NOVEL WEB Chapter 84: 84: Outer Realm
After two days, Reisen Riou mastered a stable, mansion-sized Serenitea Pot realm, using Cor Lapis, Noctilucous Jade, Inazuma's Amethyst Lump, and Maple Wood as the [medium], with a teapot as the [container]. Teapots, he found, suited the art better than boxy alternatives.
"You learned fast," Ganyu said, impressed. "It took me over a century to reach your level."
Reisen Riou stayed silent. My recent calculations could keep you studying for centuries, Qilin. His talent felt lacking, succeeding only after exhausting every mistake. (Raiden Ei, rolling her eyes remotely, had subtly guided him, or he'd have needed days more, stubbornly tripping over every error. Never seen such a slow learner, but he's covered the big mistakes now.)
Next, Ganyu's healing arts. Less a technique, more a Qilin bloodline trait, her Adeptal energy healed any body it infused, with potent output. She'd developed healing techniques, but never taught them, unsure if others could learn.
"Did you get it?" she asked after explaining her simplest healing art.
"Uh… maybe try another?" Reisen Riou said awkwardly. Her unpolished teaching left him foggy.
"…" Ganyu tried a complex one. He grasped it vaguely—a technique to accelerate human healing—but the mechanics eluded him.
"How about letting me feel it?" he suggested.
"Sorry, I wasn't clear," Ganyu apologized.
"No, I'm asking too much," he said with a wry smile. Why's healing so hard?
Ganyu infused him with Adeptal energy. He felt invigorated, then… nothing. Drawing a silver sword from his Vision, he nicked his arm. The dormant energy surged, stopping the bleeding and closing the wound. Stunned, he calculated: only 2.5% of the energy was consumed, enough for 40 such heals, with no side effects and slight bodily nourishment. Testing blunt, piercing, and elemental damage, it healed all, boosting all-elemental resistance by 2% and Cryo by 10%. It's Cryo-based, no wonder I can't learn it.
He could mimic it, though. Before he could experiment further, the Seven Archons' Banquet's second phase loomed. Yuehai Pavilion secretaries contacted Ganyu via Talisman of No Restrictions to resume duties. As Narukami's Attendant Recorder, Reisen Riou had to return too.
"So we're back," he told Raiden Ei, sensing her odd gaze. He asked about Narukami's recent activities. Makoto had been carefree, leaving trade talks to Yae Miko and Tong Dong, gallivanting with Barbatos and Morax. Ei's dislike for Barbatos amused him.
"How's your Adeptal training?" Ei asked.
"Serenitea Pot is nearly mastered, but healing arts are just a start," he said, frustrated. "Time's tight, and my energy doesn't match Ganyu's Cryo. Given time, I could develop a healing youkai art for my attributes."
"Then work on it. Rest two days; the Banquet resumes then."
"Yes, ma'am."
…
After updating Narukami's records, Reisen Riou sought Banna. Despite sharing a lodge, their schedules kept them apart. "Banna, you there?"
"Riou, brother!" Banna greeted warmly. "Haven't seen you. Wanted to drink!"
"You're too old for that; it'll shave years off," Reisen Riou teased. "I've been studying Adeptal arts with Ganyu."
"Envious of you long-lived types," Banna sighed. "I'm too old to learn now; scholarship exhausts me." His Life Level outstripped his youth, but age dulled his vigor.
Banna introduced his son, Zexi, a mediocre scholar with low presence. Reisen Riou was baffled—a perfect ninja or scout, yet Banna made him a scholar. Still, they bonded. Zexi wasn't here on Banna's clout but for Akademiya procurement in Liyue.