Jin Yu rexed his body and closed his eyes.
What on earth happened? he wondered.
He vaguely remembered being struck by a vine, but everything after that was bnk.
No matter how much he racked his brain, nothing surfaced.
His body felt... different.
Familiar, yet somehow foreign, as if something fundamental inside him had shifted.
What exactly happened?
His mind was a foggy mess.
Did I get hurt?
Why are so many people standing around me?
Sigh. I'll just ask Haozi ter, No need to panic.
Still restless, he pulled up his system interface, and nearly choked on his own breath.
---
[Dominion Protocol Interface]
Name: Jin Yu
Core Attribute: influence
Physique: 90 (Late Essence Core Realm reached)
Internal Strength: 90 (Late Essence Core Realm reached)
Spiritual Technique: Uninitialized
Qi Affinity: Holy Qi
Cultivation Technique: Sanctum Sword Technique (peak stage)
Trait: Invading Qi immunity
Influence Points: 0
---
"WHAT THE HELL?!" he yelped, bolting upright.
His heart pounded.
Is this a glitch?!
My stats were only at 50! When did they jump to 90?!
"Shit! I'm going crazy! Someone expin what happened!" he blurted before he could stop himself.
Around him, everyone was looking at him, as if they have tons of question.
Jin Wei, now seated grandly across the room, responded coolly, "I was going to ask you the same."
"Well..." Jin Yu trailed off, throwing his hands up in a helpless gesture.
"The elves said you massacred the entire Beastmen Cn," Shen added ftly, locking eyes with him, clearly gauging his reaction.
"ME?!" Jin Yu recoiled as if he'd been spped. "Those hulking monsters?!"
He looked genuinely bewildered, then shot Shen a look of disdain.
"Don’t tell me you actually believe that crap. Those filthy elves, pfft!, Their kids are as bratty as they are!"
Crossing his arms, he huffed indignantly.
"If they don't give me a proper apology, hmph! I might really massacre them next time!" His voice dripped with righteous fury.
"With your meager strength? You don’t even know how ‘death’ is spelled," Uncle Lin scoffed, giving him the patented 'what-an-idiot' look.
Jin Yu gred. "What do you know, Uncle! Those elves are sneaky, they kidnapped me for no reason!"
Uncle Lin paused for a beat, seemingly stunned, before rolling his eyes like he'd just witnessed peak stupidity.
"Crossing worlds isn’t something you should take lightly," Uncle Lin sighed.
"But since you survived, it's clear you had some lucky encounters." His gaze sharpened. "Jumping a whole realm in strength overnight... impressive. Worry not, you will be able to demand expnation with my TRAINING"
Jin Yu flinched slightly at the praise, remembering his traumatizing "training" with Uncle Lin.
He immediately shot him an accusatory gre. This crazy uncle exists solely to cause me heart attacks!
"I refuse! If you dare touch me again, I'll—wait, did you say I crossed worlds?!" Jin Yu’s mouth dropped open.
"The forest... no wonder it looked so strange!"
"But wait," he added thoughtfully. "Don’t people need fancy hand signs or rituals to cross worlds? That forest looked like it was still inside the city!"
Uncle Lin ignored him entirely, waving a hand as he walked toward the door.
"You’re healed. Come fix the mess you created."
The others followed him out without sparing Jin Yu a gnce.
"You haven't answered me and...What mess?!" Jin Yu grumbled, dragging himself off the bed.
As he moved, he noticed something odd—his hair.
It had grown significantly longer, draping past his waist like flowing bck silk.
My hair got longer too?! What the hell really happened out there!
He couldn't find his boots, so he sighed and trudged barefoot after them.
"Oh, Father......uh, where is he ?" Jin Yu looked around the room but didn't see him, so he just went out.
Jin Yu raised his wrist.
"My baby girl! Did you miss me?" Hr crooned and caress Rainbow's petal as he walked outside.
Rainbow turned a bashful pink, curling the tip of her root around his finger like a spoiled child.
"You did, didn’t you? Muah!" He gave her a light kiss on a petal.
The flower swayed dramatically side to side, looking utterly intoxicated.
"Hahaha, my cute little princess!" Jin Yu ughed heartily.
"Be serious," Chen Haoran muttered under his breath as they entered a grand hall.
Inside, Jin Wei sat imposingly on the rgest chair, Uncle Lin beside him, and an unfamiliar old man to his left, watching Jin Yu as if trying to peel apart his soul.
Beside the old man stood a young man and a dy... and when Jin Yu saw them, his steps faltered.
You?!
The guy whose nephew he had accidentally "bumped into" at the market!
And her too, gring at him like he murdered her entire family.
No wonder influence Points had been dinging non-stop since I stepped into the hall!
"Hello!" Jin Yu said brightly, waving enthusiastically at them.
Rainbow also lifted one of her petals and "waved" at the same time.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Oopsie. No greetings, then...
Coughing awkwardly, Jin Yu lowered his hand when he realized everyone was staring at him like he'd lost his mind.
"Uhh... what is it? Why are you all looking at me like that?" he asked innocently.
"Lin brat," the old man barked, "why did you hit my daughter?!"
"Haha... ha ha ha," Jin Yu ughed awkwardly, pointing at himself. "Me?"
"Who else in this city would dare hit her?!" the man barked again, his eyes narrowing dangerously.
Jin Yu blinked in confusion.
Where’s your anger, old man? No influence points? Am I intimidating you? No... can't be... right?
Sigh.
"Respected elder," Jin Yu said, csping his hands politely, face full of hypocritical humility.
"There must be some misunderstanding. I would never intentionally harm a delicate dy like her."
He turned to the young woman, expression exaggeratedly sorrowful.
"In fact, I was only trying to py with her. Who knew... who could have guessed... that she would fall asleep in the middle of our little game?"
He shook his head dramatically, as if mourning a great tragedy.
Rainbow also swayed sadly, drooping like a dying flower for extra effect.
The hall went dead silent.
"You..." the young dy’s face flushed bright red, whether from humiliation or fury, it was hard to tell.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Jin Yu pced a hand on his chest. "I swear upon the heavens, I merely wanted to share joy! As, some are too delicate even for gentle teasing."
Rainbow mimicked Jin Yu, pcing one petal dramatically over her own "chest" like a grief-stricken widow.
The Min family members’ faces turned purple with rage.
"JIN YU!"
Jin Wei shouted from his seat, smming a hand on the armrest.
But beneath his anger,there were a little dotingness in his voice
"You idiot brat! Must you always cause trouble everywhere you go?!"
"Father! I was wrong!" Jin Yu bowed deeply. "Next time, I’ll make sure they stay awake for the whole py!"
Rainbow "nodded" her flower head seriously in agreement.
Ding!
Influence +20 (helplessness)
"You—!" Jin Wei seemed ready to explode, but Uncle Lin snickered quietly beside him.
Jin Yu almost chuckled. This old man sure knows how to faint anger.
"Enough of your hypocrisy, I, Min Li, challenge you to a duel!"
The young man, the cousin of the girl Jin Yu 'pyed with' finally couldn't bear it anymore.
His face contorted in rage as he stepped forward.
He looked ready to eat Jin Yu whole.
The old man, master Min turned to Jin Wei, who was looking at his son with an unreadable expression
"Old man Jin, I hope you don't mind, it's not too much for the kids to exchange insight in cultivation."
He said hypocritically, his lips pursed.
Jin Wei only hummed in response, not bothering to reply.
Jin Yu picked his ear zily.
A slow, mocking chuckle escaped his lips.
"You?" he pointed at Min Li with clear disdain.
"I don't bully the weak."
Ding!
Influence +2,000
Ding!
Influence +1500
Ding!
Influence +2,000
Ding!
Influence +1500
Dings crashed into his ears.
