Kenja had petrified the dining area into silence, gathering all eyes on him. He placed his napkin back on his lap and smiled back at Hizumi.
He had ingested enough fruit to send any of the elders into a stupor, and here Kenja was, seemingly unaffected.
The ones most astonished were the competitors themselves.
They thought Kenja might have been putting up a brave front and would collapse after the next bite, but the fact that he easily controlled all seven portions and their toothpicks so effortlessly had proven their initial theory wrong.
The reason toothpicks were used when eating these fruits was because of the unique properties of the absorbed Qi that caused the consumer to temporarily lose control of their external Qi manipulation.
Even Hizumi hadn't dared use his Qi to move the fruit after his first bite, and instead, he picked it up with the toothpick. Otherwise, he might have sent the fruit flying away, and he would be embarrassed.
'What is her stomach made of?' Hizumi questioned as he quivered at the sight. Any assurance of his victory ran away at the sight of Kenja's gluttonous display.
The crowd erupted in loud murmurs.
"Who is this sister? I don't recognize her," a curious servant asked.
"I believe senior brother called her Hirai, yes? I think she joined the same day as Princess Ryu," an outer sect disciple answered him.
"Senior Sister Hirai, what an appetite she has! And she is only at Qi Flourishing?" several others exclaimed.
The servants and outer sect disciples began to praise this new 'senior sister' that had come out of nowhere and was driving Hizumi of the Five Tributaries into a corner.
Kenja continued to smile, waiting for Hizumi to respond to his statement.
Hizumi coughed loudly.
"Senior sister, shall I fetch an elder? Surely, you must not feel well?" he probed Kenja's condition.
Perhaps Kenja was fine after four bites, but surely, there cannot be a Qi Flourishing cultivator on this planet that could be fine after eleven bites.
Kenja laughed. "Trying to keep me from eating more of this fruit, senior brother? Don't let greed cloud your eyes, or you may find your cultivation halted."
'Don't let greed cloud my eyes? Greed your ass, junior sister! I've had two portions while you've had eleven. Who is the greedy one?!'
"Junior sister, I am only concerned for your well-being. Junior Brother Bando, go fetch the third elder. Surely, our master can treat junior sister." Whether Kenja felt ill or not, he was intent on removing her from the competition.
One of Hizumi's juniors that stood away from the table nodded his head and turned to walk away when Kenja's loud voice stopped him.
"Senior brother is quite charming with his caring side, but you are being too protective. Allow me to set your worries aside. Both sides are tied at fifteen portions, so allow my side to lead the next round," Kenja reassured them.
'Lead the next round?' Both sides stared at Kenja, unsure of what he meant.
Six more marbles floated upwards and flew into his mouth after separating them from their toothpicks.
This simple act completely cleared the accusation against Kenja. If he were unwell, it would have been impossible for him to exert such careful Qi control over so many objects at once.
It was one surprise after another; the crowd had already grown numb by this point. They merely stood in dumbfounded silence as they pitied their senior brother who had the misfortune of matching against such a monster.
His sisters and the princess were equally surprised.
Hanabi had thought that she might have been Kenja's equal before, but now, this big sister's image inside her heart had become an insurmountable mountain. She looked up to Kenja as the ideal woman.
"How is he doing it!? What trick is he using?!" Kenja could hear the desperate echoes from inside Snail's shell.
Snail was reeling inside his shell, frantically flipping through various books looking for an explanation. He hoped to find how Kenja managed such a feat so that he could claim it was a fraudulent method and nullify the wager.
'Must you be so stingy with a simple book collection?' Kenja sighed, shaking his head at Snail's selfishness.
"Six bites for your side, senior brother," Kenja skillfully returned Hizumi's arrogant display.
Kenja's smile had reached the level of the heavenly Buddha at this time. At a glance, no one could perceive that Kenja was bullying Hizumi.
All eyes were back on Hizumi and his juniors as they stared at the remaining portions.
They had anticipated taking another bite, but Kenja doubled their expected intake. The next bite became more daunting as it would be immediately followed by a second one.
Hizumi grabbed a toothpick and brought the menacing nibble to his face. He steeled himself and devoured it. The two remaining juniors followed his example.
They took a much longer time to circulate their Qi, but at the end, one of the juniors stood up, swaying slightly. He bowed to the table and walked to where his other brothers were, nearly tripping over his own feet.
The remaining junior was the Foundation Establishment fruit-cutter and the one with the closest relationship with Hizumi. His eyes looked at the remaining two portions with dread.
Hizumi shared his feelings of torment, but he wasn't about to toss his pride away and concede.
He glanced at Kenja's ring and storage bag.
'She must be cheating,' Hizumi speculated.
He had decided that Kenja had cheated by storing the fruit as it entered his mouth. Hizumi planned to expose this 'mischievous sister' the next time they ate some fruit and punish their team in a more lustrous fashion than buying him a simple dinner.
Before he could do that though, their side must first finish eating three more bites.
"Junior brother, to have weathered so much alongside me, I am impressed. If you can tackle one more, I will handle the rest," Hizumi incited the dazed brother sitting next to him.
Kenja was impressed with the camaraderie Hizumi displayed for his brothers. He was reminded that people were rarely evil at heart; their actions and motivations often caused one to stray from the right path.
What criminal would choose to harm others if he could score a fortune through peaceful means?
Hizumi may not be inherently bad, but it was clear that his intentions toward Hanabi weren't pure, so when an opportunity presented itself, Kenja had decided to twist the events in order to prevent future troubles.
The junior brother nodded bravely in response to Hizumi's encouragement, and they both picked up the last two portions on the table. They ate the fruit and took a dozen breaths to circulate their Qi before releasing another sigh of intoxication.
The junior brother stood up and clasped his hands as he bowed.
"Forgive me, senior brother."
"There is nothing to forgive," Hizumi smiled at his junior brother. This Foundation Establishment junior brother ate four bites for his sake; it was a wonderful performance.
Hizumi had to eat one more bite to match the other side, but they still had four people. Even if they would eat only one bite each before retiring, he knew he couldn't handle four more bites. Just the thought made his stomach twirl.
His only chance at redemption was to catch Junior Sister Hirai cheating, and he would bet it all on the moment the fruit enters their mouths.
He turned his attention to the empty plate on the table. He raised his fingers to his glabella and rubbed it tenderly.
They had finished enough servings to satisfy more than two dozen people. He had to prepare more just to continue the competition, and he got a headache thinking about it.
Sanguine spirit trees led a solitary life. They absorbed so much of the soil's Yin and Yang that one wouldn't find a second sanguine spirit tree without travelling hundreds of li.
The sect spent resources managing the lone tree, and only the elders regularly partook in its intoxicating produce.
Who had the stones to swipe a succulent sliver from the tree without the elders' blessings? Even if they had been successful, they could only eat a little at a time, and the water would maintain the freshness of the fruit for only a day or two at most.
For most disciples, the risks had outweighed the benefits by a large margin, but this was another story for Hizumi who was at the Core Crystallization stage.
As a gift bequeathed to him today, his master had hoped Hizumi would use it to diligently advance his cultivation before it would lose its freshness.
Hizumi had only used a portion of the fruit for this game because he knew he wouldn't be able to consume all of it in two days, but against his expectations, he now had to prepare more servings.
He took out the jar and manually twisted the lid off. He circulated his Qi and slowly motioned for the water to pull the fruit out, levitating in front of him. He was careful to move the fruit slowly so that he could maintain control; lest he embarrass himself by dropping it on the floor.
He closed his eyes as he continuously circulated Qi for a few breaths to prepare himself before slicing up more portions of the fruit. In the middle of his concentration, he heard a strange sound from across the table.
The sound reminded Hizumi of a person taking a scrumptious bite from a succulent fruit. His eyes burst open as he looked across the table at the source of the sound.
To everyone's shock, Kenja had leaned over and grabbed the spirit fruit from the floating sphere of water and taken a bite of it. Kenja swallowed the bite and smiled back at Hizumi mischievously, as a drop of the fruit slid from his lips down his chin.
"I could not help myself, senior brother. The way you held it out over the table looked too tempting to ignore," Kenja confessed guiltily.
Hizumi's eyes reddened in anger as he immediately motioned for the table to fly away towards the wall of a nearby building. He brandished his aura, and everyone, including his junior brothers, buckled to their knees.
Only Kenja remained standing as Hizumi restrained his hands and legs. He approached Kenja and pulled his chin down to examine his mouth.
Kenja didn't raise any sign of resistance as he let Hizumi examine the inside of his mouth. Hizumi's reactions were all within the scope of his planning. Who wouldn't suspect foul play after the performance he had put up?
"You're in for it now, disciple! Snail-sensei's Teaching, Number 42: Don't bully those that can reduce you to dust with their fart!"
Snail took pleasure in seeing Kenja suffer. He was indignant at Kenja since not only did he lose the chance to dispel his servitude, but also he had to lend his book collection to Kenja. For him, Kenja deserved a couple of slaps.
Hizumi could smell a large amount of the fruit coming from Kenja's breath and saw the moist liquid smearing Kenja's red lipstick. His eyes widened as he looked at Kenja's right hand to see it holding the fruit directly.
'She didn't cheat…' he concluded.
At that moment, Kenja felt Hizumi's aura weaken slightly, and he knew it was his time to strike.
"Junior brother, is this how you treat your senior sister? What would your master say?" Kenja asked out loud.
Kenja's words resounded in everyone's minds, causing all hearts to quiver at their audacity. Even Snail's jaw dropped at Kenja's antagonistic challenge.
'Sister, why are you addressing him as junior brother? Do you wish to be slapped to death?'
Everyone waited for Kenja to receive a powerful slap, but what they saw happen next blew their minds.
Hizumi had dropped down to his knees, clutching his heart.
Kenja wasn't sure how effective a Soul Oath was until he made one himself. He could feel something similar to chains placed around his soul.
The moment he would acknowledge defeat, he would be compelled to serve Hizumi and his friends with the 'dinner of their lives' tomorrow. Otherwise, an indescribable pain would erupt from his soul.
He knew Hizumi had admitted defeat in his heart the moment he let his aura falter and deduced Kenja had not been cheating. Simply reminding him of how a senior sister should be treated would cause the chains around his soul to tighten for mistreating Kenja.
The aura pressing down on everyone had dissipated, and Kenja was standing in front of Hizumi.
Everyone realized that Hizumi must have admitted defeat within his own heart, and they pitied him for it. To lose to a new disciple who was only at the Qi Flourishing stage while also having a numerical and qualitative advantage, Hizumi must have felt a grave shame.
"My actions are of no concern to master," he sputtered out as he clenched his heart and circulated his Qi to regain balance within his soul.
Kenja turned to Hizumi's junior brothers and questioned them, "Junior brothers, do you agree with Hizumi regarding your master?"
They gritted their teeth when they heard Kenja address them as his juniors. "Master does not involve himself with our actions. As senior brother has said, our actions do not concern Elder Kondo," one of them explained. The others nodded their head in agreement.
"Very well, let us settle the accounts of our wager. Hand over your keystones to your senior sister, here," Kenja declared, pointing to another table nearby,
The juniors stared at Kenja indignantly, unwilling to hand over their keystones. Their stones held all their hard-earned credits as well as allowed them access to their caves.
They turned to Hizumi for any semblance of hope, but he got up and took out his keystone before placing it on the table. Hizumi turned to them and spoke out in a domineering manner.
"Hurry up and hand over your keystones. Do not shame your senior brother!"
Several of them teared up as they took out their stones. One-by-one, they walked to the table and dropped their keystone next to Hizumi's keystone.
After witnessing the last keystone being placed on the table, Hizumi turned to walk away with his juniors, but before he got very far, Kenja stopped him.
"Junior Brother Matsushita, I didn't say you can go."
The gallery of servants and outer sect disciples were aghast at the sight of Kenja calling Hizumi back. Mountains couldn't stop Hizumi from proceeding forward, and yet, you are making him return at your whim?
'Senior sister, are you secretly an elder out to bully and tease us?' they contemplated.
Hizumi stopped and turned around with proper decorum, but his eye occasionally twitched out of anger.
"Yes, senior sister?" he asked politely.
"You forgot your fruit," Kenja took another bite and held the fruit forward.
Not only Hizumi, but everyone's eyes reddened in frustration at Kenja.
"You may keep it as another congratulatory gift on your victory, senior sister," Hizumi replied.
Truthfully, he did want the fruit, but in his haste and anger, he dropped the jar and water when he threw the table against the wall. Additionally, the fruit had spent too much time outside of the water, so its potency would have diminished before he could find an appropriate replacement container.
"My thanks, junior brother!"
Hizumi was about to turn back to walk away once more when he heard Kenja speak again.
"Junior brother, before you go, I have a favor to ask of you."
Hizumi and his brothers were quite upset at this point, but they kept their mouths shut.
"If it is within my capabilities, senior sister, I will assist you as best as I can," Hizumi affirmed.
"Your senior sisters, here, are not as strong and dependable as you are. I have to ask that you take care of us during our stay here," Kenja requested shamelessly.
Both of Hizumi's eyes twitched several more times after hearing this request. He had just asked Hizumi to become their bodyguard for an indefinite amount of time.
'I'm not your slave,' cried Hizumi, but he didn't voice out his thoughts.
"Yes, senior sister. I shall do my best to prevent any troubles that may befall all of you. Now if you will excuse us, my senior sisters. I wish to return to my cave...ahem, I mean I wish to cultivate in the open field outside the sect. The weather is quite refreshing, and thanks to one of our fellow brothers and sisters, the sect is enjoying an abundance of Qi today."
Hizumi closed his eyes and turned around, walking away quickly before Kenja could stop him again.
Snail had watched everything in silence. He smacked his head a couple of times against his shell, imagining this must all be a dream.
Kenja turning him into a servant, he blamed on luck. This princess becoming his little sister in a single day, he believed it was a coincidence. But now, how could he explain Kenja turning a troublesome Core Crystallization into an obedient guard dog?
In a world where power earned respect and commanded the masses, this meager disciple of his had beguiled every formidable entity he ran into with simple words, turning them into his assets. Even his personal library was no longer safe.
'Since when did this dog-eat-dog world turn into a plaything for puppies with sharp tongues?' Snail lamented.
Kenja felt Sakura vibrating at Snail mockingly.
"Stop laughing at me you...you...FECES SHOVELER!" Snail spat at Sakura.