The Ancestral Legacy Begins in the Wild West

The roar of the factory machines gradually subsided, and the hungry and exhausted black workers, as soon as they stepped out, discovered the tragedy in the alley.

However, apart from the corpse, the alley was already deserted.

The fish scales on the lifeless corpse had all disappeared, and it seemed that all the strange traces had vanished with the flow of blood from the foreign land.

The scene before Zhang Chang'an vanished into thin air, along with a thick fog and sandstorm filled with dust and the smell of gunpowder.

"The spacetime rift [war] 9527 has been repaired."

"Rating: Upper-middle [Heaven Official's Blessing]".

"Spacetime fragments have been extracted, +500."

"Congratulations, Patriarch, on completing the family tree binding."

Zhang Chang'an got out of bed in his old, run-down apartment.

The apartment in front of me is about five square meters. Although it has stainless steel security bars on the windows, it is dark, cold and damp, typical of a single room in a Cantonese urban village.

On the wall in front of me, the cracks and imperfections caused by the peeling plaster have formed entirely new characters.

He glanced at the table beside him and, sure enough, the ancient family tree had disappeared, replaced by a system-like entity.

With a thought, the text in front of Zhang Chang'an seemed to turn over and become something else.

"The spacetime rift has been repaired, and the world line has changed."

"The former Qinghe Duke only escaped from that dark alley. He failed to save his fellow villager Jiang Sheng, nor did he kill his target."

Afterwards, to escape persecution by the Irish, he embarked on his westward journey. After many years of wandering, he finally returned to San Francisco, achieving his long-held goal.

Now, Jiang Sheng is alive, and Turner was killed by you beforehand. At the very beginning of his life in a foreign land, the Duke of Qinghe will have greater prestige and resources.

In the blink of an eye, Zhang Chang'an felt that his whole body had undergone considerable changes.

"Your synchronization rate with Qinghe Gong has increased, and the ancestral legacy [Shooting Proficiency] (Common) has been randomly unlocked."

"(Perhaps due to his past work at a fish stall, Qinghe Gong was more skilled in using knives and fists in the early days of his adventures in the west.)"

His marksmanship only began to emerge after he was seriously shot in an incident, but managed to disarm his opponent and kill him.

"You have received Jiang Sheng's gift: [Disarming Dart Technique] (Common Item)"

(Jiang Sheng, in his youth, apprenticed in a theatrical troupe in Guangzhou, specializing in throwing knives and sharp eyesight. He was saved by the Duke of Qinghe, and this skill became part of the Zhang family's traditional arts, specifically emphasizing all throwing techniques.)

"Skill fused: [Basic Archery] (Good) (Enhances any ranged actions you perform that require aiming, such as throwing shots.)"

Zhang Chang'an's eyes lit up: "That's right, the butterfly effect isn't always bad; good results can also be passed down to the present."

His muscles twitched slightly, and suddenly he possessed many muscle memories that didn't exist before.

The impact of this incident didn't stop there. When Zhang Chang'an turned his head, he saw that because the apartment was small, a stack of brand-new red bills was lying on the table next to the bed.

"This also appeared out of nowhere, so it's also part of the inheritance, right?"

Zhang Chang'an picked up the banknotes and then clicked his tongue.

It's not that changing the past to increase inheritance is that difficult to understand.

The key point: "Why only five hundred dollars... Isn't that America, where land is incredibly valuable? Besides, five hundred is five hundred. Why not give me a dollar bill instead of a real dollar bill?"

Zhang Chang'an looked helplessly at the wall:

"After all, spacetime rifts are just branches of reality. Coupled with the losses incurred in passing down the skills from generation to generation, the family's inherited skills will be greatly diminished, and assets will also be affected."

Zhang Chang'an realized that what he was doing was on a branch, separated from reality by a boundary.

Moreover, several hundred years have passed since it was passed down to me, so all the gains have been diminished.

"No wonder the skill fusion only produced good results; it happened hundreds of years ago, so it's normal..." Zhang Chang'an had just comforted himself with this thought when he saw:

"In addition, Qinghe Gong did achieve great success in the west, but his legacy was not properly managed."

He did not hire a lawyer in San Francisco to invest his estate into a fund.

Therefore, after paying the costs of preserving the estate for a century, and finally the inheritance tax, the estate you receive becomes ¥500.

Zhang Chang'an's expression immediately became quite distorted: "Okay... this is very American."

Of course, this is a good start regardless. The spacetime rift is more fantastical than he imagined, but it is something that will bring immense benefits once it is repaired.

After that, let alone using his ancestor's identity to ask for help, he started managing his finances from that time onward. There are still many secrets waiting for him to uncover in the past.

Even the leader of a small gang could be an invulnerable monster.

Although it was in a spacetime rift, Zhang Chang'an did not feel that his reality was anything special.

"Now it's shooting skills, but what about... lost technology, witchcraft, magic, or even immortality cultivation?"

This wasn't just a baseless guess; after all, his interface did have a rank section. However, he had just completed a rift repair and hadn't yet encountered any proper cultivation techniques.

"There should be some clues here."

Zhang Chang'an pondered, turning his attention to the newly unlocked features.

The genealogy now has three main sections: a personal panel, a genealogical chart, and incomplete ancestral biographies that can be easily accessed.

Finally, there's the "Legacy Exchange Page," which can be accessed through spacetime fragments and integrates ancestral inherited abilities.

"Time fragments are things that can affect time and space. You can use them to exchange for various things that your ancestors came into contact with or possessed in their lives."

"Your timeline restoration rating is above average. The right to purchase Qinghe Gong's estate has been unlocked: 3%."

Zhang Chang'an immediately understood: it meant that it wasn't just about exchanging for ancestral skills from a specific era; skill items from any era could be exchanged. The only difference was that purchasing privileges had to be unlocked gradually.

Of course, his ancestors had rich experiences, and although they only accounted for 3% of Qinghe Gong's wealth, the inheritance they acquired was already quite extensive.

"[Happy Jack brand chewing tobacco] (A product gradually submerged in the annals of history, a tobacco product rich in spices such as cinnamon, refreshing and enhancing concentration, an essential item for murder and robbery.)"

Price: 10.

"[Old cowhide riding boots] (cowhide riding boots with spurs, which can greatly assist in horseback riding or wilderness activities such as going up mountains and down rivers)"

Qinghe Gong was frugal throughout his life, but due to his high level of activity in the west, he frequently had to buy and replace his riding boots.

Price: 40.

Looking further down, he even spotted an M1873 Colt revolver and a Winchester lever rifle. Although Zhang Chang'an was somewhat of a homebody, he was familiar with things like video games and movies, so these were quite familiar to him.

"But aren't these a bit too much of a punishment?"

Although Zhang Chang'an had acquired basic marksmanship skills, he didn't think that was really enough. After all, he was still living in modern times, and there was nowhere to practice with these things he bought.

More importantly, compared to some of the things below, these things that actually exist in real history are not that attractive.

"[Eagle Eye Elixir] (During the later years of the Qinghe Duke's reign, he had a close relationship with a western witch. This was a gift from the witch, containing various bird feathers, insect shells, and other materials. To consume it, one must drink all of these things at once..."

Price: 350.

"[Pinkton Type III Steam Knuckle Dusters] (Produced by the Pinkerton Detective Agency, which has close ties with London across the ocean. Knuckle dusters for civilian self-defense. Even an untrained ordinary person can generate an impact force of around 1000 pounds.)

However, it's expensive, and although it's marketed as a budget-friendly option, it's actually only available to the wealthy.

Price: 200.

"[The Remnant Body of Wuqu Star] (There are many opium dens along the Chinatown in San Francisco, and their number was once on par with restaurants. On the surface, they do legitimate businesses such as laundry, but in reality, they are filled with smoke.)

Among these opium dens, there once stood a distinguished guest.

His surname was Huang. He was a martial arts champion in the Qing Dynasty and had served as a high-ranking official, but his reputation was ruined. For some reason, he ended up in San Francisco and, relying on his past reputation and wealth, spent his days indulging in a life of debauchery in opium dens.

Lord Qinghe once thought he would never have any connection with him, until one day, he saw him appear before him in a different guise...