Chapter 47: Life Profession

Since joining Far Shore, Ye Rong often fought monsters above his level, rarely experiencing the crowd-and-scarcity problem that plagued ordinary players for months.

However, this situation would soon see major improvement as the average player level increased.

A flood of new monsters would enter players’ sight, causing the player base to split apart instead of crowding around just a few zones.

Ye Rong frowned. He steeled himself and ventured deeper into Flower Fairy Valley. True enough, the spawn rates of various butterflies were a bit higher here.

Besides the Red-tip Pink-winged Butterflies, there were other types as well. Players training here were either tight-knit squads or exceptionally skilled solo adventurers.

Locating only Red-tip Pink-winged Butterflies among over a dozen types wasn’t easy. Though players here were fewer, their quality rose, making snagging monsters just as hard.

After killing several Red-tip Pink-winged Butterflies intermittently, Ye Rong suddenly noticed a pattern: not every pink-winged butterfly dropped only one batch of pollen. Occasionally, his Green Snail Pouch received two batches at once.

“The amount of pollen carried by each Red-tip Pink-winged Butterfly varies. What if I target Elite Tier Red-tip Pink-winged Butterflies…?”

After pondering, Ye Rong chose a direction and moved to another spot.

“Young Master Wei, our people are all stationed as planned.”

“Good. Proceed as agreed. Lure that pink-winged butterfly into the formation!”

Young Master Wei flicked open his fan; he looked graceful as he gave orders.

“Brother Luan, if things go awry later, we’ll need your blade to steady the situation.”

“Since I agreed to help, I’ll hold up my end. Save the talk.”

“Heh… good. Very good.”

Young Master Wei forced an awkward laugh. Uncharacteristically meek, he dared not talk back.

Both he and the man beside him wore black Taoist robes with a Bagua pattern on the back(yin-yang trigrams). The sect emblem —intertwined turtle and snake— adorned their chests. Among the nearly hundred rushing players setting up the formation, about a dozen wore identical robes.

These robes belonged exclusively to Wudang players; outsiders couldn’t copy them.

Young Master Wei was arrogant and sharp-tongued, but not stupid. He knew he’d offended too many. During Closed Beta, he had only gotten by at Emei. He hadn’t built ties with Blue Chariot, that guy who somehow got chosen as a disciple by Drunken Taoist.

Trying the Emei route again would likely fail; he had no big shots backing him. So, he gritted his teeth and joined Wudang Sect — a Righteous Faction known as the weakest and most untalented one.

Though the game company claimed faction potential was balanced, anyone could see Wudang NPCs and Emei NPCs weren’t in the same league. In Far Shore, faction strength directly impacted player growth.

Below Wudang’s Sect Leader Half-Faced Old Nun, the most famous were the Seven Wudang Maidens — each surprisingly stunning — drawing many female players and male admirers.

Young Master Wei thought Wudang’s low population meant greater chance to rise. Surely he’d dominate there?

Unfortunately, many players had the same “choose to be a leader in a weaker group” mindset. Luan Yidao by his side was one.

Tasks to become a Wudang Formal Disciple matched those of other sects. Its sole perk was gaining Taiji Heart Sutra and Taiji Sword Art just by being a Registered Disciple.

Young Master Wei came to Flower Fairy Valley for one thing: an Eltie Tier Red-tip Pink-winged Butterfly King. Among its drops was a critical Life Profession item he desperately needed and planned long for.

In Far Shore, every Player could choose two Life Professions. But no public sign-up existed; it required mentoring by high-rank NPCs or finding the sign-up item.

Beyond the popular Sword Refiner, Treasure Refiner, and Alchemist were battle-oriented roles like Mechanist, Shipbuilder, Insect Gu Master; and life-focused ones like Brewer, Weaver, Civil Engineer.

For this, Young Master Wei dragged batches of Wudang Registered Disciples and wannabe recruits here. He bribed Luan Yidao for help. This man was unknown in Closed Beta, yet now wielded the Paoding Blade, shockingly powerful.

The Paoding Blade ranked among Beta’s Top Ten Flying Swords. With three seals, unlocking all made it a Ninth-Grade Flying Sword. Even with none broken (currently Third-Rank Flying Sword), its attached spell “Clean Sweep” was fierce.

Clean Sweep: +50% attack speed for ten strikes; 17% chance to ignore defense and penetrate directly; 9% chance to amputate limbs. Usable thrice daily.

The Red-tip Pink-winged Butterfly King was a Level 25 Elite Monster. Plus, it had minions to summon. Risking its ire, Young Master Wei had his trump card.

At his command, over a hundred Players formed a formation. Above them, a giant tortoise silhouette took shape.

“It’s worthy as the True Martial Array. Pity it’s temporary; it’ll vanish after this use.”

Young Master Wei mumbled. This formation required a formation blueprint he’d gone through hell to get from Linglingzi — a one-time consumable.

“Target spotted! Activate the formation!”

A massive pink-winged butterfly king with a three-to-four-meter wingspan fluttered into sight. Not daring to delay, Young Master Wei barked orders to activate the True Martial Array.

True Martial Array (Basic): Defense +100 for members; Black Turtle Blessing — 25% damage reduction; Rising Snake Blessing — +1 Attack per seven additional members.

Watching the Butterfly King struggle inside the array — flapping wings, unable to escape — Young Master Wei grinned happily.

“Perfect! As long as we drop this Pink-winged Butterfly King, whatever Life Profession item pops… my strength will surge!”

For ordinary Players, Life Professions were extra fun and gameplay. For Factions, they were essential, especially the key ones. The number of Players owning these often hinted at a Faction’s development potential.