"Do you really not want us to accompany you?" Ren's mother asked, her face etched with worry.

"Bro went to university by himself on the high-speed rail too," Ren Xingmei said as she stuffed her luggage into the trunk. "Dad taking me to the station is enough. Mom, you don't need to come along."

"Your brother is your brother, and you are you. How can you compare?" Ren's mother huffed.

Ren Xingmei muttered, "Don't tell me my brother isn't your biological son?"

"Of course, he is! It was on a dark and stormy night..."

Ren Xingmei was both shocked and pleased. "He's really not your biological son?"

"...Because the weather was so bad, your dad didn't want to go out and buy a 'protective umbrella,' so that's how I got pregnant with your brother!" Ren's mother poked Ren Xingmei's forehead. "What are you thinking? Your brother looks just like your dad, silly expression and all. How could he not be your biological son?"

Sitting in the driver's seat, Ren's father silently turned on the car stereo. A sinuous female voice drifted from the radio, singing, "Burning my calories..."

"Then... am I not your biological daughter either?" Ren Xingmei guessed again. "Some parents are especially good to their adopted daughters..."

"You look as beautiful as I did when I was young! If anyone says you're not my biological daughter, I'll fight them!" Ren's mother poked Ren Xingmei's forehead three times. "Stop thinking such nonsense. Go there and study hard. If you lack anything or need anything, just ask us. Your brother is already a grown man, yet his social media feed doesn't have a single food picture. He's been a solo act since he left my womb, so we're saving some money for him to start a family..."

Ren Xingmei recalled the four girls Ren Suo knew—all strikingly different but undeniably beautiful—and thought that his single status might not be due to money, but purely because his brain had gone haywire after university.

"But aren't you going to call your brother?"

"The ride there takes a whole day! And I have to register on time, not too early or too late. I'll find my brother after I'm done with that." Ren Xingmei stuck out her tongue. "I'll call him when I'm right outside his door to give him a surprise!"

"If your brother gets a girlfriend, you have to tell us," Ren's mother instructed. "Make him bring her over to meet us for an engagement right away. Whatever it takes, we need to lure her in the door first..."

Ren Xingmei replied, "Why does that sound like abduction? My brother's a good catch: he doesn't whore around, gamble, or drink. He's a Cultivator, which is a sought-after profession, and he works at the academy..."

Ren's mother said, "But he's a blockhead."

"That's true..."

Ren's father said helplessly, "It's almost time. Get in the car, let's go to the station."

"Bye, Mom!"

Watching Ren Xingmei's car drive away, Ren's mother checked the time, planning to go grocery shopping. As she turned, she ran into a familiar auntie.

"Oh, Auntie Ren, I just got back from buying groceries... I saw you and your daughter chatting by the roadside from a distance."

"Yes, my daughter is going to study in Lianjiang. I really can't bear to see her go," Ren's mother sighed, her expression still worried. "Even though she's going to that... what's it called... Heavenly Lotus Academy—yes, that's it, the Cultivator University everyone is desperate to get into—and even though my eldest son works there—yes, yes, my son is also one of those Cultivators—I'm still worried about my daughter. After all, she's my own flesh and blood..."

"You're so fortunate, having such successful children! How did you raise them?"

"Oh, just taught them casually, you know," Ren's mother said, though her pride was evident. "After all, they're my own daughter and son. It's quite normal for them to have these achievements..."

---

Finally, the last household...

Ren Suo had been playing games non-stop since returning from the Pure Wisdom Temple. On the fourth day of the game, as the adventurer reached an estate just before sunset, Ren Suo felt an inexplicable nervousness.

There were a total of ten families in the village, twenty-two people in all. Now, on the fourth day of the game, the adventurer needed to scrounge a meal and record their statements at the last household.

And this household happened to be the home of Grandpa Fugui, the owner of the Azure-Purple Qilin Ox that the villagers had mentioned many times before.

"I entered the courtyard and found it to be just a regular quadrangle.

The cowshed was empty, while roosters, hens, and chicks were clucking away in the henhouse.

In the pond, several Carp were loitering, occasionally surfacing and sending out ripples in succession.

In the yard, cured meats and grains were also drying. Under the setting sun, the courtyard was so peaceful and serene.

There was nobody in the house. I went in for a look and found that the place really had an air of antiquity, with practically all the furniture being hand-carved wooden pieces."

"After a while, an old farmer came over leading an ox. The ox's steps were slow, its brown skin somewhat slack, indicating its old age.

The old farmer saw me and told me that his family hadn't returned yet. He asked me to wait there while he went to call them home.

I looked at the ox grazing by the cowshed and said I could go with him to find them.

But unexpectedly, the old farmer moved incredibly fast; he was gone the moment he finished speaking. And when I tried to run out, the ox he had led back swiftly blocked the courtyard gate.

The next second, azure-purple scales appeared on the old ox's body. The grass beneath its hooves began to wither, and the nearby wooden stakes started to rot.

I stumbled back two steps in shock, only to see the chickens from the nearby henhouse suddenly flap their wings and fly up to the branches of the Chinese parasol tree. Their feathers instantly ignited, and their clucking sounds transformed into the melodious chirps of a phoenix.

The rooster and hens transformed into Golden-winged Phoenixes taller than I, their bodies seemingly forged from fiery flames, soaring in the sky and looking down on me.

The fish in the pond also underwent a drastic transformation. The pond surged with towering waves, splashing water everywhere. Moments later, the fish were all gone, replaced by a group of beautiful mermaids whose bodies were partially covered by scales. They swam joyfully in the clear pond. Noticing me, they showed no shyness, revealing their ample chests, where shells could only cover the tiniest parts of their proud figures.

With radiant smiles, they emerged from the pond one by one. With a casual flick of their wrists, drawing from the water, their hands grasped water stream blades. The blades emitted a high-frequency vibration, like the buzzing of flies. A light slash from their hands, and the earth was torn apart by the water stream blades."

"Creatures that walk the land, fly in the sky, and swim in the water... It seems this dinner will be quite bountiful..."

"I grant you the dignity of being food and will give you a respectable death."

Seconds later, Ren Suo began to reload his game.

Without a doubt, it was the adventurer who became their dinner.

Not to mention the one-hit kill techniques of the Azure-Purple Qilin Ox, the adventurer couldn't even handle the Dual-blade Mermaids and Golden-winged Phoenixes.

The swords of the Dual-blade Mermaids—whether high-frequency cutting blades or high-pressure water jets—breached the adventurer's defense with every strike. After just a few slashes, the adventurer was crippled.

As for the Golden-winged Phoenix, it turned out to be a long-range attacker, casting spells from the sky. In an instant, red, blue, purple, green, and all kinds of energy bombarded the adventurer. Even with the bonuses from Chapters One and Two of Mysterious Sovereign's Secret Records, and the rebound from the Reincarnation Eye Contact Lenses, the adventurer was still blown to bits by the spells.

The Azure-Purple Qilin Ox didn't even have to lift a hoof; the adventurer was already down.

Without a doubt, Grandpa Fugui's family, if not the final boss, was probably a mini-boss.

The Dual-blade Mermaid represents the pinnacle of physical attack, while the Golden-winged Phoenix signifies the apex of energy attack. To withstand these two waves of assaults, one would either need a prop capable of wiping out all enemies instantly with an ultimate attack, or one would have to stack the adventurer's physical and magical defenses.

Interestingly, Ren Suo could take either of these paths.

Indeed, there was a prop capable of clearing the field instantly—a peculiar one, dark red all over, adorned with red patterns, resembling both a sword and a spear:

*Heaven-Earth Sundering, World-Piercing Star: An epic-level prop, an object that carves out worlds. Upon use, it instantly destroys everything within a 100-meter radius—all matter (including equipment) and souls—and then forges a new world. Can only be used once, after which it automatically disappears. Requires 250 energy points.*

If this prop were used, the adventurer would undoubtedly also be within the range of destruction. However, the adventurer's "Red Heart Rimmed Sunglasses" were still intact, capable of withstanding one fatal attack, so that wouldn't be an issue.

But the problem was that this prop could only be used once in this game, and it would nearly exhaust all the energy points Ren Suo had accumulated. This meant if there were still enemies afterward, the adventurer would have to rely solely on their own skills.

Of course, that wasn't the main point. The main point was that not only could this prop be used only once, but it would also destroy all of the adventurer's equipment. Even if Ren Suo was willing to scan again, the adventurer might not be able to earn enough energy points afterward!

In other words, if Fugui's family isn't the final boss after using this prop, then the adventurer is doomed. If they are the final boss, then Ren Suo will be at a significant loss, as he wasn't just aiming for the Merit Points from completing the level this time.

As for the other path—stacking defensive power—Ren Suo could also manage that.

Admittedly, a prop that could grant almost simultaneous immunity to 'physical attacks' and 'energy attacks' would require a massive amount of energy points; even the current adventurer didn't have enough energy.

But if these requirements were broken down and exchanged for separately, the required Merit Points would decrease by more than half.

Physical Immunity could be achieved through 'Energy Charge Nullification,' 'Body Hardening,' 'Block,' or even 'Light as a Feather,' 'Blurry Evasion,' 'Three-Tomoe Eye,' and so on. If it was just to nullify physical attacks, Ren Suo could come up with many prop combinations, and the same applied to energy attacks.

These props, with only one or two small effects, didn't require many energy points; some were even rare-level props. Ren Suo searched his prop library and could easily gather the necessary items.

The problem with this method was that Ren Suo's future prize pools would be diluted with many more junk items.

After thinking for a long while, Ren Suo decided to first see if there was a third path.

During the adventurer's previous actions, Ren Suo had vaguely noticed something amiss: when the adventurer went to other people's homes, there would always be someone there to receive them.

However, when the adventurer came to Fugui's home, there was a short period where only the adventurer was present; it was a while later that Grandpa Fugui came back leading the ox.

While it's normal for people to be out farming and not at home in reality, this game isn't reality.

After reloading, the adventurer once again entered the courtyard, and Ren Suo pressed pause.

As expected, new options appeared in the adventurer's actions:

"There's actually no one home? Weren't they supposed to treat me to a meal? Should I explore the house, take something out of my backpack, or head to the kitchen and help cook?"

"Explore," "Take something out of the backpack," "Cook."

Ren Suo chose "Cook," and the adventurer's hands suddenly burst into flames:

"Then let's have roasted chicken and grilled fish—"

"A few Fireballs rained down. With a few loud BANGS, the chickens in the henhouse turned into roasted chickens, and the fish in the pond became grilled fish. I went into the house, found some platters, and proceeded to prepare these cooked chickens and fish further."

"Just then, an old farmer returned, leading an ox. He saw that I had roasted all the chickens and fish and asked in astonishment, 'What are you doing?'"

"I replied, 'I saw no one was here and thought it was a self-serve buffet. My apologies.'"

"The old farmer waved his hand, indicating he didn't mind, but he asked why I had killed and cooked everything. 'Can you eat this much?'"

"I said, 'Well, I mainly feel that a family should be complete, all together... nice and tidy, right?'"

"As everyone knows, I am a kind person."

What happened to granting food its dignity?

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