Twelve consecutive system prompts announced that the elite guard Goblin Boss squad protecting the instance's space gate was completely vanquished.
24,000 experience points were credited, filling up one-tenth of the experience pool, bringing a delighted smile to Zi Liyuan's face.
After cleaning up the battlefield, Zi Liyuan, guarded by the Skeleton Army, began to recover and adjust his state.
Pioneering a wilderness instance is no joke; the slightest mistake could result in irretrievable consequences.
Having rested for half an hour to relieve the pressure from continuously summoning Shield Combat Skeletons, Zi Liyuan resolutely headed towards the blood-red instance portal.
[Discover unknown primordial instance. Does the player wish to enter? Yes/No?]
"Yes!"
Wild instances don't have difficulty options, but their challenges are always at the hero level or higher.
This also implied that within this wild instance, there would be at least one heroic-level or higher quality boss.
The reason Zi Liyuan dared to risk entering was because the rare Goblin Wizard boss that appeared in the Goblin camp was only Level 30.
In general, the Guardian Boss outside a wilderness instance is the same level as the final boss within it, with very few exceptions.
[Player enters Level 30 heroic instance "Bloodthirsty Goblin Forest," can exit the instance by clearing it or using a special teleportation scroll.]
"As expected."
The system's announcement allowed Zi Liyuan to breathe a sigh of relief and he began directing the Skeleton Army to sweep through the forest.
Just as they entered the edge of the forest, a group of five Goblins charged out and launched a ferocious attack on the Shield Combat Skeletons at the front.
[Big Goblin (Rare Boss)]
[Level]: Level 28
[Attributes]: Physical Damage 75, Physical Defense 25, Health 20,000.
[Skills]: Double Chop, Heavy Strike, Cleave
[Combat Power]: 125
————
[Goblin Warrior (Elite Boss)]
[Level]: Level 25
[Attributes]: Physical Damage 60, Physical Defense 20, Health 10,000.
[Skills]: Double Chop, Heavy Strike
[Combat Power]: 100
One by one, monster information appeared in front of Zi Liyuan, causing him to gasp.
He had truly not expected that even a regular monster in this wilderness instance would be of the elite boss template!
Watching a Big Goblin effortlessly take down a Shield Combat Skeleton with a normal attack combined with a single-target skill, Zi Liyuan couldn't help but grit his teeth.
The Skeleton Cannon Fodder was really of no account, truly only getting one-shot by any boss they faced.
This made Zi Liyuan even more eager to obtain skills that could enhance his Skeletons and also more desirous to unlock the last three mutation enhancements in "Summon Skeleton."
Curse Skeleton (Spiritual Energy 4500), Voodoo Skeleton (Spiritual Energy 4800), Skeleton Apprentice (Spiritual Energy 5000).
The three types of magic-oriented Skeletons, especially the last one, the Skeleton Apprentice that commands elemental powers.
The 43 versus 5 battle was somewhat difficult, mainly because these Goblins had been greatly strengthened, causing the Crossbow Skeletons' bolts to break through Big Goblin's defense and only deal 1-2 points of damage after stacking three layers of Sunder Armor.
What's even more outrageous is the hit points of these goblins grow at a maddening rate.
"Why are you goblins so much better than skeletons, even though both of you are bottom-tier monster cannon fodder?!"
While grumbling, he summoned Shield Combat Skeletons to surround a group of 5 goblins.
Indeed, Zi Liyuan dared not summon the Skeleton Behemoth or the Skeleton Knight for the time being, since neither types of skeletons possessed taunting skills to hold aggro. They could only rely on their toughness and size to physically block and herd the enemies.
But with the regular attacks and skill outputs from the large goblins and goblin warriors causing a lot of overflow damage, summoning these two types of skeletons would just get them killed instantly. Moreover, due to their large size, they would leave ample space for breakthrough.
If the goblins were to exploit this, it would be highly disadvantageous for Zi Liyuan.
At this moment, Zi Liyuan didn't even dare to cast magic skills, all to save on his spiritual energy consumption.
Given the difficulty of this instance, the 30 bottles of Level 15 Spiritual Energy Recovery Potion he had would definitely not be sufficient.
Considering this, his only option was to slowly grind down the goblins within the instance.
[You have killed a Goblin Warrior (Level 28, Elite Boss), experience +4000]
[Item obtained: Goblin Greatsword (Green) x1, Pigskin Armor (Green) x1, Pigskin Cap (Green) x1]
[Materials obtained: Goblin Skeleton (Green) x1, Goblin Warrior's Blood (Green) x4, Bloodthirsty Fruit (White) x10]
It took 6 minutes to grind down a Goblin Warrior, and the inefficiency of monster farming made Zi Liyuan gnash his teeth in frustration, yet he could do nothing about it.
However, the experience drop was double that outside of the instance, offering him some consolation.
At this moment, what Zi Liyuan urgently wanted was to level up to 20 and upgrade his skills.
After a grueling half an hour, the goblin squad finally met their demise at the hands of the chaos-wielding skeletons.
"Good, very good. 5 goblins gave a total of 24,000 experience points. Coupled with the experience gained outside the instance, the leveling bar is already one-quarter full. Six more rounds like this should be enough to level up," he mused.
Silently closing the attribute panel, Zi Liyuan, with a deep gaze, turned towards the dark forest. With his Skeleton Army, he resolutely ventured deeper into it.
20 Shield Combat Skeletons led the way, ensuring any encountered goblin squad was swarmed and completely encircled, not letting even one escape!
The rest was left to the Crossbow Skeletons to whittle down the bosses' health while Zi Liyuan hid amongst the horde of skeletons, constantly summoning Shield Combat Skeletons to fill the gaps left by those shattered by the goblins.
When a beam of golden light rose and flashed past Zi Liyuan, four hours had already elapsed.
During these four hours, he ground through 9 waves of goblins. Yet, at this moment, he was still lingering on the outskirts of the forest.
It wasn't that he didn't want to venture deeper into the woods; his strength simply didn't permit it!
That's because inside the forest, the density of monsters was even greater, and he even discovered Level 30 Heroic Goblin Priests!
If he were to confront them now with his motley crew of Skeleton Cannon Fodder, it would be tantamount to delivering a feast—a feast of human flesh!
Fortunately, the presence of the Vulture Skeletons made seeking out monsters quite easy. They could even avoid goblin squads that gathered in groups, slightly increasing the efficiency of the Skeleton Army's monster farming.
Upon reaching Level 20, the level progression was locked, requiring a class change quest to continue leveling up. However, the accumulated experience would still be poured into the experience pool, available for upgrading skills and cultivation techniques or to enhance the level once the lock was lifted.
Also, upon reaching Level 20, an equipment slot for the head was unlocked. Previously limited to only equipping weapons, clothing, and shoes, he could now equip four types of gear.
As for the unlocking of the skill tree awakening, that would have to wait until after completing the class change quest.
Zi Liyuan took a deep breath, then pulled out a hat and a robe.
Magic Power Cap (Green): Physical Defense +10, Magical Resistance +15, Spiritual Power +8, required Level 20.
Magic Power Robe (Green): Physical Defense +12, Magical Resistance +20, Spiritual Power +8, required Level 20.
With only one basic attribute bonus on the green equipment, Zi Liyuan, for the time being, gave up on Spirit's enhancement and instead stacked Spiritual Power.
Upon equipping these two items, his Spiritual Power surged instantly to 56 points, with a Spiritual Energy of 5600 points, easily meeting the criteria for mutation enhancement (7/8/9).