When the supper deliveryman rang the doorbell, Ren Suo had also just completed his first mission.
In all honesty, the battles in the game were not challenging—the [Sword Master] ability Ren Woxing possessed was akin to using sniper rifles on the large battlefield, and the [Flame] ability of Ren Changsheng functioned as a fragment grenade that could blast large groups of enemies into pieces.
Ren Feifan was even more impressive with his spear, virtually undefeatable at close range. With each sweep of his spear as he charged right into the heart of the battlefield, he could easily eliminate the enemies.
As a whole, each of the three brothers had their individual strengths and weaknesses: Ren Woxing, the eldest brother, could inflict damage to any enemy within a large area with his Sword Master ability, but could only attack a single target each time; Ren Changsheng, the second of the three brothers, could inflict damage to groups of enemies within a moderate range; Ren Feifan, the youngest of three brothers, could attack groups of enemies with a high accuracy rate and be virtually unbeatable, but only at close range.
As such, Ren Suo knew how to train and play the characters. Ren Woxing would naturally be a ranged fighter and be trained in attack and movement; Second Brother Ren Changsheng would usually be stationed at home, and be trained in recovery and management; Ren Feifan would easily be at the frontline and thus must be trained in both attack and defense.
Oddly, however, the attack skills could not be changed once it was acquired initially. Ren Suo had trained Ren Woxing for three seasons but found that the listed attack skill was still [Sword Master].
It was already the winter of year 191 in the game. In the Ren family’s house, there were 28 other ‘villagers’, apart from the three Ren brothers. Other than Zhuo Yu and Xiao Cui, there were other ordinary people whom the three Ren brothers had saved when they went on expeditions previously.
These villagers were extremely important, even more so than Reiki crystals and treasures. The most obvious change was the increasing increment of skill points when the three Ren brothers trained. From +1 to +1.1, +1.2, each of them had different rates of increase in their skill scores. The additional bonus points also increased with the rise in the population of villagers.
Ren Feifan was the most impressive of the three brothers. Ever since he found Xiao Cui, his skill level started increasing directly from +2. He was now the strongest in terms of combat power.
When Ren Suo queried the data on the [Villagers], a message appeared: [As the population of villagers increases, more plots of land would become available for agriculture and farming. There would also be more people with special occupations, such as doctors, tailors, blacksmiths, hunters, and miners. At the same time, most Practitioners do not like to be alone and need people to cheer them on to affirm that they have made the best and rightful decision to embark on their practice.]
To put it simply, Practitioners generally like to act cool in front of other people, and the more ordinary people watching them, the greater their motivation to practice. Ren Feifan was the most obvious example—it appeared that he wanted to act cool in front of Xiao Cui.
At the same time, Ren Suo also found that in the six attributes of the Practitioners, [Management] was the most special attribute as it was influenced by the population size of the villagers. As the number of villagers increased, the [Management] score increased as well. The number of treasures and food gained in each season would also increase accordingly, and special rewards may even appear. For example, in the summer of year 191, one of the villagers found a Reiki crystal in the wild and decided to hand it to the Ren brothers. After the incident, the system especially prompted: [Ren Changsheng obtained a Management score fulfilling two conditions and initiated the discovery of 1 Reiki crystal.]
Furthermore, the Reiki crystal that was found from the wild was more rewarding than any of the previous crystals. An ordinary Ghost Troop would typically give 1 unit of Reiki crystals, while a Ghost Leader would give 5~10 units for each crystal, and yet the one that was found gave 100 units of crystals!
This amount was equivalent to that earned from the hard work of the Ren brothers risking their lives to defeat the monsters at Hulao Pass after one season! Yet, this amount was easily picked up in the wild!
If the number of villagers continues to increase and people become different types of workers like miners and hunters, the chance and frequency of retrieving a Reiki crystal from the wild would greatly increase. There seemed like there would be absolutely no loss but only profits!
Additionally, each villager also possesses special abilities. For example, Zhuo Yu has the special ability [Kind] and can reduce the chances that a villager would leave the house.
In the last three seasons, Ren Suo let the three Ren brothers train for one season, then split them up into two waves to battle at Hulao Pass. He sent Ren Woxing and Ren Feifan together in the first expedition, but when they met a strong Ghost Master with a defense of 3, the two brothers could not withstand any of his attacks. Ren Feifan was gravely hurt by the Ghost Master, which had an attack of 3.
Ren Suo had thought that there was finally going to be a death in the game, but as it turned out, Ren Feifan was merely severely injured and could not continue fighting. When they returned home, Ren Feifan was healed quickly by Ren Changsheng.
However, in the character card for Ren Feifan, his maximum age decreased to 22 years old, and his avatar seemed to grow older with white hair appearing.
Ren Suo was able to query the information about all the villagers and the Ren family members. Most of the villagers had a maximum age of over 50 years old, while the three Ren brothers could only live to the age of 23. It seemed like the failure of the expedition was the cause for the maximum age of Ren Feifan to drop to 22 years old.
Ren Changsheng also said: “Brother, according to the transmitted knowledge, people like us with the blood of the champion has an innate skill called [Heart Strengthening]. It can temporarily prevent us from dying when we receive a fatal blow, and after a period of time, we could be able to recover naturally and continue to move, but with some difficulty. However, when the ability is utilized naturally, our lifespan would decrease.” As much as the battles proved to be dangerous, the Ren family had to persevere and kill all the Demons to obtain Reiki crystals and raise their family population. If Ren Suo could also increase the population of the villagers and obtain Reiki crystals from more avenues, then the Ren family Practitioners would not need to head out to fight as often.
As such, Ren Suo figured out a management strategy for this game: There had to be someone with high management ability and one with a strong combat ability within the family in order to deal with such scenarios.
When autumn arrived yet again, they finally had more than 300 Reiki crystals and Ren Changsheng said, “We finally have sufficient Reiki crystals to fulfill the requirements given by the earth elf from Taibai Plains! Master, let us prosper and raise our family population!”
Ren Woxing said, “We finally obtained these Reiki crystals after much hard work…Should we give them away just like this?” Ren Changsheng laughed and said, “Big Brother, these Reiki crystals are a precious resource to Practitioners to help them in their practice, but we have the blood of the champion and are naturally able to utilize Reiki. As the years pass and we grow older, our level of practice would continually increase, but the only thing that is stopping us from persisting in our practice is time.” He continued, “We have absolutely no need for things like Reiki crystals to support us in our practice. Isn’t it great that we can exchange these crystals which we have no use for with what we need instead?” A new option [Spiritual Exchange] appeared on the left side of the screen, above the [Start Expedition] option.
Ren Suo selected [Spiritual Exchange] and a list appeared. There was, however, only one option: [Earth Elf of Taibai Plains, 300 Reiki Crystals, Type: Earth.]
“Why does it feel like I’m hiring a courtesan…” Ren Suo remarked. He selected the earth elf of Taibai Plains, then chose one of the Ren brothers to perform the spiritual exchange with the earth elf from Taibai Plains.
When Ren Suo selected Ren Feifan, a voice emerged from the avatar of Ren Feifan: “Eh eh eh, Big Brother, I don’t want to do it so early…”
When Ren Suo selected Ren Changsheng instead, Ren Changsheng said, “Master, we are the first generation of Practitioners of the Ren family. The subsequent second generation would be direct descendents and it follows that the oldest of the subsequent generation should naturally be the child of the head of the family.” Oh well, Ren Suo was left with no option but to select Ren Woxing to perform the spiritual exchange with the earth elf from Taibai Plains.
The elf from Taibai Plains said, “… As you wish, I hope that when I awake from my hibernation, I will still be able to see our child.”
“It’s here, it’s here!” Ren Suo said as he widened his eyes, eagerly watching the scene where the Practitioner and the elf performed the exchange. Suddenly, a piercingly bright light appeared on the screen! Ren Suo blurted as he closed his eyes instinctively, “What on earth, my eyes are going blind!” When Ren Suo opened his eyes, the scene had returned back to the main hall of the Ren family house.
Ren Changsheng said, “The exchange between the head of the family and the earth elf to bear children would require one season to complete. I will now take charge of family matters.” Ren Suo thought, “Can I not watch the process?”He felt slightly reluctant as he quickly finished the tasks for the winter of year 191. Soon, the year 192 came and spring arrived.
“Wah, wah…” The cries of a baby rang through the hall of the house. Ren Woxing appeared on the screen carrying his baby.
Ren Feifan said, “Wow, the baby looks just like you! Big Brother, why do you look so pale? Are you sick?” Ren Changsheng said, “Welcome back! The Ren family finally has a second generation. Big Brother, have you thought of a name for your child?” Ren Woxing replied, “This baby girl is born from the spiritual exchange between the elf from Taibai Plains and me…I already thought of a name for her. As for me…Heh, after we perform a spiritual exchange with an elf, we will also use up some of our inner energy. It seems like I have to rest at home over the next season.” Ren Suo sighed when he realized that an input prompt did not appear, which meant that he could not name the child. Ren Suo had wanted to name the child “Ren Wo’ke”…
“Our child, since she was born in winter, I will call her—” Ren Woxing began excitedly. “Ren Xiaobai!” Ren Suo almost choked on the mala soup he was eating for supper.
What has winter got to do with Xiaobai (beginner)?
The game AI truly stooped to Ren Suo’s level in terms of naming the characters!
At this moment, the mission list on the right side of the screen was updated and a new icon appeared: “Family Tree”.
In the family tree, the first generation was naturally the three Ren brothers and linked with a line below the avatar and the name for Ren Woxing was a baby avatar with the name “Ren Xiaobai”.
[Eliminate the evil Demons and obtain Reiki crystals to continue the family bloodline. Until 266 AD, there was at least one member of direct descent in the Ren family.]
When the supper deliveryman rang the doorbell, Ren Suo had also just completed his first mission.
In all honesty, the battles in the game were not challenging—the [Sword Master] ability Ren Woxing possessed was akin to using sniper rifles on the large battlefield, and the [Flame] ability of Ren Changsheng functioned as a fragment grenade that could blast large groups of enemies into pieces.
Ren Feifan was even more impressive with his spear, virtually undefeatable at close range. With each sweep of his spear as he charged right into the heart of the battlefield, he could easily eliminate the enemies.
As a whole, each of the three brothers had their individual strengths and weaknesses: Ren Woxing, the eldest brother, could inflict damage to any enemy within a large area with his Sword Master ability, but could only attack a single target each time; Ren Changsheng, the second of the three brothers, could inflict damage to groups of enemies within a moderate range; Ren Feifan, the youngest of three brothers, could attack groups of enemies with a high accuracy rate and be virtually unbeatable, but only at close range.
As such, Ren Suo knew how to train and play the characters. Ren Woxing would naturally be a ranged fighter and be trained in attack and movement; Second Brother Ren Changsheng would usually be stationed at home, and be trained in recovery and management; Ren Feifan would easily be at the frontline and thus must be trained in both attack and defense.
Oddly, however, the attack skills could not be changed once it was acquired initially. Ren Suo had trained Ren Woxing for three seasons but found that the listed attack skill was still [Sword Master].
It was already the winter of year 191 in the game. In the Ren family’s house, there were 28 other ‘villagers’, apart from the three Ren brothers. Other than Zhuo Yu and Xiao Cui, there were other ordinary people whom the three Ren brothers had saved when they went on expeditions previously.
These villagers were extremely important, even more so than Reiki crystals and treasures. The most obvious change was the increasing increment of skill points when the three Ren brothers trained. From +1 to +1.1, +1.2, each of them had different rates of increase in their skill scores. The additional bonus points also increased with the rise in the population of villagers.
Ren Feifan was the most impressive of the three brothers. Ever since he found Xiao Cui, his skill level started increasing directly from +2. He was now the strongest in terms of combat power.
When Ren Suo queried the data on the [Villagers], a message appeared: [As the population of villagers increases, more plots of land would become available for agriculture and farming. There would also be more people with special occupations, such as doctors, tailors, blacksmiths, hunters, and miners. At the same time, most Practitioners do not like to be alone and need people to cheer them on to affirm that they have made the best and rightful decision to embark on their practice.]
To put it simply, Practitioners generally like to act cool in front of other people, and the more ordinary people watching them, the greater their motivation to practice. Ren Feifan was the most obvious example—it appeared that he wanted to act cool in front of Xiao Cui.
At the same time, Ren Suo also found that in the six attributes of the Practitioners, [Management] was the most special attribute as it was influenced by the population size of the villagers. As the number of villagers increased, the [Management] score increased as well. The number of treasures and food gained in each season would also increase accordingly, and special rewards may even appear. For example, in the summer of year 191, one of the villagers found a Reiki crystal in the wild and decided to hand it to the Ren brothers. After the incident, the system especially prompted: [Ren Changsheng obtained a Management score fulfilling two conditions and initiated the discovery of 1 Reiki crystal.]
Furthermore, the Reiki crystal that was found from the wild was more rewarding than any of the previous crystals. An ordinary Ghost Troop would typically give 1 unit of Reiki crystals, while a Ghost Leader would give 5~10 units for each crystal, and yet the one that was found gave 100 units of crystals!
This amount was equivalent to that earned from the hard work of the Ren brothers risking their lives to defeat the monsters at Hulao Pass after one season! Yet, this amount was easily picked up in the wild!
If the number of villagers continues to increase and people become different types of workers like miners and hunters, the chance and frequency of retrieving a Reiki crystal from the wild would greatly increase. There seemed like there would be absolutely no loss but only profits!
Additionally, each villager also possesses special abilities. For example, Zhuo Yu has the special ability [Kind] and can reduce the chances that a villager would leave the house.
In the last three seasons, Ren Suo let the three Ren brothers train for one season, then split them up into two waves to battle at Hulao Pass. He sent Ren Woxing and Ren Feifan together in the first expedition, but when they met a strong Ghost Master with a defense of 3, the two brothers could not withstand any of his attacks. Ren Feifan was gravely hurt by the Ghost Master, which had an attack of 3.
Ren Suo had thought that there was finally going to be a death in the game, but as it turned out, Ren Feifan was merely severely injured and could not continue fighting. When they returned home, Ren Feifan was healed quickly by Ren Changsheng.
However, in the character card for Ren Feifan, his maximum age decreased to 22 years old, and his avatar seemed to grow older with white hair appearing.
Ren Suo was able to query the information about all the villagers and the Ren family members. Most of the villagers had a maximum age of over 50 years old, while the three Ren brothers could only live to the age of 23. It seemed like the failure of the expedition was the cause for the maximum age of Ren Feifan to drop to 22 years old.
Ren Changsheng also said: “Brother, according to the transmitted knowledge, people like us with the blood of the champion has an innate skill called [Heart Strengthening]. It can temporarily prevent us from dying when we receive a fatal blow, and after a period of time, we could be able to recover naturally and continue to move, but with some difficulty. However, when the ability is utilized naturally, our lifespan would decrease.” As much as the battles proved to be dangerous, the Ren family had to persevere and kill all the Demons to obtain Reiki crystals and raise their family population. If Ren Suo could also increase the population of the villagers and obtain Reiki crystals from more avenues, then the Ren family Practitioners would not need to head out to fight as often.
As such, Ren Suo figured out a management strategy for this game: There had to be someone with high management ability and one with a strong combat ability within the family in order to deal with such scenarios.
When autumn arrived yet again, they finally had more than 300 Reiki crystals and Ren Changsheng said, “We finally have sufficient Reiki crystals to fulfill the requirements given by the earth elf from Taibai Plains! Master, let us prosper and raise our family population!”
Ren Woxing said, “We finally obtained these Reiki crystals after much hard work…Should we give them away just like this?” Ren Changsheng laughed and said, “Big Brother, these Reiki crystals are a precious resource to Practitioners to help them in their practice, but we have the blood of the champion and are naturally able to utilize Reiki. As the years pass and we grow older, our level of practice would continually increase, but the only thing that is stopping us from persisting in our practice is time.” He continued, “We have absolutely no need for things like Reiki crystals to support us in our practice. Isn’t it great that we can exchange these crystals which we have no use for with what we need instead?” A new option [Spiritual Exchange] appeared on the left side of the screen, above the [Start Expedition] option.
Ren Suo selected [Spiritual Exchange] and a list appeared. There was, however, only one option: [Earth Elf of Taibai Plains, 300 Reiki Crystals, Type: Earth.]
“Why does it feel like I’m hiring a courtesan…” Ren Suo remarked. He selected the earth elf of Taibai Plains, then chose one of the Ren brothers to perform the spiritual exchange with the earth elf from Taibai Plains.
When Ren Suo selected Ren Feifan, a voice emerged from the avatar of Ren Feifan: “Eh eh eh, Big Brother, I don’t want to do it so early…”
When Ren Suo selected Ren Changsheng instead, Ren Changsheng said, “Master, we are the first generation of Practitioners of the Ren family. The subsequent second generation would be direct descendents and it follows that the oldest of the subsequent generation should naturally be the child of the head of the family.” Oh well, Ren Suo was left with no option but to select Ren Woxing to perform the spiritual exchange with the earth elf from Taibai Plains.
The elf from Taibai Plains said, “… As you wish, I hope that when I awake from my hibernation, I will still be able to see our child.”
“It’s here, it’s here!” Ren Suo said as he widened his eyes, eagerly watching the scene where the Practitioner and the elf performed the exchange. Suddenly, a piercingly bright light appeared on the screen! Ren Suo blurted as he closed his eyes instinctively, “What on earth, my eyes are going blind!” When Ren Suo opened his eyes, the scene had returned back to the main hall of the Ren family house.
Ren Changsheng said, “The exchange between the head of the family and the earth elf to bear children would require one season to complete. I will now take charge of family matters.” Ren Suo thought, “Can I not watch the process?”He felt slightly reluctant as he quickly finished the tasks for the winter of year 191. Soon, the year 192 came and spring arrived.
“Wah, wah…” The cries of a baby rang through the hall of the house. Ren Woxing appeared on the screen carrying his baby.
Ren Feifan said, “Wow, the baby looks just like you! Big Brother, why do you look so pale? Are you sick?” Ren Changsheng said, “Welcome back! The Ren family finally has a second generation. Big Brother, have you thought of a name for your child?” Ren Woxing replied, “This baby girl is born from the spiritual exchange between the elf from Taibai Plains and me…I already thought of a name for her. As for me…Heh, after we perform a spiritual exchange with an elf, we will also use up some of our inner energy. It seems like I have to rest at home over the next season.” Ren Suo sighed when he realized that an input prompt did not appear, which meant that he could not name the child. Ren Suo had wanted to name the child “Ren Wo’ke”…
“Our child, since she was born in winter, I will call her—” Ren Woxing began excitedly. “Ren Xiaobai!” Ren Suo almost choked on the mala soup he was eating for supper.
What has winter got to do with Xiaobai (beginner)?
The game AI truly stooped to Ren Suo’s level in terms of naming the characters!
At this moment, the mission list on the right side of the screen was updated and a new icon appeared: “Family Tree”.
In the family tree, the first generation was naturally the three Ren brothers and linked with a line below the avatar and the name for Ren Woxing was a baby avatar with the name “Ren Xiaobai”.
[Eliminate the evil Demons and obtain Reiki crystals to continue the family bloodline. Until 266 AD, there was at least one member of direct descent in the Ren family.]
