Or at least that’s what they assumed.

For all they knew that youngster might have succeeded. Perhaps the kid was now the disciple of the Essence Sculptor and carried away to some other world far away from this one. There was no way to tell for sure. Of course, this idea was a long shot. During the year-long ‘trial’ an energy field surrounded the body of the youngster as well as the Stone Tablet, holding them in a protective field. After the year was up, this energy disappeared. The chances that the man survived and was taken somewhere else were small.

Sage knew the technique was related to Seals, and the researcher that had foolishly taken the trial thought of themselves as the most skilled Seal user in the Lang Clan at the time. While Sage had not made much use of Seals outside of the Human Seal he didn’t stop the researchers on the Inner World from studying and using them. There was no worry of facing retribution for using the ‘banned’ technique on the Inner World like there was in the outside world. That said, he never spread the Timeless Eyes. Even if he could pass it on to others, it was not something he would be eager to spread.

Sage had been able to collect a few bits of Seal knowledge over the years and it was more than enough for the researchers to start building upon. One of the Lang Clan ancestors gave him the missing knowledge needed to create a foundation for what he labeled as a 1 star Seal Master. There were also a few techniques and bits of knowledge in the Timeless Master’s Library and the Violent Sun Sect Library. Both of these sources were ancient, and this matched up with the theory that Seal Master as a profession was wiped out some time afterwards. These two sources must be older than the time when Seal Masters and their techniques were erased from usage. The other Professions on the Inner World had a full knowledge base up to five stars, while those who wanted to become a Seal Master had only one star available. Even so, they were still better off than the Professions that Sage had never come into contact with.

Over the span of thousands of years, the Inner World had created many new Seals. With a handful of the most basic Seal Techniques and a high level one like the Human Seal to use as reference they made many new advancements. It also helped that creating a Seal was more about knowing the target and the other techniques were merely additions to that base. The researchers came up with many types of Siphon and Repress Seals and Sage was happy to use these advancements to improve his own knowledge. It was these improvements as well as the Timeless Eyes that gave him confidence in his Seal ability. Yet, the true reason he was willing to undergo this test was the improvements in another area.

Lang Feiyan brought in a final checklist and Sage went over it with her, double checking that each and every item they needed to bring out from the Inner World was accounted for. The other thousand had just finished checking all of the items that had been carefully collected and curated over the span of a hundred years on the Inner World. Sage compared the list with those on the Inner World in an instant and nodded to Feiyan, “Well done. Farewell for now.”

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Sage had only committed to this task a couple months ago, but in the Inner World more than a hundred years of preparation had been done. Feiyan was taken aback by how terse he spoke and how rapidly he acted here because she was too used to how calm and deliberate he was on the Inner World. There he had an overabundance of time to plan, prepare, and overthink every possible outcome. It was a stark contrast to his decisive actions on the outside world. She had just handed him the final checklist and he’d already turned around and walked back over to the table. He sat down in front of the large Stone Tablet and before she could say anything further he used a blade of Qi to slice his palm open. She had a shocked look on her face while watching his blood spill onto the stone.

There was no time for her to react as the energy field she’d seen in the reports expanded from the Stone Tablet and encapsulated Sage’s body. They had tested it previously and it offered a form of protection to the tablet and its user, but they found that it consumed the power of its user so the more damage was inflicted to the shield the weaker the person undertaking the trial would become. Any thoughts of wearing out the Tablet to breach its defenses and study it closer would only lead to the downfall of the person undertaking the trial. There was nothing she could do now, but to wait and hope for the best.

Contrary to Feiyan’s worry, Sage was confident of his ability and eager to see what this ancient fellow had made such a big deal out of. Once he gave it his blood he felt a powerful force drawing him towards the tablet. He immediately realized that he was too powerful for it to force inside. As a Nascent Soul he could fight back against its draw and his blood wasn’t a death sentence. Of course, after all the preparation he wasn’t going to stop now. He left his body as a Nascent Soul, flying into the Stone Tablet and feeling everything change around him. It turned out there was a sort of mental dimension inside the tablet and Sage found himself face to face with a projection of a middle aged western man with slightly tanned skin. He had shortly cropped dark curly hair and a full yet narrow beard that extended a few inches down from his chin.

The man was wearing an outfit straight out of the renaissance, a doublet complete with puffy collar, hose, and ‘puffy pants’. Sage had no idea what the garments were called, but it was very disorienting to run into such a look. He’d grown used to the many types of cultivators running around in the Depths, but he hadn’t encountered any renaissance style europeans. The man had a disinterested look on his face and didn’t seem to be putting much stock in examining Sage. Instead, he seemed to only be going through the motions as he waved to an octagonal column standing beside his ghostly form.

“Welcome, applicant. If you wish to become my apprentice and join my workshop, then you must learn this technique. You have one year. Sadly, if you cannot do it you will not be able to leave here. Since you’ll be exposed to my secrets, I can’t let you spread to the unworthy. Much apologies.”

Sage had already recognized that this man was merely a projection so there was little point trying to admonish him for such a ridiculous set of conditions. Shouldn’t there at least be a choice given? He could only wonder how many people had died accidentally trying to pass this test.