Molting the Mortal Coil

A storage treasure could only collect objects that the owner was strong enough to lift. It used some sort of mysterious law, as it didn’t actually require a person to pick things up, but could only collect things they could lift without it. A new cultivator couldn’t just stuff a giant boulder into a Storage Bag and then drop it on their equally weak enemies and smash them into a paste. Even if someone else loaded such a stone into a Storage Bag, the weak cultivator would only be able to very slowly and carefully place it onto the ground upside down. Then they’d have to slowly work the bag upwards like they were peeling a cover off the large rock to finally reveal it to the world. Sage had no idea how it worked or what rules it followed. All of his past tests made no sense, but they always followed the logic that other Cultivators told him, ‘It is limited by your personal strength’.

The most unusual realization of this phenomena was collecting liquids. The more powerful the cultivator, the greater the flow rate when collecting or releasing liquids. Yet, somehow, even though liquid storage treasures had fixed nozzle sizes, the pressure never increased. An extremely powerful cultivator could release a massive amount of water from a Storage Vat all at once, but it only created a gentle stream of huge volume. Somehow, the storage treasure wouldn’t increase in pressure like a firehose.

Sage had pushed Guan Zhenyan into a corner, assaulting him when he was off-guard and then poisoning him with a combination of his own most potent poisons. Many years of accumulation were burned up in a momentary battle. Sage’s Twin Soul was terrifyingly powerful, yet it only lasted a few minutes against Guan Zhenyan.

Thankfully, he had been successful. The Twin Soul and poison ended up causing grievous enough injuries to allow Sage to pull Guan Zhenyan into the Universe Ring. In the man’s weakened state, Sage didn’t really have to overpower him. It was more like he’d walked up to him and thrown a drink in his face, then pushed him into a swimming pool. The utter audacity of the attack had thrown him into such confusion that he was able to very briefly push him around.

Even as unusual as the attack was, it was only possible because he had the Universe Ring. While a Beast Bag could contain living creatures, it could only hold those of a lower rank than humanity. It was something about the mind or consciousness that couldn’t be contained so easily. A storage treasure that could contain a living person was extremely rare, and to make matters worse, the owner of the treasure would have to constantly suppress the person inside to prevent them from leaving again. It gave rise to a whole class of imprisoning magic treasures, which were extremely expensive and difficult to create and use.

“You chubby little bastard! You can’t do this to me, you don’t have that kind of authority!”

Guan Zhenyan was currently yelling at a young boy who was dressed in pristine white robes. The boy had luxurious long white hair tied back with a bright red sash. The sash matched his belt and besides the boy’s chubby pot belly, was his most defining characteristic.

Sage smiled and patted the boy on the back, “Excellent work! You must be the most powerful being in the universe, Tao Ba! Nobody can compare to you!” Sage followed up the encouragement by smiling at Guan Zhenyan, “This situation is all a result of my instructions. Tao Ba is merely doing his job.”

Guan Zhenyan turned his gaze to the newly arriving Sage, “You tricked me quite thoroughly! Very well done. You’ve passed the test! You are now worthy to become my Direct Disciple. Quickly now, prepare the tea for me and start kowtowing.”

Sage was no longer so trusting of Guan Zhenyan. He’d felt the man was too good to be true when he first met him, but at the time he was stuck between returning home with an uncertain backer, or a life as a luxurious slave in a foreign land. He’d chosen to return to his homeland and found himself in the position of an indentured slave. Now that he’d finally got the upper hand, he wasn’t going to give it up so easily.

“I will have to decline,” Sage smiled and brought out a document and Oathstone. He placed them in front of Guan Zhenyan, “This is an ‘Exemption from Death’ fee. Please read the terms and conditions, then initial here, here and here. Sign on this line and make the oath written here.”

Sage flipped through the scroll and pointed at a few places, smiling at Guan Zhenyan as he did, “The price is quite fair. Considering all my debts to you null, and forgoing all future hostilities. It’s truly a pittance in comparison to the value of your life, right?”

Guan Zhenyan suddenly took on a more professional demeanor and calmly reviewed the documents before doing just as Sage said, signing and making an oath that was far too long. A very long-winded and repetitive statement that covered every loophole Sage could think of that would allow Guan Zhenyan to seek vengeance upon him.

“There, it’s finished. Now, may I be released?”

Sage shook his head, “That was only an agreement to spare your life. If you want to negotiate for your freedom that is a separate deal that must be discussed.”

The other man knew that Sage was enjoying this, but said nothing about it. He merely sighed, “I figured as much. What are your terms?”

Sage started to list out his demands. Spirit Power techniques, Spirit Stones, rare resources, introductions to important figures, magical treasures, building deeds, shares of businesses. He started quite absurd in his demands, planning to meet a middle ground with the man through negotiation. Unfortunately for him, Guan Zhenyan had only one word in reply, “Denied.”

Thinking it was only harsh negotiation tactics, Sage lowered the price and tried again. He got the same answer. Then he disparaged Guan Zhenyan’s position, “You can’t get out of here. Even without the deed I can simply use your house and businesses.”

“Denied.”

It became a thing. No matter what price Sage asked for, the man denied him. Finally, after a few dozen offers, he realized what was going on, “You don’t want to leave, do you?”

Guan Zhenyan adopted a sly smile, “You think that silly oath you made me swear is foolproof? You shouldn’t be so eager to let me go.”

“If I release you, you’ll get revenge on me? I’m not stupid enough to think you would tell me that if it were true. So why don’t you want to be released?”

Guan Zhenyan kept his mouth shut. Sage was left at an impasse. While Guan Zhenyan had made a long oath, Sage didn’t think it was foolproof. Even so, why would he want to stay as a prisoner? What was really going on?

Sage was no longer confident of releasing Guan Zhenyan without retribution, and since the man didn’t want to leave, Sage let him have his way. Rather than testing the unknown in this case, he stuck with the lesser of two evils.

In the present.

Sage awoke to find Guan Zhenyan’s projection standing over him, “Argh! I told you to stay out of my chambers!”

“You’ve been sleeping for nearly a week. There are thousands of Psionic Crystals just sitting there collecting dust. Are you ready to make another deal?”