It was truly baffling. Why would she come into his home at such a moment? In the aftermath of the interrupted ceremony, he completely ignored her.

She should have gone with her lover, shouldn't she? So then why was she here, searching his father's room?

“What do you want here?” he asked.

“Lin Yang, what are you talking about?! We are married. We finished the six rituals and three bows. I should—”

“Did Wang Wei send you? What does he want?” Lin Yang asked, his brows pinching together.

“Why are you talking about brother Wang now? I'm here to—”

“Guards!” Lin Yang called out. “Lock her up,” he instructed once they arrived, not bothering with her anymore. She would talk when she was ready.

“Lin Yang, what do you mean?! I'm your wife, not your—”

“I said lock her up. She is a thief. Did you not hear me?! Lock her up!” he yelled at the hesitating guards. They still hesitated. 

“I hope you are not fools enough to support that so-called hero Wang Wei. He killed two of your comrades without thinking. And besides, if my family is destroyed, will you have jobs? What, you'll work for Wang Wei? That violent nutcase who has already killed two of your number? Follow my instructions, without question, or leave this estate. Make sure all the guards know of this. If you stay here, you should be ready to do what is asked without question!”

The two guards shared a small look. 

Screaming and promising murder, Ji Ruoxue was dragged away after only a few moments of indecision. 

It was a moment of passion back then, but now Lin Yang didn't regret his words to the guards. Thinking about it, things were going to get hairy. He didn't need hesitant followers at a time like this. And there was his wife, Ji Ruoxue.

Obviously this woman had gone after Wang Wei first, immediately after the wedding. But then she'd come back here for some reason. Now Lin Yang had to figure out why. He could question her extensively. She was probably weak to torture, being a mortal, and an evidently spoiled rich girl.

But that was just his backup plan. First, he could wait for his father to wake. What could Wang Wei want? His father should hopefully be aware.

It must have been many hours later when the old man woke up. Lin Yang had even started dozing in the rocking chair to the side of the bed.

“You are awake old man?” Lin Yang asked with a sigh of relief. “Are you alright? Should I call for a doctor?”

His father coughed, a wet rasping thing. But the old man raised his arm to stop Lin Yang going out.

“Son…” the old man wheezed. “Have there been… any unexpected guests?”

“Ji Ruoxue came here,” Lin Yang said with a shrug. “And of course there are those merchant's out there, led by her father.”

His father shut his eyes tightly, seemingly lost in thought. 

“So the vultures have come for us?”

“Things aren't that serious yet,” Lin Yang tried to say, but weren't they?

“Boy, my heart meridian is damaged. I feel my martial arts attainment draining from me even as we speak.”

“What?!” Lin Yang bounced from his seat. He stood over his father, or the host's father, his body frozen and trembling uncontrollably.

These weren't his feelings, he could tell. He didn't care so much about this man, on a logical basis, but he couldn't seem to control the physiological phenomenon resulting from the announcement. And he could feel some of those emotions seeping into him, affecting him subtly. He shook his head vehemently and stared at the old man.

If he died, and the Lin family was annexed, wouldn't Lin Yang have failed the mission that brought him here?

“Go over to my dresser, the third compartment. The floor board is false, pull it out. Bring me what you find.”

It was a flat triangular piece of rock with two regular sides and one jagged side, like it was broken off something. 

“What is this rock, father?”

The old man chuckled. “This was something an ancestor of ours found in an ancient ruin. It is but a piece of a large whole, but this tiny piece was enough for us to learn our palm technique. It has been in our family for generations.”

Lin Yang studied the fragment of what should be a stone tablet of some kind.

This piece of stone contains part of an inheritance from an ancient immortal civilization. It is fragmented now. 

Number of uses: 1/1

There are traces of lower life forms attempting to learn the inheritance, but their spiritual power was insufficient. Host has sufficient spiritual power, but the inheritance is fragmented. Learn anyway? Y/N?(1 ripple point required)

An ancient immortal civilization? Lin Yang had no idea what that was. But a martial art from an ancient civilization, immortal or not, even an incomplete martial art, seemed like exactly what the doctor ordered. He chose yes.

You have learned the skill: meridian refreshing palm (lvl. 0- upgradable(incomplete))

Current effect- Relaxes injured meridians, comforting injured martial artists and therefore slightly increasing their life expectancy.

“As long as you have this, the Lin family will still be able to…”

But then his father stopped, his eyes widening as he watched the stone fragment crumble into powder and fall from Lin Yang's hands. Lin Yang looked between his hands and his father sheepishly.

“Oops,” he said with a tiny shrug.

The old man bent over and vomited blood, his eyes turning blood shot.

Ripple points obtained (anger): 0.1 (Lin Xiang)

“You unfilial bast—”

But his eyes rolled into the back of his head before he could complete the statement. 

In a panic, Lin Yang held the old man, and begged for the new skill to work even at level zero. Immediately he felt the old man's body relax and his breathing become gentler. 

But he could feel that he hadn't done much at all in the grand scheme of things. He didn't have any more ripple points after all. He'd spent over four to get to this world and now one to simply learn the skill. It was a fragmented skill, meaning he needed to find the other pieces before he could get the full skill. But even before that, he needed a way to get ripple points.

Ripple points: 0.4013

He was in a minor world after all, and one he was going to leave after a short while. Maybe it was time to experiment.

Thinking about being in a minor world, he wondered what his body back in the Hehuan sect was doing. I have to go back to the main world in a month, but what if my body in the main world is killed or buried or something?

It was a dilemma indeed, but not the most pertinent dilemma. He needed to move fast, or he'd fail his mission.

Supposing Wang Wei came for that stone fragment. Did that mean he had other fragments? Why did he even want them? How did he know about them? About the inheritance they contained?

The next morning, Lin Yang, the young master of the Lin family entertained a strange guest.

“Is this all the information on the people Wang Wei has targeted over the last year?” Lin Yang asked, giving the meticulous notes a passing scan.

The young man with a hopelessly average face nodded in agreement.

It was a lucky thing they were written in the one script this host body could read. The information was important to him, but that was only of secondary relevance at the moment. He had other reasons for contacting an information guild.

“Tell me something,” he said with a small smile, “how fast can you spread rumours?”

The representative of the guild, a non-descript youth in brown cotton clothes, started like he hadn't heard right. Normally, people contacted information guilds to learn secrets, not to spread rumours. But rumours were information after all…

“You want to slander Wang Wei, young city lord?”

“No, no. The object of slander this time is none other than me!”

The room was silent for a beat. Then the iron tip of a spear hit the floor with a resounding clink.

“Young master Lin,” the representative said with a reluctant chuckle. “What did you just—”

“I want you to make me infamous. Here, I have a few ideas. Learned about the red light district when he was fifteen, and stayed there for a month! It is said he might have all kinds of diseases down there. And how is this known? He kidnapped a few commoner girls. No one knows what happened to those. But somehow the information about my diseases made it to the public. What a pothole, hmm.”

Lin Yang could see the guards around the audience chamber, their expressions turning dark and troubled. He could see the reluctance in the face of the youth in front of him. 

“Think about it this way, would your guild rather make enemies of the young and heroic Wang Wei? Or this good for nothing young master and his almost finished clan?”

The representative thought for a few moments, then gave a shallow bow. “It shall be as the young master wishes.”

Lin Yang smiled as he watched the young man leave. Perhaps they were reluctant because they knew about him. In truth, Lin Yang was some thing of a prodigal, but not a bully.

He did go to the red light district, but not nearly as much as the rumours were about to say. And besides, these kinds of places existed for a reason. It was legal. 

But in order to maximize ripple point gain, Lin Yang would need to do some of these things in person. He also needed a way to collect a lot of money fast. He could use the mortal money to buy spirit stones. Or he could get spirit stones directly.

It was too bad he had only one month though. He couldn't try out the faction building method in such a short time. 

“Go. Find me a few beautiful girls in the neighborhood,” he told the guards.

When they didn't immediately move, he snapped in anger. “I'm not going to do anything to them, alright! Just hold them captive for a few days, yeesh. If you don't want revenge for your comrades and a stable job, then leave, resign. Go ahead, I won't stop you.”

He needed a few direct conduits to harvest ripple points from. He had his wife as well. And her dear family. Weren't they the reason he was going to target the merchants of the city?

He stroked an imaginary moustache as he thought about it. “Did my father-in-law come again today? Invite him in. But him alone.”

“Lin Yang! I demand to see your father!” his dear father-in-law said by way of greeting.

Lin Yang sat on a large chair and lazily propped his chin onto his hand. He smiled at the old man.

“My father is indisposed. You can talk to me if you like. Is it an emergency?”

“Where is my daughter?!” the man demanded.

Lin Yang's smile grew wider. “You mean my wife? She is in the cellars, naturally.”

“You little… I want to see her. Release my daughter at once.”

Lin Yang chuckled darkly. “You want to see her. Alright then. Guards, take my dear father-in-law to the cellars. Lock him in the one next to his daughter.”

The old man took a step back in disbelief.

Ripple points obtained (anger) : 0.1 (Ji Honghu)

“You wouldn't dare!”

But soon he was screaming and kicking, and the ripple points now said fear instead of anger or hatred. The guards were also becoming more obedient. Threatening them with job insecurity seemed to do the trick. 

The Lin family had been a kind of benevolent ruler in this city for generations, but when they were down, vultures circled, looking for benefits. So for the next few weeks, the Lin family was going to reassert their dominance. ‘I'll start with the traitorous merchants,’ Lin Yang thought.