Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Tag Advancement, The 2nd Simulation! A Mysterious Woman!

Over the next 2 hours, Zhao Jin stayed inside Guardian King's Manor, grinding for Merit Points.

Every last servant had been tormented by Zhao Jin to the point of near collapse.

Even Guard Commander Dian Cheng-feng could only watch and shake his head repeatedly.

Guardian King Zhao Shi-zhong had fought campaigns across the land—wise, valiant, a paragon of brilliance. Mention his name, and who would not raise a thumb in admiration?

Who would have thought he'd raise someone like Zhao Jin—a pampered, good-for-nothing young master.

With a grandson and heir like this, Guardian King's Manor was unlikely to survive another generation.

What a shame, all that hard-won foundation, going to waste.

Zhao Jin was unaware of Dian Cheng-feng's thoughts, and even if he had been, he wouldn't have cared.

After the simulation, Zhao Jin understood clearly—Guardian King's Manor was a nest of crises.

If the original body had been a genius instead of a Good-for-nothing, he'd have long been assassinated by enemies. How could he have survived to this day?

The fact that Zhao Jin was still alive owed not only to the manor's guards, but to the enemies lurking in the shadows who saw him as no threat.

This was misfortune giving way to fortune.

Over those 2 hours, Zhao Jin had ground out over 1,200 Merit Points.

He had originally planned to keep grinding.

At that moment, Minister of Revenue Wang Er-he arrived at the door to apologize, bringing Wang Rong—whose face was bruised and swollen from Zhao Jin's earlier beating—along with several large chests of gifts.

Wang Rong was a man of distinguished standing. Who knew how many Merit Points could be squeezed out of him?

Zhao Jin acted the moment the thought struck him. Right in front of Wang Er-he's eyes, he drove a kick straight into his son.

【You have kicked Wang Rong in a vital spot, curing him of his obsession with women. Merit Points +8】

The Merit Points were indeed quite a bit more than usual. Zhao Jin was very satisfied.

Wang Er-he's face, however, had gone iron-dark in an instant.

Zhao Jin was truly too arrogant—he didn't give the slightest regard to him, the Minister of Revenue.

Yet Zhao Jin only pressed further, sneering, “What are you staring at? You call this a gift? Who do you think you’re looking down on? The person stays with me—go back and bring something better!”

Wang Er-he was so furious he swept his sleeves and stormed off.

The moment he left, Zhao Jin began alternating between applying hemostatic powder on Wang Rong and raining punches and kicks down on him.

Don't misunderstand—it wasn't that Zhao Jin feared killing him; rather, he was worried the man wouldn't last long enough to be useful.

【Merit Points +8】

【Merit Points +7】

【Merit Points +9】

……

With Wang Rong's assistance, Zhao Jin ground out 5,000 Merit Points in a single hour. He was thoroughly satisfied.

By the time Wang Er-he returned with even more apology gifts, Wang Rong had already been beaten by Zhao Jin into something barely human—only one last breath keeping him tethered to the living.

Wang Er-he pointed at Zhao Jin, trembling from head to toe. “Tomorrow’s court assembly—this old man will submit a heavy impeachment against you before His Majesty!”

Zhao Jin showed not a flicker of fear. Instead, he was practically itching to give the old man a thrashing.

So frightened was Wang Er-he that he immediately turned and fled with his people.

He was a civil official, after all. He couldn't take Zhao Jin's fists.

Zhao Jin opened the Simulator and glanced at his Merit Points.

【Merit Points: 6,859】

Good. That was already enough to advance 1 green tag.

Zhao Jin didn’t hesitate. He tapped the 【+】 symbol that had lit up beside 【Tag Plunderer】.

【Tag Plunderer】 blurred for a moment. When it resolved once more, it had shifted from a grassy green to a deep, imposing ocean blue.

【Tag Plunderer (6-Star Blue): You may plunder tags from others and claim them as your own. In addition to the current base, you may plunder 1 extra white tag, 1 extra green tag, and 1 extra blue tag.】

With that, Zhao Jin had gained 3 more tag slots.

Especially the blue tag—that was Earth Grade.

It was also the key to whether Zhao Jin could survive the Family-Annihilating Calamity 3 years from now.

At this point, he had just over 800 Merit Points remaining—enough to advance 1 white tag.

Zhao Jin’s gaze drifted between 3 tags: 【Born With Brute Strength】, 【Extreme Yang Constitution】, and 【Extraordinary Bone Aptitude】.

Which one to choose?

Zhao Jin pondered for a moment—then ultimately chose to keep grinding Merit Points!

Only a child would make a choice. Zhao Jin wanted them all!

White tags didn't require many Merit Points anyway. An hour or 2 would be enough to advance all of them.

An hour later, Zhao Jin's Merit Points finally reached 1,400. He raised his hand and advanced all 3 tags at once.

The 3 tags twisted and distorted, shifting from radiant white to grassy green.

【Born With Brute Strength → Born With Divine Strength: You possess divine strength from birth, capable of lifting boulders bare-handed, and can wield a force of ten thousand catties.】

【Extreme Yang Constitution → Extreme Yang Physique: The yang energy within your body is abundant and ceaseless. Cultivating yang-attribute arts yields significantly enhanced efficiency.】

【Extraordinary Bone Aptitude → Martial Arts Prodigy: Your efficiency when cultivating any martial art is 3 times that of the average person!】

Having advanced 4 tags in one go, Zhao Jin brimming with confidence, launched into a new round of simulation.

【Ding—commencing the 2nd Merit Simulation.】

【Drawing Talent Tags……】

【Congratulations, Host, on drawing the 3-Star Talent Tag: Vigilance!】

【Vigilance (3-Star Green): Your perception is extraordinarily sharp. You can always sense lurking dangers before they strike.】

Seeing this tag, Zhao Jin had the feeling that this round's tag draw was no longer blessed by the Empress's karmic fortune.

Still, the tag had its uses—it would let Zhao Jin dodge many hidden dangers.

In any case, Zhao Jin had already decided: this simulation, he would flee the manor ahead of schedule. This tag might just prove its worth in ways he couldn't yet predict.

【You are the 3rd-Generation Heir of Guardian King's Manor, the fiancé of the Ninth Imperial Princess Xiao Yue-huang, arrogant and domineering throughout Capital City for quite some time now.】

【On Day 1, in order to accumulate virtue and perform good deeds, you first wrote a letter to Xiao Yue-huang, mocking her for having sacrificed her body only to lose the marriage as well—making her understand what it meant for a person's heart to be treacherous and for a promise to be broken.】

【After that, you disciplined a number of servants who had been slacking off, tormenting them without mercy.】

【When Minister of Revenue Wang Er-he arrived with gifts to apologize, you still beat his son within an inch of his life, leaving Wang Er-he so furious he nearly fainted on the spot.】

【That very night, while you lay asleep with a handmaiden in your arms, a dark shadow slipped into your room without a sound, without a trace.】

“Who is this person?”

Zhao Jin was somewhat startled.

Sneaking in in the dead of night—clearly no good intentions.

This was something that had never occurred in the previous simulation.

Could it be an assassin Wang Er-he hired in revenge?

This simulation isn’t going to end before it even begins, is it?

【The shadow attempted to plant some sort of mysterious curse on you—but midway through, your Talent Tag 【Vigilance】 activated, jolting you awake from your sleep.】

【You spotted the shadow and were greatly alarmed. You immediately unleashed 【Soul-Severing Finger Art】, thrusting it toward the intruder.】

【The shadow's power was extraordinary. Your Soul-Severing Finger Art failed to harm them in the slightest.】

【However, the intruder was stunned—you actually had martial arts.】

【You then cried out at the top of your lungs, drawing in the manor's guards and startling the shadow into retreat.】

【Even with Dian Cheng-feng personally intervening, the shadow could not be captured.】

【But he was able to determine that the intruder was a woman, with a strength no weaker than the 7th-tier of the Mystic Core Realm.】

“A woman at the 7th-tier of the Mystic Core Realm?”

Zhao Jin was puzzled. When had he ever offended someone that powerful?

And it seemed the other party hadn’t come to take his life—they had come to plant some kind of curse on him.

Could it be…her?

A suspicion was already beginning to take shape in Zhao Jin's mind.

There was also the matter of Dian Cheng-feng—wasn’t he a Martial Saint? How could he fail to subdue someone at merely the 7th-tier of the Mystic Core Realm?

Was he unwilling to capture her—or was it due to injuries sustained in years past?