Lu Buyi was so overcome with emotion that his eyes were brimming with hot tears. He was grasping the handle of the Burning Fan so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The best piece of equipment he was wearing was the fan he had originally been using, and it was just a 1-star Outstanding Purple Gold–grade item. Even though he had quite a few Outstanding items, they were all Dark Gold–grade. Yet he had still been able to hold his own against Iron Pardon, who was decked out in top of the line items. This was sufficient proof of his burgeoning talent.

"Lu Chen, does this fan truly belong to me now?"

Lu Buyi stared at me with a fevered gaze as he held the Burning Fan tightly in his grasp. He couldn’t quite believe that this was actually happening, so he asked me again just to be sure.

My lips curled up as I burst into laughter. "Why? You don’t want it? If you don’t, then give it back to me. I can sell this in the auction for at least a million gold. That’s a lot of money, I’d gladly take it…"

Lu Buyi let out a small chuckle. "I want it! Of course I want it! But I really feel a bit ashamed to accept such a good weapon from you right now. I mean, I haven’t done a single thing to deserve this and I’m just a nobody. I can’t understand why’d you shower me with such favor."

I took a deep breath. "Buyi, you should know that Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls has many Famous Generals, but did you know that we don’t have a single top-tier tactician? I’m hoping that you can be the one to break this trend and show the world that Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls does have a world-class tactician. I want you to shock everyone who has ever looked down on the Tactician class and show them just how powerful a tactician can be!"

"Yessir!"

Lu Buyi gave a heavy nod of his head before he growled in a low voice, "I swear that I won’t let you down, guild leader! I’ll stake my very life on it!"

I let out a satisfied laugh. "Your promise is more than enough. Oh right, I still have something else to give you. This is my personal gift to you and it will definitely help you along the way to the top!"

As I said those words, I took out a shiny skill book from the warehouse and presented it to Lu Buyi. "I got this from killing a boss a few days ago. It’s a skill book exclusive to tacticians. Heh heh, I believe that this will be the stratagem that will make you world famous!"

When Lu Buyi read the skill description, his jaw dropped to the ground. "How… how powerful! Damn it all! This skill… This skill is too ridiculous. A stratagem like this actually exists…"

Purple Dragon (Earth-grade Stratagem): Summon the energy of an emperor to raise the stats of all party members by 15%. This skill’s effectiveness is affected by the user’s Tactics.. Level Requirement: 135. Class Requirement: Tactician. Tactics Requirement: 300. Upon learning this skill, the user loses 3 levels.

……

This stratagem boosted all stats by 15% and there was no hard cap on this skill at the moment!

Right, this stratagem was absolutely broken. Once Lu Buyi’s Tactics stat increased, there was even a high chance it would outclass Lin Yixin’s Bombshell!

Lu Buyi cradled the Purple Dragon skill book in his arms. These two extraordinary gifts had rendered him speechless. A good ten minutes passed before he finally shook himself out of his stupor and said solemnly, "I thought that I would have to put my nose to the grindstone for an entire year before I could become the top tactician in China. But with the help that you’ve just provided me, I believe that I’ll only need half a year at most!"

I laughed heartily and exclaimed, "Half a year is way too long! I need you to be the number one tactician within two months!"

"What?"

"Just wait and see! Heh heh!" As I laughed, I discreetly glanced at his shoulder and saw that the guild emblem hovering was still Waste and Burn’s.

I said, "Come to the main guild. Players who are part of our main guild can enjoy quite a few perks. Furthermore, I can assign you to a strong squad and have you grind together with them. I guarantee that you’ll be able to hit Level 135 and learn that Purple Dragon stratagem within three days!"

A rather pained expression appeared on Lu Buyi’s face. "Ah, I think… I won’t be able to join the main guild yet. I’m going to continue to follow guild leader Freezing Point. This… Lu Chen, I hope you can understand where…"

My eyebrows knit together tightly as I asked, "Buyi, how did you get to know Freezing Point in the first place? Also, how did you end up joining Waste and Burn? Can you tell me more about how everything happened?"

Lu Buyi nodded his head and said, "I first met guild leader Freezing Point two month ago. I was grinding with my friends when some people decided to kill us and camp our corpses. Guild leader Freezing Point saw this and came to our rescue. He led a group of players to kill the ones who had been camping us, so my friends and I joined Waste and Burn. Guild leader Freezing Point is a great guy, and he’s outspoken and forthright. He’s someone that is worth having as a friend."

I nodded my head and replied, "Then I will have a discussion with Freezing Point later. The elite players of the various subguilds normally end up joining the main guild This is to ensure that our main guild will always have an elite fighting force to contend against the top guilds like Candle Dragon and Warsky Alliance."

"Yes, I understand where you’re coming from, but…" Lu Buyi frowned before he continued, "I had already proposed this idea to guild leader Freezing Point before. He rejected it outright and told me to stay in the eighth subguild. Furthermore, I also believe that the main guild and subguilds are all part of one big family. If the main guild needs me to go anywhere, you just need to tell me and I’ll be there."

I chuckled. "That’s fine too. If that’s the case, then let me find a few people to help you level. It would be for the best if you hit Level 135 as soon as possible so that you can learn Purple Dragon. What’s your current Tactics stat?"

"312." Lu Buyi let out an embarrassed laugh and said, "My level alone gives me 133 points. It’s just that my equipment is too lousy. All of my equipment added together only gives me 179 Tactics, and that’s after I add the 50 points from the Burning Fan. If not, my equipment would only add 129 points to my Tactics stats in total. This is really embarrassing…"

I couldn’t help but laugh when I heard Lu Buyi’s reply. I did some quick calculations in my head before saying, "Actually, that’s still alright. With 312 Tactics and the 15% stat boost from your Purple Dragon stratagem, you’ll be able to boost all of your other stats by 61.8%. Tsk tsk, this would put you barely behind the Famous General Skill of the Fruit Knife Goddess, Wind Fantasy. Hahaha, Buyi, you gotta work hard! If you’re able to become a Famous General as well, you’ll be the first grand strategist of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls!"

My words raised Lu Buyi’s flagging spirit. "Woah, a total boost of 61.8% to all stats? That’s… That’s incredibly powerful! I’ll become that powerful?! Guild leader, your mental calculations skills are top-notch! "

"Admire my ass! I was just able to open my calculator faster than you, that’s all!"

"……"

……

I opened up the voice chat and called Chaos Moon.

"Is the pretty Chaos Moon busy at the moment?" I asked.

"Nope!" Chaos Moon replied in an earnest voice. She laughed and said, "What do you need me for, Lu Chen?"

"Yeah, there actually is something that I need you to help me with. Gather up a squad of ninety-nine fighters, priests, and archers. They have to be among the best that we’ve got. I need you to party up with a player and go to the Dragonbone Mountain Range to grind high-level mobs. Also, if a boss appears, it would be ideal if he could get the last hit. I need him to get to Level 135 as fast as possible.

"Oh?" Chaos Moon replied in an astonished voice. "It’s a guy? Why are you treating a guy so well? What kind of man is he? Damn, are you screwing him? Boohoo, I knew it! If an outstanding man like Lu Chen can resist the charms of Pure Love, he definitely can’t be normal! As expected, you really were gay, Lu Chen…"

I nearly vomited blood. "Gay your ass! I still like women! I love women! Do you hear me?!"

Chaos Moon answered with a giggle, "Alright, alright! See, you’re so riled up! I must’ve hit the nail on the head! Okay, let’s get back to business. It’ll be easy for me to form a party like that. I’ll even get that dumb slacker High Fighting Spirits to join us! With a bunch of high-level fighters, that friend of yours will level up in no time. Oh right, who exactly are we supposed to help again?"

"A tactician called Lu Buyi," I said with a mysterious laugh.

Chaos Moon was not expecting that answer. "A tactician? Someone playing that useless class actually caught your eye? Man, he must be on the same level as Zhuge Liang, Guo Jia, and Xun Yu or something."[1]

I grinned. "Well, I can’t answer that question, but I do know this. Once he reaches Level 135, he will be able to learn a new skill, a stratagem that will buff the stats of everyone in his party by at least 60%. So what do you think? Will you help me level this tactician? If you two become close, I’ll even assign him to your squad permanently. Heh heh…"

Chaos Moon was excited. "Wow! Is this tactician handsome?"

"Yeah, he’s actually pretty handsome! He’s a healthy and robust man who is in his twenties, and he has thick eyebrows and large eyes. Hey, wait a minute, didn’t you say that you would always be loyal to me? How… how could you become so fickle-hearted at the mere mention of a handsome man…"

"What?! That’s not true at all! He just piqued my interest, okay! My heart is still with you…"

"Damn. Alright, that’s enough nonsense from you for today. Hurry up and form that party. I’ll get Lu Buyi to add you as a friend so that you can contact him directly. Remember, try your best to let him get the last hit whenever you’re fighting a boss. Lu Buyi’s stratagem will only be able to show its full power if he becomes a Famous General, heh heh…"

"Alright, I’ll go form the party now. Goodbye my dearest!"

"Screw you! Okay, I’ll leave you to it then…"

I closed the voice chat and let out a helpless sigh. Why do the girls in our guild always tease me when I get them to help me with stuff? Do I have the words "tease me" written on my face, dammit?

Yeah, I’ll just wear a mask next time.

……

Now that I had settled everything that I needed to settle with Lu Buyi, I could finally get back to doing my own thing! The first thing on my priority list was to create those Strength Supplements! They would for sure sell like hotcakes! Even the average players had gone through their fifth class promotions already, but most of them wouldn’t have equipment powerful enough to meet the strength requirement to learn Barrier Break. These Strength Supplements that boosted Strength by 400 points were an absolute godsend!

My Spirit Cooking skill didn’t give me a new recipe to create more powerful Strength Supplements until I hit Rank 8 in the skill, but the moment I saw that recipe, I immediately realized that a golden opportunity had landed in my lap.

I’m going to make a killing this time! Heh heh, once these potions hit the market, people will be lining up from one side of Sky City to the other to buy them! If anyone wants to learn Barrier Break before reaching Level 150, they’ll have to part with their savings first!

A wide grin split my face as I started doing a little jig in my mind. There were a lot of players in this game and more than a few of them were rich!

Yeah, it’s time to take this opportunity to earn big bucks! I won't let a chance like this slip by!

I immediately started crafting the Strength Supplement. 20x Fresh Ginger, 20x Purple Cloud Net and 1x Agave. Once I put in the ingredients into the skill window, I pressed the "Confirm" button.

Ding!

System Notice: You have created "Strength Supplement VIII" x 5!

……

Damn, I can produce 5 of these with one set of ingredients!? This is great!

I continued to create the potions. I’d gathered nearly two hundred stacks of Agave, and each stack was one hundred portions. This meant that I could easily produce about a hundred thousand Strength Supplements VIII. Hehe, feels good!

System notices continued to fly across my screen as the blood-red Strength Supplements swiftly filled up my inventory. Soon, I had a few dozen stacks of them in my inventory.

I was in no rush to sell these babies, so I continued to whip up even more of them. Half an hour later, I had used 5000 Agave plants to create 24592x Strength Supplement VIII. I had more than two hundred stacks of these potions lying around in my inventory.

Ah, the sight of all of these potions simply fills my heart with joy!

This would have to do for now. I stopped creating strength potions and went straight to Air Force One. I put the potions up for sale, a thousand at a time. The minimal price was 5000 RMB. Each potion would go to the highest bidder once the one-hour timer had passed.

Hehehe, this is the best way to jack up the prices of these Strength Supplements!

After that, I quickly spent 5000 RMB to post a shout.

Ding!

System Announcement (Player Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand Shout): Attention all warriors, magic knights and wanderers! Air Force One, a store located beside the potion shop in Sky City’s eastern plaza, is currently selling Strength Supplements VIII. These potions can instantly add 400 points to your Strength. This will allow most of you to immediately learn the godlike fifth-promotion skill, Barrier Break! If you want to learn Barrier Break and become a super powerful fighter, what are you waiting for?! Come to Air Force One and start bidding for your potion today! The bidding begins at 5000 RMB! The auction will close in one hour and each potion will go to the highest bidder! High-level players, you definitely don’t want to miss out on this! Come get them before it’s too late!

1. Zhuge Liang was a prominent military strategist who served as chancellor and regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. Guo Jia and Xun Yu were advisers to the warlord Cao Cao of Wei during the same period.