Within the comfort of her new pavilion, Zhi Ruo took her time in admiring the numerous new valuable furniture that littered in her room. She can clearly tell that the Ye clan did not lack in the money area. She surveyed around the room before she stepped beside the table that was right before her bed.
Their was snacks placed delicately on the center of luxuriously decorated piece of woo— table.
On the corner of her eye Zhi Ruo paid attention to her stats. And most importantly, her cultivation rank. Bringing back Yu Zhúlín's impetuous question back into her mind.
[Name: Liu Zhi Ruo
Race: Human
Skills:
Sand throw (stun) 10/50 : rank 0
Level: 4
Cultivation level: Gathering; Concentration rank 2
Titles: Owner of the lotus dimensions, transmigrator, Trash Xiaojie of the Liu Fu....
EXP: 150/400
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
AGILITY: 41
SPEED: 41
STRENGTH: 41
DEXTERITY: 41
ACCURACY: 41
CHARM: 41
LUCK: 41
INTELLIGENCE: 41
STAMINA: 41
Stats points: 74
Lottery ticket: 1]
"System, how do you upgrade a skill? Is their another way on upgrading it without practicing it?" Zhi Ruo asked aloud.
[Answering host. The other way to upgrade a skill is to allocating a SP (status point) on it. Updating status, please wait a moment.]
The system's response was instantaneous.
[Skills:
Sand throw (stun) 10/50 : rank 0]
Zhi Ruo's eyes looked at the new indicator at the system's notice. She looked at her SP and then to the skill. "then system, please allocate 40 SP on the skill Sand throw." She stated without much thought.
[Congratulations! Sand throw has been upgraded to rank 1]
[Congratulations! You have earned 10 EXP]
Zhi Ruo raised her hand up experimentally, she looked for an open space and found a door leading to a balcony. With swift steps she went outside and faced the windy slope of a garden.
"Sand throw!" Calling out, she can feel sand swirling around her wrist waiting to be thrown. And throwing she did, she expected the sand to be just a handful. And was quite surprised when a large amounts of sand that of a bucket full suddenly appear in front of her imaginary target like a mini wave in thin air.
"Hah!" Zhi Ruo could not help but laugh aloud upon seeing the sand suddenly disappear. "This is awesome." She tried again, and again and again. Not even feeling her MP depleting, meaning that sand throw did not deplete MP.
"What a shady skill I have here." Zhi Ruo flexed her arm around, exquisitely she turned to go back to her room. Upon entering her room Zhi Ruo looked around for a empty space that she could sit down. Her eyes zeroed to her bed, and with a shrug she sat down on it.
With her eyes closed she started circulating her Qi with ease and familiarity. But the flow of Qi was not as fast as she imagined or want to. Biting back her groan she opened her eyes for a brief moment and pulled out five stones from her dimensions.
[MP: 100/100] → [MP: 95/100]
With a thought she popped a stone to her her mouth, and like it was like water she gulped it down without haste. The chaotic Qi that came with the stone was quickly absorbed by Zhi Ruo's frantic circulation.
She absorbed another stone, and another, and another, until all of the stone she had at hand was absorbed. It was growing apparent that she was breaking through, Zhi Ruo did not break a sweat even as she broke through. It was a relatively calm breakthrough with nothing trying to harm her.
[Congratulations! You are now Gathering; Concentration rank 3 ]
[Congratulations! You have earned 10 EXP]
[Congratulations! All status has been raised by 1]
A notification broke her trance and she glanced at the floating screen almost lazily. It has only been an hour, so she sat still and started maniacally absorbing the rich Qi around her to stable her foundations.
A few hours went by, and she could feel the sun already setting down. It was almost dinner time, and she was just waiting for her meal to arrive at her pavilion. And just about time, she can sense someone entering her pavilion. Therw were three people that was just outside the gate.
"Can we enter Xiaojie?!" One of them called from outside, they awkwardly looked around and noticed that their were no people to greet them and to get the food that they have been tasked to serve.
Their were no news of Zhi Ruo going outside of her pavilion after her tour of the Sighted Valley, and they were told that they just have to take the food to her pavilion. They have forgotten that Zhi Ruo was new so she did not have anyone serving her because she was to choose her own people tomorrow.
So they could only call out in question as they do not dare enter the pavilion without consent. They anxiously waited outside, never once did they complain about the creeping cold weather that bit their skin. But they did not have to suffer long, as the gate of Zhi Ruo's pavilion opened. And they were greeted by Zhi Ruo's presence.
Zhi Ruo still wore her clothes that she arrived with, that consisted of a thin well-worn robe in distinctive white and yellowish hue.
The servants were a bit surprised seeing what Zhi Ruo was wearing in the chilly weather. One of them hurriedly opened their mouth to aid Zhi Ruo.
"Greetings Xiaojie, we have brought your dinner." The maid greeted before she hesitated and added "Let us go in first, it is not fit for our Xiaojie to wear such clothing in this weather. " One of the older nubi brought the tray to one of the girls beside her.
"Yes yes, what if our Xiaojie caught a cold? Please we will deliver your dinner to your room first." One of the younger girls bobbed her head. Suddenly feeling awkward that she was more well dressed than the Xiaojie that she served.
Zhi Ruo did not care much, because she did not feel any ill intent with these people that the sighted Valley had sent her. With a nod, she directed them to her room where they had put the trays on her table. The steam from the food warmed her room quite a bit. And the pleasant smell waft around quite alluringly. She smiled inside her veil, very pleased with the numerous dishes that was intricately put on the table.
After putting the food on the table, they shared a look with each other waiting for Zhi Ruo.
"Thank you for bringing in the food here, if possible you can get the plates after I'm done eating." Zhi Ruo turned to look at the servants who were lowering their head in submission.
"Yes Xiaojie, would it be possible for us to bring some clothes you can change into? For sleeping of course." The oldest servant asked Zhi Ruo who turned to sit down.
"Yes, that would be very pleasant." Zhi Ruo tilted her head downwards with a slight nod. The servants could not see her smile but they felt it.
"Then we will get going then, please enjoy your meal Xiaojie. These Nubi with see ourselves out." The three cupped their fists and smile towards Zhi Ruo before exiting the room in smiles.
When the three left, Zhi Ruo was alone again she took off her veil. She looked at her noodles that was still emitting steam and started to eat her fill. After thinking for a while she called out to the empty space around her.
"Ravel!" With face still full food, Ravel appeared in front of her. His suite still as impeccable as she last saw him.
"Yes master!" Ravel answered, sweetly handing Zhi Ruo a napkin from his breast pocket. "Please state your orders." He smiled as he stood by Zhi Ruo.
With a weird glance at Ravel's way, Zhi Ruo waved her chopsticks at him. "Can you sneak in on tomorrow? They are supposed to be making me choose my own servants that is going to serve this courtyard. I don't know how the process of filtering out the servants are, but make sure you can get in." Zhi Ruo drank the tea that Ravel handed to her, and she dug her chapticks on a new batch of dish.
"Of course master, anything else?" Ravel ducked his head and his hair of rose gold fell into his shoulders lightly. He nodded to what Zhi Ruo was saying. "It won't be too hard to sneak in and become one of your official servants here."
"And do something about your hair..." Zhi Ruo stated after further consideration. "And your appearance too, if I can describe you right now is that you stand out way too much. " Zhi Ruo munched on her dumplings as she inspected Ravel.
The man blinked in confusion, when he saw Zhi Ruo's vivid stare. "By stand out you mean?" His voiced trailed off as he asked.
"By stand out I mean that you are way too handsome right now. They might think that you are far too much in that category and thus not choose you." Zhi Ruo added, giggling. She was half joking and half not.
"You think so?" Ravel quirked his lips up and took a lock of his hair in contemplation. "I'll keep it in mind then, please worry not over this matter. " Ravel smiled as he assured Zhi Ruo.
Zhi Ruo hummed, amused at Ravel's serious face at the topic of his attractiveness. She finished the food on the table before she addressed Ravel again.
"How are Han Meng and the others?" Zhi Ruo inquired. Curious about those seven men that she took under her wings.
"They are fine master, and as instructed. Han Meng and the others are given enough food supplements to strengthen them up a bit. And I have taken it under my consideration to give them a meditation technique that would help them in the long run." Ravel earnestly added. "Though I am still worried about their constitution, it helps that they were cultivators before they fell into that state."
"I see, thats good. And how about the furnitures for the mansion? How are they getting along?" Zhi Ruo again inquired.
"In the short while that you were gone master, I have already found some potential people for the furniture. Though as I have thought, those people are very hard to convince and they are mostly looking for big names to boost their reputation." Ravel said, as he fretted over the stubborn personalities that those craft masters have displayed.
"Then I will be troubling Ravel for a while then... Don't bother over those old coots over some furniture. Just buy some readymade items that are on par with your tastes and give them to me. I'll turn them into jade and you can use them then." Zhi Ruo looked at Ravel's troubled face and told him not to worry about it.
"Besides, our house doesn't have a place for those antiques anyways. I'll just alter the furniture to my liking when you pick out some." She added, "Also, should we start plundering that gambling house next week?"
"Oh! About that master. I already made some preparations and they are going smoothly as far as I am concerned." Ravel snapped his fingers as if remembering something. "But their is someone looking for you ok that gambling house though. He has been their for the last two days now. His name is Alberu, and he looks pretty foreign to me." Ravel said.
Zhi Ruo raised her brows in question. And Ravel elaborated.
"He was looking for a person called Ah Shen, and stating that it was the person that sold those numerous jades and made a fortune. It matched up with your description master. So I was pretty sure that he was looking for you." Ravel said.
"Is that person perhaps a charming young man?" Zhi Ruo asked remembering such a person, Ravel nodded his head. "Indeed, the person he was looking for is me. Did he say something about why he was looking for me?"
Shaking his head, "No, he did not specify but he was getting a lot of attention by all the ladies and it was beginning to be hard not to notice such commotion." Ravel sighed as he arranged the plates. "Should I have looked out for him master?"
"No, he is just a golden retriever incarnate don't mind him." Zhi Ruo waved her hand dismissively.
"Ah, but you see master. He has been harassing everyone who was wearing a cloak and asking if their name was Ah Shen." Ravel scratched his cheeks awkwardly.
Zhi Ruo felt her brows twitch when she heard what Ravel said. With a tight lip Zhi Ruo really leld her eyes. "That's not my problem, now that I am away from that place." Zhi Ruo suddenly put down her cup to the table. "By the way what's the news on the Liu Fu now that I am away? "
Ravel nodded. "Starting with Liu Bai Pan, the second concubine. She was about to be sentenced to a death penalty by hanging when the General changed his mind. Now she was just stuck in the confinement of her courtyard where she would need to kneel on salt for half a day reciting scriptures. That I might add, she forcefully memorized because she cannot read that good." Ravel listed out.
Zhi Ruo nodded showing that she was listening.
"Then Liu Su Yang is still bed ridden along with the general. While the general was still in deep pain, and Liu Su Yang always slipping in and out of consciousness because of the pain. The Liu Fu is deep turmoil and the management was left by the hands of the head Steward and Head Mama." Ravel paused, and he refilled the cup on Zhi Ruo's hands.
"Originally, when Liu Ya Ren and Liu Qi Sen came back with some high end unprocessed herbs. They were delighted when they heard that you were taken by someone and they don't need to see you again. But their moment was cut off when they started to display the same symptoms of the General and the concubine." Ravel tilted his head and swept his hair unto his shoulders. "May I know what your take on this Master?"