The amount of planar decreasing every second was the time Jinyo had left. The entire wolf pack kicked off and lunged forward together, creating confusion for the enemy. His eyes changed to red, checking their information.
Bloodline Deduction
Gray Wolf Level 3, Gray Wolf Level 2, Gray Wolf Level 4, Gray Wolf Level 3, Gray Wolf Level 3
Jinyo launched himself toward the gray wolf with the highest level. Pink aura spread, covering and flooding his white clothing. The sweet scent of wildflowers blooming in mountain valleys dispersed from the young man. Emphasizing and intensifying the Sword Spirit's sharpness. Every muscle moved and flowed with thought as if it were part of instinct. Sword movements practiced more than tens of thousands of times throughout his life were displayed.
Song of a Hundred Flowers, First Movement: Peach Blossom Burst, Abbreviated Version
Peach blossom petals swirled through the mountain forest. Jinyo swung the sword blade, slashing with speed and decisive precision. Compensating for lacking physical strength with long-practiced skill. The blunt wooden sword cut and gashed flesh, creating wounds. Attack power wasn't enough to create severe damage. Compensated by second and third strikes.
"Yelp!" The gray wolf was dazed. It couldn't see this human's movements at all. In the blink of an eye, peach blossom petals were created from emptiness. Its attention was drawn by the pink peach petals and the captivating wildflower scent.
Jinyo still hadn't stopped moving. He lunged, raising his sword toward the next gray wolf. They were very close together and couldn't avoid clashing with more than two enemies simultaneously. But it wasn't a problem. One of them was a Level 2 gray wolf.
Eye of the Sage
Jinyo's eyes changed to blue. Movement information and all flaws were reported and displayed on the system. The Eye of the Sage had the power to examine flaws in what was being observed. The lower the level, the more thoroughly it could be read.
[Blind left eye] [Injured hind leg]
Jinyo kicked loose, coarse dirt to scatter toward the face of the Level 3 gray wolf on the left. Sent force from his foot lunging to the left. The Level 2 gray wolf on the right focused all its attention on Jinyo. It accidentally exerted force with its legs, launching itself to chase its targeted prey. But its completely blind left eye made it forget to notice the wolf friend on its left. Fangs bit straight into the throat of its pack mate unintentionally. The Level 3 gray wolf got dirt kicked in its eyes. It was dazed and confused, making its response slow down by several seconds.
Peach Blossom Dance!
Jinyo lunged in close, striking at the major blood vessels of both wolves that had been lured to bite each other. Only a few seconds remained. The large wolf injured from the first strike stumbled from being struck on its front leg and major blood vessel. The other three gray wolves without wounds didn't dare approach rashly.
This human's aura was so weak it couldn't compare to other humans. But what was this pressure? It even made the pack leader injured and weakened to this extent. In less than ten seconds, half the pack members had already fallen. Fear of the unknown. An aura that felt like neither human nor animal that they just sensed. Awakening fear that had been suppressed by greed to surface.
What inspired the entire pack to come here anyway?
They only felt that the ground at this spot was so attractive. They wanted to possess it and establish territory. If they could eliminate this weak human, this land would become theirs. The desire to possess without restraint made them challenge something beyond common sense. How could the one possessing this treasure land be such a weak, pitiful living being? This hairless monkey-like thing was a devil in human guise.
"Get lost right now."
"!!??"
"Will you get lost back to the forest, or will I behead you here?"
"Yelp!!" Sorry, pack leader!
"Yelp yelp!!" Sorry, brothers!
The remaining three wolves quickly ran out of the Anonymous God's Sword Garden without looking back. Jinyo sighed, looking at the three wolves injured in the legs until they couldn't run anymore. Brutal wounds cut deep with red blood staining them so much they should change their name from gray wolves to red wolves. The planar he had ran out like a gas stove suddenly having its valve turned off. The incomparable feeling disappeared, returning to being trash without planar as before.
Jinyo walked toward them as they crawled, crying for mercy. But what hunter would easily release prey held in their mouth? Such good fortune would never happen. He raised the wooden sword and thrust down into the center of the skull with full force.
[You have eliminated the intruder, Gray Wolf Level 4. Received 8-hour Plant Cultivation Ticket. Please select the plot of land you wish to accelerate growth.]
[You have eliminated the intruder, Gray Wolf Level 3. Received 6-hour Plant Cultivation Ticket. Please select the plot of land you wish to accelerate growth.]
[You have eliminated the intruder, Gray Wolf Level 2. Received 4-hour Plant Cultivation Ticket. Please select the plot of land you wish to accelerate growth.]
[Plant Cultivation Tickets you currently have accumulated: 16 hours]
"Not experience points but time to accelerate plant growth. I can kind of understand the operating principle now." Jinyo looked up at the golden window that appeared.
[Eliminating intruders will grant X2 tickets. Hunting monsters that are not invading the area will not receive Plant Cultivation Ticket bonuses. Hunting monsters with lower levels will not receive Plant Cultivation Tickets. Please use the system appropriately.]
"The restrictions are truly harsh." If it wasn't a monster with a level higher than his, he wouldn't get rewards. Jinyo opened the window to check status. The word Level 1 appeared after his name. This world had power measurement technology called [Level-Link]. What was called Level didn't measure all the strength a person had. But it meant the potential to efficiently draw out existing power. The higher the level, the better one could utilize all stats.
The method of increasing level wasn't like killing monsters to collect experience points. But relied on help from cultivation techniques. Absorbing beneficial nutrients. Refining technique skills. Trash without planar wouldn't be measured for power by Level-Link. That is, they were Level Zero.
Changing from 0 to 1 showed that Jinyo had escaped from the lowest status of modern human society.
Jinyo dragged the gray wolves to the buy box. Lifted their bodies and stuffed them into the box.
[Weight 85.6 kilograms] The box displayed numbers when the Level 3 gray wolf went inside. Jinyo carried the remaining gray wolves in until the weight shot up. The large gray wolf that was the pack leader alone weighed 120.6 kilograms. That caused him a problem.
[Warning: Maximum purchase capacity is 200 kilograms. Current weight 206.2 kilograms. The system will not pay you.]
"Too heavy." Jinyo swapped out the Level 3 for the Level 2. The weight decreased to 196.7. The Level 3 gray wolf was left beside the cottage. Waiting until time passed to 5 AM, Jinyo secretly watched from inside the cottage to see if someone would come pick it up. But no. When the clock hand turned to 5 o'clock, golden light flashed brightly. The weight displayed on the buy box returned to 0.
The sound of coins dropping into the coin storage box in Jinyo's cottage. He walked over to open it and found 40 copper coins. Though he didn't know what he could use them for now, Jinyo carefully stored them in the box.
The first light of dawn broke through the curtains of the window that wasn't tightly closed. The aroma of freshly cooked fragrant rice floated and drifted through hot steam up to the second floor of the ancient wooden house full of ventilation holes. The alarm clock woke the young woman to open her eyes. The old wooden ceiling with the ancient glittering lamp that seemed to have come from a hundred years ago was a sight she had seen until it became familiar, until 15 years ago.
The teacher would wake up to cook rice and make food for all three children to get up and eat breakfast before 7 o'clock. The same scenery. The same familiar atmosphere made Rina feel like she had returned home after not visiting for a long time. Since the day she entered military school, she had hardly ever returned here.
Rina woke Ryse and Gretel to bathe and dress properly. The two half-siblings got dominant genes from their father's side, looking alike like twins. Walking drowsily down to the first floor, they saw Jinyo. The image of him quietly spooning and tasting soup—it was impressively indescribable. Rina walked behind these two children and saw the dining table laid out with food.
"Oh wow! So much delicious-looking stuff!" Ryse's eyes widened looking at the abundance of food. Stir-fried vegetables, grilled fish, sweet and sour pork, minced pork omelet, sliced fruit, and fresh vegetable salad with sesame oil dressing. Definitely not something that could be finished in just one hour.
"Did you wake up and make all this early in the morning?"
"Just a little. Everyone eat as much as you want. I put all my effort into making this." To be accurate, Jinyo hadn't even slept. The bloodline and body improvement made his body so energized he couldn't sleep. Rina led the children to sit on chairs, looking at the overwhelming food. A feeling of defeat took over. But not yet... it was too early to give up.
Jinyo scooped an appropriate amount of steamed rice onto plates, serving Rina and the children one by one. The smell of freshly cooked hot rice hit their faces. Rina used a serving spoon to scoop sweet and sour pork over her rice. When she put it in her mouth, she couldn't stop her jaw from chewing.
"Delicious!!" Ryse's eyes widened like goose eggs.
"Gretel, it's really delicious, isn't it?"
"Ah, mm." Gretel chewed sweet and sour pork following his mother. His mother's favorite menu was sweet and sour pork. Gretel had eaten sweet and sour pork often but had never eaten sweet and sour pork this delicious before. The spices were perfectly intense. The sour taste from lime juice and herbs balanced perfectly with the sweetness of sugar. Divine-level cooking skill comparable to restaurant dining.
"Though everything else may have declined, at least your homemaking abilities have never decreased."
"Then why are you glaring at me?"
"It's nothing." Rina didn't make eye contact with Jinyo. She stared at the sweet and sour pork she ate at least once a week. But this particular sweet and sour pork dish—she hadn't eaten it for many years.
"I don't know if it's to your liking. I myself don't remember mother's sweet and sour pork recipe very well. It took wasting several kilos of pork before I could make it similar."
"How many times did you make this?"
"Don't feel bad. I froze it to eat myself in the fridge."
"You idiot. Don't do this in the future, it's wasteful. Since you put in the effort to make it, I'll agree to eat it. Even if it's a failed attempt." Rina turned her face away without making eye contact. She cut sweet and sour pork from the center plate to put on her personal rice plate. Not a single second did her spoon stop.
[Rina Erindel, your concubine. Fondness toward you + 20 affection points]
"Eat a lot. Be careful not to get fat."
Bang!
A fist slammed on the table. Gretel flinched, not daring to look at his mother. He glanced reproachfully at the stupid man sitting bald-headed across from him like an idiot.
"Just now... what did you say?"
"No, nothing. Eat a lot, okay?"
[Rina Erindel, your concubine. Angry at you - 5 affection points]
How does this system even work?
Jinyo gave everyone enjoyment of the meal he worked hard to make. The first meal with his son and daughter. He wanted to create good memories they would be impressed with. Gretel and Ryse ate everything on the table until every plate was clean. Rina went to the refrigerator to take out the sweet and sour pork that Jinyo had made wrong and heated it up to continue eating as a second plate.
Jinyo secretly went to touch Gretel to let the system connect. Gretel's name appeared in the [Heir] category like Ryse.
Bloodline Deduction
[Gretel Erindel]
Father: Jinyo Southerncross
Mother: Rina Erindel
Bloodline: Ancient Flora (Not yet awakened)
planar: None
Element: None
Divine Punishment: None
Spirit: None
Body: None
Strength: G [35 / 1200]
Stamina: G [40 / 1200]
Speed: G [30 / 1200]
Mental: G [21 / 1200]
Intelligence: G [66 / 1200]
Charm: G [51 / 1200]
Dominant Genes: [Sword Genius 3-star (Inheritable)] [Iron Bones 3-star (Inheritable)] [Enduring Heart 2-star (Inheritable)] [The Agile 2-star (Inheritable)] [The Beautiful 2-star (Inheritable)] [Song of a Hundred Flowers 1-star (Inheritable)]
Recessive Genes: [Bloodline Inheritance Failure 5 black stars (Inheritable)] [Trash of the Cultivation World 3 black stars (Inheritable)] [Glutton 2 stars (Inheritable)] [Mood Swings 1 black star (Inheritable)] [Dislikes Socializing 1 black star (Inheritable)]
Bloodline Inheritance Failure? What stood out most in Gretel's character window was the 5 black stars in the recessive genes slot. What was Bloodline Inheritance Failure? Jinyo questioned but there was no written explanation. He turned to look at Ryse to use Bloodline Deduction. He found that it wasn't just Gretel who had [Bloodline Inheritance Failure]. It also appeared in his daughter.
The cause of Ryse's death in the future, 21 years from now, must involve it to some degree.
What Jinyo feared most had happened.
The root cause of the genetic disease came from him as the genetic father.
It was all Jinyo's fault.
"What's wrong?" Rina asked Jinyo, who had been staring blankly at the wall for a long time. Jinyo turned to look at Rina. His facial muscles twitched. The words he wanted to utter were stuck in his throat. How could he tell her that he was one of the causes of why the son she loved had a genetic disease? He had no face to speak to her, including Norn who had disappeared.
"Can you go somewhere with me?"