"We have to see for ourselves what happened, che."
The three elders nodded in agreement.
Kaitou Daiki turned to Vice Elder Shirou and commanded him, "Get everyone still in seclusion out here. Drag them out of their caves if you have to. I want everyone accounted for by the time we return."
Understanding the severity of the situation, Vice Elder Shirou bowed to show he understood the order before ordering several vice elders to fetch the fifty-six disciples still in seclusion.
Afterwards, Vice Elder Shirou flew atop his sword, slowly circling the pillar, taking command of those already present as the vice elders and their deacons sped up their roll call.
As every disciple was individually checked off, each of the vice elders' sect journals updated simultaneously to reflect the sum of their progress. This way, they avoided counting the same person twice while also confirming who had yet to report their name.
Satisfied, Kaitou Daiki bolted into the sky and floated atop a dark-grey sword. Dark clouds billowed out from the hilt as if a thunderstorm was brewing in his wake.
"Let's go."
Ariyoshi Miji followed him into the air atop a short sword. With the ends of his burnt pants hanging from the edges of the blade, his movements were similar to a bird flapping freely in the sky with two long, black tails following him.
"Should we bring Second Brother? Out of us five, those rocks always favored him most."
Kaitou Daiki grimaced when he heard this.
He did not look forward to dealing with the pillars.
If Second Brother went along with them, it might be easier to get what he wanted from those annoying ancient boulders.
"We have no time to babysit. Leave him. He can stay here as a countermeasure for anything unexpected." He then nodded to Hideaki Akiyoshi. "Follow us."
Hideaki Akiyoshi took out his own sword and flew into the air, hovering below the two elders.
In the same breath, Aoi Rin appeared alongside him on a strange-looking sword.
It had the appearance of an ice stalagmite that did not melt, and its edges and tip were dull. A coldness filled the air that caused some of the below servants to shiver and retreat.
Kaitou Daiki gave her a sharp look. "You stay."
Aoi Rin did not retort, but she silently stared back at him with furrowed brows.
"Fifth Sister isn't here, First Brother. Little Rin is supposed to serve as her witness if anything serious happens," Kondo reminded Kaitou Daiki.
He redirected his cold stare to Kondo. "I already said we don't have time to babysit. Besides, she cannot become Fifth Sister's successor. Everyone knows that, even her. Only Fifth Sister is stubborn and refuses to move on."
Kondo frowned at his words. The First Elder was unforgiving with his words, bringing up the private faults of his beloved Kazane Kazue and her beloved disciple in front of the sect.
"You're being unfair. You've let your own disciple join us. Just let her come. In fact, I think we should bring Little Hide and Little Yu as well." Ariyoshi Miji nodded at Hirose Hide and Sora Yu who instantly leapt into the air and arrived next to Hideaki Akiyoshi and Aoi Rin on their own swords.
Ariyoshi Miji might meet Kitamura Bolo once they entered the Dragon's Basin, so he hoped to have his disciples bond with him before inviting him to be his disciple.
Hirose Hide, for example, had already met him, and he witnessed her eagerness in having Kitamura Bolo as a junior brother firsthand.
"He's coming only to serve as a messenger if we need one. This isn't a field trip!"
"Che, che, che," Gao Diao appeared next to him while standing on a wooden staff, laughing, "We may as well bring all of them. You know how those old stones can be. They're friendlier with the youngsters present, and if there's nothing wrong, then that means they had ignored us altogether. In that case, we might need the little ones to warm them up."
The pillars were like old grandparents that doted on the younger generation. The younger a disciple was, the more kind they were. Moreover, they loved bragging about their past exploits to the naive and inexperienced.
The most obvious reason for this was that they were stuck in a closed-off lake with a bunch of other cranky bats.
They relished the opportunity to relive their glory through the eyes and ears of the young.
Kaitou Daiki snorted in anger, but he relented, "Fine. Just hurry it up."
Although he gave his permission, he did not wait for them.
He dashed away on his sword, leaving a trail of black clouds in the direction of the sect's fighting arena.
Shimizu Mizutani squeezed herself in between Hideaki Akiyoshi and Aoi Rin while standing sideways on a rapier.
Her front side was facing Hideaki Akiyoshi as she greeted him with a sly smile, leaning her ample bosom forwards as she swayed up and down like a wave of water.
Normally, she would fight off Hirose Hide, but strangely, her rival did not bother flying next to Hideaki Akiyoshi.
Thus, she decided to fly between Hideaki Akiyoshi and Aoi Rin whom she did not take seriously as an opponent. She merely wanted to be the only beautiful sight readily available to Hideaki Akiyoshi.
Matsushita Hizumi hovered slightly above the ground atop a great sword. Its length was equivalent to his own height, and its width was wide enough to sit down on it with minimal hassle.
He coolly flew in front of Hanabi and posed.
"Would senior sister like to ride with me?" He politely offered, carefully choosing his words.
Whether it was his Core Crystallization cultivation or his seniority as an older direct disciple of one of the Six Elders, it would have been a simple thing to pressure an inexperienced and naive little girl.
But now, Matsushita Hizuma was subjected to a soul oath that made him powerless in facing the young princess, both, literally and figuratively.
Nevertheless, he was still interested in pursuing her. The only difference now was that he could no longer abuse his superior cultivation nor his status to coerce her into creating opportunities for their relationship to improve.
Now that they all had to hurry to the Dragon's Basin, they could not walk there on foot, but Qi Flourishing cultivators struggled with using a flying sword for long distances.
Offering his assistance at this time was opportune and could help improve her impression of him.
Startled at first by his approach, Hanabi gathered herself and politely rejected him, "No need, junior brother."
She took out a red jade sword that was similarly dull like Aoi Rin's sword, except it emanated a wave of heat that others could feel from a distance.
Carefully placing one foot on the hilt and tilting the blade upwards, she placed her second foot on the blade and slowly rose to the air. After a slightly shaky lift-off, she balanced herself perfectly without any sign of wobbling.
The elders nodded at her with approval, offering a few words of praise.
"As expected of Little Hanabi, her foundation is solid."
"Diligent at such a young age. The emperor would be proud."
"Che, che, we can't compare her to her father. Her temperament must be from her mother."
As a princess of Ryuga, she could not be compared with average the Qi Flourishing.
Aoi Rin nodded her head in approval. "Good."
After receiving the delightful praise from the elders and Aoi Rin, Hanabi signaled Kenja with her eyes, hoping to receive some praise from him.
Kenja returned her gaze with an awkward smile.
"Little sister is impressive," he offered a few words to appease her.
Her eyes glowed a fierce red out of sheer happiness.
She, herself, was unaware of how much weight she placed on the words of her first true friend, Hirai Hikaru.
Hideaki Akiyoshi flew down and stopped in front of Kenja, wearing a sincere smile on his face. After witnessing Matsushita Hizumi's act, he saw his own opportunity.
"Would junior sister like a ride? Not everyone has received the same level of training as the young princess, so don't feel pressured to match her. You can hold onto me if you are scared."
He graciously offered Kenja a way out to avoid embarrassing himself; otherwise, he would be forced to show his skills with a flying sword which, at best, would likely pale in comparison with the princess or, at worst, result in an embarrassing fall onto the ground.
For a nearly indiscernible moment, disgust flashed on Kenja's face at the mere thought of riding with a man and holding onto him for support which Hideaki Akiyoshi caught, causing his eye to twitch in exasperation. This was no different from how Kenja treated him previously.
Even the princess did not show such immense disgust for Matsushita Hizumi. Why did Hirai Hikaru seem to hate him so?
Before Kenja could reply, Shimizu Mizutani flew in between them, stretching her arms out to block Hideaki Akiyoshi's sight.
"That won't be necessary, Brother Hideaki. Junior sister and I have some things to talk about. Girl stuff. So I'll take her."
Brother Hideaki almost never take initiative to speak with a girl. He would only politely respond when a girl talked to him, and this included her and Hirose Hide.
Yet now, he was going out of his way to not only speak with Kenja but also offered to carry him on his flying sword.
She was upset, but she tried her best to conceal that fact.
Moreover, now that her debt had been cleared, she was no longer wary of interacting with Kenja.
She could take this chance to reestablish herself as the proper elder sister that did not fall into a massive debt to a junior…and perhaps clarify some lines Kenja should avoid crossing.
Like how he should not seduce Brother Hideaki with her shiny, smooth skin that somehow glistened from all angles.
Or how he should not entice Brother Hideaki with his slim and youthful figure that emanated a womanly charm without having any of the obvious womanly features.
And especially how he should avoid speaking to Brother Hideaki with his ethereal and lilting music that came from his mouth in the form of words and sentences.
Realization flashed across Shimizu Mizutani's face.
It was at this moment that she realized how dangerous this young girl ten years her junior might be.
In the sky, Sixth Elder Gao Diao gave his disciple an internal thumbs up for proactively trying to improve her relationship with Kenja.
Even though Kenja displayed no desire to make pills or study plants, Gao Diao had not given up on the idea of apprenticing Kenja.
Although Hideaki Akiyoshi and Shimizu Mizutani appeared to be staring at one another, neither of them spoke.
They had fallen into deep contemplation regarding Hirai Hikaru. Akiyoshi was baffled with Kenja's repeatedly harsh feelings towards him, and Mizutani was intimidated by the seemingly perfect woman that Kenja appeared to be.
Seeing that they both stopped speaking abruptly, Kenja coughed to snap them awake.
"Hikaru thanks senior sister and senior brother for their gracious offer, but I can manage on my own."
Kenja jumped upwards while Sakura skillfully flew out of her sheath and under Kenja's feet in a picturesque manner. The sword gracefully descended until it was a foot above the ground.
Thanks to Snail's appearance-altering effects and Sakura's elegant control of the sword, Kenja had the appearance of a floating fairy descending unto Earth.
The sight of him rattled many of the younger male disciples and servants as well as causing the female disciples to feel a sense of inferiority. Shimizu Mizutani especially felt a sense of crisis arise within her upon witnessing this junior sister's beautiful performance.
On the other hand, the older disciples and vice elders were astounded with Kenja's control over a flying sword.
One could begin learning to use a flying sword after reaching the Qi Flourishing realm, but they would often be clumsy and unsteady, especially when initiating flight. They would also not be able to fly for long distances or at fast speeds.