Chapter 38: Purifying Powder

The Grimoire of Whispers contained so much knowledge that even a tiny fraction of it would be immensely valuable to the average player. For example, the comprehensive guide on class advancement that Qin Yuan had browsed a few days ago—if posted in its entirety, it would undoubtedly be a top-rated strategy guide. Or perhaps the so-called potion recipes... while slightly less applicable, they would likely still earn a high rating.

With these thoughts in mind, he returned to the forums and noticed that the players were unusually active today. Upon closer inspection, he realized that many warriors were posting threads to protest against the game officials.

"Seriously, are we warriors even meant to play this game? That monster, the Black Crow, flies so high—how is a melee class supposed to hit it? This is garbage!"

"True, that thing is disgusting. I run away as soon as I see it, but it just chases me down. It’s insane..."

"I suggest the officials give us warriors some ranged attack options!"

The primary reason for this outcry was the Black Crow monster in the Twisted Forest, which was a nightmare for warrior-class players. However, Qin Yuan felt that the players' demands for adjustments were unlikely to be met. To date, the so-called officials had never once engaged with the community beyond posting announcements. Furthermore, these were merely the one-sided complaints of warrior players, which were not entirely justified.

While browsing the forums over the past few days, Qin Yuan had noticed that many players were arranging offline duels to improve their combat experience. The results showed that, at the same level, the warrior class often held the advantage. The main issue plaguing mage players was the high cost of development; without magic rune paper in the early stages, relying solely on the one or two skills gained from leveling left them with significant weaknesses. Once a warrior closed the distance, the physically fragile mages were as good as dead. Yet, standard magic rune paper cost a gold coin each, making it difficult to accumulate enough wealth. In contrast, warrior gear was relatively inexpensive, with some basic sets costing only around twenty silver coins—a massive advantage. Moreover, warriors had higher base stats; even without gear, they possessed impressive strength and defense, allowing them to withstand a mage's spells through sheer level superiority.

Consequently, these warrior complaints were quickly met with backlash from mage players.

"Do you warriors have no self-awareness about how annoying you are? You're tanky as hell and still output high damage."

"I suggest the officials implement a class-swapping feature. Let's see if you'd still be happy then."

"The person above is right. Mage gear is too expensive; who can afford that? I strongly suggest buffing mages!"

Both sides began bickering in the comment sections.

Scrolling further down, Qin Yuan found that more rational players still made up the majority.

"What is there to argue about? You don't actually think this is a normal game, do you? Demanding class adjustments—you're killing me."

"To those arguing above, if your brain isn't working, go see a doctor. Every class has its pros and cons; don't just mention your disadvantages while ignoring your strengths."

"As expected, when the population base gets large enough, you find all sorts of weirdos."

Qin Yuan briefly browsed other players' experiences in the Twisted Dream. As he expected, most players could only harvest ten to twenty Pumpkin Candles in a single night. This was largely because warriors struggled against ranged units like the Black Crow, and nobody had managed to defeat the Pumpkin Lord. In reality, even for mages, the Black Crow was no easy target; getting hit by the shockwave of its black energy orb resulted in at least a minor injury. Thus, after some initial exploration, most players had shifted their focus to hunting the Level 1 Pumpkin Skeletons. They spent their whole night farming candles from these skeletons.

"No wonder I felt like... the further I went, the fewer Pumpkin Skeletons there were, while the Black Crows kept increasing. So that’s why," Qin Yuan muttered to himself.

One thing remained strange, however: no players reported encountering the carriage merchant mentioned in the system prompts. Had it not appeared on the first day, or was there some special triggering mechanism?

Unable to reach a conclusion, Qin Yuan finished his popcorn-watching and turned his attention to the strategy guide feature. He summoned the Grimoire of Whispers to discuss what content would be best to post.

The Grimoire pondered for a moment and said, "If they are scattered and low-level, I have a decent idea."

"What is it?"

"I have records of common monster bestiaries, including their general weaknesses and how to counter them."

As it spoke, the Grimoire flipped open its pages to reveal the content. Qin Yuan leaned in to look. It was incredibly detailed; although there were no actual pictures, it provided exhaustive descriptions of the monsters' facial features, attack patterns, primary weaknesses, and even some of the materials they dropped. There were quite a few—over a hundred common ones alone.

After confirming everything, Qin Yuan began typing to transcribe the information. He didn't want to use image-to-text software because the text was written in the language of the Soul Realm, which had no available translation, leaving him no choice but to transcribe it manually.

Just as he started, a system prompt suddenly rang in his mind, startling him.

[A trade post you published has been completed.]

[Purification Powder ★★ * 200g has been added to your inventory.]

Qin Yuan immediately stopped, opened his inventory, and carefully withdrew the small packet of purification powder. Inside the bag was a cluster of pure white powder, emitting a soft, holy radiance.

[Purification Powder ★★ (Magic Material): A magical powder produced in the Holy Land, capable of purifying abyssal pollution.]

Qin Yuan’s heart raced with excitement. In truth, he hadn't held much hope for this over the past few days. He had been monitoring the trading market closely and knew that mainstream trades were mostly cheap alchemical herbs and crafting materials. As for magic materials, let alone two-star items, one-star items were rarely seen. A player must have seen his post a few days ago, stumbled upon this material, and rushed to trade it.

While thinking this, he took the Sacred Pattern Fruit out of his inventory. The golden, fist-sized fruit still had visible black spots—the source of the abyssal pollution. Following the instructions of the Grimoire of Whispers, he took a small spoon, scooped out half a spoonful of the powder, and sprinkled it onto the fruit.

A faint light, thick with holy energy, enveloped the Sacred Pattern Fruit. Within seconds, the light faded. The black spots on the fruit vanished without a trace, as if melting like snow.

"Thump-thump, thump-thump..."

The Sacred Pattern Fruit in his hand began to beat with vigorous strength, pulsing with a marvelous rhythm.