The next day, early morning.
A group of people who woke up early gathered for breakfast.
"Look at this!"
Ding Chi placed his phone flat on the table and brushed his hand over it. Instantly, a holographic game screen rose up, showing a player riding a shaggy mule with Yun Shang County in the background. Everyone was shocked.
"The mount system is open?!" Chen Xue exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah!"
Ding Chi nodded and smiled. "They say the system opened by itself around 2 AM, so countless heavy-armored players went out of the city late last night to find mounts. Today, we should start seeing sporadic players with mounts."
"That's good..."
Chen Xue's dimples showed as she smiled shallowly. "Our Scarlet Moon Knights are all heavy-armored. The opening of the mount system is a great enhancement for us, especially for Roman and me, two Templar Knights, who can gain 100% of the mount's attributes."
"Mm."
Lin Zhao nodded. "I've also read some introductions to the mount system. It seems... only Templar Knights have mount mastery, allowing them to gain 100% attribute bonus from mounts. Sword Masters and Berserkers can 'ride horses,' gaining a 75% attribute bonus. But that's not bad either, they should get decent bonuses to HP, movement speed, and armor."
"Yeah!"
Ding Chi said with some longing, "Before, we were chased by people from the Azure Knights and Flourishing Peonies. Once everyone has mounts, I guarantee they won't be able to catch up!"
Roman chuckled, already envisioning the comical scene: the five Scarlet Moon Knights galloping ahead, leaving the people from Flourishing Peonies and Azure Knights to eat their dust. It was quite a funny picture.
"How do we get mounts?"
Zhang Jun suddenly asked a thought-provoking question.
"Indeed."
Roman hadn't done any research beforehand.
Chen Xue was speechless for a moment. "As long as the mount system is open, players over level 50 will get a mount space. After we return to the city, we can just learn a Taming skill from the Profession Trainer. Then, in the wild, any mountable monsters you see, if a level 1 monster spawns, you can use the Taming skill on it. Once successfully tamed, it will become your mount."
"I see..."
Zhang Jun nodded. "Thanks, Xue!"
"You're welcome."
Beside them, Lin Zhao pushed his empty porridge bowl forward and said, "I'm logging in to catch a mount."
"So soon?"
Chen Xue said with a wry smile, "Want another fried dough stick?"
"No thanks!"
Lin Zhao inexplicably thought of that brat Zhang Liucheng and actually missed him. But the thought of him made him lose his appetite for the fried dough stick; he felt a bit unnerved.
...
"Whoosh!"
Lin Zhao logged in, clad in snow-white sword armor, a white robe trailing behind him, his entire being exuding the aura of a Sword Immortal. Unfortunately, his cultivation was still too low. In the eyes of NPCs, he was merely a Sword Cultivator of the Lower Five Realms, still far from the title of Sword Immortal, which was meant for those in the Upper Five Realms.
"Hoo~~~"
He took a deep breath and prepared himself. He went to the Profession Hall and learned a Taming skill from the old Sword Immortal for 40 silver coins. Then, he restocked his potions. Traveling outdoors was fraught with peril, and thorough preparation was essential. Ordinary health potions and recuperation powders were sold in the pharmacies, but the recovery from health potions was too slow and not instantaneous, so they were somewhat insufficient. Once he encountered a Flowing Gold-grade boss, Lin Zhao's health bar wouldn't hold up.
It was time to spend some coin!
He went to the plaza where a group of people were selling Life Potions. These were high-grade potions stored in transparent vials. A Level 1 Life Potion could instantly restore 5% of a player's HP, with a cooldown of 12 seconds. Level 2 restored 10%, Level 3 restored 15%, and so on. A Level 10 Life Potion could instantly restore 50% of a player's HP. As the HP of heavy-armored players increased, the unique value of these Life Potions would become apparent, eventually phasing out the ordinary potions from the pharmacies.
Currently, the highest-grade Life Potion available in Yun Shang County was Level 2, because refining a Level 3 Life Potion required a Production-class player to reach level 60. Currently, Lin Zhao was the only player in Yun Shang County to reach level 60, so there couldn't be any Level 3 Life Potions.
Restoring 10% of one's HP every 12 seconds might not seem like much, but because it was instantaneous, it was still quite necessary.
He stopped at a stall tended by an elderly man who looked at least seventy years old. His face was full of wrinkles, a detail that couldn't be achieved through the game's appearance customization. It was understandable, as "Tian Xia" was marketed as a metaverse game for everyone. To make a living, one had to strive in the game. This old man likely couldn't venture out to fight, so he could only act as a vendor.
"Elder,"
Lin Zhao squatted down and picked up a bottle of Level 2 Life Potion. He asked with a smile, "How much is this Level 2 Life Potion?"
"50 silver coins each."
The old man looked at Lin Zhao with excitement. Finally, someone was patronizing his stall. His hands trembled slightly as he said, "Young man, if you buy more than twenty bottles, I can give you a better price, 1 gold for 3 bottles. What do you think?"
It was an unusual way to do business, he was already offering a discount before the customer could haggle.
Lin Zhao couldn't help but smile wryly, but he deeply felt the old man's struggles. The plaza was packed with people selling potions, the competition was fierce. Perhaps these people relied on selling these potions to survive.
"Understood."
Lin Zhao took out 100 gold and said, "Give me 300 bottles, please."
"Okay, okay!"
The old man was thrilled but quickly showed a look of difficulty. "I don't have 300 bottles on hand right now. Could you wait a moment? I'll have someone bring them over, it'll take about five minutes!"
"Sure."
Although Lin Zhao was in a hurry to level up, he sat down cross-legged in front of the old man and waited with a smile.
Soon, a little girl wearing low-level cloth armor, only around level 30+, ran over, calling out "Grandpa~~ Grandpa~~". She looked about seven or eight years old.
"Over here!"
The old man raised his hand. The next moment, the little girl rushed over and handed him a pile of Level 2 Life Potions. Then, with her hands behind her back, she looked at Lin Zhao with curiosity and a hint of shyness. This big brother's level seemed too high, far beyond her comprehension.
After the transaction, Lin Zhao's inventory gained 300 bottles of Life Potions, significantly enhancing his survivability. He got up and smiled, "Alright, goodbye!"
"Young man, take care!"
The old man nodded and smiled.
...
Lin Zhao left the city. Outside the city, birds sang and flowers bloomed. In the low-level leveling areas outside the city, many low-level herbs had spawned, mostly Level 1, which were the raw materials for Life Potions. Thus, many gathering accounts were loitering here to collect herbs. However, these gathering accounts were mostly women, children, the elderly, and the infirm. Many people simply couldn't adapt to combat in the game and could only act as gatherers.
Deeper in, Level 2 herbs began to spawn. This area was only ventured into by players above level 30. There were still groups of people fighting over them. Once an herb spawned, many would rush towards it, and whoever grabbed it got it.
Lin Zhao passed through the forest, sighing. The so-called metaverse-level game for everyone had, in fact, divided people into different tiers from the moment they entered the game. The elderly and children were destined to achieve less in the game than the young people, as their motor skills and brain activity were far inferior to those of the younger generation. But this was more akin to a realistic social system; some would have the spirit of chivalry to challenge evil dragons and gods, while others would squat by the roadside to gather humble weeds.
Heading north, he passed through Snow Rock Valley and arrived in a snowy region.
To the left of this area was a barren snow forest, and to the right, tens of miles away, was Shan Hai Pass, one of the six great passes of the human race. Lin Zhao had passed through it once when he first entered the game, and the memory was vivid. He didn't stop, continuing to traverse the snow forest. His leveling today was secondary; getting a mount was the priority!
He passed the spawning area of Snow Field Porcupines without stopping. These porcupines were covered in quills and couldn't be ridden. If he did ride one, he might never find a girlfriend. He passed a group of Ice Wolves without stopping. These wolves, though not large in size, couldn't support the weight of a heavy-armored Sword Master, and more importantly, they were a bit ugly. Not good. So he continued eastward. In a rocky valley, he encountered a herd of wild horses whose fur color was almost the same as the snow and rocks. He found them!
Lin Zhao took a deep breath, drew his sword, and examined the attributes of these warhorses—
[Snow Rock Horse] (Dark Gold Grade Monster)
Level: 65
Attack: 850-1400
Defense: 450
HP: 6000
Skills: [Charge] [Trample] [Wild Impact]
Description: Snow Rock Horses are wild horses that live on the desolate snow plains. These Snow Rock Horses are innately wild and extremely difficult to tame, to the point that the horse-catching teams of Yunzhou have repeatedly failed here, with many horse catchers even losing their lives under the hooves of these fierce wild horses.
...
Lin Zhao's eyes scanned the herd of Snow Rock Horses repeatedly. After confirming there were no Level 1 Snow Rock Horses, he drew his sword and entered the fray, luring a large group of Snow Rock Horses to level up. In reality, Lin Zhao was already level 61, and killing monsters between levels 66-70 would yield the greatest benefits. But alas, for the sake of getting a mount, he had to farm here for a while.
As a result, he farmed for the entire morning. At least two to three thousand Snow Rock Horses had fallen beneath his Azure Pavilion Sword, yet he still hadn't seen a single Level 1 Snow Rock Horse. This left Lin Zhao feeling dejected. What if these Snow Rock Horses didn't spawn Level 1 mounts? If that were the case, it would be a complete waste of time.
But he was unwilling to give up; he simply liked the physique and color of these Snow Rock Horses. So, after lunch, he continued to farm vigorously in the vicinity, turning batch after batch of Snow Rock Horses into experience points and various dropped items.
"Ding!"
At 1:30 PM, Ding Chi sent a message in the team channel: "Brothers and sisters, I got a mount!"
Lin Zhao's body trembled, almost falling to the ground. He was utterly exasperated.