This confrontation might seem to be to the former Fu Matriarch’s advantage, but she didn’t seem to be treating it that way. Inwardly she was extremely nervous. If their escape was discovered the chances of them getting away and starting over somewhere new were drastically reduced. Even if they feel successful later, if someone knew they were still out there, how would they be able to feel safe and secure? Wouldn’t she always be keeping an eye open to look out for their former enemies? It was especially terrible because they had already left behind the majority of the Fu Clan and its assets. If the Chong Clan found them again later with only this fraction of their former strength how could they stand any chance at all?

“It is not arrogance, but complete confidence. My husband was the one that desired the treasures that the Chong Clan stumbled upon. I opposed his choice long ago, but he still went through with assaulting that caravan. Just like I feared, the Chong Clan found out the Fu Clan was responsible. I learned later that someone else was responsible for leaking not only who committed the crime, but they were also the source that told my husband about the treasure. I never figured out who did it, but someone set us two neighbors at odds. Since then the Fu Clan has been divided internally. All those who supported my husband have been noted and I’ve left them all behind. I always feared a day like this would come, so I prepared for it from the start.”

While she was talking, Sage had taken a few steps to the side and passed behind the trunk of a large tree. When he walked out, a dozen others in dark purple armor followed behind him. They started to spread out, facing off against the invisible wall of laws that the former Matriarch had created. A couple of them even moved out in parallel to the wall, moving to find the edge of the wall and skirt around it.

With the sudden appearance of so many others, the old woman’s face fell and she quickly held up her hands in a plea, “Stop! Stop! I still have more to offer you, please reconsider,” she spoke quickly, but she could see that this opponent of hers was making no moves to halt those on his side and she quickly stammered, “I’ll tell you where Whitestaff is!”

Sage didn’t react as she was hoping, and a layer of green Qi appeared around his body, while a layer of purple Qi appeared around the others beside him. He gave an order, but not one she wished to hear, “This woman has valuable information, don’t let her escape, but we only need her Nascent Soul.”

The woman’s face went pale and her hands moved rapidly and a huge fluctuation of energy built up in front of her chest, “Stay your hand! If there is no hope for my descendants then I will not hesitate to end my life and see how many of you I can take with me.”

“Oh, that fake self-detonation? Everyone keep your distance and attack from range.”

She grit her teeth and the energy in her hands flared brighter, “I can also tell you who arranged that army to assassinate you a few years ago. You know there was someone behind it, right?”

Sage finally held up his hand to stop the members of the Purple Mist Sect that were slowly advancing, “That’s a bit better. Now add in a copy of all your clan’s techniques, especially the method you used to fake a self-detonation.”

“Fine, but we have to sign a Blood Contract.”

A few minutes later they were both slicing their veins and using a drop of blood to sign their names upon a contract. They were both responsible for keeping their people in line or they would suffer a heavy injury that could cut decades from their lives. Sage would pretend as if he’d never seen this group of escapees and they would change their names and never return to the Tianxia Empire. They would even remove their clan's former history from before this day so their future generation wouldn’t be tempted to return for vengeance. They would never see each other again.

In return for giving them this clean break, Sage would get two vital pieces of information as well as a copy of the Fu Clan’s techniques. The Chong Clan would likely already obtain the majority of the Fu Clan’s techniques after finishing off the remainder of the clan. The Lang Clan, as a branch family, would not necessarily be given all of these techniques from the Chong Clan, but that wasn’t what Sage really cared about. It was actually worth far more to get their highest level techniques, the ones that the Chong Clan probably wouldn’t even find after defeating the rest of the Fu Clan. Even then, he likely wouldn’t get all of them either. If something similar happened to him, he would hand over only techniques that he was known to practice or those specifically asked for. He would hand over the Insect Immortal Index and the Golden Mantis Body, but not the True Insect Immortal Index or the Jade Mantle that the Lang Clan used.

Without making any specific demands or knowing what he was looking at, he couldn’t really confirm whether or not the Fu Matriarch handed over everything she knew. Even so, he didn't really care all that much. The techniques could be used by the Lang Clan or distributed on the Inner World, but he was really just after the technique he specifically mentioned. The Fu Matriarch was forced to hand over this secret and she quickly shared the other two pieces of information before he let her go.

“The Fu Clan was ordered to assist in your assassination by someone from the Dou Royal Family. We didn’t dare to ask more. The messenger kept their face, voice, and cultivation hidden, but they carried a royal token as verification. As for Whitestaff, she is said to have become the disciple of a great master from the Imperial Capital.”

“The Tianxia Capital?”

She nodded and fled as quickly as she could. They had a Blood Contract, but she was not willing to find out if they had left any loopholes. It would be especially terrible if someone else stumbled upon them and she’d be in just as terrible a situation as earlier. Sage let her go as soon as he confirmed that she’d handed over the technique he was looking for.

It turned out to be a trio of techniques. The first was a recipe for creating a new body, the sort of thing that Nascent Souls needed to use if their body was killed, yet their soul survived. The second was a method of self-detonation. It was not a complete suicide, but something that turned the physical body into a weapon. It had a sort of auto-pilot with a countdown so a Nascent Soul could leave their body and make a run for it before the body detonated. Then, the last technique was actually a sort of concealment technique that a Nascent Soul could use.

Ahh, so that’s how they did that. Interesting.