CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45: GODDAMN TURN-BASED

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

The Taibai Plains Spirit seemed slightly startled, yet its tone remained calm, "For cultivators to continue their bloodline, a superior spouse is a fellow cultivator, a moderate spouse is from a noble family, and an inferior spouse is a common mortal... Why seek us, the Earth Spirits?"

"You must understand, although cultivators can conjoin with Earth Spirits and produce offspring, these descendants often have very short lifespans, perishing before they reach maturity... Hmm?"

The Taibai Plains Spirit seemed to notice something. "The three revered immortals are actually... those with the uniquely favored Innate Taoist Body?"

Ren Changsheng shook his head. "It’s merely a curse."

The Taibai Plains Spirit understood. "Indeed, an Innate Taoist Body will inevitably face the Joining the Way Tribulation. If one cannot break through life and death, and reach Supreme Oblivion before it, they will die without a place for their remains... Moreover, the Innate Taoist Body is envied by heaven and earth. Unless one surpasses the Joining the Way Tribulation, it is absolutely impossible to leave offspring..."

"It is truly rare for all three revered immortals to possess the Innate Taoist Body. No wonder you wish to have spiritual congress with spirits to continue your bloodline. Only beings favored by heaven and earth, spirit incarnations formed from condensed Spiritual Energy, could possibly inherit the bloodline of an Innate Taoist Body..."

Ren Changsheng inquired, "Then, Taibai Plains Spirit, are you willing...?"

The Taibai Plains Spirit replied, "The matter is not impossible, but how strong is the Innate Taoist Body? For a spirit’s body to carry such a bloodline, it too would inevitably face destruction, especially since this local spirit’s cultivation is weak... If you can bring a certain amount of Spiritual Qi Crystals as containers, this local spirit can have spiritual congress with the immortal in the container, which could perhaps continue the bloodline of the Innate Taoist Body...

"Yet even so, this act would severely deplete this local spirit’s essence, forcing it into a hundred-year slumber. Unless you can provide a sufficient amount of Spiritual Qi Crystals as compensation, this local spirit will not agree."

Ren Woxing questioned, puzzled, "Spiritual Qi Crystals?"

The Taibai Plains Spirit explained, "Spiritual Qi Crystals are important cultivation resources, often shortened to Spirit Crystals. They are filled with Spiritual Energy and are born alongside Spirit Veins, appearing randomly in various locations. Furthermore, after the death of Demons, Ghosts, and even cultivators, the Spiritual Energy within their bodies will highly concentrate, also forming Spirit Crystals."

Ren Changsheng’s tone suddenly turned cold. "What if I don’t have Spirit Crystals but still insist on having spiritual congress with you to continue the bloodline?"

The Taibai Plains Spirit’s expression remained unchanged. "The most important thing in spiritual congress is complete dedication. We, as Spiritual Cultivators, only revere heaven and earth, never submitting to other beings. I reside nearby in Mount Taibai. If you gentlemen have prepared the Spirit Crystals, you can find me. Also, remember that Mount Taibai has a group of Demon Soldiers and Ghost Generals. If they continue to lurk here, Mount Taibai will be tainted..."

Having said this, the young Taibai Plains Spirit left the room. Ren Changsheng sighed. "Indeed, one can only deal with spirits... Spirits prefer to perish rather than submit, born and nurtured by nature as spiritual beings. Force is futile."

Ren Woxing was somewhat surprised. "Younger brother, you weren’t like this before."

Ren Changsheng replied, "To continue the family lineage, someone naturally has to play the tough role. As the Family Head, you must uphold your dignity, and our youngest brother is still inexperienced, so it falls to me."

The conversation ended. Ren Suo saw a line of mission information suddenly appear in the top right corner of the interface:

"Exterminate the evil demons, obtain Spirit Crystals, and continue the Ren Family bloodline. If the Ren Family bloodline completely perishes, the game is utterly lost."

It seems that the game’s main mission is divided into segments, with the current first task being... to have children!

Ren Suo noticed that in the lower-left corner of the interface, besides "Cultivation," there was also an added option: "Expedition."

Clicking on "Expedition," Ren Changsheng stated, "Undoubtedly, if we wish to have spiritual congress with spirits to continue our bloodline, we must have Spirit Crystals. Aside from acquiring Spirit Crystals through unusual encounters, the best current method is by slaying Demons and Ghosts."

"Mount Taibai is occupied by a group of Demon Soldiers and Ghost Generals. If they continue to linger, they might seriously affect the cultivation of the Taibai Plains Spirit—she is the only spirit mother we know of currently. The higher her cultivation, the better the talent of her offspring. Family Head, let us handle them!"

The screen instantly changed to display a map resembling tawny parchment. Ren Suo immediately recognized it as a map from the Late Eastern Han Dynasty, Three Kingdoms Period. Near the map’s center, beside Luoyang, there was a green dot marked: "Ren Family."

Beside the green dot, a black dot appeared, "Mount Taibai," displaying the status ’occupied by Demons and Ghosts.’

The Ren Family actually resided in the mountains near Luoyang?

Apart from Mount Taibai and the Ren Family, other locations like ’Luoyang,’ ’Chang’an,’ and ’Yecheng’ were all grayed out and unclickable. Ren Suo could only choose "Mount Taibai."

"Please select an expedition character."

"Ren Woxing, 18 years old, Attack 1, Defense 0, Scouting 0, Move 0, Healing 0, Management 1."

"Ren Changsheng, 16 years old, Attack 1, Defense 0, Scouting 0, Move 0, Healing 0, Management 1."

"Ren Feifan, 14 years old, Attack 1, Defense 0, Scouting 0, Move 0, Healing 0, Management 0."

Apart from the trained attack, everything else is 0... What happened to the talent!? Ren Suo complained, but he had to see whether it was a mule or a horse, so he selected everyone for the expedition.

"To keep the things at home safe, there must be at least 1 person in charge to stay behind."

Ren Suo kicked out Ren Feifan, who seemed the weakest.

"The management ability of the person staying behind must be greater than 0."

Ren Suo almost vomited blood. There were so many particulars! He could only kick out Ren Changsheng.

"There are 41 portions of food at home (each portion can satisfy one person for one day), and 14 portions of gold and silver treasures (each portion can buy one day’s ration for one person). How much would you like to carry?"

Is our family that poor? Ren Suo thought about it and only took 20 portions, leaving the money behind.

The interface returned to the house, and the "Expedition" option showed ’1 team deployed.’ Ren Changsheng said, "Big brother left me behind... What should I do? Maybe I should cultivate."

So, Ren Suo opened the "Cultivation" interface. Sure enough, there was only 1 Action Point. He thought about it and chose to cultivate ’Healing.’

So far, Ren Suo hadn’t felt that the game was very difficult. However, this was a family management game. In a management game, it’s most important not to have any weak spots. With two people out fighting, there was a high chance they might get injured or killed. Therefore, training someone with healing capabilities at home seemed like a good choice.

After the Action Points were consumed, the screen suddenly switched to Ren Woxing, who was walking in the mountains with his third brother.

"Ren Woxing and Ren Feifan headed towards Mount Taibai."

On the screen, Ren Suo saw a mountain forest map with three paths, each eventually leading to ’Mount Taibai,’ but each path had four or five question marks in between.

"Eh?" Ren Suo tugged at the corner of his mouth and randomly picked a path.

"You encountered a ferocious tiger on the road!"

Are we going to fight!? Ren Suo straightened his back and stared intently at the screen.

"Terrified, Ren Feifan fled from the battle, leaving only Ren Woxing alone to face the tiger!"

Then the scene shifted to the interior of the jungle. A young man holding a wooden sword stood on one side, and on the other, a tiger easily the size of three young men. They faced each other from a considerable distance...

Available options: ’Attack,’ ’Defense,’ ’Healing,’ ’Move.’

Isn’t this just a turn-based game!? Ren Suo muttered to himself, checking the tiger’s information:

"Tiger, Attack 0.8, Defense 0, Scouting 0, Move 0, Healing 0."

...Huh? Is the tiger also this weak? Ren Suo scratched his head and chose ’Attack.’

"The mundane iron sword is spiritual because of who wields it!" Ren Woxing shouted, and the wooden sword instantly transformed into a long rainbow shooting toward the tiger!

The tiger’s head was pierced. Its brains, both yellow and white, burst out, killing it instantly.

"Combat ended. You scavenged the beast’s body and obtained 7 portions of meat."

That simple? Ren Suo was slightly stunned.

The scene returned to the map. Ren Woxing was quite angry, "Third brother, why did you run?"

With a mournful face, Ren Feifan said, "I... I was scared..."