At this point, Sage felt he’d reached a decision point. He could continue to wait around to defend his Clan and pass the decades until his next appointment came up. Or, he could take care of an obligation that he still had plenty of time to fulfill. This second obligation had a far longer period before it had to be undertaken, but his distaste for it was much greater. In a few decades the Realm Heart would reach the state he was looking for and could try to study the laws within it. In addition he had a second appointment related to the first: a promised task to Guan Zhenyan. He had to take Guan Zhenyan somewhere and presumably complete some tasks for the man.
Sage wasn’t sure if he should handle this job now, or wait until after he’d experienced the laws in the Realm Heart. Things had reached a level of stability with the Four Major Businesses, so he was less worried about the Lang Clan being destroyed in retribution. He was merely arguing with his own desire for adventure. For a Cultivator, passing a few decades in quiet meditation was quite regular. The problem was that Sage had not just spent a few decades. On the Inner World he’d spent tens of thousands of years on training and research. It wasn’t as bad when he was raising his family, but that only lasted a few hundred years.
Since then, he’d felt quite fulfilled while in the Depths. Even if he didn’t spend all his time in action, it was enough to satisfy his curious nature. Going out to adventure just once a week was the equivalent of one adventure every fifteen years on the Inner World. This ratio was very comfortable for him, unlike the few years he waited for the Lang Clan to finish its attack upon the Yi Yang Group. Spending a few thousand years idle was not as enjoyable. He needed some action to break up the monotony of training and researching. On the Inner World the best he could do was set up simulations, restricting certain amounts of his capabilities and battling with various beasts who grew up there without his influence. Even so, as the owner of the world, its laws were based upon the Heavenly Materials that he’d collected. Those materials were his to manipulate and nothing on the Inner World could challenge him. The only thing that could give him even a slight challenge would be someone in the Inner World that was more powerful in laws than he was.
The few members of the Purple Mist Sect that were at that level could already force their way out of the Inner World, but Sage had already released them long ago to act as the hidden protectors of the Lang Clan. Each of the Seething Purple Cobras had long ago signed a contract with Sage before they ever joined the Purple Mist Sect. They acted as his hidden force and in return they got access to potent poisons that helped their bodies grow stronger as well as human forms that let them learn techniques like humans could. Demonic Beasts gained intelligence as they increased in rank, but this was sort of like a multiplier. If the cobras were only as intelligent as a three year old, by the time they reached the sixth tier, they might only be as smart as a six year old. With the human seal they became as competent as adults and their progress in training was many times faster.
It was also quite nice for them, they didn’t have to worry about hunting for food or protecting their resources from other predators. In return all they had to do was go out to battle once every few thousand years. The training standards in the Purple Mist Sect were quite high, but in their off time they also got access to all the wonderful cultural and convenience devices that were common in the Inner World. A human Nascent Soul might demand higher compensation for their service given how rare they were in the outside world, but on the Inner World they found themselves among a hundred of their own number with many younger cobras steadily working to join their ranks. Without a few odd examples to stand out to them, they all quite enjoyed their station.
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After some contemplation and a conversation with his wives and children, they unanimously decided to send him away. The presence of their father with his absurd army of Nascent Souls just undermined all their efforts. It was no fun to work so hard for years to accomplish a task, and then find out your Father could do an even more difficult version of the task with only a few weeks of preparation, most of which was just waiting for the Lang Clan’s own agents to gather information. In the time of a month Sage had taken down a bigger organization than the one they had spent years on, and half that time was the task they were responsible for.
It was definitely much less rewarding to always have your Dad ready to bail you out of every situation. For spoiled rich kids it was a point of pride, but Sage’s children and even grandchildren were hundreds of years old already. Having this shadow looming over them was just uncomfortable, so it was no surprise they all happily pushed him out.
“Go on, have fun!”
Sage didn’t leave just like that, he was still overly concerned for this family of his so he took volunteers from the Purple Mist Sect that were willing to leave their training facility and spend time in the more exciting Outer World. They knew their peers would spend thousands of years improving and pass them up, but they would also be far more free to act. The Lang Clan currently had the support of fifteen Nascent Souls level combatants from the Purple Mist Sect. Ten of them were responsible for shadowing his children and they had done so for so long that these pairs were all as close as family. Additionally, there were five more at the peak of tier six who had initially been stronger than Sage, but he’d now caught up to. These five were responsible for taking turns guarding his wives and defending the Clan home.
Fifteen Nascent Souls matched up with the Chong Clan at its peak, and what Sage assumed to be the top of the first rate powers in the Dou Kingdom. From his estimation the first rate powers had anywhere from five to fifteen Nascent Souls. If they had more, they would probably try to expand their power and if they had less, they would be the target of those attacks. Sage had no idea how strong the Four Major Businesses were, but his guess was that each of them were equal to a first rate power all on their own. It was hard to tell because they didn’t own any provinces of their own, but if Sage had to guess then some of the first rate powers were probably weaker than they should be and the Four Major Businesses controlled them from the shadows.
This was only a guess, which he’d formed based upon how the Royals treated the first rate powers. None of them were allowed to control more than one province. Yet, that was only the official standpoint. If these first rate powers secretly had alliances or control over the others, then how would the Royals know? It became a game of knowing how far to go before the Royals would be offended and retaliate. If he were the Four Major Businesses he would also refrain from holding a Province and instead just bribe other first rate powers. With these others on their side, they could get more favorable conditions in the Kingdom without being restricted by the rules for those who owned a Province.
If he could think of this, then surely the Royals would as well. So, that meant the Four Major Businesses provided something valuable to the Royals. Enough that it let them act as they did to create such a huge business empire. This is why Sage had not ever seriously considered going to war with the Four Major Businesses. If the Royals favored them, then it wouldn’t matter if Sage’s forces could crush them, because the Royal Family had those in the 7th rank, and his Purple Mist Sect would not be able to stand up to them for long.
Instead of going on the offense, he instead left a defense. A full forty additional Purple Mist Sect tier sixes. This way, even if the Four Major Businesses got desperate and had fifteen Nascent Souls each, their sixty would have a difficult time against the fifty five of the Lang Clan. If they stayed behind their array, then Sage felt they would be quite secure. He couldn’t count on the Ancestors in the Tomb to step out and fight for them. The previous Clan Head had been defeated before he could call for help from the Ancestors. Hopefully, Yating would never run into such a problem, but it was better to be safe than sorry.