Alhaitham showed none of the excitement or desire one might have expected at the enticing offer Yucheng dangled before him. His expression held only a hint of surprise before he looked at Yucheng with wariness written all over his face.
Alhaitham merely replied calmly, "A Sage? If that were what I wanted, Kavus, the current Sage of Haravatat, would have stepped down long ago. Fortunately for him, I can't be bothered to have much ambition.
"Being a Sage would mean far too much contact with those fools in the Akademiya. My time shouldn't be wasted on them."
Yucheng was speechless at Alhaitham's casual boasting. He had to admit that Alhaitham was an extremely rational man. He had ability, strength, money, and an academic background, yet no ambition. Such people were exceedingly rare in Teyvat.
Even the promise of becoming the Akademiya's Great Sage in the future failed to sway him.
Someone like him would not easily be blinded by the grand promises others made. Even if those promises were eventually delivered and placed within easy reach, he would still choose to walk away, because they were not what he wanted.
He placed no blind faith in power or heroism, did only what he wanted and found interesting, and rejected an overwhelming sense of justice and responsibility while embracing an intensely individualistic logic of action. That was the kind of person Alhaitham was.
There was, in fact, a method for dealing with someone like him: target whatever he currently wanted to know!
And the Divine Knowledge Capsule was precisely what he currently wanted to investigate. Although that did not mean he would act for the benefit of particular strangers, if taking action could ultimately point him toward an answer, there would be no need for threats or inducements. He would eagerly