The change in the attributes column greatly delighted Lin Xin.
Ever since he arrived in this world, he had felt a constant lack of security during this period. Things were alright when Bo Yunzi was still around, but once he left, the dojo relied on the unreliable An Ying for support. Moreover, the misfortune that befell the Lin Family seemed likely to have a sequel, adding to his urgency.
Now, only now, did he finally have a real sense of confidence that was truly his own!
Regaining focus, Lin Xin carefully examined the attributes column. Although there were signs for increasing points behind the four major attributes, he realized upon closer inspection that there was only one point available for free allocation behind each plus sign, just like the martial arts game he used to play.
"Damage, Defense, Evasion, Constitution—these four attributes, if categorized like in the previous games, are determined by strength and speed for Damage, and by one's own defensive blocking abilities for Defense, including skin and muscle defense like Qigong.
Evasion is the ability to dodge, skills like stepping are part of this category, while Constitution is about recovery ability, stamina, etc."
After some thought, Lin Xin decided to first increase his Damage.
"The best defense is to take out the enemy! Once the enemy is down, there's no need for defense, right?"
He had always advocated this approach in his previous gaming experience.
So, without any hesitation, he was about to tap the plus sign next to Damage.
But then he suddenly remembered, could he add points to Inner Strength?
Thinking it, he tried it, opening the icon for the small Return to Origin technique of Inner Strength, but no matter what, he couldn't find a place for adding points, and focusing for a while didn't change anything.
"I figured it wouldn't be so simple..."
Feeling disappointed, he went back to his original plan and placed the point on Damage.
Immediately, the plus sign disappeared, and the value for Damage directly increased from 2 to 3.
Lin Xin immediately felt a warm sensation throughout his muscles and bones, as if a continuous stream of heat was rapidly circulating.
"Senior brother, are you alright?" An Ying's worried voice came from beside his ear.
Lin Xin took a deep breath, as if trying to expel all the stale air from his lungs.
"I'm fine... I feel very good." He raised his hand, feeling it somewhat light and seemingly more nimble. He drew his newly replaced longsword; the three to four catty sword felt much lighter in his hand.
An Ying reached out and pinched his arm, feeling some firm muscles there.
"It's much harder, much thicker..." she said, her mouth open in admiration.
"..." Could you not use such ambiguous words?
Lin Xin's heart skipped a beat, feeling a bit warm, and after glancing at his junior sister, he noticed that many of her wounds had already scarred over, most places no longer bandaged.
Only around her neck was still wrapped in white gauze.
She was tightly clothed in a hunting outfit, which hugged her body like a gymnastics attire, pure black, with a very smooth surface, like leather.
It perfectly accentuated An Ying's fine figure and curves, prominent twin peaks, a slender and soft waist, and long legs.
However, An Ying seemed a bit shy too, wearing a green jacket over her hunting outfit to cover her upper chest, but her legs and rounded buttocks were still quite conspicuous.
"Senior brother, what's the matter?" An Ying appeared innocently bewildered.
"No... nothing. I've never seen you wear these clothes before?" Lin Xin closed his eyes, trying hard not to look at his junior sister, and casually shifted the topic.
"Oh, Uncle Master gave it to me," An Ying responded blankly. "He said it can be used both as hunting gear and as clothing for night travel, very practical. It was also from a Heroine who gave it to him."
"Is that so..." Lin Xin was speechless.
"Yes," An Ying nodded.
One could only imagine that Uncle Master had probably taken it from somewhere again; his collection was indeed vast...
But then, a mischievous thought suddenly came to Lin Xin, and he could also try recreating some clothes from earth in the future, now with an obedient and compliant junior sister around.
As soon as he thought about this, some wicked thought began to creep up, and to avoid embarrassing himself in front of his junior sister and losing his dignity, he quickly suppressed the thought, serious once again.
Seeing that her senior brother was alright, An Ying hurriedly ran back to tend the bonfire and placed a kettle on it to boil water. Nearby were some sliced potatoes and two peeled wild rabbits.
"Oh no, I forgot to grab the spices!" An Ying suddenly slapped her forehead. "Senior brother, I'll go get them, I'll be back in a moment!"
Without waiting for Lin Xin to react, she dashed off, and by the time Lin Xin was ready to speak, she had already disappeared into the distant woods.
Sitting idle by the fire, Lin Xin opened his mouth, then sighed and closed it again resignedly.
"This junior sister of mine is good in every way; innocent, fairly pretty, skilled in martial arts, and can cook... Suitable for both the hall and the kitchen, and can even help in fights when going out. It's just that her temperament is a bit too impulsive..."
He picked up a stick from the side, poked the bonfire, making the hollow in the middle larger, and the fire burned even more vigorously.
Lin Xin stood up, stretching his body. He wore a green long coat from the dojo, which was originally styled after ancient clothes but modified by him to look like a long-sleeved T-shirt, and he had altered the trousers as well, dyeing some linen blue, which looked exactly like altered jeans.
Paired with his long hair tied up, his appearance felt somewhat odd.
Cough.
Drawing the longsword, Lin Xin easily thrust it forward.
Hiss!
A sharp scream, the power of this simple thrust was at least twice as strong as before, and the speed was also much faster.
His sword blade flashed, and three spots of white light appeared from the tip, shooting forward.
Songyang Needle!
Dull thuds sounded thrice as the sword tip pierced into a nearby tree trunk over ten centimeters deep.
Then came the Large Songyang Needle, six spots of white light lit up, the sword tip conjuring six white dots, instantly stabbing forward.
A series of dull thuds rang out from the tree trunk, and six holes, each over ten centimeters deep, formed.
"The power has increased by a notch, and this is still without the use of Inner Strength," Lin Xin felt a surge of joy, although he had no reference for comparison to see just how much he had improved. But judging solely by the killing power in front of him, he had indeed advanced significantly.
"This time let's try the power under the influence of Inner Strength." He somewhat clumsily controlled the hot sphere at his chest with his mind, letting a stream flow into his right hand.
"Go!"
He thrust his sword forward.
Hiss!!
The screeching sound had doubled compared to earlier!
The sword tip pierced into the tree trunk, penetrating a tree as thick as a forearm completely, and imprinting the other side.
"Good!" Lin Xin couldn't help but burst into laughter.
"Only one-third of my Inner Strength was consumed and it's this powerful! Worthy of being a true inner technique!" he felt the Inner Strength he had just consumed, only a third of the sphere, but if it all burst forth, the power would be...
Currently, he was unsure of what level his strength had reached, whether he could contend with those inner technique masters, but all he needed was to find an opponent to test this.
Sitting down, he adjusted his breath, rotating his Inner Strength with his mind, allowing it to slowly recover.
Using Inner Strength was exhilarating, but the recovery rate was somewhat slow; a pot of water had boiled, and he had not fully recovered yet.
Unknowingly, nearly an hour had passed.
"Why hasn't my junior sister come back yet?" Lin Xin suddenly opened his eyes, leaping to his feet from a sitting position on the ground.
Having been gone for so long, and considering the location wasn't far from the dojo, with An Ying's speed, she should have returned in half an hour; however, an hour had passed and she hadn't yet.
"Perhaps something has delayed her." He thought to himself, took the boiling water off the flame, and sat down again to wait.
Soon, another hour had passed, Lin Xin's Inner Breath finally completely recovered, he figured out his current limit: three major moves in a single round would deplete his Inner Breath, but the power of his moves had doubled.
If it was just simple moves supplemented with Inner Breath, then he could perform them about ten times. The power would only increase by 20% to 30%.
"Why isn't she here yet?" Lin Xin began to worry, ever since he encountered that strange woman in white the last time, he had been somewhat wary of the deeper parts of this dense forest.
"Could it be that she also encountered something strange?"
He glanced left and right, looking at the half-dead Long-Eared Tiger tied up on the tree, he grabbed his sword and dashed towards the dojo following the direction An Ying had taken.
The swish of the trees passed by on both sides, Lin Xin vigilantly scanned them.
Suddenly, faint shouts of battle could be heard ahead, it seemed someone was fighting.
With a few steps on rapid white stones, he lightly jumped onto the biggest and tallest boulder, standing atop it to look forward.
He saw in the dense forest slightly to the left two women fighting; one in white with a Black Sword, and the other clad in green with a hat, wielding a long sword.
The two circled around trees, exchanging blows, with the occasional clang of sword against sword, emitting crisp sounds.
"Not my junior sister...." Lin Xin frowned, looking closely, the two women seemed evenly matched, hardly any difference between them, and neither could best the other for now.
The woman in white was agile and sharp, mainly focused on defense, occasionally counterattacking. Her swordsmanship was stunning, but she was always pressured by the various sneaky moves of her opponent, unable to secure a victory.
Meanwhile, the woman in a hat wielded her sword fiercely, always aiming at her opponent's private parts in a despicable manner. Her other hand seemed to be hiding some hidden weapon.
Lin Xin was engrossed in watching when suddenly a figure quickly approached from a distance ahead, also dressed in green with a hat. But judging by the figure's shape and movements, he immediately thought of that black-clad person from the other night at the Lin Family's home.
"Lin Xinru?" The person caught sight of him standing on the rock, choking out a sound as he drew his sword, but his movements clearly weren't as strong as that of the black-clothed person from that night.
Lin Xin grasped the sword hilt, a hint of a smile appearing on his face as, although he hadn't truly experienced real combat yet, after the Long-Eared Tiger scare and now with his Inner Strength achieved, handling a mere pawn should be no problem.
"Great chance to test my current strength!"
He was about to draw his Longsword.
"I got this!"
Suddenly, a figure charged from the side, a silver-white Sword Light in their hand striking towards that person.
The man in the hat fiercely attacked with his sword.
The sword crossed the blade, and after three moves, with a loud bang,
Clang, clang, clang!
Continual sounds followed, the man in the hat staggered back, glaring fiercely at Lin Xin.
"A coward, only hiding behind a woman! I'll spare your life this time! Next time! Next time will be your end!"