"How old do you think I am?" The muscles on his cheeks twitched a few times, and he asked an irrelevant question in a stiff tone.
"From your appearance, probably in your early sixties. But since you ask, your real age definitely doesn't match your appearance. Could it be older, or... much younger?" Elara felt somewhat surprised, but her tone remained calm.
"Tsk tsk! Truly worthy of someone who has cultivated 'The Breath of Eternity.' A little girl from the countryside has actually become such an astute and intelligent person!" Physician Morus exclaimed repeatedly, beginning to look at her with an eager gaze.
"You guessed correctly. I am only thirty-seven this year." A number that Elara found incredible came from Physician Morus's lips.
"Impossible?!" Elara, who had maintained her composure all along, showed a look of astonishment for the first time.
"Impossible! Indeed, it is impossible! Anyone who sees me, let alone thinking I'm sixty, even if I claimed to be seventy, probably no one would doubt it!" Physician Morus's voice suddenly became high and shrill, grating and unbearable to Elara's ears, as if it had touched the deepest pain in his heart.
"I, Morus Valerius, once had a prominent reputation in the League of Free City-States in the Southern Duchies, making quite a name for myself, carving out my own domain with bare hands. Hehe! Back then, in those city-states, who didn't know the might of my 'Shadow Hand'? Whether it was the upright knightly orders or the shadowy thieves' guilds, those who followed me prospered, and those who opposed me perished!" Physician Morus's voice returned to its original tone, and he slowly recounted his story in a low voice. As he spoke, his eyes shot out a sharp glint like that of a sword, as if he had returned to that time of high spirits and great power.
Hearing Physician Morus's words, Elara was secretly surprised. She never expected that her nominal master had such a significant background.
"Unfortunately, the good times didn't last. Just as I was entering my prime and intending to further expand my ambitions, I was treacherously plotted against by a despicable villain, cursed by my most trusted confidant. Although I managed to control the worsening of the curse with my own advanced medical skills and alchemical knowledge, I couldn't heal myself. My once-proud skills were greatly diminished, and I could no longer establish myself in my original place. To escape the pursuit of my enemies, I had no choice but to abandon my original foundation and family, live incognito, and wander throughout the kingdom searching for a cure, hoping to find a way to restore my original strength." As he recounted his subsequent experiences, he was completely immersed in memories of the past. His hands were clenched into tight fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, blood trickling down, yet he seemed completely unaware, his face only showing a ferocious expression of gritted teeth. This vicious look was chilling to behold; it seemed he hated the villain who had dealt him such a blow back then to the very core.
Hearing the ceaseless hatred in his words, Elara couldn't help but feel her whole body bristle, a cold chill running through her heart.
"Heaven has eyes! Finally, in the depths of some forgotten ruins, I unintentionally obtained a wondrous book written in ancient runes. This book was obscure and difficult to understand; I spent an enormous effort to gain even a superficial understanding and found a glimmer of hope, a shortcut, to restoring my strength. I followed the method described in it, and as a result..." Physician Morus paused, not immediately continuing, but his vexed expression was plain to see, mixed with some regret.
"And as a result, you became this wretched, ghost-like figure you are now," Elara coldly finished the sentence he had left unsaid.
"Indeed. Unexpectedly, after trying the method in that book, although my strength was restored, I began to age rapidly, becoming this prematurely aged, half-human, half-ghost figure I am now." Physician Morus nodded dejectedly, not angered by Elara's sarcasm.
"You should have found the reason by now."
"It was because of improper procedure during spellcasting; I was eroded by evil energy. Now, for every day I live, it's equivalent to an ordinary person consuming ten days of life essence. I am constantly overdrawing my life at every moment. Fortunately, I am proficient in the secret arts of nourishing the body and have prepared a special vitality elixir according to the book, which has slowed down the aging process in recent years, allowing me to barely hold on until now."
"What does the secret art I cultivate have to do with solving your problem?" Elara directly cut to the core of the issue.
"Not long after I became like this, I researched a solution from that book, which is 'The Breath of Eternity' that you cultivate. As long as there is someone who has cultivated this art to the fourth layer, using their pure life energy to channel the energy within my body and stimulate specific mystical nodes, I can escape my current predicament and regain my lost vitality."
"Why me specifically? Can't you just find anyone to cultivate this secret art?" Elara pondered for a moment and then asked back a question that had been buried in her heart for a long time.
"Do you think this 'Breath of Eternity' can be learned by just any irrelevant person? This secret art not only requires a young person to start cultivating from scratch but also demands that the cultivator possess the so-called 'Source Affinity' physique. Although I don't know what this 'Source Affinity' specifically is, I had already sought out hundreds of children before you, and none of them could cultivate 'The Breath of Eternity'." Physician Morus's face was filled with vexation.
"Is that so?" Elara was a bit stunned, not expecting the cultivation conditions for this secret art to be so stringent.
"In the remaining years, I once thought it was impossible to find anyone else who could cultivate this secret art again, so I gave up on myself, disguised myself as a wandering itinerant physician, and began to roam the world. Unexpectedly, by a stroke of luck, I encountered Grand Marshal Reynard of Stonefist Outpost, who had also been treacherously attacked and severely injured. Under circumstances of shared misfortune, I saved his life. Then, at his earnest invitation, I went with the flow and became an honored physician in the Outpost, preparing to live out my final days in these mountains under an assumed name. Hehe! But a miracle still happened! Initially, I was afraid that all my medical skills and martial arts would be lost, so I recruited you two into the valley, intending at that time to indeed take you both as disciples. But for some reason, as if fated, I had you try to cultivate 'The Breath of Eternity,' probably still harboring a sliver of wishful thinking. Actually, even if you couldn't cultivate this art, I would still have accepted you and imparted some of my lifelong learning. But I never, ever expected that you, Elara, would actually react to this technique! Haha! Truly, heaven never seals off all paths!" Physician Morus revealed all these mysteries in one breath, a morbid flush appearing on his face, apparently quite pleased with his luck.
"I still haven't mastered the fourth layer of 'The Breath of Eternity.' Why are you restraining me now and laying all this bare?" Elara finally asked the question that currently concerned her most.
"That's your own fault! I've spent so much effort and painstaking care on you, yet you repeatedly fail to satisfy me, always playing petty tricks with me! Now that we're just one step away, you refuse to advance further! Originally, I could have waited another two years for you, but when I went down the mountain this time, I was actually recognized by an old enemy from my past. After a bitter fight, although I killed him, I also exhausted what little life force I had left, and my lifespan was greatly shortened. Even if I use all my strength, I can only make myself live for another year at most! How can you expect me to wait any longer?!" Physician Morus's pleased expression vanished without a trace, replaced by a look of ferocity, and he almost roared at Elara in the end.
After hearing this, Elara's expression remained as usual, showing no sign of being moved. But her heart was already in turmoil, not at all as calm and unruffled as she appeared on the surface.
Although she had long anticipated that Physician Morus had deep designs on her, she had never imagined such a huge backstory behind it. His origins, experiences, and this mysterious secret art were all beyond the scope of her imagination.