The giant pair of eyes gazed at the First Elder solemnly.

“Then ask.”

“Where is Disciple Kitamura Bolo?”

“Who is that?”

Looks of confusion spread across their ghostly visages.

“The boy that was here. Was his name not Kitamura Bolo?”

The spirits shook their heads.

“That was not what we called him.”

Kaitou Daiki and the others were surprised to learn this.

“Then what was his name.”

Huai Yi used a thumbs-up pose to point at his stone platform. “You can see for yourself.”

The various platforms began to glow a bright blue. The light flickered and flittered across their surfaces until they formed shimmering letters and words.

On top of each platform, the names of all the previously acknowledged experts by each pillar appeared. Some of those names had the character for ‘two’ or ‘three’ next to them, indicating more than one acknowledgment was given.

This usually happened when a pillar encountered a family relative or a disciple that impressed them deeply or requested their assistance for a breakthrough.

The elders split up to read the names of different platforms. The disciples, including Matsushita Hizumi who had previously locked his gaze onto Kenja, were also curious and flew to a platform near each of them to read the list of names.

The twins were carried by Aoi Rin, so Shizuka merely skimmed over the platform they were flown to. Yoshie was in awe with waving her hand through the phantasm of that stone platform who had the appearance of a kind and elderly woman amused by her innocent actions.

Hanabi was unsure what the pillars and elders were discussing, but seeing her seniors anxiously pore over the numerous names on each platform, she picked out a platform and flew over to it, curious to read over the contents.

Finally seeing an opportunity arise while the others were distracted, Kenja flew over to a platform further away from them and pretended to be engrossed in the glowing names.

A familiar bald headed spirit with a kind smile appeared in front of him. It was the amicable elder spirit that looked like a monk.

Kenja later learned his Dharma name was Munk, given to him in hopes of serving as a constant reminder of how he should act and what he should aspire to be.

Munk’s eyes lit up in amazement at Kenja’s current appearance as he truly could not connect it with young and handsome man that he had grown familiar with over the past few days.

After hearing Kenja’s explanation regarding his precarious situation, the pillars wished to help in facilitating mediation with the elders on his admission into the sect and his prior deception, but Snail had privately warned them not to act needlessly.

After receiving Snail’s veiled threats and witnessing his enigmatic methods, it became obvious to the pillars that Snail had private designs on Kenja, and it was beyond their abilities to intervene.

The pillars were forced to play along with the act.

Regardless, they were indebted to Snail after receiving his help and advancing their cultivations that had stood still for centuries.

They did feel pity for Kenja, but he had divulged that Snail was under some type of soul oath that restrained him. This news made them feel some relief for the kind and intelligent disciple who was burdened with that shell of trouble.

Kenja covertly pulled out Matsushita Hizumi’s storage bag and pointed to Snail’s shell with a troubled look before motioning to his junior brother with his pupils.

It took only an instant for Munk to roughly understand what had transpired.

The pillars were abundantly aware of Snail’s whimsical habit of taking anything and everything he felt like snatching.

As a display of power, the bandit had pillar-napped one of their brethren and had yet to return him.

Giving him an understanding wink, Munk took the bag from Kenja and hid it somewhere Kenja could not discern.

“Snail’s Disciple?” Kaitou Daiki asked aloud.

“That’s what I have here as well.”

“Same. And forty-three times…”

“Che, che, he got fifty-five over here.”

The Pillars of Will began laughing merrily at their confused expressions as a few of the disciples flitted around to see if the other stones had the same name and how many acknowledgments had they bestowed unto him.

Huai Yi chided them, “As you can see, that filial kid gave credit for his achievements to his master. Unlike you ungrateful bunch who only remember to visit your ancestors here when you want something.”

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Cold sweat ran down the backs of the Third, Fourth and Sixth Elders as the pillars gazed at them disapprovingly.

This was the Dragon’s Basin, the challenge pit, where disciples came to test their mettle and limits, not a place they could come and go as they pleased. But the elders were different; they had free access to the basin whenever they wished to visit.

Yet, they rarely would come here for no reason.

Sometimes, they needed advice on mastering some type of skill or assistance regarding the sect’s formations. Other times, they wanted to challenge one of the sect’s higher-tiered legacies to see how they compare. Occasionally, they also wanted their brothers and sisters’ acknowledgments to help with their own breakthroughs.

Why would they come here just to chit-chat?

Kaitou Daiki was unaffected by their remonstration.

“Where has he gone? I wish to congratulate this excellent child myself.” His voice was unenthusiastic and monotone.

No matter how super-duper, amazing or excellent this disciple appeared, Kaitou Daiki was set on capturing him and deducing his relation to the rented tribulation keystones.

Xiang Xin answered, “He left earlier.”

“How? I had the exit monitored the whole time,” Hirose Hide was the most curious concerning Kenja’s absence from the basin.

The central pillar closed his giant eyes. “He left through the secret passage.”

Surprise colored the faces of the disciples as this was the first time they heard there was another way into the basin. On the other end, the elders were struck by disbelief.

The vein on Kaitou Daiki’s forehead bulged further. “You gave him the sect’s seal?!”

“Yes."

“A little Qi Flourishing obtained the sect’s seal…”

“Che, che, che, you gave him the sect’s seal!”

“You gave him the sect’s seal…how many years has it been since a disciple received the seal?”

Sora Yu could not hold himself back from asking, “Master, what’s so special about this seal?”

Ariyoshi Miji smiled at the disciples whose inquisitive gazes were filled with eagerness. “Honorable Founder created six Elder Seals each of which held a strand of his spirit. As you know, we each hold one. These seals hold the highest authority within the sect after the Founder and are used to control the sect’s primary formations and access some of the sect’s secret areas.”

The disciples nodded along to show that they already knew this.

It was because there were only six seals that there could only be six official elders at a time.

“On top of those six seals, the Founder created several Flowing River Sect seals that represent the Founder’s consideration for the younger generation. If senior,” Ariyoshi Miji gestured to the giant pair of eyes floating in the sky, “who often accompanied Honorable Founder, found any impressive disciple, he could grant him one of these seals at his whim.”

Kondo continued gruffly, “Aside from gaining free access to the Dragon’s Basin, the seal grants the disciple the same privileges as our elder seals, as well as access to a specially-sanctioned cave, unlimited access to the sect’s library, and more.”

“Che, che, che…the disciple essentially becomes the sect’s Dao che-ild.”

Sects had many ways of categorizing their disciples in stratifications similar to the Flowing River Sect’s servants, outer sect, inner sect and direct disciples.

When referring to a sect’s Dao child or other equivalent title, it was the sect’s most-cared for disciple, often being groomed by the sect’s head or as a potential candidate for sect leader. In many ways, their status was equivalent to or exceeded an elder’s status.

In the Flowing River Sect’s history, a Dao child was rarely ever named, mainly because only the Founder or the central pillar had the ability to bestow the status upon someone.

Presently, it was the Tributaries who were closest to being considered Dao children with Hideaki Akiyoshi leading them.

Yet now, not only did the central pillar give it to a new and unknown disciple, but the disciple was only at the Qi Flourishing stage.

Such an important title should not be given to such a weak disciple who had yet to grow up with the means to fend for himself. Any random Foundation Establishment could effortlessly eliminate him.

Kenja was stunned by this new information as the pillars did not mention any of this to him. He thought it was merely a pass to get in and out of the Dragon’s Basin’s second passage.

“Why did you give some random boy our sect’s seal?!” Kaitou Daiki demanded an answer from the central pillar, electricity dancing across his skin as his temper grew.

One of the eyes bulged in anger at the First Elder, his powerful aura engulfing the group of elders. “It is up to me who receives the seal. None of you have the right to question!”

“He’s only a Qi Flourishing! Any random sneeze could send him on a trip down River Styx!” The flickering bolts of yellow grew in size to fight back against the pillar’s aura.

The central pillar snorted, emitting a powerful wave that caused the elders to recoil backwards on their weapons.

“Good thing he has six elders to hold up the skies for him then. Besides, I only gave him the seal because you all were crowding the entrance, and he wanted to avoid the crowds. I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal about it. We barely use these seals anyways, so it’s no harm if we give him one.”

The giant pair of eyes closed once more as if he had finished defending his choice, but the elders and disciples were struck speechless more by his closing statement than everything he had said previously.

Kaitou Daiki stared at the pillar in incredulity.

“You gave the seal away so that the little boy would not be inconvenienced?”

Silence reigned supreme as the myriad of spirits were facepalming or shaking their head at their leader’s inarticulate stance.

Since Kenja had the seemingly omnipotent Snail at his side every minute of every day, his achievements were unlikely to be low, and his self-preservation was probably better than even the sect’s elders.

It was still unknown whether giving him the sect’s seal would benefit him or the sect more in the long run as tying a knot of karma between Snail’s disciple and the sect was actually an intelligent move filled with foresight on the central pillar’s part.

Of course, they were threatened to secrecy by Snail, so their leader could only offer a half-truth to uphold his decision.

“Hahahahahaha!”

Ariyoshi Miji was the first to break the silence with his raucous laughter.

“Che che che che che che”

Kondo chuckled along with his brothers, but a mere glare from Kaitou Daiki shut them up.

“Disciple Kitamura Bolo, Snail’s Disciple, whatever you want to call him—he is a person of interest in a series of thefts that happened several days ago. We need to find him so that we can get to the bottom of this matter. I hope senior can understand.”

The closed pair of eyes woke up and gazed at him with indifference.

“Do you have the list of stolen items?”

Kaitou Daiki was annoyed that the pillars seemed dead-set on protecting the boy, but he decided to play along with them. He took out a sheet of paper with a list of the stolen items on them and an approximate cost for each item.

The paper flew out of his hand and floated in front of the pair of eyes.

“I see. I see. If this is all, there’s no problem then.”

This time, it was Kaitou Daiki who stared dumbly at the pair of eyes. But before he could ask what he meant by that, a storage bag flew out of the water and was flipped upside down over the central pillar.

A mountain of items fell out of the bag and piled onto the platform.

“This should be everything!”