Gale Pill

This trip through the instance had yielded Ye Luo and his group masks, medals, and skill books far stronger than Bronze equipment, as well as talismans, Bronze necklaces, and several pieces of instance set equipment. They had upgraded the Jade Poison Bead to Tier 3 and obtained special items like satchels that increased inventory space, solving a major problem. Their gains were truly plentiful.

Afterward, the two of them did not overlook the drops from the soldier ants and worker ants either. Through Yan Hua Yi Leng's explanation, Ye Luo learned that these minor monsters would not drop instance set equipment, but the coins alone were already quite a substantial reward.

After collecting their spoils, the two left the instance and prepared to accept the Instance Mission twice more.

Just half a minute after they left the instance, a system notification rang out. Someone had completed the Instance First Kill of the Demon Ant Calamity two-player simple instance and received some rewards, though their gains were far inferior to Ye Luo and Yan Hua Yi Leng's.

After that came another notification for completing the Demon Ant Calamity two-player difficult Instance Mission, though it was two or three minutes later than Ye Luo and Yan Hua Yi Leng's. This gave Ye Luo a clearer understanding of their strength.

"Rest for a few minutes first. The high-intensity monster killing earlier drained a great deal of our mental energy," Yan Hua Yi Leng said indifferently before taking out her communicator to contact someone.

Yan Hua Yi Leng was naturally aloof and had few friends. The only people worth her taking the initiative to contact were naturally the few from Misty Pavilion. Curious about how Zhi Yue's instance run was going, Ye Luo waited for Yan Hua Yi Leng to recover.

Half a minute later, Yan Hua Yi Leng ended the call. Seeing Ye Luo's questioning expression, she said, "The Six-Player Instance requires killing 120 worker ants, 25 soldier ants, 4 male ants, and 1 ant queen. Sister Feng and the others have already reduced the ant queen's health by 30%. I also told them the rhythm of the Queen Ant's Roar. There should be no problem killing it successfully."

"They've already done 30%? That speed..." Ye Luo muttered.

"Sister Feng and the others are advancing slowly with the safest tactics. They aren't trying to claim the first kill, so it's normal for them to be slower." Yan Hua Yi Leng looked at the leading teams on the Demon Ant Calamity instance rankings and continued, "Although these teams are very fast, some members died along the way, so their rewards were greatly reduced. Not a single person on Sister Feng's team has died so far. If you calculate carefully, their gains aren't much worse."

Knowing that major guilds all had connections with one another, Ye Luo was not surprised that Yan Hua Yi Leng knew such information.

"The first kill has already been taken, so we don't need to rush anymore. We can take it slow..." Ye Luo said, but Yan Hua Yi Leng interrupted him before he could finish.

"No. We'll continue killing monsters at high intensity and strive to finish the mission in the shortest time possible." Seeing Ye Luo's puzzled expression, Yan Hua Yi Leng explained, "You saw that the instance has rankings too, right? The various rankings are **, and there is a time listed afterward. That is the instance record time. Breaking that record also gives decent rewards. They may not compare to an Instance First Kill, but they're still quite good."

Ye Luo's eyes lit up at that. He blurted out, "Breaking records? Now that's interesting. With our current strength, won't breaking the record be easy?"

"What I want isn't to break the record once, but to break it again and again." Yan Hua Yi Leng spoke indifferently. Seeing Ye Luo's astonished expression, she continued, "This time, we won't use our full strength. Around ninety percent will do. That way, no one should be able to steal the record from us, and we'll be able to easily break our own record afterward."

Ye Luo was a smart man and instantly understood Yan Hua Yi Leng's intention. He praised her profusely. "What a clever strategy. No wonder the major gaming clans and guilds can maintain monopolistic positions. It must have something to do with strategies like this."

"Of course. That is how the major guilds accumulate advantages and widen the gap." Yan Hua Yi Leng's tone then changed. "There are many other methods besides this, which is why gaming clans and major guilds can remain standing. It is very difficult for a single person to contend against gaming clans and guilds."

Knowing that Yan Hua Yi Leng was trying to recruit him again, Ye Luo pretended not to understand and prepared to accept the mission and enter the instance.

After accepting the mission remotely, a flash of white light appeared, and the two entered the ant nest once more.

Because they had reached Level 14, the demon ants in the ant nest had also increased somewhat in level and strength. However, the increase was nowhere near as great as Ye Luo and Yan Hua Yi Leng's improvement. As a result, after using ninety percent of their strength, they easily completed the Instance Mission in 20 minutes and 45 seconds, breaking the record they had set with their first kill not long ago.

Just as Yan Hua Yi Leng had said, breaking an instance record brought decent rewards. They received another Skill Point, double experience, and 100 Reputation. The immense amount of experience raised them to Level 15.

These rewards delighted Ye Luo, but he was quite dissatisfied with the instance monsters' drops. The three male ants only dropped a Tier 1 Jade Poison Bead and a heavy armor helmet, while the ant queen only dropped a leather chestpiece and a cloth shoe. It did not drop the Tier 2 Jade Poison Bead and Medium Satchel Ye Luo had been hoping for.

Compared with the first time, these spoils were worlds apart, leaving Ye Luo rather depressed. Fortunately, the heavy armor helmet offered at least a little comfort.

Demon Ant Helmet (Helmet * Heavy Armor - Common)

Physical Defense: 20-20

Magic Defense: 10-10

Equipment Durability: 150/150

Required Level: 10

Set Effect: Must be combined with the heavy armor Demon Ant Armguards, Demon Ant Leggings, Demon Ant Chestplate, and Demon Ant Boots to activate the set effect.

"This time, our mission rating was S. It seems we held back too much," Yan Hua Yi Leng concluded after the battle. Seeing Ye Luo's disappointment, she explained, "The first time clearing an instance is also called pioneering it, and the rewards are the richest then. Afterward, the drop rates of instance monsters decrease greatly. Getting these few pieces of equipment already means we were quite lucky."

Ye Luo nodded. He understood this as well, and his mood eased considerably. He muttered, "I originally wanted to upgrade your Jade Poison Bead to Tier 3 today, but it looks a little risky now. This Jade Poison Bead can be combined with our two initial ones to form a Tier 2 bead. Together with the one you have, we're still short one Tier 2 bead."

"Take it slowly. We still have one more chance today," Yan Hua Yi Leng said indifferently. Knowing that Ye Luo was troubled over upgrading her Jade Poison Bead, an inexplicable strange feeling faintly rose in her heart.

Just as they were preparing to enter the instance again, a clear, bell-like voice suddenly sounded behind them. "Sister Yan Hua, Brother Ye Luo, congratulations! Not only did you claim the first kill of the two-player difficult instance, you also broke your own record. Hehe, twenty minutes! That's no worse than our six-player instance."

With that voice, Night Rain Misty appeared beside Ye Luo. Night Rain Madman and the other Night Rain Family elites followed behind her. Their completely renewed equipment made it clear that they had gained quite a lot from completing the instance.

"Just luck," Yan Hua Yi Leng said indifferently. Her tone was as cold and direct as ever. "Night Rain Misty, you didn't come just to congratulate us, did you? Tell us, what is it?"

Whenever Ye Luo heard Yan Hua Yi Leng talking to others, he secretly found it amusing. So my treatment really is a little better than everyone else's. At the very least, Yan Hua Yi Leng's tone isn't that cold with me.

Knowing Yan Hua Yi Leng's personality, Night Rain Misty did not get angry and spoke directly. "Sister Yan Hua, Brother Ye Luo, you have completed the Instance Mission twice, so you should have obtained some set equipment, right? You also said that only the two of you are in the Novice Village. Once you leave the Novice Village, Level 10 equipment will be useless to you. Why not sell it to us? We'll buy it at market price."

"Discuss this with Ye Luo. I have no objections." Yan Hua Yi Leng said this indifferently, then ignored Night Rain Misty and began asking Sister Feng, Zhi Yue, and the others about their gains from the instance.

"You know we don't lack coins, and it would be difficult for you to come up with equipment that interests us." Ye Luo was equally direct. Seeing the troubled look on Night Rain Misty's face, he changed his tone. "How about this? I need wolf bones to refine Strength Pills. Also, if you have any pill formulas, I can consider trading with you."

Night Rain Misty's beautiful eyes immediately lit up, and she was delighted. "Brother Ye Luo, we have quite a few wolf bones. We also luckily obtained two Gale Pill formulas, which are perfect for trading with you."

As she spoke, Night Rain Misty opened a trade window and placed the formula into it.

After clicking confirm, Ye Luo saw the formula's attributes:

Gale Pill (Tier 2):

Required medicinal herb ratio: 3 Gale Grass, 1 Dragonfly Wing.

Pill Effect: Temporarily increases the player's Agility by 10 points after consumption.

Duration: Half an hour.

Usage Restriction: Cannot stack.

Like the Strength Pill, the Gale Pill was a Tier 2 pill. Increasing Agility by 10 points was a very good attribute in the early stages of the game, especially for an archer class like Yan Hua Yi Leng that relied on Agility.

"Brother Ye Luo, we also have plenty of wolf bones," Night Rain Misty said again, trading Ye Luo one hundred wolf bones.

The Gale Pill formula was more valuable than several pieces of set equipment. After all, equipment would quickly become outdated for players, while a pill formula could always be used. Ye Luo understood the formula's value as well. He opened the trade window and traded all the equipment the two of them did not need to Night Rain Misty. He also added fifteen Strength Pills and some Detoxification Pills, treating them as payment for the hundred wolf bones.

Seeing six or seven pieces of set equipment, Night Rain Misty's beautiful eyes shone. Her tone carried a hint of excitement. "Brother Ye Luo, your luck is far too good! You actually got so much equipment, even Tier 2 Detoxification Pills. No wonder the two of you completed the mission five minutes earlier than second place."

"Just a bit luckier than usual," Ye Luo said. Then, thinking of something, he continued, "Misty, you know I'm an alchemist. If you have any extra pill formulas in the future, you can trade them to me. I can exchange finished pills or equipment with you."

"Mm." Night Rain Misty nodded, then bid farewell to Ye Luo and Yan Hua Yi Leng before eagerly heading off to attempt the third Instance Mission.