The Supreme started to explain before Sage could make any arguments, “It is true that the Cult of the Woodlord could benefit from the services of a Gardener, but Arborist knowledge is too precious. It is like teaching you to farm in exchange for a few fish. Only a fool would make such a trade. If you wish to deal you’ll need to teach us to fish. Otherwise we can only trade goods for your services.”

Sage was hoping he wouldn’t get this answer. He let out a sigh, “I already told the High Lord Shi Wen that my methods are unique. Even if I tried to teach them to others, they wouldn’t have the capabilities to learn it. What about a lesser trade? Just a few techniques? I can settle for less than your full knowledge.”

Lin Muzhi was shocked for a moment, “Less than full knowledge? Even if you traded the knowledge to become a Gardener, you think it’s worth the same as our entire knowledge of Arborist techniques?”

The man shook his head, “You underestimate us too much,” the man sighed and then put aside this foolish conversion, “We do have a few Demonic Plants that we have nurtured for millenia and we treat like our Ancestors. It would be very useful to properly tame them and gain their full harvest rather than just the pittance they give out in return for our care. The problem is that once you go, won’t they be even stingier than before?”

Sage wanted to disagree, but he had to admit this Supreme was right. A hired Tamer could provide protection or transportation services with their beasts, but what could he do for the customer’s plants? Demonic Plants were notoriously more difficult to sign a contract with than Demonic Beasts. Unless he offered to let the Demonic Plants live on the Inner World, why would they agree to his demands? The Cult of the Woodlord didn’t wish to give away their Demonic Plants. He also thought about putting a Human Seal onto their Demonic Plants, but as he found out first hand, the plants would likely want to stay in human form most of the time. If they weren’t plants that were rooted to the ground, then why would they be eager to receive the care of cultivators? Demonic Plants were easy to get along with, but hard to control. Once the plants could walk away, they would no longer be beholden to whoever ‘owned’ them.

“You’ve got a point.”

He wasn’t afraid to admit that they had run into a problem. On the other hand, Sage wanted to get access to at least the basic techniques required for an Arborist. So far he only had a book of the basic principles and had stumbled along from there. He could make a lot of progress if he had a deeper foundation to start with. Then he was suddenly inspired, or at least he was to the Supreme. The Soul Clone spent some time going through every option it could come up with before finding an alternative.

“Alright, another proposal then. Have you ever heard of a Heart’s Tongue?”

Lin Muzhi pondered for a moment, “Is that some sort of technique?”

Sage shook his head, “No, it is a Magic Tool. It will allow one to communicate with any living creature. The downside is that it is not pretty to craft. It is made out of one’s own severed tongue.”

He paused to let the creepiness of that sink in before he continued, “With a Heart’s Tongue you can communicate with Demonic Plants. It’s not a guaranteed way to become a Gardener, but it is a path towards that end. I’ll trade the knowledge of how to create a Heart’s Tongue for a foundation of Arborist techniques.”

Lin Muzhi was far more interested in this offer, “Communicate with anything you say?”

“Anything living. Plants, beasts, insects, fish, as well as any other foreign race. It’s a very useful Magic Tool.”

“If it’s as you say, then perhaps we can make a deal. Shall we talk about the contract then?”

“Only after we discuss what knowledge you’ll be trading in return.”

The two of them locked eyes, and then they started a bargaining war over just how much the Cult of the Woodlord would trade him. As things started to not go his way, Sage suddenly upped his demands and asked to take away one of their Demonic Plants. The Supreme had already become invested in this trade after so much discussion and he was taken aback by this sudden jump. Sage pushed harder and added more to his side of the trade, offering up ten thousand year old Spirit Plants. They countered back and forth over the quantity and then Sage pushed up the stakes even higher when he tossed a large bow onto the table beside him, “I want the techniques for a rank five Arborist, and I’ll add in this Artifact.”

“An artifact!”

The bow was the weapon of the Jinxi Ancestor and it was a true artifact, an item a grade above a Magic Tool. Sage had studied it as much as possible on the Inner World and due to having killed its previous owner, the bow wanted nothing to do with him. After his time at the Holy Flame Sect, Sage was now a high ranking Blacksmith and he knew far more about artifacts than he had in the past. Just like how a Mortal Tool could use even the highest level of materials and still not become a Magic Tool, a Magic Tool wouldn’t just become an Artifact if it was made with powerful and expensive materials. There was a fundamental difference between them. Just as Magic Tools incorporated Array symbols and formations into its construction, an Artifact required an Item Spirit.

The Item Spirit was like the soul of the item and the methods to create an Artifact were extremely varied and secretive. Even the Holy Flame Sect, which had the best Blacksmiths in the Kingdom, didn’t have any method to create an Artifact, at least not one that it put into the library. There were likely methods in the heritage of the various Peak Masters and that of the Peak Masters who no longer existed. He had heard that if a Peak Master died without an inheritor, they would give their secrets to one of the others, usually the Sect Master. There were also many stories of evil techniques that tore the soul out of other beings and infused them into an item to create an Artifact, but no one would be foolish enough to ever confirm knowing such skills.

Since Sage couldn’t use the bow and had already studied it as much as he could, he figured it was best to use it while he could. Perhaps he might get a better deal for it somewhere else, but he had desired more Arborist techniques for a long time and now that he had the door open he put forward this valuable resource to get as much as he possibly could. He wouldn’t thrust the weapon of his enemy in the hands of his Clan, especially not one that had been so openly hostile. Sage couldn’t even converse with the thing and whenever he picked the bow up it started to burn his fingers and even actively hampered him in any attempt to fire it. Even if his weapon of choice was a bow he wouldn’t dare to use this one. The only shame was him not trading this Artifact for another, since most of them became enemies with the killer of their former owner, it was quite common to trade them to someone unrelated.

The Supreme Arborist was swayed, and from the twinkle in his eyes, Sage suddenly suspected that this bow was actually made by an Arborist. The draw to studying an Artifact created by an Arborist proved to be too much and Lin Muzhi suddenly agreed to Sage’s demands. Sage felt like he had made a loss, but at the same time this Supreme Arborist just promised to basically hand over most of his knowledge. He had just agreed to essentially equal the knowledge that Sage had already gathered on other professions, withholding only the unique techniques above the fifth rank. Not only was this another complete path of knowledge for a Profession on the Inner World, but it was also one that Sage had always desired.