The Four Great Soul Crystals

Before entering the game, Ye Luo had also made many preparations, such as cramming various game knowledge. Although he hadn't fully understood everything yet, he was no longer a complete novice. He also knew that Strength, Agility, Constitution, and Intelligence were the basic attributes in many game characters, but he had never heard of Battle Soul, Martial Soul, or Blood Soul, which was why he asked for details.

"Descenders descend upon the Heavenly Tribulation Continent, blessed by destiny, with Soul Crystals to aid them in resisting calamities." The white-robed phantom explained in detail: "Descenders can choose from four types of racial physiques: Human Race, Demon Race, Spirit Race, and Soul Race. Each race condenses one of four types of Soul Crystals: Battle Soul, Blood Soul, Martial Soul, and Law Soul..."

After listening to the white-robed phantom's explanation, Ye Luo finally understood. Due to their different physiques, the four races could condense different Soul Crystals. The Human Race's Battle Soul Crystal leaned towards Strength, the Demon Race's Blood Soul Crystal leaned towards Constitution, the Spirit Race's Martial Soul Crystal leaned towards Agility, and the Soul Race's Law Soul leaned towards Intelligence, corresponding to the four basic attributes.

Besides having the same initial attributes, the growth of the four Soul Crystals varied. In the early stages of the game, for every level a character gained, the Battle Soul Crystal would add 1 point to Strength, the Blood Soul Crystal would add 1 point to Constitution, the Martial Soul Crystal would add 1 point to Agility, and the Law Soul Crystal would add 1 point to Intelligence.

This was only in the early game; the differences between the four Soul Crystals would become even more pronounced after job advancement.

Ye Luo carefully examined the initial growth potential of the four Soul Crystals, which were as follows:

Battle Soul Crystal: [Strength]: 2 Stars [Agility]: 1 Star [Constitution]: 1 Star [Intelligence]: 1 Star

Martial Soul Crystal: [Strength]: 1 Star [Agility]: 2 Stars [Constitution]: 1 Star [Intelligence]: 1 Star

Blood Soul Crystal: [Strength]: 1 Star [Agility]: 1 Star [Constitution]: 2 Stars [Intelligence]: 1 Star

Law Soul Crystal: [Strength]: 1 Star [Agility]: 1 Star [Constitution]: 1 Star [Intelligence]: 2 Stars

Growth potential referred to the points a game character would gain for each level up. For example, someone who chose the Battle Soul Crystal would gain 2 points of Strength, 1 point of Agility, 1 point of Constitution, and 1 point of Intelligence per level before changing professions.

With a little effort, Ye Luo memorized these details. He then inquired about the characteristics of various professions from the white-robed phantom and received a brief introduction:

Swordsman and Berserker were two professions that dominated with their attack power and were suitable for choosing the Strength-oriented Battle Soul Crystal, which belonged to the Human Race.

The Knight profession excelled in the world with high Health Points and high Defense, making it suitable for choosing the Constitution-oriented Blood Soul Crystal, which belonged to the Demon Race.

Archer and Assassin were two professions that swiftly maneuvered on the battlefield with their Agility, making them suitable for choosing the Agility-oriented Martial Soul Crystal, which belonged to the Spirit Race.

Summoner, Mage, and Priest were three professions that required powerful Magic Attack and Mana to defeat enemies and survive, making them suitable for choosing the Intelligence-oriented Law Soul Crystal, which belonged to the Soul Race.

The Boxer profession was quite balanced and suitable for any choice, allowing players to choose their Soul Crystal based on personal preference.

Of course, these were just suggestions from the white-robed phantom. Many Berserkers chose high Health Point races, and many Swordsmen chose agile races. The choices were endless, purely based on personal understanding and preference for the game.

"The Warrior profession actually has three races to choose from; it's quite complicated. Mage is much simpler, as you only need to choose the Soul Race and Law Soul Crystal, since Mages are primarily focused on Intelligence." Ye Luo muttered to himself. He looked at the three choices before him and after a moment, made his decision: "I want to be a Swordsman, so it's best to choose the Battle Soul, which is the Human Race."

"Ye Luo Zhi Qiu, are you certain?" the white-robed phantom asked, reminding him, "Just like your character name, once you've chosen your race and Soul Crystal, it's very difficult to change without special circumstances or items. Please choose carefully."

"I'm certain!"

"Ye Luo Zhi Qiu, Human Race Warrior, character generated!"

As the white-robed phantom spoke, Ye Luo floated up, and the virtual space around him slightly rippled. A small crystal slowly appeared and then descended towards him; clearly, this was the so-called Battle Soul Crystal.

The crystal was shaped like two triangular pyramids joined together, emitting a faint glow, vast and solemn.

As if weightless, the crystal entered Ye Luo's mind, and a strange energy flowed throughout his body.

If examined under a microscope, it would be seen that the Soul Crystal diffracted into thousands of extremely fine threads. These threads rapidly extended, soon covering his entire body and merging with his muscles, meridians, and so on.

As the Soul Crystal entered his mind, Ye Luo felt a slight increase in strength and his body became a bit more agile. He muttered to himself, "It seems the Soul Crystal is the source of power for every game character. This is quite interesting; other virtual games don't have this. Could this be what makes this game unique?"

"Ye Luo Zhi Qiu, you will now choose how your initial basic attributes are assigned." The white-robed phantom paused slightly and continued, "There are two methods: the first is random generation, and the second is fixed assignment. Which one do you choose?"

The game's beginning always involved assigning four basic attributes, which was common in other games, so Ye Luo was not unfamiliar with it. However, having witnessed the uniqueness of 'Heavenly Tribulation' earlier, he became much more cautious and asked, "May I ask what the difference is between these two methods?"

"Every game character has four basic attributes. With the first method, random generation, the four basic attributes will be randomly assigned a point value, ranging from 1 to 10 points. With fixed assignment, each attribute is a fixed 5 points. Which one do you choose?" the white-robed phantom explained in detail.

"From 1 to 10 points. If luck is on my side, I might get more than 5 points, but if luck is bad, it could be less than 5 points. It's entirely up to chance," Ye Luo mused. He gave a wry smile, "Is my luck good or bad? Meeting Sister Qiu was good luck for me, but now she... What should I choose?"

Seeing Ye Luo's silence, the white-robed phantom continued, "Ye Luo Zhi Qiu, if you do not make a choice within 10 seconds, a hidden assignment method will be triggered: at the cost of sacrificing some basic attribute points, you can initiate a Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission. Success in the trial will bring unexpected benefits, such as a powerful hidden profession, or some relatively strong weapons or equipment. Which method do you choose?"

"Oh, if I don't choose within 10 seconds, another assignment method will appear. Tsk, only 10 seconds, this is quite interesting." Ye Luo clicked his tongue. After a moment of thought, he muttered to himself, "Yue Er said that hidden professions are much more powerful than these basic ones. It's just a trial, I believe in my strength. Although I'll lose some attribute points, it's worth a shot."

With these thoughts, Ye Luo's expression sharpened, and he said, "I choose the third method."

"Ye Luo Zhi Qiu, you have chosen the third hidden attribute distribution method and accepted the Heavenly Tribulation Trial Mission. Attribute assignment will now begin. We wish you earth-shattering accomplishments on the Heavenly Tribulation Continent." The white-robed phantom said, and the virtual space trembled slightly before he slowly disappeared.

As soon as the white-robed phantom finished speaking, a faint light descended and merged into Ye Luo's body, specifically into the Battle Soul Crystal in his mind. A surge of energy flowed through him, and he felt stronger than before.

Ye Luo hurriedly checked his attributes. He knew about this from other games and silently thought of the character panel. Then, all the information appeared in his mind:

Ye Luo Zhi Qiu (Novice Warrior)

Race: Human Race Battle Soul Level: 0 Health Points: 110 Mana: 110 Physical Attack: 1—1 Magic Attack: 1—1 Defense: 1 Strength: 1 (Each point increases Physical Attack by 1, Knockback by 1, Stun by 1) Agility: 1 (Each point increases Accuracy by 1, Evasion by 1, Attack Speed by 1) Constitution: 1 (Each point increases Health Points by 10, Physical Defense by 1, Health Recovery Speed by 0.1) Intelligence: 1 (Each point increases Mana by 10, Physical Defense by 1, Mana Recovery Speed by 0.1) Luck: 0 Reputation: 0

After looking at his attribute panel, Ye Luo felt like crying but had no tears. He muttered, "Is this the so-called sacrifice of a little basic attribute? This is more than a little. I bet there isn't one person out of ten thousand like me with such extreme attributes. I'm probably already behind most players."

It made sense. All four basic attributes were 1 point, which was much worse than the fixed 5 points. The worst-case scenario for a random roll between 1 and 10 points would be like this. With such extreme attributes, how could someone who desperately wanted revenge not feel grief-stricken?

Despite his grief, Ye Luo knew that the situation was set. After a brief outburst, he calmed down and began to check his inventory. He knew that every game gave new players starting equipment and secretly prayed that the starting equipment would be powerful, otherwise, he feared he wouldn't be able to progress in the early stages of the game.

However, he was soon stunned because he couldn't find the inventory as he would in other games. He frowned slightly, "Why is there no inventory? Does this mean I won't even have a weapon? Am I supposed to fight monsters and level up with my bare fists?"

"It can't be like this. This game shouldn't be that absurd. Players still need to carry a lot of things, and they wouldn't make us fight monsters while holding blood potions," Ye Luo quickly calmed down and muttered to himself, "The official also said this game is different, maybe I just haven't found it."

Thinking this, Ye Luo searched carefully, but he couldn't find anything on him. He mumbled, "Inventory, where's the inventory..."

Unexpectedly, as he muttered the word "inventory," he felt his entire consciousness shift, and he arrived in a virtual space. This space had twenty slots. Two of the slots contained balls of white light. Upon closer inspection, they were an Iron Sword and a piece of clothing.

Without paying attention to whether the Iron Sword and clothing were divine weapons, Ye Luo's mind moved. He said, "So I can enter the inventory just by thinking? No, this must be a virtual space with only twenty slots. The system is really stingy."

"But where is this space located?" Ye Luo muttered. Then, with a thought, he blurted out, "It must be in the Soul Crystal. After all, the only unknown item on me is this Soul Crystal."

Thinking this, Ye Luo withdrew his consciousness and then probed the Soul Crystal in his mind. He 'looked' closely and saw many grooves on the upper three surfaces of the Soul Crystal. Ye Luo controlled his consciousness to probe one of the grooves, and two words immediately appeared in his mind: 'Weapon.' He probed another groove, and two more words appeared: 'Chestplate.'

Seeing this, Ye Luo pondered. He then controlled his consciousness to probe the other grooves and quickly found the 'Inventory' groove. With a thought, he entered it, and then entered the previous space again. The two balls of light were in two of the slots.

"Oh, so that's how it is. This is quite interesting," Ye Luo suddenly understood, beginning to grasp the function of these grooves.