Chapter 227: Ignoring the Near to Seek the Far

"Can it be fixed?" Kaelen asked further, not letting the atmosphere fall flat, "The anchor point weakened, not disappeared. If the signal can be restored..."

The old man was struggling to dig out a book stuck under a pile of sheepskin parchment. He pulled forcefully once, the entire book pile collapsed, dust flying everywhere. He did not bother caring, dusting his hands before answering:

"The Golden Bull’s array is not broken. Do you understand? It is still intact, still full of spiritual energy, still running as well as the day my ancestors carved it down."

He took a twig, drew two dots far apart on the ground, then connected them with a curve.

"The breakage lies at the other end. The array is like a boat, while the anchor point is the lighthouse on the opposite shore. My boat is still good, the sails are still taut, the oars are still sturdy. But the lighthouse over there got half its lamp smashed by a storm. You can still set sail. It is just that you do not know if you will dock on the shore, or get stuck in the cliffs."

He knew Kaelen understood what a boat was, what setting sail was, what a lighthouse was. Sure enough, Kaelen did not ask the Sage back what the things he just said were.

He looked down at the drawing. He understood, but still tried: "Then fix the lighthouse."

"Fix it how?" The old man raised his messy silver eyebrows, "To fix a lighthouse, there must be someone standing at the lighthouse to fix it. Tell me, in the Northern continent right now, who knows what a spatial array is? Who knows what an anchor point looks like?"

Kaelen fell silent, he suddenly thought of another Spatial attribute person in the tribe, which was Wofu. But they could not even contact Wofu, so how to fix it?

"Then make a new anchor point." Sane spoke up, his voice deep and short, "You talked about the three-person ritual."

"Ah." The old man slapped his thigh once, his expression as joyful as just catching someone falling into a trap, "Right. The three-person ritual. One draws the array, one channels spiritual energy, one acts as a marker. You can do it. I can also do it."

He leaned forward, pressing his face right against Sane’s, grinning to reveal a completely toothless gum: "But tell me, where must the marker stand?"

Sane froze.

"Must stand at the place you want to go." The old man tapped the twig on the right dot, tapping it three times, "Want to place a marker in the Southern continent, then first someone must be able to return to the Southern continent. But to return to the Southern continent there must be a marker. See, the snake biting its own tail. Can you bite it?"

Sane was struck speechless by the old man, finally only able to let out a sigh: "It seems we truly have to rely on the Martial God Shrine."

The Sage pushed his glasses frame, laughing boisterously: "The bunch of old folks refusing to die over there are even more conservative than me, if you want to extract anything from them it will be quite difficult..."

Standing for a long time made the old man slightly tired so he wanted to find a chair to sit. Unfortunately the chairs in the room had all been crushed under books, wanting to clear them out was quite troublesome. Seeing the old man intending to clear the books himself, Finnick hurriedly jumped down from his Daddy’s lap, using his Divine Energy to control vines to clear the books. Chloe also waved her tentacles to help move the books off the chair. After finishing clearing the books, Finnick even thoughtfully jumped onto the chair rolling a few times, using his own fur to wipe the dust on the chair.

The old man nodded: "Oh my, this boy is so good. Hmph, you three adults are not even equal to a child."

The three adults rubbed their noses, laughing dryly in embarrassment.

Just as the old man leaned his back onto the rocking chair, outside suddenly there was someone’s voice reporting:

"Chief, the White Elephant tribe sent people to deliver agricultural tools and discuss some important matters, the Great Elder invites you to return for a bit."

"Got it." Maxwell replied, then looked towards the old man, "Sage, I ask for permission to return first." He then asked Kaelen and Sane, "Do you want to return to the tribe with me?"

The old man smacked his lips, "You scram, they stay."

Maxwell: "...Can you save a bit of face for me? I am the Chief..."

The old man let out a ’hmph’ sound, Maxwell hurriedly turned his back and slipped straight away.

Waiting for Maxwell’s footsteps to fade away, the old Sage then said: "Just now I did not think of it, luckily that guard boy made me remember. Actually it is not that the anchor point cannot be fixed."

"The White Elephant clan previously also participated in fixing an anchor point without needing to be at the destination, their old Sage will definitely know. I will help you write a letter, but you must offer something attractive enough to that old man."

He stroked his beard: "That old man previously served through two generations of Temple Masters, having much deeper and broader knowledge than me, therefore the things you teach the people in this Eastern continent are not convincing enough. Giving you one day, go back and think carefully, then come find me again."

The old man just finished speaking, in the space suddenly there were continuous sneezing sounds. Kaelen looked down at the cloth bag worn on his chest, seeing the baby mouse had woken up since who knew when, using his two front paws to cover his nose, sneezing continuously. Nova also flew out, looking around cautiously.

A face as wrinkled as dried tangerine peel immediately pressed close making both the baby mouse and Nova jump in fright, they screamed once then squeezed deep into the bag.

Kaelen awkwardly introduced: "Sir, this is my eldest son and their contracted Spatial Spirit, the children had been sleeping soundly for several days, only waking up today."

Edward squeezed in the bag, his ears twitching. Hearing Papa introducing him to someone, the boy timidly clung to the edge of the bag, poking his head out to look. Nova also mimicked similarly. The old Sage observed one person and one Spirit, suddenly chuckling:

"You guys are truly ignorant, completely ignoring the near to seek the far. I thought your son’s space was just a normal storage space, but did not expect it to have even birthed a Spirit."

The old man immediately buried his head into the book pile, rummaging through. Paper dust flew everywhere, this time, even Finnick could not hold back sneezing a few times. Edward’s goosebumps all stood up. As a person who likes neatness and order, Edward could not bear such a messy, ruined scene as if a herd of wild boars had just run through.

The boy slid down from Kaelen’s body, climbed onto Sane’s body and whispered softly. Sane was in a dilemma: "Let Daddy ask him first, if we arbitrarily touch them it will not be very good."

"Found it!" The old Sage cheered, springing up. Kaelen clearly heard his back creaking, feeling pain on his behalf. The old man showed no pain at all, throwing a sheepskin scroll right at Kaelen’s face:

"Here, take it back to read. Although having this thing still needs that old White Elephant, remember carefully that you have one day. Oh my, my back..."

Kaelen received the sheepskin scroll, then saw the old man only now bothering to complain about his back, the corners of his mouth twitching. The old man waved his hands, seemingly wanting to kick them out. At this moment Sane suddenly spoke up:

"Sage, we see your place has so many books, all mixed together, every time you search it will be very hard. My son knows how to organize records, he can help you organize them."

The old man narrowed his eyes looking at the little mouse on Sane’s shoulder, thought for a bit then nodded: "That is also fine. The brats in the tribe are clumsy and frequently damage my books so I do not let them touch them, if you have this intention, then I reluctantly accept."

Kaelen and Sane did not know whether to laugh or cry, then the whole family began dividing tasks. Working while carrying a small egg seemed cumbersome, therefore Kaelen sent Oliver to the old man to look after. The old man naturally did not refuse, reaching out his hand to receive the egg-carrying cloth bag Kaelen handed over.

The old man pressed his face close to the egg, clicking his tongue praising the color and shape of the egg. The old man clicked his tongue twice: "Oh my, this must be a Sub-Beast, right? The outer shell is so beautiful."

Kaelen tied his hair up neatly while saying: "Yes, it is indeed a Sub-Beast. Also quite special, wait until it breaks out of the shell you will know."

"Oh, then I will eagerly look forward to it."