Old Xing muttered for a while, then, noticing Lian Han's perfunctory attitude, he reassured him: "Don't worry. So what if you've run into the future? It's not like you can't go back."
Lian Han silently pulled out a message and showed it to him.
"Missing Person Notice: The youngest princess of the Ling family has gone missing. The Ling family will reward anyone who provides information."
Old Xing: ...Being slapped in the face so instantly is incredibly painful.
[Um—what exactly did you remember before?]
Lian Han looked at his left hand, where a three-centimeter-long insect-shaped mark was clearly visible, with even the insect's texture clearly discernible, as if it were a living creature.
She closed her eyes briefly, her voice calm and devoid of warmth: "[The Blood Flower's nourishment comes from bloodworms, and the bloodworms' food—is us.] When this mark reappears, she will, as that person said, only by bleeding herself and having her bones cut open can she find temporary relief."
Old Xing wanted to ask more, but seeing her mood, he wisely stopped the topic. "So what do we do now? Go back and claim your relatives? If your bone age doesn't match, will the Ling family believe you?"
[Ask the system. System, if you're not dead, say something.]
[squeak--]
Lian Han and the other person: ...Where did the aloof system go? Has it become stupid?
Seemingly realizing its entrance was inappropriate, the system issued a mission: [Survival mission triggered. Upgrade Beast Card #1. Please use whatever resources are available.]
[Let's put the mission aside for now. Is there any way to remove this mark?] After saying that, Lian Han added, [Any cost is acceptable.]
The system paused for a moment, then said, "[At the host's request, and based on the principle of equivalent exchange, the host will be deprived of the sense of pain.]"
As the system voice faded, the girl watched the mark on the back of her hand disappear little by little, and finally curled her lips into a beautiful yet mad and dangerous smile.
[Are you sure you've really calmed down?] Old Xing sensed something was wrong.
Ever since she was triggered and remembered things from before she was eight years old, this girl's behavior has been off. Even though she seems calm now, her actions show a complete lack of composure.
[I calmly considered how to make the Blood Flower disappear.]
"Is this what you call calm?" Old Xing wanted to grab the girl and give her a beating, but then he heard her continue: "[Blood Nether Flower, I don't believe this organization only exists on Nora Star. With my strength alone, I simply cannot completely destroy it. This will be an extremely long process.]"
[what you up to? ]
[I don't want to do anything. But from now on, my goal will be—to destroy the Blood Flower and kill Cangming.]
The seriousness in the girl's tone silenced Old Man Xing.
She had truly calmed down. But the situation seemed worse than he had anticipated. If it was just a momentary outburst of anger, he could have persuaded her to calm down and waited for her to regain her composure before making any further plans.
But she was truly calm now, calmly planning how to destroy that organization. She had already made up her mind—the Blood Flower must disappear.
Lian Han is a person who can humbly accept other people's opinions. When she is unsure, she will ask him or the system. After making a decision, she will listen to reasonable opinions and make changes.
But she is also a very stubborn person. Once she has made up her mind about something, no amount of persuasion will work.
He knew long ago that others would turn back after hitting a wall, but Lian Han wouldn't. She would choose to harden her head until she smashed the wall down!
She is now determined to destroy the Blood Nether Flower. Old Man Xing can't imagine what will happen if she later discovers that the Blood Nether Flower is indestructible by human power.
He couldn't be sure whether Lian Han would still stick to his principles at that time, or whether he would choose to destroy the Blood Nether Flower by any means necessary.
Old Xing is in a terrible mood right now. It's like the flower he's been carefully tending is about to bloom, but after seeing bad people, it's been too traumatized and has gone astray, and the direction it's gone is unpredictable!
That bastard Cangming!
[Old man, is there any kind of blood-like paint that, once applied to the body, cannot be removed by any means?]
[what you up to? ]
[The mark has disappeared; you need to get a new one.]
Old Xing held back for a moment, then couldn't hold back any longer. "Are you crazy? You've already made a deal with the system to erase the mark, why would you want it tattooed back? Want to erase it again? What will you trade this time? Hearing?"
[It's obvious you only know about the Blood Nether Flower and the Azure Sea, and have no understanding of their internal composition. The Blood Worm Mark planted by the Blood Nether Flower is a kind of poison, or rather, a parasite. They grow inside the human body and may not have any effect normally, but once they take effect, the person will uncontrollably self-harm. Only by letting the blood worms suck their blood and gnaw on their bones can this condition be alleviated. The Blood Worm Mark will then temporarily disappear, waiting for the next attack.]
[These demons! Scoundrels! Wait, you're trying to infiltrate the Blood Nether Flower Sect? Let me tell you, that's impossible! Even from half a galaxy away, Cangming can sense your presence. And you want to run right under his nose? How do you want to die?]
Lian Han paused for a moment, then said, "That's true. It seems we'll have to wait until we've made a top-tier Divine Gathering Card before considering it."
Old Man Xing: ...Haven't you changed your mind yet? So why did he teach her the Spirit Gathering Card in the first place?
"That's for later," Lian Han said calmly. "System, what's needed to upgrade Number 1?"
[Summon a Beast Card.]
Lian Han did as instructed, and a dark green card appeared in her hand.
Advanced Beast Card (Unnamed)
Attribute: Poison
Effect: Summons a scorpion-like beast to fight.
Energy state: stable
Durability: Permanent
It has to be said that the attribute descriptions of the monster cards and character cards are no different from those of ordinary cards, which explains why no one has ever realized that they are all living creatures.
[Infuse with spiritual energy.]
Lian Han looked around. It was a small alley, but judging from the noise coming from it, there was a lot of foot traffic nearby. Should she call out the scorpion now?
Seemingly aware of her concerns, the system added: [You cannot summon beasts until the card is fully upgraded.]
Lian Han was relieved and channeled his spiritual energy, and another line of text appeared.
Upgrade requires: Poison (any kind of poison, the more poisonous the better).
Lian Han was confused, but then Old Man Xing explained: "[This card needs to be poisoned to level up. Upgrading from high-level to special-level requires quite a bit of poison.]"
Lian Han was speechless. What kind of weird setting is this? Could it be any more bizarre? Lian Han was unaware that there were indeed even more bizarre things waiting for her to unlock in Number 1.
Lian Han decided to change the subject. [The system just mentioned using local materials? What kind of poison is on this Mercury?]
[I really don't know.]
[Who just said Mercury was his hometown, and then went on to ramble on about all that other nonsense?]
[That's basic common sense for someone living on Mercury.] After correcting him, the old man added, [Besides, fifteen or sixteen years have passed. In this era where everything changes so quickly, how would I know what it's like here now?]
Lian Han tapped the smart device and said quietly, "Does your system of generational updates include families?"
[How is this possible?]
Lian Han remained silent, then gave a cold laugh. [I never knew you, old man, enjoyed being humiliated so much.]
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