Murim Recurve

Time passed in such a manner, but Ki'Nua remained seated, having no luck at sensing anything. It was already afternoon by now as her stomach rumbled with hunger. She then opened her eyes, sighing as she said, "I couldn't sense anything."

"What about this? Do you sense anything from it?" Re'Kha held the metal slab painting in her hands, bringing it closer to Ki'Nua as she inquired.

Ki'Nua stared at it for a long time but was unable to sense anything as she shook her head. Upon seeing how they couldn't find any clue, Re'Kha sighed, out of ideas for the time being. She then looked at Ki'Nha, "I think we can just destroy them first before thinking about the rest."

"That would be for the best," Ki'Nha said as her husband took a bucket and put all the items of suspect in it, "I'll consult others too about this. It would be for the best if we obtained some clue out of it."

"Alright," Ki'Nha just nodded when she noticed the face of Ki'Nua was flushed red. As she concentrated after kneeling before Ki'Nua, she could hear the sounds of her heartbeat had spiked all of a sudden.

"Mom, I'm going to mature any moment now." Ki'Nua was immediately happy, forgetting most of her perplexment from before. After all, once she became a Harmoniser, she would no longer be helpless and would be able to fend for herself.

"Let's head to the main hall for now," Ki'Nha said to Ki'Nua as she cupped her fists at Re'Kha, "Lady Re'Luk, please make yourself comfortable here. We'll return once the formalities are completed."

"Please go ahead," Re'Kha smiled as she waved her hand. Soon, the entire house was empty, save for the servants who still went about doing their menial chores for the day.

Having nothing else to do, she sat in the living room, closing her eyes as she expanded her Wind Qi perception, soon finding the figure of Ki'Nua. She intended to spy on her from the living room and arrive at her rescue when necessary.

'Though, her Clan's Martial Masters must be present in the main hall. They would swiftly be able to react to anything that springs up, even a Sha.' She thought, relaxing in the living room as she looked around for any other clues.

She looked into the houses of others too, just in case if there were any clues there, only to find numerous blank spaces in the houses of each. It was as if someone had been targeting the Royal Clan for a long period and were planning to get rid of them all one fine day.

'Unfortunately, the ambient Qi of the season is useless in such situations.' She sighed, thanking at the fact she possessed the Wind Qi perception. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to notice so many issues at the place.

In the Water Season, rain filled with Water Qi fell. But, even if a Harmoniser activated his/her Water Qi perception during this time, they wouldn't be able to sense anything in the air. After all, each raindrop was discrete. And without any connection, their Elemental Qi perception couldn't be extended.

It was the same case in the Fire Season too. The Fire Qi wasn't in the air but seemed into objects and stayed in their interior. Because of this, even if one touched an object, they would be able to sense the Fire Qi settled in its centre.

Because of the Fire Qi in the objects, there were chances of them catching onto fire. But that was it. It didn't help extend the Fire Qi perception of the fire-based harmonisers. It was the same in the other two seasons too.

The ambient Elemental Qi of the elements existed as discrete packets in the air, as the air was typically filled with Wind Qi.

This was the reason all such items were laying around without being found. Normally, a Harmoniser only touched the surface of an object to determine whether it contained some Elemental Qi or not. That was usually enough.

But, this was her first time seeing them be used in such ingenious ways so that even after activating their Elemental Qi perception, the Harmonisers still wouldn't be able to sense anything. This was in the case they didn't employ the help of an Elemental Qi Essence.

Even for the Royal Clan, Elemental Qi Essences were expensive and dictated their foundation. After all, as they cultivated all four elements, they were overly reliant on the Elemental Qi Essences.

After all, for an average Harmoniser—talented enough to comprehend a unit worth of Elemental Qi in a year—from the Royal Clan, he would need 400 years to reach the peak as a Harmoniser. This was impossible considering their lifespans.

Hence, they relied on Elemental Qi Essences to a greater extent than the other Elemental Clans. That was why they hadn't employed their use in their investigations, causing an oversight in the matter. This was the reason they hadn't been able to discover so many items of suspect—possibly holders of Fear Qi or Ghost Qi—hidden in their houses.

'There are just way too many of them here.' Re'Kha frowned, immediately realising that some organisation had been secretly moving along to spring a massive trap onto the Royal Clan. And, the scale was just too large and wide.

Even for foreign races, it would be difficult. After all, a Sha was only birthed because of a Kalki. So, no foreign races could make use of them against the Kalki.

Re'Kha saw Ki'Nua enter their Clan's main hall and kneel on the floor, stating her name and age. Seated on two rows on either side of the main hall were important people of the Royal Clan, those who wielded the most power there, enough to be included in important affairs of the Clan.

Seated at the back, directly facing Ki'Nua was the Royal Clan Head, also addressed as the City Lord. And finally, seated on the wall to his back were five people, completely hidden from view. They were the Clan's Elders, those who had become Martial Masters and have lived for a long time.

There were a total of five, showing the Royal Clan's foundation.