“So cool! Big sister is truly big sister!”

Hanabi stared at Kenja all starry-eyed with wonder and amazement. Kenja was totally cool with his flying sword pose.

“Junior sister is quite skilled.”

Hideaki Akiyoshi smiled while hiding his disappointment from having his second attempt to improve relations with Hirai Hikaru rejected.

“Zukie, this is too hard!”

“Just keep trying.”

Eyes were drawn to the two youngest and weakest direct disciples.

Two swords lay at their feet as they attempted to balance on it and lift themselves up into the air.

Unfortunately, they were only able to rise an inch above the ground before losing balance or falling down. Their repeated failures caused many of the viewers to warm up at the sight as this was obviously their first time using a flying sword.

Kenja had to stifle his laughter as he looked at Yoshie’s sword.

This silly girl had yet to remove the price tag stuck to the side of the blade. They must have purchased the swords before answering the emergency summons to Flowing Yard.

Hideaki Akiyoshi smiled at the twins who were earnestly trying their best.

He flew his sword over to them and offered his hand, “Little sisters, we are short on time. I’ll bring you two along so that we don’t keep the elders waiting.”

He had originally not paid any attention to these two seemingly ordinary twins that the Fifth Elder had picked up, but after their kind remarks the previous time, he had good feelings towards them.

Seeing that everyone’s gazes were on them, Shizuka’s cheeks reddened from embarrassment, but Yoshie felt relieved as if she saw her savior.

Unlike Shizuka who did not want to appear inept in front of everyone, Yoshie was more afraid at the thought of being off the ground on a thin, bladed weapon. Thus, Hideaki Akiyoshi’s timely offer of assistance filled her eyes with happy tears threatening to fall at any moment.

SWOOSH

A gust of wind blew past Hideaki Akiyoshi, and the twins had disappeared from where they stood.

Looking up, he was startled by a cold glare and a forced smile scowling back at him.

Kenja had picked up both of the twins before either of them could reply to Hideaki Akiyoshi’s offer. They stood at the front of the sword as Kenja held onto them from above and Sakura balanced them from below.

“Senior brother is too kind. As their big sisters, master would be unhappy if we don’t look after them ourselves. Right, elder sister, little sister?”

Aoi Rin nodded in approval at Kenja.

“Good job.”

She also would not have permitted Hideaki Akiyoshi to carry the twins as it was her job to look after them until Master Kazane returned.

“Big sister is too cool!”

Hanabi nodded vigorously to show that she agreed with Kenja.

The stars shooting out from her eyes had multiplied in size and number.

For her, it was as if every action Kenja took or every sentence he said made him more and more perfect in terms of being a big sister. She was completely smitten with the idea that the first friend she had secured was the coolest big sister in the world.

In fact, mixed in with her admiration was a touch of envy and a dash of regret as she could have feigned ineptitude, and then she could have flown together with her big sister.

Hideaki Akiyoshi could discern the anger and contempt in Kenja’s smile grow as his next words threatened the Tributary, “We should hurry or else we’ll keep First Elder waiting.”

Gulping nervously, Hideaki Akiyoshi was absolutely stumped.

Although Kenja had never uttered a word of discontent to him, Hideaki Akiyoshi was confident he had made no mistakes in the feelings that Kenja had aimed towards him.

He could not fathom why Kenja displayed such animosity every time he attempted to be courteous or helpful.

And now, Kenja had casually brought up his master to compel him to withdraw.

After watching his master and Kenja face-off earlier and witnessing what happened to Matsushita Hizumi, he knew that Kenja was not somebody easily coerced by a superiority in cultivation or status. At the least, the ‘young lady’ had a feisty temper with a dangerous wit that would not easily concede to bullying.

Wait!

Was she upset with him because of his master’s harsh treatment during the elders’ meeting?!

Hideaki Akiyoshi realized that perhaps it was his master that soured Kenja’s impression of him. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he was certain of his conjecture.

Kenja showed much greater disgust with him now than the previous time.

If so, then everything made sense.

“Junior sister is right. We should hurry.”

He decided that it would take more time to patch things up between them, so he would take things slowly.

He would give Kenja space for now.

Hideaki Akiyoshi flew back to lead the Tributaries who were situated behind the three flying elders while Aoi Rin fell back to lead Kenja and Hanabi.

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They soared over the thousands of heads of disciples and left the Flowing Yard, following First Elder Kaitou Daiki’s cloudy trail.

Kenja stared at Hideaki Akiyoshi’s back annoyed.

Kenja had a bad impression of Hideaki Akiyoshi because his actions seemed to target him repeatedly.

Last time, he had nearly exposed Kenja in front of Vice Elder Shirou, Shizuka and Yoshie.

For some reason, the man kept picking on him, and when that failed, he switched to targeting his twin sisters.

Was he purposely targeting him?

Was he aiming at the twins to get to him?

Or was he some strange pervert like Matsushita Hizumi?

Kenja could not be certain of his motives, but regardless of the truth, his sisters were not some easy fruit any man could come and pinch whenever they liked.

He might have wanted to marry his sisters into wealth when he was younger, but now that he was older, he knew the world was a lot more twisted than it appeared.

Most of all, he knew how beastly many men could be behind their facade.

Take Matsushita Hizumi and Kitamura Bolo for example, and they were considered tame when compared to the truly vile underside of humanity.

If he were not around, then it would not matter, but since he was present, he would not allow untrustworthy men to approach his younger sisters so easily.

Especially since Hideaki Akiyoshi was the First Elder’s direct disciple, he distrusted him even more.

After all, apples did not fall far from the tree.

Considering how cruel and sinister Kaitou Daiki behaved, how different could his pupil be?

Shizuka’s voice interrupted Kenja’s thoughts.

“We’ve embarrassed our master and troubled you. We’re sorry, senior sister.”

Shizuka hung her head low in defeat as she stared at Sakura’s sword tip.

She was frustrated with herself for being unable to use the [Ethereal Blade] technique to the same effect that Kenja, Hanabi and Rin could.

Kenja smiled at her, fondly remembering how hard-working Shizuka had always been. On top of her incredible work ethic, she often took care of Yoshie, Baba and himself.

He patted her cute, brown head like he had in the past and comforted her, “You’re exaggerating. It has only been a few hours since you’ve stepped into the Qi Flourishing realm. You would need to have condensed your Fog before anyone would expect you to fly a sword. Both of you have already performed marvelously.”

At first, Shizuka instinctively recoiled away from Kenja’s hand, but she did not move away, considering he was only trying to comfort her and because there was no room on top of the sword.

He reassured her with a [Wind Whisper], “Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but I’m actually terrible with the [Ethereal Blade]. The only reason I can fly like the rest of them is because this sword is special.”

It was the truth.

In the short week he had been at the Qi Flourishing level, he had already condensed a Fog and converted much of it into the first drop of his Sea. In other words, he was nearing the pinnacle of Qi Flourishing.

And yet, he could only use the [Ethereal Blade] technique to shakily struggle a dozen meters forward, barely an inch above the ground, before slipping off the sword or tumbling forward in an embarrassing manner.

After a few days of walking around the sect, he knew that others around his level could comfortably fly a hundred meters while remaining one or two meters above the ground. By comparison, Kenja’s capabilities were horrendous.

In other words, because of his special constitution, he was most likely the worst Qi Flourishing cultivator there ever was…

At least, this was true for most of the orthodox cultivator skills like the [Flame Serpent] technique or the [Wind Whisper] he had used to speak with Shizuka a moment ago.

But this did not hamper Kenja.

Instead, his drive to improve grew, and he knew Shizuka had the same drive. In some ways, she treated herself more harshly than Kenja.

“It’s okay, senior sister. You don’t have to make things up to console me. I’m fine.”

Despite her words, Shizuka’s head raised slightly in interest. If Kenja was telling the truth, then perhaps she was being too hard on herself.

“I wish I was lying, but I can’t take credit from her in good conscience. Without her help, I would have to be carried as well.”

Shizuka looked down at the sword again, curious. “She’s a girl?”

“Well, you don’t expect me to ride a man, do you?”

Shizuka could not stop a giggle from escaping.

Hirai Hikaru’s sense of humor reminded her of her elder brother. Moreover, she and Yoshie had received help from her more than once now.

She turned to return a smile and thank Kenja, but she was stunned by what she saw.

Yoshie had tightly latched onto Kenja’s torso and her face was buried in his robes.

“Yoshie, get off her!” Shizuka urged while pulling on Yoshie’s robe.

Yoshie did not relax in the slightest. “I ca-can’t! It’s t-t-t-too scary!” She tightened her hug and dug her face deeper into Kenja’s chest.

“At least switch to me. You’re troubling senior sis—“

“It’s okay. Let her be.” Kenja stroked Yoshie’s head in a rhythmic fashion, slightly different from the patting he had given Shizuka.

Yoshie had always been faint-hearted and extremely dependent on others, but she would try hard enough to avoid burdening them. Like in this case, although she was extremely terrified, she did not cry out or demand to be put down.

In the past, under their gentle coaxing and calm instruction, Yoshie proved more capable than the two of them in learning new things.

As long as Shizuka stayed with Yoshie, Kenja had no doubt she would excel and carve a place for herself in this world. But if she lacked someone he trusted to help her, he would never have allowed her to enter the sect alone.

Under Kenja’s nostalgic easing, Yoshie’s trembling lessened and her breathing steadied.

“Just breathe. Circulate your qi and relax.”

Without lifting her face, she took in deep breaths through her nose and circulated qi through her body, calming her nerves and reducing her trembles further.

Seeing the visible change in Yoshie, Shizuka no longer tried to remove her.

She looked up at Kenja with a silent smile and eyes filled with gratitude.

Kenja returned her his classic, toothy grin, pearly whites and all. When combined with Snail’s beautifying enchantments, he captured the very image of a beautiful maiden at war with a playful tomboy.

Suddenly, a tear cascaded down Shizuka’s cheek, past her smile, and off her diamond chin.

Kenja was startled.

“Wai—What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

Shizuka realized she was crying, and she quickly wiped her tear and turned around to face forward.

“No—nothing’s wrong. Senior sister just reminded me of someone.”

Kenja’s smile deflated.

He was unsure how to respond, but the growing feeling of wetness in his chest caused him to switch his focus to Yoshie.

“What about you? Why the waterworks?”

Yoshie took a deep breath in that sounded more like a sniffle before stuttering out a single word, “Ss-ss-same.”

Kenja sighed in defeat while stroking Yoshie’s head.

He had hoped when he first severed ties with them that they would forget about him.

He had no clue whether he would ever manage to cultivate qi, and he did not want to affect their futures or hold them back. And if they achieved success as he hoped they would, he did not want them to return for his sake.

He did not want them to see how little progress he had made or that he had remained stagnant while they soared to the heavens.

They would feel guilt and regret for abandoning Kenja.

And what frightened him the most was how he might change.

If he witnessed their success and how they achieved everything he desired…

He did not want them to see his bitterness.

His resentment.

His weakness.

He was terrified their memory of the kind and reliable elder brother that held up their skies would be destroyed.

Kenja could not let that happen.

When he broke ties with them, it was for the best of both sides.

But he was happy he found a way to cultivate. And he was glad that he did not have to separate with them just yet.

It was at this moment that Kenja decided he would tell both of them who he was once he reached Foundation Establishment.

If he could reach that stage, he believed he could puff out his chest and make a dashing appearance as their elder brother once more.

A whisper came from his ear, “Idiot disciple, if you don’t go down soon, the tramp’s cover will be blown.”