The Mansion of the Dead, Beiqi.
In stark contrast to the grueling survival mode in the Land of Naraka, the lives of the players in Beiqi had slowly regained normalcy after the death of the short-lived king, Yue Yao.
Lu Wu had tried to recruit Yue Yao before, but he had his own principles. Thus, he stubbornly refused Lu Wu’s invitation.
Since he couldn’t return to the Land of the Nine Luminaries and his army had also completely perished, it was undoubtedly a shocking trauma for him. In his eyes, the players were his arch-nemesis, so he’d never surrender or join their side, even in death.
This immensely disappointed Lu Wu, but he remained merciless.
The rules of the Underworld stated that the victor would be king. Furthermore, Yue Yao had discovered Lu Wu’s existence at that time. Since they could not co-exist, there was no need for him to continue living.
After Yue Yao had passed away, the overall strength of the players in Beiqi was elevated again. The destruction of Yue Yao’s Army gave the players a special title as a reward, so they were all greatly satisfied.
After everything had returned to normal, the players had a huge variety of activities to entertain themselves, other than farming monsters to level up like usual.
After the Rock Ghost King had become an NPC, it’d be safe to say that the entire Land of Beiqi would be under the players’ control soon.
Their next step would be to declare an all-out war against the Nine Luminaries.
That day, all the players suddenly received a game notification.
[Game Update Announcement: A new life character class called Potion Master is unlocked.]
Potion Master (Life Character Class):
Character Class Details: This class does not clash with the player’s main character class. After officially becoming a Potion Master, the player will obtain its unique special skills.
The description of the five main basic skills of the class:
[Potion Crafting (Beginner’s Level)]:
Skill Details: The main skill of Potion Master. The player precisely calculates the uses of each spiritual material and refines them together to craft a potion with a stronger effect.
[Spiritual Material Spirituality Identification (Beginner’s Level)]:
Skill Details: After mastering the skill, the players can identify the spirituality value of each spiritual material, as well as discern the difference between similar-grade spiritual materials. After leveling up, the player can observe the spirituality condition (dehydration, depleted soul aura, overnourished, and others).
[Spiritual Plant Cultivation (Beginner’s Level)]
[Spiritual Plant Grafting (Beginner’s Level)]
[Spirituality Purification (Beginner’s Level)]
…
The first life character class was unveiled to a cacophony of excited screams from the players.
Meanwhile, in the safe zone of the Mansion of the Dead in Beiqi, a gigantic tree-like structure suddenly appeared next to Tong Gua’s Forge. There was a huge board plastered across it.
[North Rocks Potion Crafting Society]:
Building Details: In the Potion Crafting Training Society, all the players above Level 80 can apply to advance into a Potion Master. After passing a series of tests, players will officially become a Potion Master and obtain a Potion Master menu. (Application to advance into a Potion Master would open regularly.)
Building Functions: Potion Master advancement, purchasing Potion Crafting Furnace, Potion Master class upgrade.
Building Owner: The Rock Ghost King (Mid-stage Ghost King NPC)
The unveiling of the Potion Master life character class instantly attracted a huge number of players’ attention, especially the peaceful players that hated battling and preferred spending their leisure time nurturing plants and flowers. Thus, a swarm of people immediately thronged the North Rocks Potion Crafting Society.
However, contrary to their expectations, it was not easy at all to advance into a Potion Master.
Even in the Underworld, only very few people could become a Potion Master. After all, it was not really a game. Only players that were truly gifted could walk down this path and persist for a long time.
Actually, it was quite easy to craft potions if one followed the preset template correctly, even the measurement artifact for potion-crafting could be set properly. The players merely needed to collect enough ingredients and click start to easily begin the crafting process.
However, if the players did not adhere to the template settings perfectly, they would be stuck in a dead-end, while over-reliance on the template would remove the ability to innovate recipes in the future.
Since Lu Wu wanted to mold the players into an actual talented clan, he had to naturally make a trade-off there.
Hence, instead of forcing them to use the potion crafting templates, he allowed the players to practice first. He only provided them the technology and information required, so that the players could experiment on fusing the spiritual materials with a stable value.
With such a harsh and stringent education method, Lu Wu believed that a large number of genuine Potion Masters could be born in the future.
They would need to rely on their own effort to grow and create new formulas, as well as learn to revise and improve many existing recipes.
A myopic and limited selection of spiritual materials based on the template would only restrict their innovation, so Lu Wu swiftly abandoned the idea.
He was highly expectant of them, so he would never try to limit their potential.
At that moment, all the players suddenly received a trial quest notification that was announced by Lu Wu.
[As the Potion Master class that is revealed this time is a life character class with an extremely high level of difficulty, it will only be open for 10,000 players to apply. Do you want to join the Potion Master advancement trial?]
When the players saw that there were very limited spaces, all of them bitterly lamented that the officials wanted to bully the fragile players.
However, Lu Wu still provided a clear explanation in response to their dissatisfaction.
He stated that the trial was the first, so there would be many more in the future. He also further emphasized the extreme difficulty in playing a life character class like Potion Master.
Even though the players were endlessly complaining, they were still highly curious about this new life character class.
Alas, something else caused all of them to gape in bewilderment.
Everyone that clicked to participate in the Potion Master Trial immediately received three dictionary-thick books that were sent by the system.
[Medicinal Herbs Identification (Complete)]
[Beginner’s Level Potion Master Guidelines (Simplified)]
[How to Craft Potions with the Highest Efficiency (Simplified)]
It was also followed by a game notification:
[The Potion Master advancement trial will be held in three days. Please read through these books carefully, they will have decisive importance on the results of the trial.]
In the forum:
Crayon_Shinchan: “Fuck! I want to play a game but it makes me study instead! I surrender my sanity to the devs of Battle Online! You guys are too impressive! (kneeling down emoji)”
Xueli_The_Strongest: “I want to kill someone! Who would’ve guessed that I would one day still have to memorize these three thick books to death, even after graduating from school? Bastard devs, have a taste of my spear! (knife dripping with blood.jpg)”
Roasting_Jade_Hare_While_Hugging_Chang’e: “I extremely despise studying, but I also want to advance into a Potion Master. What should I do? (bawling emoji)”
Watermelon_Taro: “The weakest noob like me finally has his chance! A pauper will finally turn into a noble! I’ll burn the midnight oil and drown myself in these three books, I accept this challenge! (bright eyes emoji)”
Albus_Dumbledore: “Bastards, how dare they force me to study! Why don’t they place another condition that only a PhD student can advance!”
Crayon_Shinchan replied to Albus_Dumbledore: “Shh, shut up! Don’t let the officials see your message, they might actually do it! (laughing emoji)”
Assassin_Creed: “All players will claim that they won’t study even if they starve to death or have no games to play! (exasperated emoji) But when all guilds announced that they are recruiting players to become Potion Masters and offer sky-high salaries and premium-grade treatment, I’m sure everyone will rush head-first at it! (okay sign emoji)”
Fabulous_Fancy_Elements: “As someone with a PhD in chemistry, I’m definitely picking this class. Come at me, you trash! (crazy threatening eyes emoji)”
Science_Freak: “Fuck, I absolutely love this. I can even experiment like mad in a game? When I saw that the official announcement said that the potion crafting is full of uncertainties and a mystery potion can help increase 100 levels, I was beside myself with excitement! I’m going to study like there’s no tomorrow for the next three days, I’m going to do this! Once I’ve made my mind, not even Jesus can hold me back!”
…
After the announcement, the players were filled with an ambiguous mixture of joy and uneasiness. The players who hated studying especially almost fainted from the immense shock.
Hence, the players started to make endless attempts, from harsh threats and soft coaxing to coy persuasion and cute acts. By hook or by crook, they desperately wished the officials could alter the contents of the trial this time.
Clearly, they were merely banging their heads against a brick wall, as the officials would never grant them their wish.
In fact, this time, Lu Wu did not even give them a reply.
Thus, the loud whining and grumbling from the players gradually calmed down.
One player concisely summarized the contents of the Potion Master Trial:
“My parents constantly nagged me to study more since I was young, so that I can be someone successful in the future. However, I ignored all their advice, until one day, I became addicted to a game called Battle Online. Only then, I realized that my parents’ words were not wrong!”
