A Snail's Wisdom

He felt a little bad with how he treated this brother of his, but he had several good reasons for acting in this manner.

Hizumi was an uncontrollable ent.i.ty, and Kenja"s group had no feasible way of shielding themselves from him, other than avoiding him or remaining in seclusion. Even his senior sister, Rin, was unable to handle him, so how could they?

Moreover, he needed to make an example out of him. His awe-inspiring and vicious handling of Hizumi was meant for the spectators to see and spread throughout the sect. This way, he could deter others from setting their sights on them in the same manner as Hizumi.

Additionally, Kenja had felt the power of a Soul Oath after making one himself. He now knew that the Soul Oath wasn"t something a person would break willingly, and he was confident with the way he phrased the terms that Hizumi would adhere to the oath as carefully as he could.

Kenja had been worried about the Soul Oath"s supremacy because Snail seemed to skirt around his pledge often. How can he "serve to the best of his abilities" while not lending his personal effects to a.s.sist Kenja.

The problem lied in the ambiguity of the terms. Just as "serving Kenja" didn"t make Snail a servant, simply "addressing Kenja as senior sister" wouldn"t compel Hizumi to treat him as such.

This was why he made a distinction between "addressing" them as senior sisters and "treating" them as senior sisters. You can address anyone however you like, but if you plan on treating someone as a senior, you don"t casually plot or conspire behind their back.

With this, Kenja was confident that Hizumi wouldn"t trouble them again. Rather than trouble, he turned Hizumi into an example and a guard that would deter other troublemakers.

The princess and his sisters should be able to live peacefully in the sect because no one would dare trouble Matsus.h.i.ta Hizumi"s senior sisters.

"Looks like I win the wager, Snail. I hope you are ready to share your books now," gloated Kenja. He was eager to see how Snail would respond to his loss.

"Wager? What wager? Everything I had said before was merely a test to bring out your full capabilities. Of course my disciple may look at my books! What kind of master wouldn"t let his student study diligently?" Snail shamelessly advocated.

Kenja furrowed his brows when he heard this.

"Quite impressive…" admitted Kenja, at a loss for words.

Snail"s shamelessness truly was remarkable.

His ability to take credit for others" victories as if he had orchestrated them himself had reached a G.o.dly level. Acting as if his refusal to lend his books in the first place had never happened, he had the gall to ask how a master could be capable of preventing his students" studies.

Kenja merely chuckled at Snail"s natural performance; he had gotten used to it by now.

"I will even reward you with a personal technique if you can tell me how you were able to eat the fruit you"re holding," Snail offered, feigning indifference.

Kenja"s lips turned into a smile. He didn"t mind sharing his knowledge with Snail for free, but it wasn"t often Snail volunteered something himself.

"I"ll tell you in exchange for three of your techniques, and I get to choose which ones."

Snail"s right tentacle jolted, and the eyeball on it twitched. It was clear as day that Kenja was leveraging this information to extort benefits out of Snail.

"The b.a.l.l.s you have, kid. Extorting the Supreme Me the first chance you get…" Snail whispered in his ear so quietly that it was barely audible to him, but Kenja could feel his soul shake after each word Snail spoke.

He was shocked no one else could feel the tremendous energy that he felt at this moment. The magnitude of power with which Snail spoke was incredibly immense. In that moment, he regretted making the decision to try and get more out of Snail.

"I LIKE IT!" Snail yelled to Kenja telepathically.

"Snail-sensei"s Teaching, Number 27: If you find one"s soft spot, gouge it as deep and as hard as you can! You are truly my disciple. Very well, I will teach you, not three, but two techniques of your choosing."

Kenja heaved a sigh of relief. He had said three so that Snail would barter down to two, but he did not antic.i.p.ate the dangerous pressure being pushed onto him.

"I"ve been eating one of those fruits every day for the past few years," he openly confessed to Snail.

"Ah…" Snail let out with a wide-open mouth. He shook his head, laughing at this revelation.

"Well, I guess that answers why your body was tempered to such a degree when I found you," he a.n.a.lyzed.

Kenja nodded in confirmation. He hadn"t realized it before due to his low cultivation, but when he ate the fruit, he could feel the Qi escape from his body. While most of it left his body, a small amount of Qi seeped into his muscles and bones on its way out.

One fruit wouldn"t have caused a huge benefit to a person"s body, but if the person ate one fruit every day for several years, they could temper their body to an unforeseen degree without ever requiring them to circulate Qi.

Snail continued laughing merrily at the odd luck his disciple displayed.

"Big sister…" Hanabi interrupted Kenja"s contemplation.

She was concerned that something was wrong with her big sister. Not only did she eat an incredible amount of the fruit, but now she was smiling and nodding her head to no one in particular.

Thankfully, the peanut gallery had already dispersed and returned to their own activities. Many of them were seen running back to their caves or looking for pills from the food vendors.

Kenja"s eyes looked to the girls, and he smiled at them. "We won," he announced triumphantly.

Starry-eyed Hanabi approached Kenja. She smiled at him thankfully, hoping to return the favor in the future.

"That was amazing big sister. How could you eat so much of that fruit? Two bites alone had filled me to the brim," she asked him.

"Yes, senior sister. I want to know as well. One bite alone, and I feel unsteady even now," added Shizuka, stepping forward while swaying slightly.

"I wi-wi-wish to know as well, senior sister." Yoshie stood in between Hanabi and Shizuka. They both held her shoulders to keep her steady.

Kenja smiled at them awkwardly. He was unsure of how to explain to them.

"Tell them, "it"s the power of love!"" Snail advised.

"Love? Love your face!" Kenja grimaced at Snail"s suggestion.

"Ahem…" Kenja cleared his throat, gathering their attention on him.

"Anyone who cultivates diligently and lays a proper foundation will be able to do this much," he stated.

Shizuka and Hanabi stared at him in disbelief for several breaths when all of a sudden, Yoshie nodded her head vigorously.

"Yo-yo-you are right, senior sister! Kenjniisan often said, "Diligent cultivation and a proper foundation are the keys to advancing properly,"" she proclaimed, slowly sobering up.

Kenja grinned when he heard this, nodding his head. This sister was always good at remembering his lessons.

Shizuka and Hanabi stared at Yoshie with eyes still full of doubt. Kenja decided to add on top of what Yoshie said.

"Your brother is quite wise. Think about it. How else could I, a mere Qi Flourishing disciple, match up to Junior Brother Matsus.h.i.ta unless my foundation had reached a high degree of stability?" he solidified his argument.

Shizuka"s eyes softened at the compliment Kenja gave her "beloved brother." Hanabi"s doubt began to subside as well.

"Our junior brothers must have rushed their development, and thus, they cannot enjoy as much of the fruit as I can. I am sure you three will soon be able to eat the same amount," he lied to them.

While he felt a bit of guilt having to lie to them, he knew that this fib would motivate their progress. Who knew what the future held? Perhaps, they would be able to enjoy the fruit even more casually than he could.

They nodded in agreement. Truly, how else could Kenja match up to the high-level junior brothers?

"Now, you three, give me your keystones, so we can split the rewards. I"ll go over to that machine and give you an equal share in the credits."

Shizuka spoke up first, "Senior sister, that is unnecessary. We hadn"t done much, so we do not require a portion of the rewards."

Hanabi agreed, "Junior sister is right. Thank you, big sister, but please keep all the credits for yourself."

Kenja"s mood soured, and he frowned at them.

"What is this nonsense you speak of? Sisters share their hardships and their successes. Now that I have shared in our hardship, you do not wish to share in our success?" he pouted and turned his back to them, acting disappointed.

He had already calculated the possibility of them refusing the credits, but he wouldn"t have it. It was his belief that family should share everything, and he wanted to make sure they took this lesson to heart.

Hanabi and Shizuka bit their tongues at Kenja"s words. The first person who broke the silence was the youngest girl amongst them.

"Senior sister is right. There is no "me" or "mine" in a family. There is only "us" and "our." Please forgive us, senior sister. Here is my keystone," she a.s.serted, having finally recovered from the Qi intoxication.

She took out her keystone and placed it a distance away from the other keystones.

Hanabi stared at Yoshie in astonishment. "What a profound saying, junior sister! Where did you learn it? It wasn"t your brother, was it?"

Hanabi might be ignorant of the ways of the world, but she was a princess! Her education was of a caliber that few in the city could match. To hear such unique words of wisdom from one younger than her, it was natural to want to know the source.

Yoshie returned Hanabi a toothy grin and nodded her head. "Kenjniisan is the wisest person in the world," Yoshie declared haughtily.

"Ahem…" Shizuka coughed, interrupting Yoshie. The two turned to face her as she took out her keystone.

"Senior sister, I was rash as well. Thank you for treating me as family. I wish to partake in our prize as well." She placed her keystone with Yoshie"s keystone.

Kenja didn"t turn around, waiting for the last girl to speak up.

Hanabi quickly apologized, taking her keystone out and placing it with the other two. "Big sister, I have made a mistake. Can I also share in the spoils?"

Kenja turned around and put a small smile on his face.

"I forgive you all, but if I hear a word about the credits again, I will punish you all," he promised.

Kenja grabbed the stones and walked over to the TD situated between two vendors off to the side of the dining area.

After he reached his destination, Yoshie asked Shizuka, "Does Senior Sister Hirai reminds you of Kenjniichan?"

Shizuka glanced at Kenja before responding, "A little bit, maybe, but Kenjniichan is much more amazing." For her, Kenja was as dear to her as her own twin sister.

"And manly," Yoshie added.

"And dependable."

"And he would never wear lipstick."

They giggled at their back-and-forth.

"I know you two love your brother, but don"t look down on big sister. She is amazing in many aspects!" Hanabi defended her "Big Sister Hikaru". She had heard several stories about Kenja, but she still believed her new big sister was quite formidable as well.

The three looked at each other and broke out in another round of giggling.

Meanwhile, Snail was whining to Kenja, pleading with him to reverse the exchanges.

"Why are you giving them each a million credits? I worked very hard for those credits!"

"You worked hard? You said two words for one challenge and got a ma.s.sage for the second one. Worked hard your a.s.s!"

Kenja"s head began aching once again; this snail was quite shameless.

The stones of his junior brothers had a credit range between 500 and 2000 while Hizumi"s stone had around 10,000 credits. From these amounts, Kenja knew he had gathered more than enough for his stay in the sect.

He had ama.s.sed seven million credits from the first challenge and based on the time spent transferring credits from the second challenge stone, at least another fourteen million credits.

Rather than pointlessly h.o.a.rding all these credits, they would be better spent securing his sisters" footholds.

Kenja had considered giving them less credits because he did not want to spoil them, but he decided not to withhold from them.

"Having me as a brother is their good fortune," he convinced himself and transferred a million credits into each of their stones.

"Why, disciple, why?!?!?!" continued Snail, nearly shedding tears.

"What greed!" Kenja sighed, rolling his eyes at Snail"s shameful display.

Kenja walked back to his sisters who were still giggling as Shizuka retold Hanabi a funny story about her "amazing brother." Kenja"s heart lightened after seeing that they continued to view their brother in a positive light.

"Here, sisters. Don"t spend it all in one place."

Kenja handed their keystones back to them. They bowed respectfully and thanked him.

"Now, stop wasting time here. How will you ever reach a stable foundation like mine if you dilly-dally talking with me?" he shooed them.

"I will be on my way big sister. I will catch up to you quickly." Hanabi challenged Kenja.

"We will do the same, senior sister," Shizuka spoke for Yoshie and herself.

They turned and hurried back to the pillar where their caves were located. Kenja chuckled inwardly at the irony of the situation; he would have given anything to switch his "stable foundation" with any one of theirs.

After they disappeared from his sight, Kenja exhaled a large sigh of relief. He had finally accomplished his goal.

Saving his sisters and giving them credits, turning a troublemaker into hired muscle and gaining access to Snail"s library—these accomplishments were all secondary to his prime objective. Even getting a bite to eat was a bonus.

He looked down at his hands holding the eight keystones that he had performed a miraculous circus act to obtain.

A grin crept up on his face.

"Disciple, girls don"t make such creepy faces," Snail warned him.