Lord of the Myriad Worlds

Chapter 99: One-Star Wooden Spear

After absorbing all this information, Li Wei finally had a basic understanding of the All-Heavens Lord Alliance as an organization.

He was surprised that becoming a Warrior didn't come with a corresponding profession card — you had to reach Master-level first. Was that a restriction?

Or did you have to forge your own path through countless battles and endless training?

Did this path include mages? Cultivators? Mechanical ascension?

Overall, the All-Heavens Lord Alliance seemed to lean heavily toward management, development, and gentle farming. No wonder they called their approach "civilization plunder mode."

Or perhaps the Alliance was simply weak, and this was their way of clinging to survival?

Ha!

But however weak, it had pulled him from the shadow of death. It had given him a freer, more expansive world.

So this was fine by him.

Honestly, while Li Wei had once yearned deeply for the fire and blood of combat, the devastating illness had extinguished the blazing ambitions of his youth.He trained and he fought — for self-preservation. Beyond that, he preferred the lifestyle professions.

"Now I'm essentially ready. I should depart tomorrow. Wait, no — I still need to prepare a few things."

After dinner, while the others snored, Li Wei headed straight to the warehouse and unceremoniously claimed the two-star leather armor. Twelve bonus Defense points with a cumbrance rating of only 1 — perfect as his starting gear.

It was worth noting that from the previous Thomas and Margaret to all seven of these veteran players, everyone wore one-star quality leather armor.

Now Li Wei had, in this one respect at least, barely caught up — and even pulled slightly ahead.

'Hmm, there's an interesting detail to consider. It seems that starred equipment produced within a mission world has remarkably low base costs. A two-star leather armor's cost is only five gold coins, and a two-star composite bow is the same.'

'But why aren't these veteran players wearing two-star armor? Why was that witch Margaret so desperate to bid on the two-star composite bow? Logically, having completed multiple worlds, they should have plenty of standard gold coins.'

'So there's only one explanation: equipment within a mission world can be bought at cost, or won through competitive bidding at very low prices. But once carried out of the mission world, you'd be cheating yourself if the price didn't triple or quintuple.'

'If that conclusion holds, then something becomes very clear: rookie mission worlds are critically important. A strong performance means you might just assemble a full graduation loadout.'

'So the previous Mixi, Margaret, even Thomas — none of them were likely high-evaluation players. And these seven supposedly impressive veterans might not be the type who dominated their rookie missions, controlled everything, scored near-perfect or actually perfect marks. They weren't those legendary top-tier Rookie Kings.'

Li Wei's mind turned to Fila 1.0, who'd been talked into an early settlement. Penny 1.0, who'd been lured into settling. Leon 1.0, who'd been forcibly settled.

What were they, really? They were underperforming employees with insufficient potential, eliminated during their probation period!

As for Li Wei himself — Night Owl had said he ranked upper-middle among the rookies.

That meant this cycle definitely had a Rookie King, a second place, a third place. Could he even make fourth?

Doubtful!

Also, this cycle apparently had ten rookie mission zones, right? Were they all in this same world? Probably, since only identical or similar starting conditions and backgrounds would allow for fair comparison.

The question was whether these rookie missions would eventually intersect. Would there be competition?

His group represented the Kakh family, a lineage spanning four or five hundred years. Were there other families out there with centuries — even millennia — of history?

Hard to say.

Next, Li Wei used two gold coins' worth of his allocation to claim all eighteen ash wood poles from the warehouse. That left him with a budget of only three gold coins.

Ash wood poles could be found in the surrounding mountain forests with careful searching, but freshly cut ones couldn't be used immediately — they needed time to cure.

These eighteen had been cut by the previous Penny last autumn. That was over half a year of curing — ready to use.

Li Wei selected five from the lot.

Two were suitable for whittling into throwing spears. The remaining three could be segmented into ten standard arrow shafts.

That's right — only ten. Possibly fewer.

Thinking about it, Li Wei truly owed a debt of gratitude to the previous versions of Fila and Penny.

Fila had taught him extensive knowledge about crafting arrows.

And Penny — after harvesting these ash poles last autumn — had given them initial processing: cutting them to standard lengths, steaming them, pressing them flat under stones, and leaving them to cure until now.

So all Li Wei needed to do was the finishing work.

The night was deep and still. Only the hearth fire crackled.

It was late April bleeding into early May. Li Wei's first anniversary in this world was approaching.

Daytime temperatures had stabilized above ten degrees, occasionally breaking past twenty. Nighttime temperatures held above five. It was a beautiful season.

The mountains and forests had donned their emerald veils once more, leaving only a distant cap of white on the far snow-capped mountains.

The two acres of winter wheat were thriving. The two recently planted acres were on the verge of sprouting.

This world — it truly made Li Wei feel attached. At peace.

Like the ash pole in his hands, now cut to 150 centimeters, there was an inexplicable sense of intimate familiarity.

Perhaps the Woodcutter Card's influence. But more than that, it was nine-plus months of whittling a wooden spear every single day that had built this instinctive feel.

Now, under the profession card's effect, that feel was amplified. Elevated.

Li Wei still didn't understand what it meant to "sense the breath of the wood." But he truly didn't fixate on it.

Because for him, this quiet night, this warm fire, this self-sufficient life, this healthy body — that was the greatest happiness. The greatest joy and pleasure.

So naturally, whittling spears and arrow shafts was also a rare pleasure. A form of happiness.

Like an angler at the water's edge.

Blade rose. Blade fell. Wood shavings drifted down — thin as a cicada's wing, silent as snow.

In this moment, Li Wei could feel it himself. Something was different. Profoundly different.

Partly it was the masterful technique born from months of relentless practice.

Partly it was the Woodcutter Card's talent bonus, granting his dagger an extra 10% damage against wood.

And finally, his Strength had reached 15.

Numerically, that was equivalent to about one and a half adult men. But with everything stacking together, the actual effect far exceeded that sum.

Greater strength meant finer control. That feeling of effortless power — it was crystal clear, supremely composed.

Beyond the angle of each cut, his left hand, gripping the ash pole, seemed to sense exactly where the center of gravity should be. In this moment, even his Two-Star Hunter Card joined in.

He wasn't in a throwing stance, yet he instinctively understood the angle, the streamlined form this unfinished pole would need to be hurled with — cleaving the air, arcing across the sky, locking onto a target in a single instant, completing a headshot kill.

It was genuinely magnificent.

Under the spell of this feeling, Li Wei entered a state of divine inspiration — each cut guided as if by a higher power, creativity bursting from the earth itself.

When the whittling was complete in one fluid motion, Li Wei realized he was drenched in sweat. His Stamina, which had been at a full 200, had been drained by a full 150 points.

And this was Level 1 Awakened Stamina.

More than that, he actually felt fatigued. His brain felt like he'd just bludgeoned through a college-entrance-exam math paper — a bit numb, thoughts rusted, sluggish for several seconds before returning to normal.

But then — a line of text with a faint golden glow materialized before his eyes.

[You have successfully crafted a one-star quality wooden spear. Since there is currently no Head of Household and no relevant main task, this spear is your personal property. Furthermore, because its quality is one-star, it may be carried out of this world when the mission ends. Alternatively, you may donate it to the family treasury for 10 Family Contribution Points.]

[Name: A finely crafted wooden spear. An iron spearhead cannot be attached, as it would destroy the weapon's center of gravity and overall balance.]

[Material: Ash wood]

[Quality: One-Star]

[Attributes: Accuracy +5%, Throwing speed +5%, Range +5%]

[Miscellaneous: Requires regular careful maintenance, including anti-corrosion and moisture-proofing treatments, or coating with other materials to add a wear-resistant layer for increased hardness and damage.]

[Description: This is a finely crafted but not fully processed balanced wooden spear. By forgoing a steel spearhead, it sacrifices armor-piercing damage in exchange for more precise and faster throwing performance. However, if used for melee auto-attacks, it performs no differently from an ordinary wooden spear.]

—

'Not bad at all!'

Still slightly lightheaded, Li Wei chuckled. He'd made it — he could actually produce one-star quality equipment now. Even if it was just a wooden spear.

The cost of crafting was steep, though — as if every drop of his inspiration had been drained dry.

Right now, all he wanted was to collapse and sleep. He had zero desire to keep whittling, let alone do his daily archery training.

By this measure, crafting starred equipment was far from easy.

It had the feel of the old saying: "Great writings are natural — captured by a skilled hand only by chance."

With these thoughts, Li Wei managed to tidy up — sweeping the wood shavings into the hearth, setting the spear carefully aside — before he could hold out no longer and fell straight into the deepest sleep. He was utterly exhausted.