statuesque life of centuries cultivating in seclusion in a deep mountain cave. Tossing aside the trappings, concerns, and frailties of a mortal life to seek the true pinnacle of power.

Sage was able to clear away these notions after only a few minutes.

Walking into the cave he was greeted by a small pink bird. It looked like a sparrow with a trio of long streamer like tails hanging from its rear instead of normal tail feathers. The tails seemed light as air and swished back and forth as the bird hovered in front of Sage. Suddenly Sage felt a voice in his head. He could hear words, there wasn’t any sound, nor was there even any language. It was quite similar to his communications with his merged insects. A series of images and feelings that he could tell came from the bird and were directed into his own mind.

He saw himself walking forward and then images of the path ahead of him flashed through his mind. The little bird seemed to be directing him. His theory seeming correct as the images ended with the sight of Peak Master Zhen beckoning a finger towards the Little Bird. The images were all in the first person, from the point of view of the bird. Or at least that’s what Sage figured since he could see a beak in his vision and felt wind under his wings. Err, the bird’s wings. Just like the bugs. It’s easy to get confused when you communicate with them for too long.

Sage smiled and thanked the Bird for it’s help, trying to send across warm and cheerful feelings of appreciation, but not knowing if it worked. He’d only ever done such a thing with his linked insects, he had no idea how to do it with a random bird. He also took a moment to do a formal bow for the bird to help his intentions come across, but he had no idea if the bird understood anything at all because it was gone by the time he rose up from the bow. He could have found it with his spirit sense, but he thought it might be rude to use spirit sense when in the Peak Master’s home. The images from the bird had prepared him, but as he turned a corner inside the cave those earlier lofty and traditional vibes were dispelled as the inside of the cave was decorated in a garish and indulgent fashion.

As a cave it had no windows and being completely enclosed it was quite confining and claustrophobic. Peak Master Zhen didn’t try to solve this issue with an artificial outdoor area like the Timeless Master, nor did she have secret vents or skylights to connect with the outer world. Instead she just used high ceilings and over decorated. The walls were covered in at least three layers of gold, red, and purple silk drapes. In front of the drapes were hung tapestries, and not the simple elegant kind. Each piece was filled with activity, huge battlefields with thousands of people all in the middle of action, blood and gore everywhere as others seemed to cry out with pain. Others had crowded rooms with parties or other activities going on, every person dancing, singing, drinking or otherwise involved. The floors were some sort of exquisite marble with veins of gold and silver running through them while the ceilings were bronze highly polished to a mirror like finish. Extravagant chandeliers, with gemstones and other sorts of jewelry like protrusions, were hung every dozen yards. Each chandelier was of a completely different style, like the Peak Master was a collector and the lighting of her home was only a secondary concern.

Sage was already starting to get a headache. This place is just so… busy. How can anyone stand to live here?