Chapter 59: First Errand
Without anything else to do for the next two hours until she had to prepare her lunch, Anji read the book her shifu gave her. Yan Ping did not require Anji to sit at the table when she studied, so Anji left with her beginner book to sit on the veranda, staring at the front garden with a big smile. It was nice to feel the slight breeze and have natural sunlight while reading. This had been Anji’s dream for a while. However, Lizi was an overprotective mother hen who would not allow it.
Studying the generic diagram of the five elements, Anji committed the five basic elemental runic symbols into her head. She would most definitely need them later.
According to the guidebook, runes required a medium to be drawn on. Many of these spells used a cultivator’s qi as an energy source to sustain itself or activate. The medium could come from trees, the ground, rocks or even blood. However, human sacrifices were frowned upon. Any spells that consumed life force were considered dark arts.
For now, Anji chose to move on from the explanation of different mediums and the effectiveness of the spells. She needed to understand an overview of spells and how they were created. Yan Ping was not someone who blabbered unnecessarily. Her words always carried a purpose. Hence, Anji wanted to discover the mystery behind her body’s seals and valves.
According to the guidebook, the five elements could be combined to create new secondary elements with different functions. While they served a single function, the effects could be multiplied differently when used together with other elements in a circuit. There were many different combinations, and the possibilities were endless.
However, there was a problem. It required mathematics.
Anji groaned. She had no idea how to add or subtract correctly without the help of her fingers or something that helped her visualise them. Although she understood the concept of greater and fewer, she needed help grasping the difference in calculations. Any number bigger than ten was a major issue. Anji knew how the abacus worked. However, she was often lost when she had to transfer the beads over to the next row every time it happened. That was often the reason for her miscalculation. Storing more than one piece of information in her tiny head required ultra focus. Anji couldn’t do that well enough. This combination circuit would be out of the question.
Sighing in defeat, Anji placed the book down. It might be a little early to prepare lunch, but her teacher claimed she did not need to eat at her cultivation level. Hence, Anji only needed to find food for herself. Plenty of food did not need cooking before they were eaten. Fruits and vegetables were some examples. Anji decided to take a peek in the kitchen. She was usually not allowed near the kitchen without an escort because the adults were afraid the fire and knives would hurt her. However, Yan Ping told her to use whatever she could in the kitchen without worry. Her teacher was very different from the people in the sect.
Hopping to the kitchen, Anji quickly realised why Yan Ping was very confident in Anji’s inability to become hurt. The stove and the water barrel have been modified with spell seals. There were no signs of flint in sight and absolutely not a single piece of firewood. The knives were blunt and embedded with spells that would only cut things when activated. Basically, there was no way Anji would be able to use the kitchen unless she mastered some spells.
Was she going to starve on the first day of her special training course? Worried, the little girl decided to explore the rest of the isolated hut.