Is the closed beta test of King of Loque over? The official release is here!

......

Mo Fan walked through the bustling tribal streets and went straight to Elder Mu Yuan's familiar medicine-making hut.

The room was still filled with a rich, mixed aroma of herbs. Elder Mu Yuan was sitting on a stone bench, resting with his eyes closed. Hearing footsteps, he slowly opened his eyes.

"Mo Fan?" Elder Mu Yuan was somewhat surprised. "Why did you come today? I remember you had a barbecue competition, didn't you?"

"I came here for the barbecue competition," Mo Fan said bluntly. "I found that the only seasoning provided is salt, which is too monotonous. I want to get more seasonings."

Upon hearing this, Elder Mu Yuan's cloudy eyes flashed with a hint of confusion: "You mean... you want to use the medicinal herbs here to concoct a seasoning?"

Mo Fan nodded, his tone certain: "That's right."

Mu Yuan's brows furrowed instantly, and his voice deepened: "Mo Fan, this is nonsense! Your talent in pharmaceuticals is unparalleled, and you shouldn't waste it on these trivial matters! Using pharmaceutical knowledge to make seasonings? What a joke!"

In his view, this was tantamount to using gold to build a wall, a waste of resources.

“Teacher Muyuan, I understand.” Mo Fan was not intimidated by the elder’s imposing aura. He met the elder’s gaze and calmly asked, “But have you ever thought about why medicine-making techniques cannot be applied to daily life? If we can use the most basic pharmacology to improve everyone’s diet, wouldn’t that also be a kind of pioneering work?”

One sentence silenced Elder Muyuan.

He devoted his life to the study of pharmacology, thinking only of how to save lives and how to concoct more powerful medicines. He never thought of bringing this profound technology down to the most ordinary dining table.

open up......

This word touched a long-dormant chord within him.

After a long while, Elder Mu Yuan sighed, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and he looked at Mo Fan with a complicated expression: "You brat... fine, you can handle it yourself."

He waved his hand, with a hint of helplessness and a touch of indulgence: "Use those basic medicinal herbs as you like. But don't use too much, especially the ones that have been aged for a long time."

"Thank you, Professor Muyuan." Mo Fan smiled.

Looking at the room full of pharmaceutical tools and various medicinal herbs.

Mo Fan took a deep breath, his eyes sparkling with excitement and joy.

"Everyone is thinking about the competition, the upcoming sacred tree ceremony, and making wishes at the Easter Egg Festival... but they've all overlooked the process. As for me, I've already obtained the most valuable thing."

Mo Fan's sudden reflection stemmed from a discovery he made the day before yesterday.

In his view, the value and significance of this harvest far exceeded the wishes made during the subsequent sacred tree sacrifice.

Just two days ago, after he successfully assisted Elder Mu Yuan in refining several potions specifically for Pandonog, a new notification popped up on his personal panel.

[Ding! You have mastered the life skill: Medicine Making (Beginner)]

That's right, it's the art of pharmaceutical manufacturing.

With a thought, Mo Fan saw a semi-transparent panel unfold before his eyes, visible only to him.

[Pharmaceutical Making (Beginner): You can identify and perform basic processing of most basic medicinal materials, and attempt to formulate and prepare medicines based on their known properties.]

This description seems unremarkable.

But in Mo Fan's eyes, behind these words lies a huge gold mine that has yet to be discovered!

Chapter 221 Colleagues are Enemies

Pharmaceutical engineering!

what does this mean?

This means that as long as he continues to improve his proficiency in this skill and finds suitable recipes and materials, in the future, he may be able to personally create the hard currency of the Rock Kingdom world—HP potions and PP potions!

It's important to understand that, currently, all players believe that these two items can only be obtained through extremely limited channels; they are strategic consumables, with a price but no market.

If... if he could master the method of mass production...

That would be an absolute monopoly!

It's even enough for one person to leverage the entire player base's economic system!

Mo Fan took a deep breath, shook his head, and dismissed these long-term thoughts. One must eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time. Thinking about these things now is too early. The most urgent task is to use the medicinal herbs at hand to concoct a secret seasoning, or a special sauce, that can deliver a devastating blow in this barbecue competition!

His gaze swept over the rows of wooden racks in the corner of the cabin where herbs were drying.

With the blessing of [Pharmacy Technique (Beginner)], or rather, the result of his learning from Elder Mu Yuan during this period, Mo Fan can now identify and utilize many medicinal herbs without using magic to sense them.

Mo Fan walked to a wooden basket at the bottom and picked up a plant with slender stems and leaves and tiny granular seeds on its surface.

He leaned closer and took a sniff.

A faint, slightly spicy and woody aroma wafted into my nostrils.

"This thing... is practically another world version of cumin."

Mo Fan certainly wouldn't start from scratch trying to select something from a large number of medicinal herbs that could be used as barbecue seasoning.

During this period, he had come to know many medicinal herbs, some of which he already recognized. This time, he was simply here to verify them.

According to the knowledge imparted by Elder Muyuan, this plant is called "Xinxing Grass". It is usually used to dispel cold, is non-toxic, and emits a more intense fragrance when roasted at high temperatures.

It's perfect for making the main flavor of barbecue seasoning.

Then he turned around, his gaze settling on a type of red berry. This berry was called the "Blazing Fruit".

This fruit, when bitten into, produces a burning sensation that stimulates the taste buds, making it a perfect alternative to chili peppers.

"And there are sour vines, and specks of hemp..."

"With these ingredients, making suitable seasonings and sauces shouldn't be a problem!"

So, Mo Fan then devoted his energy to it.

......

the other side.

As the charcoal temperature stabilized, the unique aroma of roasted meat gradually filled the air at all three teams' barbecue stalls.

The aroma, like an invisible hook, intertwined and permeated the air above the market, quickly attracting the first batch of Pandonog residents whose mouths were craving the scent.

Most of them were tribal members who had finished their morning work, dressed in simple animal skin or linen clothes, with a simple curiosity on their faces.

Upon seeing the potential customer base, all three teams perked up almost simultaneously.

"Come and have some barbecue here! Our barbecue is delicious and inexpensive, it's great value for money!"

Murong Jiao was the first to call out, her clear voice ringing out loudly in the market, her yellow twin ponytails swaying as she tiptoed and peered around.

She nudged Fang Xu, who was struggling with a bunch of mushrooms next to her, and said, "Fang Xu, hurry up and shout too!"

"Oh!" Fang Xu exclaimed as if waking from a dream, quickly raising his voice, though his tone was a little weak, "Delicious...barbecue..."

Meanwhile, on Song Chen's side, the team member he had designated as "customer receptionist" also began his work. His voice was steady, and his words were polite, as if he were promoting some high-end product: "Dear residents, you are welcome to come and try our food at our Shizu stall. We pay attention to the combination of meat and vegetables and nutritional balance in our ingredients."

These words left the natives looking at each other, somewhat puzzled.

In this regard, the side with the greatest advantage is undoubtedly Niu Kuang's side.

"Dear fellow villagers! Don't miss this opportunity!"

Niu Kuang's raspy voice boomed like a thunderclap across the market, "Crazy Niu's Secret Recipe Roasted Meat! Huge portions, all you can eat! You'll be drooling with satisfaction! Come on, try it before you buy!"

Behind him, Tie Dan was fanning himself wildly with a huge banana leaf, as if he were on steroids, turning the aroma of the meat on their grill into a "fragrance bomb" that was precisely aimed at the crowd.

Er Mao remained half-dead, expressionlessly flipping the fist-sized, glistening pieces of meat on the grill.

It must be said that Niu Kuang and his gang's simple, crude, and江湖-like style has a fatal attraction for these simple and honest natives.

Soon, seven or eight locals, drawn by the aroma and atmosphere, gathered around his stall.

"How much are these?" a rather burly-looking native asked in a deep voice, pointing to the sizzling meat skewers on the grill.

Upon hearing this, Niu Kuang's smile froze.

They were so focused on how to bake and how to hawk their wares that they forgot the most important aspect: pricing.

Most importantly, they had no idea about these residents' spending power, let alone what they used to make transactions.

Just as Niu Kuang was about to unleash his roguish nature by saying "let's be friends first," Er Mao, who had been silent all along, suddenly raised his head.

He slightly lifted his droopy eyelids, looked at the native who had asked the question, and asked in a calm voice, "What do you use to trade?"

The native scratched his head and honestly replied, "The chieftains said that for today's occasion, we will use points."

"Points?" A knowing glint flashed in Er Mao's eyes.

“Yes, those are the points the tribal chiefs reward us for our work,” another native added. “But we also have to use our points to exchange for other things, so each person probably doesn’t have much to spend, maybe thirty or forty points at most.”

Three or forty points.

This number gave everyone in the three teams who were eavesdropping a clear picture of the situation.

Er Mao didn't even blink twice before saying, "Meat skewers are three points each. Vegetable skewers are one point each. Skewers with both meat and vegetables are also three points."

He paused, then added, "Of course, this is temporary. We may adjust prices later based on the new product categories."

“That’s right!” Niu Kuang immediately puffed out his chest, with an expression that said, “This is the price I’ve carefully considered and decided on.”

The price is neither too high nor too low, just about one-tenth of what an average resident can afford. It's affordable without being too cheap and making the product seem cheap.

"Okay! Then give me one of each to try!"

"I want the one with only meat!"

"I'll have something vegetarian to tide me over first..."

Niu Kuang's stall opened in a lively and bustling manner.

Seeing a customer come to him, Niu Kuang was overjoyed, but he still secretly sidled up to Er Mao and asked in a low voice, "Er Mao, is your price reasonable? Isn't it too cheap?"

Chapter 222 Package

He glanced at the mountain of ingredients piled up on his stall.

All three teams start with identical supplies. This means that cost control is crucial in this competition. If prices are set too low, even if they sell out all their items first, their final score might not be the highest.

"Don't worry, Brother Niu." Er Mao lazily flipped the skewers, not even lifting his eyelids. "The total amount of ingredients is fixed, so there's no point in a price war. This price is a reasonable one, calculated based on their own reported purchasing power."

"As expected of you, Er Mao!" Niu Kuang slapped his thigh, completely relieved, and turned around to shout even louder.

The market gradually became more crowded.