A Snail's Wisdom 27 Kenja's Cave

Kenja looked at the token ahead of him. It had an engraving: 5-5. He looked down at the black stone in his hand and saw the same engraving.

Hanabi had entered her cave already, and Rin left after handing over Kenja's manuals and keystone.

Kenja lifted his stone to the token and entered the cave.

He closed the door behind him and turned to look at his new home. The room was small with a single stone table and chair on the left and a bed of straw on the right. The table had a pot with several sticks of incense in it, and he could see a neatly-folded set of robes on the edge of the bed. Opposite of him, he could see a small pool of water embedded in the ground next to the wall.

"It's a little small here. Hold up…" Snail appraised the room as he withdrew into his sh.e.l.l.

"Yep, I don't think my bed can fit in here, disciple" Snail's voice echoed from inside his sh.e.l.l.

Kenja wanted to jump on the bed and sleep for a long time, but he restrained himself. He walked to the pool and sunk his hand in it. He could feel that the water would have a positive effect on one's cultivation and circulation if they were to submerge themselves in it. He pulled his hand out and inspected the underside of the pool. A small hole was at the bottom of the pool.

'It must be flowing in from there.'

He removed Sakura from her scabbard and placed her in the water. She let out a small, but grateful hum.

He took out one of the two pamphlets Rin had given him and read its cover: 'Flowing River Sect – Beginner's Cultivation Manual'. Kenja was surprised by the manual's prim presentation. He flipped through the pages, excited at the prospect of learning something new, but he suddenly closed the pamphlet and tossed it on the table. He had quickly realized that the cultivation methods required him to utilize at least some degree of Qi control, but he couldn't control squat.

Brus.h.i.+ng this failure off, he took out the second pamphlet, hopeful for a different outcome.

'Flowing River Sect – Beginner's Technique Manual...I should be able to learn something...'

He perused the manual thorougly, looking for anything he might be able to use. After going through all the pages, he tossed it next to the first manual. Even the simplest techniques required circulating some amount of Qi through his meridians.

Kenja cursed inwardly as he took Snail off his ear and placed him on the table. He appeared to be doing something inside his sh.e.l.l, so Kenja didn't bother with him.

Kenja happily switched from the feminine robes Snail had given him to the set of robes he had found on his bed. They were regular white robes with black sleeves similar to Rin and Hizumi's robes, and they bore the sect's insignia on the front.

He was ecstatic shedding his disguise and feeling like a man once again. If he had to pretend to be a woman in his own room, he had no doubt that he would suffer some sort of mental breakdown.

Resting on his bed, he began pondering what he should do next. He was physically, spiritually and mentally exhausted from today's events, so he didn't plan very far before his eyelids slowly closed, and he drifted to sleep.

Kenja spent the next three days in his room consolidating his recently-attained cultivation as well as testing the techniques in the manual to find which ones he could use, if any at all.

Now that he had spent some time at the high-level Qi Flouris.h.i.+ng stage, he could peer into his body and observe the condition of his meridians, and Kenja knew only one way to describe what he had seen.

'UUUUUUUGGGGGGGH!!!!!'

His meridians were indeed much bigger than the size described by the lectures he had listened to, but he could also see the size of his flaws. They looked like big gashes and rips torn along the course of his meridians, and his acupoints appeared to be clogged and difficult-to-control. Frankly, he was surprised anything could flow through them to begin with. If he hadn't had any help from Snail or Sakura, the possibility of him ever getting past Body Tempering was nonexistent.

He didn't dwell too long on that before he decided to see which techniques could be utilized despite the horrific state of his body. He tried all the techniques to gauge his competency in any of them, and the results were as expected: he was incompetent at all of them. He achieved minor success in a few techniques though, so he decided to focus on two of those that he was interested in.

The first technique was the Wind Whispering technique. He had been on the receiving end of the technique multiple times, and without it, he couldn't respond to Snail or Sakura in public. He decided it would be the first or second most useful technique to learn at this time. Plus, unless he could use this technique, he was incapable of telling Snail to shut up when others were around.

On his own, he could only communicate with someone standing two chi away from him, but with Snail's a.s.sistance, he could communicate with Sakura from across the room. This outcome was more than he could have hoped for since he could now communicate with the irritant on his ear without anyone noticing.

The second technique he strived to grasp was the Ethereal Blade technique. When he read the name, Kenja chuckled. This fancily-named technique referred to making swords or weapons float. Low-level Qi Flouris.h.i.+ng usually start learning this technique early on, and by the time they reach the high-level stage, they can easily use the technique to make themselves float and glide through the air.

Someone at Kenja's stage should be able to cross long distances while standing on a sword, but he could barely make one sword float, let alone stand on it. He practiced with one of the swords he had obtained from the storage ring, but he could only lift himself for a few breaths before dropping to the ground.

After one of his failed attempts at staying afloat, he heard a bubbling sound from the pool.

Having spent the past few days with Sakura, he had gotten better at understanding her limited vocabulary. He walked to the pool and bowed to Sakura before picking her up.

"Please excuse me, Kimursan."

He made her float using the technique and then stood on her. It felt perfectly natural, and he didn't lose control of her or his balance. He circled his room a couple of times before he stepped off her and held Sakura in his hands. He let out a deep sigh of frustration.

'Will I need a crutch for everything?'

As if reading his thoughts, Snail broke the silence.

"There's no need to feel so down. She wasn't a.s.sisting you there. The coat hanger is a high-quality wh.o.r.e. Even without her taking action, one would find it much easier to ride her than other second-rate weapons."

Sakura flew out of Kenja's hands and started stabbing Snail's sh.e.l.l repeatedly.

Snail had withdrawn into his sh.e.l.l, antic.i.p.ating the attack.

"That's right! Waste your energy! Can't break my sh.e.l.l, b.i.t.c.h!" he mocked her.

Sakura stopped stabbing at Snail and paused in the air, emitting a bloodthirsty aura. She flew back to the pool with resentment.

Putting aside the malice directed toward Sakura, Snail's words did make Kenja feel a bit better.

Kenja looked at his cave's entrance in contemplation. He hadn't taken one step outside of the cave in the past three days. At his current stage, he could go around a week without food, and the unspoken trips to relieve himself were also reduced significantly, so he could stay in seclusion for a long time.

He was excited to explore the sect that he had wanted to join for years, but whenever he thought about putting on the disguise and pretending to be a woman, he delayed the expedition. He couldn't stay inside the cave forever though, and he needed to find a solution to his cultivation problems.

Additionally, he was concerned about s.h.i.+zuka and Yos.h.i.+e's well-being, but he was worried that they would see through his disguise. He knew they could keep his ident.i.ty a secret, but what brother would want to show such a side to his sisters. The shame would be too great to bear! Kenja would rather die.

"Snail, Sakura, we're going out," Kenja announced as he picked up Sakura's scabbard and tilted his face's right side to Snail.

Sakura flew out of the pool and entered the scabbard of her own accord, but Snail didn't move.

"Wait, wait, I have something for your trip outside, disciple," Snail said as two items materialized on the table next to him.

Kenja approached the table and examined the items. One was a bangle that looked like a golden and silver string entwined in a helix, and the other was lipstick of a dark, red shade.

Kenja froze at that moment. His heart beat, his breathing, his mind, everything stood still as he stared coldly at Snail.

'This snail...'

Snail seemed to be intent on slowly transforming him into a girl, but Kenja wouldn't have it. It might be lipstick and jewelery now, but who knows when he would take a knife out and ask Kenja to turn his Yang into Yin permanently. No! Kenja would draw the line here and now.

"Snail...you think you're untouchable just because of your sh.e.l.l? Let me dip you in the pool, and see if your sh.e.l.l can breathe underwater for you."

The two items on the table disappeared as if they were never there, and a dry cough was heard from Snail.

"Snail-sensei is only joking, disciple. A sense of humor will help with your cultivation, so Snail-sensei is only looking out for you," reasoned Snail, with a slight hint of fear.

Kenja turned the right side of his face to Snail once more with a fake smile on his face.

"Disciple understands that Snail-sensei is only looking out for him," Kenja said, going along with Snail's explanation while pointing to his ear.

Snail hopped onto his ear and was carried out the cave. They walked across the open area surrounding the pillar and entered the town.

"Where are we headed to, disciple?"

Kenja didn't respond because he was still considering whether he should go or not. After a breath of time pa.s.sed, he shook his head and rebuked his indecisiveness before replying to Snail.

"The Apothecary."