Molting the Mortal Coil

Sage spoke truthfully. He’d mentioned Seals to Elder Qing. He shook his head to her second question. The other four still using the Library seemed to have their own unique hobbies and he’d bumped into one of them, a Doctor, in the Anatomy section.

“You will quickly retrieve them all and bring them directly to me. Make sure to take down the nameplate as well.”

Amazed, Sage couldn’t help himself, “Yes, Peak Master. I… What is wrong? Why must we be so secretive?”

The Peak Master finally came clean, but only after taking out a special stone and making him swear an oath of secrecy upon it. An oath sworn upon an Oathstone could not be broken. If a Cultivator broke his word his Soul would suffer severe damage and in most cases lead to near instant death.

“Seal Masters are all but extinct. In the Ancient Times there was a massive war. There was a group of Seal Master’s that had developed a technique to Seal their fellow Cultivators and use them to power their weapons and techniques. Two sides eventually developed, with the Seal Masters on one side and an Alliance of nearly every other Cultivator on the other. In the end, the Seal Master’s were annihilated and all of their techniques were destroyed. All mention of Seals and Seal Masters were hunted and destroyed for a couple centuries before the remainder of that great Alliance finally dissolved due to infighting.”

Peak Master Zhen shook her head in sorrow, “The majority of Seal Masters weren’t actually bad, it was all due to one Sect that led to the war. It wasn’t until later that this secret came to light and people learned of how many were killed for the mistakes of a few. At this point, Seals no longer became a forbidden art, but it was already too late. The majority of Seal knowledge had already been utterly destroyed.”

Sage was surprised he’d stumbled onto such secrets, but the scope of the war wasn’t unexpected. There had been many wars on massive scale back on Earth and also many horrific acts performed on specific groups or fueled by overblown lies.

“Seals are no longer forbidden, but they are still taboo. There are more than a few powers who descend from those times that still hate Seals and hunt their users. While they don’t face universal fear like Poison Masters, or hatred like those who practice vile arts, there are many who hate Seal Masters.”

Peak Master Zhen finally locked eyes with Sage, “From that look in your eyes, I can tell you wish to learn more and I will not stop you. The road of a Seal Master is a dangerous one. Most have no idea it is any different from a Formation Master, but those that do will mean you harm. If you are unlucky and you run into someone from those ancient groups you will become a target. Most of those ancient groups that still remain are vastly powerful and the Holy Flame Sect would not be able to protect you.”

Sage was both excited and scared. Seals seemed to be quite complimentary to Formations, and given his forte in building Formations, he was eager to learn. At the same time, it seemed as soon as the wrong person saw him use one he’d get a huge target on his back. Unable to help himself, Sage looked at the Peak Master, “I lived a life on the run for years before I joined the Holy Flame Sect. I know how terrible it is, but it’s a fact that I survived it.”

The Peak Master laughed and shook her head, “Fine. If you wish to learn so bad, I’ll ask the other Peak Masters to give you permission. You should know the only reason I’m agreeing is your gift with Formations and learning Professions. It could be useful to have a Seal Master in the Sect in the future, but you must be aware to never use them in public or you’ll be on your own.”

Sage was studying the maps, having already removed the Sealing books from the Library and finished his check to make sure there wasn’t any other valuable knowledge he’d missed. Since they were on an expedition in the Saffron Swamp, Sage focused his search on this area in particular. The problem was of course finding it on the maps. These maps seemed to be thousands of years old in many cases and the names of things had changed quite drastically. They also didn’t have any topographical information so it was hard to figure out any common reference points. He had to take it the slow and manual way, comparing the shapes of rivers and the placement of mountains and valleys in order to figure out where each map was actually located.

The first thing he did was organize the ancient maps by time period, then at least if he discovered a reference point he could use it to orient the other maps from that same time. The next step was to search through the large scale maps to match up the Kingdoms and Provinces from that time period to the ones from the current day. From there he figured out the most recent time period on the maps and used that to figure out what the Holy Flame Province used to be called. From there it was just a matter of trial and error to figure out where all the smaller maps lined up with the local terrain.

Eventually he was sure he had found the map detailing the Saffron Swamp and then the one specifically around the area of the Soul Taming Abode. It seems the Soul Taming Abode governed a territory the size of a County, which was near a thousand mile area just like the Heaven Stone Valley of the Holy Flame Sect. This territory covered a portion of the Saffron Swamp, but mostly extended into the valley their expedition was exploring. Sage located the Soul Taming Abode on the map and the entrance to the valley they had arrived by. With those points of reference in mind, it should be simple to find everything else on the map!

Now, there was merely the matter of whether he should share this information with the Sect or not… No thanks. I’ll just tell them about anything good I find that I can’t take away myself!

The only other choice was whether or not he should include Ding Zhen and the others. They had brought him along to open the Soul Taming Abode, but that was only because they needed his help to solve the formations. I want to be generous, but the only way for me to be stronger is to find the best treasures for myself! With my talent there’s no way anyone would give me any of the good stuff. It’s far more efficient for them to focus their resources on those who will get the most out of it.

Sage had once been very agreeable and so he was fine with studying within the Sect, letting the resources go to those who had the best chances of advancing. There were many competitions held among the Disciples, using the tests to show who was the best and giving the winners more resources. It was a case of the strong getting stronger, and it was the best way to nurture powerful Disciples. Of course, Sage was no longer the same as he used to be. His nature had changed and now he realized that the only way forward for him was to search for treasure and be vicious in his acquisition of them. It wasn’t like he couldn’t trade in all the stuff he didn’t need to the Sect. Why share the spoils when he didn’t have to?