The five people inside the instance were unaware of the commotion outside.
【Congratulations on clearing the Trial Instance: Shogunate Mutiny with an SSS-grade evaluation. You have received the following rewards: spirit crystal * 1】
【Due to this being the first clear and your contribution greatly exceeding others, you receive additional rewards: strength crystal * 10, agility crystal * 10, constitution crystal * 10, spirit crystal * 10, Skill - Cross Slash, Item - Military Token (Shogunate Guard Commander)】
Hearing the system prompt, Zhou Li's eyes narrowed slightly.
SSS-grade was the highest evaluation. Normally, the rewards given wouldn't be worse than the additional rewards for the first clear, but this time, Zhou Li only received one spirit crystal and nothing else.
Evidently, this was due to his growth value being full, causing a significant reduction in rewards.
Fortunately, the additional rewards for the first clear were unaffected.
After using all the attribute crystals, Zhou Li looked at the other two rewards.
Perhaps he had used up all his luck in the Blood Battle Lin Family Fortress instance, as the quality of these two rewards was only Ordinary-grade.
Cross Slash was an attack skill. Zhou Li lost interest after a quick look. At rank zero, one could learn a maximum of three skills. He had already learned two, and the last slot naturally wouldn't be given to such an Ordinary skill.
The last reward was an item.
【Military Token (Shogunate Guard Commander)】
【Quality: Ordinary】
【Type: Item】
【Summons a Shogunate Guard Commander to fight for you upon use. Disappears upon death】
“Not bad.”
Zhou Li's eyes lit up slightly. The strength of a Shogunate Guard Commander was equivalent to an elite monster within the instance, comparable to an Ordinary S-grade Talent Awakener.
Although it was useless to him, it would be quite a good aid for others.
“Huh, why did the reward for a normal clear only give me 10 growth value?”
“You too? I thought I was just unlucky.”
“Isn't one attribute crystal the minimum guarantee?”
Gao Qiang and the others discovered the anomaly. After asking around, they learned that their rewards had been drastically reduced. Except for He Yuqing, who was lucky enough to get a spirit crystal, the other three received nothing but growth value.
Of course, the first clear rewards remained unchanged.
“Your reduced rewards should be due to my influence,” Zhou Li said in a deep voice. He didn't hide it and explained the negative effects of having a full growth value.
In fact, he was also quite surprised.
He originally thought this negative effect would only affect himself, but he didn't expect it to also affect others in the team.
From this rule, it could be seen that the method of a full growth value player carrying four others to clear instances was not encouraged.
“If you feel you're at a disadvantage, you can leave the team,” Zhou Li said indifferently.
After securing the first clear of Shogunate Mutiny, Zhou Li believed it would be easy to recruit people on the forum again. Of course, if Gao Qiang and the others didn't mind the loss, he wouldn't change team members casually.
“Brother Zhou Li, what are you saying? Unless you dislike me, I will absolutely not leave,” Gao Qiang immediately stated.
“Exactly, one first clear makes up for it. What's this little loss?” Yu Xiaobo also said.
He Yuqing and Yan Wu had even less to say.
Only a fool would leave the group.
“Alright then, let's go to the next instance.” Zhou Li nodded slightly. Just as he was about to speak, two system prompts suddenly sounded.
【World Announcement: Congratulations to Lin Tianyu, Qi Hai... for successfully clearing the Trial Instance: Braving Black Wind Stronghold】
【World Announcement: Congratulations to Elizabeth, Arthur... for successfully clearing the Trial Instance: Sunset Encirclement Battle】
“Two first clears are gone,” Gao Qiang said with a face full of regret.
“It's not surprising. Brother Zhou Li's first clear stimulated everyone. Those top Awakener are starting to exert themselves. It was never realistic for us to get five first clears,” He Yuqing said helplessly.
Zhou Li nodded silently, agreeing with He Yuqing's words.
Ultimately, Blue Star had nearly ten billion Awakener, and there was no shortage of strong individuals. There were dozens of SSS-grade Talent Awakener alone.
They weren't in a hurry at first because they didn't know about the generous rewards for first clears and cherished their instance resurrection chances. Rather than risking it themselves, it was better to wait for pioneering teams with strong survival abilities to provide information and guides.
Now, more than six hours had passed, and instance information had been mostly gathered. Coupled with the stimulation from Zhou Li's first clear, the top Awakener immediately entered the fray.
“In at most half an hour, the first clears of all Trial Instance will no longer exist,” He Yuqing said.
This half an hour even included the two instances with more complex mechanics; otherwise, there would be at most ten minutes left.
Time was of the essence now. The five did not dare to delay. After exiting the instance, Zhou Li immediately selected a new instance.
There were two more first clears to compete for: Goblin Forest and Crimson Graveyard.
He Yuqing had briefly introduced them. The situation in these two instances was similar. The task was no longer survival or breaking through, but required finding the Boss and killing it to clear the instance.
【You have selected the Trial Instance: Goblin Forest. Do you wish to enter?】
“Enter.”
With a flash of light, the five appeared in a forest surrounded by tall, lush trees.
“Brother Zhou Li, the strength of the Goblin Leader is slightly higher than the Boss in Shogunate Mutiny, but weaker than the thugs in Blood Battle Lin Family Fortress. It shouldn't be a match for you,” He Yuqing explained quickly during the one minute entry period.
“The difficulty in this instance lies in finding the Goblin Leader.”
“Because there's no fixed camp, the Goblin Leader keeps wandering in the forest, and the map of this instance is very large, much bigger than Shogunate Mutiny and Lin Family Fortress. It's very difficult to find it.”
“The number of goblins is not as many as the Shogunate rebels, and they are scattered throughout the forest. The stats of Ordinary goblins and Goblin Warriors are comparable to the rebel soldiers and elite monsters in Shogunate Mutiny, but the number of Goblin Warriors far exceeds the Shogunate elite monsters. Basically, a goblin team of more than ten people has one Goblin Warrior, and the larger the team, the more Goblin Warriors there are.”
“Is there no shortcut to finding the Goblin Leader?” Zhou Li asked.
He Yuqing shook her head helplessly: “The White Eagle Country's Holy Hall Squad is primarily tackling this instance, and they haven't publicly released specific details on the forum.”
“However, it's not just the Holy Hall Squad clearing this instance. Those teams have shared some information more or less. According to my guess, the appearance of the Goblin Leader might be related to the number of goblin deaths. One team posted that due to their hatred for the goblin race, they killed all the goblins they encountered, and unexpectedly, they soon encountered a second goblin team, a third...”
“I understand.”
The moment the countdown ended, Zhou Li's figure instantly disappeared.
“You four hide.”
“Okay,” He Yuqing replied. Looking back, Gao Qiang and the others were quickly scrambling up the trees with incredible speed.
“Sister Yuqing, hurry and hide,” Gao Qiang waved downwards.
Thinking of the rumors about goblins, He Yuqing shivered and quickly chose a tree to climb.
The four hid in the trees, waiting quietly.
At first, they could still hear strange roars and screams coming from a distance, but soon they couldn't hear anything.
While waiting anxiously, suddenly, a system prompt sounded.
【World Announcement: Congratulations to Zhou Li, He Yuqing, Gao Qiang, Yu Xiaobo, and Yan Wu for successfully clearing the Trial Instance: Goblin Forest】
“Yay, I got an agility crystal this time.”
“Mine is a strength crystal.”
Except for Yan Wu, who was relatively unlucky, the other three each received an attribute crystal.
“Only five minutes? Brother Zhou Li is too strong,” Gao Qiang was shocked as he looked at the clear time.
Although the difficulty was similar, this instance should have taken much longer than Shogunate Mutiny. Unexpectedly, it was cleared in just five minutes.
“There's only one left.”
Just as the four were filled with anticipation, the World Announcement for the first clear of Crimson Graveyard sounded.
Another ten minutes passed, and the first clears for the last two instances were also taken.
By then, less than an hour after Zhou Li's first clear, all ten Trial Instance had been cleared.