Scourge Messenger

Chapter 291 The Secret of the Foundation Establishment Pill

Because of the influence of pharmacists like Yuan Shangxinlei, and because he had no knowledge of the details of Foundation Establishment in his previous life, Yan Qing subconsciously thought that the threshold for obtaining Foundation Establishment Pills was very high, and that he might have to take the path of forcibly establishing his foundation through the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiends.

It wasn't until now that Yan Qing realized how difficult it could be to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills.

In the game "The Messenger", reaching the Foundation stage is just the starting point for players to leave the novice stage. In "Breath of the Wild", it's like Link just getting his paraglider and leaving the starting plateau. In "Street Fighter VI", it's like a player just finishing the single-player mode. Only after reaching the Foundation stage can the Messenger be qualified to explore the vast game world!
Before Yan Qing transmigrated, he had only ever seen players complain about how high the threshold for ascending to immortality was, but he had never seen anyone complain about how difficult it was to establish a foundation. This meant that there must be many ways to obtain foundation-building pills in the game, such as the [Gathering Demon Land] event, which gives them away as long as you participate... So why is it that in reality, they are so hard to find?

This question was finally answered when Yan Qing opened the event rewards section and found detailed information about the Foundation Building Pill.

Just like tokens, Foundation Building Pills are also divided into four grades: Common, Rare, Extraordinary, and Legendary.

but!

The only ways to obtain both common and rare Foundation Building Pills are through [events] and [player crafting]!
Rare Foundation Building Pills and Legendary Foundation Building Pills can be obtained through three methods: [Events], [Player Production], and [Secret Realm Rewards]!

At first glance, it seems incomprehensible why the secret realm doesn't produce low-level Foundation Establishment Pills, but only high-level ones. This is clearly intentional. Although it wasn't mentioned in the details, Yan Qing could roughly guess the official design concept.

Ultimately, a character can only use a Foundation Establishment Pill once, which results in a very, very small demand for low-level Foundation Establishment Pills—just like if students had a choice, who would choose a college instead of bar dancing?

If players intend to play seriously, they will definitely spend some time pursuing high-level Foundation Establishment Pills to ensure a good first degree. However, the official team cannot hold players back for too long at the Foundation Establishment Pill stage, so everyone can just do a little bit.

Therefore, it's best to make a clean break: the secret realm will only produce high-level Foundation Establishment Pills, while low-level Foundation Establishment Pills will only be produced by advanced players when they are practicing crafting.

Ordinary Foundation Establishment Pills are obviously bad; eating them makes you feel dirty. But there's not much difference between Rare Foundation Establishment Pills and Extraordinary Foundation Establishment Pills. If a player is a beginner or too lazy to spend time farming dungeons, they can easily obtain a Rare Foundation Establishment Pill by going to the Treasure Pavilion or participating in an event.

This model works perfectly in the game, but it presents a huge discrepancy in reality: the most crucial [activity] pathway is practically nonexistent for local Muggles!
If Yan Qing is not mistaken, the 'Wandering Woods' dungeon also rewarded Foundation Establishment Pills, but Jiang Shi was only at the second job advancement at the time, so Foundation Establishment Pills were not a high priority and he didn't get them.

The path of "player crafting" is even less reliable. The first step in training a crafting profession is to have enough materials to practice with. Are there even hundreds of Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Central Plains? How many dungeons can they clear? Do these dungeons contain the materials needed for Foundation Establishment Pills?
Even if they can answer "yes" to all of the above questions, do they know the formula for the Foundation Establishment Pill? Do they know that others have the materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill?
Without the anonymous trading platform of Jubaoge, information would be shrouded in fog. Even if local messengers could form caravans and establish trade networks, the time they would spend collecting materials would probably be measured in years.

In the game, as long as you have money, you can reach Master or even Grandmaster level production in a day. In reality, it would probably take several years or even decades.

Therefore, for the messengers from the Central Plains, the only way to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills is to challenge the secret realms!

Thinking of this, Yan Qing suddenly realized: No wonder the supernatural powers of people like Suolong, Dongshou, Yingle, and Jiehuangchao are all so powerful and practical. It turns out that at the very least, they have consumed rare Foundation Establishment Pills!

Whether it's a blessing in disguise or not, because the environment here is so harsh that low-level Foundation Establishment Pills are impossible to obtain, all the Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Central Plains are top students who have consumed rare Foundation Establishment Pills. Even in the game, their Foundation Establishment configuration is no less than that of an ordinary player's main character.

Just then, Yan Qing happened to come across a giveaway of Foundation Establishment Pills, so he naturally wouldn't miss it. However, when he saw the introduction of the rare Foundation Establishment Pills, his eyes widened in surprise.

Like the [Wandering Woods] event, the [Gathering Places] allows players to send multiple alt accounts to participate and compete for rankings, but each account can only claim the rewards once. However, while Treasure Hunt Tokens are usable by everyone, Foundation Establishment Pills have a very annoying restriction:

"Characters in Real Mode cannot consume Foundation Establishment Pills that are unrelated to their own character."

Seemingly worried that players might not understand, the official team also listed three scenarios: Only those who participate in the event in Real Mode and obtain rewards can consume the Foundation Establishment Pills rewarded from the event; only those whose Real Mode characters participate in the Secret Realm battles can consume the Foundation Establishment Pills rewarded from the Secret Realm; Foundation Establishment Pills produced by players outside of Real Mode cannot be consumed.

The only exception seems to be the Foundation Establishment Pills produced by players in Real Mode. But the problem is, who in Real Mode would normally spend time refining production skills? Refining production skills requires a significant investment, and a well-developed production character is a valuable resource for any player. If you invest heavily in refining the production skills of your Real Mode character, it would be a huge loss if it gets destroyed.

The gaming market is ultimately dominated by players who prefer the standard gaming experience.

In conclusion, the official attitude towards the Real Mode characters is: 'If you want them, you have to come and get them yourself.'

As for why it was designed this way, the official malice is self-evident: to increase the probability of characters dying suddenly in real mode!

Even before reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, Yan Qing was already invincible with the blessing of the Natural Disaster Milestone. Without being immodest, apart from Yaoshi Yuan, there was no other third-tier messenger in the world who could rival him. With the Natural Disaster True Damage and Bingzi Jiaolin, he had both high stats and excellent mechanics. He didn't need any tactical skills; he could just randomly swing his weapon and still mow down enemies.

Next up is the Cataclysmic Foundation, and future ascension to immortality will definitely have special mechanisms related to calamities. As the core theme of this major update, Yan Qing has no doubt about the strength of the Cataclysmic route. However, precisely because the Cataclysmic route in the real-world mode is so outrageous, the official team, besides relying on the players' (Hakimi's) intervention to adjust it, will definitely also create obstacles in the game.

How should we handle the supermodel character? Once a character dies, they're no longer a supermodel. If a thief wants to eat meat, they have to risk getting beaten up.

Yan Qing even admired this colleague who had never met before. Setting the threshold for the Foundation Building Pill was as precise as a scalpel, just the right amount of disgusting to the players, but at the same time stimulating their competitive spirit.

After all, players who have reached the third job advancement have already invested a significant amount in their realistic character development, and have undoubtedly experienced the intensity of karmic retribution along the way. Even if they die just before reaching Foundation Establishment, players are unlikely to quit the game; instead, they will be even more eager to see just how exhilarating and powerful 'Karmic Foundation Establishment' truly is!

Despite his admiration, Yan Qing still politely dismissed the planner in his mind. He could have simply waited in the Thieves' Den for his alt accounts to deliver the Foundation Establishment Pills, but now many variables had arisen.

Yan Qing exited the event interface. Although he had looked at the information for a few minutes, the atmosphere in the hall did not cool down because of Jiang Shi's dazed state.

In just a short while, Xi Zifeng and Gai Louxian were having a pleasant conversation. While Gai Louxian's deliberate flattery certainly played a part, Xi Zifeng's warm and welcoming attitude was undoubtedly the core reason why these two wanderers lowered their guard. In the end, both Gai Louxian and Bu Liuguzhen revealed their identities, essentially laying bare their secrets.

However, this might have been intentional on their part. After all, they were living under the protection of the Murong family, and it was better to be honest in advance than to be found out by the Murong family.

Jiang Shi: "Do you have a map? I want to know the exact location of the Demon Gathering Land."

Xi Zifeng had a servant bring a map. "The Demon Gathering Land is about 300 miles from Yanzi Army Town, but the journey is not easy. The northern lands have been experiencing torrential rains for several days, making the roads muddy. In addition, the Demon Gathering Land is located in a remote area, and no one usually passes through except at this time of year... Even if Canhe Baibao travels day and night, it will probably take about four days to escort you there."

"unnecessary."

“No need to refuse. Although there is no quota of three hundred Hundred Guards killed in action, you are an honored guest of the Murong family. If this request cannot be met, the patriarch will blame me for poor hospitality when he returns.” Xi Zifeng said, “If you go there by yourself, you may miss the opening time of the Demon Gathering Land. The North has been rather turbulent lately.”

“No need,” Jiang Shi said calmly, “because I won’t go. This question is for someone else.”

After looking at the map, Yan Qing realized that Ye Si, who was on her way, was closer to the Demon Gathering Land than Jiang Shi and the others.

However, compared to the map, Yan Qing still needed to figure out one thing: "How dangerous is the Demon Gathering Land? What is the casualty rate?"

"If you don't provoke the demons inside, there is almost no danger," Xi Zifeng said. "Every year, about two hundred messengers enter the Demon Gathering Land, most of whom are first-level messengers. Their main goal is to collect resources from the secret realm. Even if they have grudges against each other, they rarely fight inside, because as long as others hide near the demons, most people will be hesitant to act."

"Besides collecting treasure chests, some people are drawn to the scenery of the Demon Gathering Land, such as my family head. These people vary in strength, but they all have their own interests, so they naturally won't cause any conflicts there."

Like [Wandering Woods], [Gathering Places] seems to be a quiet and peaceful place. This is to be expected, though; the event dungeon only opens once a year, and local Muggles can't even get the most important event rewards—it's like a chicken toy that's neither worth keeping nor discarding. With no conflict of interest, everyone can naturally remain calm.

Yan Qing also breathed a sigh of relief. What he feared most was that the [Gathering Demon Land] was a secret realm where a large number of messengers would launch fierce attacks, ambush, block bridges, engage in deception and treachery, and seize treasures. If that were the case, even if the event had a level restriction and wouldn't involve Foundation Establishment or higher, Yan Qing would most likely not go.

Playing PUBG on a secondary account is one thing, he can kill his way from Penglai East Road to Nantianmen without batting an eye. But this event requires his main account to participate. However, he is not like Han Paopao or Fang Laomo. When it comes to decisive action, Yan Qing really can't believe his ability to adapt to the situation. He even needs to sleep at night to think of how to refute an argument. How can he be aggressive?
A small account can be soft-hearted, make mistakes, and be decisive, but a large account is only suitable for easy wins.

Just as Jiang Shi was asking more questions about the Demon Gathering Land, a servant suddenly pushed open the palace door and hurriedly walked to Xi Zifeng's side, handing her a rolled-up sheepskin scroll. Speaking of which, Yanzi Army Town is full of restaurants serving mutton and offal, and sheepskin is even more prevalent than bamboo paper, indicating that this secret realm must have a lot of sheep, so much so that sheepskin can be used as paper.

Xi Zifeng peeled back the parchment and her expression changed slightly. Gai Lou, being quite perceptive, said, "We've troubled you for so long, it's time for us to take our leave."

“No, you should know about this too.” Xi Zifeng placed the parchment on the table: “An urgent report from Nevernight City: Prince Lanling Ying Rushi assassinated the commander of the Hundred Guards yesterday and has defected to the State of Qi.”

Xi Zifeng watched their reactions closely. Although she didn't know their relationship with Ying Rushi, Ying Rushi had given them the tokens to come here, which was a life-saving favor. If they didn't show any concern when they heard about Ying Rushi's defection, or even pretend to be worried, she would naturally reassess their character.

She was fairly satisfied with the result, but Gai Lou showed a worried expression, and Bu Liu Gu Zhen was shocked and ashamed. Only Jiang Niang, the most outstanding among them, remained expressionless upon hearing the news. However, since Jiang Niang had not shown any emotion throughout, Xi Zifeng decided to make that judgment and asked, "Jiang Niang, what do you think?"

To Xi Zifeng's surprise, Jiang Niang's lips curled up slightly, revealing a faint smile. Instantly, the winter snow in the hall melted and all things came to life, even the falling cherry blossoms paled in comparison.

"I am very happy."

(End of this chapter)