Snail looked at him and asked seriously, "Do people use wells for things other than drinking water now?"

Kenja frowned; he felt that his knowledge of the world was still sorely lacking. He looked into the well and couldn't see the bottom, even with his exceptional eyesight.

He shook his head, sighed and gathered his courage before he took the same plunge his sisters took. Having braced for a long fall, he was quite surprised to feel his feet land on the ground in less than ten chi after entering the well.

He looked back up and could easily jump back out without any ha.s.sle. On the side of the well, he noticed a rope that could be used to climb up if someone was not capable of jumping nor flying.

'The rope must be for low-level Body Tempering disciples.'

He looked behind him and was startled to find an opening in the wall with stairs leading further downward. The stairway wasn't straight, so he could only see a wall at the end that curved with the stairs, as well as a sconce holding a dimly-lit torch. He could hear a pair of footsteps echo in the distance along with a desperate plea.

"Big sister, can we slow down? Hikaru still hasn't caught up."

But their pace didn't slow down. Kenja sighed and began walking casually down the stairs, letting the distant footsteps trail further away.

He walked down the stairs for the time it took to cook a pot of rice. The stairway was filled with small weaves and turns, so he couldn't see the end. Whenever it got too dark, another sconce with a dimly-lit torch would be spotted in the distance. He could no longer hear the distant footsteps or Hanabi's requests to wait.

Kenja sighed once more.

'How far down does this go?'

He needed rest, and he needed it fast. Too much had happened in such a short time; it's a wonder he hadn't collapsed already. With aches from his fight and inner burns from his overexerted meridians, he glanced down at the winding stairway and sighed again.

"For every sigh you make, a Ko-fly will forsake," Snail rhymed annoyingly.

Ko-flies were ancient, mythical bugs said to bestow luck and fortune to people they favor. The rhyme was told to kids to encourage them to keep a positive outlook on life so that they might get a Ko-fly's good fortune.

Kenja ignored Snail and looked concernedly at his sword, Kimura Sakura. She had grown much quieter since leaving the forest, and Kenja would have thought she was asleep if she had not helped him with the examination every step of the way. Even her responses to Snail's taunts and jeers were tame when compared to the forest.

Noticing something wrong with Kenja, Snail spoke once more, "What is disciple worrying over? Come bare it all to your Snail-sensei. He shall lighten your load!"

Snail jumped from Kenja's right ear to his shoulder and looked at him, ready to receive his disciple's burdens.

Kenja frowned at Snails words. Truthfully, he wanted to speak, but he was cautious towards his 'Big Sister Rin' who was at the Core Crystallization stage.

With every stage advancement, not only was a person closer to Immortality, but their abilities improved, and their basic functions were enhanced beyond a superhuman degree. Kenja might not hear their footsteps anymore, but it was quite possible that Rin could hear every breath he took, let alone his footsteps.

Suddenly, Kenja noticed a light pressure engulf the vicinity around him.

"There! We can speak without worries now," Snail declared out loud with his voice.

Kenja looked at his sword again. "What's wrong with Kimursan?"

Snail frowned when he heard the first words Kenja had been able to say to him in a while. No acknowledgement for the amazing Brother Snail? No words of grat.i.tude for his help and guidance? No concern over his well-being?

Snail closed his eyes, lifted his non-existent nose into the air and turned to look away from Kenja.

"Hmph. She's just conserving energy."

"Conserving energy?"

Kenja paid Snail's arrogant display no mind. While both Snail and Sakura have helped him greatly, Sakura had done it voluntarily while Snail was under an obligatory oath. There was no contest for who Kenja would care more for; it was clearly Sakura.

"Yes. With her abilities sealed, she has to draw energy from her surroundings to sustain herself. Since we're out of the forest that was abundant with Qi, she has to minimize her energy consumption," Snail harrumphed.

That was a lot for Kenja to process. He paused for a second deciding on which question to ask first.

"Why are her abilities sealed?"

"Why should I tell you?" Snail snorted, upset that the sword was the primary focus of the conversation.

Kenja rolled his eyes at Snail's dissatisfaction.

"Then why would she leave the forest if she would have trouble sustaining herself out here?"

"How should I know?!"

Kenja's sword vibrated meekly in response to Snail. Snail turned his head to look at the sword and squinted his eyes.

"I am not that bad!" he grumbled resolutely.

Kenja understood Sakura's feelings very well. It hadn't even been a whole day, and he wished he could separate from Snail indefinitely.

"Could I supply her with energy?"

Snail suddenly started laughing loudly.

"You? Hahahahaha, you...you can't even supply yourself with Qi! Yet you want to supply her?"

He continued to laugh as if Kenja had told the world's funniest limerick. Once he calmed down, he continued once more.

"How do you plan on supplying her with energy? An ordinary Qi Flouris.h.i.+ng would already struggle to give her crumbs. Not only can you not feed her, she is spending her own energy to help with your cultivation."

Kenja's brows furrowed as the painful realization washed over him. He didn't know that the sword was sacrificing a lot to help him. He looked to his sword and gripped the hilt with his left hand, petting it with his left thumb apologetically. As if it felt Kenja's heartfelt grat.i.tude, the sword let out a soft hum.

Snail gagged. "Perhaps I should leave you and the trollop alone. She's very proficient at backstabbing!"

Kenja frowned at the comment and the sword showed its displeasure by vibrating meekly.

Kenja looked forward and allowed the silence to take over again. He continued descending for another half an incense stick when he thought of something else to ask.

"Given my current state, how could I circulate the essence in those orbs so well?"

Kenja waited for the usual pretentious response, but one didn't come. He looked to his right shoulder only to find Snail's sh.e.l.l sitting there with no Snail.

"Snail?" said Kenja.

He waited for a response, continuing his stroll downward.

"Snail!" said Kenja a little bit more loudly.

Two tentacles peeked out of his sh.e.l.l.

"Did you need something?"

"What are you doing?"

A miniature cup that contained a powerfully alluring scent appeared next to Snail as he got out of his sh.e.l.l. From the cup, a tiny hollow cylinder extended past its edges. Snail placed his mouth on the pipe and appeared to be sucking the liquid through it and gulping it down. Once he finished, he let out a very satisfied sigh.

"Disciple, your talent in keeping your master entertained is sorely lacking. I fixed myself a drink to cure my boredom. Now what did you need?"

Kenja was curious about why he used the pipe in such a manner, but he had more important things to ask first.

"Why was I able to circulate the essence so well from those orbs? It barely leaked out from my meridians."

"Ah, you don't know why that is? Let's see..." Snail began formulating the right words to respond with.

"It's because essence is a much more refined and purified form of Qi. One usually makes it by continuously circulating the same Qi in his body over a period of time. In such a pure form, the energy is easily contained within the body and less likely to leak out from one's flaws. Of course, you would have had plenty leaking out if it weren't for me!"

The sword's aura leaked out of the scabbard. Snail turned his nose to the sky.

"Sure, sure. You helped a little as well."

Kenja understood Snail's explanation, but another question formed in his mind.

"If I can't cultivate normally, couldn't I utilize essence to progress my cultivation?"

Snail looked at Kenja as if he asked a very stupid question.

"How is essence made?" quizzed Snail.

"Through the refinement and purification of Qi," Kenja answered.

"So how do you plan on refining essence if it takes all your focus just to complete a single circulation cycle?"

Kenja was annoyed at being treated like a brainless idiot.

"I meant that we locate essence and use it to advance my cultivation!"

Snail's expression worsened as it adopted a pose that only a snail could make.

"Is your brain truly vacant? Essence isn't fruit you find on trees! To stumble upon essence stones that big and filled with essence is fortune one might attain once in a century. Your father, here, helped you absorb as much as you could from two of those stones, yet with your const.i.tutions being so inconvenient, we couldn't even reach the full circle of Qi Flouris.h.i.+ng despite utilizing a fraction of the Core Crystallization essence inside that orb!" Snail rebuked Kenja for his ignorance.

He paused to let it sink in before continuing once more.

"Essence isn't something people willingly hand over, and an essence stone is one of the rare ways of actually storing or transferring essence. The stone's size would need to be comparable to the one you used previously, so unless you are willing to steal from the sect from under their nose, we will most likely never find a stone big enough."

He paused again to see if Kenja had understood his lecture. Kenja's eyes appeared to be in deep contemplation, so Snail decided to finish the lecture on his most important point.

"Also, you would require high quality essence of later stages to advance through your bottlenecks, but your body will be overburdened each time. It will slow down the healing of your flaws, creating a reliance on essence to advance. It isn't a long-term solution for your problem and can result in hurting you more than helping you."

Kenja closed his eyes as he continued to walk down the stairs. He felt that he was a hopeless case. His path to Immortality was unfairly difficult when compared with others' paths, and any potential solutions were dangerous and not very helpful.

Snail felt a sense of sadness envelop Kenja. He felt a little responsible for his sudden depression, so he tried to console him.

"What happened to the boy that made me serve him? Do you think I would allow my disciple to remain as weak as you are now? I guarantee you will be strong enough to topple the world. Otherwise, how would I save face in front of my millions of wors.h.i.+ppers?"

Kenja smiled when he heard this.

'This snail can say nice things when he wants.'

Joining in the discussion, the sword gave out a soft hum to reinforce Snail's words.

"The trollop is right. With our combined capabilities, we could turn a rat into a dragon. But I won't serve a mouse!" Snail declared.

As Kenja's mood was lifted, he sped up his descent. He was still thorougly drained, but the pep talk reinvigorated him, and he wished to reach the end of this endless path.

He was a bit worried about his sisters recognizing him, but even Satos.h.i.+ didn't bat an eye at his appearance. Even though his distinctive features were still there, Snail's a.s.sistance had completely disguised the tone of his appearance.

'I'll just avoid spending too much time with them for now. Once I am done here, I can return to my normal appearance.'

He still felt guilty over how he treated his sisters before. He had left a message for them in his letter to Baba that he would forgive them if they had become powerful cultivators by the time he returned from his journey, so he felt a little better about facing them.

"How much further do we have to go?! Even my trip to h.e.l.l didn't take this long!!!" Snail complained seriously.

Kenja chuckled at Snail's joke, but he had to agree that this pathway was too long.

'No wonder I always saw different faces every morning. I wouldn't like to make this trip often.'

Kenja made another turn and inwardly celebrated at the sight of the final step. Around one-hundred chi ahead, he could see the lining of the pathway's exit as well as two figures standing in front of it. Noticing that Snail had already jumped back onto his ear, he widened his stride.

Nearing the exit, he could make out Hanabi's anxious face turn back into a smile and Rin's back facing him. He returned the smile as he began apologizing for delaying them.

"I apologize for my tardiness. I am unfamiliar with the custom of jumping into wells, so it took me some time to gather my courage," he said as he neared the exit.

Rin didn't turn around or respond, but Hanabi's eyes seemed to apologize for being unable to slow her down. Kenja stepped out of the cave, and his eyes widened in amazement at what he saw.

"Not bad, not bad. Not the best I have seen before, but it easily clears top twenty," Snail complimented the sight.