What did Lin Mo need most right now?
Equipment!
And he didn't need quality, just quantity!
With his SSS-rank talent, soulfire, he only needed to incinerate low-level equipment to gain huge amounts of evolution points and create the top-tier golden equipment he wanted!
Even if he only evolved his three pieces of starter gear to golden quality, Lin Mo was completely confident he could complete this hidden quest!
However, his previous method of buying starter gear from other players to incinerate clearly wouldn't work anymore.
Because Lin Mo's bank account was running dry...
Unless something unexpected happened, he wouldn't even be able to afford steamed buns for breakfast tomorrow!
"Fuck!"
"I should've cashed in all those winning lottery tickets! What a waste!"
Lin Mo couldn't help regretting it. The SSS-rank talent code worth a billion had gone to his head, and he'd dismissed those small prizes as unimportant.
Fortunately, it wasn't a big problem.
Lin Mo had already thought of a way to solve his lack of money for equipment.
According to his memories from his previous life.
"Players at level 5 or above can spend silver coins to draw equipment from Card Master Carl in Cloudside Town. That's the fastest way to get lots of equipment early on!"
"But those draws weren't cheap, if I remember right. Even with the one gold coin from my system achievement reward, I probably can't get much equipment. I'll need to save up more gold coins before I go."
Besides, Lin Mo's level wasn't high enough yet.
He could take this chance to earn gold coins and reach level 5 at the same time, unlocking equipment draws!
So Lin Mo headed to the pharmacy in Cloudside Town.
As someone who had been reborn, if he still followed the usual routine, taking one step at a time...
Wouldn't his rebirth have been wasted?
And Cloudside Town's pharmacy held a way to quickly earn large amounts of gold coins that nobody but Lin Mo knew about!
At that moment, quite a few players were buying potions in the pharmacy.
Although Oracle had disabled cash top-ups during the early game, big spenders could still buy copper coins from other players with real money.
At a whopping ten copper coins per bottle, the Level 1 Health Potion was something ordinary players couldn't afford to keep using-and the key to big spenders pulling ahead of regular players early on!
Lin Mo entered the pharmacy, but instead of buying potions, he went straight to its proprietress, [Jasmine], and initiated a conversation.
"Ma'am, you look a little down. Is your shop running short of medicinal ingredients?"
Jasmine had been slumped over the counter, chin propped on one hand, looking miserable. Her eyes lit up. "How did you know?"
Lin Mo smiled without answering.
"I'll help you gather medicinal ingredients."
Jasmine was delighted. "That would be wonderful!"
"You're much more perceptive than they are! Handsome, once you finish this task for me, I'll make sure to reward you properly!" Pretty and voluptuous, Jasmine gazed at Lin Mo with sultry eyes.
As soon as Jasmine finished speaking.
Lin Mo received a quest-
[Gather Medicinal Ingredients] (Normal quest): Difficulty rating: 30 Description: Cloudside Town's pharmacy is running short of medicinal ingredients. Please head to the Medicine Valley map, kill man-eating flowers, and collect their flower cores... Quest progress: 0/10 Quest rewards: EXP +200, copper coins +12, reputation +1, Jasmine's affection +1, random tier 1 equipment +1 (guaranteed upon first completion; the chance decreases by half with each subsequent completion)...
Lin Mo opened his map and searched for Medicine Valley, discovering that it was an advanced level 5 wilderness zone!
"Orange-quality starter pants can handle attacks from level 3 and 4 monsters perfectly, but they probably won't be enough against level 5 monsters."
So Lin Mo spent one silver coin to buy a stack of ten health potions.
[Level 1 Health Potion]: Restores 50 HP upon use, then restores 5 HP per second for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 60 seconds...
The same principle still applied.
You had to invest to see returns!
Besides, compared to the vast amount of gold coins Lin Mo could earn afterward by completing this quest, a single silver coin was nothing!
With his preparations complete, Lin Mo followed the map's directions toward Lv5 Medicine Valley.
An hour had passed since Oracle's servers opened.
Cloudside Town's level rankings showed Lin Mo firmly in first place at level 3, 15%.
The runner-up, [Hero of Troubled Times], had only just reached level 2, 1%!
"This SSS-rank talent really is ridiculous!"
Lin Mo couldn't help marveling.
Meanwhile, the vast majority of Cloudside Town's other players had only just reached level 1.
So right now, nobody dared venture into level 5 Medicine Valley. It was completely deserted!
Only giant purple man-eating flowers, like those in Plants vs. Zombies, dotted the area, their gaping maws waiting for prey.
Unable to wait any longer, Lin Mo grabbed his World-Shattering · Flowing Light Sword and stepped into Medicine Valley.
Because to earn gold coins through the pharmacy's proprietress, he needed to collect more than ten flower cores.
He needed... a hundred!
As he approached a man-eating flower, he cast Reconnaissance on it.
[Demonized Man-Eating Flower] (Normal monster): Level: 5 Attack: 55 Defense: 25 HP: 244 Description: One bite each. Nom, nom, crunch...
"These stats... are seriously insane!"
Just as Lin Mo was marveling at the strength of this level 5 monster.
Splat!
The man-eating flower suddenly spat a glob of green phlegm straight at Lin Mo's shoulder.
Sizzle!
Green smoke rose.
As the spot struck on his shoulder rapidly corroded, a blood-red damage number appeared above Lin Mo's head-
-11!
Sure enough!
A single piece of orange armor couldn't withstand a level 5 monster's damage!
"Damn it!"
"That's dirty!"
After the man-eating flower's sneak attack, Lin Mo charged at it furiously with his golden weapon.
Swish!
Swish!
-103!
-155 (Critical hit/player's initial critical damage: 150%)!
Two slashes killed the man-eating flower outright.
"A golden weapon's damage really is terrifying!"
And this was only a level 0 weapon!
[Ding~ Killed level 5 monster Demonized Man-Eating Flower. EXP +40!]
He picked up the two copper coins and a blood-red [Flower Core] dropped on the ground.
Lin Mo couldn't help complaining, "A level 5 monster only drops two copper coins? How stingy... If I rely on money from monster drops to draw equipment, I'll be at it forever!"
Stepping around the man-eating flower's corpse, Lin Mo moved on to his next target.
Level 5 monsters really did give plenty of experience!
Each man-eating flower gave Lin Mo a full four percentage points of experience!
After he killed over twenty man-eating flowers in a row, a beam of golden light descended over his head.
Lin Mo had reached level 4 at an astonishing speed!
He gained another three free attribute points.
"When I choose a class at level 10, the system will give me one free attribute reset. Until then, there's no need to overthink allocation. Just add points wherever I need them!"
Lin Mo's damage was already sufficient, so he didn't need more strength.
Thus, Lin Mo put all the points from this level-up into [Endurance].
His defense rose to 28.
From then on, each attack from a man-eating flower only dealt a negligible seven damage to Lin Mo!
At an average of one hit taken per man-eating flower killed.
He would only need one health potion for every fourteen or fifteen kills.
The ten health potions in his bag were more than enough!
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
[Ding~ Killed level 5 monster Demonized Man-Eating Flower. EXP +40!] [Ding~ Killed level 5 monster Demonized Man-Eating Flower. EXP +40!] [Ding...]
The night grew deep and still.
In the silent Medicine Valley, only the sounds of Lin Mo's sword swings mingled with the man-eating flowers' screeches.
In less than an hour, he had killed a hundred man-eating flowers.
By then, some players who had reached level 3 were beginning to arrive in Medicine Valley in groups to farm man-eating flowers.
Looking at the hundred flower cores in his bag, Lin Mo said in satisfaction, "Job done. Time to head back!"
Just as Lin Mo was about to turn and leave Medicine Valley.
"Aaaah!!"
A sudden burst of screams rang out.
The instant Lin Mo turned toward the sound.
Deep within Medicine Valley, he saw-
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Several beams of white light, signaling players' deaths, shot into the sky!
"A boss spawned!!!"
Before you continue