When the midnight snack deliveryman rang the doorbell, Ren Suo was finally about to complete his first mission.
Honestly, the combat in this game was not difficult at all—not only was Ren Wo Xing's Sword Control Technique practically a sniper rifle in open terrain, but Ren Chang Sheng's Flame Art was basically like throwing fragmentation grenades, blowing up whole swaths at once.
Ren Fei Fan was even more invincible in close combat. A sweep could mow down a crowd, a thrust could pierce a line, and charging into enemy ranks was like stirring up a storm of blood and flesh.
Overall, the three brothers each had their strengths and weaknesses: eldest brother Ren Wo Xing's Sword Control Technique had a wide attack range but could only target a single enemy; second brother Ren Chang Sheng's Flame Art had a moderate range and could attack groups; third brother Ren Fei Fan had a short attack range but could attack groups, struck frequently, and was nearly invincible in close combat.
Thus, Ren Suo knew how to train them. Ren Wo Xing naturally had to focus on attack and movement as a ranged damage dealer; second brother Ren Chang Sheng usually stayed behind to guard the residence, so he would learn healing and management; Ren Fei Fan was easily surrounded by enemies, so he had to develop both offense and defense.
Strangely, the offensive spells they learned seemed to be fixed from the very beginning and could not be changed. For example, Ren Suo had trained Ren Wo Xing three times, yet his attack category still displayed "Sword Control Technique."
It was already the winter of year 191 in the game. Besides the three Ren brothers, the Ren family had twenty-eight "villagers." Apart from Zhuo Yu, her servants, and Xiao Cui, some of these villagers were ordinary people the three brothers had casually rescued while heading out on expeditions.
These villagers were extremely important, even more important than Aura Crystals, gold, or silver. The clearest change was that when the three Ren brothers cultivated, their gains had gone from +1 to +1.1 or +1.2. Each was slightly different, but the bonus basically rose with the number of villagers.
Ren Fei Fan benefited the most. Ever since Xiao Cui arrived, his cultivation speed had started directly at +2. In terms of combat strength, Ren Fei Fan was now the strongest in the Ren family.
When Ren Suo checked the "Villagers" stat, he received a prompt: "An increase in villagers will expand cultivable land and may produce special professions such as physicians, tailors, blacksmiths, hunters, and miners. At the same time, most cultivators do not enjoy solitude. They need the cheers of mortals to prove that their cultivation is absolutely correct."
Simply put, cultivators more or less liked showing off in front of mortals. The more mortals there were, the greater their motivation to cultivate. Ren Fei Fan was the most obvious example—he was probably trying to show off in front of Xiao Cui.
At the same time, Ren Suo discovered that among the cultivators' six attributes, "Management" was the most unusual because it was linked to the number of villagers. The more villagers there were and the higher the management attribute became, the more gold, silver, and food they gained each quarter. Special rewards could even appear—
For example, in the summer of year 191, a villager discovered an Aura Crystal in the wilderness and decided to hand it over to the Ren family. After the event ended, the system gave a special prompt: "Ren Chang Sheng's management attribute met the conditions and triggered the Aura Crystal Donation event."
Moreover, wild Aura Crystals were huge. Ordinary Ghost Soldiers generally dropped only one portion of Aura Crystals, while ghost generals usually dropped five to ten portions. Yet this Aura Crystal they had picked up was worth a full hundred portions!
The Ren brothers had fought demons and monsters to the death at Hulao Pass, only earning about that much in a single quarter! Yet now they could just pick it up!
If the number of villagers increased in the future and professions such as miners and hunters appeared, then the probability and frequency of obtaining Aura Crystals should rise dramatically. It was practically guaranteed profit.
And besides Aura Crystals, certain villagers also possessed special skills. Zhuo Yu, for instance, had the "Affable" trait, which could reduce the chance of villagers leaving.
Over the past three quarters, Ren Suo had made the three brothers cultivate for one quarter, then split them into two teams to fight at Hulao Pass. One time, Ren Wo Xing and Ren Fei Fan had teamed up and encountered a powerful greater ghost general with a full 3 points of defense. Ren Wo Xing and Ren Fei Fan could not take it down in a single round, and then the greater ghost general tapped Ren Fei Fan with its 3 points of attack.
Ren Suo thought casualties were finally about to occur. However, Ren Fei Fan was merely severely injured and unable to fight. After returning home, Ren Chang Sheng quickly healed him.
However, Ren Fei Fan's character card showed that his maximum lifespan had dropped to twenty-two years, and in his character portrait, his hair seemed to have turned a little whiter.
Player Ren Suo could inspect the information of all villagers and Ren family members. Most villagers had maximum lifespans of over fifty years, while the three Ren brothers were all twenty-three. Now that Ren Fei Fan had dropped to twenty-two, it seemed to be because he had been defeated once.
Ren Chang Sheng also said, "Patriarch, according to inherited knowledge, we who possess the Champion Bloodline are born with a spell called the Strong Heart Technique. When we suffer a Fatal Blow, we can temporarily preserve our lives with the Strong Heart Technique. After some time, we can even recover enough to move with difficulty. However, when the Strong Heart Technique activates automatically, it directly reduces our lifespan."
Combat was dangerous, but for the sake of reproduction, the Ren family had to kill demons and monsters to obtain Aura Crystals. If they could develop the villagers and obtain Aura Crystals through multiple channels, then the frequency with which Ren family cultivators had to fight could be greatly reduced.
Thus, Ren Suo understood the game's management strategy: there had to be one person with high management and one person with strong combat power. As long as the family had those two characters, they could start over from scratch no matter what happened.
When they returned from their autumn expedition and their total Aura Crystals surpassed three hundred, Ren Chang Sheng said, "These Aura Crystals now satisfy Tai Bai Plain Earth Spirit's needs! Patriarch, please reproduce for the sake of the family!"
Ren Wo Xing said, "We brothers fought with everything we had to obtain these Aura Crystals... Are we really just giving them away?"
Ren Chang Sheng smiled. "Big Brother, these Aura Crystals are treasures that assist cultivators in cultivation, but we possess the Champion Bloodline. We are born able to wield aura, and as we grow older, our cultivation steadily rises. The only thing limiting our cultivation is time."
"We do not need Aura Crystals to assist our cultivation at all. Isn't it wonderful to trade what we do not need for what we do?"
On the left side of the game interface, above "Expedition," a new option appeared: "Offer Aura."
Selecting "Offer Aura" brought up a list, but there was only one entry: "Tai Bai Plain Earth Spirit, 300 Aura Crystals, Trait: Earth."
"Why does this feel like buying sex..." Ren Suo muttered. He selected Tai Bai Plain Earth Spirit, then had to choose which Ren family member would spiritually mate with her.
When he selected "Ren Fei Fan," Ren Fei Fan's portrait actually spoke. "Hey, hey, hey, Big Brother, I don't want to do this so soon..."
When he selected "Ren Chang Sheng," Ren Chang Sheng said, "Patriarch, we are now the Ren family's first generation of cultivators. As direct bloodline and the eldest of the second generation, it is only proper that I serve the patriarchal line."
Fine, then Ren Suo chose "Ren Wo Xing" to spiritually mate with Tai Bai Plain Earth Spirit.
Tai Bai Plain said, "...As you wish. I hope that when this Earth Spirit awakens, I will still be able to see the bloodline born of you and me."
"It's happening!" Ren Suo widened his eyes and watched expectantly as the cultivator and spirit spiritually mated—
Suddenly, the screen erupted in blinding light!
"Fuck, that nearly blinded me!" The glare made Ren Suo close his eyes, and when the next scene appeared, it had unexpectedly returned to the family hall.
Ren Chang Sheng said, "It takes one quarter for the patriarch and the Earth Spirit to conceive a child through spiritual mating. I will oversee family affairs for now."
"No scene?" Ren Suo felt somewhat disappointed. He quickly handled the affairs of winter, year 191, and arrived at the spring of year 192.
"Waa, waa..." A child's cries rang through the family hall as Ren Wo Xing appeared on the screen, carrying a baby.
Ren Fei Fan said, "Wow, this child looks so much like you, Big Brother! Why does your face look so pale? Are you sick?"
Ren Chang Sheng said, "Welcome back. Our Ren family finally has a next generation. Big Brother, have you named the child?"
Ren Wo Xing said, "This child is a baby girl born from Tai Bai Plain and my spiritual mating... I have already thought of her name. As for me... cough, cough, spiritually mating with a spirit also drains our vital essence. It seems that for the next quarter, I can only recuperate."
Ren Suo sighed. No text box had appeared this time, so it seemed Ren Suo could not name her—he had been planning to name Ren Wo Xing's child "Ren Wo Spend"...
"This child was born in winter, so she shall be called—" Ren Wo Xing declared passionately, "Ren Xiao Bai!"
Ren Suo nearly sprayed the gluten from his spicy soup all over the place.
What the hell did winter have to do with Xiao Bai?!
This game AI's naming talent was on par with his own!
At that moment, the mission information on the right side of the interface updated, and a new icon appeared: Family Tree.
In the Family Tree, the first row naturally contained the three Ren brothers. Beneath Ren Wo Xing's portrait and name, a line extended to a baby portrait in the second row. The baby was named "Ren Xiao Bai."
"Slay evil demons, obtain Aura Crystals, continue the Ren Family Bloodline, until the year 266, when the Ren family has at least one direct descendant."
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