Unstable Life Essence Concoction

In circumstances like these, even high-level players could mostly only make do with blue gear.

But that was true of most players. A few extraordinary, powerful ones were different.

For example, Xiao Yang's good big brother, Redbeard. The short-tempered dwarf clearly wasn't the kind of player who had to make do with blue gear. He was a powerful Dwarf Artisan with an epic of his own.

Of course, Xiao Yang didn't have a particularly clear idea of what that meant. He was just a newbie player, currently strolling happily around the Myriad Worlds Trading Area.

Having set aside his desire for equipment, Xiao Yang now needed only two things: all sorts of potions, and, given his pitifully low health, Health Potions in particular.

He'd originally planned to stock up on some Strength Potions, but after drinking that cup of Red Logan's giant root, he no longer needed them.

Health Potions, and specialized items that could damage undead.

But these two needs could actually be combined. After all, Health Potions could also become specialized items effective against undead creatures when fed into the Pot of Greed.

Of course, he couldn't be completely certain, since he'd only tried it with Minor Health Potions.

At a timid Mushroom Person's stall, Xiao Yang bought two bottles of regular Health Potion, two bottles of high-grade Health Potion, and two bottles of premium Health Potion.

There wasn't much difference between the three, apart from how much health they restored and how long it took. Regular Health Potions restored twenty health over ten seconds, high-grade ones restored forty over five seconds, and premium ones restored sixty over five seconds.

Naturally, their prices were worlds apart.

A bottle of Minor Health Potion cost only 150 Spirit Coins. A regular Health Potion cost 1,500, a high-grade one cost 2,000, and a premium one cost 5,000.

Finding an empty corner, Xiao Yang squatted by the roadside and began drinking the Health Potions in his hands.

To ordinary players, this was an incredibly wasteful thing to do. After all, Xiao Yang's health was already full. But drinking bottle after bottle left him feeling exceptionally refreshed.

The other players couldn't see his health stat skyrocketing.

After one bottle of regular Health Potion, Xiao Yang's health went straight from twenty-five to twenty-seven. Then one bottle of high-grade raised it from twenty-seven to thirty-one. Finally, he downed a bottle of the finest kind: a premium Health Potion, crystal clear and utterly pure, with no strange taste at all. He could even detect a hint of life's rich fragrance.

Xiao Yang's health settled at thirty-eight.

All in all, quality didn't make much difference. For every five points of health restored, Xiao Yang permanently gained one point of health.

It seemed there was no reason for Xiao Yang to bother preparing these expensive, high-quality potions. The cheapest and most cost-effective option, Minor Health Potions, was already enough.

In theory, Xiao Yang's remaining 290,000 could buy him 2,900 Minor Health Potions. Each bottle would increase his maximum health by one point.

If he drank all 2,900, his health would shoot up to 2,937.

That number was absurd. Xiao Yang felt that with health that ridiculous, he could fight the Corpse Mushroom and the Dungeon Guardian in a turn-based battle, just trading basic attacks!

You hit me once, I hit you once. I wouldn't be scared in the slightest.

But things probably wouldn't go so smoothly. Xiao Yang was worried about possible restrictions he didn't know about.

So he couldn't get too optimistic just yet. Next, he'd try feeding Health Potions of varying quality to the Pot of Greed and see what happened.

When he put in a regular Health Potion, the Pot of Greed didn't resist as much as before. The metal mouth on its body smacked its lips, then spat out a neat, rectangular red strip.

Concentrated Life Essence

Quality: Fine

Effect: Can be used to enchant weapons or items for an extended period.

Status: Life Essence slowly dispersing

Description: Smear it on a weapon, smear it on yourself, smear it on a house, or maybe soak it in water?

After that, there weren't many changes. Higher-quality Health Potions merely extended the Concentrated Life Essence's enchantment and dispersal times. Nothing earth-shattering happened.

Xiao Yang wasn't particularly satisfied. It meant he'd still have to charge in and fight the Dungeon Guardian hand-to-hand, which made him feel a little uneasy.

Smacking his lips, Xiao Yang hugged the Pot of Greed. Maybe he'd simply been trying the wrong approach.

Not long afterward, Xiao Yang bought another batch of Health Potions. This time, he began shoving large quantities into the Pot of Greed, one bottle after another, until the grinning mouth on its side bulged enormously.

This time, something new appeared.

Unstable Life Essence Concoction

Quality: Gray

Effect: Explodes, making one damage check and one healing check against all nearby creatures. Deals two damage checks to undead and shadow creatures. Damage depends on the total amount of Life Essence accumulated.

Status: Unstable; collapsing

Description: If I were you, I'd throw this as far away as possible within ten minutes!

Good. This was what Xiao Yang wanted!

Before long, his backpack was stuffed full of Health Potions.

He had nearly accomplished all his goals for this trip to the Myriad Realms Trading Area. Now, Xiao Yang was pouring Health Potions down his throat, one after another, hoping to test whether the Pot of Greed's effects had any restrictions or limits.

When he returned to a corner of the trading area, Redbeard had somehow gotten back up. He was lying on the ground, looking thoroughly content, as if savoring something wonderful.

But his relaxed state didn't last long. Xiao Yang, who had just struggled to down another Minor Health Potion, appeared beside him. To be honest, Xiao Yang still had a few questions he couldn't quite figure out.

First, there was the trading area itself. After walking around, especially after buying all the Health Potions he needed, he'd realized that the selection of goods for sale here wasn't all that comprehensive. He found that baffling.

Redbeard answered lazily.

"Of course, kid. What decent person would stay in the trading area all the time? If God of High Furnaces hadn't told me to gather Spirit Coins to upgrade Hellish High Furnace, I'd have already been in the Abyss beating the hell out of those Balrogs!"

Xiao Yang realized Spirit Coins weren't just being used as currency, as he'd assumed.

After a brief conversation with Redbeard, the clueless newbie Xiao Yang learned what Spirit Coins were really for. They were a universal currency, but not quite just currency.

They were a guaranteed form of money created when the God Game anchored the value of Myriad Spiritual Energy, magical elements, vital energy, and a whole bunch of other miscellaneous things.

It was complicated, and Xiao Yang couldn't follow. Redbeard couldn't be bothered to explain, either. The gist was that Spirit Coins were useful in all sorts of places, so it was best to stock up on them.

That was the explanation Xiao Yang received as he stared in confusion.