Another World’s Versatile Crafting Master c1-1074

by Zhuang Bifan

  "What is your wish?"

  Lin Li gazed at the rainbow. He hesitated slightly before taking a deep breath, then said, "My wish is to increase the levels of all my life skills!

  The instant the wish was made, the rainbow transformed into numerous beams, descending gradually from the sky like a seven-colored ribbon, wrapping Lin Li up. Lin Li could vividly feel that with every breath he took, it was as if there were countless beams infused into his body. As the last beam was absorbed, limitless knowledge gushed from his brain. Forging, alchemy, pharmaceutics, magical enchantment, and inscription, and even general knowledge in medicinal, mineral, and other categories. These seemed to be with him from birth, integrated with the existing memories he had, and he had them at his fingertips.

  Lin Li checked his skill form. Four of the main skills had indeed reached the level of a guru, and most of the general skills were also beyond the level of a master. Thinking back to the year since the opening of the Endless World, there had never been a guru well-versed in all five series; even a master in one was hard to find.

  Life skills were incomparable to individual levels. As long as you put enough time into gaining individual levels by defeating monsters and completing missions constantly, you could acc.u.mulate enough experience points to level up. However, once you had reached the highest level for a life skill, it would be extremely difficult to make any progress. Only powerful characters like Lin Li would think of smashing top-grade materials to earn skill points. Thinking back, he had spent almost five million gold coins on these five basic skills. Other than Lin Li who had just raided a dragon's lair, who else could afford it?

  The mastery level was more like a division. When one had reached the mastery level, it was not a matter of money anymore. Perhaps there wouldn't be the slightest increase in your skills even if you had succeeded in forging ten thousand times, but a failure in forging might allow you to obtain a huge improvement in skills. No one would dare say there would be a day where he could reach the level of a guru, even when there was only a small gap to overcome to achieve it.

  Of course, the difference between a guru and a master was a vast chasm.

  The mastery level would only allow you to create legendary items, and there might only be one success in a thousand tries. But at the guru level, you could create legendary items at will. You could even create epic items, though there would still be a certain rate of failure. However, a guru could not be mentioned in the same breath as a master.

  As for legendary items, it was not something the mortals could imagine. Someone who was able to create artifacts, no matter what profession he was in, was a person there'd only be one title for—the Divine Smith!

  The scroll of Wishes was a good item. It could be used to attain millions of wealth, kill a legendary creature, or even build your own kingdom. Each was no doubt a fine choice. But Lin Li constantly felt that using it to become a professional guru was the wisest choice of all.

  Lin Li took a look at the fading rainbow. Slowly, he picked up the remaining materials for training and kept them in his bag. After witnessing a miracle, the players no longer had the thoughts of banditry in their minds. They watched dumbstruck as Lin Li packed the materials, but no one dared to move an inch.

  Someone who could produce numerous top-graders at hand and spend millions of gold coins by the knock of a hammer and a shake of the medicinal bottle was not someone they could afford to mess with. Other things aside, he could simply employ someone for a few thousand gold coins to wipe them off their accounts. Banditry? More like suicide.

  After putting all the materials in his bag, Lin Li planned to switch to his hunter account for a good talk with the onlookers. But then, all of a sudden, a sharp siren sounded.

  "An unknown failure occurred in the system. All players are requested to go offline immediately!

  "An unknown failure occurred in the system. All players are requested to go offline immediately!

  "An unknown failure occurred in the system. All players are requested to go offline immediately!"

  The siren sounded thrice. Lin Li was about to go offline when he realized he had lost control of his character.

  He had yet to grasp the situation when the feeling of losing control extended to his own body. It felt as if his soul and body were being separated. He could see himself but couldn't feel his existence. The surroundings became soft and velvety. No matter how he struggled, he could not break away from the hopeless sense of impotence.

  Lin Li gradually felt his stream of consciousness floating away. He could even see another image of him lying sluggishly on the chair. Lin Li jerked his head up in horror. It was pitch-black above him—real darkness, without a hint of foreign matter. Even if there was a sliver of light shining into it, it would be devoured by the endless dark, with nothing left behind.

  "Which despicable fellow hid a black hole in my house!?" The question popped up in Lin Li's head before the last bit of his consciousness faded into the darkness… In online gaming, a smurf is an experienced player who uses a new account to deceive other players into thinking he's a noob (newbie).

  Chapter 2 - The Pharmaceutics Rookie

  Lin Li woke up in a log cabin. Probably due to the hasty construction, the cabin looked a tad shabby. There was no furniture except for a chair and a bed in the room. The door was unlatched and a pungent odor of medicine wafted through the crack in it, so Lin Li could not open his eyes for a long time.

  The Bull's Strength potion? But it doesn't smell quite right… Lin Li took a few sniffs and pondered for a long time before he finally understood. Damn! It's a failed one, no wonder it didn't smell right to me. But who's the genius adding leaves from the Wisdom Tree to the potion? Was he not satisfied that the conflicting smell of the combination of the four ingredients was not strong enough?

  The concoction was just a high-grade potion. A pharmaceutics guru like Lin Li could easily find out the reasons for failure just by taking a whiff. But it didn't mean anyone else could. He had yet to sit up from the bed when he heard an exasperated grunt through the crack in the door.

  "Impossible! There was no mistake this time, how could it fail again? Is there a problem with the ingredients? Yes, there must be a problem with the ingredients. Great! This dang old man, selling counterfeit goods at my doorstep! l'll make sure you give me my money back!"

  Another fit of temper from the owner of the voice. Lin Li was just about to cover his ears and go back to sleep when the door that was unlatched swung open.

  An old man in his sixties or seventies stood behind the door. He had white hair and a face full of wrinkles, but his actions were full of vigor, displaying no signs of old age at all. He wore a long white robe dappled with stains, probably due to the frequent use of potions. There were black and blue traces everywhere on his robe, which made it look kind of messy.

  "Kid, I know you're awake. Stop pretending you're asleep and get up quickly." The old man pushed the door open and sat on the vine chair in a huff. In his mind, he was probably still thinking about the failed Bull's Strength Potion.

  "I just woke up…" Lin Li knew that the old man was fuming, so he hurriedly turned over and climbed out of the bed.

  However, the look on Lin Li's face changed the moment he uncovered his quilt.

  The Robe of Wrath! He was actually wearing the Robe of Wrath!

  It was indeed the Robe of Wrath. Lin Li was sure he couldn't be wrong. In order to attain this legendary robe with a space to hold thirty scrolls in it, he had spent almost forty thousand gold coins along with a piece of epic equipment and had barely managed to obtain this remarkable magical robe.

  It can't be this odd… Lin Li raised his right hand nervously, thinking he must have seen it wrong. There couldn't be a ghost in broad daylight!

  However, the ring on his thumb proved yet again that his vision was fine. The Ring of Endless Storm, with mythical space being its most singular attribute, possessed an almost infinite space in it. It was said that there was a bi
g secret hidden in the ring. Lin Li attained two mythical equipment pieces when he went into the Well of Sun—the Stars of Fury held by the hunter and the Ring of Endless Storm right in front of him.

  The ring was just too familiar for Lin Li to remember it wrong.

  Looking at the Robe of Wrath he was wearing and the Ring of Endless Storm on his finger, Lin Li felt that he had no need to open the portal to the other dimension again. He was certain that it contained over a hundred pieces of dragon skin and over twenty pieces of divinity metals, along with the numerous top-grade equipment and materials he had acc.u.mulated previously.

  What… What kind of damned situation is this? In fact, he had vaguely guessed that something bizarre must have happened to him when he had woken a while back. But he would never have guessed it would be strange to this point.

  The entirety of the Endless World actually appeared in reality!

  Both the Robe of Wrath and the Ring of Endless Storm were equipment from the Endless World. They were only statistics, but now these statistics were present in the real world. Everything felt so real. The Robe of Wrath was constantly emitting its peculiar warmth and the Ring of Endless Storm lay quietly on his thumb. Lin Li could totally feel that he could open up the near infinite space that was in the ring with just a thought.

  "May… May I ask where in the world this place is?" Lin Li's voice was so hoarse that it surprised him. He was afraid the old man would mention a place he was familiar with. A load of data appearing in the real world was not frightening, what was really frightening was him becoming a load of data—just like the plot that often appeared in horror movies. A wisp of resentful soul sojourning in the network, relying on various killing websites to find a substitute.

  "You don't even know this place?" The question was nothing out of the ordinary, but the old man stared with eyes wide open.

  "I don't know…" Lin Li nodded honestly.

  "Then what are you here for? This is the Sunset Mountains, one of the most dangerous places in the south of the Anril Continent. Even an old fellow like myself would only dare to come here for a few days' stay every July. You little kid, you have guts, swaggering into the place without even knowing where this is!"

  Lin Li knew it was a big deal when he heard the unfamiliar name of the Anril Continent. Other than transmigration, he had no other explanation for it. However, even Lin Li himself felt a little strange. For no reason at all he had become a transmigrator, and yet he felt relieved. The first thing on his mind was, surprisingly, something else, for he thought, Transmigration it is. Better than becoming a resentful soul on the internet…

  "Alright, kid, though I don't know why you came here"—the old man glanced at the Celestial Cane placed on the side of the bed, and with an impatient look on his face, turned to face Lin Li—"and of course have no wish to know why… In any case, the Sunset Mountains are not a place for excursions. If you're looking for some thrill or would like to train yourself out of boredom, then I'll offer you one advice. Go back where you come from and don't ever come seeking death in the Sunset Mountains again."

  Not waiting for any reaction from Lin Li after he finished his sentence, he stretched out his hand and pushed the unlatched door open, once again burying himself among his beakers and test tubes.

  You're the one looking for thrill, your whole family is looking for thrill! Lin Li stared at the unlatched door as he cursed bitterly in his heart. It was only after cursing that he felt sorrowful again. Transmigration had become his reality, but this was an entirely foreign world and he had not grasped even the most basic concepts of it. To go back where he had came from… He'd like to go back indeed, but how?

  Moreover, what the old man said at the end sounded like an admonition and a threat. It didn't sound too good, but Lin Li understood the meaning behind it. The Sunset Mountains were definitely not a peaceful place. Now that he couldn't even tell the directions here, mishaps could happen if he just walked out of the place foolishly.

  "You only have ten minutes. If I find that you're still not packed and gone by the time I complete this bottle of Bull's Strength potion, don't blame me for chasing you out." Lin Li had yet to come to a decision on his part but the old man outside the door was not at all polite, directly chasing him out.

  Lin Li took a smell of the medicine and knew the old man had added leaves from the Wisdom Tree once again.

  "If I were you, I'd be in a hurry to scoop those two leaves out. Otherwise, not to mention ten minutes, the beaker in your hand will explode once again in less than ten seconds." Lin Li's laugh sounded unusually nasty.

  "Pack your stuff immediately and get out of my house!"

  The angry roar had yet to die down when a muffled sound of explosion was heard from behind the door. A plume of smoke followed and the pungent smell of medicine wafted through the door's crack, and Lin Li found it hard to open his eyes again. Then the door was flung open and the old man rushed in, completely ignoring that his head was covered in bruises from the explosion. He grabbed Lin Li and demanded, "Speak! How did you know it would explode?"

  "What's so strange about it…" Lin Li maintained his nasty smile and broke off mid-sentence. With his finger, he pointed at his collar where the old man was grabbing.

  "Sorry, I was too agitated." The old man laughed embarrassedly. He released him somewhat awkwardly and smiled as he helped Lin Li straighten his crumpled collar.

  "Actually, the reason is too simple." Lin Li smiled in contentment. He took a seat on the vine chair and began, "There are four main ingredients for the Bull's Strength potion. They are the Dracaena grass, the Thousand-knot Vine, the Nightmare Flower, and the Troll's Blood. The medicinal properties of the ingredients clash with one another, but there is a delicate balance between them. It is not wrong to add some supplementary ingredients to improve its medicinal properties, but something like the leaves of the Wisdom Tree… I can only say you're too smart for your own good. Although the leaves are usually used to balance the conflict between ingredients, their other effect is to calm the mind. Putting a herb with calming effects into a potion that strengthens the body is like putting a cat into a rat's cage."

  "So this is it, I've thought…" A master's knowledge of medicine meant one could speak of these as easily as if having all the words at hand. The old man was completely convinced by Lin Li's eloquence, but at the same time, he couldn't help but size up Lin Li with an odd look. He couldn't quite figure out the kid in front of him anymore. He possessed an almost perfect talent in magic but was extremely weak. He'd figure Lin Li was at the standard of a level-one mage at most. But, coming to the Sunset Mountains alone, he had too much guts to be called a rookie.

  But what really eluded him was the kid's ability to explain the principles of the Bull's Strength potion. He was not really a master in potion crafting himself, but the Bull's Strength potion was an ancient potion recipe he got from the High Elves Relics. Not to mention average pharmacists, it was impossible to find information on the power of the Bull's Strength potion even in the Anril Pharmacists Association. But coming from the kid's mouth, it sounded like it was something common and easy to understand, just like buying vegetables from the market. At the thought of this, the old man could not help but wonder if there was any justice in this world.

  When Lin Li finished explaining the principles of the Bull's Strength potion and began analyzing the pros and cons of similar potions, the old man watched him as if Lin Li was a dinosaur.

  The old man had completely forgotten about wanting Lin Li to leave. Looking at the darkening sky outside the log cabin, the old man was eager to invite Lin Li to stay, and even prepared a sumptuous dinner for him. After rounds of beating around the bush during dinner, Lin Li was gradually able to make out a general outline of the unfamiliar world in his mind.

  This was a world of swords and magic. The old man in front of him, whom he had come to know as Andoine, was a mage by profession, and a powerful one at that. Although Andoine did not elaborate on how powerful he
was, Lin Li could tell from his confident tone that this somewhat unkempt old man was definitely more powerful than he had imagined him to be.

  Chapter 3 - The Magic Genius

  Lin Li stayed in the Sunset Mountains for the following month. Other than occasionally guiding Andoine in pharmaceutics, he spent most of his time learning magic. He discovered he had a gift in magic, and even old Andoine, who had lived for over a hundred years, had to admit he had never seen someone with such an exceptional talent in magic as Lin Li.

  Lin Li mastered three kinds of elementary magic in three days. This unbelievable progress got Andoine doubting if there was any justice in this world. He had spent a month getting into meditation and had been praised by his teacher for being a genius at that. Then, what would become of the guy in front of him? Was he a monster or a maniac?

  Only Lin Li would know how he came to possess such near-demonic gift in magic. It probably had something to do with the attributes of the mage smurf—high levels of mental and intellectual abilities. It was all thanks to these demonic attributes that he could easily understand highly complex spells and arrange magic elements without effort as if he was born knowing it. He could recite any complex spell with ease just by hearing it once and learn the order of magic elements in the shortest time no matter how difficult they were.

  Andoine ceased teaching any new magic skills when Lin Li mastered the tenth elementary magic. Instead, he got him to practice the sequencing of the ten elements.

  Though tedious training made one lose interest quickly, Lin Li showed no signs of annoyance. He knew very well that despite being a terrible pharmacist with a nasty temper, old Andoine was undoubtedly an authoritative figure in the field of magic. His opinions might not be precise, but it was far better than having himself, an amateur, fumbling about on his own.