Long before Ye Chen leveled up, Purple Olive had already reached Level 22, Dharma was already halfway through Level 21 and Queen also hit Level 21. Within the party, Ye Chen was the lowest level.
However, the level did not signify much within the game. Most importantly, it was a milestone of a Botanist. Now, Ye Chen could plant support-type plants. Despite crossing the milestone, he did not rush back to Titan Megacity. Instead, he killed more monsters until it was time to go offline, bringing the entire party back to Titan Megacity along with him.
One by one, the party dispersed offline. Ye Chen returned to the public garden, tending to his crops that were not worth much before heading offline.
Conventionally, the first thing Ye Chen would do in the real world was to prepare breakfast. However, his new home came with the benefit of Uncle Lee attending to their food needs. Thinking about it, since the district was large, he could actually go for morning exercise. The human body was somewhat a consumable. Since he had time now, he should use it.
“We wanna go too!” Just as Ye Chen was preparing to leave, the 2 lolis popped up beside him, their rosy cheeks puffing and pouting.
Thinking of the lack of time spent with them in the daytime, Ye Chen quickly decided to bring them along. If their 2 girls were too tired to run, he could carry them on his back. If even he was tired, they could always take a break, it was not too big of an issue.
The district was tranquil in the morning, cooling and calming. Together with the 2 girls, Ye Chen jogged along the quiet streets, winding through the housing estates. They did not meet anyone throughout the period outside, just a few elderly people purchasing their daily groceries.
Time flew past exceptionally quickly as they jogged and played. Soon, half an hour had passed, and it was time to return home. When they returned, Uncle Lee had already prepared their breakfast, and the household gathered together. Granny offered to read the lolis a book after the meal, taking them off Ye Chen’s hands. The latter then retreated into his room, going online immediately.
Owing to the early time, Purple Olive and Queen were not around yet. Only Dharma was present, already hitting the Arena. However, the situation was different from yesterday. He was not sweeping through his enemies anymore. On Ye Chen’s instructions, the Meteor Arrow Shower was prohibited due to its overwhelming strength. Previously, Dharma would 1 hit KO his enemies by accident, leaving no room for practice and learning. In cases like this, time was wasted.
Sealing off the Meteor Arrow Shower, Dharma’s performance was tragic. Various opponents took turns at toying with him, eradicating him. Even so, Dharma stayed in the Arena, going battle after battles without any signs of stopping. That unwavering perseverance renewed Ye Chen’s appraisal of Dharma.
Getting the battleground wiped with your own face was a process that was indispensable on the route to professionalism within the game. For a greenhorn to break into the lines of pro players, they must be able to withstand the crushing defeats. Otherwise, the novice blood and attitude would stay with them no matter how powerful they got.
Seeing his endless battles, Ye Chen left Dharma alone, heading to the Botanist Guild. This time, his aim was to unlock the support-type plants.
As he had never chosen a professional tutor, Ye Chen could only return to Trousse. Upon paying him 30 gold, he received a mission.
The mission was simple, he had to enter an Instance Dungeon and regenerate HP for a large patch of poisoned plants with the support-type plant, Velvetleaf. As long as half of the poisoned plants survived, his mission would be considered a success.
The Botanist’s support-type plants mostly added buffs and statuses. For the Velvetleaf, it was the most basic support-type plant. When it was present, all of the plants planted by the Botanist would continuously regenerate HP. The Quartz Flower, which he received from the Stone Tribe’s Totem mission reduced the damage taken by all plants. As such, once Ye Chen could plant support-type plants, the survivability of his plants increased by leaps and bounds.
However, nothing came without a price. When support-type plants were present, the MP of the Botanist would regularly drain and could not recover MP with potions. This mission was also a test of the Botanist control over the MP consumption. Hence, the use of potions within the dungeon was restricted. If the Botanist chose to let the Velvetleaf regenerate HP for the constant, the result of the mission would undoubtedly be a failure due to lack of MP.
The first few Botanists of the game had it the toughest, entering a mission with unknown restrictions and numerous uncertainties. However, now that the game had been around for some time, the task was no longer as painful. Timings for uprooting the support-type plants, the correct period to utilize the support-type plants and step by step manuals to face this mission was available on the forums. Within 20 minutes, Ye Chen had breezed through this mission.
“Support-type plants play a crucial role in a Botanist’s battles. Use them well, and you will become a proficient Botanist!” When Ye Chen returned to the Botanist’s Guild, Trousse sternly reminded him.
“Mr Trousse, I understand.” Courteously, Ye Chen nodded and thanked him for the guidance. At the same time, he pondered if he should find the Grandmaster of Botanists to be his Professional Tutor soon. His character had been developing faster than he expected. Heading to see her now and convincing her to accept him as a disciple was a plausible choice.
“Alright, I will go over when the Durian Bomb Tree reaches Level 2!” Soon, Ye Chen firmly decided.
Trousse nodded and waved his hand. Immediately, 2 notices popped up in front of Ye Chen.
[System Notice: You have unlocked Virtual Planting Space. Current plots: 1]
[System Notice: You obtained a skill book: Planting, Velvetleaf!]
Seeing the gift, Ye Chen’s face lit up with gratitude. Once again, he bowed and thanked Trousse.
Now he could finally be considered a real Botanist.
As he walked out of the Botanist Guild, Ye Chen lamented, “ah, only 1 plot of Virtual Planting Space? What a shame, I need to find a staff that comes with planting space soon…”
Support-type plants were unlike combat plants. They did not need to be planted onto the ground for it to take effect. Instead, they would be transplanted into the Virtual Planting Space. In reality, this space was around the magic staff. When planted, the Support-type plants would hover about the Botanist, following his movements.
Without delay, Ye Chen learned the skills, Velvetleaf and Quartz Flower. Having done so, he went to the general store and bought an extravagant 300 Velvetleaf seeds. As for Quartz Flower Seeds, he had to wait till Level 30 and inherit his previous Achievement Points.
Leaving aside the Quartz Flower, the Velvetleaf was of critical importance to a beginner Botanist. From the seeding time, the Velvetleaf only needed 3 seconds to mature. From then, at a cost of 5 MP, the plants surrounding the Botanist would recover 10 HP per second. At Level 2, the MP cost increased to 10 per second, and the recovery heightened to 25.
With this, Ye Chen had officially finished his thorough initiation as a Botanist. There was only 1 thing left to do. Resuming the bullying of others in the Arena and stocking up on Arena Points!
As he expected, the Durian Bomb Tree was like a nuclear bomb in the low-level Arena. With this one skill, Ye Chen massacred every single Adventurer within the Arena. To date, no one had been able to survive under this brutal assault.
Of course, it was not solely due to the unfair attribute of the Durian Bomb Tree. The Adventurers at this stage also had a feeble defense, low HP, and a lack of life-saving skills. At the higher levels, 1 hit KO was impossible unless it was a sneak attack.
Regardless, Ye Chen’s winning streak was unhindered by anyone, surging up every second!
Starting at 100 win streak, he rushed through his battles. By the time the sun had set, he had accumulated a staggering 800+ streak!
Fortunately, Ye Chen had the foresight to limit his spectators to his good friends, keeping outsiders away from his viewing room. If anyone else found out that this Adventurer had already been on an 800+ win streak, this rumor would spread till every single Adventurer in Titan Megacity heard of it. With the restriction, the Adventurers only knew of a powerful Botanist and not his inconceivable yet true 800 streaks.
However, these long victorious chain only got Ye Chen 2500 Arena Points. To level up the Durian Bomb Tree, he needed 5000 more. Only then, he could get 150 seeds, barely sufficient to level up his skill.
With a deep sigh, he went offline to join his 2 lolis for dinner. Then, it was back to grinding again.
Ye Chen had led his party earlier than before to the Big Snowy Mountain again. Through the night, he cut down wave after wave of monsters. When dawn arrived, almost all of them had raised another level, progressing through the levels at breakneck speed.
Again, Ye Chen’s schedule was the same. Morning exercise, breakfast, and playing with the 2 lolis. Any other time that he was involved in the activities above, he was online and seeping through the Arena.
With the crumbling of yet another Adventurer, a system message popped up.
[System Message: Congratulations! You have achieved 1000 consecutive victories in the Random Matching Arena Battle. You obtained the title, God of Arena!]
[System Message: Congratulations! You have achieved 1000 consecutive victories in the Random Matching Arena Battle. You have obtained 100 Reputation Points. Current Reputation Points:120!]
[System Message: Congratulations! You have achieved 1000 consecutive victories in the Random Matching Arena Battle. You have obtained 10 Achievement Points. Current Achievement Points :22!]
[God of Arena (Beginner): A Honorary Title for Valiant Adventurers who achieved 1000 consecutive victories in the Arena (below Level 50)!
Attributes: Strength + 10, Physique + 10, Agility + 10, Intelligence + 10, Spirit + 10, Movement Speed + 2, Perception + 1. in the Random Matching Arena Battles, after 10 consecutive wins, each victory would be awarded with an additional Arena Point. After 30 consecutive wins, each victory would be awarded 2 additional Arena Points. After 50 consecutive wins, each victory would be awarded 4 additional Arena Points. After 100 consecutive wins, each victory would be awarded 7 additional Arena Points!