Chapter 216

  Spirits Blossoming (V)

  "My deepest apologies!" It was kind of funny, seeing her face transition from rage into shame and then fear, before she bolted over and bowed like an upside-down 'L'. "I have transgressed greatly, and I will do anything to repent..."

  Haah.

  She's a bad actress. I mean, that's not a bad thing--it means she's an honest person--but having to stand here and pretend I believe her... it kind of irks me. Not in an irksome way, if it makes sense, but more like... I'd rather she just keep treating me like homeless trash.

  "Do forgive Senior Sister," Gu Hai said. "She has a mean tongue, but she means well! I think..."

  "It's fine," I dismissed it. It didn't matter; whether she respects me or not has less than no effect on me. I'm mostly worried about how the kids would react if they realized she was lying.

  Looking over at them, it seemed only Long Tao and Wan Lan picked up on it. Luckily, neither spoke up, even if I did notice Wan Lan's eyebrows twitching slightly.

  "Thank you for your benevolence, Senior!" she exclaimed. Okay, now you're just doing it on purpose, aren't you? "I will excuse myself now and go to stare at the wall for a day; I must repent."

  "... she must be really talented," I said as she disappeared from our sights, vanishing somewhere between the buildings.

  I mean, I know she's talented since I've immediately used Creator's Eyes on her, but even without them, I could have ventured a guess.

  [--creator's eyes used]

  [Target: Ren Xinyi]

  [Age: 20]

  [Talent: low-Sky)]

  [Cultivation Realm: mid-Foundation Establishment]

  [Cultivation Method: Array of Spirits (Heaven)]

  [Cultivation Arts: Touch of Nature (mid-Sky), Roots of Eternity (peak-Earth)...]

  [Traits]

  [Roots of Mother Earth (Legendary) -- divinely blessed by natural attunement to nature. Target's Qi automatically attunes to the exact necessary nature whilst handling plants]

  [Arrogant (Rare) -- extremely self-assured; difficult to gain her acknowledgement]

  [Elemental Spirit (Legendary) -- meridians are naturally resistant to elemental shock. Can embody any of the basic elements of nature. Any and all arts using elements become empowered when used by her]

  [Hateful (Epic) -- a lifetime of hate has festered into a silent Demon buried deep within her heart. If not handled properly, it will likely result in Qi Reflux someday in the future]

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  [Assessing suitability...]

  [Special Physique Discovered: Nature's Child (Ancient)]

  [Nature's Child (Ancient) -- a human blessed by the spirits of nature at birth, endowing them with nigh-incalculable affinity with elements. She will more easily pick up on arts involving any of the elements, will inherently discern elemental traces in both nature and people, and will never experience the Elemental Baptism during the breakthrough into the Shedding Mortality Realm. However, those with this physique are often frail in spirit and extend their lifespans only by half as much during breakthroughs]

  [...]

  [Recommendation: the target's progress is extremely slow due to the inherently low quality of Qi in her surroundings as well as the lack of any elemental Qi. She requires nurturing of the Elemental Springs as well as a method that unifies the five basic elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water]

  [...]

  [Final Assessment: Though not an unprecedented talent, she still has the capacity to become one of the most renowned alchemists in the world. Unfortunately, due to the inherent drawbacks of Nature's Child physique, she is unlikely to live long enough to reach the realm of an Empress. Additionally, unless she is baptized by at least one Elemental Spring soon, all her potential will become sapped]

  "Yes, Senior Sister, according to Grandpa, is one-of-a-kind!" Gu Hai said.

  Yeah. I'd say.

  But, honestly, the drawbacks to her one-of-a-kind talents seem... well, kind of massive? Just the fact that her lifespan is effectively cut in half (in the best-case scenario) is enough to make me raise an eyebrow, but the fact that she needs something I haven't even heard of just yet to just barely break out from the cocoon tells me that her life might not be as grand as her one-of-a-kind talents would indicate.

  Regardless, it has nothing to do with me.

  Even if I wanted to help her, I wouldn't know where to begin. As such, I'll let her live her life, and I'll live mine.

  ... Hey, system, how about a nice reward of 2,000 points for realizing, once again, I'm not suited for raising her? Nothing? Really?

  Haah.

  I once again looked over at the quest that would cost me 1,300 points just to accept, my brows furrowing when I noticed the difference.

  [Note: due to the time-sensitive nature of the quest, it will naturally disappear in 13 days and 12 hours, when Zhu Jiang succumbs and passes away]

  Didn't it say seventeen days, or am I imagining things? No, of course it did. It's a time-sensitive quest, and it has been about four days, give or take, since I first took note of it.

  "Gu Hai, when is the Gathering?" I asked.

  "Hm? The Gathering? It starts in eight days, Senior. Why?"

  ... alright.

  So, saving her through the Gathering is impossible (even if the ginseng can save her, which I don't think it can since the system is hinting that it's not a disease).

  No, wait, my goal isn't really to save her--especially if I can't buy the quest--but to secure a specific position in the tournament.

  "No reason," I dismissed it, and the tour continued.

  We walked for nearly four hours straight, and my legs were starting to hurt. Okay, not literally, but it's sort of like that 'phantom' pain--despite me being here for over a year already, my mind is still catching up to all the feats my body can do. Such as walking around for four hours straight without literally feeling it at all.

  I mean, I'm sure there were people back on Earth that could have done the exact same thing, but I was not one of them. Not even close.

  We dispersed as the evening came, with the sun slowly setting behind the nearby mountains. The kids went to their rooms, and I went to mine--though I wasn't alone. For some reason, this old monster followed me here.

  "Why did you ask when the Gathering is?" Hah. Could you, for once, not notice every little thing?!

  "No reason."

  "Master."

  "Disciple."

  "Master."

  "Disciple."

  "..."

  "It has nothing to do with us," I shrugged. "Our goal is simply to secure the position and the reward, and nothing else."

  "Oh," he exclaimed softly, scrutinizing me for a moment longer before spinning around and leaving.

  Honestly, sometimes our conversations are too cryptic. I hope he picked up on it. Hah, of course he did. I'm barely forty years old and some, and he's lived for thousands of years. If he couldn't pick up on some subtext, he would not have lived for as long as he did.

  ... I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid.