Molting the Mortal Coil

The antique shop was styled like a perfectly preserved ancient chinese palace on the outside, yet the first room he entered was warm and inviting. A somewhat small and cozy room that looked perfect to entertain perhaps a dozen people. The inner and outer appearances were quite different. From the outside it looked like a blatant advertisement, a grand and imposing building worn down to show its age and then perfectly preserved. Inside, it suddenly became a warm and inviting drawing room to entertain guests. Sage wasn’t exactly sure what message they were trying to send as he looked around. After a few moments his question was answered without being asked when a old man wearing an equally ancient set of robes entered.

“My… what a unique looking customer. You must be Lang Sheng that we’ve recently heard so much about. Welcome to our humble Antique Shop. Please forgive the imposing exterior, the previous owner was so very ostentatious.”

We? Sage wasn’t sure who the old man was referring to in the plural, but he didn’t really care. He was just here to make the most out of the treasures he’d picked up. Since the furniture took up the most space, they were first on the list.

“It is amazing that such an important person could know of me. Forgive me for not knowing your illustrious name, but I must compliment your excellent use of this room.”

He didn’t used to be so savvy as to speak with such humility and provide compliments, but his base nature had changed. Deceit and evasion to the pursuit of one’s ends. The nature of the serpent had become his own and it was already showing up in his mannerisms without his notice. There were many ways in which he now realized how naive and unprepared he used to be, but there was also many more changes he was unaware of. Eastern Culture, or at least what he’d learned in this world, seemed to revere humility only slightly less than filial piety. The Parents and Ancestors were the most important, followed up with working hard and being humble about your accomplishments. If you hit those three bases you were at least a respectable member of society regardless of your achievements otherwise.

Sage was trying to create a favorable impression for himself without even realizing it. The old man merely smiled and bowed down, “Of course. Such a famous person in the Holy Flame Sect. It’s no wonder even a worthless Old Man like myself should have heard of you.”

“Please, please, stand up. I’m no great personage, it’s my pleasure to visit such a fine and storied establishment. Please tell me your name, kind Sir.”

It seems they’d entered a battle of humility and platitudes which then went on for at least five more minutes before he finally learned the man’s name was Xuan Bai and convinced him he was here to have things appraised and sold. Eventually they walked down a hallway past a few smaller private rooms before entering the main showroom. The huge building finally showed its size and must have been made in order to house this immense hall. It was more like a densely packed museum than it was an antique shop. Everything had specialized display cases and plaques detailing their stories.

“Wow. This is stupendous. Do you only take such magnificent works of art, Mister Xuan?”

“Oh, you see this is our top quality showroom. Lesser antiques are kept in Storage Chests in our backroom. No matter your price range or taste we are confident in having something that might interest you.”

“Really? How can the customers browse the items if they’re all in Storage Chests?”

“Don’t worry, we have a unique showroom and special Storage Chests. The whole contents of a chest can be unpacked and put on display near instantly!”

Sage smiled pleasantly. The idea was quite a good one, he could see how it wouldn’t be too difficult to do with all the array magic he’d seen so far. It certainly wasn’t something he’d thought up yet and it left him to wonder just how many other small wonders had been put into use that would be unappreciated by the general populace. Xuan Bai led him across the main showroom floor, the Appraisal and business desk was placed at the farthest corner of the room, presumably to give sellers a chance to be tempted into buying. Once they’d reached the Desk, Sage began to bring out articles of furniture.

“Oh my, Incense Sandalwood! An ancient imperial desk! Purple Rosewood Six-Poster Bed! Gold Vein Blackwood Square Corner Cabinet!”

Xuan Bai gushed over each of the items as they appeared. Sage had enough to furnish three small offices and bedrooms, and the Old Man seemed like he was going to collapse seeing so many ancient pieces in perfect condition appearing all at once. After about ten minutes, Sage started to get impatient and asked how much longer it would take. The asking took another five minutes as they exchanged pleasantries and drowned in politeness. Eventually, Sage realized it might take quite some time for Xuan Bai to accurately examine and assess every last inch of the furniture he’d brought. With nothing else to do, Sage went through the possessions that had been in the desks, dressers and cabinets. He first gave everything a once over to make sure there wasn’t any clues that linked different objects together. The worst thing would be to read a note or find an engraving that spoke about something else in the desk and have to comb through everything all over again to find it.

Once he was sure that there were no sensitive documents or other links between the objects inside the desks he then took his time to sort through and categorize his findings. He made sure to sense for signs of Qi, Spirit, or Soul on the items before searching for array formations and activation points. Some very high quality magic tools had their arrays build within an item which hid them quite well, but every array had to have an access point to input energy. If they didn’t contain their own energy, which he should be able to sense, they needed outside input. He didn’t want to randomly throw away something that looked like a paperweight only to find out it was a useful magic tool later on.

His searches were quite fruitful, picking out a dozen small magic objects with various effects. As he assumed, none of them were all that spectacular. They were left behind in a desk after all. Most Cultivators would carry their important possessions around with them, the tools left in the desk were mostly mundane though he found a few that he decided to keep. One of them looked like a case for a bamboo slip with a large orb on top. After some examination and research, he realized it was called a ‘Scroll Scout’. If a scroll or bamboo slip was placed inside the Scout would create an image above the orb and display what was inside the slip or scroll. It was useful to check for traps or foul play as well as to show the slip’s contents to multiple people. If it was a locked scroll it would instead give a general idea of what it would take to open the scroll, which would protect a Cultivator from failing their attempt and suffering a backlash.

The other useful item he found was called a Memory Forge. It was an improved version of a Memory Altar. In addition to adding to a Memory Sphere it could also erase or edit the stored memories. It was also much smaller, instead of a couple foot tall giant anvil like device it looked like a small stand the size of an overturned bowl. It was crafted from a dozen different types of metal curling and intertwining with each other like an iris with a spot in the center to place one of those glowing orbs the size of a ping pong ball called Memory Spheres. He also kept stacks of paper, each created of special materials and similar to ones he already had in storage. There was also special inks to go along with them as well as other Cultivator level stationary. Empty Bamboo Slips, Technique Scrolls, and the devices used to fill them.

With the desks contents sorted, Sage had another small pile of knick knacks to hand over to the Xuan Bai for appraisal. Returning his consciousness to the real world he looked up to see Xuan Bai smiling at him in eagerness to finish their business deal. Sage started another polite dance of compliments and platitudes as they worked up towards some heated bargaining. He approached the desk and as a trick to increase his position in the negotiation he waved his hand and deposited the other objects for appraisal.

There was a glint in his eye as he triumphantly took the lead in bargaining… but then something else caught his gaze. Behind Xuan Bai there was a glass case that contained a huge golden egg sitting on a pillow.