Chapter Ninety-Three: Berserk Elixir

At the mount summoner’s stall, only the most ordinary of mounts was for sale, and it was by no means cheap. But any player who could make it to Falling Cloud City was, by and large, already fairly well off.

After all, if you ran out of money, you could always exchange the souls you carried on you for more. Once you spent that money, a portion of it would find its way back into Falling Cloud City’s hands. Money kept changing hands like that, round and round, and in the end the one who profited was still Falling Cloud City.

And so the city’s commerce grew even more prosperous. The surrounding shops had already begun turning a profit. As for the largest store in the entire city, many people had inquired about it, but without exception the answer from the city lord’s manor was always the same: the shop had already been sold.

Yet that supposedly sold shop had remained closed all this time, leaving countless players baffled.

By now, after a period of development, Falling Cloud City had attracted a great many forces drawn in by the trend. If Li Ren had not deliberately controlled the number of shops being sold, the city’s storefronts would already have been nearly swept clean.

A medium-sized shop cost three hundred thousand gold, a sum that was already staggering. As for the highest-grade shop, some guessed it would cost at least eight hundred thousand gold. And yet some spendthrift had actually bought one and then just left it there.

Naturally, while players were sighing over this, their curiosity only grew stronger.

Just whose shop was that biggest one, exactly?

Indeed, it was the location of Falling Cloud City’s exclusive apothecary.

The reason it had not opened lately was, first, that the city had only just weathered a siege battle, and second, that the Dongfang clan members were still working at full speed to produce potions.

Using the herbs Shadow had specially purchased for them.

At last, today, the first batch of potions was finished.

The apothecary was finally about to open its doors.

When Clan Chief Dongfang appeared before Li Ren with a smile on his face, Li Ren knew immediately that something good was coming.

Sure enough, Clan Chief Dongfang handed over a carefully prepared crystal vial. Li Ren took it, and within the bottle a blood-red liquid rolled and swirled, glowing with a faint misty light, as though it were brimming with life.

Berserk Elixir: increases strength by 150 percent, increases attack speed by 20 percent, duration 1 minute, cooldown 5 minutes.

Though its effects were simple, they were anything but ordinary.

A 150 percent boost to strength for one full minute, along with a 20 percent increase in attack speed: for melee swordsmen and thieves, this was nothing less than a divine treasure.

What was more, the sorts of potions sold by NPCs were usually limited to a maximum duration of fifteen seconds, and after use they imposed a period of penalties that lowered all attributes.

Compared side by side, Li Ren smiled.

“Old Chief, is it difficult to produce this kind of potion?” he asked, a trace of anticipation in his voice.

Clan Chief Dongfang smiled and shook his head. “As long as you have two of the herbs, and neither of them is particularly rare, making this is actually quite simple. The cost of one vial is less than a single gold coin.”

Li Ren was even more delighted. A thing with a production cost of less than one gold coin could easily be sold for at least ten!

But in the next instant, another excellent idea occurred to him.

“Can we dilute it somehow? I mean, lower the effects a little. Of course, the cost should come down too.”

Clan Chief Dongfang blinked, then immediately understood what he meant.

“So the master intends to sell these potions for profit. That is certainly the right thing to do. How could we casually give away good things to our enemies?”

“It can be done, yes, but not right away. We’ll need to go back and adjust the formula some more. By tomorrow, we should have a finished product,” Clan Chief Dongfang said after a moment’s thought, his confidence full and bright.

Li Ren was overjoyed. In that case, he could use a Berserk Elixir whose ordinary effect was still far stronger than anything sold by the NPCs to exchange for even more souls, or trade them for even more herbs. He could almost see the soul count in the Death Wish Field surging upward, strings upon strings of dazzling zeroes, all of them enough to make a person dizzy.

After Clan Chief Dongfang took his leave, Li Ren went over to Shadow’s side. The three of them were still busy sorting through the equipment Li Ren had brought back, estimating the value of each piece before slowly placing them into the task exchange.

The players stationed at the task trading board quickly noticed what was happening, and messages began spreading out from the task hall in a flood.

Soon after, Yuxiao City once again welcomed a massive influx of players.

In the past, these players had not come here for two reasons. First, the equipment Falling Cloud City exchanged for was mostly too high-level for them to use. Second, they worried that souls might have other uses elsewhere, and so they had not dared to spend them recklessly.

But now, after so much time had passed, the people who had already exchanged their souls for equipment or money were doing far better than they were. Those who had moved ahead were already far ahead indeed. For the moment, the hidden gains those people had secured were far greater than the reward of hoarding souls and waiting for an opportunity.

No matter how one looked at it, once you had equipment and money, you could kill monsters much faster. And once you killed monsters faster, you would naturally earn more souls and more experience. Even the high-level equipment you could obtain would still bring in a handsome income.

Why wouldn’t you do it?

Especially now that suitable equipment for their level had begun appearing in large quantities in Falling Cloud City, the players who were still grinding with all their might could no longer sit still.

The equipment on the task board kept refreshing constantly. In essence, the moment a piece appeared, it was instantly snatched away, with countless players competing over every single item.

The soul count began to rise sharply.

Seeing the present state of the Death Wish Field, Li Ren looked extremely satisfied. He had brought back an entire side hall full of equipment, which was practically the same as swallowing all the benefits from the siege battle at Yuxiao City in one gulp. If that still could not produce substantial gains, then there would truly be no justice in the world.

Speaking of the siege battle, one had to mention the players’ misery. Aside from the fact that the average player had gained more than five levels during the battle, they had basically received no other meaningful benefit at all. More people had even suffered losses.

The reason was Li Ren. He had swept up all the drops that should have belonged to the players, then roamed the city beating players up everywhere he went, stripping their gear and siphoning off their experience, fattening himself to the brim while the players were left lean and gaunt.

Fortunately, the players had no idea what rewards the system had originally intended to grant them. One and all, they still thought they had earned five levels just by defending the city for a short while, and all of them were eagerly looking forward to the next siege battle.

If Li Ren knew what these players were thinking, he probably would have laughed himself to death on the spot.

Of course, he would not mind doing it again. Last time had been far too short, and there had simply not been enough time for him to plunder properly. Even his aura had not been raised to level two. What kind of nonsense was that?

It would be best to do it once more, so that he could at least see what effect that aura had after leveling up. Wouldn’t you say so?