Yan Hua Yi Leng

Rotten Skin Powder:

Required medicinal herb ratio: 3 Qianzi Herbs, 1 portion of Bamboo Viper venom.

Pill effect: Applies poison to a weapon. Attacking a target poisons it, causing it to lose 30 HP per second for 10 seconds.

Duration: Half an hour.

Usage restriction: Cannot be stacked.

The effects of Rotten Skin Powder were exceptionally powerful. Only after checking did Ye Luo learn that it was a Tier 3 poison, something he could only refine after his Alchemist profession reached the intermediate level. Moreover, he still lacked Bamboo Viper venom, though he did have some Qianzi Herbs.

Bamboo Vipers were Level 20 monsters. Ye Luo would probably have to reach Level 17 or 18 before he could kill one, and that was still a long way off.

Shaking his head and putting those thoughts aside, Ye Luo found a secluded spot and began refining Minor Blood Recovery Pills.

Following the proportions in the Pill Scripture, Ye Luo placed 2 Sanqi Herbs and 2 Yuanhu Herbs into the Purple Gold Medicine Cauldron. He pressed his palm against the cauldron and activated the Alchemy Skill. He felt a stream of energy surge out from the Battle Soul Crystal and enter the cauldron. Three or four seconds later, the skill ended, and he received system notifications that the pill refinement was complete and his proficiency had increased by 1.

Looking at the Minor Blood Recovery Pill in the cauldron, Ye Luo was quite excited. "Heh, I didn't expect my very first attempt at alchemy to succeed. It must be because the Purple Gold Medicine Cauldron increases the success rate by 40%."

Excitedly putting away the Minor Blood Recovery Pill, Ye Luo continued refining. This time, he put in 20 Sanqi Herbs and 20 Yuanhu Herbs, then activated the Alchemy Skill once more.

This refinement also succeeded. Ten pills lay inside the Purple Gold Medicine Cauldron, but one was slightly different from the other red pills. It was larger and brighter. Ye Luo picked it up, and information about the pill appeared.

Minor Blood Recovery Pill *Mutated (Tier 1-2 Pill)

Pill effect: Immediately restores 50 HP after consumption, then restores 5 HP per second for the next 10 seconds. This effect will not be interrupted by attacks.

Usage interval: 30 seconds.

An ordinary Minor Blood Recovery Pill only immediately restored 30 HP and then restored 3 HP per second over the next 10 seconds. This pill, however, immediately restored 50 HP, while its recovery rate increased to 5 HP per second. It was only slightly weaker than a Major Blood Recovery Pill.

Seeing the pill, Ye Luo chuckled. "This pill is so powerful. It must be the Purple Gold Medicine Cauldron's 3% mutation effect. Heh, I really got something good this time."

With that in mind, Ye Luo continued refining pills until he had used up all the Sanqi Herbs and Yuanhu Herbs in his backpack. In total, he obtained 67 Minor Blood Recovery Pills and 3 mutated Minor Blood Recovery Pills. The mutation rate was far higher than the 3% displayed by the Purple Gold Medicine Cauldron, which made him quite happy.

"These dozens of Minor Blood Recovery Pills should last me a long time." Ye Luo muttered to himself, then sighed. "Unfortunately, I don't have enough herbs. It seems gathering herbs alone isn't enough. I have other herbs in my backpack, but sadly, I don't have any other pill formulas. I don't know where pill formulas are sold either. I'll have to keep an eye out for them in the future. In any case, I'm not short on money now."

As the first person to take up a Life Profession, Ye Luo had been rewarded with the Purple Gold Medicine Cauldron and 10 Gold Coins. Adding the 1 Gold Coin he already had, he possessed a full 11 Gold Coins—a considerable fortune.

With an ample supply of pills, Ye Luo was energized. What he desperately wanted now was to level up.

Of course, he would also be happy to obtain some equipment and improve his strength.

Thinking that, Ye Luo continued toward the South Gate, preparing to complete the task Aunt Li had assigned him.

After finding the location of the Giant Rat Cave on the Novice Village map, Ye Luo deliberately chose a route he had not traveled before. Medicinal herbs had a certain respawn time, after all, and only unharvested areas might still contain herbs.

As he traveled, Ye Luo casually gathered the medicinal herbs he encountered and also ran into quite a few players. These people had clearly recognized him as the Number One Life Profession Player. Many tried to recruit him, and many more invited him to form a party. Annoyed beyond endurance, he hid the ID above his head. In any case, not many people in the Novice Village knew him.

"Why is that Yan Hua Yi Leng wearing a veil? Could that be Special Equipment too?" Ye Luo guessed, muttering to himself, "It would be great if I had a veil too. No, a mask would be even better. Then no one would recognize me."

**Ding!**

System Notification (China): Congratulations to Yan Hua Yi Leng for correctly answering 200 consecutive questions and successfully completing the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission. The system has awarded her the qualification to advance into a Hidden Profession. After she reaches Level 10 and completes her class advancement mission, the system will randomly assign her a Hidden Profession within the profession category she chooses.

If the previous system notifications had merely surprised Ye Luo, this one stirred raging waves in his heart. He muttered, "Yan Hua Yi Leng actually completed the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission, and by answering 200 questions at that. This is just too..."

"Could that game NPC I saw at the South Gate really have been the key to triggering the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission?!" Ye Luo's eyes lit up. He immediately stopped gathering herbs and raced toward the place where he had seen Yan Hua Yi Leng as fast as he could.

At that moment, Ye Luo was not the only one rushing there. Almost every player was surging in that direction.

A Hidden Profession was something players dreamed of. Even the most ordinary Hidden Profession was more powerful than a normal profession. It was the fastest route for a player to become an expert.

But these people were soon disappointed, because there was no longer any trace of Yan Hua Yi Leng or that NPC.

Countless people regretted missing the opportunity and sighed in disappointment. Ye Luo, however, remained calm. The instant he failed to see Yan Hua Yi Leng, he took out his communicator and contacted her, only to receive a notification that she refused to accept messages from strangers.

Ye Luo frowned slightly and tried to add her as a friend, but received another notification that she refused friend requests.

"This Yan Hua Yi Leng has the same settings as me—do not disturb for strangers and reject friend requests. It seems I'll have to wait until later if I want to ask her about the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission." Ye Luo muttered, scanning his surroundings. "No, figuring out how to trigger the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission is what matters most right now. I need to find her. The Novice Village isn't large, and at her level below 10, she can only fight monsters around Level 10."

With that in mind, Ye Luo began searching the area. After taking only a step or two, his communicator rang. Without needing to think, he knew it was Zhi Yue. He immediately accepted the call. A voice came through. "Brother Ye, Yan Hua Yi Leng is in the Novice Village you're in? Hehe, that's great! She's my idol. I never expected her to be in the same Novice Village as you."

Information traveled extremely quickly in the modern world, so it was not difficult for Zhi Yue to learn that Yan Hua Yi Leng was in Novice Village 0099 after hearing the system notification.

"Do you know Yan Hua Yi Leng?" Ye Luo's heart stirred, and he hurriedly asked.

"Of course I know her. She's Misty Pavilion's chief strategist, and she's known as China's Gaming World's Female Zhuge Liang, the Strongest Brain..." Mentioning Yan Hua Yi Leng made Zhi Yue extremely excited. At the end, her tone carried a trace of embarrassment. "Of course, Sister Yan Hua is cold by nature and doesn't like interacting with people, so I've only seen her from afar a few times..."

"Ah, I thought you knew her." Hearing Zhi Yue's words, Ye Luo revealed deep disappointment.

"What, are you looking for Sister Yan Hua?" Zhi Yue's voice rose several notches as her gossiping instincts kicked in. "Don't tell me you're interested in Sister Yan Hua. No, that can't be right. You've never even met her, and because of your sister..."

"I have something I want to ask her about. It concerns the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission." Ye Luo directly cut off Zhi Yue's wild speculation and sighed. "Unfortunately, her communicator is set to reject strangers, and she refuses friend requests. I can't find her."

"What? Brother Ye, you actually accepted that freakish mission? No wonder you're only Level 6 now. No wonder you asked me how to level up at the start?!" Zhi Yue cried out. She was even more shocked than when she learned Ye Luo was looking for Yan Hua Yi Leng. Then, remembering something, she asked again, her voice full of nervousness, "Brother Ye, can I ask what your base attribute points are?"

"1 point. Every attribute is 1 point. What's wrong with that?" Ye Luo did not hide it.

"What? 1 point? It's actually 1 point!" Zhi Yue cried out again, then gave a bitter laugh. "Sister Feng and the others told me that players who accept the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission have all four base attributes below the average of 5 points. According to official information, players with 4 base attribute points have a 10% chance of completing this mission, those with 3 points have a 1% chance, those with 2 points have a 0.1% chance, and players with 1 point..."

"A one-in-ten-thousand chance of completing it?" Ye Luo took over, his brow slightly furrowed. "The odds really are low, but it's not completely impossible..."

"That's true. Brother Ye is so amazing. Maybe—no, you'll definitely be able to complete this trial mission." Zhi Yue said. Then, remembering something, she continued, "Brother Ye, I know why you were looking for Sister Yan Hua now. But no two Heavenly Tribulation Trial Missions are the same, so you can't use her method as a reference. Besides, if your mission really makes you answer 200 questions, I don't think you'd be able to answer them. I'm afraid only Sister Yan Hua could complete a mission like that."

"Every trial mission is different? Oh, that matches what Master said. It seems there's no point in finding Yan Hua Yi Leng after all." Ye Luo said, then changed the subject. "Yue Er, why do you say only Yan Hua Yi Leng could complete a question-answering mission? Are those questions very difficult?"

"More than difficult. As far as I know, very few people can answer even half of them, much less answer 200 in a row. After all, the reward is a Hidden Profession, and this is before reaching Level 10." Zhi Yue said. "The greater the reward, the greater the difficulty. That's a rule of the Heavenly Tribulation Game. I estimate that Sister Yan Hua's base attributes aren't 1 point, but they probably aren't above 2 points either."

"That makes sense. The harder it is, the greater the reward." Ye Luo nodded.

"But this mission is a piece of cake for Sister Yan Hua. She's the Strongest Brain of our country's gaming world and has a photographic memory." Zhi Yue said proudly, as though she herself were Yan Hua Yi Leng.

"A photographic memory? That really is the most suitable ability for completing a question-answering mission..."