He didn't want Time Traveler, Time Traveler's son, and any other random Gemini to ruin all of his hard work. But he couldn't create something like that directly, or it would draw too much attention.
He had to pretend to try and fail many times. At least, he had to fail more times than he had when making Supreme Metacs for the Devouring Pathway.
Since he failed about three times at Supreme Metacs for the Devouring Pathway, he had to fail at least six to ten times trying to make ones for the Time Pathway. That level of wastage alone made him secretly grind his teeth in frustration. But it got worse.
He was rich and could afford that kind of wastage of lifespan, but he also had to pretend to be poor. A new Dao Lord definitely shouldn't be able to afford the lifespan needed to pretend to be inept, so he was shackled on both ends.
