Hanabi whispered into Kenja’s ear, “Did you two really wager that many mid-tier stones, big sister? Isn’t that supposed to be a lot?”

She had received basic knowledge and common sense training from Souji which contained information about the different values of the types of spirit stones, but her practical experience was still too lacking for her to be certain.

“Yes, we did,” he whispered to her yet forgetting to use [Wind Whisper], so the elders heard his affirmation.

Where had Kenja obtained this much wealth?

Even if Ariyoshi Miji and Gao Diao were generous in their estimates regarding the credits within the challenge stones, this number of mid-tier spirit stones required tens of millions of sect credits. The Sixth Elder’s challenge stone definitely could not grant her enough credits to make such a purchase.

Just how many credits did the tool-crazy Second Brother spend trying to fix that broken TD?

Gao Diao sent an ice-cold glower towards his disciple, making her tremble in fear.

He knew that she did not have the capacity to wager such an obscene amount of spirit stones, yet she tried to pull a fast one and make a fortune off her potential future sister disciple.

Had it worked, he would not blame her, but now, he was footing the bill for her miscalculation. Wait, he had assumed the amount was small, so, technically, he miscalculated as well.

What a mood ruiner!

Even though he could afford it, that number of mid-tier spirit stones would be exorbitant for any average Nascent Soul cultivator. Fortunately, he was both, an elder of a sect and a proficient pill refiner, so it would only amount to a painful pinch on his purse.

He forced a smile and took out the mid-tier spirit stones. “Thank you for playing with Mizu, Little Hikaru.”

Reveling in schadenfreude, Ariyoshi Miji sneered at Gao Diao. The short elder was immensely happy at his misfortune.

Before Kenja could politely thank Gao Diao, his sleeve waved over the stones, and they vanished, causing everyone to look at his abruptness strangely.

“My sweet, little rocks, come to Papa,” Snail whispered sweet nothings to his new spirit stones.

Cursing at Snail for controlling his arm against his will, Kenja bowed his head.

“Disciple apologizes for wasting the elders’ time during an emergency.” Considering Snail had forced him to behave rudely without any warning, this was the best he could come up with to explain it.

The apology served a second purpose as well.

This was a well-known method employed by those of an inferior status when facing those of a superior status, like with soldiers reporting to their commander or nobles reporting to their king.

Although the elders were the ones who wasted time attempting to mingle with Kenja, he could not order them to stop or leave him alone.

Taking the blame while reminding them of the urgent situation could guide them toward a specific course of action without violating the hierarchical rules of conduct.

Gao Diao coughed awkwardly, “Che-hem—no need for apologies, Little Hikaru, but you are right. We shouldn’t dally any longer lest your First Elder make things difficult for us.”

After shelling out twenty-eight middle grade spirit stones, he was disappointed that Hikaru brushed it away without sparing a second thought about his master-like appearance. Worst of all, the little girl was attempting to end their chat discreetly.

Needless to say, his pride was wounded.

Kondo was conflicted; Mizutani melancholy; Rin ruminating; Inazuma engrossed; Diao dejected; Miji merry; Hanabi happy; Aracha indifferent; Sakura silent; Snail was making love to his money, and Kenja was exhausted.

Very exhausted.

Extremely exhausted.

To begin with, the trip was not a long one nor were they exerting themselves, but he felt drained after a few minutes.

They were travelling around the central pillar which had become surrounded by an army of disciples answering the emergency summons. As a result, he could feel hundreds of eyes trained on them as they walked.

Kenja was unfamiliar with handling such a large number of people staring at him for so long.

If they were mere mortals, it would produce only a strong, disconcerting feeling, but a cultivator’s gaze added an invisible burden on one’s body that could not be measured scientifically.

It was as if each pair of eyes glued a pebble onto his skin causing him to feel weighed down and uncomfortable.

Very uncomfortable.

Extremely uncomfortable.

He was surprised with Hanabi who appeared unaffected despite having the same cultivation as him, but, then again, she was a princess. Maybe, she had grown used to similar situations in the past.

Their destination was the First Elder’s cave which was located at the halfway point of the central pillar’s first face. They had finally reached the edge of the first face, so Kenja celebrated that it should be only a few more minutes until they reached the end.

To Kenja’s relief, silence had returned to the group.

Unfortunately, the silence was broken after only a few seconds. “Little Hikaru was the one who completed Old Sixth’s challenge at the apothecary, yes? This old man had spent a long time trying to do the same. How did you manage it? Do you have experience with botany, or perhaps, you have dabbled in alchemy?”

Although he phrased it with a question, the elders knew Hikaru was the one who triumphed over the challenge.

Gao Diao wished to inquire the same thing, but the previous matter had made it difficult for him to bring it up.

Now, he wanted to know what fields of study had Hikaru delved into. If she was already a pill refiner like him, then adopting her as a disciple would become much easier. Fifth Sister might even encourage her to worship under him.

“Ah, Fourth Elder overestimates this disciple. It was just a lucky coincidence. An acquaintance had previously spoken about the Red Fireroot, so I just gave it a try.”

“A lucky guess…so humble…”

It was no secret that the Fourth Elder had attempted to break the Sixth Elder’s challenge for years. For the final victor to claim to have figured it out through random luck on their second try.

His spirit took a hit.

The elders were shaken.

Every time one of them had attempted to build a rapport with Hikaru, they came out feeling bad about themselves. So far, only Inazuma’s ego had yet to take a beating.

“I’m just an acquaintance, disciple? Is that how you address your master?” Snail stopped slobbering over his spirit stones long enough to nag at Kenja.

Ugh…

What master?!

Snail was a servant!

S-E-R-V-A-N-T

Servant!

‘Acquaintance’ was a step-up, yet he was still ungrateful.

Of course, Kenja kept these thoughts to himself. It was his fault for not being more specific with the terms of the wager back when they met inside the Lost Forest.

That was his miscalculation.

“Does Little Hikaru have any experience or interest in refining pills or studying plants?” Diao repeated Miji’s question for clarification.

He refused to believe that Kenja’s knowledge of the Red Fireroot was a coincidence.

The details required to identify that plant in its current status were too specific and specialized to be cited in most botanical texts.

The issue was that Kenja had no reason to lie, so both elders were stumped by his explanation.

Kenja shook his head.

“None.”

His heart was set on cultivating as much as he could.

Perhaps if he was not afflicted with his unfortunate constitution, he would look into a hobby or occupation to support his cultivation. But even then, he had already struck it rich. His current wealth should last several lifetimes, so there was no need for a job to pay for his cultivation necessities.

Gao Diao was stuck with nothing to say once again.