Eight Years

"Linley, what are you thinking about? Come over here and help harvest the wheat."

In the distance, an aged figure was shouting at a young man who was lost in thought under a tree. This was Ji Shang, who had already lived in this world for eight years. His name was no longer "Ji Shang," but had changed to follow his father's surname: Linley Thunder Roar, a name with a distinctly Western flair.

Linley's father, Aguda, was a low-status free citizen of the territory, only a small step above the lowest-ranking serfs.

Linley was currently brimming with excitement. He had assumed he would spend his entire life as a common farmer, never leaving the Flower Territory until the day he died, but he hadn't expected his golden finger to suddenly come online.

"Ding. King Card System activated."

Linley calmed his stunned heart, patted the yellow dog "Ah Huang" lying beside him, and silently commanded the King Card System to open.

Host: Linley Thunder Roar
Combat Power: Bronze Tier 1
Cards Owned: None
Rank Experience: 0/100
Draw Chances: 1

It was a crude system, yet it hinted at powerful functions. Staring at this strange interface, Linley suppressed his wild joy and asked the system internally.

"How do I use this King Card System?"

"This system is the King Card System. The host can obtain hero cards through draws. Each hero card represents a powerful hero. The host can consume a card to gain the hero's full abilities. Once the card's duration ends, the host will retain a portion of those abilities based on the degree of synchronization with the hero."

Linley listened to the system's rapid-fire explanation. He didn't understand most of it, but he grasped the core concept: he could use cards to gain the abilities of various heroes.

"Then how do I get more draw chances?" an excited Linley pressed further.

"The host can gain rank experience by killing enemies of equal strength. Each time you advance a rank, you receive a draw chance. Additionally, depending on the host's rank, killing enemies of a higher rank will also grant draw chances.

For example, a Bronze-tier killing a Silver-tier enemy grants one Bronze draw chance; a Bronze-tier killing a Gold-tier enemy grants two Silver draw chances; a Bronze-tier killing a Diamond-tier enemy grants three Gold draw chances, and so on."

"What about killing enemies of a lower rank? Do I get draw chances for that too?" Linley continued to ask. He had only heard about killing stronger enemies, and he wasn't sure if weaker ones counted.

The system's emotionless, mechanical voice rang out again.

"There is also a chance to obtain draws by killing enemies of a lower rank. The number of kills required is calculated based on your own rank experience. For a Gold-tier to kill a Silver-tier, you need a number of kills equal to your rank experience multiplied by one hundred. For a Gold-tier to kill a Bronze-tier, you need your rank experience multiplied by ten thousand."

Listening to the system's clear explanation, Linley, who hadn't been familiar with the King Card System, finally understood its principles.

Judging by the explanation, the system heavily encouraged him to hunt enemies of higher ranks, as the rewards were incredibly generous.

"System, my draw count shows one. Where did that come from?"

Linley was a bit puzzled. Was it a starter bonus?

"This is the novice gift pack provided to every host to prevent them from dying immediately upon encountering a strong enemy."

"Bullshit." Linley scoffed. He had lived in this world for eight years and had encountered all sorts of dangers. A wild wolf had attacked him five years ago, and if he hadn't happened to run into a hunter entering the mountains, he wouldn't have survived until now.

Linley muttered to himself, but the system didn't react, causing his plan to extort the system to fail.

Linley was currently desperate for strength, so seeing no response, he decided to use his draw chance immediately.

As Linley pressed the draw button, his interface began to blur, gradually transforming into a large spinning wheel.

The wheel was divided into four sections: a white section for miscellaneous items, a green section for pills, a yellow section for equipment, and a purple section for heroes.

Linley clicked to draw again. The stationary wheel began to spin, faster and faster, until it finally started to slow down, the pointer sweeping across the white, green, yellow, and purple zones.

It has to be a hero...

Linley's heart hammered against his ribs as he watched the tense animation. Heroes were what he needed most, but he had zero confidence in his own luck. He had been a "black-faced chieftain" since childhood, and that had never changed.

"Click."

With a soft sound, the pointer came to a halt.

Linley jumped up in joy. His luck had turned; he never expected that he, too, could be a "European Emperor" for once.

Linley tapped to see which hero he had drawn.

A tall, imposing hero appeared in his mind.

He split the Peach Mountain to save his mother, and shot down the twin phoenixes with his bow. His fame spread for slaying the eight monsters, and he swore brotherhood with the Seven Sages of Meishan. High-minded, he refused to acknowledge the heavenly kin; proud by nature, he returned to the Guan River. The Red-City-Glorious-Benevolent Holy Spirit, manifesting boundless power, is known as Erlang Shen.

"Congratulations to the host for drawing the Heavenly Court's Judicial God, Erlang Shen."

Gazing at Yang Jian before him—wearing the Eight-Treasure Golden Scale Fish-Dragon Crown, holding the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Spear, and possessing Three Eyes in the center of his forehead—Linley thought to himself.

As expected, the moment I heard that line, "Open your third eye and see yourself clearly," I knew it was this hero.

Yang Jian was an incredibly powerful deity. His "Sweep of a Thousand Armies" could deal explosive damage to everyone in front of him, and his Heavenly Eye could fire rays of judgment, dealing vitality damage to enemies while siphoning it to replenish his own.

"What's wrong?"

His father, who had been calling out to him from afar, ran over. He had been worried that Linley had encountered some danger, and his movements were hurried.

Linley's father's wrinkled face was full of concern and worry, snapping Linley out of his focus on the system.

Linley's father was named Aguda Thunder Roar, an ordinary free citizen. He was introverted, honest, and a very dutiful man.

When Linley had first arrived in this world, the ten-year-old boy had been so terrified of this strange new reality that he would often stay in his room alone or sit in a daze, unlike the other children who were always full of life.

The silent father took the last few silver coins in the house to the dog market and bought a newborn puppy, Ah Huang. This massive expenditure made an already impoverished family's situation even worse.

But Aguda never complained in the slightest. Linley, who had transmigrated here, saw this and began to stop resisting this family, trying instead to integrate into them.

Linley looked up, caught a pair of concerned eyes, and remembered many things.

"I'm fine, I was just a bit sleepy earlier. My head was groggy and I didn't hear you calling me."

"That's good," the old father breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Linley was unharmed.

"If you're sleepy, go home and sleep. There are many snakes and rats here; there's no telling when a venomous snake might crawl into your trousers."

"It's alright, I'm much better now. Let me help you harvest the wheat. If we don't harvest it now, we'll miss the best time."

Knowing he had just made up an excuse, Linley naturally would not accept his father's suggestion, thinking to himself.

Father's health hasn't been great these past few years. If he really forces himself to finish harvesting all this wheat alone, he'll be bedridden for at least ten days or half a month.

Aguda tried to dissuade Linley a few more times, but was righteously refused each time. During the busy farming season, one needs to help with the farm work.

Linley stopped thinking about the character card he had just drawn. Once used, the character card would provide full-strength capabilities; it was a life-saving item, not a daily necessity.

Linley followed Aguda, the two walking side by side toward the wheat field ahead. They had already harvested most of it over the past few days; finishing today would complete the task.

Linley and Aguda did not say much, stepping into the wheat field together under the scorching sun.

The golden wheat looked even more dazzling in the sunlight. In this era, these things that were not gold were worth more than gold.

Linley's family relied on the wheat from this entire field to survive the year. Most of it would be sold to exchange for money to buy clothes, salt, oil, and other daily necessities.

Only a small amount of wheat would be kept to make the hardest, most unpalatable black bread to stave off hunger.

The first time Linley ate the black bread, he bit down directly and immediately felt as if he had bitten into a stone; he thought his teeth were going to shatter.

Later, seeing his family eat the black bread, he realized it had to be soaked in water to soften before eating; otherwise, this black bread could be used as a brick.

Linley bent down and harvested with Aguda for over four hours, the sun moving from directly overhead to the west.

Linley felt his entire body aching terribly, especially his lower back, which hurt so much he couldn't straighten up.

The busy Linley would stop to rest from time to time. Without modern machinery, harvesting wheat entirely by hand was an extremely arduous task.

Linley's dog also lay quietly on the ground while the two harvested, keeping watch for any wild beasts that might appear.

The clever Ah Huang had warned them more than twice over these eight years, helping Linley and his father avoid many crises.

He looked up at the remaining wheat; it would take about a quarter of the time they had already spent to finish.

Feeling that the end was near, Linley breathed a sigh of relief. He still had the physique of an ordinary person, and for all this, the thin and weak Linley could barely handle it.

"Father, Brother, it's time to go home and eat."

A crisp, pleasant voice came from outside the wheat field, where a girl of about ten years old stood. She wore her hair in twin tails and had wheat-colored skin; even her patched-up clothes could not hide her cuteness.

This was Linley's younger sister, Avril. Thunder Roar. She must have come to call Linley and the others back for dinner.

"Wait a moment, we're almost finished~~"

Linley did not speak upon hearing Avril's words, but instead looked at Aguda; in this family, Aguda was still the one who made the decisions.