The silken cocoon suffered a few breaches, many threads being cut at the same time, giving room for its occupant to exit. The threads shook slightly as he slid out and swung himself down to ground height. From when he first started his plan until now, Sage had no idea just how much time had passed.

“You made an unusual choice. I suppose it can’t be helped, go up to the second shelf again.”

The voice of the great ancestor interrupted his thoughts, at first sounding interested, but then turning to unease. Following instructions, Sage moved over to that shelf from the first time he was here. When he got closer, a small silver hoop flew out from his body and floated in front of the shelf. The shelf and everything on it lifted into the air, starting to glow brightly. The shelf and the dozens of items on it glew so brightly they seemed to turn into light. A few moments later that light became a liquid and the silver hoop, Sage’s storage ring, flew into the liquid light.

The blinding light slowly died down, leaving a large golden hoop in its place. The golden hoop moved of its own volition, flying towards Sage like a bullet. As it struck him, he felt it disappear, following it with his consciousness and finding it inside his dantian. The golden hoop flew into the nebula of energy and fit itself around the rotating objects in the center, looking quite similar to one of the rings around Saturn.

“You have the Universe Ring now, so get out of here. Remember the promise you made.”

Without giving him any chance to ask questions or explore what had happened, Sage was kicked right out of the ancestor’s tomb and dumped into the entranceway at the base of the thousand steps. Extremely curious, he send his mind into that newly acquired golden ring and gave it a closer look. It seemed to be smooth and featureless gold, but when he tried to look closer he noticed a slight texture. Since he was within his own body he wasn’t using his eyes and instead his spirit. Wanting to know more, he increased his perception to the maximum, straining his spirit power to learn more. He saw such densely packed array symbols carved upon the Universe Ring that it looked entirely smooth from a distance. Amazed, he sent his mind into the ring and found himself within a vast and empty plain.

Short grass was growing on the ground and sunlight was shining down from the blue skies. About ten miles out in every direction he saw a thick white fog, blocking his vision from going further. Everywhere he looked there was only long grasses, dirt and a few winding rivers. Other than those few plants there was not a single living thing, except one. A solitary figure walked towards him, forming his own path in the waist high grass.

“That was pretty quick, though I suppose you cheated.”

Sage heard a jovial and upbeat voice, coming from the person who walked up to him. Amazingly, the person wasn’t a man at all, but a boy. His head only came up to Sage’s chest height and he wore simple white robes. He was slim as children were, with the exception of a large belly. Strangely, his long hair was also a stark snowy white, like that of an old man, yet it was thick and vibrant like that of a youth. It was tied back with a strip of bright red silk, matching the sash around his waist. There were only those two bits of color on his entire person, his skin pale and his eyes a deep black. His milky skin seemed young and flawless with the exception of a small scar on his cheek. Sage gave a bow towards him.

“Greetings to you, I am Lang Sheng.”

The boy waved his hand, dismissing the greeting in a rude manner, “Yes yes, whatever. You’re the only one left, Master Huang told me I’m to assist you now… Oh, give me that back!”

The boy grabbed the empty air and Sage’s Beast Bag appeared, the leather pouch got flipped over and dumped out. The mass of insect cages got tossed out into an disordered pile and the leather bag popped at the seams. The stitches flew out and the leather laid flat, rapidly shrinking and flying up towards the boy’s face, turning into a tiny thread and landing on his scarred cheek. The little thread that used to be a Beast Bag landed right on that scar and with a flicker the blemish was erased.

“Ahh, that thing has been itching for so long. Stupid bet.”

Sage seemed taken aback, but also amazed to lose one of his prized possessions just like that. He had a few guesses on just what happened, but at least it explained why he always felt like there was something unnatural about that bag in the past. The boy rubbed his cheek happily a few times before he looked back at Sage, “Oh, right. You. You made a very funny choice there. Not that it’s unusual, but only the weirdos usually do that.”

The boy pointed at Sage and Sage looked down. Suddenly realizing that somehow he was here in the flesh. He hadn’t noticed before, but the boy drew his attention to it. When he was in the cocoon and undergoing a complete metamorphosis he had the chance to completely return to a true human body, he could even have a human form and improve it with the powers of those creatures he had merged with.

He chose not to.

Cultivators fought a constant battle. Assaulting the limits of the human body, breaking them all down and ascending slowly to a new form, a higher state of being. One of the most common beliefs was that a human was a perfect creature in the womb. That natal state was supremely close to being that of a divinity. It was only when they were born into the world that things changed. The impurities of the world tainted them, weakened them. The air and water of the earth dirtied them. The older they got, the further they moved from that perfect state. Many of the most common paths of Cultivation used the energy of the heaven and earth to purge those impurities, cleansing their bodies and aiming to bring them back to that natal form. Only then could they have a chance to break the final barrier and try to conquer their own mortality.

While this all seemed plausible, and was the most common path, Sage took a different route. It was true that being unusual had caused him great difficulty, but he’d already found a way to hide his true form and look normal. There was nothing holding him back except his own insecurities about his nature. A normal person would find it very difficult if not impossible to accept changing into a monster, becoming something different to their core being.

Perhaps it was because this wasn’t his first life, but Sage could accept it. He was already living someone else’s life, and he’d already assimilated the memories and personality of a serpent for many years. He was already an amalgamation of a man and monster, it was something he had come to terms with. It reminded him of the theory of reincarnation. A soul would build up karma from its actions in life. A small bug could live well and in its next life be born as a mouse. An animal might save enough lives to then live again as a human. Sage simply felt like he was tapping into that same concept. If his soul had lived other lives as a beast, why couldn’t he choose to be one again?

Instead of cleansing his unclear and impure human body, and bringing it to the most optimal state. Couldn’t he instead start with a far more powerful beast body and then cleanse and improve that one? Would he not have a great ceiling if he were to start with a better base? It led to a single argument: could the body of a beast really be better than that of a man?

He was willing to test it.