Chapter 45: Chapter 45 – A Turn-based Game?!
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The elf from Taibai Plains was stunned momentarily. Her voice remained calm as she said, “For pract.i.tioners like you to continue your bloodline, the best tier of partners would be other pract.i.tioners of the opposite s.e.x, followed by those from the rich aristocratic families who are the middle tier of partners, and ordinary people who are the lowest tier of partners…Why would you want me, an earth elf?”
“You have to understand that although pract.i.tioners like you can have children with us earth elves, the children who are born as a result tend to have very short lifespans, and would usually pa.s.s away before they even become from full-grown adults…Eh?”
The elf from Taibai Plains seemed to have noticed something and said, “The three of you elders are actually…holy beings with extraordinary natural abilities?”
Ren Changsheng shook his head and replied, “It’s just part of the curse.”
The elf from Taibai Plains finally understood. She said, “Indeed, holy beings with extraordinary natural abilities will eventually meet their fate of Transcending Nothingness. If you are not able to escape from such a fate before it happens, it is certain you will come to a bad end, void of emotions…Holy beings like you are the ones that even the heavens and the earth envy. Once you are born, unless you successfully evade the fate of Transcending Nothingness, there is no way you will be able to have children…”
“It is rare to see all of you three elders who are holy beings with such extraordinary natural abilities. It is no wonder that you all want to establish a spiritual connection with elves, in order to continue your bloodline. Only pure elves who possess a great amount of Reiki within them are able to carry the blood of the extraordinary holy beings…” she continued.
Ren Changsheng asked, “Will you agree to this…?”
The elf from Taibai Plains answered, “This is not impossible. However, the energy of you, holy beings, is so immense that carrying your blood within the weak bodies of elves like me would only result in my death. Furthermore, as an earth elf, my level of practice is very low…If you all are able to gather some amount of Reiki crystals as a means of transmission, I would be willing to establish spiritual connections with you, for you to continue the bloodline of the holy beings…”
“However, even so, I will be forced to stay in hibernation for a hundred years to regain my immensely drained energy. Unless the three of you elders are able to gather a sufficient amount of Reiki crystals as compensation, I will not agree to this,” the elf continued.
Ren Woxing was hesitant and asked, “Reiki crystals?”
The elf from Taibai Plains replied, “Reiki crystals are important resources for us to practice. They are filled with Reiki and are formed with the emergence of spiritual Reiki energy around the world. Additionally, the Reiki in the physical bodies of demons and ghosts, as well as within the internal body of Pract.i.tioners like you, will crystallize into Reiki crystals after the death of the body.”
Ren Changsheng suddenly calmed down and said in a more solemn tone, “What if I insist in a spiritual connection with you even though I do not have the Reiki crystals?”
The elf from Taibai Plains remained composed and said, “The most important aspect of a spiritual connection is the wholehearted partic.i.p.ation of both parties, and earth elves like me heed only the words of the heavens and the earth. We never bow down to any other living beings. I will be around in Taibai Plains just beside where you live. If you, elders, have prepared the Reiki crystals, you may come and find me. Also, I hope you remember that there is a Demon Army infiltrating Taibai Plains. If they are not stopped, Taibai Plains will be destroyed, and become corrupted and impure…”
With that, the young lady from Taibai Plains turned to leave. Ren Changsheng let out a sigh and said, “Indeed, we can only make a deal with elves…The elves would rather die than give in to other demands. It is no use trying to coerce these spiritual animals who are bred by the heavens and the earth into giving in to us.”
Ren Woxing was slightly surprised and remarked, “Second Brother, you did not seem like such a person before.”
Ren Changsheng said, “For us to be able to continue our lineage, it is a must to be firm and cold-hearted. Big Brother, as the head of the family, you have to preserve your dignity, while Third Brother is still young and inexperienced. Naturally, I have to be the more unpleasant one.”
The conversation ended and Ren Suo saw a line of information appear at the upper right corner of the screen:
[Seek and suppress the evil demons and gather Reiki crystals to continue the Ren family bloodline. You fail if all the members of the Ren family die.]
It seems like the game is in stages, and the first mission now is to…have a child!
Ren Suo noticed that the bar at the bottom left corner of the screen now had a [Start Expedition] option, along with the [Training] option.
He clicked on [Start Expedition] and Ren Changsheng said, “Without a doubt, we need to have Reiki crystals if we want to make a spiritual connection with elves. Apart from the rare occasion that a Reiki crystal is received by chance, the best method now is none other than to slay the evil demons.”
“A Demon Army is entrenched in Taibai Plains. If they continue to remain in Taibai Plains, the practice of the earth elf there would very likely be disrupted. She is currently the only female elf body that we know of. The higher her level of attainment, the higher the quality of the children she bears. House Master, let us now deal with the Demon Army!”
A large brown-colored map that looked like it was made from sheepskin instantly appeared on the screen. Ren Suo could easily identify the map as that of the Three Kingdoms during the final years of the Eastern Han Dynasty. There was a green dot in the center of the map, beside Luoyang City, which was marked: [House of the Ren Family].
Beside the green dot, there was a black dot that was marked [Taibai Plains] and showed that it was in the state “Demons entrenched”.
The house of the Ren family was actually on a mountain close to Luoyang City?
Apart from Taibai Plains and the Ren house, all the other areas like “Luoyang City”, “Chang’an City”, and “Ye City” remained greyed out and locked. Ren Suo could only select “Taibai Plains”.
[Please select the members for the expedition.]
[Ren Woxing, 18 years old: Attack 1, Defense 0, Scout 0, Movement 0, Recovery 0, Management 1.]
[Ren Changsheng, 16 years old: Attack 1, Defense 0, Scout 0, Movement 0, Recovery 0, Management 1.]
[Ren Feifan, 14 years old: Attack 1, Defense 0, Scout 0, Movement 0, Recovery 0, Management 0.]
Apart from the [Attack] skill which they had just finished training, all of them had a skill level of 0 for all the other aspects…
Aren’t they naturally talented?! Ren Suo lamented in his heart.
Regardless, whether they were considered a mule or a horse, they had to do something. Ren Suo selected all of them for the expedition.
[For safety reasons, there must be at least 1 person remaining to guard the house.]
Ren Suo kicked Ren Feifan who appeared to be the weakest of the three brothers out of the team.
[The guardian of the house must have a Management skill greater than 0.]
Ren Suo wanted to vomit blood. The game is so detailed, Ren Suo thought as he kicked Ren Changsheng out from the expedition team instead.
[There are 41 units of food (1 unit of food can sustain 1 person for 1 day) and 14 units of treasure (1 unit of treasure can be exchanged for 1 unit of food) in the house. How much would you like to bring along for the expedition?]
Is the Ren family so poor?
Ren Suo pondered for a moment and decided to bring 20 units of food and no treasures.
The screen returned to the Ren family’s hut. The [Start Expedition] option now showed that “1 team has been dispatched”. Ren Changsheng said, “Big Brother left me behind…What should I do? Practice, I shall.”
Ren Suo opened the [Training] menu and found that there was 1 action point available, just as he expected. He thought for a moment and selected the option [Recovery].
Ren Suo found that the game was not very difficult yet, and this was a family economic simulation game.
The most important thing to take note of when playing economic simulation games was to not fall into any traps and be at a disadvantage. Now that two of the Ren brothers were sent out to fight, there was a high chance that they would be injured or even die. Thus, it was a decent choice to train someone at home to have healing abilities.
The 1 action point was used and the scene changed to that following Ren Woxing, who was walking in the forest with Third Brother.
[Ren Woxing and Ren Feifan are heading towards Taibai Plains.]
On the screen, Ren Suo saw three paths appear on the forest map. All the paths led towards the same destination “Taibai Plains”, but there were four to five question marks along each of the paths.
“Ah?” Ren Suo pulled the corners of his mouths and randomly selected one of the paths.
“Along the way, both of you encountered a fierce and ferocious tiger!
Is a fight about to happen?!
Ren Suo sat upright as he looked at the screen intently.
[The third Brother, Ren Feifan, was too scared and retreated from the battle, leaving only Ren Woxing behind to face the ferocious tiger!]
The scene zoomed in deeper into the forest. A young man holding a wooden sword was standing on one side, and a ferocious tiger equivalent to the size of three young men was on the other side. Both of them were separated by a large distance as they looked at each other intently…
Available actions: [Attack] [Defend] [Heal] [Move]
“Isn’t this just a turn-based game?!” Ren Suo rolled his eyes as he queried the statistics of the ferocious tiger:
[Ferocious tiger: Attack 0.8, Defense 0, Scout 0, Movement 0, Recovery 0.]
“…Eh? The tiger is so weak too?” Ren Suo said as he scratched his head. He selected [Attack].
“An average sword made of average metal can turn into anything in the hands of a tenacious wielder!” Ren Woxing shouted. The next moment, the wooden sword turned into a long beam of red and hit the tiger!
The beam of light sliced through the head of the ferocious tiger and blood started flowing out of its head as it fell dead to the ground within moments.
[The battle has ended. You obtained 7 units of animal meat on the body of the ferocious animal.]
Is it so simple? Ren Suo was bewildered for a moment.
The screen returned to the map. Ren Woxing was extremely angry and said, “Third Brother, why did you run away?”
Ren Feifan cried, “I…I’m scared…”