IRM Chapter 57

Chloe announced: “Potion trial begins, countdown, five minutes.”

The countdown had already started, an invisible clock ticking away. Before Ji Chi lay eighteen species of highly venomous marine creatures, writhing viscously and slimily in Chloe’s palm.

Ji Chi didn’t rush to release his fireball; he was thinking.

With a five-minute time limit to craft five potions, in the worst-case scenario, he would need to repeat the complete potion-making process five times.

Even if he used the skill panel for quick synthesis directly, each [Legendary] potion would still require a minute and a half.

Moreover, this potion wasn’t like the [Mermaid Potion] he had crafted before, which had a recipe and samples. This time, he had to rely entirely on himself.

Ji Chi used a glass rod to separate the venomous creatures one by one for careful examination, while making conversation with Chloe. “This is so difficult. Isn’t this too unfair for me?”

Chloe watched him for a long while, then shook its head. “Chloe’s calculations won’t be wrong. You have a 50% chance of passing the trial, a 40% chance of delayed completion, a 9% chance of not meeting standards, and 1%… Chloe is recalculating… You cannot possibly abandon the trial.”

Hearing the last sentence, Ji Chi smiled slightly. “Mm, I trust you.”

He set down the long glass rod, removed several legendary equipment pieces from his body one by one, and directly reached out to touch those highly toxic creatures, saying, “I will pass the trial, preferably getting to meet your master.”

A black jellyfish’s tentacle swept across his pale fingertip, directly corroding it to reveal white bone. Ji Chi’s expression remained unchanged despite the intense pain, and he even had the mood to lift his fingertip to observe the toxin’s reaction process. “Then ask Him why, when they’re from the same assembly line, He can’t allocate some funding to Yuan Yuan?”

Yuan Yuan jumped out upon hearing its name, the blue glowing cube darting around before his eyes: [Yuan Yuan is here~ Is there anything I can help you with?]

Ji Chi said, “Look, isn’t it particularly stupid?”

[Yuan Yuan doesn’t understand what you’re…]

Ji Chi interrupted. “Enough, shut up.”

[Okay then, please call Yuan Yuan promptly if needed~]

During their conversation, nearly a minute had passed, and Ji Chi had personally tested all the venomous creatures. His hands were now pitted and scarred, with residual toxins still reacting on them.

Chloe had remained silent since Yuan Yuan appeared, its face made of fixed materials making its expression unreadable. After announcing the one-minute reminder, it violated the rules again and said, “Chloe seems to have seen it before, but Chloe has forgotten.”

Ji Chi finally ignited his fireball. “It’s okay, all people forget things.”

Chloe asked in confusion, “Is Chloe a person? Everyone says Chloe is a monster.”

Ji Chi’s movements paused for a moment, then he looked up seriously. “If their words make you sad, you can choose not to be a monster.”

Chloe pondered Ji Chi’s words for a long time. “Chloe seems to understand. Chloe… I want to be a human like you.”

Ji Chi smiled without saying anything, lowering his eyes to continue crafting.

Chloe’s massive head didn’t move, but its gaze kept following Ji Chi’s hand movements. It suddenly said, “Chloe violated the rules. Trial time extended by two minutes.”

When a proctor developed personal feelings, bending the rules a little wasn’t unusual.

Ji Chi was amused and shook his head. “No need, perhaps I can even finish early.”

His complexion was somewhat grayish-pale due to poisoning and blood loss. Over a dozen stacked debuffs continuously drained Ji Chi’s health. If it were any other person, they would have already collapsed in agony.

But Ji Chi’s thoughts became clearer and clearer amid the pain and weakness—after all, this was the body he was accustomed to.

The most difficult part of this potion was reversing and combining the reactions of eighteen different toxins, which required a potion master to have extraordinary sensitivity and intuition regarding materials.

However, this was precisely Ji Chi’s forte. He was even grateful this was in another world; otherwise, the trial awaiting him would surely be a pile of insanely complex formulas and principles named after people.

The eighteen venomous creatures gradually melted, and under proper temperature control, not a drop was wasted, forming a pool of liquid that emitted black vapor and a terrible odor.

Ji Chi faced them with an unchanged expression, the glass rod stirring smoothly and meticulously, slowly guiding the sequence of reactions.

Half the time had passed, and the pile of blackish liquid finally showed change, turning pure white from the center and gradually spreading toward the edges.

With only a minute and a half left, large patches of white occupied the entire open-mouth bottle.

With only half a minute remaining, the white had surprisingly all turned into clear, transparent liquid, like the purest handful of seawater from the center of the Weiss Sea.

The foul stench had completely dissipated, leaving only an indescribable fragrance—somewhat like the scent of tender buds bursting forth from early spring branches, yet also like the aroma of seeds breaking open beneath thick snow…

Perhaps that was the scent of life itself.

Time finally reached its end as Ji Chi poured the last drops of liquid into empty potion bottles.

The transparent liquid contained in transparent bottles made them look like brilliant diamonds, radiating captivating brilliance.

The palm-sized potion bottles appeared smaller than sesame seeds in Chloe’s eyes. It bent down, carefully scanning them several times, then stated emotionlessly, “Trial complete. Time: qualified. Quality: qualified. Quantity… qualified.”

Its gaze lingered on the extra half-bottle of potion—this was the first time it had seen someone complete a god’s trial with such ease.

“Effect…” Chloe shifted its gaze toward Bard, remembering that this person had volunteered to test earlier.

Bard stepped forward, calmly picked up one of the potion bottles, and observed it carefully in his hands. “So someone needs to kill me first, right?”

Chloe began: “Yes, please test subject…”

It stopped mid-sentence. At this moment, many records flashed through its mind—perhaps they could be called memories—containing scenes of human companions killing each other, as well as those who willingly died for others.

Chloe had never understood what kind of emotion this was, but suddenly it didn’t want to follow the instructions anymore. It said, “Chloe will kill the test subject’s companion. Please administer aid promptly.”

As soon as it finished speaking, while Bard looked up in surprise, Chloe swiftly pierced its sharp fingertip into Bard’s heart with lightning speed, the entire process happening in the blink of an eye.

Before Bard could feel intense pain, his vision gradually darkened, his fingers lost strength, and the diamond-like potion slipped away.

Ji Chi bent down to catch it, supporting Bard’s limp corpse. His face seemed to retain a trace of relief as he lifted his hand to feed the potion into Bard’s mouth while softly expressing gratitude, “Thank you, Chloe.”

Chloe was still contemplating why it had repeatedly violated the rules, finally saying honestly, “Chloe doesn’t know why it did this, but Chloe didn’t want to kill a companion.”

When instruments absorbed enough emotions, they too could experience the weight of feelings.

Watching the last drop of potion flow into Bard’s mouth, Ji Chi set down the bottle. “Congratulations, you’ve become a better human than most people.”

Chloe said nothing, but red light flashed happily in its dark eye sockets.

[Life Potion]

Quality: [Legendary]

Effect: [Revive creatures that died within one minute and restore all their health]

When Bard slowly opened his eyes, he hadn’t yet realized what had happened. He touched the blood traces remaining on his chest, still somewhat confused. “Has it been verified already?”

Chloe didn’t answer him, only continued from before: “Effect qualified. Congratulations, test subject. Potion trial passed.”

After hearing this, Ji Chi didn’t leave but remained standing before Chloe, raising his voice, “Tang, help me start the next trial.”

Tang turned around and walked toward the next stone platform without hesitation. “Summon and sacrifice blood, loyal servants will simultaneously obey commands.”

Only after finishing the recitation did Tang come to his senses, momentarily forgetting to pursue the matter of being bewitched. He turned back with some concern in his voice. “Aren’t you going to rest a bit?”

Ji Chi tilted his head back to drink the extra half-bottle of potion in his hand, watching his health—reduced to half by poisoning—return to full, then said, “No, let’s get everything done quickly.”

Bard didn’t even know what Ji Chi meant by “everything,” still anxiously tugging at Tang. “How could you just recite it! Why would he trial summoner!”

Tang tilted his head. “Didn’t I tell you? He’s also an intermediate summoner.”

Bard stared at him suspiciously. “How is that possible! Two professions are already ridiculous enough…”

Tang interrupted his words with a reminder. “You said the same thing last time.”

Bard instantly fell silent, touching his face and muttering, “Then watch this—Chloe definitely won’t let him trial…”

The next second, Chloe delivered another resounding slap to Bard’s face, saying to Ji Chi, “Trial initiated. Current trial profession: summoner.”

Like the previous time, Chloe didn’t immediately begin the trial but continued, “Please complete summoning within 30 minutes and simultaneously shatter 150 crystals in the field.”

As Chloe spoke, it directly detached its belly, tilting the part containing storage space and pouring out countless bubbles.

These were the crystals Chloe mentioned—seemingly made from some kind of mineral from the ocean, very bubble-like. The crystals had hollow centers with shells that looked thin and brittle, as if they could break with a pinch.

150 bubbles filled the open space in front of the temple, quite magnificent in the sunlight’s reflection.

“150! And simultaneously!” Bard was stunned. “Even if a larger slime could crush ten at once, that would still require summoning 15! What summoner could achieve this level!”

Ji Chi said nothing, just continued waiting. He knew there must be additional conditions because with just the current trial content, he could immediately think of five or six ways to easily complete it.

Sure enough, Chloe added just a tiny bit more conditions. “Each summoned creature can only shatter one crystal simultaneously. From now on, the summoner cannot use any potions.”

After hearing this, Bard’s mouth hung open, completely stunned. “Let’s go, let’s go back. This isn’t a task any human could complete…”

Ji Chi’s brow finally furrowed. These conditions had completely cut off all his escape routes, forcing him to gamble with his health for summoning.

Although through half a year of dedicated training, he had increased his maximum health from 10,000 to 10,500, as a level 99 player, he could only summon creatures with a minimum health cost of 100.

This meant that without health recovery potions, Ji Chi could summon at most 104 creatures. One more and his health would hit zero.

However, even so, 104 was still far from 150.

Ji Chi pondered for a long time—he had only one most risky method left.

He asked Chloe, “Must it be exactly thirty minutes, not a second more or less?”

Chloe considered for a moment, then compromised, “Considering the summoner’s special nature, an additional 30 seconds of summoning time is granted.”

“30 seconds!” Bard was again enraged by this condition, the dwarf’s explosive temperament making him easily startled and furious. “What can that accomplish!”

Ji Chi, however, breathed a sigh of relief and curved his lips. “Thank you, that’s enough. I hope I don’t encounter the worst-case scenario.”

He rummaged through his magic bag and finally pulled out a shining amulet—simple yet like a small sun radiating warm light.

Ji Chi properly hung the Light Amulet that Evan had given him around his neck. He didn’t know how much luck this would add, but he hoped that in only 3 attempts, he could draw the one he wanted from the 7 World Bosses.

Ji Chi extended his right hand. “Let’s begin.”

2625 points of maximum health flowed from his split palm, forming a massive and complex summoning circle before him. The moment the summoning circle lit up, the sky immediately darkened, and the sunlight that had been shining on them was blocked by an enormous shadow.

Bard and Tang gradually tilted their heads back. Suspended above the small island was the legendary king that wandered in the Lonely Swamp—the nine-headed Hydra.

Bard turned to ask Tang. “You call this an intermediate summoner?”

Tang also quietly touched his face, mumbling, “I don’t know, don’t ask me.”

The nine-headed Hydra, larger than the small island itself, appeared for less than a second before Ji Chi dismissed it. This wasn’t what he wanted.

With two chances remaining, Ji Chi had no time to sigh. [HP-2625]—another quarter of his maximum health vanished. This time, a majestic Snow Plains Wolf King appeared on the small island, just about to howl at the sky when Ji Chi recalled it again.

Bard turned to ask Tang again. “Did you see clearly?”

Tang nodded weakly. “I saw clearly, but I don’t want to see clearly…”

Ji Chi’s expression began to grow serious. Each time he summoned a World Boss, it consumed a quarter of his maximum health. This maximum would return when the summoned creature disappeared, but the lost health required potion replenishment.

He now had only one last chance.

Ji Chi took a deep breath and closed his eyes. At this moment, what he didn’t see was sunlight shining directly on his chest, making the already bright Light Amulet even more radiant.

Health: [2625/10500]

The summoning circle lit up for the third time, and an inconspicuous black figure walked out, hunched over and stiffly bowing to Ji Chi.

World Boss [Necromancer]

Level: [lv.90]

Skill: [Unlimited summoning of undead based on the number of undead remaining on the field.]

When Ji Chi opened his eyes and saw him, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This was the weakest of the seven World Bosses, but very annoying. His skill was to continuously summon undead, with the summoning quantity increasing based on the number of undead on the field.

The skill’s purpose was: if players focused on killing undead, they’d have no time to attack the Necromancer; if players focused on attacking the summoner, over time, the summoned undead could overwhelm the players.

Very frustrating!

But this was exactly what Ji Chi needed now.

He had 2625 health remaining. Ji Chi smiled helplessly. “Compared to the worst-case scenario, this isn’t much better…”

“Summon 26 undead,” Ji Chi said softly.

The next second, his health rapidly decreased to a pitiful 25 points. Ji Chi’s face was paper-white as he couldn’t help but sit on the ground, gasping little by little. He struggled to lift his face and smiled palely at the Necromancer. “It’s up to you now.”

The Necromancer stiffly nodded. The 26 undead directly triggered his maximum summoning rate, and he desperately summoned at a rate of four undead per minute. Stiff, pale corpses gradually filled the entire field.

Watching this spectacular scene, Ji Chi still had the mood to smile, recalling when he had previously farmed this boss out of boredom and nearly crashed an entire server region single-handedly.

Thirty minutes passed quickly, with 146 undead standing before the crystalline bubbles, motionless, awaiting commands.

With over twenty seconds left in the countdown, Chloe couldn’t help but lower its head to remind Ji Chi. “Time is running out, four crystals remain.”

Four crystals remained—just give the Necromancer a few more seconds, and he could gather 150 undead.

Seeing the trial that had progressed this far about to fail due to mere seconds, Ji Chi slowly supported himself up. His complexion now looked no better than the undead beside him.

A faint smile appeared on his face. “No, it’s just enough.”