Unfortunately... Lin Ke disliked things this uncertain.
So-called luck and fortune could often be overcome by strength.
Pass, then.
The next point of light came into view.
"Immortality."
Holy shit?!
An Immortality bloodline?!
In his previous life, Lin Ke would have chosen it without a second thought.
Wasn't immortality just this world's version of living forever without dying?
But in this world, many Professionals supposedly lived very long lives, and those who reached sufficiently high levels could even achieve something close to eternal life.
Andrew, for instance, had created the Professional system countless years ago and was still alive today.
So this so-called immortality wasn't essential, either.
Besides, taken literally, a corpse that never decayed after death could also count as immortal.
If this bloodline meant "living forever without aging, dying, being destroyed, getting injured, or falling ill, while remaining mentally healthy forever without loneliness or depression, and having money, power, and anything else you wanted," that would be more like it. Lin Ke would choose that in a heartbeat.
With a faint sense of regret, he shifted his gaze.
Next.
"Emotion."
OK, next.
"Leadership."
This probably meant... having the bearing and charisma of a leader. An aura of command?
It would be well suited to commanders, generals, kings, and the like.
After considering it briefly, Lin Ke looked at the next one. He needed to see them all before choosing.
The next was the sixth and final one.
"Knowledge."
Knowledge...
The moment Lin Ke saw this point of light, he had all but made his decision.
Knowledge!
Give me boundless knowledge, and I will move the world!
Before seeing Knowledge, he had considered choosing Strength, Leadership, or Luck. Failing those, there was always Immortality.
With Knowledge, none of the others mattered anymore.
After all, knowledge wasn't limited to what was written in books. It also included the means of acquiring knowledge and the methods of mastering it.
If it could help Lin Ke acquire knowledge faster, understand it more deeply, and apply it more flexibly, then this bloodline would be truly powerful.
Moreover, countless intelligent people on Earth in his previous life had discovered that, wherever you were, knowledge was always more important than brute force...
After thinking for a while longer in that space, Lin Ke finally focused his consciousness on the bloodline representing "Knowledge."
It's decided!
Knowledge!
Hum...
It seemed to sense Lin Ke's wish.
The sunlike mass of light representing "Knowledge" instantly contracted inward, collapsing into an intensely concentrated point of light before shooting into Lin Ke's body.
He didn't feel much.
Then...
"Huh? Why am I still here?"
After merging with the Knowledge bloodline, Lin Ke had expected to enter his soul space, but nothing seemed to change.
Ove had said that once he chose a bloodline, he would leave the darkness and form a true soul space.
Wait.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Ke suddenly realized one possibility...
"Could it be letting me choose another..." Excitement began to stir in Lin Ke's heart.
He was Lin Ke, and after being born, he had become Lin Ke Azan.
But this was his soul from his previous life on Blue Star!
What about the soul from this life?
Surely a soul should have existed once the fertilized egg started developing? He had arrived just as this body was born.
So I can have two bloodlines?!
Lin Ke's, plus Lin Ke Azan's?
Twin Martial Souls??
Now he was excited.
"No, calm down. Choose carefully..."
Lin Ke forced himself to calm down and began analyzing the other bloodlines.
Strength, Luck, Immortality, Emotion, and Leadership.
First, he eliminated Emotion. Relationships sustained by emotion might be sincere, but they weren't necessarily better than those sustained by mutual interests.
Had there been any shortage of people in his previous life who betrayed friendship for profit, love for lust, or family for their interests and survival?
Besides, he preferred earning affection through sincerity rather than through a bloodline's affinity.
Next, he ruled out Immortality.
Granted, some people couldn't break through when their lifespans were nearing their end. Time would become especially precious then; failing to break through meant death.
But Lin Ke believed more in the saying, "Ten thousand years is too long; seize the day."
Would you rather spend ten thousand years in a vegetative state or live a hundred years as an ordinary person?
Rather than choose Immortality and then be captured, confined, and studied by someone powerful for ten thousand years, he would rather become that powerful person himself.
He might not be immortal, but at least his life would be exciting.
The remaining three made things difficult.
Strength, Luck, and Leadership.
The Strength bloodline would surely smooth his path of cultivation. Of course, it might simply increase his physical strength.
Leadership was much the same. The ruler of a faction would have more cultivation resources than someone working alone.
Luck's value went without saying, too. Sometimes, ninety-nine percent hard work couldn't match one percent luck.
Though, generally speaking, neither could be dispensed with.
Hmm... this is so hard.
Lin Ke felt troubled as he carefully weighed the pros and cons.
"All right, you're pretty important."
Finally, after repeated consideration, he turned toward the Luck bloodline.
With Knowledge in hand, Luck mattered, too.
Among the scientists in his previous life, some needed hundreds of experiments to achieve what a lucky few managed on their first attempt.
And in battle, even the slightest deviation could mean the difference between life and death.
Luck was immensely important.
Lin Ke focused his consciousness on "Luck."
Hum...
The point of light representing Luck contracted violently, then shot into Lin Ke's body as well. Then...
Silence.
"Holy shit... how could... Could I get all six?!" This time, Lin Ke wasn't excited. He was horrified.
Are there other souls inside my body?! Why can I still choose?!
Rather than feeling delighted, Lin Ke felt a chill run down his back.
Three souls in my body? What the fuck...
Wait!
No!
The reward for the first system quest-the mass of light the King of the Gods turned into after dying!
Could the King of the Gods still be alive?!
No, he should be dead. That mass of light must have been something else. Otherwise, he would have taken over my body long ago...
So this was the reward for the first system quest? An extra bloodline?
Lin Ke fell silent, thought in silence, and then chose Leadership.
In the end, his hoped-for "I'm an adult, so I'll take them all" never came to pass.
After he chose Knowledge, Luck, and Leadership, the boundless darkness and points of light receded. A point of light appeared, infinitely large yet infinitely small, and his soul fell into it.
His soul space.
His soul space looked like a small patch of yellow earth, with three tiny saplings that had just sprouted at its very center.
These were his three bloodlines!
After taking a brief look at his bloodlines, he stepped forward, crouched down, and touched them.
The moment he touched them, three pieces of information appeared.
"Knowledge," "Luck," and "Leadership"!
Lin Ke nodded in satisfaction. He could also sense that he could enter and leave his soul space at will, so he withdrew.
In the study.
Ove was silently watching Lin Ke on the floor.
Behind Lin Ke, Nix and John lay on the floor with their eyes rolled back, having already lost consciousness.
Lin Ke opened his eyes to see Ove smiling at him. Paired with Ove's deeply furrowed brow, the expression looked utterly bizarre.
"Your bloodline enlightenment took one minute and five seconds." Ove's brow remained deeply furrowed, his smile unchanged.
Lin Ke didn't understand what that meant, so he timidly asked, "Was that too long or too short?"
Ove shook his head. "Child, it was too long. Even the children of great noble families who can choose their own bloodlines only stay for a dozen seconds or so."
As he spoke, he pointed at John and Nix. "For most people, bloodline enlightenment is like what happened to these two children. They come out in an instant."
"And even those who can choose have no more than a minute to think. Yet you took one minute and five seconds... Could you have awakened two bloodlines on your first attempt?"
Ove freely speculated.
That's right, except it was three... Lin Ke silently corrected him.
"Is awakening two bloodlines... very rare?" Lin Ke asked timidly again.
"Rare? It's far more than rare!"
Layers of purple electric current rose over Ove's body, darting about like little snakes. He was clearly getting excited. "Two bloodlines. There really are two bloodlines... Andrew's Leg, the great pioneer was right after all..."
As he spoke, Ove rose from his seat and paced back and forth across the room, though he still didn't approach Lin Ke. He was visibly excited.
After a long while, Ove collected himself and stopped. With a smile covering his face, he said solemnly, "Remember, you must not tell anyone about this. Apart from your father and me, no one can know!"
Lin Ke realized how serious this was, though he hadn't intended to tell many people anyway.
He had originally planned to hide it from Ove, too. After all, the fewer people who knew about something like this, the better.
Who could have expected Ove to know? Still, judging by how he was warning Lin Ke, Ove clearly had decent character.
"To keep those two children from finding out, I sent them into sweet dreams the moment they opened their eyes. Next, next... Right! We'll test your talent!"
Ove was clearly far too excited.
Then he took out a crystal ball and placed it on the floor.
A talent test.
P.S. It's the end of the month! Rather than holding on to your monthly tickets, hand them over, and I'll pray day and night for you all to pass every exam.
٩(๑•̀ω•́๑)۶
Before you continue