Murim Recurve

Chapter 98 - 4 Months And 7 Years

"This is Re'Luk," Mu'Tua pointed at Re'Kha, "She'll be staying here for some time. Take her to her room, Suu."

The servant, named Suu bowed in response, "My grandmother is already on her way to retrieve the belongings of Lady Re'Luk."

"Tell Sii to come and see me when she returns." Mu'Tua waved her hand, "I'll be relaxing near the pond now. Bring me some tea."

"Yes, my lady." Suu bowed as she motioned for Re'Kha to follow her. The house consisted of a massive living room where a small banquet could be held when necessary. The furnishings were simple but elegant, all carved from marble.

There was no lack of marble rock in their region and was the best material to use in place with fluctuating temperatures where the environment was always harsh, just like the non-stop rains during the Peak Water Month.

A fur mat was layered over the marble flooring to cushion their walking and insulate the outside cold. There were five rooms and one kitchen on the ground floor. Re'Kha extended her Wind Qi perception, noticing every room was spacious.

One of the rooms was filled with medical tools while another two were used to store medicinal herbs. Among the final two rooms, one seemed to be the room where Mu'Tua spent most of the time studying or recording her insights, for it was filled with numerous scrolls. The final room was her bedroom.

A wide flight of stairs spanned at the end of the living room and proceeded towards the first floor. As the servant motioned at Re'Kha to follow her to the first floor, she extended her perception, noticing there were only two rooms there.

Both the rooms were meant for housing guests. The remaining space on the first floor served as a balcony, covered by a ceiling. A table and chair were placed there, meant for Mu'Tua to chill during the evenings.

The servant, Suu led Re'Kha to the room on the right, opening it to reveal a large, rectangular space with all necessities one might need. It came with an attached bathroom and a heat vent. A bed with a large cushion was placed at the end, sporting two cylindrical pillows on either side.

"Please make yourself comfortable here, my lady." The servant, Suu bowed, pointing at a bell hung next to the door, "And, if you have wish to have anything, please ring this bell. Either I or my grandmother would come to your service."

"Are there only the two of you here?" Re'Kha frowned, feeling that it was too few to manage such a large house.

"Yes," Suu nodded, "Ever since my mother fell ill, only I and my grandmother are managing this place. Though, my lady has already treated her. So, she'll return to work soon enough."

"Alright, if there is anything you have to say to me, please knock before entering." Re'Kha smiled, watching the servant nod in response.

She seemed barely 16 years old, judging by her voice and development. Re'Kha couldn't be sure though, for her experience with Ki'Nha proved otherwise. It wasn't easy for her to judge the age of someone through her Wind Qi perception.

Suu wore grey seamless clothing that covered her from head to toe, only revealing her face. It was a type of clothing only the servants belonging to the Mu Clan wore, for the Mu Clansmen preferred such a style.

They also thought it was better to wear clothes of a single shade, as that represented clarity of mind and purity of thoughts. It was a state every doctor needed to maintain in their work, so they followed that until it became their custom.

As for the Mu Clansmen, their clothes were no different from the servants, except for the fact it was white. Two ribbons were attached at the end of their sleeves, the colours dictating their operating elements.

The Harmonisers of the Mu Clan wielded two elements. But unlike the other Clans, their elements weren't fixed, for they possessed three cultivation techniques, with each technique corresponding to wielding two elements.

So, the Harmonisers from the Mu Clan consisted of all elements. After all, to treat a Harmoniser from the metal Clan, they had to use Metal Qi and to treat a Harmoniser from the water Clan, they had to use Water Qi.

This was the reason they practiced all elements. Though, they never practiced beyond two elements. It was because one didn't have enough time to concentrate on their development while being a doctor. Two elements were the limit.

Their Pranic Avatars only had three foundations, except for the Mu Clan in the capital, which had a Pranic Avatar with four foundations. It was the same Muki, but only stronger.

"Also…" Re'Kha said, watching the servant turn in response as she thought for a moment, shaking her head, "Forget it, tell lady Mu'Tua that I'll be cultivating now."

"Yes, my lady." The servant, Suu bowed and descended through the flight of stairs. Re'Kha closed the door, locking it as she sat on the bed, heaving a sigh of relief.

She took out the bag her master had given her, inspecting every item as she muttered, "Master, can you hear me? Are you hiding within me? Who are you actually?"

There was no response, just like she had expected. After thinking for a moment, she muttered, "Master, I don't know if I can reclaim my eyes from the Blinded Ghost. I am thinking of asking help from my grandmother to regenerate my eyes. I feel this option is less risky."

Re'Kha waited for a while, acting disappointed when she didn't hear anything in her head. 'Strange, why did he talk then only to remain silent now? What did he do to me that my hair turned emerald?'

She recalled the warmth that entered her heart when she bode farewell to her master. She also thought of the instances when his voice resounded in her mind. At first, she thought it was her hallucination. But when it repeated, again and again, she realised it had something to do with him.

But what happened at the end startled her. Her master spoke as if he was a sentient, living-breathing individual that had just happened to hear her conversation with Mu'Tua and raised his objection. Such a thing frightened her.

She had a deep trust in her master. But it was primarily thanks to him saving her life and imparting her a lot of things. Finally, she also inherited his life's accomplishments, though the entirety of which she had yet to unlock and learn.

Re'Kha held the book in her hand, flipping to the second page to note that it was empty. Even when she inserted Wood Qi into it, nothing happened. 'I guess he really meant it when he said the information overload would kill me. So, I can only access one page per month.'

"Now, considering my cultivation, I should have been able to access 12 pages. But, the thing that is stopping me is…after all, my Wood Qi." Re'Kha realised the issue at hand. On one side, her master had placed a contingency in the book to prevent her from learning beyond what her mind could handle in a short time.

On the other side, she could only gaze at the information using her Wood Qi. Currently, she had 12 units of Water Qi flowing through her meridians. If she entered her excited state, there would only be one unit of Wind Qi or Wood Qi flowing through her meridians.

Her Pranic Heart would convert the Water Qi to Wood or Wind Qi anyway. So, even if she slammed a palm projection using Wind Qi, she wouldn't run out of Elemental Qi unless she had slammed it 12 times. After all, a palm projection only needed one unit of Elemental Qi to unleash.

But, she wouldn't be able to perform higher quality techniques. Suppose she learns a Pranic Art similar to her hand projection that used Wind Qi, she wouldn't be able to use it, for it needed 6 units of Wind Qi that she currently lacked.

It was as simple as that. Therefore, if she wished to access the information present on the second page of the book named Bodhi, she had to comprehend the wood element until she gained access to circulate two units of Wood Qi in her meridians.

To learn more techniques and better her advantage, she had to comprehend Wood Qi first. Moreover, it would take time to do so, at least four months considering her talent. After all, she was capable of comprehending three units of Water Qi in a year. If her talent with the wind and wood elements was more or less the same, then she would be able to increase her Wood Qi to two units during the Peak Fire month.

'Still, even considering that, it would take me a bit more than 7 years to bring my wood and wind elements to 12 units. Only after that could I actually increase my Elemental Qi reserve. If I didn't have these two elements, I would have had 33 units of Water Qi by then.' Re'Kha sighed.

She took out the cloth banner from her storage ring, checking through her perception to see the sharpness of the blank space it formed. On noting that it hadn't changed, she sighed in relief, returning it to the storage space.

'I would need to do something about it in the future. It is my only clue to the Withered Courtyard. If only I can use it against the Blinded Ghost, it would be a lot easier.' She thought, taking out the Wood Qi Essence.

Re'Kha activated it with a thought, creating a barrier around her body through which the emitted Wood Qi would spread. "At least, the Elemental Qi Essence would speed up the comprehension process by many times."