“You still suck at breathing normally, and you wanna try practicing a different breath, pffft. Master your current breathing, or at least, wait till your pellet has formed.”

The pellet referred to the Core Crystallization stage of one’s cultivation.

“You’re right…”

Snail peeked out of one eye and saw Kenja’s self-mocking smile.

While he had faith in himself, he knew his future prospects in cultivation were not optimistic. He probably could not afford to be distracted by other things like mastering a different way of breathing.

“It’s not impossible…maybe, if you help me do a few things, I’ll think about it. You are my disciple after all. Besides, breath techniques are just for support. No one bothers learning new breathing techniques just for fun. That guy is most likely using it to help with mastering a lightning-based art.”

Kenja rolled his eyes, but his smile grew at Snail’s attempt to cheer him up.

Akiyoshi had finished drying the old man with a towel before helping him wear his designated elder robes.

He approached the table, finally giving Kenja the chance to examine him.

His head was completely smooth, and if it were not for the sound of his voice and the crow’s feet on his face, he could pass for the same age as Kenja. With no scars, tattoos, or piercings, nothing stood out aside from his intimidating aura.

Reaching forward, he extinguished the incense with a pinch of his fingers.

“First Brother is too stingy.”

Kenja had guessed his identity before, but Miji’s statement confirmed it.

This man was the master of Hideaki Akiyoshi, manager of the treasury, unspoken leader of the six elders—First Elder Kaitou Daiki—the only remaining elder that Kenja had not met.

“If Old Fourth likes the smell, I can rent it to you for twelve stones an hour.”

“A dozen mid-grade stones for an hour? Ridiculous! Why don’t you just ask me to hand you my ring and pants, you scrooge?”

With this remark, First Elder glanced at his pants with a raised brow and a derisive glint, implying he would not be interested in ruined pants.

His face reddening, Ariyoshi Miji defended himself, “Hey! Don’t gimme that look. These are victory spoils!”

“Che, what victory are you spouting about, you sore loser?”

“I didn’t lose, you damned ferret. You heard Brother Bai. The match was voided because of First Brother’s interruption!”

Kaitou Daiki coughed loudly, putting a stop to their war.

“Do you think my offer was ridiculous, Third Brother?”

“Nn. It is not.”

In truth, a full-length stick made from the scales of a Crystal Pupfish would last around eight hours for a single person while its value would exceed 120 mid-tier spirit stones.

Overall, he had given Ariyoshi Miji a discount, but the real issue lay with the fact that most cultivators could not afford to be that frivolous with their money.

What was the point of the incense stick if you were left with no spirit stones for cultivating?

“Che, che, it seems First Brother has made good progress with the [Heaven’s Tremor]. Congra-che-lations.”

“Thank you, Sixth Brother, but I’m still only halfway finished.” All his words were spoken with calm indifference, but then, he turned to Aracha with a frown.

She had taken out a chair composed of several different materials with more than a dozen different attachments, engravings and enchantments. This item was either a spiritual tool-laden chair or a chair-shaped spiritual tool.

After positioning it next to the table, she took out a tray of brewed tea and four empty cups.

“Master, the tea is ready,” she announced while lightly pushing Inazuma towards the seat.

He was still ruthlessly and persistently examining the armlet with zero attention placed elsewhere. After he was skillfully coaxed into his chair, he did not relent his inspection.

Like a well-rehearsed routine, Aracha filled one cup at a time before an elder moved it to their own side of the table with their qi. Once the fourth cup was filled, she looked back at the First Elder.

Looking from the cup back to Aracha, he exhaled from his nose with a tired face.

“Little Aracha has worked hard. We have troubled you. If you have any complaints, just tell me, and I will accommodate you.”

Aracha shook her head fervently. “Disciple doesn’t dare. Without master and venerable elders, disciple would not have her achievements.”

First Elder nodded approvingly.

“Little Aki, help Little Aracha establish her foundation after today. If she needs anything, give it to her.”

Akiyoshi nodded his head. “Disciple obeys.”

The First Elder’s eyes stabbed at Sixth Elder, causing him to smile awkwardly.

“Che-hem, take this Hardening Pill, Little Aracha. It will make things easier for you when you form your foundation.”

After one gathered enough Qi to form a Fog, they would condense the Fog until a drop was formed. The repeated accumulation of these drops was the cultivator’s Sea.

Once the Sea had reached saturation, the Qi Flourishing cultivator would attempt to solidify that Sea into a solid form representing their foundation, thereby reaching the Foundation Establishment stage.

A Hardening Pill assisted with this process by making it easier for the individual’s Sea to harden into a foundation. Such a pill would cost several thousand sect credits from the apothecary or a bazaar vendor.

Kaitou Daiki’s eyes then moved to the Third and Fourth Elder.

“Here, girlie, take this formation plate. It will assist with drawing qi towards you.” Miji quickly handed her a rectangular, metal plate with little flags and engravings on it.

Formations were mystical and magical things.

They were usually comprised of flags or markers that would ordinarily have no effect, but when placed in a specific order or detailed pattern, would bring about sensitive changes to the environment or to those within the formation’s sphere of influence.

The [Formation of Darkness] was one such formation that would trap one within what appeared to be a vast and endless darkness. Unless the trapped person understood formations or had a method for escaping, they would wander inside the formation until either the power fueling the formation ran out or the end of their lifespans were reached.

Kondo wore a depressed expression on his face. All the inexpensive methods of assistance had been taken by his other brothers.

“This is for you.” He passed her a mid-tier spirit stone.

A few low-tier spirit stones would have sufficed for a simple foundation, but if he handed over such a gift, he would appear thoughtless and cheap.

Aracha stared at the items in her arms with watery eyes. She bowed deeply to the four elders.

“Disciple is grateful for her elders’ blessings.”

Snail whispered to Kenja, “Be wary around this person, disciple. He is sinister.”

He could feel Sakura bump his side once to demonstrate her agreement with Snail.

They had previously agreed on several methods for her to express her views. A single bump was a “Yes” or “I agree,” while two bumps were the opposite.

Kenja understood they were talking about the First Elder, but he was uncertain why they would say that. Based on the previous exchange, Kaitou Daiki seemed like a kind and generous person.

Aracha stowed the items into her storage bag before nodding to the First Elder to indicate her readiness.

He used his qi to pick up the final remaining teacup sitting in front of the distracted Second Elder.

A large hand stopped the teacup from flying away.

“That’s my cup.”

Second Elder Inazuma held the cup down with one hand.

“I have your cup here, Master,” Aracha swiftly switched the armlet in his other hand with a cup of tea. The Sixth Elder covertly grabbed the armlet from behind her back and placed it back in his bag.

It was obvious that this performance had occurred many times before.

“My mistake, First Brother. Hoh, First Brother? When did you get here?”

“Look around before you say things like this…”

Inazuma squinted with his monocle on and glanced around the cave.

“Ho ho ho, my mistake, First Brother. I must have been distracted. Oh! First Brother, you missed a great match between our brothers here. Thankfully, I was able to use several new prototypes to record the match from different angles. I can show it to you if you’re interes—”

“W-wait! Second Brother! You recorded our match? Why would you do such a thing?” Third Elder Kondo uncharacteristically interrupted him in a high-pitched voice. He was extremely troubled by his revelation.

“Ho ho ho, don’t worry, Third Brother. I can give you copies, too.”

“I don’t care about the copies! I wanna know how much of the fight did you catch? Did you get everything?”

Inazuma nodded proudly, “Definitely! You can rest easy. I made sure to capture you in all your glory as you battled against the odds in your stylish fundoshi. You looked quite heroic!” He winked at Kondo with his single eye while giving him a thumbs up.

Kondo’s eyes bulged exasperatedly at Inazuma’s misunderstanding. “What about Fifth Sister?!” He absolutely could not let his Fifth Sister Kazane Kazue see that match.

“Ah! Right, right. How could I forget? You were pursuing Fifth Sister, yes? I’ll make sure to make a copy that focuses on you with close-ups and angles centered on your muscles and butt. No need to thank me. We are brothers after all.”

Inazuma nodded to himself in self-praise at being a good wingman.

“This Second Brother is a good man, disciple. We should enlist his help for our future needs,” Snail gave Inazuma his approval.

Kondo’s eyes and nose began to twitch dangerously, but before he could continue their discussion, Ariyoshi Miji spoke up.

“Enough already. We’re all here now. What’s so important that you couldn’t wait for Fifth Sister to arrive?”

“Che, if this is about the thief, Brother Shirou has already reported it. The sect has been blocked off from the outside.”

“…Nn. It’s just a Qi Flourishing boy that probably joined last week,” Kondo chimed in after circulating Qi to calm down. He had decided to intercept Inazuma later and explain to him properly before any copies could reach Fifth Sister.

“Hoh, I heard about that as well. Such an interesting person, we should initiate him into the sect!”

“Che, he’s a thief Second Brother! Normally, we would expel such a person.”

“Always being a goody-goody goose. So uninteresting. This is why you are still single.”

“Says the mon-che whose pants are dragging on the floor.”

“It’s monkey. Not monchee!”

“Che, my apologies, monkey.”

“Enough!” sparks of electricity shot out of the First Elder and landed onto the table, silencing the room.

“Have you all truly read the entirety of Brother Shirou’s report? Yet, none of you are concerned? Are you still elders of this sect?”