Bloodlines

Once unfolded, the Light Curtain was enormous, like a cinema screen, filling the entire room.

The white system screen displayed four options:

1. [Bloodlines]

2. [Equipment]

3. [Consumables]

4. [Basic enhancements]

"So this is the System Exchange?"

Ye Lin raised an eyebrow and curiously selected the first option. The instant he did, a torrent of information cascaded violently down the Light Curtain.

"Grade D bloodlines: 1,021,138 entries. Points required: 15"

"[Mermaid bloodline], [Genin talent], [False spiritual root], [Lesser werewolf]... [Imp]?"

A system notification sounded. Looking at the densely packed options in the exchange list, Ye Lin felt his vision blur.

The first page contained twenty options. After glancing at the page count of 999+, he could only start by opening one that did not look too weak.

The display changed, and a lifelike imp appeared on the Light Curtain, holding a pitchfork, its tail tipped with a hook.

"Bloodline name: Imp"

"Combat tier: 0 (Soldier+)"

"Bloodline description: Exchanging for the imp bloodline grants minor fire damage reduction and slightly increases speed and strength. Allows you to cast one miniature fireball per day."

"Bloodline progression: Imp (D) → Shadow demon (C) → Demon lord (B) → Seven Demon Gods (A) → Cain (S) → Unknown (Satan)"

"System evaluation: Stab people with your pitchfork more. Forget about that lousy fireball."

After quickly reading through it, Ye Lin could not help feeling surprised by the system's rather humanlike assessment.

"The imp bloodline's tier 0 combat strength corresponds to a well-trained soldier, so someone on He Zheng's level? With its special abilities included, would that put it at the human limit? An elite soldier?"

"Just fifteen points can make someone that strong?"

Ye Lin was astonished. He had assumed that increasing his strength would cost a lot of points, but from the looks of it, points were even more valuable than he had imagined.

As for the bloodline progression...

Ye Lin furrowed his brow, thinking rapidly.

"Cain is S-Rank, and Satan is unknown..."

An imp corresponded to the limits of the human body, a shadow demon to the superhuman realm. A demon lord was a legendary being, and the Seven Demon Gods had to be at least mythical.

Cain and Satan, who ranked even higher, were beyond his understanding.

Cain: progenitor of the vampires, their legendary origin.

Satan: lord of hell, an ultimate being described in the Bible as powerful enough to rival God.

"Judging by this information, the system really does seem omnipotent... It can even offer bloodlines of this level..."

He simply selected the unknown option. He wanted to see exactly what abilities such a conceptual being possessed.

The moment he selected it, a system notification sounded.

"Insufficient candidate access. Cannot view content of Grade A or above. Current access: Grade B."

He could not view it?

Ye Lin froze, but quickly realized that his access was tied to the rating he held.

Without a high rating, even the exchange options are locked? So that's what makes ratings so valuable?

Glancing at the access level marked by the system, Ye Lin noticed that the rating he held had not been consumed.

Apparently, obtaining a rating automatically upgraded his access.

In that case...

Skipping the Grade C list, Ye Lin went straight to the highest grade he could view.

Bzzz.

The display changed again. This time, there were far fewer options than in Grade D.

"Grade B bloodlines: 1,089 entries. Points required: 135"

"[High vampire], [Cultivator], [Arcane adept], [Masked armor]... [Tyrant gene]"

Judging by the names alone, Grade B bloodlines were much stronger than Grade D ones.

Seeing that a Grade B bloodline cost as much as 125 points, Ye Lin also worked out how the system set its prices.

"Fifteen points for Grade D, 125 for Grade B. That's a ninefold difference, meaning each grade costs three times as much as the last. Following that pattern, a Grade A bloodline costs 375, S-Rank goes all the way up to 1,125... and an unknown grade costs 3,375?"

After quickly doing the calculations, Ye Lin's heart sank.

The point requirement for escaping the Death Exam was 1,200, barely different from the cost of an S-Rank exchange.

If that was not a coincidence...

Then it meant they very likely needed to become that powerful before they had any hope of leaving this place.

We can only get out by becoming gods? Is that the purpose of the Death Exam?

There was too little information to determine the answer.

As for the conceptual level costing over three thousand points, Ye Lin dismissed it outright.

He did not even know whether he would survive the second exam.

The points he held seemed plentiful, but exchanging for a Grade B bloodline would leave him with very little.

"But there isn't a rating requirement for the exchange. As long as I have enough points, I don't need a Grade B rating."

Not knowing what ratings were actually used for, Ye Lin could only set his questions aside and open what looked like the most mysterious option: [Cultivator].

"Bloodline name: Cultivator"

"Combat tier: 2 (Transcendent+)"

"Bloodline description: Exchanging for the cultivator bloodline allows you to complete foundation establishment within one hundred days. After foundation establishment, you can use spiritual power, talismans, and magical treasures."

"Bloodline progression: Body tempering (D) → Qi refining (C) → Foundation establishment (B) → Golden core (A) → Nascent soul (S) → Spirit transformation (Unknown)"

"System evaluation: Even slaughtering every teammate won't fill that lousy banner of yours."

The system's assessment was even nastier than the imp's. The description, however, seemed to imply that different enhancement paths required different things and allowed the use of different items.

After quickly looking through the other bloodlines and options for roughly ten minutes, Ye Lin tiredly rubbed his brow. He now had a basic understanding of the exchange function.

Starting at Grade C, the items available underwent a qualitative change.

If Grade D corresponded to the limits of an ordinary person, with conventional firearms for weapons and equipment...

Then Grade C directly surpassed the limits of the human body and granted special abilities.

Grade B, meanwhile, took one straight into the superhuman realm. Its exchange items also became science-fiction technology: electromagnetic rifles, gamma knives, and weapons of mass destruction.

The sheer variety encompassed practically every film, anime, and game.

"Grade B bloodlines are all powerful. Whether dragonkin or arcane adept, either could easily deal with the Species."

"Cultivator in particular has a comprehensive range of abilities and can use plenty of magical treasures. The drawback is that foundation establishment takes a hundred days..."

Ye Lin frowned slightly. A hundred days for foundation establishment, yet they only had three days to rest each time they returned. Unless he exchanged for it and completed foundation establishment during an exam, there simply would not be enough time.

But according to the system's explanation, he would have almost no combat strength before foundation establishment. Surviving even a single day would be a problem.

Clearly, unless someone could find a specific exam scenario in which to complete foundation establishment, exchanging for it would mean death. A cultivator was a textbook late-game "hero."

Although he did not intend to choose it, he had to admit that any of these bloodlines was tempting.

Take dragonkin, for example. After the exchange, his defense would immediately become strong enough to withstand bullets, and his strength would allow him to destroy an armored vehicle with his bare hands.

With innate flight and dragon breath, it offered a complete balance of offense and defense, with practically no obvious weaknesses.

An arcane adept, meanwhile, possessed extraordinary destructive power. A single arcane projectile could destroy a tank. Going all out, one could even wipe out an armored company in a short time.

"Looking at it this way, the fourth option, basic enhancements, is the simplest choice, but also the last resort."

"One point buys one point of physical attributes. Taking an ordinary person all the way up to an elite soldier costs around twenty points. Reaching an imp's level takes thirty."

"It's convenient. You can exchange however many points you have. The value just isn't great. It's only suitable for people without many points..."

Ye Lin thought of He Zheng.

No wonder He Zheng had come in empty-handed.

To stay alive, that guy probably had not dared save even a single point, enhancing himself as much as he could.

Half an hour later.

"If only there were a search function."

There were too many exchange items. Every time he found a decent enhancement, he would discover something even better a few pages later.

Ye Lin sighed and decided to close the exchange shop for now.

Looking through more would be pointless. He still did not know what type of exam came next.

Suddenly, a system notification rang out.

"Search function activated. Please review it yourself."

Ye Lin froze, staring speechlessly at the search option that had popped up on the screen.

Damn it...

You could've shown up sooner! If I'd known the system had this function, I wouldn't have had to go through everything page by page.

Just like with the healing function, the system seemed terribly rigid. Unless there was a demand for something, it would never volunteer information about its functions.

Scanning the newly added search options, Ye Lin abruptly fixed his gaze on the information search option a few seconds later.

He had not expected the search function to cover more than items. Apparently, it could search for any information, too?

"Could it be..."

Ye Lin raised an eyebrow and selected information search without hesitation.

He did not know whether his guess was correct. But if it was, did that mean he could find that answer here, too?

One minute later, Ye Lin clenched both fists, his heart pounding.

Just as he had thought, information search worked like asking a question. As long as he paid points, the system would answer.

It charged different fees depending on the importance of the question.

Information, however, was far cheaper than exchanging for the actual item.

Taking a hydrogen bomb as an example, exchanging for the complete production process cost only one point, while buying the bomb cost two hundred.

Perhaps He Zheng and the others would not waste points on information that could not make them stronger.

But for Ye Lin, that answer had defined his entire life. If he had not been trying to find it, he would never have been captured, much less brought here.

A few seconds later, Ye Lin spoke heavily, stressing every word.

"System, I want to know..."

"In the real world..."

"Who exactly is the dead person in the grave at 31°2 north latitude, 104° east longitude?!"