Chapter Thirty: The Phantom Soul Pill

Ye Chen was startled at once. “Is the information accurate?”

Dragon Soaring Starbreaker nodded gravely. “It is. One of our brothers training over at Demon Gorge saw it with his own eyes. He’s still there now.”

Hearing this, Ye Chen frowned and asked, “How many people does Fiery Tiger have over there?”

“Thirty or forty. Their leader is your old nemesis, Fiery Tiger’s Roar. I heard they got into a dispute over the mining veins. Fiery Tiger’s people are extremely overbearing.” Dragon Soaring Starbreaker quickly reported their numbers, hesitated for a moment, then lowered his voice. “Our guild, Dragon Soaring, would rather not get involved. But Legend has always been at odds with Fiery Tiger. If you need, I can help you contact Legend’s leader. Given your hidden subclass, he’d likely help. Of course, if you’re willing to join Dragon Soaring, we can take care of this for you.”

“Forget it, I’ll handle it myself.” After some thought, Ye Chen shook his head, refusing Dragon Soaring Starbreaker’s offer. He didn’t want to be tied to any family’s chariot. Besides, he might be able to solve this on his own. Even if it came to desperation, he’d rather ask Monk Dingyuan for reinforcements than get too entangled with these family guilds.

He opened his friends list, about to contact the girl stationed over there to get more details, when a call request sounded by his ear—it was Lingyue.

“Ye Chen, my sisters and I are trapped in the Demon Gorge mine!” Lingyue’s voice was clearly anxious. She herself wasn’t sure why she thought of Ye Chen at this moment—a junior healer whose level was even lower than hers. Maybe it was because of that hidden quest this morning, or the stunning manual in the Bandit Hall. Somehow, she just believed Ye Chen would have a way.

“I already know. It’s Fiery Tiger’s people, right? What’s the current situation? Any casualties on our side?” Ye Chen asked quickly.

“You know?” Lingyue was surprised, but hurriedly replied, “Five of our sisters have already been killed, but Fiery Tiger didn’t get off easy either—they’ve lost even more. But there are just too many of them. We can only hide in the mine and play cat and mouse. The entrance is blocked. We can’t get out, and they’ve sent people inside to hunt us down. The mine’s layout is pretty complex, so we can stall them for now. But if they send more people in, we’ll all be wiped out soon.” Lingyue was slightly out of breath; it was obvious she was running while talking.

“Hold on, I’ll be there soon,” Ye Chen replied, hanging up immediately. He had to come up with a plan quickly, or all the girls might die here. If a dozen of them lost a level, it’d be a huge blow to the studio.

Ask Legend for help? Ask Monk Dingyuan? Demon Gorge... Demon Gorge... Right! The monsters there were all around level thirty and quite powerful. If he could lure a horde to the cave entrance where Fiery Tiger’s people were, or even just scatter them, the girls could break out in the chaos.

But the little demon monsters in the gorge were all especially fast. In his current state, he’d likely get swarmed before he could lure them. Unless he could boost his movement speed!

Movement speed! The thought struck Ye Chen. He recalled there was a level two recipe called Swift Pill on the price list. He hastily said goodbye to Dragon Soaring Starbreaker and hurried upstairs, pulling out the recipe list for a look.

[Swift Pill] (Level Two Recipe): Increases movement speed by 25% for five minutes after use. Ingredients: Five Hollowstem Herbs, one level two alchemy furnace, one cluster of level two alchemy fire. Price: 50 gold.

A 25% speed boost would barely suffice, but the problem was the Hollowstem Herb—he didn’t have any, nor had he seen it for sale. Even if the system deity revealed its spawn points, there wouldn’t be time to gather it.

“No Swift Pill, no way to lure monsters. Looks like I’ll have to ask Monk Dingyuan for help.” Ye Chen muttered, clenching and unclenching his fists, ready to contact Monk Dingyuan. He couldn’t worry about owing favors now—any debt was better than seeing the girls all get killed. But just as he opened his friends list, a chat window popped up automatically.

“Swift Pill is just an inferior speed potion. You can actually concoct a superior Ghostshade Pill, which is a true top-grade elixir.” The message was surprisingly from the system deity.

“Ghostshade Pill?” Ye Chen was stunned, forgetting to ask why the system deity had reached out first. He hurriedly replied, “But that recipe wasn’t on the price list?”

“Show Ghostshade Grass to Knossus, and you’ll automatically trigger a hidden recipe quest. Just give him a few stalks, and you’ll get the recipe for free.” The system deity typed with incredible speed; in the blink of an eye, the answer was in the chat window.

“Alright, thank you so much, system deity.” Ye Chen thanked him sincerely.

The system deity typed a few words in response: “Call me 2058. The word ‘system’ feels cold to me.”

Ye Chen smiled faintly; for the first time, the system deity seemed almost human. “Alright, 2058.”

Closing the chat with 2058, Ye Chen quickly took out some Ghostshade Grass and handed it to Guildmaster Knossus. “Honored Knossus, do you recognize this herb?”

Knossus’s expression brightened at the sight of the Ghostshade Grass. “Young man, you truly surprise me. You actually found the nearly extinct Ghostshade Grass. I’ve been searching for it for ages. I need it for alchemy. Give me ten stalks, and I’ll share my latest recipe with you.”

“Ding! You have triggered the quest [Collect Ghostshade Grass]. Quest: Gather ten stalks and give them to Guildmaster Knossus. He will reward you with his newest recipe. Accept?”

He clicked accept without hesitation, and the quest immediately became ready to turn in. Ye Chen swiftly handed over ten stalks he’d collected.

“Ding! Quest completed: [Collect Ghostshade Grass]. Rewards: 28,000 experience, one [Ghostshade Pill] recipe.”

A flash of golden light burst from Ye Chen—he’d leveled up to 20. As soon as he completed his class advancement quest, he’d be a full healer.

[Ghostshade Pill] (Level Three Recipe): Increases movement speed by 100%, forcibly enters Ghostshade State for five minutes. Ghostshade State: automatic stealth, broken upon attacking. Materials: Three Ghostshade Grass, one level three alchemy furnace, one cluster of level three alchemy fire.

Staring at the Ghostshade Pill’s stats, Ye Chen was overjoyed. Fiery Tiger’s Roar, just you wait. This time, I’ll give you a real surprise—you won’t know what hit you!