Chapter 23: The Great Harvest

[Player discovers instance core, destruction can condense part of the instance's essence into a special instance essence loot box, while the instance quality will drop one tier, destroy it? Yes/No?]

Upon stepping into the Stone Hall, Zi Liyuan immediately received a system prompt.

"Yes!"

Why keep it if not to destroy it? Waiting for the instance to merge with reality, spawning a monster nest that brings calamity to humanity?

With a "crack" sound, the blood-red crystal's surface quickly became covered with spiderweb-like cracks, and in the next moment, shattered into countless blood-colored fragments, then turned into a red mist.

As Zi Liyuan concentrated and stayed on guard, the red mist suddenly gathered and contracted, then transformed into a half-person-tall blood-colored loot box, quietly floating at the center of the Stone Hall.

[Special instance essence loot box generated, bound to the retriever—Zi Liyuan.]

['Bloodthirsty Goblin Forest' instance downgrade from Level 30→Level 20, instance quality degradation, from Heroic→Rare.]

[Player Zi Liyuan obtains control over Level 20 instance 'Bloodthirsty Goblin Forest', this authority is transferable, please explore on your own.]

[Level 30 'Bloodthirsty Goblin Forest' instance collapse begins, please leave the instance within 30 seconds, or else you may fall into a temporal-spatial turbulence.]

Hearing the system's countdown, Zi Liyuan stored the loot box in his Spatial Backpack and then exited the instance space immediately.

Temporal-spatial turbulence, that thing that arises when a wild instance shatters and the world rules erase the instance, could result in a high likelihood of one's disappearance if caught within it.

Zi Liyuan had no desire to explore it personally. He was still enjoying the prime of his life, hadn't yet fully appreciated the wonders of the world, had not come to understand the depth of a lolita's fragrance, nor experienced the snug care of a knowing older sister. How could he die young?

The mine remained dark, with only the instance portal emitting wisps of green phosphorescence, while the instance itself became inaccessible.

At the same time, detailed information about the Level 20 'Bloodthirsty Goblin Forest' instance appeared in Zi Liyuan's mind.

Compared to the uncertainty of a wild instance, the downgraded 'Bloodthirsty Goblin Forest' had become more like a regular instance, and the monsters within it had greatly changed in appearance.

During its wild status, the weakest monsters in the instance were of the boss template, but now all the minor monsters have become elite, team-leader tier monsters have become rare, and as for the bosses, there are still four, but their quality has also dropped a tier, turning them into rare bosses.

Furthermore, the instance scenery has changed, divided into four parts.

The outer forest is guarded by a rare Goblin Warrior boss;

The inner forest is guarded by a rare Goblin Wizard boss;

The Goblin Tribe is split into two areas, with the front half being overseen by a rare Goblin Chieftain boss;

The rear area is presided over by a rare Goblin Priest boss within the Stone Hall.

The instance is vast; the first three bosses can be avoided and by defeating the Goblin Priest, one can complete the run.

But after understanding the details of this instance, Zi Liyuan didn't believe any team would skip the first three bosses to head straight for the end.

Because these four bosses would also drop set items!

Warrior Chieftain's set, Swordsman's Brave set, Flame Mage's set, Priest's set; even if the quality dropped from silver heroic to blue rare, they still remained extremely valuable sets!

This would enable those at Level 20 undergoing a class quest to choose a higher difficulty, thus increasing their career potential.

Even for those who had taken their first class, this set could be used up until Level 40, until the second class change.

Therefore, this instance was of extreme value!

Zi Liyuan had originally planned to trade this instance to White Crane Academy in exchange for some advanced resources, but now, without the slightest hesitation, he dismissed the thought.

Monopolizing this dungeon meant a steady output of rare suit sets, whether for selling them or nurturing subordinates, it was an exceptional resource.

The major clans might not care, but what about the common professional players?

This could be their chance to rise up!

"Phew, I remember the low-level dungeon seal scrolls are 100 million Dragon Coins each, available at the official Empire auction house."

Zi Liyuan's net worth was only a few million on the surface, but he had hidden tens of millions more. It wasn't that he didn't want to accumulate more, but he was afraid of drawing unwanted attention.

Before, he was just an ordinary person. It would have been far too easy for the professionals to kill him, since the world, after all, still operated on the principle of the survival of the fittest.

"Just hit Level 20, need to go back and do the class evolution task, and by the way, deal with the acquired materials and equipment, then buy a low-level dungeon seal scroll."

Not to mention how much the various materials, equipment, and props could sell for, just one set of the Silver Hero suits alone was worth no less than 50 million Dragon Coins.

Of course, unless necessary, Zi Liyuan wouldn't sell the remaining 3 sets of Silver Hero suits.

"Back to the city!"

With the Skeleton Army in tow, Zi Liyuan swiftly left the mines, striding unchallenged through the caverns.

At this moment, the Goblin Tribe was once again lively, the goblin minions had already respawned, but the bosses hadn't reached their respawn time yet.

The skeletons cut through the Goblin Tribe as easily as chopping vegetables, swiftly descending the mountain under Zi Liyuan's lead, then moving through Grey Wolf Hollow towards the new player's monster zone.

Along the way, they could occasionally see some professional players, but everyone discreetly avoided the impressive trail of bones.

Inwardly, they cursed that this show-off already had a hidden profession, yet still competed with them, ordinary players, for monsters. Truly shameless!

Wherever the Skeleton Army passed, they conveniently sliced up the wild monsters. After all, even the smallest mosquito was still meat; amassing an experience pool wasn't excessive, right?

Back in the city, processing the large amount of materials, miscellaneous equipment, and props took Zi Liyuan three hours. However, thinking of the 180 million Dragon Coins quietly lying in his bank card, he felt a burst of exhilaration.

No wonder so many people scrambled to pioneer the wild dungeons after they appeared; the loot inside was truly enormous!

Add to that Zi Liyuan's excellent luck with Lady Fortune, his gains were several times that of the average pioneering teams.

Eight o'clock in the evening, the Class Evolution Hall.

The brightly lit Class Evolution Hall had few people.

The new batch of players needed for class evolution were mostly still leveling up, so the hall was quite empty.

But that perfectly spared Zi Liyuan the wait in a queue, so he went straight to the nearest counter.

"Beautiful lady, I want to accept the class evolution task."

"Certainly, please fill in this form. Here's the list of second evolution tasks and the required fees."

Fan Yuer at the counter smiled slightly, handing over an application form and placing a list of tasks on the countertop with her other hand.

"Umm, beauty, it's not for the second evolution, I'm accepting the first evolution tasks."

"Ah? First evolution? So soon? You reached Level 20 just on the second day of class evolution?"

Fan Yuer, who had been indifferent at first, blinked her large eyes in disbelief, staring at Zi Liyuan's handsome face.

In the past years, the Class Evolution Hall would be bustling for a while after the Awakening Day, but it was usually from the third day that the genius players with common professions would rush to Level 20 and come to the hall for the first evolution tasks.