The Boss Behind The Game

The Potion Master Trial was still going on...

Into the third hour, the players who were trapped in the first stage threw all caution to the wind and decided to just abandon the identification step. They started to stuff all types of spiritual material into the crafting furnace, hoping that lady luck would smile down on them.

It was highly similar to blindly selecting answers to multiple choice questions they couldn't answer.

However, potion crafting was not something dependent on luck.

Doing so might cause a serious explosion due to the conflict between different spiritual materials with dissimilar brewing time.

It would be pointless to tackle the problem blindly, as the furnaces repaid their lazy approach with a blast of fire and ashes on their hair.

Meanwhile, the Rock Ghost King was acting as the judge after receiving complete authority over the Trial Arena. He was meticulously scanning the players, searching for those that were extremely talented.

After three long hours of observation, a certain player's actions grabbed his attention.

His approach was vastly different from the majority of the other players.

The trial had proceeded beyond half its allocated time, but the player still had not started crafting potion. He was still calculating and measuring the spiritual materials, at the same time placing the measured materials aside in their respective piles.

The Rock Ghost King was not intrigued by his different and leisurely crafting process, as he was not the only one taking his time measuring. Some players were still at this stage, too. However, the Rock Ghost King was amazed that the player had prepared spiritual materials for more than ten different elixirs.

It was important to note that the trial result was heavily dependent on the players' scores.

The safest route would be to pick a recipe which one was most comfortable and confident with, then repeatedly crafting the same elixir. After all, the only thing that mattered was the total score. However, this player actually wanted to craft dozens of different potions with different spiritual materials and brewing processes.

Surely, this would greatly increase the difficulty, which would immensely hamper his goal to strive for a higher score.

Unless he had absolute confidence in himself!

With that thought in mind, the Rock Ghost King shifted his gaze onto the spiritual materials meticulously measured and categorized on his station. Then, he activated his analyzing ability as he scrutinized the materials.

[First-level Sumeru Elixir Formulation: Sumeru Plant 500 grams (3% deviation), Dragon Fruit 330 grams (3% deviation), Frosty Spiritual Root 220 grams (5% deviation).]

[First-level Yin Yang Marrow Washing Elixir Formulation: Nine-tip Spiritual Fungus 120 grams (4% deviation), Summer Dandelion 60 grams (6% deviation).]

[First-level Cleansing Potion Formulation: Dustfall Fruit 809 grams (7% deviation), Spiritual Water Lily 700 grams (5%deviation), Virtue Fruit Peel 550 grams (18% deviation).]

...

The Rock Ghost King was stunned as he stared at the spiritual materials that were placed according to their formulations on the crafting station.

Even though the measurements of dozens of different spiritual materials were not too similar, the player could perform such an impressive feat after merely studying for three days. In the Rock Ghost King's eyes, this was no doubt a mind-boggling achievement.

More shockingly, this particular player actually didn't use the electronic scale provided by Lu Wu at all. Every spiritual material was weighed and measured with his own hands, putting them into neat piles after cutting the extra parts away.

The difference between each spiritual material was less than 10%, so the player could measure the ratio with just his hands. The Rock Ghost King firmly believed that the player had already far exceeded the level of a beginner.

Hence, the Rock Ghost King was filled with anticipation as he thought of something said by Lu Wu previously.

The potential of the players is limitless!

After four hours, this particular player finally stopped measuring and gathered the ingredients in his hands into a final pile after refining them.

The last pile of spiritual materials piqued the Rock Ghost King's interest again.

[Second-level Netherworldly Frost Elixir Formulation: Stem and Leaf of Comet Flower Plant 320 grams (21% deviation), Yellow Dragon Fruit 1400 grams (23% deviation), Fracking Water 2300 grams (33% deviation), Green Leaves and Spiritual Earth 388 grams (21% deviation).]

Holy shit! Second-level elixir formulation? He's a total genius! The Rock Ghost King was beside himself with excitement.

The player actually attempted to craft a Second-level Elixir only after studying for three days. Even though the deviations were huge, the Rock Ghost King was still filled with hope for the player's explosive results.

Now that there were only two hours left, the player swiftly began to act.

He brought one of the piles of herbs to the crafting furnace, lit a fire, and started his first crafting process.

After ten minutes…

Bang! A cloud of black smoke gushed out from the furnace while the furnace quaked violently.

A notification that showed that the crafting had failed appeared above.

However, the player's expression remained unchanged. With a calm and collected manner, he took another heap of spiritual materials to the furnace for his second attempt.

Bang!

Bang!

...

The expression of the Rock Ghost King, who was originally filled with expectations for the player, grew increasingly awkward.

There was less than an hour left, yet the player kept failing. Furthermore, the processes would fail each time without even proceeding beyond halfway because he had mishandled the concoction, causing the furnace to vomit dark fumes and spew fire.

The Rock Ghost King felt extremely uneasy as he stared at the five remaining piles of spiritual material on his crafting station.

He initially thought that the player was exceedingly talented and had unlimited potential. However, he was merely a defective genius and failed too terribly.

Bang!

Bang!

Yet, the crafting failed consecutively, as the furnace ceaselessly burst into flames.

It was important to note that that was a sign of a complete failure. Most of the time, even if the crafting process was not successful, the furnace would remain fine. Clearly, this player had achieved the worst possible outcome for every attempt he made.

The Rock Ghost King felt immensely disappointed, as though he was watching a brainless pig crafting potions.

Soon, each and every one of his attempts failed miserably, until he had only one formulation left - the second-level elixir formulation. Nevertheless, the Rock Ghost King had lost all expectations for the player.

Despite the unsuccessful attempts, the player's attitude and mentality remained very positive. In the face of failure, the player calmly proceeded without being taken aback, even until the last group of herbs.

For the last time, he commenced the brewing process based on the information stored in his memory. He first added the Comet Flower Plant into the furnace. After it had liquefied, he put in the Yellow Dragon Fruit, Fracking Water, as well as Green Leaves and Spiritual Earth…

Next, he concentrated on controlling the flame. Under his meticulous coordination, the potion in the crafting furnace began to amalgamate steadily.

The Rock Ghost King was pleasantly surprised when he saw the progress. Thus, he calmed his nerves down and began to observe the player with interest again.

One minute… five minutes… ten minutes...

Soon, half an hour had passed in the blink of an eye. As the potion gradually coalesced, the Rock Ghost King's originally placid heart was ignited with fiery passion again.

The crafting process was almost done, but to his surprise, the player still hadn't made any errors. His control on every aspect of the potion crafting was impeccable. Hence, the Rock Ghost King couldn't help but be excited again.

It's almost done, it's almost done!

Unlike the player's placid demeanor, the Rock Ghost King was very thrilled at the prospect of his success. After all, he might be witnessing the unprecedented birth of a Potion Master with limitless potential.

As time ticked on, it had entered the most crucial moment of the crafting process.

The potion had slowly condensed into pellets the size of ping pong balls, and would surely be formed into elixir pills.

Bang!

Suddenly, a loud explosion reverberated through the air. The crafting furnace shook violently, as thick black smog spouted from its chimney and wafted through the air.

The Rock Ghost King was rendered speechless, evidently dumbfounded by the outcome.

The Rock Ghost King was thoroughly flabbergasted, as he couldn't understand how it had failed.

Clearly, the mixture would have turned into elixir pills after the fire was slowly put out? Even if the process had failed, the mixture would have turned into powder instead. So, how did the player manage to cause his furnace to burst into flames, again?