The Ancestral Legacy Begins in the Wild West

"I misjudged you. You are a wicked person, far more wicked than me, and insatiably greedy."

Zhang Chang'an's figure was once again illuminated by the whale oil lamp.

Jack the Ripper, with a gaping hole in his chest and abdomen, and a gruesome wound running through his head, stood in this alleyway and spoke to him.

His entire face was reduced to an open mouth: "But you shouldn't have done that!"

Zhang Chang'an's mind was buzzing as he listened to the sound, which seemed to have added reverb effects.

His vision blurred, and his perspective seemed to suddenly shift to the other side. And for a fleeting moment, Jack the Ripper's face, which he had pierced, transformed into his own.

"As expected, this kind of operation inevitably leads to these kinds of mental problems." Zhang Chang'an remained relatively calm about it.

Various unique pieces of knowledge were constantly emerging in his mind.

How to walk silently, how to make yourself unnoticed. Of course, there are also techniques for cutting the human body.

However, the way these skills are presented is through fragments of memory.

He seemed to be personally following a lone prostitute through a dark alley, knife in hand. He also held a scalpel, disemboweling others with a strange laugh.

Even the scene before us is an illusion, like a memory space.

"The essence of seizing a position is to directly absorb memories. This operation is somewhat similar to purchasing ancestral abilities, which explains why family trees can be directly accessed." Zhang Chang'an pondered as he looked up at Jack the Ripper opposite him.

He quieted down, but somehow he seemed to have gotten much closer.

Zhang Chang'an's scalp tightened, and he immediately had the urge to raise his hand and precisely sever the carotid artery, even though he had only just acquired this skill, and even though he hadn't felt it at all before, that he was holding a knife in his hand.

However, he ultimately didn't do that. He simply took a deep breath and said calmly, "You know what? It's because you did that that I was able to clearly feel the difference between you and me."

Jack the Ripper, his head ripped open, remained silent.

"I'm not a madman who becomes stronger by killing people." Zhang Chang'an said, throwing away the scalpel in his hand, and lunging forward with his tiger claw, instantly grabbing Jack the Ripper by the collar:

"I can not only kill you, I can also beat you so badly you're uglier than any of the Sicilian fish-men hybrids!"

His other fist was clenched so tightly it cracked. Steam equipment that hadn't actually been there seemed to suddenly appear behind him.

Then, the sound of wind breaking through the air could be heard.

"Bang!"

The scene before Zhang Chang'an's eyes flickered, and then he suddenly found himself back in the studio with its stark white lights.

He took out his phone and checked the time. It was exactly the same as before he went in, not even a minute had passed. However, with his mind filled with many things, it felt like a long time had gone by.

Zhang Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief and stretched his body: "Thank goodness, nothing bad happened."

"Crack crack crack crack..." His entire body seemed to have undergone a long period of training and tempering in an instant, and muscle memory that did not exist before naturally arose.

"The space-time consumption has consumed 1000 spacetime fragments."

"[Guangfu Martial Arts Miscellaneous Skills] transformed into [Martial Arts Miscellaneous Skills] (Li Family, Mo Family, Dissection Knife Techniques)"

"The [Eye of Killing Intent] has evolved into the [Eye of Death], which can be activated more stably, increasing its ability to detect enemy emotions and automatically mark enemy attacks."

"Newly acquired [Assassination Aura] (Good)".

"His rank has been upgraded to 88.39% of the mixed-color rank, with 90% of the martial artist's inheritance and 10% of the assassin's inheritance."

As expected, after absorbing and reorganizing the skills, and undergoing some unlisted enhancements, Zhang Chang'an's level jumped by leaps and bounds.

It seems like he's still a long way from reaching the new level of cultivation, but he hasn't finished practicing the skills he acquired before, such as the Ten Forms Fist in the Body Nourishing Technique, and he hasn't trained any new abilities either.

Once his physical condition has completely stabilized, he will be close to breaking through.

Moreover, he spent 1000 spacetime fragments on this ceremony, and he also had a total of 1800 more.

He has already figured out the direction of this type of consumption.

The genealogy page flashed quickly in front of him, and soon brought up Yongren Gong's exchange page for him.

Compared to the more rugged Qinghe Gong's side, Yongren Gong's London was a place where whale oil steam technology was clearly developed.

Looking around, the vast majority of things are in this category.

At the very beginning, before even locking onto a target, Zhang Chang'an discovered another special function.

"[Street Fighting Techniques] (Martial Arts) Yongren learned fighting techniques from Zheng Kui. They are simple and unadorned yet fierce, similar to Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) in later generations, and incorporate various grappling and choking techniques."

Price: 200.

Unlike Qinghe Gong, Yongren Gong was a ruthless man in the traditional sense. In order to stand out from the streets of London, he started from scratch and fought his way up.

Therefore, his skill page is mostly filled with these things, which is why Zhang Chang'an had never bought them before.

But the key point is that, because he unlocked the inheritance system, the family tree now directly marks the categories of these abilities for him.

Zhang Chang'an immediately flipped through the redemption page.

"Are the Dagon followers, the southwestern sorcerers who perform divination in Chinatown... primarily warriors and assassins?"

London is a place where technology has advanced to the point that equipment can bridge the gap in cultivation level, so there are not many high-level cultivators.

Fortunately, because of this, he didn't lack anything he was looking for.

"After reading 'A Basic Guide to Steam Machinery' (for mechanics), one can gain a basic understanding of the operating principles of steam equipment and, to some extent, apply this knowledge to other types of technology."

"[Basic Toolkit] (Mechanic) contains a variety of combinable brass tools and a small amount of whale oil, capable of handling most basic steam technology. It is said that it was originally designed as an educational toy for a child by a big shot in the West District."

………………

"Boss, your takeout is here."

Hearing the sounds coming from outside the door, Zhang Chang'an continued tightening the screws in his hand while saying, "Put it by the door."

Before him lay a steam-powered exoskeleton suit, relatively well-preserved but still bearing some rust and with many worn and damaged parts, lying quietly on the worktable.

He has completed the repair of half of his arm and is now wearing a wristband to assist with his work.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the almost completely jammed steam telescopic blade was being derusted in an electrolytic cell. Since the real-world example exists, the relatively easy-to-repair M1889 had already been reclaimed from the family tree.

"This is the last part." Zhang Chang'an said, taking off the steam equipment from his hand, attaching it back to the entire exoskeleton, and finally waving his hand to put it back into the family tree.

"Click." Zhang Chang'an unlocked the locks on the door, grabbed the takeout from the ground, and walked outside.

At the other end, at the reception desk leading into the photography studio, a young girl not much younger than him was also eating lunch.

He had short hair, wore long pants, and glasses, looking like a tomboy. This was the receptionist he hired, named Chi Qingqiu.