Chapter Forty-Seven: Laying Plans in Advance

After briefly testing the remaining spells, Zhao Xu logged off directly. Not only were there no acquaintances around, but the church members were busy preparing for today’s grand ceremony and had no time for him. He was worried that his presence at the ceremony might cause some bizarre incident, attracting unwanted attention. He certainly didn’t want to become the main topic of the forum.

For now, his priority was to quietly build his fortune, at least the path he was treading felt solid under his feet.

“Xu, off so early today?” Zhang Qi had just returned from his afternoon classes and greeted Zhao Xu upon seeing him.

Zhao Xu nodded, “Qi, everything alright lately?”

It was only then that he noticed their other two roommates had also returned, and he greeted them as well.

Liu Hanqiang, from Shandong province, was the academic star of their dorm, and the only one who hadn’t played the game in their previous lives. Coming from a well-off family, with relatives all employed in state enterprises or as civil servants, Liu’s life was far more stable than Zhao Xu’s, whose family eked out a living running a struggling small business.

Since entering university, Liu had actively participated in student council work and planned to pursue graduate studies at their own university before heading down the civil servant path. From his usual comments, it seemed his family had already mapped out positions in various departments for him—everything was ready.

In their previous lives, Zhao Xu had been drawn into Arthur by Zhang Qi, but Liu Hanqiang held true to his own path. Among the three roommates, everyone believed that Liu, with his background and diligence, would have the most stable future.

No one could have foreseen that a seemingly frivolous game would later come to dominate countless destinies.

After crossing over, Liu Hanqiang, seeing his years of effort and ambition vanish, fell into a slump for quite some time. Eventually, he took up a non-combat role as an “Expert,” becoming a teacher, but unfortunately perished seven years later when the city fell during the Demon Sealing campaign.

The other roommate, Chen Sinan, became the most successful among them after crossing over. The last time Zhao Xu met him in their previous lives, Chen had already advanced and become a key figure in the Temple of the God of Justice.

“Xu, when are you going to teleport back?” Zhang Qi teased.

They all knew Zhao Xu had started out in a southern town in Arthur, a world apart from their own Winter Town.

In these days when players relied on their own legs to travel and the wilds were particularly dangerous, there was no chance Zhao Xu could reunite with them before reaching level three or five.

“When I have money,” Zhao Xu replied, still sitting on his bed, his hands scrolling through Arthur's forum.

“Xu, have you heard? Sinan is amazing lately,” Zhang Qi said, settling into his modified hanging chair and sipping an ice-cold cola.

“Isn’t Sacred Healing a level two paladin skill?” Zhao Xu, having just cast a healing spell himself, was sensitive to these things.

“Wow, Xu, your reaction is fast!” Zhang Qi was incredulous.

Chen Sinan gave Zhang Qi a push, telling him not to talk nonsense.

“Xu, Sinan is now the top pick for team-ups in our class—everyone’s waiting for him to reach level two so he can help them out,” Zhang Qi added.

Zhao Xu nodded. Even among priests, the number who officially graduated in Arthur after half a month was barely better than the mages. Gaining players’ genuine faith in the gods was already difficult, but earning divine recognition was even harder.

Priests who chose to follow a faction needed approval from the entire faction’s power, making such priests rare even in Arthur.

Spread across their school, player-priests were few and far between.

Druids, who could substitute as healers, mostly remained in the forests, resisting the destroyers and undergoing equally grueling training.

In this shortage of healers, even paladins, who had some healing ability, became the desperate go-to for players.

Paladins gained “Sacred Healing” at level two, allowing them to heal HP equal to their Charisma modifier multiplied by their class level.

It wasn’t much, but for players now, rather than waiting for priests to finish training, it was better to hope paladins reached level two soon.

Paladins in Arthur were a remarkable class, with extremely strict alignment requirements. While they worshipped the gods, their own convictions were even stricter.

In their previous lives, paladins were the most upright defenders of the faith—never lying, striking hard at evil without mercy.

Even the common folk in Arthur gave paladins a thumbs-up.

It was the only class in Arthur that couldn’t be played against one's true nature.

But as long as one’s beliefs and personality aligned, advancing as a paladin was quick.

“Don’t worry, once people have money and can afford wands of Rejuvenation, things will improve a lot,” Zhao Xu said.

“Rejuvenation? Wand?” Zhang Qi asked in surprise.

“Spend more time on the forum,” Zhao Xu retorted.

“Come on, man, it’s hard enough just logging in every day and struggling!”

Lesser Rejuvenation was already being mentioned on the forum—it was a level one divine spell, not on the standard priest list, and could only be obtained through special means.

Its sole effect was to grant players “Fast Healing 1,” restoring 1 HP per round for up to a dozen rounds.

While it couldn’t instantly restore full health, its healing exceeded the “Cure Light Wounds” spell Zhao Xu had used that day, making it the mainstream post-battle recovery method.

A wand with fifty charges of Lesser Rejuvenation cost 750 gold coins and would become a staple strategic item for guilds.

Even ordinary player teams would pool resources to buy one, even if they had a priest.

But right now, everyone was broke, with only a few coins to their name and no way to buy one.

“Zhang Qi, what’s happening with the class guild?” Zhao Xu asked. Chen Sinan was taciturn and rarely spoke with them, so Zhao Xu usually asked Zhang Qi.

“It’s a mess. Several warriors have already used up their resurrection stones and are registering new characters. Hardly any spellcasting classes have graduated, and mages—being so difficult and seemingly useless—are barely chosen,” Zhang Qi complained about Arthur’s harsh environment.

“What about the Grand Alliance?” Zhao Xu pressed.

Zhang Qi’s eyes widened, surprised, “Xu, how did you know? I’m a core member and only just got wind of it, but you’re even more informed than I am.”

Zhao Xu didn’t explain, continuing to scroll on his phone.

Of course, in his previous life, their university’s Grand Alliance had barely come together later on, and Zhao Xu had heard Zhang Qi complain countless times about its internal messes.

University students, with their high average quality and ample free time, were among the top-level players in Arthur.

After the mass crossing, even if their numbers weren’t the largest, the forces they formed became the backbone of Earth’s power in the new world.

As a mage, Zhao Xu could arrange well for his parents and relatives.

But people are social creatures—placing them in a floating city alone would be meaningless.

Thus, Zhao Xu needed a shadow representative to manage some guild forces for him, allowing him to lay out plans and intervene early in the future Earth power structure.