Sage wanted to laugh in their faces at his deliberate act of confusion. Instead he didn’t let a single bit of his mirth show on his face and instead spoke solemnly, “I got advice from a highly skilled master, specifically on the best practices for formation sword sets. Instead of enchanting the swords with individual effects, in addition to a flying array they contain only a few array symbols. Sword. Destruction. Heaven. Power. Speed.”

He paused a bit to let his words sink in before explaining the reasoning, “As you may be guessing, individually the swords are only the most basic of Flying Swords. But, you of course will be using them in a Sword Formation not individually. The many swords in a Sword Formation, provide more strength than a single sword, and also many times faster to form than a normal array formation. You use the swords as the anchor points and control cores for the formation. Instead of making the swords have their own abilities, the best move is instead to make them better able to integrate with formations! I created them with the sensibilities of a formation core rather than a weapon. They are created with high energy channeling ability so they take less fatigue from the high energy flow of a formation while also being built to be as durable as possible. The added array symbols are especially tyrannical forms from ancient times and should work to enhance the power of any Sword Formation you form with them.”

Song Lu Tian immediately began to test them out, trying to see if he was being fed a load of nonsense or not. Sage took a seat and brought out a jug of wine to sip from, “I hurried over so you could test them out in the tournament, but I wasn’t fast enough. You can test it out during the final part of the tournament and see what I mean. Those are only a set of test swords. After tomorrow, please give me some feedback and then I’ll use the remaining time before you head into Thunder Mountain Bridge to finish my tests and then construct the true set for you. I guarantee there will be at least nine swords.”

This set of eight were the results of Sage’s second test batch of twenty. The first twenty were a mixed bag of results. Only five of them were completed successfully, but unfortunately they were off. Something went wrong along the way and while they were a set, they each had an individual feel to them. They would most likely work great as a sword set for certain techniques, but using them in a Sword Formation was a bad idea. After getting some feedback, Sage planned to do three more test runs. Since he’d already improved from 5 non-harmonious swords to 8 harmonious swords by the second test, he should be able to get at least nine swords out of the twenty sets of rank 4 materials on his sixth attempt.

Worst case scenario I just go buy more materials.

The Song trio were still uneasy about his claims, not sure whether to accept them or not. Sage’s currently messy state was slightly convincing, but given his constantly frivolous manner of speech it could be easily taken as a tactic to convince them. In truth, it was. Sage was working hard to put on a show, wanting to convince Song Lu Tian of his usefulness. It was also a sort of marketing tactic, getting the customer interested in the product with a sample. If he just showed up with the final product, he was sure Song Lu Tian would take it, but how would he have time to test it and realize how valuable it was? This early set of swords was to convince the man of their might, so when he showed up with a set that was many times better, Song Lu Tian would work harder to complete his request.

If this task was merely something performed to gain the trust of the Zhu Clan, Sage would not be working so hard at it. In actuality, he immediately saw the potential of Song Lu Tian. While he wasn’t an influential power, or a person of import, Sage wasn’t a fool. Earning the friendship of someone with such potential could only be a good thing. A person with such overwhelming might wouldn’t just suddenly become a weakling. As long as he wasn’t killed, he would keep rising in rank and once he formed his core he would probably be a match for the most powerful people in the kingdom. From what he knew, the Peak Master’s from his Sect, and likely others as well, were in the sixth rank. Song Lu Tian could certainly hold his own against normal cultivator’s a rank above himself. The only question was whether or not there was anyone in the seventh rank. He’d never heard about it from anyone, nor was it listed in the general books he’d read in the Holy Flame Sect library.

It was also a directive of his Sect. They were a sect based around professions after all, they dealt in good and services. Every disciple was tasked with building their reputation and encouraging trade by building favorable relations. While they weren’t merchants themselves, they were still encouraged to show off their specialities and thereby build interest for future transactions. By exhibiting his prowess to Song Lu Tian, then the whole Song clan may hear of it and if they learn he’s only a lowly outer court disciple their impression of the Sect will raise even higher. Of course, Sage wasn’t a fanatically loyal Sect member, but he was still faithful to them. They’d taken him in when nobody else would and given him a safe place to improve his skills. He wouldn’t forget their kindness.

“Very well.”

Song Lu Tian answered curtly, at which point Sage thanked the three of them for their time and hurried out. They were at a gathering held by a third party after all, and he wasn’t invited. While he didn’t announce himself or advertise, he had made sure to wear his Sect uniform with the Sect badge very obviously pinned to the chest. Most people wouldn’t think a thing of it now, but after Song Lu Tian used his new swords tomorrow…

He made sure to leave a trail of breadcrumbs for information gatherers to follow. As long as Song Lu Tian put the swords to good use, there was a high probability they’d track them back to this meeting given his uniform and soot covered appearance. With luck, the extra interest in the Holy Flame Sect could even help convince the Zhu Clan and get his original goal here accomplished quicker.

Sage left the building and returned to the workshop, locking up the doors and secluding himself in a storage closet. In an instant he was gone, replaced only by a small golden ring sitting on the wooden floor. Sage was now standing in a courtyard, one that he’d built during the trip over to Plum Lantern City from Lionheart Town. The Universe Ring had an area within it of a ten mile radius and from all his tests and questions it seemed to act just like the real world. The space inside wasn’t in stasis like his old ring, nor was it connected to the outside world like the Beast Bag had been. The Beast Bag was essentially just a really fancy box with holes in it like one shipped a pet in the mail. Obviously, it was a space pocket and that was an exceedingly amazing device, but it wasn’t much in comparison to his storage ring that could put things into a state of complete stasis.

The Universe Ring on the other hand was completely self contained, it didn’t use the air or energy from the outside world at all, which meant that it was many orders of magnitude harder to detect than a Beast Bag was. It would also be an utter waste if he didn’t put this place to good use. After he left Lionheart Town he immediately started collecting animals and plants from the mountains and forests, specifically heading to the region where he’d escaped from the Lang Clan’s back mines. Sadly, he couldn’t find any of the Fire Weaver Mantis that he’d lost there long ago. On the plus side he found that hole he’d once climbed out of and went back into the back mines.

He captured the majority of the Spirit Jade Beetles he could find and also gathered up a huge quantity of the Azure Moss they grew and fed on. He also mined out a good chunk of the minerals they used, building up a small mountain within the Universe Ring and making it into an environment suitable for the Spirit Jade Beetles. At the next town he also set about making a good home for himself and the result was where he was now.