Chapter 196

How about it, isn't the power amazing?

Speaking, Bai Yesheng took out another Heaven-shaking Thunderbolt.

What I sold to the Death God's people was actually the first batch; this is the second batch I just whipped up this afternoon, optimized in many areas, with stability greatly improved.

Hey, if this could be paired with a suitable cannon, it would definitely…… hey!

Confiscated.

Today, the players at least managed to get into the grenade throws; even if ambushed, I'd have a bit of reaction time to teleport and flee.

If it really were as Bai Yesheng imagined, with artillery firing from all directions……

I'd end up black and blue from the blast!

Don't mess with this dangerous explosive weapon; aren't you afraid of being caught by the cops?

Bai Yesheng snorted, about to retort, but his face suddenly changed, and he spoke softly.

Looking at your tone, did you really find an undercover cop mixed into the game?

The embezzling undercover: ……

This is over 1,200 players, a world-top-tier milestone worth hundreds of millions in a flash; having one or two official monitors mixed in isn't exactly strange, is it?

Oh……

Bai Yesheng drew out his tone, worried, and pondered for a moment.

Then how much money would I get if I reported you?

Heh, what's my worth? You'd have to pay me at least five…… huh?

Don't look at me, I'm just joking; I'm your dad, after all—how could I possibly bear to report you to prison to work a sewing machine?

……Damn! If I'm unlucky, I'll drag you, this accomplice suspected of covering up, down first!

Who would have thought Bai Yesheng would burst out laughing upon hearing that.

Heh heh, I'll be in the hospital my whole life, so your threat is useless!

Or put another way, if they could build an ICU in prison and let me stay for free, I'd go at light speed—plus I'd save my family money.

That ruthless?

Ji Ming naturally couldn't back down, and continued speaking.

Then I'd just hide in the game as a cyber-person; if nobody gives me rice to grind, I'll go find their favorite virtual streamer, and then……

Stop, stop, stop—there's no way a female streamer's costume is Shockwave; just give up on that idea.

After spouting a couple of nonsense lines, Bai Yesheng steered the conversation back to the main topic.

Right, after my few days of speed-grinding monsters, my level has hit ten with full experience; it's time to advance.

Come on, let's head to the training field and watch me crush the trial boss!

According to the rules of Yangyue World, every profession must complete an advancement when its level reaches an integer in order to continue leveling up.

For example, a warrior apprentice who wants to break through to trainee must undergo three rounds of rough full-body tempering through relentless combat and effort.

—The so-called "tempering" is similar to the "external training" in martial arts realms, except it is not as extreme or harmful to the body, and places greater emphasis on combat experience and exposure.

As for the archer profession, one must find a suitable teacher and learn a supportive-type magic of at least the first tier.

—Using a high-pull-weight strong bow augmented with magic, while maintaining distance from the enemy with relatively high agility, is the normal combat pattern for this profession.

Meanwhile, the mage profession must successfully construct all four basic magics and determine one's specific affinity with each element.

—Different elemental magics have different application tendencies; specializing is fine, but over-specialization usually doesn't get you far.

What, you say you've comprehended the wisdom of nuclear fusion, nuclear fission, and even the four fundamental forces?

Then why are you still sitting here? Hurry up and attain godhood, find a kingdom to nicely enjoy the incense.

In short, in Yangyue World, profession advancement is a matter that requires time, and even talent.

This is actually already a quite gentle leveling system; although for geniuses the threshold can be lowered indefinitely, for ordinary people with poor talent, at least the warrior and archer professions can still make up some of the gap through effort.

This is also one of the reasons why warriors and archers far outnumber mages in Yangyue World.

Oh, another reason is lack of money, which weighs even more heavily.

But players are different; if the planners tell players that to complete advancement and continue leveling up, they need to spend a long time grinding experience.

Moreover, the higher the level rises, the longer the time needed for the next breakthrough, and you're not allowed to use paid acceleration……

Pay-to-win freeloaders, grinding emperors, and salted-fish players—none are well liked; I'm afraid that by that night their mothers would have to return to the dust.

So just as when the profession system was opened, Ji Ming simplified all the thresholds for profession advancement into so-called advancement tasks.

The overall task chain is not much different from profession tasks; both require excellent equipment that proves purchasing power, and experience acquisition that proves grinding power.

However, to increase the value of changing professions, Ji Ming also added a practical combat test as the final threshold.

For example, for a warrior apprentice to pass the challenge, they must solo defeat a trial boss whose strength equals that of a level‑10 warrior apprentice.

The so‑called test boss is actually a puppet manufactured by Grisen using plant‑life technology, just like the scout animals, being composed of plants.

Therefore their official name is "Branch‑Leaf People," but players usually call them……

For hardcore players such as spearmen and lost wanderers, this enemy poses virtually no difficulty; they can settle the battle in a few minutes.

But for many ordinary players, this is still quite challenging; if they don't carefully study martial techniques and practice combat, they will surely embarrass themselves in public.

This is also Ji Ming's means of urging players to improve themselves, lest they spend all day laughing and thinking only about making easy money.

At the very least, we need to wake up those online princesses and princes who clearly are just leeching off the convoy for points yet still feel good about themselves.

As for those farming‑simulation players……

You're already a salted‑fish player—what do you need such a high level for, to plow the field with the Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist?

Passing by the savage charge training camp opened by Huoke that is the same as the Death God's, having watched the daily arena held by the Justice Guild, the two came to the shooting range at the corner of the martial arts field.

Although Ji Ming cannot simplify the profession advancement of the local natives, a monster type that is sufficient in number and can also be quickly refreshed in a practical training camp is still of enormous benefit to them.

Therefore, compared to when they first arrived at the dungeon, every member of the instructor team has made substantial progress in level.

For example, Sitong, after several days of diligence, his level had already broken through from eleven to thirteen.

Although he will eventually be surpassed by players, at the current pace at least he won't lose face during the closed beta.

Therefore, when people encounter joyous events they feel refreshed; he smiles at everyone he sees, until he sees Ji Ming.

【I am a player!!!】

The doctor's head has a huge icon……

Suppressing the urge to retort, he recited the prepared standard copy.

「This Pioneer, I notice your level has reached the apprentice max; may I ask if you're here to seek advancement? 」

Bai Yesheng tapped the option that popped up below the chat box.

「Great, I notice your gear and experience acquisition have already met the advancement task requirements, so I will directly open the final task. 」

Sitong took out a black card from his waist pouch, and a number immediately appeared on it.

「This is your duel number plate; please enter the venue in order with this. 」

「By the way, you can only challenge once a day; please cherish the opportunity. 」

During the closed beta, it's already not bad for an ordinary player to complete two advancements; this test proving one's hard strength naturally should be made a bit flashy.

Therefore Ji Ming directly activated the player arena, serving as a stage for them to display their game gains.

「I'll wait for you on the stands, good luck. 」

At this moment there were already players fighting in the arena, seemingly undergoing a warrior profession assessment.

Unfortunately this is an unskilled guy, wielding a handsome two-handed greatsword, yet he was utterly routed by the test boss.

Others were also watching from the stands, though not all were the players' own friends and family; many simply came to watch the show, even live-streaming and commenting.

【I'm dying of laughter, this is absolutely the worst today】

【How come it's again the good-looking big sword guy; if we really can't, why not use sword and shield?】

【At a glance it's a loss, streamer, hurry up and announce his ranking!】

「Haha, the flamboyant escape and plea for mercy sure has show effect; I decided to place it third on the 《Humorous Advancement Challenge List》. 」

However, amidst the chatter, the player wearing the 【Red Tag Spectator】 still produced another list.

「We're just having fun, but I actually still hope to see more exciting battles. 」

Actually, in real life he is a blogger who specializes in commenting on combat segments from reality or audiovisual works.

Earlier, analyzing several major battles during the sealed test gained him many fans, also counting as an experienced outsider player who understands the game.

Now participating in the internal test naturally means continuing his old trade, commenting on various PVP and PVE battles, and he also self-made several lists for reference.

「The 【Spearmen No Weapon】 advancement duel we watched the day before yesterday was really impressive—taking down the boss in two or three moves then finishing it with one strike, the movements were smooth as flowing clouds and water. 」

Recalling a few of the masters on the 《Elite Advancement Challenge List》, he shook his head with some regret.

「Too bad, the star players all passed this hurdle, so the remaining players' quality is indeed much lower…………」

As he spoke, the players on the field had already collapsed from exhaustion, being cut down by a branch-leaf person with one sword, then rolling back onto the warship to crouch over a urinal.

【Attempts total: 1】

【Effective attacks: 0】

【Battle score: 38】

The branch-leaf person itself has no consciousness; with a wooden face showing neither sorrow nor joy, it falls silent after the target dies and returns to the waiting area.

In its place stepping onto the battlefield is a branch-leaf person holding a longbow, obviously the corresponding boss for the archery profession challenge.

Therefore the challenger walking out from the other side's iron gate is naturally……

Just a quick glance, and the Red Tag Spectator kept shaking his head.

「He looks timid and deferential; probably someone else brought him to level ten, and loafing around will surely bring suffering. 」

Indeed, the girl's first action upon stepping onto the field was not preparation or adjustment, but raising her head to look at the stands, nervously fixing her gaze on a man.

「Looks like this is the relative who brought her up in level; I just don't know his exact level. 」

Because the distance was somewhat far, he stared hard for a while before making out that person's face, then immediately let out a 'yo'.

「Isn't this the closed-beta tester Wai Shu? I don't recall him ever doing an advancement battle; could it be he first went all-out pushing someone else? 」

Meanwhile, on the other side, seeing Aurora frantically searching for her own silhouette, Ji Ming knew this timid cannon's odd social anxiety had flared up again.

To prevent spectators from interfering with challengers, an invisible formation is set up both inside and outside when the challenge opens, isolating everything including sound.

So after thinking, he raised a thumb, then spread his five fingers and waved them, meaning 'cheer up, if you really can't just flee.'

Who would have thought Aurora's first reaction upon seeing it was hesitation, then she firmly nodded.

……What did she understand it as?

How come I again have a vague premonition!

And under everyone's gaze, Aurora actually took out a large piece of cloth from her backpack and covered herself with it.

The melon-eating crowd of veteran players collectively found it hard to endure, and even the spectators' live-stream rooms laughed until they went numb.

Ji Ming also took a deep breath, covering his face with both hands.

「Damn, so you, a BYD, decided to escape reality, huh…………」

I don't know what she's fussing with inside, but in any case she didn't uncover it until preparation time ended.

The archery branch-leaf persons were all bewildered, rather humanly scratching their heads, lowering the already drawn longbow, and drawing the waist dagger to try to approach.

And just as it had already crossed halfway across the field, the human player finally lifted the cloth and stood up, but an iron can the size of a soccer ball appeared in his hand.

……

Aurora, you're skipping class!

However, once the challenge begins, it cannot be ended, because 'death' and the accompanying level-drop penalty are also part of the cost of failure.

So even Ji Ming couldn't directly call a halt; he could only watch as she, like a cabbage pitcher who had eaten energy beans, threw out five thunderclaps in succession.

How could the honest Branch-Leaf People possibly understand this dirty trick? They even foolishly raised the long knife in their hand, trying to chop them as hidden weapons.

Then...

Boom! Boom boom boom boom!

After the five crackling explosions ended, the poor trial boss had been blown into a mess of grass, wood, and branches, leaving no intact corpse.

According to Ji Ming's confirmation and Yang Yue's execution, having deceived the world's rules, the perfect functioning player-exclusive profession advancement judgment determined that Bai Yesheng defeated the trial boss solely by her own strength, meeting the mission requirements, so she was directly granted passage at the rule level.

Sitting amid the celebratory confetti automatically sprayed by the arena, a string of fireworks in the sky illuminated everyone's astonished faces.

"Isn't this the blasting powder can the challengers use? This works too?"

"I'm going to kowtow to the Death God right now; I also want to skip class!"

"Me too!"

Whether waiting for a challenge or sitting to watch the show, players scattered from the arena to find the challenger players they knew.

Even the red-card spectators sitting in the best seat were dumbfounded, only regaining their ability to speak after a long while.

"Friends…… she's got a gun, this is too much!"

Humming a little victory tune, Bai Yesheng found Ji Ming fiercely pounding the air under the third pillar outside the arena.

"What are you doing?"

"Contact the programmer to fix the bug…… players aren't allowed to use non-corresponding profession weapons in the advancement challenge."

"Huh?"

She hurriedly grabbed Ji Ming's hand and urged.

"Didn't you tell me to use the Heaven-Shaking Thunder to skip class? How did it become exploiting a game bug?"

"Wow, you're smearing me—when did I ever incite you to cheat?"

Bai Yesheng extended her thumb.

"This is the mortar operator's auxiliary aiming gesture; it means I should use the Heaven-Shaking Thunder from a distance to avoid flipping or hurting myself."

Then she spread her five fingers.

"This means I should use all five at once, relying on the stacked instantaneous damage in one burst to take down the opponent!"

……

"Then what do you mean?"

Ji Ming looked at her face and suddenly laughed with relief.

"I gave you a thumbs‑up to encourage you, and then you had an epiphany, right? So what would you understand if I gave you the middle finger?"

"……Your quality is poor, and I have improper designs on your father."

"Fine, fine, you want to play like that, huh."

"Hey, don't report it, don't report it—if you have something to say, just say it… Is that Heaven-Shaking Thunder something I made?"

"Yeah."

"Do flying axes, knives, and spears count as the ranged weapons that come with our bows and crossbows?"

"They do."

"What's it to you if I launch a Heaven-Shaking Thunder? This thunder is awesome—it's all damage I personally dealt!"

"Indeed."

"……Then why are you still pounding?"

"I had the designer give the trial boss a basket of Heaven-Shaking Thunders to carry, tossing out sixteen or seventeen at the start—after all, the past is the past, the present is the present; if you're weak, just practice more."

"You!"

Ji Ming would certainly never really turn the Branch-Leaf People into bomb people, but he also wouldn't allow players to so easily use weapons to skip class.

So when the clever players bought up the last bit of Heaven-Shaking Thunder from the challengers at high prices, preparing for everyone to live a good life as apprentices, they saw that an extra clause had been added to the duel rules.

【To prove the players' own strength, the advancement challenge will forbid any weapons outside the prerequisite mission requirements, and auxiliary potions will have usage limits.】

"Damn!"

Although relying on the advancement mission system, player professionals have escaped the world's rules' restrictions.

But since this restriction applies to all natives, it will conversely 'stipulate' the players' development direction.

According to the true standard, Bai Yesheng, as an apprentice bow‑crossbow user, should master a first‑circle auxiliary magic to assist in combat.

So after completing the advancement, they rushed nonstop to the High Tower Castle, ready to use the voucher for the first‑circle magic granted upon leveling up.

"Oh, you want to come learn a first‑circle auxiliary magic, huh."

Unlike the instructors at the training ground who are eager to share everything, the sole magic instructor, Mo Shou, basically has no service attitude.

Looking at the ancient figure biography in his hand, he didn't even lift his head.

"Do you want the standard version, or do you want to upgrade it to a blind box by telling a story? I'm in a good mood today."

The so‑called standard version is choosing one of these four basic magics: Fireball Technique, Ice Arrow Technique, Earth Shield Technique, Wind Blade Technique.

And the so‑called story blind box is the extra option that Mo Shou insists on keeping.

However, as a magic researcher, the magic he gives players is usually rather arbitrary.

With good luck one might obtain a beyond‑first‑circle, nearly second‑circle‑level special enhancement; with bad luck it's just a little trick like Ignition Technique…

Bai Yesheng pondered for a moment, pulled Ji Ming aside, and whispered.

"Hey, do you have a suitable story to tell me?"

"Chu Yujin doesn't know, huh…… so why don't you just copy a high‑scoring movie or anime?"

Who would have thought Bai Yesheng would sigh and speak hesitantly.

"……As soon as I hear I have to tell a story, my head is full of the feces fed to those ox‑head people in those works."

"You damn well die!"