The sheer power of the Timeless Master’s Eyes was the reason that most of this research was focused upon purely visual means. There was also the magic tool equivalent of speakers so that sounds could be replayed in ‘real time’ on the Inner World and carefully analyzed, but the other senses were far more difficult to share. For the sense of touch, they would have to enter a large booth filled with Qi that pressed up against them to replicate what Sage’s body felt. Since Spiritual Sense operated something like the sense of touch expanding out into the physical world, it was even more difficult to replicate and the best they could do was to project a three dimensional topographical map. It was far more complicated than projecting his visual ‘feed’ and was in very low resolution. The different types of Qi and energy that his Spiritual Sense encountered were experienced similar to temperature for the skin, but for this display they had to substitute colors like a thermal sensor would.
At this time, Sage was using every one of his senses and performing a thorough investigation on the nature of the gigantic beating heart in front of him. It was large enough that a man could walk through one of the largest pipes while standing. At least they could if these artery-like structures were actually hollow like the giant heart it looked to be. None of his senses could penetrate through the flesh of the giant heart and none of the attacks he almost made would be able to cause any significant damage to it. Not that he wanted to injure the giant heart, but he wanted to get a peek inside but was unable to.
“Hey, Kid. It seems you don’t need to take me anywhere in the future. Just let me out right now and all our past debts and difficulties will be considered settled.”
It was then that Sage heard a voice that he hoped would stay quiet for a much longer period. An outrageously handsome, but horribly sloppy and unkempt man appeared beside Sage. His long silky soft hair that was normally shooting out at weird angles and containing at least a few twisted knots was now flowing smoothly in the water.
Sage frowned and spoke with only a slight bit of contempt to his words, “I know that is only a projection of you. Given how you’ve so easily changed your hair it makes your usual appearance even more disgusting.”
“Oh, so it seems you care so much about appearances then? Is that to make up for your insecurity about your real body being an ugly monster? Or are you simply jealous of how skilled I am at making changes?”
The man’s long robes were open in the front and seemed only barely to be held closed by the loose sash around his waist, revealing the man’s smooth shaven chest and sculpted muscles. It was like a vision from some sort of women’s magazine, except it was spoiled by the bits of food stuck to his skin and the stains of sauces on the edges of his robe. This disgusting fellow was Guan Zhenyan, the fellow that shown Sage equal parts kindness and torture. Saving him from a life of servitude by saddling him with debt and ‘allowing’ him to pay off that debt by becoming a guinea pig. None of the poisons he suffered were fatal or left him with permanent damage, but he was still tortured on a weekly basis for years by this man. The last time he saw him was when he came out on his own volition to make a deal with Sage’s Lang Clan Ancestor. Sage had no idea how that deal went or what it even entailed, but now this fellow was here to cause trouble again?
“I know you can project out here, but you don’t dare to come out with your body. That means this thing is so valuable it’s making you try to act nice. Thank you for the confirmation.”
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Guan Zhenyan didn’t seem pleased by his words, but he also wasn’t upset. That meant he wasn’t expecting his initial suggestion to work. Sage wasn’t allowed to know about certain secrets, but it seemed that at least he wasn’t considered a complete idiot. On the other hand, Sage had no idea what angle the man was going to come at him. If this was truly a really valuable treasure, wouldn’t he get taken advantage of if he tried to make any deals? Yet, what were his options? He had no idea what this thing was, what it could do, or even how to harvest it. That is, if it could even be harvested. He knew absolutely nothing at this point so he was bound to make a loss.
“Since this thing is so valuable, I’m sure Tao Ba will help me out if I give him a cut of the profits.”
Sage chose to go with intimidation. Even as mysterious as Guan Zhenyan was, there was still something Sage did know for sure: the man was very hungry for money. With how relentlessly the fellow chased after money, Sage thought there must be some special item that Guan Zhenyan needed to recover or advance his strength. Then again, the fact that he had been so intent on taking every opportunity to nickel and dime Sage made him think that perhaps there was more to it.
“You’re getting better at this. You must have really studied that wife of yours. Then we’ll get right down to the real deal then. This thing is beyond your capabilities to handle and Tao Ba won’t be able to help you with anything outside the Universe Ring. I can help you to bring this thing away and also teach you how to get some benefits from it. Once you can no longer benefit from it, it will belong to me.”
“So, its benefits to me are limited? So it can help me to some specific limit and then it will stop being helpful? Then it has some other real purpose, which must be more valuable in order for you to make this offer.”
Guan Zhenyan smiled and gave him a thumbs up, “Very good! Exactly right. So, what do you say?”
“I accept.”
“Oh, not going to argue about losing out? I had a speech prepared to convince you how a guaranteed small profit now is better than a big one without any certainty. Are you sure you don’t want to hear about how good business is based on deep knowledge?”
“No need. Let’s just get started. How do we take it away?”
Guan Zhenyan looked annoyed at not getting to show off. He was usually too lazy to explain anything, and now that he was in the mood he was ignored. To show his distaste he brought out a long iron pipe and started to puff large clouds of smoke, wasting Sage’s time to show off his contempt.
“You forgot that we’re underwater. Your hair is flowing with the current but your smoke is out of place here.”
Sage pointed out Zhenyan’s childishness and the man turned up his chin. Then he continued to smoke, releasing the projection of clouds of smoke into the water in ever larger quantities like he’d always intended it from the start. Sage avoided the great desire to roll his eyes and put his attention to studying the many tests they’d performed on the giant heart before Zhenyan showed up. As for why he took the deal, the concept that the fellow spoke about was already something he’d taken to heart long ago. Rather than trying to win the lottery, it was better to put that same money into a retirement fund. Guaranteed benefits were always better than big promises. It also seemed that without any help it wouldn’t just be like gambling, he would be walking away from the table altogether.
Instead, it was a much better option for him to treat this as widening his horizons. It was a common proverb here and even if he only earned a fraction of the treasure’s worth it was better than getting nothing at all. He was like a prospector striking gold and then selling the claim to a mining company. The gains were outside his means to obtain so it was far easier to just get what he could and then move on to finding the next score.