Chapter Eleven: Armor Breaker, Flame Burst!

"Damn it!"

Yu Yan cursed under her breath—it was her own carelessness. The last S-class instance had gone far too smoothly, making her subconsciously underestimate the dangers of an A-class instance. She had forgotten that the S-class instance, "Red Mangrove," was a special case: the Featherleaf Banyan above Earth-grade would only activate high-level skills when the instance's power exceeded thirty percent.

Once the Featherleaf Banyan unleashed a high-level skill, it consumed a vast amount of spiritual energy. In an instance running at only ten percent power, the spiritual energy saturation inside was likewise a mere ten percent. With such a sparse concentration, even absorbing and refining for ten days or half a month wouldn't be enough for the Featherleaf Banyan to unleash a single major attack. Monsters above Earth-grade possessed at least basic intelligence; naturally, they wouldn't make such a losing trade.

Unless Yu Yan lost her mind and tried to strip the poor thing bare. Was Yu Yan that foolish? Of course not—she had been reborn, not to die recklessly.

So, after collecting enough low-grade spirit fish and shellfish to serve as food, she carefully clipped a few slender twigs from the Featherleaf Banyan—never daring to touch the thicker branches, lest she anger this boss.

Yu Yan quickly fled, carrying the sleeping Yun Duo'er on her back. Even so, she still suffered several volleys of featherleaf barrages!

This whirlwind of thoughts seemed complicated, but in reality, it all happened in an instant and didn't delay Yu Yan's evasive maneuvers in the slightest. Not only that, she even found time to "transform" Yun Duo'er into a clump of fluorescent shrubs unique to the Gu Eagle's nest, and seized a chance to hide her daughter among them. One of the Gu Eagles, in hot pursuit of Yu Yan, was about to crash into the glowing thicket—only to veer away as if struck by something it loathed most in the world.

Indeed, Gu Eagles detested the smell of these fluorescent shrubs within their own nests, yet perversely insisted on nesting in caves filled with them! One could hardly say if they were simply stubborn or had a taste for self-torment.

Right now, Yu Yan felt nothing but gratitude for this odd habit.

With her daughter's safety secured, Yu Yan threw caution to the wind. Her gaze sharpened as she rose to her feet.

"Armor Break!"

"Blazing Burst!"

Two sharp Fire Rhino horns appeared in her palms. Without hesitation, Yu Yan drove them into the Gu Eagle lunging at her. The razor-sharp horns pierced the creature’s body with no resistance, yet not a drop of blood oozed out. The air instead filled with the scent of roasting meat mingled with burnt feathers.

Without a glance at the dying Gu Eagle, Yu Yan yanked out the Fire Rhino horn and moved on.

A rush of wind—she hurled one of the horns, striking another Gu Eagle's heart with unerring accuracy!

A fireball exploded, illuminating the dim cave. By its light, Yu Yan swiftly spotted the third Gu Eagle closing in. With a cold snort, she drove her remaining horn forward. "Die!" she spat, plunging the weapon through the creature with all her strength, impaling it through and through.

Panting, Yu Yan pressed herself into the corner, fighting to steady her breath.

Creatures in the instance world, though their strength was suppressed by ten percent during the adaptation period, retained their full physical resilience. This meant that the quality of loot from their bodies was in no way diminished.

And that was precisely how Yu Yan managed to take down three Gu Eagles at once—

The Fire Rhino horns she’d obtained from the double-S instance "Lava River" possessed the "Armor Break" attribute, partially ignoring defenses. Unrefined sixth-grade Fire Rhino horns, when thrown, would explode upon hitting an obstacle, blasting any sixth-grade or lower barrier to ashes!

Yu Yan called this attack "Blazing Burst."

Most Gu Eagles in the nest were fifth or sixth grade—how could they withstand the explosive power of a Fire Rhino horn charged with the full force of a sixth-grade fire beast? Even so, this battle was far from easy for Yu Yan.

If not for her three years of hard fighting in the instance world, she’d never be so accustomed to this intensity. Even if she’d managed to slay the first two, she’d surely have fallen victim to the third’s ambush.

Yu Yan caught her breath, but her expression did not relax. She tightened her grip on the Fire Rhino horn in her hand. Her other hand was soon filled with another.

She had a sense that these three Gu Eagles were only the appetizer. What awaited could be ten, or even a hundred.

Unfortunately, her premonition proved true.

One after another, Yu Yan lost count of how many Gu Eagles she felled. The tip of her eighth-grade Fire Rhino horn began to crack, and as for the sixth-grade horns she treated as disposable, she’d thrown more than she could count. Even someone as well-equipped as Yu Yan, who’d scoured the "Lava River" instance and collected hundreds—if not thousands—of Fire Rhino horns exploiting their weakness, now found her heart aching at the cost.

But these were Fire Rhino horns! Even the lowest sixth-grade ones, properly refined by a master forgemaster, would become top-tier weapons among the Profound-grade. Forgemasters only appeared three months after the instance world descended—a special class of enhancer.

They might be ordinary enhancers, or plant-spirits, or bloodline-enhanced, but they all had one thing in common: before the apocalypse, they were already experts in making weapons and equipment. With the advent of the instance world, to bolster their side’s combat power, they began forging powerful gear from materials rich in spiritual energy.

By the eve of Yu Yan’s rebirth, some forgemasters could already create Earth-grade equipment! Though only the lowest seventh-grade, and with pitifully low success rates due to myriad constraints, it was still a remarkable feat.

As for Yu Yan herself—despite three grueling years in her past life, she’d never managed to obtain even a single Profound-grade item.

"To hell with it!" Yu Yan glared at the horde of Gu Eagles before her, eyes bloodshot.

She’d already lost so much—she might as well go all in!

With a flicker of thought, seven or eight sixth-grade Fire Rhino horns appeared in her hands. And that wasn’t all—soon, more horns materialized, including a seventh-grade one. Violent fire energy surged, warping the very air.

"Go!"

A string of explosions resounded—"Boom! Boom! Boom…"—followed by the echoing crash and crackle of rock and debris. Yu Yan feared she might bring the whole cave down, so she rushed to Yun Duo'er, scooped her up, and rolled them deeper into the cavern.

Why not escape outward, but instead head further into the Gu Eagle's nest?

Simple: with so many Gu Eagles drawn out, the nest itself had to be empty.

Wherever monsters gathered in an instance, there was sure to be treasure. After all she had endured, after squandering so many Fire Rhino horns, was she supposed to leave empty-handed? No—Yu Yan would never allow it. She was determined to recoup her losses!

Time passed—

"Mom, are you okay?"

Yun Duo'er's voice trembled, barely suppressing a sob, her anxiety seeping through.

"I… cough, cough, I’m fine."

Struggling to sit upright, Yu Yan felt dust and small stones cascade from her back and hair. "Duo Duo, are you hurt? Quick, let Mommy check." Anxiously, she pulled her daughter close, inspecting her from top to toe.

Thankfully, arms and legs were all intact.

There were only a few minor scrapes, the most serious being a wound on her leg.

It was about five or six centimeters long, with fresh blood oozing steadily.