A Snail's Wisdom 11 High Stakes

"Do these const.i.tutions cause the cultivator to crave cultivating?" Kenja asked apprehensively.

"What happens when a kid gets a taste of candy? Of course he wants more. Only in your case, it's like a giant kid being given a small stick of licorice. How could you be satisfied with that? You would have been fine if you weren't focused on cultivation, but despite your condition, you've still managed to temper your body with Qi. Don't ask me how you did it though because I am not sure. In your present state, you should not have been able to temper your body this far."

Kenja was unsure whether this was good news or bad news. His body might have been advanced in its tempering, but now his body had an incredible urge to continue on the route of cultivation. After a moment of self-introspection, Kenja welcomed his current state.

"I want to cultivate, so I will cultivate. Is there a solution to my predicament?" asked Kenja.

"There are many solutions, but why should I tell you?" harrumphed the snail.

After a small silence, Kenja heard a loud vibrating coming from the blade behind the snail. The snail turned in shock.

"What the h.e.l.l do you mean you'll help him?"

The blade emitted a red glow with a few vibrations.

"You'll serve him if he frees you? You're a weapon, not a wh.o.r.e. What makes you think you can serve another master??"

The blade vibrated furiously at this comment. If it could move, it would make escargot out of the snail and feed it to the rats.

"Pbbbbt, the contract was for a thousand years, I've only gotten to use you for half that time."

The blade retorted with a few monotone vibrations as if it were speaking calmly.

"How can I use you when you're stuck in a rock like that? Obviously, the time you were stuck in a rock doesn't count, and I don't care if the contract has already been severed between us. We can just renew it once you're out of there."

The aura strengthed and stretched towards Kenja. It gave off a few vibrations as if it were trying to speak with him.

"You'll serve him for his entire life if he breaks you free from the rock? Now, how's that fair?! I get a millennium, but he gets you for his whole life? And look at him! What part of this baby do you think can break you out of here?"

Kenja quickly grasped the situation and approached the blade.

"You, what do you think you're doing? Get away from my mustache shortener!"

Kenja ignored the nagging snail. He inspected the sword more closely, placing his finger gently on the tip of the blade, before immediately withdrawing his finger. He had barely touched it, and his finger was bleeding.

"You're quite sharp even though you look like this."

The sword emitted an aura without making any vibrations.

"You sure know how to b.u.t.ter her up. She's quite proud of her sharpness. She will cut anything and won't break no matter how rusted she gets. Just look at that red glow, she's practically beaming with pride," the snail said in an annoyed tone.

"What about the hilt? Is that unbreakable as well?"

"What did I just say? Not a single part of her will break? She's as strong as she is unfaithful."

The sword vibrated in a deep and resentful manner.

"Hoho, and how do you think you can punish me? You and your giant rock hilt! Even if you could move, you can't slice through my sh.e.l.l!" mocked the snail.

Kenja touched the side of the blade. It let out a soft hum as if trying to bond with Kenja. He turned his head back to the snail.

"If she is so strong, can't she break out of the rock herself?"

"Who do you think placed her in there? I encased her like that to keep her from running away. At most, she can tilt the rock a little bit."

After Kenja rattled his head for a solution, an idea came to him. He looked at the snail.

"Would you care to make a wager?"

"What would a child like you wish to wager over?"

While the snail had a condescending manner, conversing with Kenja was the most fun and excitement he's had in centuries. The prospect of a wager with someone after so long was quite tantalizing, and the snail wouldn't dismiss it prematurely.

"If I can take her with me, you also must serve me for your entire life."

The snail gawked at him before cracking up in laughter once more.

"HAHAHAHAHA....me, serve you? What do you take me for, kid? Rather than I serve you, you should be wiping my a.s.s."

"So you act like you are strong and know everything, but you can't even gather the courage to wager with a child?"

The snail stopped laughing and looked at him with a piercing glare. He knew what Kenja was trying to do, but he wasn't afraid of him. How could he just up and take the blade with him when it's attached to a giant boulder?

"Fine. But if you can't, you have to stay here and wipe my a.s.s for your entire life."

Kenja nodded his head in agreement. He walked over to the blade and said the following words to it:

"When you see the chance to exact vengeance, take it."

He then jumped off the boulder and placed his hand on it. All of a sudden, the rock and the blade disappeared. The snail that was sitting on top of the boulder fell down onto the gra.s.s.

"Ooooof, what the h.e.l.l?!?! A storage ring? How can you use a storage ring? You're only at the Body Tempering stage!" the snail yelled in shock.

Storage rings normally had to be opened with Qi controlled by a mid-level Qi Flouris.h.i.+ng stage cultivator; otherwise, the ring would function only as a normal ring. They were also quite rare and expensive; mainly cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage carried them. Kenja's ring was crafted for royalty, so the ring naturally gathered the Qi in the air to allow anyone to withdraw or deposit items. Of course, the downside was that anyone who had the ring could access its contents as well as the fact that it wouldn't work in an environment with no Qi.

"There, I've won the wager. I am taking the blade with me which means you must now serve me for your entire life."

The snail quickly got over his shock and put on an indignant face. "I meant that you must free it from the rock. Anyone could take the whole rock with a storage ring."

"Oh, so how will I know you won't take back your word? Forgive me if I question your integrity," sneered Kenja.

The snail gave him another piercing glare, but he did just renege on the initial agreement.

"Fine...I hereby swear on my soul that if the blade is freed from the rocky prison I encased it in, I will serve this child for the rest of my life and to the best of my abilities." A small thunderstorm cloud appeared over the snail's eyes and a miniature lightning bolt struck the sh.e.l.l. The snail didn't flinch, but a small amount of smoke was billowing from the point of impact.

"There, I gave you a Soul Oath. I can't go back on my word now." The snail was absolutely certain there was no way for Kenja to break the blade out of the boulder.

Kenja nodded his head. "Ok, are you ready for me?"

The snail squinted his eyes in confusion before replying hesitantly.

"What are you talking about?"

Kenja bent his knees slightly as he began drawing Qi into his body. Thanks to the abundant Qi in the glade, even though he was losing most of the Qi that he drew in, he still managed to collect enough for what he wanted to do. The snail only stared at him as he was trying to figure out Kenja's thought process. All of a sudden, the Qi began coalescing in Kenja's legs. Bewildered, the snail continued to stare at Kenja unable to grasp his intentions.

"Here I go."

Kenja launched himself into the air by more than a dozen meters. A normal Body Tempering cultivator would not be able to achieve this height, but Kenja's body had been tempered quite thoroughly, so he only felt a small amount of pain from this much exertion. All of a sudden, he raised his hand and the giant boulder appeared above him at the peak of his jump except that the sword was pointing straight down this time. He pushed his hand against the rock to increase his falling speed and immediately dashed out of the impact range as soon as his feet touched the ground.

"You're such a child. The rock isn't going to break just because you dropped it from such a small height."

Seeing no response from Kenja, he looked up at the rock once more as it began its descent towards the ground. He realized that the blade was pointed downward towards the ground, and he figured out what Kenja was trying to do.

"Hmph. Not bad. You want to use the unbreakable blade to break the rock from the hilt. Your head is not completely vacant. But the blade is incredibly sharp; I'm afraid it will just pierce the ground as easily as slicing b.u.t.ter." He chuckled at Kenja as he looked up once more.

"We're not aiming for the ground," Kenja stated.

The snail's eyes nearly popped off his tentacles as he realized that the sword was guiding the rock to fall directly on him. He only had half a breath left till the blade hit him, so he did the only thing a snail could do in such a situation. He hid inside his sh.e.l.l.

The sword's tip bore into one of the holes on the porous sh.e.l.l and a loud sound could be heard as dust enveloped the glade.

"CRRRRRAAAACCK"