Life-Saving Herb

The Poisonous Swamp was thick with miasma and crawling with venomous snakes. Even the monsters at its outermost edge were over level 20, let alone deeper inside. With Ye Luo's current strength, going in to gather herbs would be nothing more than going to his death. Thinking of this, Ye Luo was troubled. It was not just him—even the highest-level expert in Novice Village would likely never return.

"How am I supposed to handle this?" Ye Luo muttered. He was not worried about failing the quest and losing the reward; he was truly worried about Uncle Li's safety.

"Oh, right! I remember accidentally refining an Invisibility Pill years ago." Doctor Hua suddenly cried out, visibly excited. "It's a second-tier pill. Those little venomous snakes over level 20 won't be able to see through it. With it, you can enter the Poisonous Swamp. Ye Luo Zhi Qiu, are you truly willing to accept this quest?"

As he spoke, Doctor Hua rummaged through boxes and cabinets. Before long, he found a small porcelain bottle among a pile of jars and vials. It clearly contained the so-called Invisibility Pill.

"I'm willing." Ye Luo nodded, but he soon frowned. "Doctor Hua, the problem of safely entering the Poisonous Swamp has been solved, but I don't know Herb Gathering. Look..."

"That's simple. I'll temporarily teach you Herb Gathering." Doctor Hua spoke casually, then dug another porcelain bottle out from among the jars and vials. "Not only that, I'll give you a few Detoxification Pills as well. That way, you won't have to fear the miasma in the Poisonous Swamp. So, are you accepting the quest now?"

"I accept!" Ye Luo said. As soon as his words fell, another quest appeared in his quest log:

Life-Saving Cassia Seed (Novice Village Quest, Difficulty: E-Medium)

Quest Details: Enter the Poisonous Swamp outside Novice Village's West Gate, gather 10 Cassia Seeds, and deliver them to Doctor Hua.

Quest Requirement: Within 1 hour.

Quest Rewards/Penalties: Completing the quest grants favorability with all of Novice Village, experience, copper coins, and permanent mastery of the Life Skill Herb Gathering. If 10 Cassia Seeds are not returned within the time limit, the temporarily acquired Herb Gathering skill will become invalid, and this skill can never be learned again.

Quest Reminder: The Poisonous Swamp is thick with miasma and crawling with venomous snakes. It is best entered at around level 20, with sufficient supplies and detoxification medicine.

The difficulty was E-Medium, far higher than gathering wolf fangs. This showed just how difficult the quest was.

After Ye Luo accepted the quest, Doctor Hua handed him the two porcelain bottles. Then Doctor Hua stretched out a hand, and a flash of white light passed by. A Herb Gathering skill appeared in Ye Luo's Life Skill tab. However, the word "Temporary" was displayed on it, along with a one-hour time limit.

Doctor Hua then urged Ye Luo to leave quickly and return quickly. Of course, as Ye Luo was about to leave, Doctor Hua did not forget to remind him to buy a Herb Gathering Shovel from Blacksmith Sun. After all, he could not gather herbs empty-handed.

Ye Luo did not hesitate. At his fastest speed—his fixed speed of one meter per second—he headed for Blacksmith Sun's smithy. Along the way, he checked the attributes of the Invisibility Pill and Detoxification Pill:

Invisibility Pill (Second-Tier Pill)

Pill Description: After consumption, the user enters an invisible state for 30 minutes. Monsters below level 30 cannot see the user. Ineffective against players, and the user will be revealed after launching an active attack.

Minor Detoxification Pill (First-Tier Pill)

Pill Effect: Grants immunity to low-level poison attacks and ordinary poisonous miasma after consumption.

Duration: 10 minutes.

Cooldown: 10 minutes.

"This Invisibility Pill is amazing. Although it's ineffective against players, it's practically a miracle drug against monsters below level 30. After taking it, I can almost roam freely through Novice Village." Ye Luo praised it repeatedly. Then he found his first skill in the game in the Life Skill tab.

Herb Gathering (Life Skill—Beginner)

Skill Description: Can gather tier 1-2 herbs. Requires a Herb Gathering Shovel to activate and consumes 1 mana point.

Skill Proficiency: Beginner 0/10.

After looking into it, Ye Luo learned that Life Skills also had ranks. From low to high, they were Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Master, Grandmaster, and Divine. Herbs were also divided by tiers, from tier 1 to tier 9. There were also immortal herbs and divine herbs, though those were things he would not encounter until much later.

Ye Luo ran all the way to Blacksmith Sun. After asking around, he learned that a Herb Gathering Shovel cost 15 copper coins. However, since Ye Luo was an old acquaintance, Blacksmith Sun gave him a 20% discount. As a result, all 12 copper coins Ye Luo had only recently obtained were handed over.

"So buying and selling things here can get an 80% discount. It must be because I have favorability with the villagers." Ye Luo quickly understood. But looking at his empty backpack, he gave a bitter smile. "After working so hard on quests for so long, I'm back to square one in an instant. Looks like I need to work hard to earn money from now on. Buying medicine, learning skills, changing classes, and everything else will require money."

In Heavenly Tribulation Game, 100 copper coins equaled 1 silver coin, while 100 silver coins equaled 1 Gold Coin. Although game accounts were already linked to real-world bank accounts, Real Currency could not be exchanged for game currency during the early stages of the game. Game currency could be exchanged for Real Currency, but most players did not even have enough game currency for themselves early on, much less enough to exchange.

Though he was thinking about this, Ye Luo did not slow down. After obtaining the Herb Gathering Shovel, he immediately headed toward the Poisonous Swamp to the northwest. Doctor Hua had only given him an hour, and seven or eight minutes had already been wasted.

Before long, Ye Luo passed through the West Gate and entered the outermost edge of the Poisonous Swamp. A thin gray mist filled the area, carrying a faint fishy stench that made him slightly dizzy when he breathed it in. A red "2" also floated above Ye Luo's head every second. With his current 120 HP, he could barely last one minute.

Seeing this, Ye Luo immediately took out a Minor Detoxification Pill and swallowed it. The effect was immediate. The damage numbers above his head vanished, and his HP began recovering at a rate of over 1 point per second. He muttered, "The Poisonous Swamp really is troublesome. The miasma at the outer edge alone is this terrifying. Deeper in, it'll probably be even worse. If I come here to level up in the future, I'll need to prepare in advance."

As he walked, a green blur suddenly shot toward him. With Ye Luo's reactions, he immediately knew a monster was attacking. Without hesitation, he took out the Invisibility Pill and swallowed it. At once, his body was shrouded in mist. He had clearly entered an invisible state.

The monster that attacked Ye Luo missed. It wandered around for more than ten seconds, then left resentfully after finding nothing unusual.

After becoming invisible, Ye Luo saw that the creature attacking him was a green snake two or three meters long. Its tongue flickered constantly, and it occasionally exposed two fangs. A faint fishy stench drifted from it, making him nauseous.

Heavenly Tribulation Game was highly realistic. That snake was just like a real snake. Ye Luo was bold enough to keep calm, but anyone else would probably have screamed already. He carefully avoided the snake and took the chance to inspect its attributes:

Bamboo Viper (Normal Monster)

Level: ???

Physical Attack: ???

Defense: ???

HP: ???

Skills: ???

The Bamboo Viper was more than five levels higher than Ye Luo, so he could not inspect its attributes. There was only a string of question marks. Shaking his head and no longer dwelling on it, he finally relaxed when he saw the various venomous snakes around him treating him as if he did not exist. He began searching for Cassia Seeds. The Invisibility Pill had a limited duration, and Doctor Hua's quest also had a time limit.

Following Doctor Hua's instructions, Ye Luo continued deeper. Before long, he found a Cassia Seed plant. It was a tier 1 herb, one that his current Herb Gathering level could collect. After using the Herb Gathering Shovel to activate Herb Gathering, he successfully obtained one Cassia Seed. His Herb Gathering proficiency also increased by 1, delighting him. It would not be long before Herb Gathering reached Intermediate.

However, he then noticed that only a little over forty minutes remained of the one-hour time limit. Without further delay, he continued searching for herbs.

Perhaps because few people came to the Poisonous Swamp, there were many herbs here. Besides Cassia Seeds, there were other herbs as well. However, most were tier 2 or above. Ye Luo's Herb Gathering level was not high enough, so he could only gather tier 1 herbs and some tier 2 herbs for now.

Of course, Ye Luo mainly focused on gathering Cassia Seeds.

About ten minutes later, Ye Luo had successfully gathered more than ten Cassia Seeds, along with some other herbs. Seeing that the Invisibility Pill still had over ten minutes remaining, he did not want to waste it and continued gathering. Without the Invisibility Pill, he would not be able to enter this place again until much later. By then, it would likely already be packed with people.

After gathering ten tier 1 and tier 2 herbs, Ye Luo's Herb Gathering successfully rose to Intermediate.

Herb Gathering (Life Skill—Intermediate)

Skill Description: Can gather tier 1-4 herbs. Requires a Herb Gathering Shovel to activate and consumes 5 mana points.

Skill Proficiency: Intermediate 9/100.

Ye Luo could now gather tier 4 herbs and below, which delighted him. He hurriedly gathered the herbs he had been unable to collect earlier. However, he discovered that gathering tier 1 and tier 2 herbs no longer granted proficiency. Only tier 3 and tier 4 herbs did.

When only five minutes remained on the Invisibility Pill's effect, Ye Luo gathered herbs as he made his way out of the Poisonous Swamp. By the time he left the swamp, the Invisibility Pill's effect had completely disappeared. His Herb Gathering proficiency had also reached 35/100, meaning he had gathered at least 35 tier 3 and tier 4 herbs. His harvest had been quite bountiful.

"Who knows when I'll be able to come here again." Ye Luo sighed. After giving the Poisonous Swamp one last look, he headed toward Doctor Hua's residence. There were only a little over ten minutes left before the one-hour limit expired.

After handing ten Cassia Seeds to Doctor Hua, Ye Luo received 3,000 energy experience, 100 Novice Village favorability, 100 copper coins, and ten pills. What made him happiest was that the word "Temporary" disappeared from Herb Gathering, meaning he had permanently mastered the skill.

The 1,500 energy experience directly raised Ye Luo to level 2, and his Battle Soul Crystal also grew somewhat.

Ye Luo added all 5 free attribute points to Strength. His attack had now become 16, his defense 4, and his HP 130. With these attributes, he could now completely kill Young Toads.

Of course, after killing several Young Toads, he would still need to replenish his HP. After all, his defense and HP were much lower than those of other players.