As soon as the man left, Luna walked over to Elder Ling and whispered to the Elder. "So, if we did want to start an incident. . ."
"Don't even think about it. I enjoy my peaceful days, and you have already gotten into one Sect War. That is more than enough for a season." The Elder countered.
Luna looked confused for a second, then immensely sad. "You're saying we only get to do that once every three months? That is way too long. Did you get the timeline wrong? You meant once a month, right?"
Elder Ling just shook her head. "Mister Cain, I suggest that you teach your Disciples a sense of time. Sect wars aren't supposed to be a regular occurrence."
The kitchen Elder, who had come to see where Luna had gotten to in between batches of desserts, decided to explain to the rambunctious Cultivator in more detail.
"The last full-scale Sect War that the Lotus Blossom was in was sixty-two years ago. It takes a minimum of a decade to fully train an Inner Sect Disciple with great talent, so once every ten years is the absolute maximum that most Sects are willing to go that far unless they absolutely crushed the previous opponent or they are left with no other options."
Luna nodded in acceptance. "Old people really have a lot of patience, don't they? I can't imagine waiting sixty whole years to have a war."
The kitchen Elder looked confused for a second, then clapped her hands and smiled. "I get it now. I see where the miscommunication is. Miss Luna, Sect Wars aren't something that you are supposed to look forward to. People lose a lot of friends in them, and if they are unlucky, even their homes."
Luna looked shocked, then seemed to consult something in her mind. It was a deep and powerful but female voice, which Cain assumed was something that she was merged with, but he didn't bother to dig for the exact answer as the mental voice explained that wars were only fun and profitable if you were on the winning side and that a Sect was like a big family, not an impersonal army or a group of Summons where you didn't care about the dead.
The voice was clearly on the pro-war side of the argument, but it helped Luna understand the subtleties of battle manners.
"They also can't just resurrect everyone as the battle goes on." Cain pointed out.
Elder Ling gave Cain a suspicious look at that reminder of the advanced and strange skills that his Disciples had mastered.
"How does a war ever end when you can just keep resurrecting everyone?"
Cain shrugged. "Either someone retreats, or you kill so many that their energy gives out, and they can't resurrect as fast as you are killing. Usually, armies will target the healers first to save some time on the second method. Resurrection has a very short time limit, after all."
"Your version of war is truly horrifying, isn't it?" Elder Ling asked carefully, not wanting to upset Cain over the issue.
"War is supposed to be horrifying. It wouldn't be war if it weren't." Cain shrugged, and Luna nodded in agreement.
"That's why the God of War is also the God of Orphans," Luna added.
"Your home planet must have different Gods than this one. The God of War here is also the God of Fire." One of the other Disciples explained.
"That's weird. Then who is in charge of the Blacksmith's forges?" Luna asked, confused.
"Oh, the God of Smithing. He is also a Fire-type God, but not as senior as the War God." The Disciple told her.
"How about we all talk about this over dinner? It seems that we have attracted a large number of guests because a certain someone is excessively popular with the ladies." The Kitchen Elder reminded them.
"That's not entirely my fault. They're just greedy for skills and beauty. Their own, of course, not mine." Cain laughed, following the portly Elder back to his tent to get cleaned up for dinner.
When he came back out, the long communal tables were set up, with one set to the side for all the visiting dignitaries. Elder Ling was beckoning him to that side of the dining hall, looking desperate to be relieved from the constant barrage of questions that she was getting from the other Elders that had come to visit.
Someone had tipped them off that Cain had restored her youth, and they wanted to know every single detail about the process, from the materials used to the inscription and the sensation of change. Those were all factors in successfully applying a transformation ability, but Elder Ling hadn't seen or experienced any of them. One moment she was herself, then she was her younger self.
Being unable to accurately explain it only led to more questions, and even the few minutes that Cain took to get cleaned up felt like an eternity to the Elder.
"Welcome, everyone, and thank you for visiting. I am sure you are all excited to be here for various skills training materials, but it seems that the lovely Elder Ling is getting overwhelmed." Cain greeted them.
"Elder Cain, it is a pleasure to see you again. As promised, we have brought you interesting things that we hope to trade for skill books that our Sects require for the younger generation. But first, whatever the Lotus Blossom Sect has made smells divine. I didn't know that they had such a strong food culture." One of the Elders, an elderly woman with thinning white hair, replied.
The smile on her face seemed to be more for the upcoming meal than the prospect of doing business, which was a surprise to Cain. Normally the Immortals had seen so much in their long lives that little things like this didn't impress them anymore, but the woman seemed to revel in the moment.
The youngest disciples brought around bowls of the usual Sect Dinner stew, but much better smelling than usual, with an aura that Cain could tell, was the most elementary application of the Mystic Cooking that the Shadowed Blade Sect taught. That was served with a side of bread and fruit for a tasty but ordinary meal.
It was when the trays of various pastries were placed on the table as they finished the meal that all of the Elders started to get excited.
"These must be what Luna was working on today. You would think that the girl was starved for half her life by the way that she treasures food, but I can tell that Elder Cain here couldn't say no to her even if he wanted to, so I am certain that she hasn't missed many meals." Elder Ling teased as she picked up a puff filled with whipped cream.
"It's an indispensable part of her personality, I think. She just loves food." Cain replied, inwardly wondering what they would say if he showed them that she was actually a form of Lamia Progenitor and the love of food came from the growth method of her species being based on energy assimilation through consumption.
That also made him wonder how many others were actually nonhumans in disguise, hiding among the Cultivators and being mistaken for eccentric personalities.
They took both him, a perfectly normal human with a few unusual experiences, and Luna, who didn't have any genetic links to humanity, as the equivalent levels of strange, so he wouldn't be surprised if they missed a large number of visitors with even basic disguise skills.
"Let's start with the obvious parts. Who brought something interesting? We can do it like a show and tell. Do your Sects know that practice?" Cain asked.
"Like when Disciples return from a training mission and show off the precious materials and beast cores that they are exchanging for rewards?" An Elder in bright Fuscia robes asked.
"Exactly like that. Show off the interesting things that you don't really need, and possibly trade with the others for things that you do need. It is a good practice that I don't think enough people practice due to limited resources within a large Sect." Cain agreed.
The Elder in Fuscia nodded. "In that case, I have a most curious item. Years ago, on an outing to the coast, I plucked a shell from the shore for my collection, and it had this token inside. It is clearly imbued with rich energy, but I cannot for the life of me tell what it is intended for or where it came from.
You said you wanted new things and interesting ones. This is both of them, assuming that you can determine what it is for."
She handed the token, which was in the shape of a jet-black coin with a square hole in the center, to Cain, who inspected it with his interface. The writing on it was illegible, even to Cain, but the System told him what it was right away.
[Door Key]
[Quality] Mythic
[Allows access to the Surface Entrance to the Land of the Dead]
Cain smiled at the Elder. "Oh, that is a good one. I like it. What were you looking to get in exchange?"
The woman straightened her gaudy robes in satisfaction, proud of having picked the right sort of item to trade for a favor from Cain. "The Holy power area attack skill that you made for your Disciple. Can I have a copy as well?"
Cain thought for a second. It wasn't a high-level skill, just a versatile one, and many Sects here had much better ones with similar effects.
"I don't see any reason why not. I will make it for you tonight, and you can pick it up tomorrow."
