Hearing Kennen's words, the crowd glanced sideways slightly, but they didn't show much emotion in response to his statement. After all, before they even set out for this place, they already knew that the reason the Enlightened One, Karma, wanted to meet with Faen was because he possessed the power of ancient evil spirits.
Although it wasn't entirely clear just how powerful these evil spirits were to warrant Karma personally stepping in, since Faen had now been recognized by the Enlightened One and bestowed with the Mark of the Twin Dragons, it meant he was someone worthy of trust.
Meeting Faen's gaze, Kennen tilted his head slightly. His voice was rushed, lacking any pause, yet paradoxically crisp as he rattled off continuously: "But-your-spirit-still-maintains-a-powerful-sense-of-self-and-forcibly-stripped-away-part-of-the-essence-of-that-hideous-evil-spirit-especially-in-the-projection-of-your-spirit-realm-I-felt-the-cheers-of-countless-people-how-did-you-do-it-why-were-you-able-to-tame-the-spirit-of-such-an-ancient-evil?"
Kennen spoke at lightning speed, without a single pause, break, or breath between his sentences. While one could understand that this was a condensed speech habit he developed as "The Sun-Chaser" to accurately transmit information for the Kinkou Order, the reality was that outside of delivering orders—especially when encountering long, complex sentences—understanding him was incredibly difficult.
However, Faen understood Kennen's confusion and simply replied calmly, "By finding the balance within that extreme essence."
"...Balance-I-see-it-makes-perfect-sense." Hearing this, Kennen fell silent for a moment before nodding rapidly and continuing: "I-understand-why-Karma-bestowed-the-Mark-of-the-Twin-Dragons-upon-you-you-are-someone-who-truly-practices-the-Kinkou-Way-and-seeks-true-balance-I-will-assist-you."
"Thank you," Faen nodded. After a moment of thought, he asked curiously, "Speaking of which, do you know a Yordle named Heimerdinger?"
"Heimerdinger?" Kennen frowned in thought, then shook his head. "I-don't-know-him-who-is-he-where-is-he?"
"In Piltover. He's revered by the people there as the Revered Inventor. As for his age, he should be around eight hundred years old," Faen said.
"Then-I-definitely-don't-know-him," Kennen said rapidly. "I-don't-know-any-Yordles-who-are-such-young-whippersnappers-eight-hundred-years-old-is-at-most-just-barely-an-adult."
Bandle City, as a part of the Spirit Realm, had a location and composition that shifted constantly, and this included time and space itself. With their ageless nature, an eight-hundred-year-old Heimerdinger was indeed just a youth among Yordles. Characters like Tristana, Teemo, and Lulu were, quite frankly, just Yordle toddlers.
Hearing this, Faen didn't mind; it was just a random, spur-of-the-moment question anyway. He then turned his gaze to the others standing nearby and said, "Why don't the rest of you introduce yourselves as well?"
At Faen's prompt, the other practitioners of the Kinkou Way introduced themselves one by one. The most notable among them was a girl named Yevnai. She was about the same age as Shen and Usan, had been betrothed to Shen since childhood, and also made an appearance in the official comics.
While she sounded like Shen's lover and ought to be a positive character, in reality, she was a pure, unadulterated slut.
In the storyline, when Usan and Shen were hunting the Golden Demon, the demon set a specific trap. Upon discovering that Usan had a secret crush on Yevnai, the Golden Demon—Jhin—used a small note to invite Yevnai out for a secret rendezvous in Usan's name. And Yevnai happily dressed up and attended. Later, after Usan killed Great Master Kusho, Yevnai broke off her engagement with Shen. She eventually married a renowned Ionian sage named Quin'a, and after their marriage, Yevnai bore Quin'a two sons.
Later, when Usan became Zed and sought out Yevnai for information about Shen, he discovered that this "precious little fairy" was still unwilling to endure loneliness and was having an affair with a Vastayan servant beside her. While ordinary people couldn't tell, Zed saw at a glance that Yevnai's younger son had stronger talent than her older son, but his soul was impure, bearing traces of a beast spirit. In other words, the kid was that Vastayan servant's bastard.
Faen didn't have much of an opinion on this. Just as Karma had said, the future could be used as a reference, but overreacting based on what would happen could lead to even more severe problems. Especially regarding someone's private morality; as long as it didn't affect him, Faen couldn't be bothered to care. Even though her crotch was still "clean" for now, through the filter of his future knowledge, Faen only hoped this slut-in-training would stay far away from him.
On the other side, noticing Faen's gaze lingering on her for a moment, Yevnai blinked her eyes in curiosity. At the same time, her gaze fell upon the back of Faen's hand. She secretly wondered what kind of power a man must possess to be recognized by the Enlightened One, Karma, and to earn the astonishment and praise of the ancient Sun-Chaser, the Heart of the Tempest, Master Kennen.
While the group was still conversing, a little girl jumped out from the side and said, "My name is Akali! I specialize in the kama and kunai. Even though I'm still just an apprentice, don't underestimate me!"
Hearing Akali's words, Kennen cast his gaze toward her and rapidly fired off: "Akali-your-mission-is-not-to-fight-but-to-gather-intelligence-and-learn-to-calmly-assess-the-situation-instead-of-impulsively-charging-to-the-front-lines-if-you-act-recklessly-like-before-I-will-immediately-send-you-to-the-Shon-Xan-Highlands-and-let-your-mother-deal-with-your-issues!"
Hearing this, Akali curled her lips in annoyance, but didn't say anything more.
Akali was about five or six years younger than Shen and Usan, but that small age gap was enough to make Shen her nominal master.
As the next Fist of Shadow, Akali's personal abilities and combat talents made her an absolutely unrivaled genius within the entire Kinkou Order. The only problem was her rebellious personality, which was sometimes very "un-Kinkou." Therefore, every time she went on a mission, her mother—the current Fist of Shadow—would assign a dedicated chaperone. And whenever Kennen was present, this duty usually fell upon him.
After all, Akali's talent was obvious to all; she was practically the next Fist of Shadow in everyone's eyes. Under these circumstances, having the Heart of the Tempest, Kennen, watch over her, and having the future Eye of Twilight, Shen (or Usan), teach her, would forge deep friendships and unspoken understanding, which would benefit the future development of the Order.
To this, Faen simply stroked his chin and said, "The Kinkou Way is a good thing, but whether it truly suits you is something you can only confirm by walking the path yourself."