Mu Yuan was a diligent, hardworking young man of the new era with lofty morals. It was just that, in order to gather intelligence, he had to hang around and post a little here so he could blend in with the forum's many Sand Sculptures.
That was right, everything was for the sake of gathering intelligence.
"The range of activities I can access in the game world is still very limited, and I haven't encountered much either. I have to broaden my horizons through the forum and take a look at how far the other newbies have progressed."
Mu Yuan glanced at his Evolution Points, then evolved a tenth Skeleton Soldier, 'Bone Ten.'
At present, his dilapidated village had one Skeleton Warrior, nine Skeleton Soldiers, five Little Skeletons, one Falcon, and one Great Slime.
That was more than enough to keep watch through the night.
Mu Yuan had no intention of making Deathbone go out hunting by himself, either. He had earned plenty of Soul Sand today, so he should give Deathbone more time to cultivate, allowing him to advance to Level 5 and Level 6 more quickly.
He had heard that some top-tier Whale Players would deliberately leave several Three-Star Troops at home, doing nothing but cultivating day and night. Their other troops would go out to explore and fight monsters, while the players themselves bought resources for assisting upgrades in the real world. Everything was done to pile up a few troops into the top echelon of levels.
By comparison, although his own Deathbone was of the Rare grade, he had neither auxiliary materials nor the luxury of staying home. He still had to go out hunting to earn money, so his upgrade progress might not even match the main forces of a top-tier Whale Player.
He really was still too weak.
Let us take a look at some of the other competitors.
"F***, f***, f***, f***! Eight of my ten starting troops have died, and only four are left! Where's the official rescue team? Why aren't they here yet? If they don't arrive soon, I'm done for tonight!"
"We're on the way, we're on the way! We ran into a Wyvern and got tangled up with it for quite a while before shaking it off. Our rescue team isn't having an easy time either, hey! Remember to give us a five-star review, dear."
"Damn it, this lousy game makes no sense at all! Who besides Whale Players can withstand wave after wave of monster attacks? No one can, all right?!"
"It isn't just a matter of not being able to withstand them. I freaking stare at my computer every day and don't even dare sleep. I feel like I'm becoming depressed!"
"Exactly. Last time, I wasn't paying attention for a moment, and my idiotic troop ran up and threw its life away... These starting troops are both weak and stupid. I'm afraid only Whale Players can defend their territory in peace."
"Exactly, Whale Players have way too big an advantage. Even Lucky Ones can't compare. Although I started with three Three-Star Troops, Wood Elf Archers, I'm still struggling every step of the way. I've only managed to obtain three Random Remnant Souls by now, and have only recruited two more One-Star Troops and one Two-Star Troop. It's just too hard."
"Lucky Ones, go die!"
Mu Yuan thought about himself. After working hard all day, he had only obtained a dozen or so Remnant Souls in total. Indeed, it was too hard.
He replied below the post accordingly.
However, these posts had little nutritional value. Mu Yuan only browsed them for an hour before, through sheer force of will, moving on and finding a more valuable post.
"Mount Hua Sword Debate: Outstanding Newbie Reviews for This Round (Continuously Updated, Stop Rushing Me)"
The poster was 'First-Hand Information Dealer—No Middleman Markup,' a greasy veteran player who often loitered in the Newbie Zone.
He listed several newbies who had already made a name for themselves. Naturally, most of them were Whale Players, but even Whale Players differed from one another.
Spending money and starting with a batch of Three-Star Troops was merely the beginning. How far they could develop afterward also depended on the Whale Players' own abilities... as well as whether they could continuously obtain financial support.
"Newbie 'Luo Baiwan,' playtime: two and a half days. Reason for review: This afternoon, at the cost of nineteen Three-Star Troops, he conquered a Remnant Soul Projection Point and recruited a Rare One-Star Troop, 'Ironclad Giant Scorpion.' My evaluation is: 'Decisive in action, with a promising future.'"
Mu Yuan was familiar with Remnant Soul Projection Points.
Some relatively powerful Remnant Souls, such as Rare-grade Remnant Souls, were often not dropped by monsters. Instead, they were nurtured by Heaven and Earth like treasures, existing in various corners of the world.
At the same time, these powerful Remnant Souls would reveal anomalies in the outside world, such as forming a radiant projection of the corresponding troop.
It was said that when even more top-tier general souls and heroic souls emerged, radiant light would shoot into the heavens as if a supreme treasure had appeared.
...Most of the above were rumors produced by the forum veterans bragging.
But Rare-grade Remnant Souls could indeed often be detected from a great distance. Moreover, monsters of no small strength would gather around those Remnant Souls that produced radiant projections.
However,
"Is it worth sacrificing a full nineteen Three-Star Troops just to recruit one Rare Troop?"
"One Rare Troop can't possibly defeat that many Three-Star Troops. By rights, this is a loss of combat power—a deal that loses more than it gains."
Even the Undead Bone Emperor would absolutely not be able to defeat nineteen Bones Two and Bones Three in a frontal battle, let alone a regular Rare-grade troop.
He scrolled down.
Sure enough, without needing him to voice his doubts, a curious passerby player asked a similar question.
"How many Three-Star Troops can one Rare Troop deal with? Even if a Rare Troop has a skill, how many times can it use it? Maybe it'll go limp after one shot."
A veteran player replied below, "Rare Troops won't necessarily go limp after one shot. However, most Rare Troops can't use their skills even once during the early levels. At the Apprentice Grade, using a skill completely isn't easy."
"Rare Troops also need constant practice before they can master the skills engraved in their souls. This practice process may take ten days or half a month. Naturally, as the troop's level rises and it grows stronger, this time can be shortened, but it will still take at least five or six days of practice."
After the veteran player said this, the other newbies became even more confused.
If a Rare Troop couldn't use its skill, wouldn't it just be a larger Three-Star Troop? It might have trouble taking on two at once.
Mu Yuan was also baffled.
It wasn't surprising that Rare Troops needed practice before they could use their skills, but for a dignified Rare Troop to need so long to train before it could truly use its skill... Wasn't that a little too pathetic?
He wouldn't even compare it with the Undead Bone Emperor. His own idiot-like Bone Two, merely a Three-Star Troop, had taken less than two days of practice before it could use Cleave in battle. In the battle against the Goblin Camp just now, Bone Two had even unleashed Cleave three times in rapid succession, completely draining himself.
Could it be that Bone Two wasn't an idiot, but actually somewhat clever?
But Cleave could even 'whiff its ultimate.' Mu Yuan really couldn't connect cleverness with Bone Two.
The veteran player's words made Rare Troops seem even more useless. Was paying the enormous price of so many Three-Star Troops really not worth it?
"But that's not how you calculate it."
"First, 'Luo Baiwan' is a top-tier Whale Player with an experienced lord supporting him from behind. He isn't short of Three-Star Troops. However, it isn't easy to obtain a Rare Troop that will completely obey his commands."
"Second, Luo Baiwan clearly wants to rank on the Lord Trial leaderboard and obtain the Heaven and Earth Gift. The treasures he can get by then will far exceed this small sacrifice. He's racing against time."
A veteran player who knew his stuff said, "The gap between Rare Troops and Common Star Troops is actually enormous, but that gap only gradually becomes apparent as their levels rise. Especially once a troop reaches Professional Grade and begins learning to use energy—the gap between a Rare Troop with a skill and a completely blank Common Three-Star Troop becomes tremendous at that point.
"The Lord Trial's preparation period gives newbie players only one month. Luo Baiwan could indeed wait for a while, raise the levels of his Three-Star Troops, and then conquer this Remnant Soul Projection Point. By then, his losses could be greatly reduced, and it might even be possible to take it without losses, but...
"By that time, ten days or half a month of the newbies' preparation period might already have passed. If he only recruited the Rare Troop then and began cultivating it, how many levels could he raise it before the trial arrived?
"They're racing against time. They want to raise their Trump Card to Professional Grade or higher before the trial arrives, so it can deliver the decisive blow in battle.
"That was why First-Hand Big Shot gave the evaluation, 'Decisive in action, with a promising future.' You newbies should learn from them."
Learn what, how to spend money?
To be fair, was it that they newbies weren't decisive enough? No. They simply had no money!
Countless newbies on the forum shed tears of envy.
Mu Yuan's evaluation was, "You should evolve instead."
He would soon be able to evolve all his Little Skeletons into Skeleton Soldiers. After that, he might evolve one or two Skeleton Warriors, or he might continue cultivating his Trump Card and let Deathbone advance to the next class.
"The land of the Xuan Kingdom really is full of hidden talents. As a mature troop, Bone, you should learn to shoulder the burden of the territory."
3/3, seeking follows and all kinds of stats
Thanks to 'Zhu Jiu Ming Yue' for the 1,500-coin tip~
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