The first thing Kenja noticed in the room was also the first thing everyone else had noticed.
"It's cold in here, big sister," Hanabi whispered into Kenja's ear, her visible breath tickling Snail's shell.
Really cold.
Embedded in the walls, crystal orbs of fluorescent blue lit up the entire room. The cave was five or six times larger than Kenja's cave which was already three times roomier than the outer sect disciple caves located on the sect perimeter walls.
In the center of the room, a hexagonal-shaped table sat with a sweet-smelling incense stick burning on top.
"Ooooo, that incense is made from the scale of a Crystal Pupfish! We should take it, disciple. It's very helpful in calming one's mind and relaxing the body. Your cultivation speed will receive a fifty percent boost at the least!"
"If you steal one more thing that does not belong to you, I swear to reveal your existence to everyone here. And I won't care about what happens to me afterwards."
Snail could sense the calm resolution in his words, causing him to gulp nervously. He knew Kenja would do what he promised.
"I didn't say anything about stealing it. Ahem, we can trade for it, can't we?"
Kenja ignored his suggestion, but Snail was secretly relieved the conversation was dropped. He decided to avoid doing anything that might anger Kenja for now.
One must let a fire cool down before stoking it again, lest it burn everything to cinders.
"Why's it colder in here than usual?"
Ariyoshi Miji moved towards one side of the table and jumped upwards. Hirose Hide instantly took a chair with tall legs out of her storage ring, and Sora Yu skillfully positioned it under the falling elder.
The voice of an old man replied, "In a bit of a mood, aren't we, Old Fourth?"
Kenja finally noticed the presence of three individuals on the other side of the cave.
The two standing were the taciturn Vice Elder Shirou and the First Elder's disciple, Hideaki Akiyoshi. He had met them together along with his twin sisters shortly before trading in his sect credits at the treasury.
The third person was seated in a pool of water several magnitudes larger than his cave's pool. His bare torso jutted out of the surface to reveal a robust chest that could compete with the Third and Fourth Elder, but his build was a bit slimmer by comparison. Those muscular arms were raised grasping a black stone in each hand.
Kenja instinctively recognized them as tribulation stones.
After dealing with so many of these stones the past few days, he would have been a failure of a human if he could not discern a tribulation stone with a single glance.
Ariyoshi Miji snorted, "Would you be in a good mood if I caused a ruckus throughout the sect before making you run over to my chambers?"
"I concur with Old Fourth. I hope you have a good reason this couldn't wait for Fifth Sister, che!"
Gao Diao moved towards an empty side of the table and fell backwards.
Shimizu Mizutani quickly took out a wooden chair before placing it underneath her master. Wooden branches and twirling vines decorated the armrests and back of the chair.
"Mm. I am in agreement with them."
Kondo took his own side of the table and sat down with no warning. Matsushita Hizumi had readied a bulky, metal chair and shifted it underneath his master when he sat down.
Kenja wondered why he used such a pointlessly heavy and hard seat.
As if reading his mind, Snail explained to Kenja, "True blacksmiths spend as much time as they can around ores and metal, increasing their familiarity with materials concerning their craft. Forget the chair. They would use metal tables, steel plates, copper beds and even iron pillows! Though, compared to the smiths I know of, Little Third is nothing special. He can't even sit on his chair without using a cotton cushion."
Indeed, after Snail pointed it out, Kenja noticed a small, purple cushion was placed between Kondo and his seat.
"I see."
"My knowledge is vast and limitless, disciple. Stay by me, and you'll be as omniscient as me in no time!"
Snail winked, putting in the extra effort to appeal to Kenja.
…
"I assure you, brothers, I would not call you all here without a good reason."
The man motioned for Hideaki Akiyoshi and Vice Elder Shirou to step backwards.
He rose out of the water causing bright, yellow bolts to jump out of his body and into the water.
Kenja and Hanabi were startled by the sudden electric emissions.
The old man dropped the stones into the pool before Hideaki Akiyoshi began drying his body with a towel.
"Intriguing. He's cultivating a lightning-based breath technique. No wonder the yin qi in here is so thick."
"What's a breath technique?"
"A breath technique is exactly what it sounds like: a way of breathing. Just like how your body utilizes the air to maintain function and take action, he is training his body to consume and manipulate electricity—er, the little, lightning-looking things that came out of his body."
"Is such a thing useful?"
"I don't know, disciple. Why don't you stop breathing, and then, tell me if it's useful?"
Sakura vibrated a chuckle from her sheath.
Kenja's eye twitched in response to Snail's sarcasm. He just wanted Snail to explain in what ways it could be used for one's benefit.
"I meant why would someone practice a second breathing technique?"
"Well, it's helpful when you are learning how to harness specific elements or survive in strange environments."
Snail hopped onto the bridge of Kenja's nose and puffed his chest out in a proud manner to lecture on the subject.
He took out a rock from his shell and split it into two small pebbles and one medium-sized stone that constantly twirled.
"For example, Little Sixth used an earth-based breath technique underground. If Little Third or Little Fourth followed him down there, they would be at a disadvantage unless they knew an equivalent earth-based breath technique as well."
Kenja was panicking.
Snail had suddenly started a lesson with a blatant demonstration in the presence of so many powerful cultivators.
"Snail! What are you do—"
"Hey! Don't interrupt me while I'm speaking! This is for your benefit!"
The stone gobbled the pebbles to form a single rock before disintegrating.
"Now, where was I? Oh, yeah!"
The leftover dust formed three miniature cyclones. One had a much stronger gale than the other two.
"Little Fourth attacked while harnessing a wind-type breath. That helped bolster his agility and dexterity enough to match two opponents at the same level."
Kenja realized that no one reacted to Snail's performance. It was as if he did not exist in their eyes and all his actions were invisible to them.
The more powerful twister absorbed its two weaker brethren and condensed into a closed loop of flowing water. This time, the water split into two volumes, one being several times larger than the other.
"A water-based breath could improve your swimming ability or assist you in with techniques involving water like that [Flowing Water Technique] you learned. Some advanced ones could even let you breathe underw—ugh, you get the gist."
The larger volume of water swallowed the smaller volume before evaporating before his eyes.
"I'm tired of explaining simple things. Just take my word for it: it's a good thing to have."
Kenja had trouble concentrating on the lecture as he nervously looked at the others to see how they reacted to Snail and his live demonstration. Seeing no one take notice of them, he relaxed once more.
"And you said it's a lightning-based one, but what does that have to do with yin qi?"
"It is said that everything is made up of yin and yang. With respect to Heavenly lightning, like the ones seen during thunderstorms or a tribulation, it is exceedingly close to pure yang. He is extracting the yang energy in this room and those stones for his practice. It's much faster than using ordinary qi from spirit stones. That's why the room is filled with a high concentration of yin energy which is often associated with the cold."
Kenja's eyes gleamed with excitement.
"Does that mean I can practice it too?" He was enticed by the many benefits of different breathing techniques.
He still had a boatload of yang energy in the form of sect credits. After amassing all those spirit stones, he was not sure how else he could spend the remainder of his credits.
"Sure, but the one he's using is a bit too weak. I forbid you from learning it."
He patted Kenja's cheek with one of his eye tentacles as if the sticky spank would make Kenja cower into obedience.
Kenja was surprised with Snail's assertion. "Does that mean you'll teach me a better one?"
Snail might be annoying 99% of the time, but his shell seemed to be a treasure vault with no apparent limit to its riches. He definitely had one or more decent breathing techniques in there!
Snail closed his eyes and looked away from Kenja.
"Hmph. Why do I have to do that?"
"..."