A Snail's Wisdom

"This stone is whiter than the previous challenge stone."

As he looked over the machine, the a.s.sistant had returned with her pot of tea. She saw him looking over at the machine and grinned proudly.

"I see you"ve noticed our studio"s very own challenge! One moment, let me start another pot of tea for you," she told Kenja.

Kenja wanted to decline and leave, but his curiosity got the better of him. He accepted the offer of tea and looked over the machine once more.

The a.s.sistant brought water out of her storage bag and poured it into the teapot. She left the pot brewing in midair before approaching Kenja.

"This is the sect"s third oldest challenge, but in my opinion, it"s the challenge with the highest difficulty level."

"Really? What makes you say that?" Kenja was intrigued.

"Simple. This is the only challenge in the sect that no one can complete, including the elders," she declared while puffing out her chest.

"Is an unbeatable challenge something you should take pride in?" Kenja chuckled at the a.s.sistant"s dignified pose.

"What are the details of this challenge?"

The a.s.sistant puffed out her chest even further.

"All you need to do is fix this TD!"

Kenja stifled a cough when he heard this. To base your sect"s currency on a machine that no one could fix is quite irresponsible.

"How can no one fix this machine if the second elder was the one who made it? Surely, at least he can fix these tribulatory demarcators?" Kenja winced when he finished saying its full name.

She opened her mouth and made a face that seemed to say "Ahha!" as if she was waiting to make the punchline.

"It isn"t that he can"t fix these machines. It"s just that he can"t fix "this" machine."

Kenja still didn"t understand her words.

"This one has been broken for the past seven years. My master had spent countless months working on it to the point that the First Elder made it into a challenge."

"Wait. This isn"t the Second Elder"s challenge? Is the First Elder also a spiritual architect?"

She returned the question with a sheepish smile.

"No, but master can sometimes get carried away with his research. He spent so much time trying to fix it that he somewhat ignored everything else. With the First Elder"s intervention, the machine requires the expenditure of ten thousand sect credits per attempt."

Kenja"s mouth widened in astonishment.

"Just for taking up the challenge, I have to spend the equivalent of one hundred low-tier spirit stones???"

The a.s.sistant nodded her head, agreeing with Kenja"s reaction. "Now, master has to gather enough sect credits for every attempt, but as a result, he works diligently for the sect"s advancement. First Elder is truly wise."

"What a great con artist! Perhaps we should look towards upgrading your master to the First Elder. You could learn a thing or two from him," Snail surmised.

Kenja turned his head back to the challenge stone inside the socket.

"I saw the apothecary"s challenge stone. It wasn"t this white."

The a.s.sistant put on an embarra.s.sed face. "The challenge stone"s color changes with the quant.i.ty of credits it holds. The whiter the stone, the more credits stored."

"Wait, this doesn"t make sense. This means that this stone here has more credits than the apothecary"s challenge stone."

"How can so many people willingly spend ten thousand credits on a challenge that not even your master can solve?"

She sighed, hoping that this senior sister wouldn"t connect the pieces. "Nearly all this challenge"s credits...came from master himself."

"Ah…" Kenja understood now. This second elder had spent most of his salary on trying to fix this machine.

"Well, can you tell me anything more about the challenge? Perhaps your master has an idea on which direction the problem lies."

She began searching through her memories as she fumbled for a response. "Essentially, this TD can only send credits one way and not the other. So you can press the b.u.t.ton and transfer the challenge"s fee to the stone, and if you did fix the machine, the challenge stone will recognize it and transfer its credits back."

She paused, continuing to look back in her mind for any hints her master may have mentioned.

"I do remember master mentioning something about the feedback loop not functioning as intended. That"s all I can remember though."

Kenja chuckled when he heard this. "Junior sister, it does not sound like you are a spiritual architect."

Aracha gave Kenja a toothy grin. "I must confess that I have my reservations, but I am grateful to master for his generosity. Before he offered to take me under his wing, I was only a servant working at the cafeteria."

"I see. Well, I think I would like to try my hand at this challenge."

Aracha was taken aback. "Senior sister, surely, your credits would be better spent on something else."

Kenja smiled at this kind sister who was around two or three years older than him. She didn"t even think for one moment that Kenja could succeed and had immediately considered the credits as "wasted," so she tried to talk him out of it.

"No worries, junior sister. I was taught to live life with no regrets, so how can I walk away from such an interesting challenge now that it"s been presented to me. I may lose these credits, but if I were to avoid this obstacle now, there"s no telling what I will cower from in the future!" Kenja declared.

He didn"t really believe what he was saying because the speech was meant to ease this junior sister"s worry. Kenja was never such an idealistic person, having seen firsthand the cutthroat nature of humanity.

Even though ten thousand credits was a drop in the ocean compared to Kenja"s current wealth, he wouldn"t toss them away unless he thought it was worth the risk. Although he didn"t have a lot of experience with creating spiritual tools, he did spend an incredible amount of time fixing broken tools. To him, this was indeed a "calculated risk" worth taking.

Aracha"s eyes gleamed as she curled her right hand into a chubby fist. "You are truly wise, senior sister! Please, feel free to look inside the machine. It can be opened from the right side, and here is the key for the lock."

She took a key out of her bag and floated it to Kenja.

He took the key and pulled the machine closer to him, angling the right side to face him. He unlocked it and pulled out the entire side like a door. The inside of the machine had a complex-looking system of circuits and gears. The sides of the machine also had circuits hanging from them, including the machine"s side door and ceiling.

Kenja spent the next few minutes looking inside the machine while the a.s.sistant respectfully supervised him from outside.

"Do you actually know anything about this junk?" inquired Snail.

Kenja didn"t answer back immediately as he continued to look at one of the wall"s circuits.

"I am used to fixing up broken spiritual tools. I thought that perhaps I might catch something that the elder missed."

Kenja enjoyed peering inside tools like this. While he didn"t know any of the parts" names and could only theorize as to what their primary functions were, his intuition had been trained to detect things that were "out of place" or "looked off."

"So it"s just a hobby for you? How ignorant of you, disciple! This machinery is above your skills, and you cannot even realize that."

"Oh great, Snail-sensei. If you know so much about spiritual tools, then why don"t you fix it?"

Snail took a moment to respond. "Of course I know a thing or two about these whatchamacallits, but the books I read were very boring and too technical, so I just skimmed them. I can at least tell you that if your master, here, can"t figure it out, then of course you cannot!"

Kenja rolled his eyes. He didn"t want to continue the discussion, but he was interested in one thing Snail said.

"You have books on spiritual architects as well?"

"Who do you think I am? I"ve got books on everything—pills, plants, weapons, deities, beasts...I even got several limited-edition books such as "The 278 Positions of the Karmasutra" and "11 Ways to Reach the Heavens in 11 Breaths,"" bragged Snail.

Kenja could feel Sakura vibrating from his waist.

"I did NOT steal most of them! I am just borrowing a few of them until I see their owners once more…"

Sakura didn"t respond, but Kenja could only think of one thing.

"This snail…"

Kenja exited the tribulatory demarcator and raised his hand to his chin in contemplation. He saw nothing wrong with the inner circuitry, so he was at a loss.

The a.s.sistant looked at him and commented, "Senior sister, you remind me of master when he works. Every time he exited that TD, he raised his hand to his chin and rubbed it. I mean this in a good way, but you somehow seem...manly."

Kenja was extremely elated to hear this. A smile crept up on his face when he heard Snail scold him.

"Hey, hey! Girls shouldn"t be happy being called manly!"

Kenja forced a frown on his face and coughed.

"Junior sister, I...thank you, for your strange compliment."

Aracha made a worried look and quickly spoke out, "Please, senior sister. I meant nothing disrespectful by it as you are quite beautiful. Please forgive my offense."

Kenja waved his hand as if he had already forgotten it, but deep down, his mood soured at having himself be described as beautiful.

Aracha was glad to be dealing with such a magnanimous senior. At this time, the teapot"s whistle blew out. She motioned for the teapot to come to her and poured a cup for Kenja. Kenja took a sip of the tea and was amazed.

"Junior sister, you said you worked in the cafeteria before you came here?"

"Yes, I was the tea servant girl who served customers every day. It was a decent job for a servant that got me around three credits a day," she huffed proudly.

"Then one busy day, master walked into my kitchen and offered to take me in as his student. He told me that I have a one-of-kind talent. Can you imagine?!" She exhaled a dreamlike sigh.

While she wasn"t paying attention, Snail floated a few drops of tea to his mouth. He gasped into Kenja"s ear.

"With tea like this, I have half a mind to take her in as a disciple myself!"

Kenja could only agree with Snail"s a.s.sessment. She may not have the intellect for spiritual tools or diligence towards cultivation, but her tea was comparable to heaven"s ambrosia.

"By the way, since I saw that you didn"t touch anything inside the machine, you won"t have to pay the challenge fee. Truthfully, I don"t think anyone other than my master can fix this machine."

Kenja was inclined to agree with her. He finished his drink and was about to give the cup back to her when he realized that he couldn"t move his hands or feet.

"What the…"

"Ask for more tea!" Snail commanded.

"More tea your a.s.s! I want to leave. Now let me go!" Kenja said to Snail, annoyed by the extent of his gluttony.

Snail didn"t let go and ignored Kenja"s remark. He tried to move himself as much as he could, but the a.s.sistant had raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior. To her, Kenja looked like a woman who was fidgeting her torso and legs while keeping her hands or feet perfectly still.

Kenja saw her curious stare and came up with a reasonable excuse. "Junior sister, your tea is so invigorating that I cannot help but show you my appreciation with a small dance. Is there any way I may have a second cup?"

Kenja was frustrated at being coerced by Snail, but he wasn"t about to make a fool of himself in front of someone else as a result. Additionally, the tea was incredible, so having a second cup wasn"t an odious concession to make.

Aracha chuckled. "What an odd sister! To give me a dance as a thank you." Aracha always had a good impression of those who liked her tea, but this was the first time she received such an amusing tribute.

"Of course, senior sister. Wait a moment, and I will make some more tea. Let me fetch a few more tea leaves" She left the room from behind the counter.

Kenja felt the pressure on his hands and feet relax. He could move again.

Since he was stuck here for a while longer, his mind returned to the tribulatory demarcator. All of a sudden, an idea formed in his head. Making sure Aracha hadn"t returned yet, Kenja jumped on top of the table next to him.

"Snail, unscrew the top of this machine quickly. It would take me too much time to do it myself," Kenja instructed Snail.

"I"m not your servant!" Snail rebelled.

"Actually, you are…"

"I will ask for the tea recipe if you a.s.sist me," Kenja bargained with Snail.

Snail didn"t respond, but the four screws holding the top of the machine in place quickly zipped out and floated in midair. Kenja realized dealing with Snail was much easier if he employed appeas.e.m.e.nt rather than logic.

Kenja lifted the top of the machine and peered inside. He didn"t scan the interior but directed his gaze to one side of the machine.

"As I thought…" Kenja laughed lightly, his eyes filled with disbelief.

The circuit hanging from the door that he opened earlier was a little loose. While this wouldn"t usually be a problem, a wire from that door"s circuit was barely touching a wire on the floor"s circuit thereby causing a short circuit in the feedback loop of the tribulatory demarcator.

In layman"s terms, criss-crossing wires was a no-no, and it didn"t take a genius to see what was wrong.

The fact that no one could figure out what was wrong must mean they had only examined the interior by opening the door each time which would hide the problem indefinitely. It is similar to deducing how burglars entered a house without checking to see if the front door was locked.

All Kenja had to do was adjust the door"s circuit so that it didn"t hang so loosely.

"Snail, do you have any glue or adhesive tape?"

"Do I look like a glue stick to you?" Snail said with indignation.

"Tea recipe," retorted Kenja.

Kenja heard a pop as Snail jumped from his ear and placed his sh.e.l.l in between Kenja"s fingers.

"Just use me. My secretion is capable of keeping two Rhin.o.back Elephants stuck together," he offered.

"Didn"t you just say you weren"t a glue stick???"

Kenja shook his head as he slid Snail across the wall and pushed the circuit against the sticky mucus. He confirmed the wires were no longer touching and screwed the top back on the machine. He jumped down and inserted his keystone into the machine. He was about to press the b.u.t.ton when he looked behind to confirm Aracha wasn"t back yet.

He pressed the b.u.t.ton.

He heard the transacted credits from his stone being lost, and a few breaths later, the white challenge stone began glowing a bright white as it transmitted back its acc.u.mulated credits into Kenja"s stone. The machine"s dials weren"t present, so he was unsure of the amount or progress being made.

"See? I told you, disciple. With my teachings, you are capable of anything you put your mind to!" Snail claimed, closing his eyes in an all-knowing manner as he nodded his head.

Kenja pinched his glabella. "This snail…"

Aracha returned at this time. "Your tea will be ready soon. It only takes me a moment to brew another cup," she a.s.sured Kenja.

"I am in your debt junior sister," Kenja responded politely.

"Snail, can you contain the stone"s sound of acknowledgment?" Kenja was worried about the "DING" the stone will make once it empties itself of the credits.

While he desired the credits from these challenges, to defeat two long standing challenges in one day is the very definition of "drawing attention to oneself". Aracha and the apothecary clerk might not be in the same circle, but their masters definitely were.

"The best disguise is the one that goes unseen." Aside from his master, It would be in his best interest to avoid the other elders, if at all possible. He just wanted to make some progress in his cultivation and switch back to being Kenja once he was done.

"If it"s normal sounds like us speaking, yes, but this sound"s frequency is one I can"t block out completely. Sound techniques are strong because they are so difficult to defend against, even for the Supreme Me! If you want any chance of it working, go distract her, and I will try to quiet it as much as I can."

Snail jumped off his ear and landed directly onto the challenge stone. The stone was vibrating quietly as it continued to transfer credits to Kenja"s keystone.

"Oooooooooh, thhhiiiiissss feeeeeeeellllssss sssssooooooo gggoooooooooddddd."

"SNAIL!" Kenja chided him, but Snail didn"t respond.

Kenja decided to ignore Snail and walked over to Aracha. The credits seemed to be taking a while to empty out, so he planned on distracting Aracha away from the tribulatory demarcator.

"So how did the Second Elder cultivate to such a degree when he is so interested in working on spiritual tools?" queried Kenja in an attempt to engross Aracha by inducing a discussion about her master.

Elders are the governing force of a sect. Each one would hold ample authority and incredible power to back it up. Considering both his master and the fourth elder were cultivating their Nascent Souls, the second elder must be equally strong.

"You wouldn"t believe it if I told you," she laughed as she fanned the flame under the pot. "I still don"t really believe it myself."

Kenja"s interest was piqued. "Do not worry about what I think, junior sister. Tell the story without restraint."

Aracha yielded and continued her story.

"It began when master was only a low-level Qi Flourishing disciple. He ran into a tribulation stone for the first time and was extremely fascinated by it. He began experimenting with it and soon ran into a need for more stones. Unfortunately, the stones were incredibly hard-to-find and very expensive if you do find them."

Aracha gracefully lifted the teapot"s lid to check on its progress before continuing.

"So he decided to make his own tribulation stones. Sadly, the only known method to create a tribulation stone is by having a spirit stone get struck by tribulation lightning."

"Tribulation lightning? From a Heavenly Tribulation?" Kenja asked.

A "Heavenly Tribulation" occurred whenever something that defied heaven"s rules appeared.

She nodded her head as she began pouring tea in a cup for Kenja.

"One way to trigger a Heavenly Tribulation though is to advance through a cultivation realm with a high-degree of perfection. Master triggered it as he advanced past Foundation Establishment; even though most won"t experience one till the stage after that," she explained, beaming at the genius of her master.

"When the tribulation came, he tossed out a bunch of spirit stones and stood there as the lightning struck him and the stones he had saved up!" She pa.s.sed the cup of tea to Kenja.

Kenja was quite impressed. People would generally avoid or fear the Heavenly Tribulation, but this elder cultivated solely to experience one so that he can use it to create some stones for his experiments.

"If that wasn"t enough, when he realized he needed more stones, he quickly cultivated to Nascent Soul to trigger another Heavenly Tribulation! Even the sect gave him the spirit stones beforehand as an incentive to cultivate," she added, emitting the powerful aura of a devout follower.

"Quite impressive," Kenja commended her master.

"Yes, it is. If only he wasn"t so driven by his research! If it fueled his interests, I feel he definitely would have reached Immortality!" she stated as if it was a fact. "It is a shame that all he does is tinker with his gadgets and odd-jobs for sect credits."

Kenja began thinking of another topic to discuss when they heard a barely audible sound coming out of nowhere.

"Dinggg…"

"What was that?" Aracha asked. She turned to look at the tribulatory demarcator when Kenja stepped in her line of sight. She looked at Kenja"s face and then at his ear. "Senior sister, did you drop your earring?"

Kenja lifted his hand to his ear. "You"re right. I"m sure it"s around here somewhere. While I look for it, could I trouble you for this tea"s recipe. I am afraid I cannot leave here without it."

Aracha chuckled once more, believing Kenja"s serious tone to be a joke. "Of course, senior sister. One moment, let me write it down for you,"

Little did she know, he meant every word. Snail would probably glue his feet to the floor if he didn"t obtain the recipe.

As she began scribbling down the ingredients for the tea, Kenja sauntered over to the machine and let Snail back on his ear as he took his keystone out. The challenge stone had turned back to its dull egg-white color.

"Found my earring," he said from across the room, watching the tea in his cup vanish in an instant as Snail drank it all. "Such gluttony!" Kenja noted that Snail"s voracious appet.i.te for delicious food could be used as leverage in dealing with him.

"That"s good news. Here is the recipe senior sister. I hope your tea becomes tastier with this." Aracha floated the note to Kenja, and he placed it in his bag.

"Thank you for your hospitality, junior sister. If I have more questions, I will be sure to return here."

Kenja walked away in large strides, leaving Aracha with a plump pout showing on her face. Aracha wanted to know senior sister"s name, but she wasn"t qualified to ask for it, and she couldn"t act presumptuously and offer her name to Kenja.

"I am sure I will see her again," Aracha hoped.