CHAPTER 49: CHAPTER 49 THIS SAVE IS CORRUPTED

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

"In the summer of 195, Ren Woxing passed away at the age of 23, leaving behind his last words, ’I wish... I could catch river shrimp with my brothers again...’"

"In the summer of 195, Ren Changsheng succeeded to the position of Family Head, renaming himself Ren Woxing. Since then, all successive Family Heads have taken the name Ren Woxing."

"In the autumn of 199, Ren Changsheng passed away at the age of 23, leaving his last words: ’I have never regretted being born into the Ren Family.’"

"In the autumn of 199, Ren Xiaobai succeeded to the position of Family Head, changing her name to Ren Woxing."

"In the spring of 206, Ren Luo, the son of Ren Xiaobai and the White Horse Spirit Lord, was born."

"In the summer of 209, Ren Buhui perished at Red Cliff Ghosts and Goblins, at the age of 15."

On the third day after getting the game, Ren Suo played up to this point and basically realized that his game save was doomed; there wasn’t much hope of beating the game.

Ren Family Cultivators can only start their Cultivation at the age of 8 and engage in spiritual union and combat at 14. Babies are merely a population figure for the first eight years, meaningless otherwise.

When Ren Woxing died, I actually wondered if that meant I just had to sit in front of the screen and watch a playthrough. But then I learned that each successive Family Head would change their name to ’Ren Woxing’—meaning control would be passed onto the Player.

When time advanced to the year 209, Cao, Sun, and Liu had just finished the most decisive battle of the Three Kingdoms Period at Red Cliff. Ren Suo then sent Ren Feifan’s daughter, Ren Buhui, to farm Spirit Crystals from the newly spawned Red Cliff Ghosts and Goblins. The only available Cultivators in the entire Ren Family were Ren Xiaobai and Ren Buhui, and one of them had to remain at home, so it had to be Ren Buhui who was sent on the Expedition.

However, Ren Buhui was not the ’third-generation Ren Woxing’; Ren Suo could not control her actions. After sending her off, only news of her death returned. It seemed the combat power of the Demons at Red Cliff far exceeded Ren Buhui’s expectations. She couldn’t even escape and make it back alive.

Now, the Ren Family was left with only 3-year-old Ren Luo and 18-year-old Ren Xiaobai—Ren Xiaobai, having been on the verge of death twice, had a Lifespan of only 21 years.

Even if Ren Xiaobai were to live out her Lifespan, there would still be Ren Luo left. But as time went on, the Demons from the Three Kingdoms would become stronger and stronger, and Ren Luo, just starting his Cultivation, would simply not be a match for them! Without defeating Demons, there would be no Spirit Crystals, and naturally, no way to find Spirits to procreate!

At first glance, it seemed like a no-win situation. The total Cultivation time for Ren Family Cultivators was a fixed period from the ages of 8 to 23. Maybe the Cultivation speed could be increased by the number of villagers. However, once the older generation passed away, the new generation, with their shorter Cultivation time, would inevitably be too weak to join the battlefield. If time were spent on Cultivation while the Demons kept strengthening, their breeding period would be shortened—they only had 10 years for breeding!

However, a 2-star difficulty did not equate to an insoluble situation. This game had two methods that could always keep Ren Family Cultivators above the Demons. The first was to find strong Spirits to mate with; the offspring would not only have special Attributes but also increased Cultivation speed.

For example, Ren Woxing mated with the Taibai Plains Spirit and produced Ren Xiaobai. After cultivating, Ren Xiaobai mastered the Offensive Spell ’Earth Vein Techniques’. This spell, in essence, was no different from Ren Changsheng’s ’Flame Spells’. However, if Ren Xiaobai chose Attack as her focus in Cultivation, her Defense would also get a +0.5 boost; if she focused on Defense, then she would get +1.5 to Defense.

This meant if Ren Xiaobai cultivated Attack, her Attack would be +1, Defense +0.5; if she cultivated Defense, Attack +0, Defense +1.5.

And this wasn’t even taking into account the impact of the village’s population!

The Taibai Plains Spirit itself was a relatively weak Spirit—this could be seen from its cheap price of just 300 Spirit Crystals. If an even more powerful Spirit could be found to mate with, it wasn’t impossible to have an increase of +10 to All Attributes every quarter. Of course, this would require the Ren Family to fight more Demons to earn more money...

The second method was Inheritance! In the spring of 199, just as Ren Xiaobai turned 8 and was able to start cultivating, a new feature called ’Inheritance’ appeared on the left side of the family hall.

’Inheritance’ allowed for the instant depletion of a family member’s entire Lifespan, infusing their Attributes into another family member. Depending on the blood relationship and Attribute compatibility between the two family members, the family member receiving the Attributes could gain between 25% and 50% of the original owner’s Attributes.

Ren Suo chose Ren Changsheng, who was nearly at the end of his life, to pass on his Inheritance to Ren Xiaobai. Ren Changsheng instantly kicked the bucket, and Ren Xiaobai received 35% of Ren Changsheng’s Attributes. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to earn enough Spirit Crystals on the Guan Du battlefield to afford a visit to the White Horse Spirit Lord.

This was the safest, most economical way to become stronger. With each generation passing on Attributes to the next, the upcoming generation would always be stronger than the last, naturally keeping pace with the Demons—provided the line of Inheritance was never broken.

Moreover, Ren Suo realized that simply training to become a prodigy like the Shilipo Sword Deity before trying to farm Demons was entirely impractical. This was not only because the breeding time shortened as the Demons kept strengthening, but more importantly, because once the Demons became stronger, they wouldn’t just stand still; they would actively seek to destroy nearby Spirits!

Meaning, they would actively reduce the mating options for Ren Family Cultivators!

After Ren Changsheng’s death and before Ren Xiaobai could grow stronger, the Battle of Guan Du took place in the year 200. Cao Cao’s Army claimed a huge victory, and Guan Du became yet another resource point for Demons. As the Ren Family Cultivators could not be dispatched, it had to be left unattended.

Then, by 203, Ren Suo suddenly received the message: ’The Yan Ghost Army at Guan Du has slain the Liyang Earth Spirit.’

It was only then that Ren Suo realized Demons really did have a habit of attacking Spirits. Until then, he had assumed the Taibai Plains Spirit’s plea for help was just part of the storyline!

But having played up to this point, Ren Suo had pretty much figured out the game’s settings and the basic sequence for strategizing. Without a doubt, the places where Demons appeared were closely related to important events during the Three Kingdoms Period — more precisely, to historical events where many had died.

Hulao Pass, Guan Du, and Red Cliff had already occurred. Still to come were Xiaoyaojin, Hanzhong, Jieting... In between, there were also Demons spawned from Heavenly Calamities such as locust plagues, snowstorms, and the flooding of the Yellow River, as well as the great plague of 217 AD. The Central Plains would become a land of ghosts and goblins, and by then, there certainly wouldn’t be a shortage of Strange Creatures to battle.

Family management, unpredictable human nature, generational succession... Ren Suo jotted down his strategy ideas, found no issues after reviewing them, and prepared to restart the game.

At that moment, his phone suddenly rang.

Ren Suo checked the caller ID; it was a local number he hadn’t seen before. "Hello?"

"Hello, is this Ren Suo?" On the other end was a girl’s voice, crisp and clear.

"Yes, who’s this?"

"I’m An Suyu, a member of the Counter-Special Crime Bureau. I’m officially notifying you that you have been accepted by the Counter-Special Crime Bureau. Please report to the National Security Bureau at 220 Revolution Road, Yuexiu District, Lianjiang City within the next two days. You will formally start work the day after you report."

Ren Suo was somewhat taken aback. "But I’m still a senior about to graduate. Technically, I shouldn’t start until June..."

"I’m not clear on the specific basic wages and subsidies for Counter-Special Crime Bureau members," the other person interrupted, "but the Cultivation Ground constructed in Lianjiang City has been completed. Currently, it is only open to national civil servants... To be precise, only members of the Counter-Special Crime Bureau have the qualifications to enter the Cultivation Ground. Each person can stay there for one hour every day."

"Alright, I’ll come to report this afternoon!" Ren Suo immediately responded.

Playing more games is all well and good, but apart from quest rewards, there aren’t many benefits. However, by starting a day earlier as a national civil servant Practitioner, I can access the Cultivation Ground where Spiritual Energy is highly concentrated and begin my Cultivation sooner!

Ren Suo was quite rational about this matter—from the fact that he only bought a game console after receiving his job offer, it was clear that he was someone accustomed to enduring hardship before enjoying comfort.

The Minor World Game Console isn’t going anywhere. However, whether I can catch the wave of this era and become one of the first-generation Mysterious Country Cultivators, thereby determining if I can coast through the second half of my life, all hinges on my efforts over the next few years!

Ren Suo remembered something, picked up the controller, and went back to the main menu, selecting "Player Character".

I’m going out this afternoon. It’s always good to be extra cautious when out in the world, so equipping ’Combat Basics’ seems like a good idea—I’m still not familiar with the spells Magic: Garment and Magic: Lock.

However, as soon as Ren Suo looked at the "Player Character" list on the left and the Skills list on the right, he immediately froze.

"Player Character": Ren Suo.

"Ability Slot": Good Dream Technique.

"Prop Slot": None.

"Backup Slot": Unlimited Energy.

"Unequipped Skills": Combat Basics, Magic: Garment, Magic: Lock.

————

"Player Character": Ren Woxing.

"Ability Slot": None.

"Prop Slot": None.

"Backup Slot": None.