36. Cyber Potato Sells Itself

After returning to the guild, everyone rushed to the workshop, eager to examine the recipe information.

[Heart of Elements] Set: Adaptive equipment, Epic (Red) quality.
Specific effects are only visible after forging records are established.

Heart of Elements: 1 piece
Elemental Essence (any quality): 6 pieces
Raw Ore (any quality, any type): 30 units

This is the material requirement for crafting a weapon; if crafting armor, the recipe varies slightly depending on the piece.

The fact that an Epic-quality set has such immense flexibility in its required materials left Jiang Heyi compelled to question the puppets.

"The equipment will manifest different qualities based on the grade of materials provided by the master."
"If the masters are dissatisfied with the final product, or if you acquire better materials in the future and wish to upgrade your existing gear, you may choose to reforge it."
"When reforging, depending on the artisan's skill, there is a chance to keep the [Heart of Elements] core intact."

After hearing the nun puppet's explanation, Original Flavor Fries immediately turned her gaze toward Jiang Heyi.
She commanded in an unquestionable tone, "You forge one."

Before Jiang Heyi could react, Zhong Zemo immediately chimed in.
"We don't have a single decent piece of gear on us, and we've let you take all the good stuff for so long. After yielding for this long, it's your turn."

This time, Jiang Heyi did not refuse. Even if forged with the most common materials, an Epic-quality item’s superior stats would be enough to carry him through the early stages of the game.

Because the recipe had been unlocked, the nun puppet's forging proficiency had improved significantly; the only problem now was that they lacked the necessary facilities.
The Boundary of Reality must complete two expansion upgrades before forging can commence.

After checking in with the others, Jiang Heyi opened the guild storage.

"What's wrong?" Seeing him frozen there, Zhong Zemo walked up. "Is something missing..."

Mint had actually taken 10 shards of Soul Fragments. That cold-hearted witch—she didn't believe for a second that they could make it back alive.
She hadn't even been willing to wait a little longer before starting to divide the spoils!

Having spent some time together, Orange Tea had grown quite fond of the embarrassing witch.
Although she was silly and seemed a bit "touched" in the head, subjectively, she had always hoped for the best for everyone in the Boundary of Reality. To that end, she had been willing to bring out her own treasured items to help them weather the crisis.

"Did she really leave... and not coming back?"

No one could answer. Even Jiang Heyi began to wonder if he had said something wrong, triggering Mint’s departure sequence.
He had intended to thank her properly and ask her where she had obtained the scrolls.

"What do we do now? Feed the materials to upgrade the facility directly?" asked the Jailer.

Staring at the Soul Fragments and recalling the trading methods used by players, Jiang Heyi’s mouth curled into a smile.
"No, I’m planning on a different method."

...

...

"How did the Boundary of Reality guild get through the Dust-Cleansing Layer?"

This question surfaced in the minds of every player fighting the Moonshadow Werewolves.
And this question reached its peak after several people were instantly killed by the Frog-Headed Abomination’s magical attacks.

Players who had died and returned to Windpod City gathered in small groups, their irrepressible desire to vent keeping them chattering incessantly.

"Let me speak first, you let me speak first," an Elf-kin complained bitterly. "It was truly disgusting. We didn't even see the shadow of the monsters before our eight-man squad was wiped out."
"You died in that garden too?"
"Looks like you guys did as well."
"We were a bit more unlucky; we were surrounded by a horde of corpses while passing through a corridor. Because the space was narrow, we couldn't maneuver and got trapped to death."

It wasn't that the larger the group, the greater the advantage. *Starry Skies* dynamically adjusted mechanisms and difficulty based on the number of players in a party; this had long been discovered by the community.

The fact that the Boundary of Reality cleared the stage with only five people, and that their progression was currently far in the lead, truly opened the eyes of the *Proof of the Stars* players.
Previously, most people didn't believe the "extremely high difficulty" claims from the Boundary of Reality, thinking they were just lying to stifle competition.

Experience is the best teacher. After spending a fortune on teleportation fees to experience the harsh reality of the Dust-Cleansing Layer, many who prided themselves as "hardcore" challengers felt deflated, unable to stop themselves from marveling at the strength of the Boundary of Reality.

Of course, there were those who were bitter after being one-shotted.

"They must have cheated," he asserted. "The Underground Temple of the Purifiers is clearly not a dungeon that can be challenged at the current stage. They must have mastered some underhanded methods to achieve this feat."

One or two stages could be attributed to luck, but as of entering the game today, the Boundary of Reality had already entered the fourth floor.
That surely couldn't be luck every time, could it?

Counter-arguments followed in quick succession.

"Sukuna is right there. Go on, challenge it, then come back and slap us in the face."
"Good luck, you'll win."
"Congratulations on figuring out that the Boundary of Reality is cheating. Now, go lead a team into the Underground Temple, surpass the Boundary of Reality, and become the number one PVE guild."

The Underground Temple of the Purifiers had become the default "hardest dungeon" for the current stage.
If no one else could break through the Dust-Cleansing Layer in the short term, then the Boundary of Reality was naturally the top PVE guild.
In the face of their miraculous clearance data, any skepticism was pale and powerless, and only served to make the skeptic look like a jealous, green-eyed monster.

Jiang Heyi teleported to the ground, and the surrounding clamor of debate flooded his ears. He couldn't help but smile faintly.
It was just as he had guessed; even with meticulous preparation, these brave players charging into the temple still suffered heavy casualties.
While they were locked in a fierce battle with the Slime King, many refused to accept defeat, even sacrificing their own gear for a desperate last stand, and the result was, naturally, self-evident.

A single failure sent an entire team back to the day the server launched.
Daring to stake all their assets on an unknown battle, hoping the drops would be rich enough to fill the void of their investment—to put it nicely, they had the courage to challenge everything fate threw at them.
To put it less nicely, they were just degenerate gamblers who got what they deserved.

Instead of going to Dandelion Street, the default trading spot for players, Jiang Heyi went to a corner of the Pilgrim's Plaza and began sending messages.

"Selling drops from the Underground Temple of the Purifiers area."

After sending a few messages, someone noticed him.

"Drops from the Purifier Temple? Those monsters on the surface?"
"Wait, look at his name."
"Holy crap, Cyber Potato! That's the ID of the Boundary of Reality's guild leader, right?"

The focus of the heated discussion had suddenly appeared, and players who had died and returned to Windpod City immediately crowded around.

Jiang Heyi, unhurried, placed the Soul Fragments and other dungeon drops into the trade window, letting every player inspect them, and set a deposit requirement to prevent bored players from causing trouble.

More than trading, most people simply hoped for a chance to strike up a conversation with the leader of such a high-profile guild.

[Tzeentch’s Office at Starry Skies]: "Guild Leader Cyber Potato, you seem to have closed the guild's application channel. May I ask why?"
"That question is worth one magic stone," Jiang Heyi said with a slight smile.

Tzeentch’s Office laughed and paid up readily.
"It seems the Boundary of Reality is very short on money nowadays."

Jiang Heyi didn't deny it. "Very, very short. So, as the guild leader, I have to come out and sell myself to feed the four hungry children waiting back at home."

A ripple of cheerful laughter erupted around them.

After the bit of humor, he answered the question: "The Boundary of Reality is a guild formed by people who already know each other in a small circle, so we are very cautious about recruiting."

"At this stage, the more members a guild has, the higher the benefits for each member. A small circle like yours might gradually fall behind because of this. Even so, you aren't willing to change?"

Jiang Heyi raised a finger, smiling in response.
Another magic stone arrived. He replied immediately: "Compared to benefits, we care more about whether we can have fun. As everyone knows, friends are the highest configuration needed for a game, and they are hard to buy with money."

[Tzeentch’s Office at Starry Skies] originally wanted to ask a third question, but upon opening their inventory panel, they suddenly looked embarrassed.
Their group of "Tzeentch Chosen" had also challenged the Underground Temple, analyzing the dungeon throughout the run, only to be crushed into balls one by one by the Frog-Headed Abomination...

"Can you ask a question for just one magic stone?"

A Tauren, clutching a magic stone, squeezed into Jiang Heyi's field of vision with an arrogant expression.

[Dark Lord]: "I'll give you 10, I just want you to answer one question."

Glancing at the guild Dark Lord belonged to, Jiang Heyi maintained his smile and spat out three words without hesitation.

"I refuse."

Dark Lord was the vice-leader of [Dream Dominator], currently the most notorious guild in the *Proof of the Stars* community.
Some people act the same way in reality as they do in the virtual world—a textbook example of consistency.
Not long ago, members of Dream Dominator had clashed with Jiang Heyi. Combining that with the things he had done in the community and the game, and looking at his feigned generosity that masked a knife in his smile, Jiang Heyi only felt nauseated.

"If you think 10 isn't enough, I'm willing to offer 20 pieces of Purple-tier material," Dark Lord raised the stakes again. "These materials are enough to exchange for over 60 magic stones. How about now?"

"I still refuse."

"Why?" He looked at the Tzeentch representative. "His magic stone is money, but mine isn't?"

"I just have no interest in trading with someone who runs into a game to throw their weight around and bully the weak," Jiang Heyi sneered. "I heard that after losing to the [Barrel Water Shinto] guild, you went to the conflict zones outside Windpod City to snipe newbies, and even lured players into the conflict zones."
"Trading with someone like you, I'm afraid the community will gossip about us tomorrow."

Jiang Heyi was actually a person who avoided trouble; he was too lazy to get into conflicts while gaming.
But considering that the game was only on its 11th day and people were already using game rules to wantonly bully ignorant, ordinary players, as someone with a bit of fame, he had a responsibility to say something.
For instance, by completely painting the other party as a villain.

The atmosphere suddenly ignited.
The leader of the Boundary of Reality, who had become famous across the entire *Starry Skies* gaming circle in just one day, was not subtle at all. The atmosphere on the scene became tense, with swords drawn.