Chương 296: Silent Sage (I)

[--Creator's Eyes used] [Target: Lu Yuhan] [Dao Title: Silent Sage] [Age: 2, 838] [Talent: peak-Jade (Weakened)] [Cultivation Realm: Peak True God Realm (Weakened)] [Cultivation Method: Annals of the First Sage (11th Volume)] [Cultivation Arts: Endless Night (Myth), Shadow Strike (Myth), Raining Daggers of Blood (Legendary)...] [...] [Traits] [Mortal Wound (???) -- a deeply hidden wound that had derailed the target's cultivation and disallowed any further progress] [Genius (Legendary) -- once-in-a-generation genius, capable of understanding things at speeds well beyond normal; can more easily evolve and upgrade existing arts, and has the chance to naturally discern the weaknesses of others' arts by merely observing them once] [Psychopath (Legendary) -- a wholly unfeeling creature, lacking any semblance of empathy] [Paranoia (Legendary) -- extreme paranoia bred over the thousands of years of strife. Will never trust a stranger, no matter what. Greatly suspicious of all anomalies] [Sagacious (???) -- an enlightened soul capable of perceiving the tangents of the world and understanding them greatly. Knowledge comes at a great cost, as he--and all others of his order--must surrender their identities to the One] [--Host is too weak to perceive other traits] [...] [Assessing suitability...] [Anomaly detected. Special Physique Detected. Special Bloodline Detected] [...] [Sea-Touched Bloodline (Ancient) -- a bloodline dating to the age of the first land-dwellers, though greatly diluted. Allows for a much quicker understanding of all water-based arts and almost a complete immunity to blood-based poisons] [Sage Physique, Fourth Order (???) -- a physique that predates records of human settlements. It is said to have originated from the Sky-Bearing Boulder obtaining sentience under Dao. Inordinately rare as only the First Order can occur naturally, and only in one person, while others are forcibly imbued] [--Severed Nirvanic Stem (???) -- an invisible wound that crippled someone who had managed to reach Nirvana. Almost impossible to fix] [...] [Recommendation: the target has fully realized its original potential, and sans one of the Seven Divine Elixirs, has little chance of ever recovering, let alone progressing further than they did in the past. It is recommended that the Host doesn't attempt to fix them, as it would take far too long, almost beyond the scale of time] [...] [Final Assessment: a crippled, remarkable talent who had a fading chance of becoming an Emperor, had the dominos fallen correctly. Though most of their cultivation has been annihilated, their lifespan remains largely unaffected, and they are likely to naturally live for tens of thousands of years]... damn. Damn, damn, damn. Even goddamn. We shouldn't have come here.

I did my best to not show an ounce of the roaring volcano inside of me on my face, as I'm deeply scarred by the system's assessment of him. It's not just that he's one of the Sages, with whom we have a rather contentious relationship; it's that he's legitimately the most talented individual I've ever come across, even more so than Long Tao (at the moment, at least). Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Short of that billion-something points thing that I'm pretty sure I made up, he's by far the most extreme inspection I've had. While there were others, like Elder Lu, with deeply rooted potential, he actually fully realized it. He'd reached Nirvana, at some point, and only the heavens know what the fuck he fought to have been wounded so severely at that level.

It's one thing to screw around with things on the fringe while we're hidden in the shadows, but we're now out in the open in front of somebody who will notice everything about us the moment we step out of line. And, well, there's no chance in hell these kids aren't stepping out of line. While we can't leave immediately, as that's one surefire way to tell them to take a deeper look at you, we can't stay here for the full duration of the festival, let alone compete in whatever tournament they arrange.

The crowd began to disperse after the speech, with some heading over to the lake immediately and some going back to whatever hole they crawled out of. I can't even discuss what I've learned with anyone, as I have a sneaking suspicion that guy is listening to everything. Haah. Whatever. Honestly, this might not be the worst thing in the world. It'll be the first test of how I handle being put in situations like this. I can break down and freak out so easily, but that'd just be falling back into the old patterns.

I'm with monsters, and more of them every few months it feels, and this isn't really going to be an exception to our journey. From the moment Long Tao antagonized Sages, this was bound to happen one day. And if we had to face them, why not face one that's weakened? I mean, yeah, he is about six billion times stronger than all of us combined, but we don't have to fight him. Or, well, maybe Long Tao figures out a way to defeat him.

Or his daughter takes fancy to Xi Zhao or something and their love manages to--okay, yeah, it's the first one, more likely. Worst comes to worst, we fight. It's not like I have no ways of fighting those above my realm--it's just that I keep them close abreast and hate wasting them, even when 'wasting' really just means using them properly. Kind of reminds me of hoarding limited-number items in games, saving them for 'desperate times', only to beat the entire damn thing with the inventory full of them.

"You noticed it too, huh?" Long Tao, once again, nearly gave me a heart attack as he appeared out of nowhere while we'd returned to the outside of our little home here. Others have already gone inside while I stayed out to calm myself a bit. Seeing as how he spoke, he'd probably taken precautions, so...

"Is there anything in your family's deep treasury that can kill him?"

"Oh?" he arched his brows as he looked at me strangely.

"What?"

"I was beyond convinced you'd have said something like, 'Hey, we're leaving tomorrow, right?'""..."

"He gives off a familiar scent," he said.

"What do you mean? Haah, who keeps leaving random trash here? That's the third time today!" there was a random piece of cloth just strewn about at the corner of the house, prompting me to pick it up and toss it off elsewhere. If they're gonna litter, at least don't litter here...

"I mean that he may have found one of my father's ancient stashes," Long Tao smiled faintly.

"He took something that was not meant for him, Master." Uh-oh.

"Plundered it like a common thief. And now, he dares sit up there and run his filthy, mongrel mouth as though he owns the world? Master."

"... y-yes?"

"This place must burn," I'd seen it before a couple of times, glimpses of a man from before. Right now, he wasn't Long Tao, the slightly apathetic and disinterested youth pursuing immortality--he was an Immortal, one whose pride was carved into his bones.

"And the world must hear his screams. Otherwise, my--father's honor cannot be restored."... why do I suddenly feel kind of bad for that old thing?

'cause whatever happens to him... it's not gonna be pretty.